Royal Caribbean Price Guarantee

[The_Big_M]

Will you be entitled to guarantee since you booked your reservation with RCCL website which is based in North America?

 

If your price was in AUD then it's not a north American reservation.

[BrusselsGirl07]

I have taken advantage of price drops in the past, but only with Celebrity (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines own Celebrity). I learnt that you could do this from meeting fellow guests from the US, who take advantage of price drops as common practice.

 

I book a cruise, pay my deposit, and then I monitor the price online. If there is a price drop that is not relating to a special that is restricted to new bookings only, I have phoned Celebrity in Sydney (which puts you through to the Royal Caribbean call centre) and they have applied the reduced price to my booking. I have saved hundreds of dollars on past cruises. And after final payement is made, 90 days out, I just stop looking. You can only take advantage of price drops up until final payment.

 

BUT - I noticed that my RCI Christmas cruise for this year had fallen by $700. I also noticed that a room in the same category that I had booked was also now available. I put the room on courtesy hold, at the reduced price and planned to follow up the next day.

 

Today I spent 40 minutes on hold to the call centre (which is now in Miami by the way, but you still just call the Sydney number or Australian toll free number). I was put through to a lovely woman who first said that I would have to cancel my existing booking, lose my $200 deposit which was an open booking voucher purchased onboard and had $100 OBC attached to it, rebook at the new price and pay the $800 deposit. She said that US citizens can take advantage of price drops, but Australians can not do this. I told her that I had done it on my occasions, and it could be done for Australians. We went back and forth very pleasantly for an hour, with many discussions between her and her supervisor.

 

The result was that I had to cancel my original booking, rebook at the new price, have my $200 deposit transferred over to my new booking (which may take a few weeks to come across), and pay the $800 deposit. I did lose my $100 OBC, however have also saved $600 on the price of my cruise. So a happy outcome, if somewhat complicated to achieve.

 

Splattles, I will be very interested in your outcome as well.

[Aussie FF]

Very interested in these outcomes.

[splattles]

Splattles, I will be very interested in your outcome as well.

 

 

Mine was just like yours! Spent about 25 minutes on hold and spoke with a woman named Mikayla (or similar).

 

While she said she couldn't change the price, we went through what the options were all of which seemed convoluted. Her last option was that she would change the room of my current booking which would free up my room of choice. She then created a new booking for me at the reduced price. I also lost my OBC for booking on-board which was $150 but like you the saving outweighs that. As far as I understand, my original $100 deposit will be refunded when the cancellation goes through, and I will now need to pay $400.00 deposit on the new reservation - which reminds me, I better do now!.

 

I was surprised that they won't do cancellations over the phone! I had to email them to cancel the original booking, which I did, although I haven't heard anything yet.

 

I guess part of me understands why they don't honour every single price drop. I worked in retail for a long time when I was younger, and it's one of those "well that's bad luck" sort of situations. But at the same time, if the staff are able to help you achieve the same outcome but with a few more hoops to jump through, then they might as well match the cheaper price to start with. I do feel though that for onboard bookings there should be more leeway as you are taking the word of the agent onboard regarding the price without any oppurtunity to check yourself.

 

Either way - I got the discounted price and the room I wanted so I can feel $700 less guilty about the single supplement :D

[sab01]

Just to let you know that RCL have released new pricing on quite a few cruises for the end of 2013. I am a cruise travel agent and I can inform you that if you have a booking already made and deposited then you have to cancel the original booking, wait for the refund and make a new booking in order to get the new pricing. The new prices are really good and it is worth cancelling and rebooking. I have done quite a few this week and my clients are really happy about the $$$$$ they have saved. For some reason we can't change the old code to the new code because it must be a new booking number. I am happy to answer any questions people may have. :-)

 

 

 

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[goodycruising]

It must be a hard life being a travel agent, what a load of rubbish. What happened to booking early to get the good prices. Will not be booking onboard, great to not get a special price at all, just some crummy on board credit. Then little to no support when you try to ring (talking about my experiences now).

 

It sounds like it will do your head in looking at the website every week and grabbing opportunities that are only available short time. Why is there different prices for different countries?

 

We found on our first RCI cruise that we got the crappy noisy cabin under the 20 hour food area by booking over 12 months ahead, and the people that booked 5 weeks ahead got the much better location (same cabin type) for a much cheaper price.

 

Anyhow, sometimes I think it is better to book at the price you want, don't talk to anyone else about what they paid, and enjoy the holiday!

[Ned49]

Just to let you know that RCL have released new pricing on quite a few cruises for the end of 2013. I am a cruise travel agent and I can inform you that if you have a booking already made and deposited then you have to cancel the original booking, wait for the refund and make a new booking in order to get the new pricing. The new prices are really good and it is worth cancelling and rebooking. I have done quite a few this week and my clients are really happy about the $$$$$ they have saved. For some reason we can't change the old code to the new code because it must be a new booking number. I am happy to answer any questions people may have. :-)

 

 

 

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Do you think that the NYE cruise in Radiance this year is a good price? I have been disappointed before when booking to early only to find that the price drops quite a bit nearer the date, but, I thought that the NYE price seemed quite good. What do you think.

Thanks for any advice you can give us.

[rugbypopsie]

New Years Eve cruises rarely go down....if you want to be on it..book it.

 

Sue

[sab01]

Do you think that the NYE cruise in Radiance this year is a good price? I have been disappointed before when booking to early only to find that the price drops quite a bit nearer the date, but, I thought that the NYE price seemed quite good. What do you think.

Thanks for any advice you can give us.

 

Let me know what type of cabin you are looking at and for how many people and I will give you my honest opinion.

 

 

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[rkmw]

Do you think that the NYE cruise in Radiance this year is a good price? I have been disappointed before when booking to early only to find that the price drops quite a bit nearer the date, but, I thought that the NYE price seemed quite good. What do you think.

Thanks for any advice you can give us.

 

the NYE cruise this year goes to NZ, if you havent been there before its ok but the Rhapsody or Voyager have got good itinerarys....thats my opinion

[goodycruising]

Just to let you know that RCL have released new pricing on quite a few cruises for the end of 2013. I am a cruise travel agent and I can inform you that if you have a booking already made and deposited then you have to cancel the original booking, wait for the refund and make a new booking in order to get the new pricing. The new prices are really good and it is worth cancelling and rebooking. I have done quite a few this week and my clients are really happy about the $$$$$ they have saved. For some reason we can't change the old code to the new code because it must be a new booking number. I am happy to answer any questions people may have. :-)

 

I admire your positive attitude, but if it isn't too rude to ask, and no offense if you don't want to say..you do more work to cancel and rebook, and muck around with refunds, and then you would loose a bit on the commission surely, for a lower priced cruise? I still think you have a tough job with the way they are handling the whole price thing.

 

On the other topic of when to book...I go by the idea that you pay the price you are happy to pay on the day you book, and you book the room you want without hoping to get upgraded, as I have seen people whining at the desk onboard that their travel agent promised them an upgrade...right, like a travel agent doesn't have enough to put up with.

[sab01]

I admire your positive attitude, but if it isn't too rude to ask, and no offense if you don't want to say..you do more work to cancel and rebook, and muck around with refunds, and then you would loose a bit on the commission surely, for a lower priced cruise? I still think you have a tough job with the way they are handling the whole price thing.

 

On the other topic of when to book...I go by the idea that you pay the price you are happy to pay on the day you book, and you book the room you want without hoping to get upgraded, as I have seen people whining at the desk onboard that their travel agent promised them an upgrade...right, like a travel agent doesn't have enough to put up with.

 

No it's not rude to ask, but there is a lot of work to do to cancel and rebook and of course the commission is lower, however I would rather keep a customer happy than to have them book elsewhere. My advice on booking is, book the lowest grade of the cabin you want, look for price drops in a higher category, cause the cruise line would rather you increase your spend than decrease your spend. I worked today and almost everyone who called wanted to cruise in January and wanted to pay next to nothing!! I found a few bargains, however they were all inside cabins and they were happy. I guess the best time to book is early for holiday sailings, and for regular cruisers who have time to monitor prices you know a good deal when u see it, just book it :-)

 

 

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[goodycruising]

Thanks for the reply. Two more questions please, what benefits do you get after 55 years old? It gets me wondering every time I see that tick box! Husband has a couple of years yet. Also do you work in Aus?

[cassamanda]

Anyone having trouble making an online booking today with rccL? Am trying to book a cruise but website comes back with the proverbial "temporarily unavailable" message each time.

[aussiegav]

having the same problem

[Ned49]

Let me know what type of cabin you are looking at and for how many people and I will give you my honest opinion.

 

 

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We was just looking at a outside cabin for two cat H. We have sailed N Z before and found that we didn't use the balcony that much. Too cold.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Ned49]

the NYE cruise this year goes to NZ, if you havent been there before its ok but the Rhapsody or Voyager have got good itinerarys....thats my opinion

 

What do you mean? You don't like N Z. We are a bit limited in Australia it is either the Pacific or New Zealand. If you don't want to travel to far.:confused:

[cassamanda]

Anyone having trouble making an online booking today with rccL? Am trying to book a cruise but website comes back with the proverbial "temporarily unavailable" message each time.

Just got a successful booking by not going through my account. Pretended i was a new customer and just added the C&A numbers - weird.

[rkmw]

What do you mean? You don't like N Z. We are a bit limited in Australia it is either the Pacific or New Zealand. If you don't want to travel to far.:confused:

 

the NYE cruise this y ear goes to NZ, if you havent been there before its ok but the Rhapsody or Voyager have got good itinerarys....thats my opinion

 

i did not say i didnt like NZ....we prefer to go else where if we can....have you tried a cruise around AUS

[jota]

I phoned RCCL today and while I was checking on my current booking (VOS later this month) I told them I was making another booking and was going to book directly with them if they honour price drops as the cruise is a long way out. She was absolutely certain they wouldn't. I told her my current Aus TA had honoured two price drops for the current cruise (albeit at a cost of $220 in amendment fees) and she suggested they must have eaten into their commission to do it.

The couple of price drops they have given me have been a bit convoluted so it sounds like my TA is dealing with RC in the same way as some of you have dealt with RC directly, cancelling re-booking, paying another deposit and getting a deposit back days later. I have a bunch of friends wanting to book this next cruise, I guess it sounds like the safest bet is researching OS TA's T's & C's ?

I was hoping to book direct so I could do it myself this time, without having to rely on TA's opening hours but it sounds risky if I do.

[Ned49]

the NYE cruise this y ear goes to NZ, if you havent been there before its ok but the Rhapsody or Voyager have got good itinerarys....thats my opinion

 

i did not say i didnt like NZ....we prefer to go else where if we can....have you tried a cruise around AUS

 

Yes we did that in Feb, loved it. As I said you are limited.

[sab01]

We was just looking at a outside cabin for two cat H. We have sailed N Z before and found that we didn't use the balcony that much. Too cold.

 

Thanks for your help.

Its always hard to tell with NYE cruises, they do seem to charge a premium for them. If you are happy with the price then book it. I think the price is reasonable for that time of year. At least you will get the best cabin that is available. Good Luck and keep watching it. :-)

[Kiwiaus]

As a first time cruiser I might be missing something but when booking our March 9 cruise on Voyager it was a lot cheaper to book with an Aussie based travel agent than RCCL. I even phoned RCCL and they said they could not match the agent's price. And yes both prices are excluding gratuities. It makes we wonder what the benefits are of booking directly with RCCL?.

[megsie]

I received my price drop on Monday with the changes to our RCI reservations account. I had made enquiries the previous Wednesday. I was prepared to cancel and rebook onboard Voyager but didn't have to do so. Have no idea why the inconsistencies happen with RCI.

[aussiegav]

I just cancelled and rebooked my new years cruise we saved $1400 and we only booked the week before Christmas