over the top prices on rci

[Ourusualbeach]

I agree, as compared spending week in Orlando with 3 kids a cruise is still lot cheaper. I always mention that cruising is also lot cheaper then 30 yrs ago. My first cruise in Sovereign in 1988 was $3600 for a deck 2 tiny porthole 120 sq ft cabin. A lot on a Corporal/E-4 pay. The Sovereign class, the largest cruise ship in world didn't even have balcony cabins back then...

 

I just priced out Universal:eek: for 4 days 3 nights to do before our Enchantment cruise. On site hotel $650 per night X 3 and 4 day multi park tickets @ $400pp X 4 came to over $3500 not including food.:eek::eek: Two Boardwalk cabins on Harmony for this March for a week was $4500 total. ($ amounts in CDN in case anyone was wondering why they were so high)

[JB77]

Uh, this is not reality. Go compare any sailing on an Oasis, Allure, Harmony with say Princess. I just checked 4 random carribean sailing 2 in March 2 in May.

 

All 4 of them RCI was 30-40% more for an ocenview balcony. That is a HUGE premium and is fairly consistent year round.

 

Now .. don't get me wrong I happen to think they are worth the premium, they have no competition, there is nothing on the sea from any other cruise line that compares with the Oasis line. This is why they sell out despite charging a hefty premium.

 

I'm sure there will be some but the Cruises I have generally been looking at, mainly Europe, have been cheaper with royal. The prices may be different for us also because I'm looking at the UK websites. How have you compared cruises in May for the Caribbean sailings as Princess don't have any in May 2017 and Royals are not yet out for 2018?

[molly361]

After reading this thread I went and checked pricing for other cruise lines right after Thanksgiving this year Eastern 7 nights in a balcony. NCL out of PC is $2263 and Princess out of FLL is $2878.

 

Our Oasis cruise out of PC early December is $1750, $2000 if you add back in the balcony discount.

[A&L_Ont]

So, in addition to the maximum capacity determined by lifeboats, there's a "on paper" maximum capacity based on 2 passengers per cabin. As such a large percentage of cabins hold more than 2 passengers, what purpose does this artificial capacity serve? Again, just curious.

 

 

I don't know if you'd call it artificial capacity. Perhaps "full" capacity might be a more accurate descriptive if the normal berths (beds) were full without anyone in the pull out couches and pullman beds.

 

I thought you might find this interesting. I snapped this photo during a bridge tour on Oasis in July 2011. Wikipedia states Oasis's guest capacity at 5,400 guests. On our sailing with the extra guests you can see by this photo there are 6208 guests plus crew.

 

 

 

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[AdGuyMG]

So, in addition to the maximum capacity determined by lifeboats, there's a "on paper" maximum capacity based on 2 passengers per cabin. As such a large percentage of cabins hold more than 2 passengers, what purpose does this artificial capacity serve? Again, just curious.

 

A very small percentage of cabins hold more than 2 passengers.

 

This is one of the reasons you can not book Triples and Quads at Group rates.

[bogofman]

As the OP is from the UK, they are probably talking about uk and European prices

 

These are indeed high compared with last year

 

Almost double what we paid last year, hence nothing booked for this summer, I cannot believe many uk pax will be willingly paying these prices.

 

The caribbean prices do seem a lot better, but there is a lot of capacity and competition which will keep the price down.

[Biker19]

A very small percentage of cabins hold more than 2 passengers.

 

Given the numbers above your post (6208 on Oasis) that gives 808 passengers above 100% capacity. Assuming 2 of those per cabin that means 400+ cabins on Oasis (out of 2700) hold more than 2 people. That's 15%. That might be very low to you but perhaps large to the poster you quoted.

 

Biker, who would call 15%, sizable.

[John&LaLa]

The reference to 100% is figured 2 people to a cabin. Lot of cabins hold 3 4 or 5... Over 2 in a cabin equals over 100%

Many cabins sail with only one occupant

 

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[ONECRUISER]

I just priced out Universal:eek: for 4 days 3 nights to do before our Enchantment cruise. On site hotel $650 per night X 3 and 4 day multi park tickets @ $400pp X 4 came to over $3500 not including food.:eek::eek: Two Boardwalk cabins on Harmony for this March for a week was $4500 total. ($ amounts in CDN in case anyone was wondering why they were so high)

 

Yeah in past we usually did better when we stayed at a 3 bed 2 bath condo, cook our own food breakfast/Dinner helps. Even with Military discounts of about 1/2 off Parks, Disney and Universal 7 days are still very pricey! Now I'm retired can travel at cheaper times but 3 kids in college and now grand kids in school when take them have to work around school vacations...

Edited January 28, 2017 by ONECRUISER

[Biker19]

They really need to be brought to justice by a regulator.

 

Fools and their money and all..

 

The only thing RCI did wrong with BOGO/promos/sales is that they were so late to the game. Many businesses use this marketing technique and given RCCL's bottom line, it is working.

[John&LaLa]

The only thing RCI did wrong with BOGO/promos/sales is that they were so late to the game. Many businesses use this marketing technique and given RCCL's bottom line, it is working.

If you remember, JC Penny's tried to get rid of sales. Didn't last long. And does anyone remember a car company by the name of Saturn?

 

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[mcatmcat]

prices are high now , wait after final payment and they go down like crazy also never book the newest ship since most people will go to those ship. For the last 5-6 year no matter what rule or trick they play I find my cruise cheaper after final payment. The only reason I keep booking with them is because after final payment I get an upgrade and by that time I already made multiple payments to my reservation.

 

I always tell my friends not to book early and skip the newest ship for at least 2-3 years.

[chandom]

If you remember, JC Penny's tried to get rid of sales. Didn't last long. And does anyone remember a car company by the name of Saturn?

 

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Yup, Saturn was no haggling (not really true if you had a trade-in).

 

Problem is most consumers look for the word "sale" and go bonkers. Has anyone ever bought something full price from a place like Bealls or Kohls? Problem is once a place started down the all "sale" all the time path they can never go back.

 

I hate the gimmicks like many on here. But the many on here are the minority when it comes to attracting bookings. Setting a higher price gives the illusion of a better product, then better value once the "sale" is factored in.

 

Back to the Bealls and Khols example, just wait untill they start offering "Royal Bucks"...

 

Added: Just thought about it. They do in the form of OBC when that promotion runs...

 

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Edited January 28, 2017 by chandom

[spookwife]

Uh, this is not reality. Go compare any sailing on an Oasis, Allure, Harmony with say Princess. I just checked 4 random carribean sailing 2 in March 2 in May.

 

All 4 of them RCI was 30-40% more for an ocenview balcony. That is a HUGE premium and is fairly consistent year round.

 

Now .. don't get me wrong I happen to think they are worth the premium, they have no competition, there is nothing on the sea from any other cruise line that compares with the Oasis line. This is why they sell out despite charging a hefty premium.

 

you cannot compare the apple that is Royal's newest ships to the oranges that are Princess's older ships. new: bright and shiny new toy that command a premium because it is bright and shiny and new and people wanna be among the first on board, or they have grown bored with the other classes of ship.

 

i will be honest, I will probably try Princess for our Alaska cruise, not simply because they 'do it best' according to most people. they do offer a flat OBC for military which is a sweet incentive and we may be ready to expand our horizons although our next Royal cruise in December puts us at Diamond.

[Fouremco]

Maximum capacity (lifeboats) and capacity (as referred to in Royal's annual reports) are two entirely different numbers.

 

Capacity at 2 per cabin is just how the industry compares and reports metrics to the financial community.

Excellent, thanks for clarifying. Statistics and other damned lies in the annual reports! :)

[CGinMTL]

It is economics 101. Supply and demand

 

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[WhenIsLobsterNight]

My suggestion is to pick the date you want and just watch it like a hawk. Our family always sails at the end of May when the kids are out of school and prefers larger ships. In early 2016 we checked prices for a family of four at the end of May 2017 and they were sky high. We are use to paying around $3800 for a balcony room for four people and when we checked we were seeing prices in the high $4000s and occasionally even over $5000 for a seven day cruise out of Florida on a large ship. We decided not to book and was looking at doing a different vacation in 2017. However, I kept checking the prices throughout the year. Occasionally they would dip and occasionally they were higher. Then I checked again right after Thanksgiving and a balcony room for four on the Oasis popped up under $3200 total after all fees. This is a good room in a good location on Deck 11 even. We jumped on it. This will actually be the cheapest we have booked a room on RCCL in many cruises. Yes there prices are higher these days due to strong demand, but occasionally they do seem to dip down. I just went out and looked at prices for our sailing seconds ago and it is now over $4000 again for a room a few away from ours. Prices go all over the place. When you see that dip on the one you want, be aggressive.

[forkcreek]

They sailed at over 105% capacity last year. As long as people keep paying they will keep raising the prices. Absolutely nothing to do with what other lines are charging.

I am not sure about this. As you know, the US RCCL web site does not show all vacant cabins, I have monitored numerous sailings on these other sites and often the vacancies are amazing. Also on our last three cruises, the three different cabin stewards told us that on every sailing the have a number of empty cabins,and that's how RCCL is able to assign them more to do

[ONECRUISER]

I am not sure about this. As you know, the US RCCL web site does not show all vacant cabins, I have monitored numerous sailings on these other sites and often the vacancies are amazing. Also on our last three cruises, the three different cabin stewards told us that on every sailing the have a number of empty cabins,and that's how RCCL is able to assign them more to do

 

A ship can sail at 105% and still have empty cabins.... and there is always no shows.

Edited January 29, 2017 by ONECRUISER

[Biker19]

A ship can sail at 105% and still have empty cabins.... and there is always no shows.

Also, that 105% is the avg for all of RCCL, not just RCI. As the Oasis example has shown, some ships could fairly regularly sail at 110+% capacity, so when you average it out, it could very well be some ships are under 100%.

[Biker19]

Statistics and other damned lies in the annual reports! :)

 

If you believe Fain is just another Bernie Madoff why would you ever sail with RCI or give them a penny of your business?:confused:

Edited January 29, 2017 by Biker19

[Ourusualbeach]

I am not sure about this. As you know, the US RCCL web site does not show all vacant cabins, I have monitored numerous sailings on these other sites and often the vacancies are amazing. Also on our last three cruises, the three different cabin stewards told us that on every sailing the have a number of empty cabins,and that's how RCCL is able to assign them more to do

 

Page 13 of their last annual report filed with the SEC. 105.1%

 

http://app.quotemedia.com/data/downloadFiling?webmasterId=101533&ref=10760201&type=PDF&symbol=RCL&companyName=Royal+Caribbean+Cruises+Ltd.&formType=10-K&dateFiled=2016-02-22

 

Of course that is an average across all their lines and ships do yes on a specific sailing their could be some empty cabins but as was just mentioned they could be at 105% of capacity and still have empty cabins.

[riclop]

i see that a lot of the cruise lines have dropped there very high prices for this year 2017 so why are rci holding to there high prices like a dog with bone i suppose they can aford to sale with half empty ships

 

Someone has to pay for all those big new ships.

[Fouremco]

If you believe Fain is just another Bernie Madoff why would you ever sail with RCI or give them a penny of your business?:confused:

LOL. Not a stock holder, so the annual report isn't of concern to me.

[Erwin Family @ Sea]

prices are high now , wait after final payment and they go down like crazy also never book the newest ship since most people will go to those ship. For the last 5-6 year no matter what rule or trick they play I find my cruise cheaper after final payment. The only reason I keep booking with them is because after final payment I get an upgrade and by that time I already made multiple payments to my reservation.

 

I always tell my friends not to book early and skip the newest ship for at least 2-3 years.

 

 

Not nearly as true as in years past. Case in point, take a look at sailings in first couple weeks of April final payment is past due prices are generally similar to the week prior to final, and a mix of old and newer ships based on price low to high.

Edited January 29, 2017 by Erwin Family @ Sea