NateUpNorth

3 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

New name for the always present fake sales.

Oh I agree the sales are usually fake but it's interesting that rather than the "KSF" banner it's now a "small fee for kids" banner..... regardless of the dynamic pricing. Granted the advice is always check the final price, not the sales headline.

I do wonder if that will be the way they start to move - small daily fees for things that used to be wrapped into your final fare price. 

Flowrider for only $5 a day

Zip Line Pass for only $3 a day

Gym Pass for only $10 a day

Full use of sports courts for only $5 a day

You get the idea.....

This is one new wrinkle for "cost creep"......... kids sail almost free.... I wonder if that's the new standard on top of the typical total price changes.
I think I saw somewhere else a small user fee addition for using text at sea or whatever it's branded as - granted not sure if that's completely new.

Anyone noticing "small extras" starting to show up? (aside from the usual dynamic pricing of fares/excusions/drink packages etc....)

16 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

My first and only cruise out of NJ was this past March...you know how that went.  I was so looking forward to the 8 hour drive.

 

Back to the long trek to Florida.  Looking forward to the short drive next Christmas....only going as far as PC instead of Miami. 
 

Since the kids are now in University and I have a couple of airline credits to use up DW and I will be flying the next two March breaks...the kids were not amused.  I actually just booked flights for March 2022 last weekend...prices have already jumped from when I booked. 

Are you flying out of Toronto or Buffalo?

We're tracking flights but still a bit hesitant to book with all the issues right now.....

2 hours ago, LuCruise said:

DH and I have gone twice in December prior to xmas and it was great.  Good pricing too.

Unfortunately our kids are too old now to take them out of school so we tend to cruise March break and end of summer.  We were only able to get an ok price for xmas as we booked it right when our March break got cancelled (booked Dec 2020 but then L&S).  Also since it's out of NJ, flight should be less....or we can even drive if needed.  The cost to fly to Florida is too $$$ at that time. My main worry is the line ups for things....We are on Anthem so mostly the SeaPlex activities. But with the other lost cruises, we are giving it a try...and will bear any crowds and kid rowdiness.  Think it will be a really nice time to be on a ship....even without celebrating the holiday ourselves.

We have been looking at the NJ/Balt cruises lately..... right now we have a L&S next year in that timeframe outta Miami but after that..... well, we've done the 18hr drive from Southern Ontario to a Florida cruise port enough times at this point..... the exchange rate isn't helping the flying idea.... 7 hours to a port would be a walk in the park!! LOL

On 12/16/2020 at 11:23 AM, LuCruise said:

Have never sailed right over Christmas but last year DH and I were on Adventure a week prior so all the decorations were up.  My family doesn't actually celebrate Christmas, but the Promenade was very pretty with the big tree and they had a couple elaborate gingerbread houses (Promenade and Windjammer if I'm remembering correctly).  It was very pretty and impressive.

 

But if cruises are back running by Christmas 2021, then we will be on board for the first time over Dec 25th.  I'll be honest, that I hope that they have stuff going on that isn't just Christmas, but I think it'll be a really happy and pretty time to be on a cruise (everyone in a good mood and cheerful).  Looking forward to it...fingers crossed.

 

Am interested in reading comments of what the ship does over xmas.

We are in the same boat (pun intended, sorry)
Don't celebrate Christmas, however we have sailed a few times in that sweet spot between American Thanksgiving and X-Mas (usually the first/second week of Dec) where we can get the KSF that usually runs and it's close enough to the holidays that the kids don't miss a lot of "actual" school work. 

It's also before the giant fare increases for the Christmas/New Year's sailings.

And even though we have elementary school aged kids I don't really have a desire to test the waters of what others call the "kids gone wild" timeframe. LOL

Booked by January 31, 2021? The cynic in me says this isn't about rewarding loyalty, they're trying to drive up sales on (what appear to be elevated prices) cruises in the next year or so.

Having said that...... I'm off to look for deals. 

23 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Let's extend lift and switch while we are asking, all 3. Plus let us do a double lift and switch. Some are getting to where they cant lift and switch because only 1 allowed.

The double L&S needs to be a priority I'd think. 

I'd venture they can't afford too many more refunds..... they gotta hang on to every penny and customer they can at this point.....

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Nothing to back this up but I think our border will be closed until September.  That is the date that Canada projects to have the vaccine fully rolled out.  

I saw that projection, which is hopeful, but it's the "until it's under control around the world" part that has me....... skeptical....... 

6 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I know many snowbirds that are already there.  It is only the land border that is closed.  Snowbirds can fly down with no problem.

Yeah, the 5 or 6 month snowbirds are fairly easy to continue their regular routine. They can do the 14 day quarantine or whatever else is involved.

It's the 1 or 2 week vacation agenda's (flight or drive) that suddenly get really difficult to work around.

Quarantine once you're there, quarantine when you come back..... book a 6 week timeframe to travel for a week... lol 

Just curious how many fellow CAD's around here are really nervous about this:
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/trudeau-indicates-canada-u-s-border-restrictions-to-last-a-long-time

Article mentions border closings probably well into 2021. Looks like our plans to possibly book a late spring/early summer trip just went out the window. I wouldn't even chance it now ..... now I'm thinking our end of November may be a 50/50

I suppose @Ourusualbeach would have insight into what the "North of the border" bookings are doing - holding off completely, or booking with hope?

2 hours ago, mek said:

Exactly - and initially they might, but my personal opinion is prices are going to come down for all ships as we get into 2022 and beyond.

I tend to agree..... an immediate spending blow out of people in the "as soon as we're allowed" mentality and then a downturn.....

49 minutes ago, BND said:

Those are two different functions.  It's not the same software/program, but okay.

I think perhaps the point could be the "take money in" works just fine, the "send money back out" is the equivalent technology of a guy with an abacus getting his numbers from a magic 8 ball.

Yes.

Many may begin as unintentional errors but the complete lack of any corrections going forward or changes to how I.T. operates turn them into intentional.

I'm sure this is not the first time they've had to change ships/itineraries/plans...... perhaps not on such a grand scale.... but if they cared they would have ironed out the processes on the small scale.

It's just the mysterious water bottle/mini bar charges on a MASSIVE scale. 

Yet we continue to sail with them because the product/price paid makes sense for us....... keeping a very close eye on the bottom line.....

On 11/26/2020 at 7:20 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Just my opinion and nothing that I have heard but I think that the reason why only the summer Caribbean itineraries were released as opposed to the entire years worth is that it coincides with the Europe and Alaska itinerary releases and would allow them to extend the Lift and shift through the end of October and keep a consistent date limit without extending the offer to all of the 22/23 season. 

If the 8+ ban continues through winter I wonder if they will extend the L&S option?

And can you L&S a booking that has already been through L&S? We must be getting to the point where that's starting to come up?

I'm gonna assume that the ability to extend, or hopefully reduce, that timeframe is available to the CDC?

I wouldn't put it past RCL at this point to start turning 8/9 day cruises into 7 day itineraries should the 7's start sailing but the 8/9's not be allowed........ with the requisite $100 per room credit for the missing 1or 2 days of course.....🙄

29 minutes ago, compman9 said:

It will pretty much finish the loyalty programme.

 

As Celebrity have gone all-inclusive, the updated benefits for loyalty are virtually non-existent. 

 

I know there is no sign that Royal will go all-inclusive, but if their sister company are happy to eliminate loyalty perks so easily, all the negative theories and debate on here, could become reality.

What I suspect you will find is that Celebrity will go to the "all inclusive" mandate to generate extra revenue, however there will still be some sort of loyalty level perks out there to be had.

Whether or not those perks matter to people is a different story. Is your brand loyalty worth assigned seating at shows? Or a bathrobe in your room? Or a separate check in counter? A loyalty discount that can't be applied to existing sales, which when priced are less than if you use the discount? A different colored seapass?  A seat in an "exclusive lounge" even if it is serving alcohol that has been paid for, not "free"?

Let's be realistic - the real issue/uproar for a LOT of loyalty addicts is the free booze, and all inclusive takes that away. LOL

14 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Explorer out of Miami 

Huh.

And here I thought Explorer had been moved to San Juan, replaced in Miami by Radiance.

I guess that was just in the current "let's find a way to drive cancellations of bookings at lower prices" they've got going on moving ships around and switching itineraries. LOL

Aruba/Curacao/......... La Romana Dominican Republic

Has the perfect ABC's turned into the ABD's? I hope not!!!

5 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Have they purchased all of those with firm offers or do they have escape clauses?  If not then definitely over purchased.

I like to think they have escape clauses, but it's government, who knows! LOL
I do know some of the $$$ was sent over already to front the research/testing parts.

Regardless just hoping for a successful vaccine and rollout to as many people worldwide as possible!

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yes, however most countries were buying from many different suppliers as they did not know which if any would be successful.  They have not overbought from any one supplier. 

Agreed, however they're up to 76 million doses from Moderna/Pfizer on a population of 38 million.... with an option on 186 million more from other companies (Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax.)

So they're pretty close to being excessively over-purchased if one of the other companies joins the "success group", and knowing the way we do things there's probably no cancellation policies... LOL

23 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

When the time is right, let’s get the line started. They also aren’t the only company Canada bought vaccines from, on top of investing in a Quebec company who was trying to make one.  For once it was not Bombardier😉, but still feels like a similar situation. 

Saw a report yesterday we've actually pre-bought too much..... something like more than 2 doses per Canadian.
The report was one of the typical hysterical "wealthy countries hoarding vaccine" type..... but nevertheless we were top of the charts on a per capita basis....... by A LOT.

I predict big sales on excursions/packages for Q1/Q2 sailings to generate some interest free loans on sailings that likely won't ever leave port.

Anything past that will be big banners, same prices.

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Not before your cruise departs. The only time it ever gets adjusted is if you change ships.  If you paid more at the time of sailing that what the final amount was then you may get a small refund on board. 

Thanks Ken.

So basically don't even look at it, they figure it out after the fact? 

Just curious as we are planners and if we need to plan for a bill for extra port fees, so be it, we will. If we end up with a credit that'll be a nice surprise.

4 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

It sounds like you want it both ways. You want the cruise fare protected but not the port fees. If the port fees had gone up on your new cruise, I'm guessing you would have complained and insisted on the price protection so you didn't have to pay the higher fees. The bottom line should be, you paid $$ for a cruise. The cruise got changed and you are still paying the same price. You can't pick what costs you want to go up and what costs you want to go down.

Completely incorrect. 

Soliciting replies to see if A) this is common and B) standard practice

The cruise fare is protected. For that I am grateful/ believe RCL has a duty to provide what they sold.

Had port fees gone UP on the new invoice I would have no complaints as they are in fact DIFFERENT ports.

The part about choosing what costs go up and down is laughable. 

It's pretty logical to wonder if the port fees should change given they are, as mentioned, DIFFERENT ports.

Let's try and remember here that RCL is the only person attempting to have their cake and eat it too with the changes they're making. LOL