Typical Royal smoke and mirrors

[PCWalton1]

For my upcoming Ovation cruise I bought the three night dining package. It was advertised as "up to 20% off" at a cost of $69 pp. I log on to my cruise today and I see they are advertising "up to 40% off" but it's 20 bucks higher. Really? 😏

 

[Clarea]

Royal has their own math Bill.

[orville99]

They mark it up so they can mark it down

Edited March 21, 2019 by orville99

[ONECRUISER]

"Up to" but usually LESS

[JHawk63]

I think we're on the same cruise & didn't buy the package when it was $69, hoping it would go down even more. I could kick myself that I didn't buy it then! Here's hoping around one of the holidays, there will be a real discount again.

[cruiseguy1016]

2 minutes ago, JHawk63 said:

I think we're on the same cruise & didn't buy the package when it was $69, hoping it would go down even more. I could kick myself that I didn't buy it then! Here's hoping around one of the holidays, there will be a real discount again.

 

If you definitely want the package, buy it now. If the price goes down, you can cancel your existing order and buy it at the lower price. This way you'll be guaranteed the best price as of today.

Edited March 21, 2019 by cruiseguy1016

[JHawk63]

10 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

If you definitely want the package, buy it now. If the price goes down, you can cancel your existing order and buy it at the lower price. This way you'll be guaranteed the best price as of today.

Good idea! We really want to go to Wonderland, but figured it was a better deal to do the 3 night package.

[bouhunter]

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

Royal has their own math Bill.

They sure do. 

[AlexisV]

The way Royal explains the pre-cruise planner sales is confusing.  When you purchase before getting on the ship, you are getting an up front 20% discount from the on-board prices.  When there is a promotion, they are also using the onboard prices to determine the sale price.  Also, their promotions are not straight across the fleet.  That's why they say "up to" 30%, or whatever the promotion is.  Each cruise has it's own price essentially.  So when you are expecting that you are getting 30% off the beverage package, it's not going to be off the price you may have been watching in your cruise planner, it will be based off what it is on board.

[twangster]

While I generally agree with the assessment of wonky Royal math, when it comes to dining packages no one can calculate a precise discount because it depends where you dine.  Hence "Up To".

 

If you dined at Jamie's every night ($39 x 3) the discount from on-board pricing would be different compared to dining at Chops every night ($42 x 3).  Spending every night at Izumi's would yield different results again ($50 x 3).  Spending one night at Jamie's and two nights at Chops and it's different again.  Two Izumi and one Chops is different again.  

 

Izumi recently switched from a la carte to $50 fixed.  As one of the more expensive venues, that has allowed to them to claim "up to 40%".

 

Like drink packages they monitor prices and adjust them based on demand.   It's quite normal for people to report savings on one sail date but nothing on another.  

 

Very little is consistent with Royal.  They follow sales trends and adjust pricing quite often.  That's how they maximize revenue.  

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by twangster

[The Sunset Glow]

6 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

For my upcoming Ovation cruise I bought the three night dining package. It was advertised as "up to 20% off" at a cost of $69 pp. I log on to my cruise today and I see they are advertising "up to 40% off" but it's 20 bucks higher. Really? 😏

 

 

I saw that too. We are on the same cruise and I bought it at $69 as well. RCI's math is like the new math in school - makes no sense.

[The Sunset Glow]

23 minutes ago, twangster said:

While I generally agree with the assessment of wonky Royal math, when it comes to dining packages no one can calculate a precise discount because it depends where you dine.  Hence "Up To".

 

If you dined at Jamie's every night ($39 x 3) the discount from on-board pricing would be different compared to dining at Chops every night ($42 x 3).  Spending every night at Izumi's would yield different results again ($50 x 3).  Spending one night at Jamie's and two nights at Chops and it's different again.  Two Izumi and one Chops is different again.  

 

Izumi recently switched from a la carte to $50 fixed.  As one of the more expensive venues, that has allowed to them to claim "up to 40%".

 

Like drink packages they monitor prices and adjust them based on demand.   It's quite normal for people to report savings on one sail date but nothing on another.  

 

Very little is consistent with Royal.  They follow sales trends and adjust pricing quite often.  That's how they maximize revenue.  

 

 

Agreed but I think his point was when it was "up to 20% off" it was $69 but now that it's "up to 40%" it's $89 ($20 more but an extra 20% off) - that makes absolutely no sense no matter which way you spin it.

[twangster]

14 minutes ago, The Sunset Glow said:

 

Agreed but I think his point was when it was "up to 20% off" it was $69 but now that it's "up to 40%" it's $89 ($20 more but an extra 20% off) - that makes absolutely no sense no matter which way you spin it.

 

Izumi used to be $35 allowance.  Now it's $50 fixed.

 

$50 x 3 = $150.

$89 is 40% off $150.

 

So now they can claim "Up to 40% off" assuming you eat all three meals at Izumi.  

[er345]

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Izumi used to be $35 allowance.  Now it's $50 fixed.

 

$50 x 3 = $150.

$89 is 40% off $150.

 

So now they can claim "Up to 40% off" assuming you eat all three meals at Izumi.  

This was the exact same math I was thinking of.  If you eat at the most expensive restaurant all three nights you would be getting about 40% off the full price of the restaurant.  It’s not 40% off of the 3 night package.

 

I bought the 4 night package on Ovation back when they had that for $100 a person.  So $25 a night seemed reasonable.  Then I saw the 3 night for $69 and realized that was even less per night.  Now the 4 night isn’t even available for purchase.

[Robo1098]

Over 12,000 posts and you are surprised by Royal math?

I never look at the discount. I just check to see if the bottom line goes up or down.

[twangster]

The three night package is the sweet spot for them.  They can sell more 3 nights packages on a typical 7 night cruise because each package consumes less available dining slots.

 

Consequently they offer but capacity control the 4 and 5 night packages (and UDP) to a greater extent so that they can sell more 3 night packages.  

[voyager70]

Just like all of Royal's so-called sales & discounts I think it's a great marketing strategy to lure the naive newbies into thinking they're getting a great deal.  The rest of us know better.

 

[er345]

So I checked our sailing again out of curiosity.  The current 3 night dining package has a banner that says up to 50% off and the price is $89!

 

So $89 is 50% off of $178.  Divide that by 3 nights is $59.33 a night.  Where would you have to pay that much for a specialty restaurant onboard?

[cruiseguy1016]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

 

Izumi used to be $35 allowance.  Now it's $50 fixed.

 

 

 

I think RCI has priced Izumi out of business. I was on Adventure last week and I don't think I ever saw more than 8 or 10 people in there. Most of the time it was empty.

[voyager70]

2 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

I think RCI has priced Izumi out of business. I was on Adventure last week and I don't think I ever saw more than 8 or 10 people in there. Most of the time it was empty.

 

Agree.  Would never pay $50 for Izumi.

 

[forgotmyCCname]

13 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

I think RCI has priced Izumi out of business. I was on Adventure last week and I don't think I ever saw more than 8 or 10 people in there. Most of the time it was empty.

I must say i was shocked when I looked at the menu and what is included. That is a ridiculous  price for the meal one receives. 

 

[Clarea]

18 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

I think RCI has priced Izumi out of business. I was on Adventure last week and I don't think I ever saw more than 8 or 10 people in there. Most of the time it was empty.

 

Same thing we saw last month.  Most we every saw were 4 tables occupied, and 2 of those were ship's officers.