No more balcony/suite discount within 6 months(as of Sept 1,2016)

[MattInFLL]

As a Fort Lauderdale dwelling, short cruise, close in booker - I'm not sure this has ever been a perk that I've actually ever benefitted from that much. And for the few 7 day cruises I get to take, it seems like I've gotten better pricing later during "promos" where I had to choose between my discount and the promo.

 

Conceptually it bothers me they are doing this. And I know it affects a lot of you. But probably won't have much impact on me.

[peteukmcr]

For those of you in a position to book <6 months out it can see how this can be a disappointment and can understand your anger.

 

However, due to logistics we invariably book more than 6 months out but as you can see from my signature we have already in effect jumped ship due to the current prices from RCI, which despite the never ending promotions, are out of our price range and more than we are prepared to pay for the sailings we would consider.

 

Taking into consideration the promotions from Celebrity (which don't offer obvious balcony discounts) and the cost effective prices from MSC, I can see that it maybe a while before we sail from Florida on RCI. Even when we do return to Florida (hopefully 2018) we doubt we'll be sailing RCI.

 

Put this with the decline in service, food quality (subjective I know), and increase in beverage costs to encourage drink packages, the other D+ benefits don't mean that much to us anymore.

[Jeannie333333]

And without Cruise Critic most of us wouldn't know anything about a change.

 

Very true...as a UK customer, they haven't even bothered telling us!

Of course, that could be because UK customers are keeping the benefit :eek:;)

 

 

 

 

yeah, right.....

[papaflamingo]

They may honor the discount with the "decide later" bookings, but the OBC is basically useless with those bookings, so why bother?

 

If we book more than 6 months out, then alter the booking within the 6-month window, I wonder if they'll remove the discount? Ha, listen to me. "Wonder"...duh.

 

Peter

 

Anytime you alter a booking it is rebooked under current rate rules. So, yeah, by by discount. 😡

[molly361]

Bummer- If you book a balcony it's going to have to be a pretty big price drop less than 6 months out to make it advantageous -

 

OV rooms are looking better and better- :rolleyes:

[TravelerThom]

Very true...as a UK customer, they haven't even bothered telling us! ....

RCI has not bottered to notify US customers either as far as I can tell. What was posted was a .PDF sent to Travel Agents, not customers.

 

"Customer Appreciation Week"

You're screwed!

"Loyalty to You Always"

 

Just WOW :mad::mad:

[Clagmeister]

I may be overreacting to loss of the balcony discount if you get a price drop within 6 months of the cruise. Soon they will increase final payment date to 6 months before the cruise, so we won't be able to get price drops in that period anyhow.:rolleyes:

 

Price drops and deposit refunds are just pipe dreams to we cruisers across the pond :)

Edited August 10, 2016 by Clagmeister

[Clarea]

Bummer- If you book a balcony it's going to have to be a pretty big price drop less than 6 months out to make it advantageous -

 

OV rooms are looking better and better- :rolleyes:

Yep, hoping to be able to use the shareholder benefit withthe OV staterooms.

[Karter]

I had stopped buying the next cruise/decide later certificates since the %25 was a joke and not worth bothering with but now they may have value again if we can trust RCCL not to change their policies later on down the road.

 

"4. What if my client makes a “Decide Later” booking through NextCruise outside of the 6

months but decide on the cruise within 6 months of sailing? Will we honor the discount?

Yes, in this case, the discount will be honored within 6 months of the sail date."

 

So my dilemma is do I purchase a bunch of certificates (10-20) on my upcoming Sept 4th cruise to hopefully protect the <6 month out discount? 90% of the cruises we book are within 6 months and many within 1 month of sailing. The concern is that RCCL will change their policy and the certificates will be worthless again Currently I am holding about 15 that were purchased back when they had the $100 and friends and family discount which should last me 2 maybe 3 years.

 

Any thoughts?

[travelgoddess1]

I am very disappointed with the change, but what really infuriates me is how it was sent out. On an announcement citing Customer Appreciation Week.

 

I wonder how many laughs Royal's Marketing Group and Vicki Freed had when putting this flyer together. We appreciate you spending your money and your loyalty and by the way say good-bye to your balcony discount.

 

Totally agree with you. There are a thousand different ways of breaking this "news" and RCI chose possibly the most-insulting method. Shame on them.

 

RCI has not bottered to notify US customers either as far as I can tell. What was posted was a .PDF sent to Travel Agents, not customers.

 

"Customer Appreciation Week"

You're screwed!

"Loyalty to You Always"

 

Just WOW :mad::mad:

 

Floating a trial balloon, perhaps, to see the reaction before a general announcement is published. Oh, wait -- this is RCI, who never makes a general announcement about changes to the loyalty program.

 

Why do I get the thought that our loss might just be new cruisers' gain? That RCI might be getting ready to offer new cruisers an incentive not available to repeaters?

 

And even scarier -- what is next?

Edited August 10, 2016 by travelgoddess1

[floatel_lvr]

Not very happy with this new development. Seems that Royal management have a uniquely warped way of celebrating "Customer Appreciation" week.

 

Princess was great for us when we tried a few years back. Now will include Princess and MSC among our choices when we look to book future cruises.

[LEtue]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

 

Yes to all and what amazes me is how many still plan to cruise RCI exclusively - no matter what they do.

 

I have been sailing many lines for about 10 years because a ship is just a way to get there for me and I value itinerary more :) Cost has always been an issue and I have to make that part of the decision about who to book my inside cabin with....

 

In addition to your list I never book early anymore but rather wait for the discounting to start - about 6 months before sailing. There is still plenty of cabins available and airfare isn't an issue (even FF seats).

 

Can you imagine the amount of competition that would be created if most people waited to book closer to sailing. I would imagine incentives may even be worth something :eek:

[RoamingRetirees]

 

Why do I get the thought that our loss might just be new cruisers' gain? That RCI might be getting ready to offer new cruisers an incentive not available to repeaters?

 

And even scarier -- what is next?

 

You may have something there. It really ticks me off when a company I do business with regularly offers a nice discount to "new customers only." Imagine the uproar if RCI tries that! :eek:

 

Maybe the customers RCI was "appreciating" this week are the TAs, not us.

[molly361]

What the flyer does not tell you is that all balcony prices will be increasing by $25 August 15th- August 22nd;)

[Big_G]

Yes to all and what amazes me is how many still plan to cruise RCI exclusively - no matter what they do.

 

I have been sailing many lines for about 10 years because a ship is just a way to get there for me and I value itinerary more :) Cost has always been an issue and I have to make that part of the decision about who to book my inside cabin with....

 

In addition to your list I never book early anymore but rather wait for the discounting to start - about 6 months before sailing. There is still plenty of cabins available and airfare isn't an issue (even FF seats).

 

Can you imagine the amount of competition that would be created if most people waited to book closer to sailing. I would imagine incentives may even be worth something :eek:

 

It's amazing you're amazed. While this development is indeed disappointing, we haven't booked within six months in our last half dozen cruises and have yet to see a price drop within six months of those cruises. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. While we don't sail exclusively with Royal, I think this new policy will have little effect on many loyal to Royals.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[molly361]

I forgot, how much is a Decide later booking?

[Ken at the beach]

I forgot, how much is a Decide later booking?

 

You beat me to it.:)

[Ocean Boy]

Maybe this is RCI's answer to the overcrowding problem in the D lounge. Heck it has always been RCI's position that costing the customer more money enhances the cruise experience. That philosophy goes all the way back to when they started charging for Johnny Rocket's.

[Ocean Boy]

Yep, hoping to be able to use the shareholder benefit withthe OV staterooms.

 

You will probably have to book at least six months out in order to apply it.:rolleyes:

[molly361]

You beat me to it.:)

 

And I just emailed you that I asked here:)

[Dawniepoo]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

 

This was the last straw for me. We are switching to Princess. I'm pretty tired of the way things are going at Royal. We are only Diamond, so we aren't worth much to them anyway.

[RM]

We got the Royal Wow........thanks for not being loyal to us RCL.

[Cindy]

I'm extremely disappointed by this. I'm far from loyal, but I now have even less incentive to choose RCI over the competition if all other things are equal. I already feel like I'm not getting great value for my money since things like I beverage packages, specialty dining, etc. are so costly with Royal Caribbean. This change is just one more reason to look around if we're considering a cruise that's less than 6 months away.

 

I have two upcoming Royal Caribbean cruises, and then the two after those are on other lines based on itinerary. I think I'm going to go ahead and clean out the points on our RCI Visa for our November cruise, and leave my future travel options wide open.

 

It's only partly about the money. To me it's about feeling like RCI constantly has their hand out and aren't happy until they wring every last dime out of me.

 

 

I was struck by the matter-of-fact manner in which this little grenade was dropped. 'Just stick it in a sales promotion as part of the narrative and maybe they won't notice'. Well, 'oops' on that theory.

 

Totally disingenuous and unacceptable. I think the way they handled this is deceitful.

 

 

If I write to them and correct all of the mistakes in the flyer, may I have my benefit back?

 

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

LOL!:D

[golfpccc]

Looking at the .PDF I see that the announcement of no more balcony discounts appears immediately above a C&A logo and the words "Loyal to you always"

 

What irony:mad:

This announcement was for Travel Agents and the motto "Loyal to you Always" is the motto they use for TA's.

 

They're not saying they are loyal to their cruisers, just loyal to the Travel Agents...

 

 

Carla

[John&LaLa]

Book early, book often. ;)