ColoradoGurl

I don’t have inside info, but my guess is a sale that provides some amount of discount along with a possibility of some OBC that equates to a final price that is within $100 or so of the current sale price.

Maybe a base price increase with a larger % discount, or a larger OBC offering than the current sale, or an extension of the current 30% off.

Their sales are basically just different combinations of discounts or credits that each appeal to different people, but always appears to be a temporary deal to someone who hasn’t been tracking prices for a year or 5.

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I thought you had to check the sofas back in at the same place you check the towels back in. Otherwise you might get charged a missing sofa fee.

But isn’t the whole point of the sofa package that you can try out a new sofa, but throw it overboard if you don’t like it?

I suppose I can see incurring a $25 “overboard” fee for polluting the oceans (credit to Molly361 whom I forgot to quote for the overboard fee comment) (since we want to “save the waves” and everything), but they can’t just go around charging fees to people for missing sofas, especially when you have the package.

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This entire post is an incredibly superb and thoughtful. Well said ColoradoGurl. {..applause...}

Hey thanks! And thanks for reading it, I know it was long, haha!

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Are we allowed to share the sofa with others who don't have the package?

Oooo, that’s a tough one. Maybe if you buy a single seat sofa, then no. But if you buy a sofa with several seats then it would be treated like a bottle of wine, and you could share.

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They should find another way to enforce their alcohol consumption policy and not force me to spend hundreds of dollars. Note: this was not in place when I booked the cruise.

They won’t find another way because they don’t have to. There are lots of people who, like you, seem to think that they “Have to” buy a drink package. No, you don’t.

If only 1 out of 3 people drinks, then why would you guys feel forced to shell out $1500 for that one person to drink???? It would be a whole lot cheaper for that 1 drinker to pay out of pocket, since it’s highly unlikely they’ll drink $1500 worth of alcohol.

If she doesn’t want to pay out of pocket, well, nobody is forcing her to drink at all.

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Yes its Good to be Rewarded? for loyalty with Royal, however it would seem that Royal are leaning/encouraging New Cruisers rather than the customers who helped them get where they are now IMHO.

 

Loyalty goes both ways and they should Remember we can Vote with our Feet.

Royal also tending to lean more towards a Family/Younger Experience than us Older ones, especially with the refurbishments on Indy, more Staterooms less Space and the themed Laser Park etc.

As a general rule, it is easier to retain a current customer than acquire new ones, but in the case of cruising I think that rule is broken a bit. It used to be that only older, wealthier people could afford to take vacations, and cruise lines tried to offer a more luxury experience to match that target market.

However, the societal culture has changed recently, partly due to social media and the focus put on doing activities that are photographable and “postable.” But also because people’s attitudes have shifted away from believing

‘a person should work hard their whole life for one company, accept their 2 vacation weeks (that they probably wouldn’t take) until they get to retirement and can start traveling,’

to one where ‘a person should enjoy life, maximize their free time and fit in as many experiences as possible, shop your loyalty around to the job that offers the most salary and vacation time, and buy things from the companies who offer the best deals.’

The culture is not about long term hard work and company loyalty anymore, and that has made it a lot easier to acquire new customers without having to care as much about retaining the old ones who stuck around for a long time in order to cash in their perks.

They’re making more money off the mass market, who jumps around from company to company, looks for the deal they like best (hence the constant fake sales that are presented in different ways but boil down to the same basic price) and moves on to the next thing. Royal only has to attract and please people once, because there is a constant flow of people willing to pay money for whatever the current experience offered is, and that will continue to change along with activities people show they are willing to jump on board and pay for.

And as far as “voting with your feet,” well, people keep saying that, but they don’t do it, and several posts on this thread prove why...they start out with the words “we’ll always be loyal to royal BUT...” and end with “this MIGHT be our last cruise...” but that generation of people still hold that old mindset of “stick with it for the long term,” and therefore Royal gets the best of both worlds; holding onto current customers while taking advantage of the fact that there’s a constant stream of new ones ready to jump on board the ship that offers the most photographable activities, even if it means they have to pay for them.

If people aren’t happy with a product, why in the world would they proclaim loyalty to it? That doesn’t make sense at all. Stop giving them your money and move on, quit that “job,” get a “divorce” and leave that miserable marriage, and freaking enjoy your life because it’s too short to invest your time and money into something you say you’re not happy with.

Most of us are ok with the constant changes because we’ve come to expect them in society as a whole. We sign up for a cruise experience that charges money for everything, and we get to decide what we pay for and what we don’t, and we’re not paying a super high price for amenities that we won’t get to use until we’ve taken our 100th cruise, we pay for what we use and other people pay for what they use.

And we probably won’t stick around for 40 years giving our money to the same company either, because there’s too many other things to do out there than repeat the same thing over and over again. It’s just not the way most people do things anymore.

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Also you lose $100 per person, not total.

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I would consider buying the sofa package, but only on the ships with the freestyle machines because there’s more color choices than just your basic colors at the bar.

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Currently on Oasis in a D6 OV balcony. Cabin was $1,380 for both of us. $100 OBC from NextCruise, $50 OBC from travel agent. Good value in my opinion

 

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That’s a great value!

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Does your $2,000 cover taxes, fees, gratuities, drinks, tours, and all other options on the ship and in port? Being in an inside cabin means you get 0 perks.

Yes, the $2,000 covers taxes, fees and gratuity, but does not cover drinks or tours. I rarely drink alcohol or soda, even at an all-inclusive that includes it. My Disney price didn’t include alcohol either.

However, you do make a good point in the fact that with a cruise, while you CAN keep the cost low by enjoying the free entertainment on the ship, you can easily add $1,000 or more to the trip if you do tours, pay for taxis to beaches, or buy souvenirs or lunch off the ship. I have done it both ways. At ports that I’ve been to before, I don’t tend to spend any extra money, but on my last port intensive southern cruise, I spent $1,500 extra dollars on tours, food and trinkets in 5 islands as well as $40 at each port in taxi fare to and from beaches at most of them, and extra tips to all the tour people and a couple of ship staff.

My upcoming summer cruise comes in at $1,928 for the room, taxes, fees and tips. No drink package, but I wouldn’t be paying for alcohol on my land vacation either. While I don’t care about any of the perks for having “status” or a suite etc, I do have the Ben and Jerry Room this time and that room does actually have perks. For me though, the only perk I will use is the free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, because I don’t care about VIP seating, suite lounges, or free drinks that I won’t drink anyway.

So, it just depends on the person and what you want to do, and how you enjoy your vacation. Sometimes I like to pack in the additional port activity, and sometimes I just like to enjoy the stuff that comes free with the cruise-fare.

My point is that it is possible to enjoy a cruise vacation without spending all that extra money, depending on the type of trip you want to have. I have a fairly large yearly vacation budget for the average person (though not nearly as much as a lot of people with extra disposable income), but I always try to find the best deals for what I want to do and try to come in under budget. I’ve always found my land vacations to be more expensive than my cruises.

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Are people not allowed to book certain rooms without bidding for them anymore? It wasn’t like that last summer.

I know on Royal Caribbean, people are supposed to give a credit card when they check in, and each person does that. Is it possible that the people in your group chose not to give their own credit cards and signed an agreement to use the card on file (yours)? Or did you check in the whole group yourself? It doesn’t sound right that they would assign your credit card to people in other rooms, unless somehow you signed an agreement to that beforehand and didn’t realize it.

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I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise.. I have sailed Carnival, Princess and Norwegian. I just really think it is sad that they charge so much for a burger! On Carnival, Guys burgers are awesome..and included in your cruise price. Bottled water is like $6 for a 12 pack.. Why does RC nickel and dime everything? We are going because our family only cruises Royal Caribbean but Im not sure we will again..unless this cruise blows us away. I do not get the high prices for this stuff....

Why? Because they can, and a lot of people are paying it. It might be pricing some customers out of the market, but there are plenty of people in the next market who are willing to spend more. Until they run out of large groups who will pay the money, they’ll keep raising the prices. Personally I think it’s a waste of money, but I’m not at all surprised they are charging it, or that people are paying it. Considering how much people pay for the vacation to begin with, is $10-$40 really all that much? No. That’s why people pay it.

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$500 p.p. for a 9 night cruise. That include taxes, fees, and tips or don’t you have to pay that.

 

Cheap doesn’t equate to a good time unless your expectations are really low. And your comparing a Disney vacation, with an inside cabin? It would probably be more accurate to compare it to a suite but that wouldn’t give the bias you are trying to achieve,

Comparing to an inside room is not that biased, since a hotel “deal” shopper isn’t staying in a big fancy room in Orlando either.

I shopped for deals and stayed at an off-property hotel that included free breakfast every day, found ways to buy discounted park tickets and packed lunches to take to the parks rather than eat at the Disney restaurants and still paid upwards of $4,000 for two people for a week at Disney.

I happily sail insides on a cruise because, like Disney, I’m too busy enjoying having fun to bother being in my room for any reason other than to sleep and shower. I can get a cruise on a voyager or freedom class ship for a week for 2 people in an inside/promenade for under $2,000 in the summer months.

I think it’s a fair and accurate comparison. A cruise is a much better deal than a land vacation. I take lots of land vacations and always spend at least $4,000 for a week on a land vacation, and have never paid that much for room and food on a cruise.

**(I didn’t include airfare costs for either trip)

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Get ready for sticker shock, folks.

 

 

 

Coming on the heels of the Oasis "experiment" of raising the price of Johnny Rockets to $9.95, and maybe another two dollars, and several ships offering a "premium experience" of their Broadway show for $79, here come new prices on individual drinks.

 

 

 

My friend who does not drink decided that she would treat herself to one for sailaway yesterday on the Anthem.

 

 

 

She got a drink that many of us get in the Diamond/Concierge Lounge "for free", a chocolate martini.

 

 

 

Wanna guess the price?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIXTEEN DOLLARS plus gratuity.

 

 

 

SIXTEEN.

Wow, that’s just ridiculous. But people will pay it.

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This is just another thread that proves people will be up-in-arms over every change in benefits or increase in price, but the fact of the matter is, a lot of people are paying the fees and continuing to book cruises, even as costs go up, otherwise Royal wouldn’t be charging them.

I think $10 is a waste of money for a burger when I can get other food (including burgers) for free, but I also don’t think $10 is a lot of money, and if for some reason I was just really craving Johnny Rockets, or my kid was, or for some random reason someone in my family wanted to eat there, I’m not gonna throw a fit about them spending $10 there. And I think that’s probably a fairly common attitude of people on vacation, which is why RC is able to charge money for stuff that people think should be free.

I don’t pay for the other specialty restaurants either, as it’s just not worth $25 or $40 to me when there’s free food to eat, and I rarely finish my whole meal and don’t eat that much anyway. But if I did, and I liked food and wanted a smaller dining experience than the mass market MDR, well, I’d pay it cause again, it’s $40, big deal.

Same with drink packages. I thought for sure they were gonna be a bust, and that there was no way so many people would pay that much money just to drink alcohol, but, sure enough, tons and tons and tons of people buy that package every day.

The best thing anyone can do to “protest” the increased charges is to STOP paying them. But that isn’t happening, and it probably won’t, because the fact of the matter is, people are on vacation, they have disposable income to spend, and they’re willing to pay “exorbitant” prices for all this stuff, and there’s no shortage of passengers willing to pay it, even if they think it’s outrageous.

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A little more? $1,300 all in with an OV balcony this week on Oasis. How much is Viking and that awesome burger?

 

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Surely more than $10 I bet.

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We’re all wondering the same thing you are [emoji23]

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Passport renewed in January 2018, took 17 days from mailing in the application to receiving the new one. Did not expedite.

3 days fell over a holiday weekend (MLK day) and a 1 (business) day government shut down.

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How did you attach the GoPro?

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I think most of the beaches in Aruba are public, so free to “get in.” Palm Beach is close to the cruise port and has a lot of high rise resorts that you could probably buy a day pass to if you would rather use a pool than get in the ocean.

Palm beach also has a lot of facilities, activities, restaurants/bars (because of the hotels). Not cheap though, and I doubt you’ll find anything there for $3 except for the bus ride there (which is $2 per person). Taxi ride is $15 each way.

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Anyway, what are the negatives that people have to say about this ship?

Same stuff they complain about on every ship; bad food, rude employees, not enough bartenders, blah blah blah.

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Probably an optional donation or something. Or maybe they didn’t know about the daily tips and someone joked that the fee was for island recovery or something, and they believed it.

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I’ve never heard of the “Pork Highway,” what is that?

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From Toronto, but we we might try driving to Detroit if we did this cruise and flying out of there (flights are much more reasonable).

 

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If you don’t mind the flight to Puerto Rico, then your family can do a Southern cruise, which are much more insulated from the weather (meaning, they are very rarely impacted by hurricanes and don’t get much rain)...Aruba, Barbados, Curacao etc.

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Thank you for the responses

 

 

 

So basically the last week in August is basically high risk...and even if not hurricane, there probably will be daily thunderstorms (this is a dilemma too for something like Disney World) .

I sailed the first week of August a couple summers ago, and sailed in July last summer. I didn’t get one day or one drop of rain on either trip (both 7 day cruises). Not even a cloudy sky.

Daily rain is NOT a “guarantee” in summertime, but summer is the Caribbean’s “wet” season, meaning if it’s going to rain, it will be during those months as opposed to the winter ones.

I’m cruising again in June. I have zero worries about the weather. I would never cruise September or October though. There’s a reason those are the cheapest months to cruise.

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