No more price reductions

[Ocean Boy]

I'd rather read my cruise documents than re-read that again:p

 

Let me summarize the cruise contract for you to save some time.....

 

The cruise line has all the rights. If you think that you either have any rights, or deserve a refund or credit for anything, then you either have not read, or do not understand, the contract.

 

The end.

[isujim]

Let me summarize the cruise contract for you to save some time.....

 

The cruise line has all the rights. If you think that you either have any rights, or deserve a refund or credit for anything, then you either have not read, or do not understand, the contract.

 

The end.

 

OB you've done it again.........I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.........:D You know they could save a lot of money (and pages) if they just used what you wrote..........that's great!!!!:D:p

[TPKeller]

Wow, I was on Oasis last week when all this happened.... for those who are just catching up, this post from the other thread seems to be the best summary of the situation:

 

I had a conversation this morning with Samantha from Crown & Anchor. Here is a summary what I was able to clarify with her:

 

• Sailing is booked before final payment date and there is a rate drop within 48 hours of booking:
  Available Options:
  
  • Submit for the Best Price Guarantee Onboard Credit for 110% the difference in fare.
    
  • Request Onboard Credit equal to the difference in fare.
    
  • If cabins are available at your original rate in a higher category, request an upgrade.
    
  • Request the booking be changed to the new rate, thus lowering the total fare.
    

   

  [*]Sailing is booked before final payment date and there is a rate drop more than 48 hours after booking but before final payment date:

  Available Options:

  • Request Onboard Credit equal to the difference in fare.
    
  • If cabins are available at your original rate in a higher category, request an upgrade.
    
  • Request the booking be changed to the new rate, thus lowering the total fare.
    

   

  [*]Sailing is booked before final payment date, there was a price drop within 48 hours of booking and you opted for the 110% of Onboard Credit AND there is another price drop before final payment date:

  Available Options:

  • Request Onboard Credit equal to the difference in fare.
    Note: This will only be at 100% of the difference in rate, not the 110% you had previously been awarded, but you will receive both Onboard Credits.
    
  • If cabins are available at your original rate in a higher category, request an upgrade.
    
  • Request the booking be changed to the new rate, thus lowering the total fare.
    

   

  [*]Sailing is booked after final payment date and there is a rate drop within 48 hours of booking before sail-away date:

  Available Options:

  • Submit for the Best Price Guarantee Onboard Credit for 110% the difference in fare.
    

   

  [*]Sailing is booked before final payment date, and there is a price drop after final payment date but before sail-away date:

  Available Options:

  • None
    Note: RCCL used to give the difference in Refundable Onboard Credit, they are no longer doing this.
    

   

  [*]Sailing is booked after final payment date and there is a rate drop more than 48 hours after booking but before sail-away date:

  Available Options:

  • None
    Note: RCCL used to give the difference in Refundable Onboard Credit, they are no longer doing this.
    

   

   

 

This particular situation seems to be where most of these drops would occur, and the last option is the same as before, at least as best I can tell.

Sailing is booked before final payment date and there is a rate drop more than 48 hours after booking but before final payment date:

Available Options:

• Request Onboard Credit equal to the difference in fare.
  
• If cabins are available at your original rate in a higher category, request an upgrade.
  
• Request the booking be changed to the new rate, thus lowering the total fare.
  

 

What this whole new set of rules seems to tell me is that after final payment, RCCL now has much more price-dropping discretion at their disposal, without risking the income they have already generated from the earlier bookings.

 

This tells me to watch for big price drops after final payment due dates. Not that they will always happen - it's always going to be based on how many cabins are left to fill. But with those earlier prices now protected, it will not cost them as much to drop the prices to fill up those last cabins now. In practical terms, this makes every booking after final payment a WOW Sale.

 

Theron

[cruisenfever]

Wow, I was on Oasis last week when all this happened.... for those who are just catching up, this post from the other thread seems to be the best summary of the situation:

 

Theron

You are kidding aren't you?:eek:

[cruisenfever]

Let me summarize the cruise contract for you to save some time.....

 

The cruise line has all the rights. If you think that you either have any rights, or deserve a refund or credit for anything, then you either have not read, or do not understand, the contract.

 

The end.

ROFL.........Screen Clean please.............ROFL :D:D

 

Now, what does that mean in the English text?

 

I don't know which post made me laugh more, yours or the one after Jim's.

[isujim]

ROFL.........Screen Clean please.............ROFL :D:D

 

Now, what does that mean in the English text?

 

I don't know which post made me laugh more, yours or the one after Jim's.

 

 

OB and I try and keep RCCL honest and accountable.......lately that has led to a lot of humor:D....and the word try is a very key word here.;)

[TPKeller]

You are kidding aren't you?:eek:

No, I wasn't. Did I miss a post that more clearly outlined all the possible situations one might encounter, along with the options available for each?

 

I'll admit it's a long and scary-looking list, but that is the doings of RCCL, not the poster who sorted through it all for us.

 

Theron

[Puffinater]

I gave up trying to follow everything now it seems like that was not a good idea. I now have no clue what is going on.:confused:

[isujim]

I gave up trying to follow everything now it seems like that was not a good idea. I now have no clue what is going on.:confused:

 

Neither did Royal Caribbean it seems:D:p

[marci22]

Let me summarize the cruise contract for you to save some time.....

 

The cruise line has all the rights. If you think that you either have any rights, or deserve a refund or credit for anything, then you either have not read, or do not understand, the contract.

 

The end.

 

That was funny.

[Jimbo]

Our JS on the Member's Cruise on Radiance last April dropped $1000pp after final payment. :D Will never see that again.

 

Doesn't that make you think the cruise was over priced to begin with and there might have been better deals out there elsewhere?

 

I seem to never get a price reduction after final payment, usually the category I pick just goes up in price or sells out.

 

Jimbo:)

[isujim]

Doesn't that make you think the cruise was over priced to begin with and there might have been better deals out there elsewhere?

 

I seem to never get a price reduction after final payment, usually the category I pick just goes up in price or sells out.

 

Jimbo:)

 

Or possibly way undersold for that category?? You would think though on a members cruise it wouldn't be that way.

[Jimbo]

Never been on a Members Cruise, is it over rated?

 

Jimbo:)

[isujim]

Never been on a Members Cruise, is it over rated?

 

Jimbo:)

 

I haven't either.........they seem to me to book up very early.......just in watching the bookings on line. Always seemed to me you had to book within a few days if you are very cabin specific.

[uksimonusa]

Hi

 

Quick question - do the new Price Drop "rules" apply to cruises booked through a UK travel agent?

 

It seems my cruise price has dropped dramatically in the last day or two.

 

Thanks for assistance

 

Karen

 

No, the New Best Price Guarantee is for North American Bookings only

[LegalEagle2012]

Thanks UKsimonusa

 

Are we permitted any leeway for price drops in the UK with Royal Caribbean?

 

Karen

[Coralc]

No, I wasn't. Did I miss a post that more clearly outlined all the possible situations one might encounter, along with the options available for each?

 

I'll admit it's a long and scary-looking list, but that is the doings of RCCL, not the poster who sorted through it all for us.

 

Theron

 

Theron, essentiallly no price drops or OBC will be credited or allowed after final payment, on cruises booked after May 17. There is a limited 48 hour exemption to this, but that part is difficult to understand. The Cruise Critc Q&A is a better read:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3880

[cruisenfever]

Doesn't that make you think the cruise was over priced to begin with and there might have been better deals out there elsewhere?

 

I seem to never get a price reduction after final payment, usually the category I pick just goes up in price or sells out.

 

Jimbo:)

 

Or possibly way undersold for that category?? You would think though on a members cruise it wouldn't be that way.

I would normally agree, however this Member's Cruise started in Valparaiso Chile to SD where airfare can cost more than cruise fare.:eek:

 

Then the frosting on the cake was that the cruise began on 4/26/09 the day of the Swine Flu announcement. So our 15 day cruise turned out to have 11 sea days since we could not visit the ports in Mexico.

[cruisenfever]

Theron, essentiallly no price drops or OBC will be credited or allowed after final payment, on cruises booked after May 17. There is a limited 48 hour exemption to this, but that part is difficult to understand. The Cruise Critc Q&A is a better read:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3880

Thank you, I was just about to answer him.:)

 

I understand everything until final payment and that 48 hour window.:o:confused:

[TPKeller]

Theron, essentiallly no price drops or OBC will be credited or allowed after final payment, on cruises booked after May 17. There is a limited 48 hour exemption to this, but that part is difficult to understand. The Cruise Critc Q&A is a better read:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3880

Thanks I hadn't seen the CC Q&A. I do still like the earlier post, as it tries to cover every possible situation that one could be in as a result of the multiple variable factors involved.

 

As most marketing tends to do, I think the whole 48 hour guarantee thing is designed to not really give you much, but sound like it's a big deal, and it certainly adds to the confusion.

 

As I noted, I think the most significant result of this policy is that it frees the cruise line up to more aggressively drop prices after final payment without jeopardizing the fares that have already been paid. Remember, before now, if they dropped the price on a cabin category to fill the last 5% of those cabins, that exposed the other 95% of those same cabins to price reductions if the holders happened to be paying attention. That won't be the case now starting 48 hours after final payment is due.

 

It will certainly be interesting to see if we as a community notice a difference in post-final-payment pricing strategies. We do tend to pay attention to that sort of thing! ;)

 

Theron

[cruisenfever]

Thanks I hadn't seen the CC Q&A. I do still like the earlier post, as it tries to cover every possible situation that one could be in as a result of the multiple variable factors involved.

 

As most marketing tends to do, I think the whole 48 hour guarantee thing is designed to not really give you much, but sound like it's a big deal, and it certainly adds to the confusion.

 

As I noted, I think the most significant result of this policy is that it frees the cruise line up to more aggressively drop prices after final payment without jeopardizing the fares that have already been paid. Remember, before now, if they dropped the price on a cabin category to fill the last 5% of those cabins, that exposed the other 95% of those same cabins to price reductions if the holders happened to be paying attention. That won't be the case now starting 48 hours after final payment is due.

 

It will certainly be interesting to see if we as a community notice a difference in post-final-payment pricing strategies. We do tend to pay attention to that sort of thing! ;)

 

Theron

The only thing that was not included in the post that you like is the fact that any cruise booked prior to 5/17/2010 is grandfathered in and will get any and all price reductions up until 72 hours prior to sailing. To me that was a major point left out.

[Ocean Boy]

Thanks I hadn't seen the CC Q&A. I do still like the earlier post, as it tries to cover every possible situation that one could be in as a result of the multiple variable factors involved.

 

As most marketing tends to do, I think the whole 48 hour guarantee thing is designed to not really give you much, but sound like it's a big deal, and it certainly adds to the confusion.

 

As I noted, I think the most significant result of this policy is that it frees the cruise line up to more aggressively drop prices after final payment without jeopardizing the fares that have already been paid. Remember, before now, if they dropped the price on a cabin category to fill the last 5% of those cabins, that exposed the other 95% of those same cabins to price reductions if the holders happened to be paying attention. That won't be the case now starting 48 hours after final payment is due.

 

It will certainly be interesting to see if we as a community notice a difference in post-final-payment pricing strategies. We do tend to pay attention to that sort of thing! ;)

 

Theron

However, I noticed that one thing RCI had started doing was if they needed to sell off certain cabin catagories instead of just dropping the price they would offer the gatagory as a guarentee with a lower price. By doing that folks would have to give up their previously chosen cabin and take their chances in order to get the lower price. Though I am sure that plenty of people would take advantage of that I am also sure that many people prefer to hold onto the cabin of their choice. After all, that is one of the major reasons that people give for booking early in the first place.

[marci22]

However, I noticed that one thing RCI had started doing was if they needed to sell off certain cabin catagories instead of just dropping the price they would offer the gatagory as a guarentee with a lower price. By doing that folks would have to give up their previously chosen cabin and take their chances in order to get the lower price. Though I am sure that plenty of people would take advantage of that I am also sure that many people prefer to hold onto the cabin of their choice. After all, that is one of the major reasons that people give for booking early in the first place.

 

I expected that for my last cruise booking because they still had 30 JS left after final. Why not just guarantee it? Instead, they gave multiple price drops. It really doesn't seem like they have a consistent plan for price setting/dropping/guaranteeing.