Noticed some cruise line prices are rising

And from my own experience over the past 6 months I have noticed that this appears to be true. NCL is a lot more expensive that RCL for the same itineraries. Even Princess and Celebrity appear to be more affordable.

I have been partial to NCL, and have more booked. But they could be pricing themselves out of MY market, and for other reasons too. Im almost at the top of their perks ladder..whats left isn't worth the price of admission. Sooo...lets see what happens in Galveston. Assuming Im still above ground at the time.

So NCL will be the most expensive with IMHO the worst service and worst food in the included MDR. I'd much rather cruise on Princess or Celebrity, Heck I'd pay more to go on Princess, HAL or Celebrity where I get good service and good food in the MDR. I'd rather go on RCI or Carnival (For the same level of lines), but that is my opinion from about 30 cruises I have taken on all the major lines.

I don't know what it is with FDR, he loves to get up before these international cruise forum groups and shoot his face off. Maybe a little heavy on the booze or something. Remember, he just did this in September too? Then he didn't mention NCL price increases at that time though. FDR, you are getting a little nauseating. As a result I'm moving Regent back to the bottom of our for consideration list.

“While the current "Goldilocks economy" is a boon for cruise lines and advisers alike, it won't last forever, Del Rio said in an address to agents at the Signature Travel Network 2018 Owners' Meeting at the Ritz-Carlton here on Friday. Del Rio said Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises plan to raise prices on their 2019 sailings as of Oct. 1. Oceania will raise prices on 67% of all 2019 sailings, and Regent will raise prices on 92%, he said.

He encouraged agents to maximize repeat business, emphasize value and not price, prepare to reorganize resources and ensure databases are current.

Del Rio also urged agents to target millennials. Baby boomers are cruise lines' bread and butter today, but the influence of millennials will continue to grow." The cruise industry today is benefiting from unprecedentedly strong demand and record booking volume, Del Rio said. Customers are booking earlier than ever and the cruise lines have strong pricing power." https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-CEO-Del-Rio-enthused-about-return-to-Turkey

The cruise lines are going the way disneyworld went. Back in the 80's you could get into disneyworld theme parks for $22 a day. Camping at fort wilderness was $20 a day, and if you took a week camping package, you would get meals, etc for $400. More people started coming and thus supply and demand. Prices are out of sight. People looking for other ways to get more entertainment for their dollar, so business on cruise lines are increasing. Hopefully they don' raise prices like disney. Bur most likely so. We camp a lot also and that is a cheap form of entertainment, so our local state park raised prices per night by $5. I guess they see those jumbo rigs and massive pick up trucks, they think us campers can afford it.(we have a pop up by the way pulled by a car)

If the cruise industry becomes too pricey, people will find alternate vacation plans.

With al due respect, I think "they" know that while us greyheads can remember more quality for less money, todays millenials which are clearly their target DON'T. The actual number of cruising passengers is increasing, not decreasing. Take a hard look at their stock prices. They're counting on it. KENNS post about MSC's shipbuilding program speaks volumes...and volumes...

I can remember back in the 1980's my mom saying if you can get a cruise for $ 100.00 per person per day it is a good price. Back then the food and service was better then today. The ships did have less to offer back then, no rock walls, no surf Riders, no zip line, no go carts, no ice rink...... They were cruise ships, not floating amusement parks. Back then cruising was elegant and a high end vacation. Tux or suite for evening wear every night, back then "Casual night" was slacks and dress shirt for men, jeans strictly not allowed in the MDR for dinner.

Now today almost 30 years later with the price of everything higher cruising is still only about $100.00 PP a day with the modern ships offering so much more. Something had to give, it was service and food quality. I looked up the value of 1980 dollar to 2018 dollar, the internet article said a 1980 dollar is $ 3.05 in 2018. Cruising is still the best bang for your vacation buck.

“So we’re focusing on price; we’re pushing price higher everywhere we can both in 2019 and 2020,” he said. “While we still have a lot of cabins to fill, the emphasis will be on raising prices across all three brands.”

By coincidence, at the time OldGreyWolf posted this latest spiel of FDRs I had been pouring through the most recent Oceania Cruise brochures and details that I have. Now, we have never been on Oceania or NCL but have almost 150 sailing days on Regent. We have quite a few perks with Regent as a result but none are transferable to the sister lines. I was considering a suite which provided the same perks as I would get if I had advanced Oceania loyalty status. I had yet to get into pricing and itinerary lengths, we prefer three weeks plus so that meant a B-2-B. Then I read FDR's latest, into the trash bin went the brochures. He is already out of sight price wise, his Regent cruise product is no longer commensurate with the few extra amenities you gain. Look elsewhere for better deals.

Just Me mentions $100.00 p.p. a day, we have been dropping about $630.00 per day p.p. so must be bargains we are missing.

We can get a huge three bedroom high end condo overlooking the Blue Pacific on the Kona Coast for $80 p.p. per day. Have to do our own cooking or eat out at one of the fine close by eateries though. We know, just wrote a check for a three week stay there beginning mid March. Been there before too. Tell me more about the best bang for our buck.

KENN, there are few, VERY few folks who post in cyber that I have conversed with over the years that have absolute credibility with me. What you are opining on would have been considered blasphemous not so long ago. However. it is becoming clearer and clear what even high end cruise lines seem to be inching toward. Its the old quantity vs quality discussion. Its important to note that the cruise lines aren't "in trouble", as anyone who wades through financials and eyeballs their SP's (those that are publicly traded) can easily see. Being able to do that and pick more winners than losers have allowed me the freedom in my dotage to cruise pretty much as I please. That doesn't make me smarter..just luckier. Its US that are having difficulties. By US, I mean those of us who remember the "not so long ago" when we KNEW what to expect onboard, and usually got it, and were surprised when we didn't. We are being replaced by a different generation who can claim that knowledge, but are more impressed with rock walls and kiddie car racetracks than superior service. It seems that their standards of what is an acceptable level of service and amenities are lower than most of ours. That's not an attack, that would be pointless. It simply is what it is..like most of us have decided long ago to ignore reviews by folks with no experience or those that are so old as to have decreasing value with the passage of time. I said that your recent post about the massive shipbuilding program at MSC spoke volumes. and volumes. They clearly would not commit to the financing required for a long term multibillion dollar agenda building ships bigger than USN full up aircraft carriers unless they intended to operate them at a profit, for more years than I have left above ground. The banks and other "lenders", and literally battalions of their bean counters and analysts agree with me. I too always felt that cruising gave us the "best bang for the buck". Once I realized it, I was hooked. I have experienced some subtle, and some not so subtle "downgrades" over the years. And quite frankly, I would defer to folks with more experience on other lines, even higher end ones, b4 I would dare opine about it. Hence, it IS becoming clear to me that either I should lower my expectations, or just get used to the idea that I'm paying MORE and getting less.