Where's The WOW???

[lgonquin]

Just looked at 3 different cruises and saw no difference in price from yesterday (pre-WOW). In fact, one cruise went up in price.

 

Is it WOW or SCAM?

[Dorie7]

The first time that I saw this coming, I was all excited! OBC AND reduced deposits Then I discovered that you cannot get your C&A discounts, so no deal!! If you are loyal to Royal, then forget the WOW sales.:(

[maxxedout2]

My several RCI cruises have been purchased just weeks before sailing.

I will continue to grab last-minute-TA-turn-ins with resident discount.

 

Based on my (limited, recent) RCI booking experiences...I believe

that WOW! is what they say when they look at their zooming bank balance

after it's over. Just my observation.

 

Don't get me wrong here, I plan on sailing many, many more RCI cruises

....just communicating my distilled RCI booking research.

 

Wow, too much typing. So, back to lurking for a last minute deal on

Liberty of the Seas.

 

:cool::cool:

 

 

[ryano]

The WOW sale never has really been about discounted prices has it? :confused: Its just a chance to have a reduced deposit and some OBC I thought?

 

I will book on board from here on out. MUCH better to me. :)

[Yaliina]

What pp said, that it's not a discounts fare, but a reduced deposit, which we appreciated, since it allowed us to go ahead and book our quad cabin before it's too late. We had to call to book, though, because it wouldn't show the discounted deposit online.

[amc2scott]

We just booked our dec 2011 cruise. Super price n 12 nights Bout 100 pp per night for superior balcony I track the prices against occupancy all year and so I know the right strike price and this is it for us. In addition to the reduced deposit, we also got 200 obc which will pay for couples massage in ship spa.

 

Very looking forward to it.

[morganboys]

I would agree. obc is nice but $50 or $100 doesn't wow me. the reduced deposit is nice but it doesn't save me any money in the end. Not to mention there is next to nothing for summer of 2012 prices out yet.

[scorpluvsdolphins]

I usually stay in a balcony and I don't get to use the D+ discount, so I would be losing money as the OBC would be less than the discount.

[marci22]

Royal is looking for a specific customer who will book because of the reduced deposit. They're certainly not trying to save any of us any money.

[Tyler80]

The WOW sale really isn't a sale. It's a promotion featuring onboard credit and a reduced deposits, which really helps no one because you still have to pay the entire cost of the cruise eventually. So you might as well pay the regular deposit or even pay the entire trip up front.

[Sequim88]

Booked a couple weeks ago. Couldn't risk waiting for WOW "sale" just for the OBC. Had to grab handicap accessible balcony while it was available so booked within hours of the cruise opening up. If not there would have been none which would make the cruise impossible for us. Got locked out of the Rome TA once before due to this.

 

Reduced deposit is a non-factor for us even at the $450/pp rate for transatlantic. It has to be paid eventually anyway and this way the cruise is half paid for before the next chunk hits.

[Ocean Boy]

My several RCI cruises have been purchased just weeks before sailing.

I will continue to grab last-minute-TA-turn-ins with resident discount.

 

Based on my (limited, recent) RCI booking experiences...I believe

that WOW! is what they say when they look at their zooming bank balance

after it's over. Just my observation.

 

Don't get me wrong here, I plan on sailing many, many more RCI cruises

....just communicating my distilled RCI booking research.

 

Wow, too much typing. So, back to lurking for a last minute deal on

Liberty of the Seas.

 

:cool::cool:

 

 

That is my new booking stetegy too since RCI came out with the new price drop policy. There are 2-3 cruises that I am interested in for next year. I will just wait until the time gets close and see which ends up being the best deal for me. And if nothing works out then I guess it will be a year without a cruise in it.... Imagine that!:eek::D

 

As for the WOW sale, the reduced deposit is nice but eventually the balance has to be paid so it is not a deal maker for me. And most all of us can figure out a way to come up with a little OBC. And waiting for a good deal usually comes out far ahead of any WOW sale OBC anyway.

[DonnaK]

The WOW sale really isn't a sale. It's a promotion featuring onboard credit and a reduced deposits, which really helps no one because you still have to pay the entire cost of the cruise eventually. So you might as well pay the regular deposit or even pay the entire trip up front.

 

 

It helps me not to have to tie up such a large sum of money over a year in advance (we are a family of 4, so those deposits add up). As well, it helps those who do not have access to other discounts or who do not book balcony cabins.

[MCC retired]

I booked the same WOW sale this time last year , in haste . Being a former TA I should have known better . The reduced deposit got me to book.

The lack of combinability for future C&A discounts , Balcony Discounts that I earned since the WOW sale , made it a bad choice for me .

 

Saw cruise rates drasticly reduced after final , but was only able to upgrade for a suite from a mini for just little more $$.

 

RCI and others with their new no rate adjustment/obc after final rule, has made me a closer in booker (exception Carnival's Early Saver rates , they are the real WOW for me to not feel I paid too much by booking early)

[azdmelani]

FWIW, I normally sail on another cruise line but received the WOW sale prices from a TA advertising the sale.

 

We booked the Navigator for a week for less than the cost of our airfare to Seattle this summer. Was a good deal to us!

[tneah]

I booked on the last WOW sale. Really good prices for the time and cruise I wanted. I have yet to see it come down from the price we booked. I check daily along with other dates that we are interested in...plus I have that site that checks for me. None of these cruises have come down in price since we booked. They have only have gotten higher and higher. And were even higher right before the WOW sale. I'm talking almost a year ago.

 

I think I got it just in time. BUT, unfortunately I hate to drop all this money on an itinerary I am not happy with (Allure Eastern). My stomach sinks every time I look at it. We are most likely going to cancel and do something else. It's not even worth the money to us. I need more than the ship to entertain me. If RCI added in their private island(coco cay) I wouldn't cancel. I would totally be on board. Now, it's either RCI or another line. And I've cruised RCI exclusively in the last few years since Disney. This year is really making me look at other options.

 

My recent Majesty b2b was great. Loved it. I spent more than half of the money on my sea pass as a solo cruiser than we did as a family of four on the Oasis. Lower cruise fare makes me willing to spend more on board. When I feel I'm putting more in the beginning of the cruise I'm more likely to be stingy on board.

 

This year's WOW sale isn't anything special. And most likely I will not be using these as an incentive to book after watching the pricing bouncing around up and up and up even more during the sale.

[readytogo2]

I get a bigger WOW when I book through an online agency.