One Sale After Another ... How Good Can It Get?

[jewopaho]

To answer my own rhetorical question ... not very.

 

We had our eye on an eight-night cruise on Liberty out of Galveston. At the time, the promotion was "30% Off." Of course, the question, "Off what?" always comes to mind ... but the price was about what we'd been paying, and since we hadn't committed to going, we didn't book it.

 

Now comes that Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Off sale (using the term loosely). This deal of a lifetime opportunity, when stripped of its "you'd better book it now before it sells out" language is actually only 25% off that ridiculous quoted fare, which they likely hadn't charged in decades ("Was $1795" ... when???). In our case, the price actually increased by over $50/pp for that cruise.

 

We've been sailing with Royal often enough to earn D+ loyalty perks, and enjoy the product immensely. We're also not folks who check daily, waiting for a drop ... we book whenever we want to go, and a few dollars either way is immaterial. There's still no bigger bargain in travel than cruising. I understand marketing, having been self-employed for a good portion of my working career ... but this stuff actually insults my intelligence. Even my travel agent says, "Let's see what gimmick they're offering this time."

 

Oh well, it apparently works for them ... and as long as the ships sail full, we ultimately benefit. I guess it's best to simply ignore all of it and just book our cruises as usual.

Edited April 10, 2016 by jewopaho

[xpcdoojk]

To answer my own rhetorical question ... not very.

 

We had our eye on an eight-night cruise on Liberty out of Galveston. At the time, the promotion was "30% Off." Of course, the question, "Off what?" always comes to mind ... but the price was about what we'd been paying, and since we hadn't committed to going, we didn't book it.

 

Now comes that Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Off sale (using the term loosely). This deal of a lifetime opportunity, when stripped of its "you'd better book it now before it sells out" language is actually only 25% off that ridiculous quoted fare, which they likely hadn't charged in decades ("Was $1795" ... when???). In our case, the price actually increased by over $50/pp for that cruise.

 

We've been sailing with Royal often enough to earn D+ loyalty perks, and enjoy the product immensely. We're also not folks who check daily, waiting for a drop ... we book whenever we want to go, and a few dollars either way is immaterial. There's still no bigger bargain in travel than cruising. I understand marketing, having been self-employed for a good portion of my working career ... but this stuff actually insults my intelligence. Even my travel agent says, "Let's see what gimmick they're offering this time."

 

Oh well, it apparently works for them ... and as long as the ships sail full, we ultimately benefit. I guess it's best to simply ignore all of it and just book our cruises as usual.

 

Hi Al

 

Yes, marketing marketing marketing. It probably works so they keep doing it. Reality is if the ship is sailing full they don't need to do a "deal" but the earlier you book the longer they have money.

 

Not a big deal to me, because I ignore it.

 

JC

[Spurschick]

I am not sure why anyone expected the Bogo to be better than the 30% sales, as like you say it's a 25% sale.

 

Example if pax 1 is $1000 and pax 2 is $1000, under 30% sales both would now be $700 each for a total of $1400.

 

Under Bogo pax 1 is still $1000, pax2 is $500 for a Total of $1500 which is average of $750 er person which equates to 25% discount pp.

 

Given base fare is now 5% more pp. even throwing in gratuities for 2 does not make it any better than the old 30% sale.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Spurschick

[jebl]

And the biggest boondoggle is the 'free gratuities'.

 

Just priced a cruise without choosing the 'free grats' then priced it including the 'free grats'. Lo and behold the second pricing was higher than the first.

 

By just the amount of the gratuities . So there is NO Free anywhere.

 

Another example that the consumer needs to be a savvy shopper.

[Paulette3028]

To answer my own rhetorical question ... not very.............We've been sailing with Royal often enough to earn D+ loyalty perks, and enjoy the product immensely. We're also not folks who check daily, waiting for a drop ... we book whenever we want to go, and a few dollars either way is immaterial. There's still no bigger bargain in travel than cruising. I understand marketing, having been self-employed for a good portion of my working career ... but this stuff actually insults my intelligence. Even my travel agent says, "Let's see what gimmick they're offering this time."

 

Oh well, it apparently works for them ... and as long as the ships sail full, we ultimately benefit. I guess it's best to simply ignore all of it and just book our cruises as usual.

 

We have sailed aplenty with Royal to know what we believe is a good price for a cruise we want to take and when we see it we book it. Our Harmony booking we did the moment it came out, and it was an outstanding price. At this point if someone were to book the same cabin category we are in they would pay for 1 person what we nearly paid for 2 people -- that is how much the prices have gone up, even with the promotion going on.

 

Any customer of any product simply needs to be an educated shopper and savvy consumer....it doesn't matter what the product is.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Paulette3028

[Spurschick]

And the biggest boondoggle is the 'free gratuities'.

 

Just priced a cruise without choosing the 'free grats' then priced it including the 'free grats'. Lo and behold the second pricing was higher than the first.

 

By just the amount of the gratuities . So there is NO Free anywhere.

 

Another example that the consumer needs to be a savvy shopper.

 

For the free gratuities, my understanding is you get that back as obc to cover the cost.

[Paulette3028]

For the free gratuities, my understanding is you get that back as obc to cover the cost.

 

Can someone confirm that this is how it works, who has actually gone on a sailing with the 'free gratuity' offer?

[Clarea]

Can someone confirm that this is how it works, who has actually gone on a sailing with the 'free gratuity' offer?

It's correct, if you do a mock booking right now, you will see OBC added in the amount of gratuities for the first two guests.

 

No one has gone on a sailing with this promo since it applies to sailings after May 1.

Edited April 10, 2016 by clarea

[Cruisin' Along]

Can someone confirm that this is how it works, who has actually gone on a sailing with the 'free gratuity' offer?

 

We just booked a cruise with this promotion because I was happy with the cost of the cruise (will still check periodically for price drops, however.) Our paperwork shows a $190 OBC to be used specifically for gratuities for the 2 of us.

[cantonrlc]

I book early, and when the 'deals' happen, I call my TA or Royal and they match it. You just have to watch and let them know, as they don't do it automatically. On my upcoming 5/29 cruise, I called twice since booking when the price dropped.

 

 

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[Spurschick]

Can someone confirm that this is how it works, who has actually gone on a sailing with the 'free gratuity' offer?

 

I provided that info from what I was told when I rang in to price a cruise up, hence why I said that's how I understand it works. As others have said, no one has actually set sail under this offer yet.

[PompeySailor]

Can someone confirm that this is how it works, who has actually gone on a sailing with the 'free gratuity' offer?

 

Yes that is how it works, 2 people have confirmed it already..

And as you should know, no one has sailed on that offer yet

 

Happy Days!

[Paulette3028]

It's correct, if you do a mock booking right now, you will see OBC added in the amount of gratuities for the first two guests.

 

No one has gone on a sailing with this promo since it applies to sailings after May 1.

 

 

As long as you can see the OBC on the booking info, to correspond with the $$ value of the gratuities, that is fine. Some types of OBC's are not visible, and that can cause some cruisers consternation.

[UandMe4Ever]

I book early, and when the 'deals' happen, I call my TA or Royal and they match it. You just have to watch and let them know, as they don't do it automatically. On my upcoming 5/29 cruise, I called twice since booking when the price dropped.

 

 

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This sale isn't that great! Price on thus sale is about $800+ MORE than we paid to book!!! Yes, we only get an OBC and have to pay $324 in tips... Yes, you get the grats on this one, as OBC, but it CANNOT be combined with C&A. One or the other.

 

We'll never win!!!

[ColoradoGurl]

I would be more apt to book cruises on a whim (and more of them) if they actually had genuine sales. If they had only one or two real sales per year that were only offered for one day or a few hours, I would book several at a time, whereas now I just book one every now and then and don't worry very much about the "sale" price. If the price is something I'm willing to pay and I feel it's a good value to me, I book it, regardless of the current marketing pitch. But if they had real sales that you had to catch quickly, Id look for them, and book extra cruises instead of just the one.

 

Obviously Royal has more customers by advertising constant sales, so that's what they'll continue doing...im just saying my personal purchasing decisions would change if they stopped. Most of their customers probably don't keep up with what they're doing as much as those of us on this board, so they don't notice the increase in prices with every "sale" and therefore purchase more with the "sales" than without them, whereas I would do the opposite.

[Spurschick]

As long as you can see the OBC on the booking info, to correspond with the $$ value of the gratuities, that is fine. Some types of OBC's are not visible, and that can cause some cruisers consternation.

 

All obc's offered by RC as part of a promotion do show on invoice. I know sometimes there are issues with obc offered by ta's etc not showing, however this is a RC offer so yes it will show. If you ever have an invoice that does not show a RC OBC then contact them for the corrected invoice.

[Lionesss]

I usually post my traditional saying after a sale.

 

We wait for the prices to come down after yet another sale and get a price reduction.

 

Well this cruise booking made last August, the last price kickback we got was way back in October...................none since.

 

So.

 

But,

 

Gives me something to do by checking price of our sailing daily.

 

Hope something gives before our final payment next month.

 

Just saying.

[AmberTeka]

We will be cruising for the first time on RCI this September. We are Platinum on Carnival & Princess, with several on HAL and NCL and one on Celebrity. We just never went on RCI.

 

Then one of the big, Huge On Line Travel Agencies , which I check for prices, when I first start looking for a cruise. had some stunningly low prices. I had looked at RCI before, and knew that usually their prices were not that low.

 

I called. The agency had bought a lot of cabins and was selling some quickly due to it being the fall season and such. I put down a deposit that day.

 

Today there is a Six hundred dollar difference between what we paid for a very nice balcony cabin and the current rate .

All of you are correct. ..........I am convinced that booking early is the way to go. OR wait until the last minute and don't be too picky about cabins or where you are going......and you can get stunning deals. Helps living in Florida too. Being retired. A senior. Former Military.

 

We are very much looking forward to cruising on RCI.

Edited April 10, 2016 by AmberTeka

[tinkertwo]

We are new to RCL and have our fist one coming up. Having said that, I quickly caught on to the 'sales' that they offer however I can't get my husbands head around it all.

He comes home from work at least once a month telling me that the guys at work say RCL has a sale going on, I should check it out. :rolleyes:

I tell him and tell him but he still doesn't understand its all a sales ploy targeted at people just like him. ;)

[rockon391]

I am not sure what kind of trips you generally look for, but with the Caribbean trips that I generally take, I find that the "Sales" are generally not that great. Once in a great while a "sale" actually is indeed a lower price but usually seems to be just a gimmick.

[FUN33]

The cruise industry is run just like the furniture business: there is always a "sale", 365 days every year. The actual final price is essentially always the same.

 

The only difference is the cruise pricing sometimes offers a genuine discount 30 days or less before the departure date (of course any savings can quickly disappear with extremely high last minute air fares). For those of us who live in Florida this can be a really good deal if you don't mind going to the same Caribbean islands all the time.

[Bound4Bermuda]

I posted in another thread about the sale that it actually worked out well for me this time! In December, I originally bought at the 30% off sale. Then in February (or whenever the WOW sale was) at BOGO 50% plus OBC the price was only $2 different but I price adjusted for the OBC of $200. Then when this sale first started last week, it was the same price. But a member of my role call said that prices dropped yesterday. It would have been$400 back off my inside room but loose the OBC for a net of $200. However, the price of the ocean view was $200 less than what I paid PLUS the free gratuities at ocean view and up, it was cheaper for me to upgrade to the ocean view than to keep the inside! We had paid off when booking including prepaid gratuities, so we're being refunded $509 WITH a room upgrade! I think that's awesome and can't imagine any of the future sales will get better than this one. But something to keep in mind to check the other cabin categories, too, especially when certain sale bonuses apply to the other categories.

 

 

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[Paulette3028]

I posted in another thread about the sale that it actually worked out well for me this time! In December, I originally bought at the 30% off sale. Then in February (or whenever the WOW sale was) at BOGO 50% plus OBC the price was only $2 different but I price adjusted for the OBC of $200. Then when this sale first started last week, it was the same price. But a member of my role call said that prices dropped yesterday. It would have been$400 back off my inside room but loose the OBC for a net of $200. However, the price of the ocean view was $200 less than what I paid PLUS the free gratuities at ocean view and up, it was cheaper for me to upgrade to the ocean view than to keep the inside! We had paid off when booking including prepaid gratuities, so we're being refunded $509 WITH a room upgrade! I think that's awesome and can't imagine any of the future sales will get better than this one. But something to keep in mind to check the other cabin categories, too, especially when certain sale bonuses apply to the other categories.

 

 

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I don't know what ship or sailing you are letting us know about....but if it worked out so well for you....GREAT. The specifics of sail date and ship could help others.

 

I know that sailings we have booked, have only gone up in price.

[Bound4Bermuda]

I don't know what ship or sailing you are letting us know about....but if it worked out so well for you....GREAT. The specifics of sail date and ship could help others.

 

 

 

I know that sailings we have booked, have only gone up in price.

 

 

12-night Mediterranean Venice on Brilliance of the Seas leaving Oct. 5, 2016, out of Barcelona.

 

 

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Edited April 10, 2016 by Bound4Bermuda