Diamond balcony discount

[nelblu]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 2:22 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

The OBC from Next cruise is the one of the few remaining OBC’s that is combinable with the balcony discount.  It’s the monthly promotions that offer instant savings or OBC that can’t be combined.

 

also with the 50% off the second guest your OBC is reduced as they take the balcony discount and poly it equally to both guests and then take the 50% off the second guest.

Not in any of my bookings.  Also, the D balcony discount is $225 rounded to $226  for a 7 nite cruise.  The $250 applies to D+.

 

From another thread with regards to Shareholder's Benefits and the Balcony discounts.  Sent RCL an e-mail trying to get confirmation that the 2 are now combinable  Anyway, received a tele call about an half hour ago--I assumed it was the "Upgrade Fairy" for my upcoming Anthem's cruise--Not a chance.  It was a gentleman calling me to discuss the e-mail and provide confirmation.  .I thought was nice on RCL part to call and discuss rather than an e-mail

 

He went on to say that RCL appreciates feedback.  One of the feedback that a I gave him was exactly the problem mentioned in that some of the promos dilute the C&A balcony discount.  He concurred and I asked him to pass it on to the "promo dept". and maybe they can correct this unfairness to RCL's loyalty base.  Who knows.

Edited June 13, 2019 by nelblu

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Not in any of my bookings.  

What part of my quote were you referring to?

[nelblu]

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

What part of my quote were you referring to?

Maybe, I misunderstood.  

Edited June 13, 2019 by nelblu

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, nelblu said:

Maybe, I misunderstood.  I inferred form your post,  that the balcony discount is reduced due the 50% off promo.  They used to do did that some years ago, but not lately.

The balcony discount is reduced slightly, not by 50% but it is reduced.

 

on a second guest 50% off it is calculated as follows.  Assume a fare of $1000 per person and a balcony discount if $250.

 

your total before taxes should be ($1000 + $500) - $250= $1250

 

but it’s not

 

guest 1.  $1000-$125=$875

 

guest 2.  $1000-$125=$875.  $875 *.50=$437.50

 

total $875+$437.50= $1262.50

 

its worse when it’s the 30% off guest 1 and 2.

[nelblu]

11 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The balcony discount is reduced slightly, not by 50% but it is reduced.

 

on a second guest 50% off it is calculated as follows.  Assume a fare of $1000 per person and a balcony discount if $250.

 

your total before taxes should be ($1000 + $500) - $250= $1250

 

but it’s not

 

guest 1.  $1000-$125=$875

 

guest 2.  $1000-$125=$875.  $875 *.50=$437.50

 

total $875+$437.50= $1262.50

 

its worse when it’s the 30% off guest 1 and 2.

 

Not sure if it's specific sails, but mine has not been affected.  For example on my 3 upcoming cruises:

 

11 niter on Anthem (I/27/20) my 60% off is more like 62.4%% ($1,331/$2,132) and no impact on my D+ balcony discount of $350.  Also, got $129 in resident discount.

 

9 niter on my August Anthem my 30/30% equals 37.4% ($675/$1,803) and no impact on our $226 D+ balcony discount.  Booking less than 6 months.

 

7 niter on Harmony (4/12/20) my 60% off equals 61.8% ($1,006/$1,627) and our D+ balcony discount of $250 was not affected.  To boot, got an add'l $100 off promo that RCL was running at time of booking.

 

I remember a few years ago, the % discount off was calculated after the balcony discount, however on my most recent reservations I notice no impact on my % off amount.

Edited June 14, 2019 by nelblu

[Ourusualbeach]

13 minutes ago, nelblu said:

 

Not sure if it's specific sails, but mine has not been affected.  For example on my 3 upcoming cruises:

 

11 niter on Anthem (I/27/20) my 60% off is more like 62.4%% ($1,331/$2,132) and no impact on my D+ balcony discount of $350.  Also, got $129 in resident discount.

 

9 niter on my August Anthem my 30/30% equals 37.4% ($675/$1,803) and no impact on our $226 D+ balcony discount.  Booking less than 6 months.

 

7 niter on Harmony (4/12/20) my 60% off equals 61.8% ($1,006/$1,627) and our D+ balcony discount of $250 was not affected.  To boot, got an add'l $100 off promo that RCL was running at time of booking.

 

I remember a few years ago, the % discount off was calculated after the balcony discount, however on my most recent reservations I notice no impact on my % off amount.

% means nothing.

 

You need to look at the actual numbers and calculate what your cruise would have been without the C&A discount vs with and unless your TA has booked you in a group you are not getting the full balcony discount.

[SAmome]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

% means nothing.

 

You need to look at the actual numbers and calculate what your cruise would have been without the C&A discount vs with and unless your TA has booked you in a group you are not getting the full balcony discount.

Agree.  The "real or net" Diamond discount is all I'd be inclined to care about.  So, step thru a mock booking without entering C&A number and note the total for desired cabin.  Do it again with C&A number. 

 

The difference in the two numbers is what you as a D/D+ get for a balcony discount over a brand new first time cruiser.  The difference will be the same regardless if book refundable or nonrefundable rate.

 

 

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

% means nothing.

 

You need to look at the actual numbers and calculate what your cruise would have been without the C&A discount vs with and unless your TA has booked you in a group you are not getting the full balcony discount.

 

6 minutes ago, SAmome said:

Agree.  The "real or net" Diamond discount is all I'd be inclined to care about.  So, step thru a mock booking without entering C&A number and note the total for desired cabin.  Do it again with C&A number. 

 

The difference in the two numbers is what you as a D/D+ get for a balcony discount over a brand new first time cruiser.  The difference will be the same regardless if book refundable or nonrefundable rate.

 

 

So what you are saying that even though I'm getting more than the advertised % off fare and the full D+ balcony discount shown on my invoice, the actual % discount should be more than what I'm getting.  Again in the past the invoice did reflect the reduction.

 

As per your suggestion, did a mock booking for an Anthem 11 nite sailing in Jan. '21, and the results reflect no impact.  The same BOGO50 in either scenario--% discount of $1,567 and when I enter my C&A # a corresponding balcony discount of $350.  Scenario without the C&A loyalty # comes to a total of $3,633 and with the # it totals $3,283 for a net difference of $350 which represents the balcony discount.

[molly361]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

% means nothing.

 

You need to look at the actual numbers and calculate what your cruise would have been without the C&A discount vs with and unless your TA has booked you in a group you are not getting the full balcony discount.

Time to give up yet??😇

[HBE4]

15 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The balcony discount is reduced slightly, not by 50% but it is reduced.

 

on a second guest 50% off it is calculated as follows.  Assume a fare of $1000 per person and a balcony discount if $250.

 

your total before taxes should be ($1000 + $500) - $250= $1250

 

but it’s not

 

guest 1.  $1000-$125=$875

 

guest 2.  $1000-$125=$875.  $875 *.50=$437.50

 

total $875+$437.50= $1262.50

 

its worse when it’s the 30% off guest 1 and 2.

 

I know the numbers above are just for example purposes, but it shows that's possible for some to end up paying more using the loyalty discount?? 

 

Nice job Royal!!

 

[HBE4]

10 minutes ago, molly361 said:

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

% means nothing.

 

You need to look at the actual numbers and calculate what your cruise would have been without the C&A discount vs with and unless your TA has booked you in a group you are not getting the full balcony discount.

Time to give up yet??😇

 

LOL. It's actually clear as mud.

 

What i learned is that it's possible to get the full balcony discount, more likely to get a partial balcony discount and in theory, could end up paying more using the balcony discount.

 

[orville99]

I just finished going through all 13 cruises we have booked. In every case, the C&A discount is taken off the price before the BOGO (50% or 60% depending on which promo was in effect when we booked). The first one is a 50% off second guest, and the second one is a 60% off.

Edited June 14, 2019 by orville99

[nelblu]

3 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

I know the numbers above are just for example purposes, but it shows that's possible for some to end up paying more using the loyalty discount?? 

 

Nice job Royal!!

 

Yes, as I also mentioned, RCL did adjust the % in some of my past bookings.  Went back to my August 2016 9 nite Anthem sail and indeed the impact was $74 higher -- $1,896 X .30=$569 vs. $1,896-250 X.30=$495.

 

As I said in my posts, no impact whatsoever on my 3 present bookings no matter which way you slice it.

Final word--getting more than the advertised promo % fare reduction, and the full balcony discount.

[nelblu]

19 minutes ago, orville99 said:

I just finished going through all 13 cruises we have booked. In every case, the C&A discount is taken off the price before the BOGO (50% or 60% depending on which promo was in effect when we booked). The first one is a 50% off second guest, and the second one is a 60% off.

How can you tell, just because it is shown as such.  If you do the calculations, in the first example the 2nd guest is getting almost 52% off ($913/$1772=51.5%) vs the promo of 50%.  In the second example you are getting almost 36% reduction (641/1799=35.6%) rather than the 30/30 per guest.

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

Yes, as I also mentioned, RCL did adjust the % in some of my past bookings.  Went back to my August 2016 9 nite Anthem sail and indeed the impact was $74 higher -- $1,896 X .30=$569 vs. $1,896-250 X.30=$495.

 

As I said in my posts, no impact whatsoever on my 3 present bookings no matter which way you slice it.

Final word--getting more than the advertised promo % fare reduction, and the full balcony discount.

 

I would  agree with this assessment, especially after reading Orville99 post above. No matter how I calculate the numbers, they are getting the full balcony discount and full sales price.

 

I guess sometimes RCI murky math works in the customers favor.

[nelblu]

13 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

I would  agree with this assessment, especially after reading Orville99 post above. No matter how I calculate the numbers, they are getting the full balcony discount and full sales price.

 

I guess sometimes RCI murky math works in the customers favor.

Agree, however over the past couple of years, all of my bookings have gotten higher % fare reduction that the advertised 60, 50 & 30/30&  promo.  This tells me that the math is clear, since it's not impacting the balcony discount.

 

What annoys me, is that when RCL runs a instant saving $ amount that is not combinable with the balcony discount, therefore, diluting the value of the C&A benefit to it's most loyal customers.

[orville99]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

How can you tell, just because it is shown as such.  If you do the calculations, in the first example the 2nd guest is getting almost 52% off ($913/$1772=51.5%) vs the promo of 50%.  In the second example you are getting almost 36% reduction (641/1799=35.6%) rather than the 30/30 per guest.

My point was that the promos are not impacting the value of the C&A discounts, which was what everyone was complaining about. 

[orville99]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

What annoys me, is that when RCL runs a instant saving $ amount that is not combinable with the balcony discount, therefore, diluting the value of the C&A benefit to it's most loyal customers.

Then you're gonna love this one (January 2021 Harmony) where we got 60% BOGO off the second guest(~63% actually), 9% BOGO off the first guest, the full C&A discount, and a "non-combinable" $75 instant savings off of the first guest as well:

[molly361]

All examples posted are for non refundable bookings.  The reason the discount does not jive with whatever BOGO is that you are getting the additional discount (who knows how that is calculated) for booking a non refundable fare

Edited June 14, 2019 by molly361

[nelblu]

47 minutes ago, molly361 said:

All examples posted are for non refundable bookings.  The reason the discount does not jive with whatever BOGO is that you are getting the additional discount (who knows how that is calculated) for booking a non refundable fare

You are right for that example.  Misread it the first time.

 

47 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Then you're gonna love this one (January 2021 Harmony) where we got 60% BOGO off the second guest(~63% actually), 9% BOGO off the first guest, the full C&A discount, and a "non-combinable" $75 instant savings off of the first guest as well:

Yes, I've gotten some instant savings that are combinable with the balcony discount.  Yours seems to get a $75 promo and identified as non NRD (non refundable deposit).

Edited June 14, 2019 by nelblu

[orville99]

34 minutes ago, molly361 said:

All examples posted are for non refundable bookings.  The reason the discount does not jive with whatever BOGO is that you are getting the additional discount (who knows how that is calculated) for booking a non refundable fare

My best guess is That the bogo amounts are “hard coded” to the refundable fares by their intrepid IT department, so I’m not going to complain.😀

[nelblu]

48 minutes ago, orville99 said:

My point was that the promos are not impacting the value of the C&A discounts, which was what everyone was complaining about. 

I agree and that's been my point.  At least with my most recent bookings it seems as though RCL has abandoned the calculation of netting out the fare and the balcony discount before arriving at the promo reduction, eg. 50%, 30/30% or 60%.