[rustyp]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Thanks everyone for all of the information. After reading it, I think that I will remove cruising from my list of things to do. As some have said, it sounds to me like a bait and switch ripoff. I was not looking for a discount cruise, just an honest company that had upfront pricing. I have plenty of money to spend and can afford any cruise, but I just don't like getting taken advantage of. The tipping, wifi charges, high drink prices, dishonest advertising, etc. are insulting to me. Why would a company expect me to tip their employees automatically, and why would they charge me for wifi that is free everywhere else? I think I'll do something else with my money instead. Why doesn't someone offer an upfront, fixed price deal with no mandatory tipping and other bogus charges?

You are a wise consumer. Independent of your choice it is obvious you did your homework before making a decision. One item we did neglect that is also not cheap and gets one to 2x-4x over the advertised price is insurance. Quick story - We were booked on a Canada/New England cruise Sept of this year. The day we were to board the ship hurricane Hermine hit NYC. The cruise company did not cancel the trip and had the right to reroute. I sensed that was going to happen. As result the cruise skipped three of 7 ports of call with no compensation to patrons. Rough seas and 42% of ports cancelled. As required by most cruise companies full payment in advance. They had our $12K. Got $11K back. Sure am glad we had insurance. I'll go this year and hopefully enjoy it the way I envisioned it.