Q – Our frrinds in Aiken keep wanting us to join them on a Caribbean cruise. They tend to go with Princess or Holland America. We’ve done our last two cruises on Sea Dream Yachts and Seabourn, so we’re reluctant to get on any boat that doesn’t have “Sea” in its name. But then again, pennies always count in our house and we’re wondering if paying two or three times more is really a good idea or even necessary in the Caribbean. We all follow this site religiously and we’re good Baptists!
A – There are so many ways to respond to this question. Let us summarize some of our staff’s primary responses:
Your pricing assumptions are not really correct. We’ve done the analysis, and when you figure in Seabourn’s free air, gratuities, drinks, one or two shore excursions, the price per day for similar accommodations after all discounts are applied, may well turn out to be less than $100 per day per guest. Now for some folks, that is a lot of money. But in the scheme of things, we definitely feel that you will feel you get what you are paying for.
We would normally say join your friends. The fact that you will all be traveling together, makes it possible to pre-arrange some of your own shore excursions. You may, for example, work with a consultant who can get you in to some of the region’s most exclusive resorts. Your feeling that the Caribbean may be the place to step down a grade or two makes sense if you are prepared for the realities. Those realities on mass market lines now include large influxes of non-English speaking guests and an increasingly higher percentage of blue-collar, budget conscious travelers.
Our primary concern is that you have been to the mountaintop. Sea Dream Yachts, for instance, do not normally sail out of Florida. They begin and end their itineraries in the Caribbean avoiding the, sometimes rough waters, between the islands and the Florida Straits. Given their small size, Sea Dream can take you to islands or private berths that the bigger ships can only visit in their dreams.
Before committing to Holland America or Princess, determine what the real per Diem’s will be for the level of suite you may need to keep you in one of the nicer areas of the ship. Think about thousands of fellow travelers and how you will feel about that. Imagine being nickel and dimed continually. The value will have to be significant to decide that you are willing to put up with that. But who knows – your friend’s company may be well worth these relative “sacrifices”. If you do go with your friends, pre-negotiate that they will pick up your drinks. Explain you are not in the habit of having to pay for them.
