Just rebooked. Onboard packages skyrocketed!

[3kidsncats]

1 hour ago, chefchick said:

To be fair...anyone who “complains”about ANYTHING having to do with a vacation is discussing a “first world problem”....

 

in regards to any discussion on this forum can we all agree to at least that?

Of course we are all complaining about first world problems! — my sarcasm would have worked better if I had hit the caps lock and gotten the question mark I intended instead of a period 😝

[CroozFanatic]

transient

[DISFANS3]

I guess we will be drinking less next cruise?? No Drink Package for us..

[Cruise a holic]

We enjoy the drink package- but unless the prices really comes down- we will not get any packages.  We are in a suite, and we will only drink the "free" drinks they offer during the cocktail hours unless prices really drop for our upcoming cruises.

[Iamcruzin]

13 hours ago, rockmom said:

The bummer for some of us that were just moved from Indy to Odyssey or Navigator to Freedom that leave the first week of July is that we likely won't have a sale between now and the cutoff to purchase pre-cruise, not to mention I doubt the refund for all of our planner items will land back on my card before the sailing.  All of my things have gone up anywhere from 80% to 495% over what I paid.  It nets out to a 240% increase if I were to repurchase all the same things.  

Am I to understand that your cruise planner purchases from Indy or Navigator didn't move with you? If so that's not right.

[badvector]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Am I to understand that your cruise planner purchases from Indy or Navigator didn't move with you? If so that's not right.

 

We're on Serenade in August for an Alaska trip.  It is one we booked in 2019 for 2020 and subsequently moved to 2021.  When they moved her from Vancouver to Seattle so they could sail they cancelled our Internet package.  Again, we were originally on this ship and they never actually cancelled the cruise.  They just moved her to Seattle and will depart one day later.  Spoke with RC and was basically told there is nothing that can be done. I have to repurchase at the going rate.  I emailed customer care at the suggestion of the rep I spoke with but haven't heard anything. 

[soremekun]

Well, if there's a sucker born every minute, there are plenty of people willing to pay these high prices!

[cpa09]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Am I to understand that your cruise planner purchases from Indy or Navigator didn't move with you? If so that's not right.

That is correct.  Royal claims that the way they do their accounting does not allow them to move cruise planner purchases from Navigator to Freedom.  All the cruise planner items whIch I purchased on sale will be refunded to me and I will need to repurchase them.  

 

I had two reservations that were linked then when they were transferred to Freedom, they became unlinked.  I had 5:30 traditional dining then when the transfer took place, now I have 8 pm traditional dining.  I had to call and change it to the early traditional dining. The only positive is the new cabins on Freedom is very close in location to the cabins I had booked on Navigator.  

 

So it seems there are still snafus with the IT system.  

[coldflame]

4 hours ago, DISFANS3 said:

I guess we will be drinking less next cruise?? No Drink Package for us..

 

Supply and demand rules the day. If people can exercise a modicum of restraint and not buy the drink or dining packages, Royal will be forced to reduce the price. Just looked at our sailing on the odyssey this fall after adding dinning package for 2 and soft beverage package for 4, our cruise fare now is no different than what Disney charges in that season. Royal is definitely pushing the boundaries as to what they can get away with here.

[cpa09]

1 minute ago, cpa09 said:

That is correct.  Royal claims that the way they do their accounting does not allow them to move cruise planner purchases from Navigator to Freedom.  All the cruise planner items whIch I purchased on sale will be refunded to me and I will need to repurchase them.  

 

I had two reservations that were linked then when they were transferred to Freedom, they became unlinked.  I had 5:30 traditional dining then when the transfer took place, now I have 8 pm traditional dining.  I had to call and change it to the early traditional dining. The only positive is the new cabins on Freedom is very close in location to the cabins I had booked on Navigator.  

 

So it seems there are still snafus with the IT system.  

One more thing, to top it off.  I received the updated confirmation and it shows a balance due when I had the cruise paid in full by the final payment date.  Per the email I received from Royal, my room should be price protected.  Hopefully, this will be resolved over time.  

[SargassoPirate]

The basic law of the marketplace is to charge what the traffic will bear.  If people line up to pay the higher prices, there is no incentive for the seller to charge less.

 

[Iamcruzin]

36 minutes ago, badvector said:

 

We're on Serenade in August for an Alaska trip.  It is one we booked in 2019 for 2020 and subsequently moved to 2021.  When they moved her from Vancouver to Seattle so they could sail they cancelled our Internet package.  Again, we were originally on this ship and they never actually cancelled the cruise.  They just moved her to Seattle and will depart one day later.  Spoke with RC and was basically told there is nothing that can be done. I have to repurchase at the going rate.  I emailed customer care at the suggestion of the rep I spoke with but haven't heard anything. 

That is some B.S. they are serving up.

[NateUpNorth]

27 minutes ago, cpa09 said:

That is correct.  Royal claims that the way they do their accounting does not allow them to move cruise planner purchases from Navigator to Freedom.  All the cruise planner items whIch I purchased on sale will be refunded to me and I will need to repurchase them.  

 

I had two reservations that were linked then when they were transferred to Freedom, they became unlinked.  I had 5:30 traditional dining then when the transfer took place, now I have 8 pm traditional dining.  I had to call and change it to the early traditional dining. The only positive is the new cabins on Freedom is very close in location to the cabins I had booked on Navigator.  

 

So it seems there are still snafus with the IT system.  

Those I.T. snafus are probably code that was written into the programming by the revenue department......

[SNJCruisers]

Need help with the 125% cruise planner FCC.  I assume that this is confirmed directly with Royal since my TA had nothing to do with it.  Hoping and praying that the 125% covers what we previously got, but I am feeling we'll be out of luck.  Had drink package for 47, dining package for 179 and CocoCay Beach Club for 65, all on our just cancelled Oasis cruise for end of August. Will probably flip our cruise till next June and pray for Black Friday or other sales along the way.  Have to hope to get Beach Club for 85 in order to not have extra out of pocket expense.

[Iamcruzin]

24 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

The basic law of the marketplace is to charge what the traffic will bear.  If people line up to pay the higher prices, there is no incentive for the seller to charge less.

 

While I agree with you 100%, I just can't believe that people are willing to pay some of these prices. I guess they don't follow Cruise Critic or monitor pricing the way we do.

[coldflame]

3 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

While I agree with you 100%, I just can't believe that people are willing to pay some of these prices. I guess they don't follow Cruise Critic or monitor pricing the way we do.

 

For real. We travel on DCL and put up with their premium because the food and soft drinks are included and also we're fans of the experience. But Royal is supposed to be a middle ground between DCL prices and Carnival rock-bottom experience. With this significant jump with on-board prices, they're pricing themselves at DCL level, which I'm not sure the market will bear.

[DirtyDawg]

7 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

While I agree with you 100%, I just can't believe that people are willing to pay some of these prices. I guess they don't follow Cruise Critic or monitor pricing the way we do.

Or, they are all cruise addicts who haven't had a 'fix' in well over a year!😉

[Jimbo]

12 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Need help with the 125% cruise planner FCC.  I assume that this is confirmed directly with Royal since my TA had nothing to do with it.  Hoping and praying that the 125% covers what we previously got, but I am feeling we'll be out of luck.  Had drink package for 47, dining package for 179 and CocoCay Beach Club for 65, all on our just cancelled Oasis cruise for end of August. Will probably flip our cruise till next June and pray for Black Friday or other sales along the way.  Have to hope to get Beach Club for 85 in order to not have extra out of pocket expense.

Good Luck with that.

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, DirtyDawg said:

Or, they are all cruise addicts who haven't had a 'fix' in well over a year!😉

I guess with the amount of money they saved by not cruising for 18 months they can afford the inflated prices. Me on the other hand would opt for a Princess or Celebrity cruise that has all of the extras included in the price.

[Lionesss]

I always try to look at the bright side of any situation.  (sarcasm)

 

I guess you can say we will see a decrease in one aspect (regarding money)  of cruising, even though it is not in the Onboard package section, or anything that RCI sells for a price.

 

But, somewhere else completely.

 

What I am referring to is a decrease in the payout on slot machines in the casino......

 

This in itself will dent my time playing the slots.  Less payout by them, less time I can play, I will only donate so much, per evening.  Prior to COVID, I would have some jackpots that kept me entertained.  But all in all never hit the BIG times.

 

OOOOps

 

I am off the OP topic.

 

My mind wanders.

 

🙄

[DirtyDawg]

6 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I guess with the amount of money they saved by not cruising for 18 months they can afford the inflated prices. Me on the other hand would opt for a Princess or Celebrity cruise that has all of the extras included in the price.

We are still in lockdown in Ontario (Canada), with the U.S. border effectively closed and interprovincial travel is discouraged. So people are planning summer vacations in the province and so cottage prices are up about 50% vs 2020. Cottage rental prices, if you could get one, are through the roof!

 

There is a whole lot of pent up demand out there. I'll be waiting for these markets to cool down before I jump back into cruising or buy a cottage. 

[mek]

1 hour ago, soremekun said:

Well, if there's a sucker born every minute, there are plenty of people willing to pay these high prices!

 

Well, exactly.  If people stop buying the packages at inflated prices, then the prices will come down.

[mek]

7 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

We are still in lockdown in Ontario (Canada), with the U.S. border effectively closed and interprovincial travel is discouraged. So people are planning summer vacations in the province and so cottage prices are up about 50% vs 2020. Cottage rental prices, if you could get one, are through the roof!

 

There is a whole lot of pent up demand out there. I'll be waiting for these markets to cool down before I jump back into cruising or buy a cottage. 

I wish the border would open back up. I'm willing to wait until my November cruise to return to cruising, but I would love to take a trip later this summer to the Canadian Rockies.

[mek]

29 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I guess with the amount of money they saved by not cruising for 18 months they can afford the inflated prices. Me on the other hand would opt for a Princess or Celebrity cruise that has all of the extras included in the price.

That is probably true, but I never buy the beverage or internet package, so I don't care what the cruise lines charge for them.

I love X and Princess, but not sure I want to pay more for an all inclusive cruise.

[DirtyDawg]

8 minutes ago, mek said:

I wish the border would open back up. I'm willing to wait until my November cruise to return to cruising, but I would love to take a trip later this summer to the Canadian Rockies.

My brother lives fairly close to Banff, Alberta,  so his place is a popular visiting spot for the rest of the family who are all in Ontario. Its wonderful out there but if you go, try not to go in August as that's forest fire month and the smoke can ruin the sights.