When cruise lines take something away, they often try to present it as something positive.
People, however, are not stupid and understand that having their room cleaned once a day instead of twice a day is not a convenience; It's a cut. The reality, however, is that most cruise lines have pricing power right now.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line Passengers Share Anger Over Beverage Package Price Increase
As long as the rooms are sold out, and both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have basically been selling out, the cruise lines have the leverage. That doesn't mean they'll raise all prices as high as the current market will allow (which can lead to long-term ill will with customers), but both companies won't hesitate to pass on additional costs or increase margins where they can.
Royal Caribbean makes it harder for passengers to track that because the cruise line uses dynamic pricing for many of the services it sells on board and on its private island. Prices for Hideaway Beach, the adults-only area of Perfect Day at CocoCay, now typically sell for more than $50 per visit.
That's almost double what it was a few months ago, but prices vary depending on the trip, so it's easier to hide it. The same goes for drink packages, meal packages and other add-ons. There is no fixed price, so all increases are relative and not so easy to spot.
Carnival Cruise Line recently increased the price of its Cheers beverage package and WiFi package without notice. That angered many passengers, and Lisa Dawson decided to send a message to Carnival brand ambassador John Heald, listing all the negative changes she thinks Carnival has made in recent years.
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Angry Carnival Passenger Shares Why She's Angry
Dawson seems to speak for many Carnival customers if you read the comments on Heald's page. She was polite, but seems angry at the cruise line.
“Good morning, John. I'm adding my two cents to the controversy over the silent beverage package price increase. Not that Carnival cares. And please know that I'm not directing any of this at you, know that you are always doing what the company wants you to do,” he wrote.
Instead, he made it clear that his anger was with The Beards, Heald's term for the company's leadership.
“But, if any of the Beards are actually reading this, I would like to express our sadness at all the changes in recent years,” he added.
Dawson then listed those changes:
- Twice-daily room service was eliminated.
- The hairy chest contest was eliminated.
- Retired tablecloths
- Free room service was eliminated. (I was promised “higher quality” items for a small price. However, it's the same old ham and cheese I used to get for free.)
- Removed casino “free play” money for Platinum guests.
- Removed the ability to get “made to order” tortillas.
- Changed piano bar hours on most ships to 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
- Pizza hours changed. Again. Now it closes at midnight. But they tell us we can still eat pizza late at night at the buffet. It is NOT the same.
- Cheers and Wifi price increased (again!) WITHOUT notice. (They always used to warn in the past).
- The price of water has increased ridiculously in recent years.
Dawson also expressed anger over a comment CEO Josh Weinstein made during Carnival's third-quarter earnings conference call.
“We have almost no capacity growth. So all that increase in demand is just going to result in who wants to pay more to get on our ships, and that's what we're looking for,” Weinstein said.
Dawson raised a major issue with Carnival's CEO, pointing out that the company's goal was to maximize profits.
“Wow, thank you Carnival. I feel really valued right now as a long-time loyal customer,” she wrote.
Carnival head rejects complaints
Heald responded politely to every point Dawon raised, and to be fair, he didn't see it the same way she did.
“Thank you very much, well, we do care. I definitely do. Some of those things have nothing to do with cuts. They're just changes. For example, the hairy chest, which was replaced, having been around for many, many years.” years, with a new event called the legend of the lido,” he wrote.
Heald also noted that some “cuts” are due to reasons other than the cruise line's bottom line.
“The tablecloths, those were replaced many years ago, not recently, but at least 10 years ago. They were replaced because of the enormous environmental impact that washing thousands of tablecloths has on the environment, which I'm sure you support and it makes no difference to fan service in the dining room,” he said.
More Carnival:
- Carnival Cruise Line Addresses Main Dining Room Controversy
- Carnival Cruise Line Adds New Home Port, Shares New Itineraries
- Carnival Cruise Line Shares Passport Rule for Most Ports
- Carnival Cruise Line defends its beloved towel animals
The brand ambassador also addressed many of the other concerns raised by Dawson.
“We have not changed the piano bar hours on each ship every night. There may be some nights on some ships where we have it at the times you have mentioned and this is to complement the other things we are offering at the same time, and by the way, the response from the piano bar entertainers has been that the piano bars have been absolutely full as usual,” he wrote.
In previous posts, Heald referred to pizza counters closing early and noted that the new midnight buffet has a much wider variety of food. He also defended the increase in the price of water.
READ ALSO: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise
“Water went up, yes, but it was also due to inflation, which I'm sure you're experiencing on land. Water is still just over a dollar a bottle, which compares to any other cruise line and definitely compares with “The outrageous prices found in hotels and airports etc. are still a great deal, but what makes this also irrelevant is that we have complementary water available 24 hours a day around the ship,” he added.
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