What do you want for nothing...a Rubber Biscuit!!!
Posted on 11/24/2025 8:20:38 AM PST by DallasBiff
They’re sea-sick of it.
Frustrated cruise passengers are sounding the distress signal over a rising trend toward nickel-and-diming, as lines find new and creative ways to upsell their customers on everything from drinks to arcade games.
A queasy traveler started an interesting conversation on the subject online, recently about which lines fleece their guests and which actually deliver on the all-inclusive promise.
The high seas set-to kicked off over a woman detailing her poor experience on an MSC cruise, where she said she was upsold significantly on spa treatments. Her account, posted elsewhere on Reddit, inspired a slew of salty tales.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Same as airlines.
NCL is the worst offender.
We’ve been on one cruise and we won’t do it again. But the company spelled out very clearly in advance what was included and what would be an extra charge. The worst was their communications system was terrible. We paid extra for internet service calling it “spotty” would be a gross overstatement. We got some money back, but they should have refunded our entire internet charges. They blamed it on being in northern latitudes (southern Alaska) where the satellites don’t roam.
Spirit Cruise Lines
Cruises seem so contrived and artificial to me. Kind of like Las Vegas. I went once and was NOT impressed.
Not Viking. They are awesome, and no riffraff. Worth every penny.
I understand that there are some lower capacity cruises, primarily in Europe, but the jumbo monsters based in Miami and Fort Lauderdale have all the charm of Continental Trailways.
Cruises are different things to different people. And those different things will turn out differently.
For example:
1) They are a way to visit several places and unpack/pack only once. Ditto check in/check out only once. This is a lot of vacation hourly overhead not lost.
2) They are a way for drunks to pay for a drink package up front and not keep track of it as they pour it down their throats drink by drink.
3) Some cruises go places you can’t get to any other way. For example tourism to Antarctica. Glacier Bay Alaska (you can get there on foot, but 99% of visitors are by cruise ship).
4) They are a way to lose even more money with a gambling addiction as cruise ship casino slots are set for far more money to the “house” than Vegas.
5) Infinite food, good or bad.
They offer things like entertainment and pool parties, but people don’t book for those. They book above.
You want to avoid getting nickle-and-dimed on a cruise? Don’t go on a cruise! Goodness gracious. Do I have to think of EVERYthing?
I have taken a total of one cruise ship trip, to Nova Scotia from NYC with eastern seaboard stops along the way. Had a daily rate for the package I chose - which was in addition to the cruise rate for the cabin selected. They had a casino on board. I had no daily rate expenses on my account at the conclusion of the cruise. They owed me money after considering all my casino winnings. Not a bad way to travel.
I would do that cruise again if they’d let me divide it into one-way to Nova Scotia, with a week or two stay over in Nova Scotia, and one-way return to NYC.
What do you want for nothing...a Rubber Biscuit!!!
Paid for an upcoming cruise. This article is spot on.
There is a daily, per-person charge for:
Internet — $26
Drinks (just soda $11 per day)
Alcohol Drinks ($38 per day) Not getting
Mandatory gratuity ($580 for our party of 4)
Eating at premier restaurants ($100 to $500 per person, per event)
Excursions ($100 to $3,000 per event.)
The “printer” is the actual cruise. The “ink” is absolutely everything once on the ship. Ridiculous. Never again.
Did a Holland America cruise Santiago to Buenos Aires...down through some pretty remote areas in the Magellan Straits. Was skeptical of the WiFi package, but found out they have Starlink and it worked perfectly the whole cruise.
The thought of being on a cruise is about as appealing as a long-distance flight on Spirit Airlines.
We’ve been on Royal Caribbean 3 times; but the last time was over 6 years ago.
Any word on where RC fits into this upcharging? We truly enjoyed sailing with them (into the Gulf of America and the Caribbean sea each time).
Give away the razor, sell the blades.
But A LOT of pennies!
Except they wouldn't allow me to wear my horned helmet to raid and burn villages along their route. Viking indeed!
“NCL is the worst offender.”
Not in my experience. One extra charge for the free at sea, and you get:
Enough Internet to check your e-mail and do some basic things every day
Extra specialty meals
Drink package
Small credit toward shore excursions
You COULD pay for all of these separately, but why?
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