Cruise prices - is this normal?

[PJHarvey]

I've been interested in a cruise for a while now, but I'm getting a bit of a shock at the prices when I go to book.

Looking at a week in the Med with a mid range cruise line, with the standard drinks package and at least an oceanview cabin. It's looking like £3.5k for two people and that's not including flights. If we want a standard balcony in a vaguely decent location (not over a theatre for example) it's closer to £4.5k.

I'm looking over 18 months in advance which is supposedly cheaper, and avoiding summer and school holidays. The dates in the weeks before and after are similar prices.

Interested to know what others are paying and if there are any tips or tricks I'm not aware of. Or is this just what cruises cost now?

I've heard friends say a cruise is great value, but when I can get a 5 star all inclusive resort (plus flights) for half the price, I'm not so sure.

I would expect a cruise to cost a lot more than a hotel! Think of the upkeep of the ship and the cost of the fuel! Also I believe there is a higher ratio of staff.

@PJHarvey I think you also need to look at the cost of excursions. These are very very expensive. You cannot always just walk into the port town/city or see the “must see” site.

Our dc enjoyed big ships. We didn’t. Without dc, as they are now late 20s, we would not go near any huge ship now. We just like a high quality hotel and great restaurants. Cruise food is not great. It’s mass catering at a budget. Activities for dc were good but the best cruise was Norway with my dm! Cheap and cheerful and P&O from Southampton.

I went on a P & O cruise in 2001 sharing a suite with my parents who paid £1500 each for a 10 day cruise to Madiera & the Canary Islands, I only paid £300 as I slept on the sofa bed. P & O aren't like floating Butlins at all, we all absolutely loved it & I nearly had to be dragged off kicking & screaming because I didn't want to leave. The food is amazing, I had a different curry each lunchtime for 10 days, the entertainment is good, our cruise was a 1960's themed cruise & there were original 1960's groups on every night in the main entertainment suite, the theatre shows were excellent & there were talks & quizzes if you wanted something different, I went to the cinema one night & had the whole place to myself. Harry Redknapp was on the cruise with his wife & sat on the next table to us for dinner. The only advice I can give you is seriously think if you really want to go on the trips, for the money they really aren't worth it, the only one that was worth the money was the one to the volcano fields where Star Wars was filmed.

Look on YouTube at Cruise with Ben & David, they go on all the different cruise company Cruises & are completely honest about which ones are good & bad, from what I have seen I would avoid MSC.

I love watching Ben and David, and I'm not even planning on going on a cruise!

I've been on lots of different cruises but much prefer Norwegian Line. The entertainment is better.

Same! Those guys are Amazing. 🩵

They're so much fun and their nephews are adorable

I’ve done a few Tui cruises.
The cruise ship is great.
However the flights out and back are very busy and the last time we returned via Corfu airport and queued from the arrival at the airport until we got on the plane.
It’s really put me off.

I would never go on a cruise where you had to fly.

For me the whole point of cruising is avoiding flying and being able to take unlimited luggage on board.

So I've adjusted expectations a bit and am now considering MSC. I know someone who did a cruise with them recently and loved it, and a lot of the complaints online seem to be from Americans who have very different expectations to Europeans.

For example I don't need or want waiters fawning over me or checking on me every five minutes, so I don't think the service would be an issue for me.

There are some itineraries on their newer ships that look great, and we can get a balcony room with the drinks package, WiFi, etc, for around £2.5k.

When in the year are you going?

That sounds good! Meant to say the prices I gave for Celebrity and Royal Caribbean were for a family of 4 and without all-included drinks. Given we are travelling with children the drinks packages have never been worthwhile for us. Even if we shared a bottle of wine every night and bought a couple of cocktails it still wasn’t worth it for us, I think.

I too think the MSC itineries look good. However, what put me off booking with them is they don't do fly-cruises, so you have to book your own flight separately. Just remember to factor that into the total cost.

We did an MSC cruise last year and LOVED IT- within 24 hours of disembarking I had booked another one

Like you I was so worried about the reviews before we left, but after stalking the Facebook groups 24/7, and then based on our experience I discovered the following:

1. A lot of negative reviews seemed to relate to the mini cruises which are like booze cruises
2. Msc is well known as a fun ship with lots of activities but it seemed some people had booked it expecting a similar vibe to Cunard and the like despite it being less than half the price
3. People saying the buffet was crowded- yes if you don't move a yard past the entrance! The buffet is the whole of deck 15! Walk straight through to the back and we found lots and lots of space

I can imagine if you have cruised previously then that comes with a certain level of expectation and maybe if you're used to clicking your fingers and someone appearing then MSC might not match those expectations. But for us,
We absolutely loved it and found it incredible value. Ive never seen the kids so happy, they are counting the days until the next one.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.