Black Friday Sale, 2021

[Maitaivegas]

Here is the tweet that shows the contest but we need to register on the site first.

[vacationlover_mn]

My only hope is that RCI updates the planner, so that I can actually plan an excursion for my replacement of grand Caymen with Roatan!  RIght now, they show Roatan, but the excursions are actually still Grand Caymen.

[Bananas27]

The "discounted" price for my Jan 30th cruise is $70 a day for the beverage package!  This is probably so they can advertise a bigger % off for Black Friday.  

 

Any guesses how low it might go?

[Maitaivegas]

1 hour ago, Bananas27 said:

The "discounted" price for my Jan 30th cruise is $70 a day for the beverage package!  This is probably so they can advertise a bigger % off for Black Friday.  

 

Any guesses how low it might go?

Someone did an excel sheet and on the Symphony the drink package only got down to 50 per day at the very lowest

[HMY624]

I haven't seen it lower than $50 for an Oasis class ship- we got it for that price last Black Friday. But paid more than that for our Symphony cruise back in Feb 2020 even with the Black Friday sale (can't remember how much though...)

[alchemist4]

Just saw this:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/Snapshot_of_CruisePlanner_Offers.pdf

 

Of course, we don't know what it will actually translate into since these percentages mean little.

[binro01]

1 hour ago, alchemist4 said:

Of course, we don't know what it will actually translate into since these percentages mean little.

If Royal's math held to the principles of real math, the soda package which right now states 30% off Onboard pricing at 8.99, would mean onboard pricing is $12.8428 per day... lets just round to $12.85, so in theory the 50% off onboard of the soda package would translate to $6.43 per day or thereabouts. We shall see.. We shall see... 

[jonj]

The magic Words are UP TO, so some may be lower % off. 

 

Does say to see spreadsheet for specific percentage off, any access to this magical spreadsheet

Edited November 20, 2021 by jonj

[rockmom]

1 hour ago, binro01 said:

If Royal's math held to the principles of real math, the soda package which right now states 30% off Onboard pricing at 8.99, would mean onboard pricing is $12.8428 per day... lets just round to $12.85, so in theory the 50% off onboard of the soda package would translate to $6.43 per day or thereabouts. We shall see.. We shall see... 

Last Black Friday I did get soda packages for $6.49, before the gratuity.  I still have one cruise left that hasn't been canceled where we have that deal and also super cheap wifi.  

[Maitaivegas]

1 hour ago, rockmom said:

Last Black Friday I did get soda packages for $6.49, before the gratuity.  I still have one cruise left that hasn't been canceled where we have that deal and also super cheap wifi.  

If that spread sheet is right, then my UDB and UD package isn’t getting any cheaper 🥰

[poocher]

And my DBP isn’t any cheaper either.

[CruisingRealtor2018]

On 11/10/2021 at 9:49 AM, cruisin from florida said:

I thought I could start a thread dedicated to talking about this year's Black Friday sale.

Rumors and guesses are welcome, especially since that's all we have at this point.

 

I haven't bought any on board packages yet for our November 28th cruise. I'm hopeful that some items that we are really interested in might be on sale for the Black Friday sale.

 

Given that our cruise leaves on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, one question I have is how late can we purchase on board options in the cruise planner? The other question is obviously when do you think the Black Friday sale will actually start?

 

I know that they may not put anything on sale that we are interested in, and that if we really want something we should just go ahead and lock it in. We aren't tempted by the current offerings at the current prices, so we aren't losing anything by waiting.

 

Thoughts, guesses, recommended strategy?

So as far as booking items go into the planner and hit terms and conditions on any item and it will tell you when they must be booked by.  Our dec 6th cruise planner says dec 3rd by 1159pm so about 3 days prior… hope this gives you a more accurate answer!

[travelhound]

On 11/16/2021 at 5:45 PM, binro01 said:

Book it now and if it goes down just get it repriced. This way you get your room that you want now before the rush.

That's good advice.  Royal has been very good with repricing.

Edited November 20, 2021 by travelhound

[cruisin from florida]

Re: free cruise promo...Carnival has been selling a lot of "almost free" cabins lately. We booked one. $25 pp for a 4 night balcony, total with gratuities and taxes just under $400 total. If Royal's "free" cruises work similarly, they'll do ok due to on board spending. 

Edited November 20, 2021 by cruisin from florida
Addition

[killsport]

11 hours ago, Maitaivegas said:

If that spread sheet is right, then my UDB and UD package isn’t getting any cheaper

Where did you see the spreadsheet? I'd love to peek 😇

[JillK]

 

19 hours ago, Bananas27 said:

The "discounted" price for my Jan 30th cruise is $70 a day for the beverage package!  This is probably so they can advertise a bigger % off for Black Friday.  

 

Any guesses how low it might go?

 

Agree with other posters that the cheapest you are likely to find it will be $50/day. 

 

Mine was originally at $60, then dropped to $50 and then last week magically is back to $60- I assume in anticipation of Royal being able to offer it "on sale" next week for $50. 😉

[moonltnite]

17 hours ago, alchemist4 said:

Just saw this:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/Snapshot_of_CruisePlanner_Offers.pdf

 

Of course, we don't know what it will actually translate into since these percentages mean little.

Am I reading this correctly - that the offers noted in this doc are just for International (non-US)  travelers?

[rockmom]

22 hours ago, Bananas27 said:

The "discounted" price for my Jan 30th cruise is $70 a day for the beverage package!  This is probably so they can advertise a bigger % off for Black Friday.  

 

Any guesses how low it might go?

 

3 hours ago, JillK said:

 

 

Agree with other posters that the cheapest you are likely to find it will be $50/day. 

 

Mine was originally at $60, then dropped to $50 and then last week magically is back to $60- I assume in anticipation of Royal being able to offer it "on sale" next week for $50. 😉

I've been watching for my March sailing and they raised the 'onboard price' to $88 per day.  Per the flyer, it shows that the DBP will be 30% off onboard pricing (with water cans, soda and refreshment packages at 50% off).  So that would mean the sale price would be $61. UGH!  I hope the flyer is wrong, but I'm guessing it's not.  

 

[poocher]

I’m hoping too!  If not, Black Friday sale won’t actually be one.

[binro01]

It seams like that Royal has been boosting their number on board with a lot of Casino free rooms. The way they make the most on these trips is on board spend, which makes sales on packages not very cost effective for them since their average cruise fare rate is taking a hit, they have to make up the money elsewhere. This is pure speculation and conjecture, but it makes business sense to me.

[alexgtp]

Marketing 101.

 

use buzz words to get everyone excited. Give a % off so people think they are getting a deal.

 

Best bet is to have followed your particular cruises prices for things you are interested in.  If the price on a Black Friday "SALE" is cheaper than normal,  you book it.

 

ALWAYS look at price and disregard the buzz words and % off nonsense.

[not-enough-cruising]

5 hours ago, moonltnite said:

Am I reading this correctly - that the offers noted in this doc are just for International (non-US)  travelers?

No, you aren’t reading it correctly 

[Russ Lomas]

On 11/19/2021 at 5:41 PM, alchemist4 said:

Just saw this:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/Snapshot_of_CruisePlanner_Offers.pdf

 

Of course, we don't know what it will actually translate into since these percentages mean little.

I wish someone had a link to the spreadsheet that screenshot references.   I remember someone posted the spreadsheet link here a couple of years ago.

[rockmom]

30 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

I wish someone had a link to the spreadsheet that screenshot references.   I remember someone posted the spreadsheet link here a couple of years ago.

Yes, I still have the one from last year--that was very handy in getting my game plan together for all my 2021/2022 cruises, of which only one remains for March 22, the rest all canceled.  Here's hoping someone will share that info again.