I've been cruising since the 90s. My most recent cruise was in Feb 2023. It was really disappointing. Our family feel it was not a good vacation. For the great deal of money we spent we did not receive a good cruise experience at all. Again, very disappointing. I can attest to all of the changes you are talking about. It seems "all inclusive" simply means a stateroom and a seat at the MDR. EVERYTHING else is extra, including the buffet. The lines can be ridiculous and then there's none of the food you like remaining. (We really dislike the big ships with 5k-6k people. We don't see the value in it all any longer.

The cutting corners/overcharging and other stuff is no surprise to me. I sense they've been wanting to do these things for years. Covid and the break in cruising was just the excuse they needed. A lot of this is shareholders wanting more returns!

Holland America still is serving people in the buffet, we love it.

I could barely afford a cruise before. Now I really can’t. Guess I’ll keep living vicariously through you Ben and David!

It's unfortunate because I started cruising December 2019. One transatlantic canceled early 2021 due to covid, then on Celebrity early 2022. Just went on another royal to Alaska this year. Already seeing big jumps in pricing with less than what I just started to enjoy. Reduced customer service and an overall reduction in feeling like its special. Hopefully the cruise lines will improve in the future, probably after a loss in business when they go too far. Balance is the key

Thank you Ben for being a fountain of unbiased information.

Absolutely love you Ben, I could listen to your voice all day with your beautiful accent! Everything was so informative, and we appreciate all you do to help us make the best of our cruise vacation ❤

Still love cruising and I will go with the changes that are happening as well as adjustments they make it isn’t going to change anything it won’t stop me from cruising while I can

The cruise lines won’t listen to our complaints until they feel it in their pocket book.

So happy we cruised when we did because we got the classic cruise experience! The last one was May 2022 when ships were sailing 2/3 full, and we were aboard the Princess Discovery on a round trip Alaskan journey. It was a beautiful sailing. So much has been cut back and the prices have increased dramatically. No longer the awesome experience they once were, imo.

Wouldn't it be so bad if our wages were keeping up with the increasing cost of living.

I call people out when I see them not wash your hands in the bathroom I also call people out in the buffet

I sailed on RC in May, the menu changes were not as bad as I heard and the quality of food was better. Although it didn’t have a lobster night at all, just shrimp

I’ve watched your other channel for years , since you sat in your kitchen with glasses of wine 😂!!! However I’ve only just discovered this channel and I’m really enjoying it too ! Especially all the valuable content about cruise news , so thanks for another great channel to watch . ❤😉

Thanks Ben 😊 Your videos are so informative and very much appreciated 😃

The Crew are THE BEST and they really are the Nucleus of any Cruise .. Love them so much

All the new things you mention are great for cruising. Although I kinda liked that I used to be able to put my cell phone in the cabin safe for the week. Now I need to carry it just to interreact with my cruise. Oh well, at least I can still go off-grid and unplug from the internet for a week. Cruises are still a great value, and it's always possible to find a good deal and even reprice later if an even better deal comes along. Taxes, port fees and gratuities haven't changed - these are nothing new, except that they have increased a few dollars - only an issue for the uninformed first time cruiser. The food and service in the MDR is always fantastic, and I like the new menus now. There is more variety on the menu now that they removed those same three boring every night dishes. Try something new. And if you have to have spaghetti bolognese on the nights when it is not on the menu, you should ask for it on the first night - the maitre'd and your waiter will likely help. The additional charges are nothing new. It's always been an a-la-carte system. Nothing has changed. 20 years ago your fare paid for interior room with included access to shows, the MDR and the buffet, same as today. 20 years ago you paid extra for upgraded rooms, drinks, the casino, the spa, excursions and ship-to-shore phone calls. These extra charges and all the other new extra charge options for special dining help keep the base fare low. Some will think these options are a good value and pay for it, others will not. Do you have 10 lobster tails in the MDR for no extra charge (really? gluttony?) Can you order late night room service without an additional charge (party late, order RS, pass out and never open the cabin door?) These changes are good, and well thought out. These are wasteful things, much like the midnight buffet, and pillow mints were 20 years ago.

When the industry started back up, it seemed they were desperate to get passengers back. Not anymore? When I look at last minute booking sites, I see a number of sailings not filled. Have they possibly gone too far with pricing already?

Another banger, and the audio was much more balanced. My ears and headphones thank you, Ben.

I'm reviewing Riverside Luxury Cruises at the end of this month in South of France, then immediately after Crystal from Instanbul > Venice. I'm curious what the "luxe" ships are doing in regards to cut backs. I'll report back!

they have crunched the numbers and now have programs that model the cruise populations from before to after cruising. They small attack on the passenger good will creates a parody to the employee relationship/ bond that makes the service on of the main reasons we repeat our cruise.

Gratuities are automatic not mandatory. You can stop, decrease or increase them as you see fit. Cruise lines increase the cruise costs but don’t give the crew any additional salaries. PAY the crew!!! Include it in the cruise cost.

Ben, we recently booked for next March, after sailing this past March. Found a deal where have it all AND gratuities were included.! Evidently their way of trying to get some of that money back was charging extra for a few cabin decks. Deck 5 was $120 more, and some others were $60 more. I usually stay on 5, but not this time. I didn't know it was such a happening place!

❤❤❤❤❤❤ all of your videos from both channels

I have found that the Buffet offerings are much the same each day. Many people using the same utensils is just asking to get sick. I like it when the staff give us what we want. Instead I like to go to the dining room if possible. However it is often closed on a port day which is frustrating.

You highlight some important issues but cruise demand is higher than ever, in addition they cruise lines had to borrow billions to get afloat during the pandemic, so it will only get worse. As you mentioned it is not just cruise lines, some hotels now charge to get your room cleaned, no longer covered in the cost of the room

Love you Guys thanks for all new info!

It would be great if instead of cutting so many services, the "C" suite employees of the cruise lines would chip in and take pay (bonus) cuts. I don't mind paying for room service (that always made sense anyway otherwise not so special), having the room made up only once a day, and paying for a THIRD entree. That stuff is minor in my opinion. But I'd feel better about it if I knew the cruise lines (and airlines, giant corporations etc) were ALSO doing without.

It’s interesting to see the visible shift in what people are saying There are a lot more complaints and people saying they regret cruise line loyalty. This is during a period of maximized profits. Royal Caribbean alone had 35% growth in profit over expectations Its not sustainable it is forcing consumers to make different choices. I am booked to two cruise that I booked at earlier times. A time that didn’t have nickel and dining - with service decline. But I am not pre-booking anymore. I thinks other learned that lesson too. Package offers have revived are better. They are bragging about where they are on earnings calls - forgetting loyal customers bought stocks. This is a disaster

Thanks again for such an informative video! You’re the best 🎉

Thank you for your recent video. I recently read that on the MSc seaside they are getting charged for a second entrée, of $5.00. Maybe a land all inclusive vacation might be alternative. No nickel and dimming us. Thanks again.

Thanks Ben. Love you!

Sadly RC didn’t offer lobster for free on any of the formal nights on our recent 2 weeks on Anthem! It’s a extra pay option every evening instead. Very disappointing indeed.

Great synopsis of the current state of affairs. I will cruise again, it just might be a few years from now as they rebuild their workforce and as prices (hopefully) stabilize.

The cruise lines are busy building mostly bigger ships - where will it all end? I’ve completed 101 (yes 101) cruises since 1987. I’m thankful that I’ve cruised when the cruise industry was in its infancy and progressing. Having said that, our recent cruise on the Symphony of the Seas last month in July was excellent service wise and entertainment wise - no problems or issues at all.

It sounds like I'm going to have to start looking at premium cruise lines like Virgin and Celebrity to get the value I'm looking for. The nickel and diming can get really frustrating.

Dear Ben and David, W

I took a shot every time he said unfortunate and now I'm about to fall off my chair.

Price hikes and shortchanging customers are the most prominent changes in cruising, especially scummy Royal Caribbean.

Its time for the tips yes men to get into the tips reality. Fight back!

I checked the price of a cruise in the morning, by the afternoon it had gone up $100 dollars!

Yet I hear these ships are fully booked so I suspect more changes will be coming that increase the cost of cruising.

I get it. Inflation is high. Prices are increasing with decreased services and/or a lesser product. However, my concern is that things will never course correct should the economy take an upturn. For example, twice daily stateroom servicing will never make a return. If it does return, i would bet all the cash in my wallet that a second servicing will come with an additional cost.

Good info thanks. About the only good thing I heard was Starlink.

Sadly, it’s obviously a sign of the times. Though, not much we can do about it. We still wouldn’t consider having another kind of holiday just yet! 🥰

Much of paying more and getting less seems to be related to staffing. The reduction in cabin services may be because they have fewer trained cabin staff to perform them. Fewer choices for dining may be because they have fewer trained chefs in the kitchens who can crank out huge quantities of high-quality food. Increasing gratuities may be an effort to attract more of these skilled personnel. Nationally in all service-related jobs, it seems that there are fewer employees willing and able to deal with their clientele or with the public, and that may be, in part, because too many of us fail to show appreciation for what they do!

I know this is more of a European channel but just one word. Alaska. If you haven't cruised Alaska, do it. 💕

I noticed and appreciated the sanitation efforts on the Symphony earlier this year. The menu changes on RCCL are disappointing. The food was good, but the menus are so disjointed as there are not enough menu items to achieve all they want to do in a cohesive fashion. You can get an Indian entree every night no matter what the theme, but there was never an appetizer or dessert that would complement it correctly because it would be Mexican or Italian night. If they want to satisfy every demographic, the old classic menu was better.

LIKE DISNEY, CRUISES ARE MOVING TO BE OUT OF THE PRICE RANGE FOR MOST FAMILIES! THE CRUISE LINES WOULD STOP BUILDING BIGGER AND BIGGER SHIPS AND USE MORE OF THE OLDER SHIPS TO SAVE MONEY!

But yet a lot of people are booking cruises - can't find deals I used to.

The conclusion is that service and food experiences are down and the costs are up. We will generally cruise with the smaller companies but you do pay more.

Cruises, have gotten extremely expensive, don’t know if we will be booking any time soon

And with cruises pd in advance you are still forced to pay extra on cruise.🤨

Crews are notoriously underpaid. Consider the base price compared to the crew-to-passenger ratio. If you appreciate crew, please tip well.

MSC charging $5 extra plate of food in the MDR is all the way laughable and unbookable

I had to cancel my Disney cruise because they still require covid testing despite having all vaccines

Royal has Nickel and dime us to death. Latest is rumor of pizza charges. Proud to be Diamond but might serious quit cruising and go back to land based vacations.

Cruising I feel is way too expensive. All this extras they didn't ask years ago. I'd rather fly to wherever I wish to go. Especially since I don't have to pay for lodging here in the States.

The biggest change is the nickel and diming. Royal has eliminated countless items. Some bloggers are nothing more than shills for the company.

❤

This has made my mind up, I will not be going on a cruise.

NO ONE ShOULD EVER PAY GRATUITIES! GRATUITIES ARE NOT TIPS. THEY ARE SALARY PAID BY THE CUSTOMER INSTEAD OF THE CRUISE LINE. I ALWAYS TELL THE SHIP, "DO NOT CHARGE ME GRATUITIES". I PAY TIPS SPECIFICALLY USUALLY TO THE 2 WAITERS AND THE CABIN STEWARD!

Now im starting to get concerned about our post plandemic New Zeland cruise next year :( Wonder how different itll be

Enhanced cleaning 😂 NOT on P&O Arvia absolutely shocking behaviour especially around toilets never once saw anybody wash their hands in the gents, not once in 2 weeks.P&O have no idea what clean is

It you order 3 entrées you deserve to pay more.

Oh, why over work their awesome staff who work tirelessly and having reduced rest break is totally not fair -they are not robots they are brilliant hard working humans

Whered my comment go..

Cruise 🛳 🚢 Cash 💸 💰 🤑 Collapse!😡

You didn't mention the cruise ship that will be ran off hydrogen?

My wife mother of 2 has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer our 12yr Autistic son really wants to go on the icon of the seas

Still miss the positive news? LNG ships...oke, better washy washy, upgrading medical, better apps? It's all downgrading at this moment. Thats a fact, and we all pay more and more and more.. for less. Still, we love cruising, but the good old days will never return for sure. Unfortunally.

They all need to STOP building MONSTER ships and focus on keeping guests happy by looking after them. They're charging more to cover building the monster ships. And countries DONT WANT to take in these humongous vessels..It's getting too much. People cruise to see places. Whats the point of a rip off ship to hardly anywhere??

Have you still got to have the poison jabs if so im out

You keep saying "we" (do this/that) when it's ONLY YOU! AND quite frankly, I prefer when you are talking alone.

I went on an NCL cruise recently out of Athens and I do not like the changes on the cruise ships. There were three main bait and switches that occurred. Initially I booked to go on Viva. It was changed to Getaway. The Getaway was boring! Bait and Switch #2 was it was supposed to be two days one night Istanbul port of call. The first day was taken away and we were left with 6:00am to 2:00pm on a Friday. We couldn't even go inside the Hagia Sophia because it's closed every Friday Morning. The third Bait and Switch was the Drinks Package. I was told Grey Goose was covered by my Travel Agent and by NCL Representative on the phone. When I got on the ship they charged me an additional $2.40/drink. Talk about being pennywise and pound foolish. I'm so done with NCL. Every breakfast I had involving eggs was revolting. Especially O'Sheehans. yuck...i still get grossed out thinking about it. The Garden Cafe is low grade dog food. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rraRds941a_Ke2g.html The Mediterranean ports of call are too damn short and start at 6:00AM. Nothing opens until 8am or 9am. Then you have to be back on the boat by 1:00 or 2:00pm. There's no time to even get lunch or go shopping. The excursions are all coach bus with jerks who come back late to the bus when the tour guidetells you to. NCL has few options for Small Group or Private. It's so hard to tell what they are when ordering the excursion on their site. I like to eat at good restaurants and the specialty dining on NCL is not up to snuff. I truly believe the meat and fish is previously frozen. The lines to get on and off the boat in 100 degree weather is too damn long. The constant selling on the boat ruins the experience. They have photographers circling like sharks in the dining room. In the hallways they have cruise chuggers trying to get you to buy spa treatments and other BS. Everyday I would get a voicemail from some Bozo in Cruisefirst trying to get me to buy another cruise. The boat is crowded and if you don't go on the waterslides or sit in the sun there's nothing to do on the Getaway. The boat was packed and I couldn't even use the ping pong table once. I'd rather just go to Europe on my own and stay at a hotel and get Viator excursions. Eat the quality food on shore instead of the dog food on the boat.