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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My cousin has a bit of a gambling problem, so they give her really good prices on cruises. I’m too cheap to waste my money in the casino, but I do get to share her great rate. Works for me!
I just bought a row boat.
I’m satisfied.
Yeah, but the mead is delicious....
The two cruises I took were both jewelry honey traps. The cost of the cruise was reasonable but the two diamonds my wife was brainwashed to buy broke the bank.
Sheesh!
RC is still good. Carnival is spirit Airlines.
I went on a Princess Alaska cruise (Whittier to Vancouver) including bus up to and train back from Denali...outstanding in every way.
Carnival was just installing Starlink on their ships a couple years ago. They were promoting the upgrade on our cruise! Meanwhile, what they had on our ship never worked. The line at the internet company’s kiosk with long with complainers, but they basically gave everybody a big FU.
Read the liability waiver and the choice of law and forum for where disputes must be litigated and under what country’s law before signing the contract. If things go wrong, as they often do, the rights of the traveler are very limited.
I am repelled by the idea of being in a place where I cannot walk out and leave.
There are those who prefer the ‘nickel and diming’ because we don’t like to pay for things that we don’t use. Ala carte, OTOH, means you can pick and choose the things you want and only pay for those things.
Too many seem to think that if the cruise lines did not ‘nickel and dime’ and included everything in the base fare, that those ‘nickel and dines’ would be free. Everything that is included in the fare, increases the fare. TANSTAAFL.
The cruise we went on offered a “drinks package.” I got the one with unlimited soft drinks, but some in our group got the alcohol package. They were limited to a number of drinks per 24 hours. Which seemed like a lot to me
Good to know. Thank you. My oldest son’s family went with Norwegian last summer and they report the same nickel and dime BS. As it was stated in the article.
We did a river cruise with Viking about 10 years ago. Basel => Amersterdam.
We liked it quite well. The only down side is you’re a little locked into eating on the boat, not that the food was bad or anything, it was quite good. Just that eating at a local restaurant meant you were effectively paying twice for the meal.
Wife and I have done a couple of cruises with Norwegian Cruise Lines over the last year, and we’ve been happy.
The extra charge for WiFi is a ripoff, though.
My wife and I have been going on tours with a small “cultural discovery” company in Italy and Croatia the last couple of years. The cost is reasonable, certainly not exorbitant, and these folks are incredible. They pay for absolutely everything once you get there, and do not scrimp on anything. It’s really refreshing, and the reason we keep going back
And don’t forget the cruise port of Galveston, Texas. It is huge.
Also we use Continental Trailways for trips between Bangor, Maine and Boston. It stops at the airport-so we don’t need to park our car in the Boston airport.
Since I am a suite cruiser (and a loyalty Diamond member), I get free wifi in my suite, four drink vouchers per day to use anywhere, free beer, wine, and soft drinks in the suite lounge from 11:00am to 11:00 pm, 24-hour premium coffee, and an hors d'oeuvres and cocktail happy hour from 5:00pm - 8:00pm where the drinks are free. I don't get the drink package, as this is plenty for me.
I noticed the uptick in upselling in the main dining room about 15 years ago and didn't like it when they interrupted the meal and conversation to pitch their premium dining packages. I did notice that they lowered their upscale dining rates in the back half of the cruise.
That said, Royal Caribbean has been moving away from 7+ night cruises for their premier ships and has targeted the 3-4 night family cruisers. People have noticed that on the longer cruises, the clientele is older and more affluent, but their spending habits are different. Now they can squeeze two cruises into one week.
Many are Diamond+ or Pinnacle cruisers, so they get deep discounts on their staterooms and generous on-board benefits. Also, many cruisers are tapped out by the fourth night of the cruise and close their wallets to more upselling.
That's why these cruise lines have moved their larger ships to the shorter cruise market like South Florida, where they can turn over the wallets every four days from young families looking for a quick cruise experience from Ft. Lauderdale or Miami to the Bahamas and the line's private beach island, where they can charge even more for the full water park experience at what used to be just a free beach and barbecue afternoon.
-PJ
We book our own excursions-somewhat more expensive but no sitting in a cramped bus for several hours.
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