Discounts for seniors and military

[CruizinTigers]

Has anyone heard of the Royal Caribbean policy for offering discounts to seniors and military? This week I heard from our TA, and she told me that our upcoming Alaska cruisetour is sold out, so RCCL will not be offering passengers either the senior or military discounts to anyone in our party of 21, several of which would have qualified. This seems wrong to me. From a business perspective, I can understand RCCL not wanting to offer a discount if it didn't have to, when the ship is full. But from a PR perspective, it would seem to me that if you offer these discounts to qualifying travelers, you offer them regardless of the status of the ship.

 

Has anyone else heard of this with RCCL? Is this standard practice or just on certain cruise packages. I am very disappointed by this.

 

Thanks.

[abhb]

These discounts are not on all sailings. You have to check to see if the discount is available for your sailing. It is not automatic or always available.

[cruisenfever]

Yes, it is standard practice that not only is it not offered on every sailing, but if it were offered on your sailing it may not be offered for the cabin category that your party of 21 is booked in.

[14Terry]

On our first 2 cruises, there were no military discounts offered. On our 3rd & the one upcoming (14 days away), military discounts were offered.

 

I believe that if cruises aren't full, discounts are offered to fill them. If its a popular sailing, those discounts may not be offerered.

 

I do hope that you enjoy your cruise!

[CruizinTigers]

Thanks for the quick reply!!

 

The reason I was given for there not being any discounts was that the cruisetour package we booked was sold out. I suspect the cruise was eligible for the discount. In fact, thinking about it now, I recall our TA telling me nearly a year ago when we booked that we had to wait until we got closer to the cruise to find out about these discounts. I took this to mean, how much the discount would be, not whether or not we saw one.

 

I would not be so frustrated if they told us when we booked ages ago that there were no senior or military discounts for this cruise. But to wait until a few months before sailing to pull these discounts due to the status of the ship seems pretty low to me.

[CruizinTigers]

I do hope that you enjoy your cruise!

 

Thanks Terry!! I'm sure we will. This news, though frustrating, won't interfere with what I expect will be a great trip.

 

Just for the record, I'm not bashing RCCL, just this practice. We've sailed on RCCL before and had a wonderful time, and expect no less on this trip.

[Essiesmom]

Discounts come and go as booking come and go. If bookings are slow, the discounts pop up. When booking pick up, they disappear. They are also capacity controlled, just like the airlines. It is something you have to keep checking on. EM

[mechcc]

Has anyone heard of the Royal Caribbean policy for offering discounts to seniors and military? This week I heard from our TA, and she told me that our upcoming Alaska cruisetour is sold out, so RCCL will not be offering passengers either the senior or military discounts to anyone in our party of 21, several of which would have qualified. This seems wrong to me. From a business perspective, I can understand RCCL not wanting to offer a discount if it didn't have to, when the ship is full. But from a PR perspective, it would seem to me that if you offer these discounts to qualifying travelers, you offer them regardless of the status of the ship.

 

Has anyone else heard of this with RCCL? Is this standard practice or just on certain cruise packages. I am very disappointed by this.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Discounts are offered late to fill a ship that isn't full. It brings people to the ship who then up the on board spending.

 

If any cruiseline took all the advice about what people seem to think is "good PR", the line would go out of business.

[GJM]

When we booked our cruise they didn't offer a military discount but were told to keep checking back. A discount did show up one day - but it isn't for every category. Plus we were paying less for a 3rd. passenger our son, but we had to rebook it and his price went up but overall we received and onboard credit.

[firefly333]

You said your cruise tour is sold out and your TA said they told her no discounts. Why would RCL offer discounts on a sold out cruisetour to get more people to book. The reason those discounts are offered are to get more people to book a slow booking .. not to give a sold out cruisetour a lower price.

 

I think you think the discounts should be automatic, like when you go to a hotel and everyone over age 60 gets a senior discount, but thats not how it works with cruises. (or Im not understanding what tour you want discounted). They wouldnt offer booking inducements if its already sold out.

[firefly333]

Has anyone heard of the Royal Caribbean policy for offering discounts to seniors and military? This week I heard from our TA, and she told me that our upcoming Alaska cruisetour is sold out, so RCCL will not be offering passengers either the senior or military discounts to anyone in our party of 21, several of which would have qualified. This seems wrong to me. From a business perspective, I can understand RCCL not wanting to offer a discount if it didn't have to, when the ship is full. But from a PR perspective, it would seem to me that if you offer these discounts to qualifying travelers, you offer them regardless of the status of the ship.

 

Has anyone else heard of this with RCCL? Is this standard practice or just on certain cruise packages. I am very disappointed by this.

 

Thanks.

 

I just wanted to make sure I understood this... its sold out ..no more people can book.. this is the booking you want them to discount? Not some other one right?

[zebra36]

I just wanted to make sure I understood this... its sold out ..no more people can book.. this is the booking you want them to discount? Not some other one right?

 

That is the way I read it. Not to give the OP a hard time but if the tour is sold out WHY would RCI offer discounts, this is usually done to sell cabins.

 

or

 

Is the cruise portion of the cruise/tour showing sr/military rates and you are unable to secure them because the tour portion is sold out? Not sure how that would work.

[MoYerclan]

Thanks Terry!! I'm sure we will. This news, though frustrating, won't interfere with what I expect will be a great trip.

 

Just for the record, I'm not bashing RCCL, just this practice. We've sailed on RCCL before and had a wonderful time, and expect no less on this trip.

 

Haven't you ever wandered around on the RCCL website and noticed individual cruises with special pricing options? I never use a TA so I keep track of my own cruise details and even after I book a cruise I check it out again frequently so I can jump on any fare drops or special sales (military, senior, etc) which I've been lucky enough to find at times. I highly recommend this practice otherwise your TA might miss something that you've found yourself and want to apply to your reservation.

[dirvin0500]

Military discounts are offered by many companies regardless of sales or what they need to do business-wise out of respect for those that have served or are serving their country. Especially those that served when there was no draft and had an ABSOLUTE choice as to whether to serve or not.

Sales is one thing - Respect is another.

[negc]

We recently found a lower price for JS on our upcoming Alaska trip but discovered that while it is available to cruise only passengers, it is not available to those of us who are on a cruise tour which is sold out. We were happy with the price that we originally paid for our D2 stateroom, so we really have no complaints. In the past we have benefitted from military and senior discounts so c'est la vie. I agree that if the cruiselines were to do everything that some believe would be good PR, they probably couldn't continue in business very long and where else are they as liberal in applying discounts that are offered well after the purchase has been made?:)

[silentbob007]

Military discounts are offered by many companies regardless of sales or what they need to do business-wise out of respect for those that have served or are serving their country. Especially those that served when there was no draft and had an ABSOLUTE choice as to whether to serve or not.

Sales is one thing - Respect is another.

 

Do you take it as a sign of disrespect then if any single item you buy or service you use is not discounted? RCCL uses a formula for special rates. The times when I've traveled with my father and used a military discount (he was AF), the military rates have been the lowest of any special discount AND lasted the longest. It seems to me a sign of respect that when RCCL needs to fill a ship, they make it the most accessible price-wise to former military.

[CruisinNole]

We recently booked a cruise through an online TA. We asked about getting a military discount and were told that the price we were getting would beat the discount. The TA was right. I checked our category one day and saw that it was eligible for a military discount but our cruise fare booked through the online TA was still less.

 

I have gotten the military discount when I've booked through a local TA but I don't think that we were part of a group booking.

[gerif]

The reason I was given for there not being any discounts was that the cruisetour package we booked was sold out. I suspect the cruise was eligible for the discount. In fact, thinking about it now, I recall our TA telling me nearly a year ago when we booked that we had to wait until we got closer to the cruise to find out about these discounts. I took this to mean, how much the discount would be, not whether or not we saw one.

 

I would not be so frustrated if they told us when we booked ages ago that there were no senior or military discounts for this cruise. But to wait until a few months before sailing to pull these discounts due to the status of the ship seems pretty low to me.

 

You don't seem to understand how this works. A discount (senior/military/residence) is given as an incentive to sell cabins in certain categories that aren't selling well. If your cruisetour is sold out, why would they be issuing incentives to sell something that is not available for sale? Your TA was correct in that these discounts IF offered at all are offered closer to the cruise when they see how things are selling. You totally misunderstood what you were told in this regard - discounts are NOT always given.

 

These discounts were NEVER offered for your cruise - if they were, your TA would have gotten them for you. The cruiseline did not "pull" anything - they never existed in the first place. Also, even if at some point the discounts were offered, they would only have been offered until the cabins on which they were offered were sold - so you and/or your TA would have had to have snatched them up when they became available.

 

You're blaming a cruiseline for a miscommunication between you and your TA - not fair.

[NorbertsNiece]

You don't seem to understand how this works. A discount (senior/military/residence) is given as an incentive to sell cabins in certain categories that aren't selling well. If your cruisetour is sold out, why would they be issuing incentives to sell something that is not available for sale? Your TA was correct in that these discounts IF offered at all are offered closer to the cruise when they see how things are selling. You totally misunderstood what you were told in this regard - discounts are NOT always given.

 

These discounts were NEVER offered for your cruise - if they were, your TA would have gotten them for you. The cruiseline did not "pull" anything - they never existed in the first place. Also, even if at some point the discounts were offered, they would only have been offered until the cabins on which they were offered were sold - so you and/or your TA would have had to have snatched them up when they became available.

You're blaming a cruiseline for a miscommunication between you and your TA - not fair.

 

 

I don't think that's the case.

 

There's a sense that there should be an 'allowance' given to seniors and military as mentioned in a previous post. It's the term 'discount' that's misleading.

 

In these economic times I can see less and less of these allowances being given. Perhaps once final payment date has come and gone and people fail to close the sale and cabins become available then maybe RCCL will throw in some late incentive to purchase. My fear is that due to the itinerary there is no need to offer an incentive to book..... I'm in the same boat so to speak and would love some over 55 recognition!

[Puffinater]

I am retired military and qualify for the discount when offered. In no way am I being disrespected or mistreated by not being offered a discount/allowance on every sailing. I do not expect a discount but offer it I will gladly accept it.

Military service whether it be mine or that of others does not provide any entitlement it simply provides us a sense of self pride knowing we served our great country. Off my band wagon.

[LSpencer]

Just make sure to check the rates both ways if a discount is offered. Seems like awhile back it was offered but they had a special or something that was much less than the Military discount. The same holds true with hotel military discounts. I usually find a better deal :)

[MoYerclan]

Just make sure to check the rates both ways if a discount is offered. Seems like awhile back it was offered but they had a special or something that was much less than the Military discount. The same holds true with hotel military discounts. I usually find a better deal :)

 

Absolutely! I've exchanged a military discount for a residency discount on the same cruise and come out ahead sometimes. And RCCL has always allowed me to add the discount after the original booking if it pops up and I call them about it. Our last cruise in January on the Jewel of the Seas was repeatedly discounted the year before sailing, and then when prices rose closer to sail date I was sitting very pretty indeed! RCCL is very good about this. But at no time do I confuse limited time offers (whether residency, senor or military) as something I'm always entitled to as I know they're just promoting the price to drum up business. It isn't a given. Nor should it be.

[katiel53]

OP,

To me it appears you were unhappy with the rate when you booked and expected it to be reduced by the senior/military discount. If that is the case, why would you book the cruise to start with? If you were happy with the rate, why would you be upset if you didn't get a discount that wasn't available as your cruise was selling well?

 

If you were mis-led, then I suggest you talk to your TA if he/she gave you the idea that all cruises get these discounts. My husband qualifies for a military discount and we have NEVER gotten it on any cruise. It hasn't mattered which line it was, but for our cabin category it has never been available or it hasn't been available on the cruise itself. Most times we haven't even gotten the senior discount or even residency discounts.

 

If a discount is available for a cruise we booked, great, but more than likely it won't happen. When we book, we plan to pay that price, and if it goes down, all the better. I feel badly that you didn't understand how things worked, but they are pretty much the same on all cruise lines.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[lindalo5032]

Just got a price drop using the military discount on our Serenade sailing out of San Juan on 9/12/10! :D:D:D

 

This is the 3rd price drop we have got since booking!!:cool:

[Scotty G]

We have used Military or Senior discounts when they were available. When I retired from the military RCI discounts were not included in my benefits package. The fact that I get one occasionally is great! Thank you RCI!! :D:D:D