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Did the beverage package prices go up again ALREADY?

LincolnLog

By LincolnLog,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Paulette3028

Paulette3028

Posted
Posted (edited)
We enjoy our cocktails as much as anyone, but will do so at home and just have one occasionally onboard in addition to the Diamond ones in the evening. I can't believe people are paying 6-900.00/couple to drink on a ship. Good for RCCL!

 

We truly just don't drink enough to justify buying a drink package. With the two bottles of wine we can bring on board, and the DL or coupons on our sea pass (I realize that not everyone has that C&A benefit) we just don't need to have a drink package. The DL gives me my coffee latte whenever I want it as well.

 

That $600-$900 covers excursions and tips rather than drinks for us.

Edited by Paulette3028
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JemzRoo

JemzRoo

Posted
Posted (edited)
Depending on the particular cruise you're looking at, the price may actually have dropped. For the 10/31/2015 Oasis cruise, the Premium Package had been priced at $49 plus an 18% gratuity, or $57.82 total per day. It is now priced at $57 which includes the gratuity, so it is actually less now than it was before.

 

This was my case. My Sept 15' Liberty sailing dropped from $289.10 for the Premium to $285 even. $4 dollars less. I could be wrong but it seems like all they did was reprice them upfront to automatically factor in the gratuity cost instead of it being added onto the total at the end making it more transparent.

Edited by JemzRoo
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JemzRoo

JemzRoo

Posted
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I spoke with Royal C&A and he advised that they changed the way it's presented to you, instead of being "XYZ per day = Total, then add 18%" it's now just "XYZ per day (including 18%) = Total"

 

The per day should go up but I don't think the overall prices have increased as some have even reported decreases in total amount even though it went from $49 to $57 per day for Premium, myself included.

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dcgrumpy

dcgrumpy

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Posted (edited)
I spoke with Royal C&A and he advised that they changed the way it's presented to you, instead of being "XYZ per day = Total, then add 18%" it's now just "XYZ per day (including 18%) = Total"

 

The per day should go up but I don't think the overall prices have increased as some have even reported decreases in total amount even though it went from $49 to $57 per day for Premium, myself included.

Premium went down a little but Select and Ultimate definitely went up a couple of dollars.

 

And like a couple of people posted here, they're getting different prices for different cruises.

Edited by dcgrumpy
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Sitzmark

Sitzmark

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Posted
I spoke with Royal C&A and he advised that they changed the way it's presented to you, instead of being "XYZ per day = Total, then add 18%" it's now just "XYZ per day (including 18%) = Total"

 

Didn't these packages include the gratuity in the past and then at some point they started to tack a 18% on top of it? now they are removing the tip and bumping the price to match? IOW it sounds like the price actually went up a while ago and they are just now getting honest about it.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Didn't these packages include the gratuity in the past and then at some point they started to tack a 18% on top of it? now they are removing the tip and bumping the price to match? IOW it sounds like the price actually went up a while ago and they are just now getting honest about it.

That's true, when the packages originally came out, the prices included gratuity. For example, the original price of the Premium package was $55, inclusive of gratuity. Then they changed the price to $49 plus 15%, or $56.35, so a bit of an increase.

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JemzRoo

JemzRoo

Posted
Posted
Premium went down a little but Select and Ultimate definitely went up a couple of dollars.

 

And like a couple of people posted here, they're getting different prices for different cruises.

 

Yea, the different prices for different cruises is interesting. The C&A Rep said that "different regions handle the packages differently sometimes, so a European one will be different than Bahamas" - As for how that explains different pricing for different ships in the same areas I have no idea. :confused:

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spookwife

spookwife

Posted
Posted
I

 

(yes, that gap is APPALLING, isn't it? My daughter is getting married. ;) )

 

Take this information for what it's worth. :rolleyes:

 

 

nahh just doubling up in January to stock up for the drought.

 

alas none of yours line up with mine so no chocolate covered cherries for you !

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Tinious

Tinious

Posted
Posted (edited)

On August 20th I priced out the drink packages as a Canadian, in CDN$ if I were to buy them in advance for the 7 night sailing Sep 13 on Navigator:

 

$590 ultimate = $84/day

$526 premium = $75/day

$375 select = $54/day

$205 replenish = $29/day

 

Here are the prices today, Aug 25:

$619 ultimate = $88/day

$527 premium = $75/day

$388 select = $55/day

$203 replenish = $29/day

 

Again, those are all Canadian $$$, which is about 0.76 of the USD.

 

An interesting thing to note, and I'm not sure if it's a glitch or not, but when I had checked on Aug 20th the price broke out the gratuity 18% in the "cart" when I looked at the details. The new "Aug 25" prices don't show the Gratuity broken out (in fact, it says "$0"). So I surely hope the Aug 25th prices aren't PLUS gratuity on board!

 

Also worth noting is the USD gained 2% on the CDN over the last 5 days, so anywhere from $5-10 of the price differences could be simply exchange.

 

But it does seem clear that the Ultimate package, at least, was bumped up, and the Replenish seems to have dropped a bit.

Edited by Tinious
removed erroneous offer note
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kevinyork

kevinyork

Posted
Posted

Increases in drinks package prices is to be expected. They increased onboard per drink prices massively to make the packages (perk or paid for) look good value. Now they nudge up the package prices. Guess what will be next....higher per drink prices and so on.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Daghis

Daghis

Posted
Posted

To give Royal Caribbean some credit, I don't believe that this new price adjustment is about raising the prices. It seems more to be providing whole dollar amounts for the packages including the gratuity. Perhaps that makes them psychologically more attractive than seeing a lower price and then 18% suddenly gets tacked on.

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casinostreer

casinostreer

Posted
Posted

One week ago I checked on the Ultimate Package for two people on a 7 day FOS cruise. At that time it was $908 WITH gratuities. Now it is $938. Doesn't seem like much - but $15 per person is significant. (Not prohibitive - as you might know I love the drink packages - just significant in one week - when they had already tacked on gratuity.)

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KiwiGal117

KiwiGal117

Posted
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I wonder if some of the variations in the same regions relate to the number of sea days/Labadee days. If you have fewer the price is a little less, more then they charge a bit more under the assumption you will drink more. Just a thought.

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luvsun22

luvsun22

Posted
Posted
I just checked to see what the price would be for 2 of us and it actually went down from what it was a few weeks ago when I added it in my cart. Was $808 for the 7 nights now $798.

 

This is the case for me as well. The $57 per day includes the gratuities.

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MerrylandCruiser

MerrylandCruiser

Posted
Posted
I have 1 Royal Replenish and 1 Ultimate Package in my cart for a 5 day LOS Bermuda cruise in September. Previously they totaled $336 with 18% gratuity added. Now they total $445. The Royal Replenish went from $112 to $110 and the Ultimate went from $324 to $335.

 

Typo in my previous post. Original total cost was $436, which increased to $445.

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Inukshuk Gal

Inukshuk Gal

Posted
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The package pricing hasn't changed on my upcoming cruise (Jewel of the Seas to Alaska, Sept 4th) either.

 

BUT ... good news I think... RCL has raised the value of the drinks in the packages. It is likely an indicator all drink prices are going up too, so better value for package holders.

 

Here are the changes I noticed:

 

Select package:

Wines were up to $8, now $9

 

Premium package:

Cocktails were up to $10, now $12

Wines were up to $12, now $14

 

I am printing out this page and will have it with me as I doubt all bartenders will be up to date on this and I don't want to be charged for the old limits.

 

This is where they updated their 'up to' limits:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com.au/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=5531&faqSubjectId=336#top

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