Are we getting closer to All Inclusive cruising?

I’ve asked the question before if you think that cruising will become All-Inclusive with Gratuities and Drinks packages included as standard. The answer at that time seemed to be no and a lot said they would not want it to be and it is just right at the moment although I do get asked for it by some customers every single day.

As we as cruise customers don’t seem to know what we want the cruise lines seem a little confused with what to offer us too. Norwegian Cruise Lines made the brave decision to go All Inclusive in the past which is what they said customers wanted but then as the prices increased to include drinks and tips it did stop a lot of people booking as costs increased and if you don’t drink then why would you pay a higher fare to include something you don’t need. After they did this for a while they have now gone back on themselves and come up with a more traditional cruise fare but you can add on your tips and they have great add on for drinks packages and dining under the free at sea promotion where you can choose to add a drinks and specialty dining package from as little as £99 per person. There are other options as well that can be added for none drinkers so it seems to be a happy medium at the minute and the cruise fares have become better value since they started doing this.

Two of the other big boys seem to be toying with the idea of All-Inclusive at the minute as first MSC Cruises have announced that from the 25th June 2019 that all new bookings will have the Gratuities included in the cost of the cruise. This means no need to pre-pay or nothing added to your onboard account as they are free. At certain times MSC has offers on where they include drink packages too so if you book at that time you would effectively be All-Inclusive. You can add drinks packages on anyway with MSC so it would seem that at some point they might well go down that route.

Rather surprisingly Princess cruises have also got an offer at the moment on Caribbean sailings called Sip and Sail and it includes Free Drinks and up to $1000 spending money too. Now this may just be to give the Caribbean a massive push but Princess are not one of the cruise lines you would normally expect to give away free drinks and certainly not using a strapline of this is what all-inclusive looks like. If it is a success which you would expect it to be we could well see it for Europe.

The fact that P&O now include gratuities too and are finally are starting to offer drink packages this all still suggests to me that we are getting closer towards All inclusive. Would it be a good idea if all the cruise where All-Inclusive and maybe the offered a reduction for none drinkers if you want to take the drinks packages off. That could be a unique selling point if somebody was brave enough to try it!

So what do we think would you like to see every cruise All-Inclusive or should things stay more traditional as they have been? I would love to hear your views…………

 

 

7 Comments on “Are we getting closer to All Inclusive cruising?

  1. If you look at the Princess Caribbean all inclusive pricing, the cruises have increased considerably. I am booked to go on a 20 night Princess Caribbean pre all inclusive offer and the fare I am paying is £1000 pp less. If more cruiselines adopt this expensive all inclusive policy, I will not be cruising for much longer.

    • Hi, I think you will find that as lines go All-inclusive then the price will rise as that is what seemed to be the case with NCL. Let’s hope if that happens then competition for your business between lines keeps the costs down

  2. I like all inclusive and like premium drinks. But if the all inclusive is unbranded paint stripper then personally I don’t want it. I would prefer to buy a proper drinks package. NCL , MSC , RC and Tui do premium love them. But Fred Olsen does paint stripper and Saga are going down the unbranded route.
    So my concern would be to keep costs down the all inclusive might become the unbranded paint stripper type drink. I also don’t like the daily charge for gratuities it really adds up for a family you could pay for one more person to go on holiday with the gratuities payment.

    • Hi Penny, You may have a point and I hope all the lines can offer Premium if that’s what some guests prefer

    • Drinks are not “paint stripper” just because they’re unbranded. Some people not on AI do choose the house wines and unbranded spirits. I’ve had some pretty awful branded drinks too so big brand labels (so-called premium) are no indication that everyone will like them over unbranded.

  3. I think it should be up to the guest whether they want the drinks package so I say no to all inclusive.

  4. Only people who absolutely know next to nothing about wine would refer to ‘house wines’ as being substandard. The house wine is the wine that the restaurant/ cruise ship has decided is of sufficient quality to effectively put their name to and buy in bulk so it can be offered at a reasonable price. I my experience house wines in good restaurants have always been excellent. If they are not then it is an indictment of the restaurant and I would certainly not visit it again.

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About Me

Hi I'm Harry, I live in the  north east of England in sunny Middlesbrough, I'm married and have 3 children a daughter aged 12 and two twin boys who are ten years younger and keep us all on our toes. I love spending time with the family, going on holiday,…

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