"Drinkflation" or Value Add?

I've heard the President speak recently about "Shrinkflation."  Certainly we know that snack food packaging in particular has a lot of air inside.

It's no mystery that inflation has taken its toll on most goods, one way or another, and less product volume can allow companies to stop prices from increasing.  It probably is healthier for us to eat a little smaller Snickers Bar or smaller bag of chips, though if like me you split a big serving with your wife, it might force you to buy a second and actually eat more.

What about cruises?

Prices have definitely gone up over the past couple of years, probably as much as in the prior ten years combined. 

Then again, the product has improved.

In fact, if you go with an older, smaller but still humongous mainstream ship instead of a state-of-the-art mega-ship, prices can be half as much for some cruises.  So, to a great extent, passenger demand for the newest and largest dictates price increases.

Another area that can result in higher prices are "value adds."  

You undoubtedly have been drawn in by ads promising free beverages, WiFi, shore excursions, air and more.  Prices are higher, but look at how much more you get! 

Many of these possibilities were just dreams ten years ago.  Now, customers can get what they said they wanted, which is the whole point.

Those Value Ads result in greater value for those who would purchase them regardless of whether these amenities are rolled into prices.

These Value Ads make the mainstream ships more like small, luxurious ships in terms of services, and those small ships demand two to four times the price of mainstream cruises.

In most cases, however, you can buy the same mainstream cruise stripped of amenities to save money upfront.

Princess has one of the easier to explain add-ons with Princess Plus, which costs $60 per passenger per day more than the Standard first and second passenger rates.  If you have a glass of wine or two with dinner or enjoy cappuccinos in the atrium, it makes sense for you, because you get pre-paid gratuities, Wi-Fi and other amenities in addition to that beverage package.

You can step up to Princess Premier for an extra $20 per passenger per day, getting even more included.  Thus far, I have not felt compelled to personally make the jump to Premier with Princess, a line that we cruise on frequently.  However, I will be watching for "Drinkflation."

What do I mean by Drinkflation?

Well, I confess that what brought this to my attention was a youtube video where a couple of guys on a Celebrity cruise challenge themselves to try each of the cocktails included on Celebrity's Classic Beverage Package.  To be included for the Classic Package, drinks have to be $10 or less on Celebrity.  If they wanted alcohol in their cocktails, there was only one on the whole ship, served at the Casino Bar.

Admittedly, they wanted what Jimmy Buffett called "Umbrella Drinks" or more serious drinks like Martinis.  "Well drinks" including many popular brands like Bacardi are included, so you can still get a Rum and Diet or Gin and Tonic, but not a Margarita.

In addition, there's only one red, white, pink and bubbly wine available under the package on most bar menus on Celebrity.  I'm not a picky wine drinker, but that will be a shock if wine is your dink. 

More surprising to me is that several beers, including Guinness and New Castle, were priced at $11.  So, you would be out of pocket $1 for each Guinness despite having added the Classic Drink Package.  

The easy solution would be for Celebrity to increase the allowable price under the Classic Package to be more like that on other mainstream lines, in the range of $12 to $16 caps per drink.

From the consumer's viewpoint, you can upgrade Celebrity Premium and enjoy more menu choices for that upsell charge.

Then again, if you rarely have more than a few beverages over the course of a week at home, there's really no reason to get a beverage package.  You sill get iced water, coffee, tea and a few other beverages included, plus usually once per cruise a Captain's Cocktail Party with free drinks.  Save your money.

Alternatively, if you enjoy adult beverages but are going on a port-intensive cruise where your favorite thing to do in port is to find a nice bistro or pub, you might want to save your money to buy drinks there.

For a limited budget, just get on a ship in the best room you can afford and make the best of it without "Value Ads" or perhaps that balcony you always insist on.  Each adult can bring a bottle of wine with them at initial embarkation to enjoy in the privacy of their own stateroom.

Then again, sometimes you just have to realize that prices are simply what they are and fortunately you can afford to live your dreams.