Cruise vacations were the original “all-inclusives”. In the past few decades the cruise pricing model has migrated ashore, and for the mass-market cruise lines more fee-for-service options have appeared.
As a result, many of the small-ship lines, luxury lines, and river-cruise lines have reverted to the all-inclusive model. However – the devil is in the details.
For example, the price variation between two comparable river cruises in Europe may differ by 100%.
Yep – same river, same duration, same port stops – and one cruise is twice as much as the other.
How do you compare?
Different lines offer different inclusions, and people value those inclusions differently. So how do you figure out what is the best option is for you?
You need to list the inclusions, and assign a value to them so you can get an ‘apples to apples’ comparison.
Here are some ideas:
Gratuities: This one is probably the easiest. The cruise lines assign a value to them, which makes it reasonable easy to determine the value. Some of the small-ship lines include tips, so you should value these at about $20 per person, per day.
Beverage Package: This really depends on how much you drink, and what you like to drink, but often people under-estimate the value of a beverage package. When you’re paying $10 per drink, it doesn’t take long to add up if you’re paying directly. So how many drinks do you think you’ll have a day (be honest!) and multiply that by $6 (beer), $8 (spirits), $10 (wine), or more if you’ve got expensive tastes. Don’t forget the gratuities, which are often added automatically. Conversely – if you’re on a river cruise, remember that you are on shore most of the time, and you won’t have much of an opportunity to drink on the ship outside of meal times.
Entertainment: The entertainment on board ships may have no value to you, unless you are making cruise decisions specifically based on this. In this case, you need to figure out what you would pay at home, and assign it that value. For example, if the Broadway show that would cost you $150 per seat is on the cruise you’re looking at, then you should value it appropriately.
Shore Excursions: It is easy to spend a fortune on shore excursions, so on the lines that include them, you need to assign a value to those included excursions. The trick here is to assign a value only the included shore excursions that you would have paid for. If there’s an excursion or two that you would take – but only because it’s included, then I would deduct that you’re your calculation.
Specialty Dining: On the small-ship lines the food is usually exceptionally good. So, if you’re sailing on Seabourn (for example), and you eat at the Thomas Keller restaurant twice (included in your fare), you should probably value that at $325 for each meal – that’s what it would cost you on shore.
Air: This may seem like an easy calculation by simply figuring out what a flight would cost you if it is included in the fare. However, if you want to fly on points, have a relationship with the airline, or can get an air credit in lieu of the cruise line’s included air package, then you need to value it accordingly.
So here’s how it might look for 2 identical 7-night cruises in Europe:
| Cruiseline A | Cruiseline B | |
| Fare | $2000 | $4000 |
| Gratuities | $140 | Included |
| Beverages (4 drinks/day) | $32 X 7 days = $224 | Included |
| Entertainment | $100 on shore | Included |
| Shore Excursions (4 ports) | $75 per port X 4 = $300 | Included |
| Specialty Dining | $150 on shore | Included |
| Air to Europe | $1000 | Included |
| Total | $3900 | $4000 |
So now, these cruises look far more comparable. For me personally, I’d pay the extra $100 to not be bothered with constantly having to pull out my key-card to pay for things.
Keep in mind when comparing different cruises that there may be benefits that are more difficult to quantify, but still have a ‘value’. These include things like:
- Higher staff-to-guest ratio
- More space onboard per guest
- More dining options
- The company of like-minded travellers
- Availability of enrichment activities related to a ‘theme’
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
