The main reason we're going on this cruise is that 1) one of the stops is Greenland and 2) the price was really good.
We paid $1,088 USD ($1,511 CAD) for the 16 day cruise, which is not bad considering it includes all meals, accommodation, and entertainment for the 16 days. $68 USD ($94 CAD) per day per person.
That in itself is not bad. The problem I've always had when looking at the possibility of doing a cruise is all the extras.
And that's where the cruise industry makes their money! Since we booked, I've been receiving emails every second day wanting us to spend more money on "extras".
The Emerald Princess.
And all of the extras are ridiculously expensive. Alcohol, specialty dining, on board WiFi, shore excursions, fitness classes, professional photos etc. On top of that, they even expect you to spend $17 USD ($23 CAD) per day per person on tipping. Add that up over 16 days.
You can buy upgrade "packages" that include many of the extras. They sell two packages. One is an additional $60 USD per day and the other is an additional $90 USD per day. Holy crap... that's more than we paid for the cruise itself. And from reading the forums, many people buy these packages.
WiFi is the only thing we were interested in. But did I mention ridiculously expensive? They want $400 USD ($544 CAD) for a single device WiFi connection for the 16 day cruise. Or, you can pay $715 USD ($973 CAD) to connect up to four devices. Not very good value, in our minds.
Our original thinking was we could have bought an eSIM to work at each port so that we could be connected while the ship is in port. We would simply do without while at sea.
But, I learned on one of the forums that people who purchased the expensive $90 per day package have four device WiFi included, and they may not be bringing four devices with them so they try to sell one of the connections. One came up yesterday for £136 ($251 CAD, $185 USD) and we decided to go for it. Even at less than half price, it's still not very good value!
Anyhow, it's done and now we will be able to continue bringing you your regular daily blog posts even while at sea.
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Good deal on Sketchers Women's Sneakers.
And in Canada...
Is the cruise giving you buyers remorse?
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all! We got a great deal on this cruise and we're excited about it! The cost of the WiFi is though. Even with the deal we got, it's not a very good deal!
DeleteKevin, it's all in the perspective of the customer....there is a reason that all the major cruise lines are setting records for traveler bookings....for what you get, it's a great value for the money for a completely worry free vacation...
ReplyDeleteAll depending on the price you pay. I would say we are getting better value than the majority of the people on board. And of course I wasn't saying that a cruise in general isn't good value. My post above was about the extras not being good value.
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