RCCL prices want to jump ship!

[gmacruiser418]

I'm jumping ship!!! Next is Rhapsody, then Vision, then Brilliance, then Oasis.....and so on and so on.....LOL. With booking in advance, I get better prices, great locations (corner afts, for example), my balcony discount, and OBC. Taking that all into account, I am NOT giving up my "Royal habit!" LOL

how do you get balcony discount and OBC? I thought they discontinued the combination of perks?

We have sailed labor day week for years and have found the price to be the same now as we used to pay for a balcony. maybe I'm not booking early enough any more due to the perks being different now then before. we live close to PC and don't have to pay for air or parking, so that isn't a concern. but maybe it's just that PC is more expensive then Fort Lauderdale.

[Worn out mailman]

Anyone else debating about changing cruise lines due to high prices at RCCL? Or have you already and regret it?

 

LOL, we changed from the Adventure of the Seas March 18th sailing to Caribbean Princess, got some great price drops and a military onboard credit. We were psyched because we had one of the best balconys, a better itinerary, and a better price.

 

Then, the Caribbean Princess broke down and our sailing was cancelled. In a pinch, we ended up on Allure, paying twice as much as we did for either of the aforementioned sailings.

 

So, yes, I already did, and in a way regretted it (though we LOVED Allure) :)

[RoyalDiamond]

how do you get balcony discount and OBC? I thought they discontinued the combination of perks?

We have sailed labor day week for years and have found the price to be the same now as we used to pay for a balcony. maybe I'm not booking early enough any more due to the perks being different now then before. we live close to PC and don't have to pay for air or parking, so that isn't a concern. but maybe it's just that PC is more expensive then Fort Lauderdale.

I always have a Next Cruise booking number in my possession. Every time I sail, I choose the "why not decide later" option, give them my $100 deposit, and get an "open booking" number. When I decide on the cruise I want to book, I simply call to book it. That qualifies as an on-board booking, and I get the OBC. Plus, now you CAN combine the balcony discount with it, too! Sometimes I even get 2 Next Cruise open bookings on board, just in case! LOL.

[Topo Gigio]

Did you see the prices for cruises in Europe? I can tell you one thing they are dirt cheap at the moment for May/June!

[JGORD7]

With all of the "how long should I wait before the prices drop" threads on this board, I wouldn't be at all surprised if RCI has created a pricing policy/model that doesn't decrease prices until well after the final payment date. We used to see price drops at random times quite routinely before, but not so much any more. Every cruise we currently have booked up through March of next year has slowly increased in price. We definitely saved big $$ by booking a year out. Even our May cruise (which is well past final payment date) continues to rise in price. So, maybe what the OP is seeing is that the old strategy of waiting until the last minute to get price drops no longer works.:(

Truthfully for us here in Ohio it's the airfare that keeps us from doing much... It's more than my cruise right now..lol

[Ocean Boy]

Truthfully for us here in Ohio it's the airfare that keeps us from doing much... It's more than my cruise right now..lol

 

For our last cruise I had two cruises in mind that sailed the same weekend. I actually booked the flights first and then sat back and waited. I did ok on the cruise but if I had waited even longer I would have done much better.

[crisndeefromde]

For our last cruise I had two cruises in mind that sailed the same weekend. I actually booked the flights first and then sat back and waited. I did ok on the cruise but if I had waited even longer I would have done much better.

 

you best be thinking about Adventure of the Seas feb 17 n 24 of 2013....lol

 

we would love you to join us!!!!

[vivavegas]

Our Fall cruise on the Breeze has gone through the roof!:eek::eek:

[lrn2cruise]

We did FOS last summer in August. We paid prime price because of the summer. I am looking into Carnival Magic for this summer and I dont get the impression that anything is cheaper. Because we live in Texas, we can save on airfare and a hotel before and after but other than that? It seems the same to me

[Ocean Boy]

you best be thinking about Adventure of the Seas feb 17 n 24 of 2013....lol

 

we would love you to join us!!!!

 

Right now I am thinking about Independence as I really like the 8 nighters. But I haven't been down in the southern Caribbean for 3 years now and I am anxious to get back down there. Once Southwest completes its acquisition of Air Tran and I get an idea on flights I might change from Independence to Adventure. We will see.;)

[hiccups]

Truthfully for us here in Ohio it's the airfare that keeps us from doing much... It's more than my cruise right now..lol

 

Same for us. I'm seeing some great last-minute deals--if we were within driving distance of a port, we'd be snatching up some of those deals.

[bigeagle12]

We have been basically paying the same price for the last 10 years .. give or take $200 .. think that is pretty good the way other prices have been going up.

[lhsail]

We haven't sailed on RCI for several years, and price has had a lot to do with it. We're booked on the Vision for the holidays, mainly due to the fact that there's so little out there for cruises that include both Christmas and New Year's without doing a back-to-back. However, we don't really value all of the venues and attractions on the bigger RCI ships and we're not in a position to be very flexible as to when we cruise. We can cruise at the times others can: summer, spring break, holidays. Obviously they can find people willing to pay their prices at high demand times. For us, we'll continue to sail Princess and Celebrity.

[klingoncruiser]

Been there and doing that. I have taken several cruises on Norwegian of late. Great prices... even more important to me, great port line up. I just got off the Mariner a few weeks ago and it really was great to be back on RCI, but I have NO problem saving over a thousand dollars or more by going on a better run on Norwegian. Price DOES too count. (D+ on RCI)

[orville99]

Our Fall cruise on the Breeze has gone through the roof!:eek::eek:

 

 

Wow, good thing it's not an RCI ship:)

[fungirl28]

I have noticed the price has gone up a bit since I started cruising in 2005 but there are always deals to be found if you can be flexible. What is crazy now is airfare! The airfare to fly has gone through the roof which dictates more where or when I cruise.

[dacsmom]

I actually decided to give RCCL a try because they have the better price for what I am looking for. I am from the "other" cruise and it was hard to make the switch because of the past cruiser discounts. We are going on the FOS in February and I just found a great deal on a weekend getaway in May that I am going to do solo.

[clean1owner]

Anyone else debating about changing cruise lines due to high prices at RCCL? Or have you already and regret it?

 

 

I am seriously contemplating a switch. We ar looking for a cruise next January, during our Daughters winter college break, and RCCL is quite a bit higher than the rest. We are seriously looking at going with NCL, $300 pp less than RCCL for the same trip, plus all 4 of us signing up for their credit card for an additional $100 pp off the price. That's a total of $1600 difference for 4 people!

[co2stay]

I agree that the cruise price is only part of our budget. For a week anywhere else, we would pay at least what we pay for the cruise. The airfare to Barcelona was almost the double the cruise price for married daughter and her husband though.

[spcopps]

Prices are totally driven by "Supply and Demand" and that applies to any cruise line.

 

The flexible with date, ship and itinerary there are always deals to be found.

 

Sailed on HAl, Princess and RCCL. Have always found the better deals on RCCL but than I'm very flexible.

 

This is true to a certain point but I have noticed the prices go up, up and up on majority of the cruises UNTIL final payment date. Seems the day or 2 after final payment the prices drop 30-40% so they are obviously not filling the ship at higher rates or the prices wouldn't drop so dramatically after final payment. They do high prices until after final payment so those who have already booked can't get the price adjustment. Unfortunately there are many families who need adjoining cabins (or other specific cabins) and can't chance those cabins not being available and this is where RCCL gets the money. There is a website I check that shows the history of pricing per cabin/ship/sail date and I have noticed this is a trend with RCCL. This all being said, I feel that RCCL is good value when traveling with kids because they offer the kids a lot of activities.