When is a sale not a sale?

[lysolqn]

I always continue to check pricing after booking a cruise and in some cases we have been lucky enough to get a significant price reduction prior to final payment. We booked Anthem OTS for later this year and as usual, I've been following the prices.

It seems like every other week Royal Caribbean is advertising one sale or another - 50% off second guest, one free night for every three nights, third/fourth guest free, instant cash off, additional $50 off, etc. Without fail, the starting price on which each of the advertised "sale" prices is calculated is always equal to or higher than the original non-sale price. A number of years ago, some big department stores were fined for routinely hiking the price of merchandise prior to advertising that merchandise "on sale" when, in fact, the "sale" price ended up being equal to and in some cases even higher than the original price. That marketing practice was considered unfair, unethical and misleading. Oddly enough, it seems to be business as usual in the cruise industry where an advertised sale on one's sailing may not really be a sale on that sail at all.

[mgmigs]

There is no way to know what the regular price is.

[deliver42]

To answer the OP's question, a sale is not a sale when it's by RCCL.

[lysolqn]

There is no way to know what the regular price is.

 

Have been cruising long enough and often enough to know that cruise pricing has become as convoluted as airline pricing. That said, I consider a non-sale fare advertised the day before an advertised sale to be the regular price. That regular price always increases in the event of a "sale".

[juliea344]

All I can sale is that I was looking at a grand suite a few weeks ago and it was 2100 per person. Now that the third night "free" promotion is going the same room is $3000 per person. So I'd say it's never a sale.

 

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[FSUNole]

With RCI, a sale is not a sale when it says sale...

[riclop]

Most of the time it's not a sale.

[bouhunter]

There is no way to know what the regular price is.

 

 

Yes there is. Regular prices are 365 days a year. There are no sales just fluctuating prices.

[vacationlover_mn]

Lol- we bought our next right when Alaska was released, during one of the sales (I can't remember which), and the prices of our same cabin category keep going up... actually, for the last 3 days, it's gone up each day! (Lol- I only keep checking because our friends might come with us, and I'm keeping an eye on the prices for them)

 

 

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[Wanna Be Retired]

Our local Macys went out of business. They had these huge discounts on their merchandise and my husband saw a few things he thought we should pick up. I looked the items up and they were the exact same price at any other Macy's for the sale price. I told him to put the stuff back because I could get it online with free delivery for the exact same orice as the sale price. That being said, I just assume that with Royal even if they have a sale, the price for the room will be the same, with or without the discount.

[slyster]

I'm glad you brought up macys...I believe there was a lawsuit where consumers sued retailers for their false advertising on sale prices too. Who knows how it works for Royal Caribbean, but I agree, their sales are not sales LOL

[jticarruthers]

RCI has had a continuous sale since May 2014 ,,, the name keeps changing but the sale never ends and the price just gradually increases as it always did ... but its much more likely to bring in new cruisers who think they are getting a great deal because its "on sale".

[luckyinpa]

since someone brought it up i have to ask

 

how does a retailer mark up prices only to mark them down. i'm thinking of a dept. store in particular, you have clothing for instance. those tags with the annoying plastic thingies on them. how in the world can a retailer put all new tags on every piece of clothing just to mark them down. this doesnt make sense to me

[TominNC]

Not a sale when 3rd day free is more for the cruise than it was last week.

[lysolqn]

Not a sale when 3rd day free is more for the cruise than it was last week.

 

Agreed.

[deliver42]

The only thing "free" is the ability to look at the price and laugh when it's higher than without the "free" days.

[KelJ]

The only thing "free" is the ability to look at the price and laugh when it's higher than without the "free" days.

 

IF you can get their website to work...:o

[Shacky316]

The sales on RC are always 30% off or 60% off first person (same thing). Therefore, the 30% off is their regular rate. Will they ever have a real sale?

[Clarea]

The sales on RC are always 30% off or 60% off first person (same thing). Therefore, the 30% off is their regular rate. Will they ever have a real sale?

Probably not, this continuous fake sale must be working seeing they have been doing it for almost 3 years now.

[widallas]

Probably not, this continuous fake sale must be working seeing they have been doing it for almost 3 years now.

 

I guess it catches new people who are cruising for the first time...it got me! We've compared prices but it was a wash, or we could get a price drop but would give up the cabin locations. (Since we are booking three together, not much of an option.) I've found better deals with TAs for OBC and additional perks, rather than saving money on fares. And, at a point, I don't have the time to check often...only when I get a notice on the cruise price monitor that it has dropped. (Last year, we did save an extra $100...this year would have only been a few dollars so not worth it.) I thought I read somewhere that January through March is the busiest time of the year for bookings....best deals to be had at the end of March. Any truth to that, long time cruisers?

[cruzinlisa]

The prices do seem to fluctuate even during the "sale." I booked during a kids sale free promo. I got a good price, but not as good as it was the day before when I was trying to convince DH to let me book. And that was during the same sale. As soon as that sale was over, there was some other sale and the price went way way up. So it appeared I got a good deal. A month or so later a different sale and viola, the total price (with taxes and fees) is lower than my KSF promo price. But not enough to bother with a price drop for me, since I was booked with a (new to me) TA and not sure if I could make that change without a penalty. It was like a $25 difference or something. And since then I have not seen anything even CLOSE for my sailing. So I am back to believing I got a good deal.

 

So basically, you just kind of have to watch and see what the prices are. Because they fluctuate a lot.

[Clarea]

... I thought I read somewhere that January through March is the busiest time of the year for bookings....best deals to be had at the end of March. Any truth to that, long time cruisers?

Yes, they call it the "wave" season.

[red devil]

Not a sale when 3rd day free is more for the cruise than it was last week.

 

Agree. Our cruise is $600 more with the third day free then it was three weeks ago per person.

How is that a sale???

[EleventyBangBang]

I think all businesses do this to a certain degree. It's marketing. The same part of our brain that thinks "9.99" is a much better deal than "10.00" is also hard-wired to think things that are "on sale" are much better deals.

 

There's a furniture store near me that's been holding a "going out of business sale" for like four years straight now.

[DavyJoneses]

There is no way to know what the regular price is.

 

I think that may be the definitive answer. Prices change so often it is hard to know when to buy.