Pricing Confusion

[Florida32]

I’ve been looking to book another cruise. 
On a few different test bookings, it’s always cheaper to have just 2 people in a room and not add a third. 
Example when booking the room for 2, the cost is $600 each. 
When you add a third person it jumps to $900 a person! Same category room and all. 
 

Is this common? Shouldn’t it be cheaper to add a third person? 

[SG65CB]

I've never seen this happen. Can you give a sample ship / date / room type?

 

[RockHoundTX]

Yes, been common since cruising resumed last year. The upside is that my family has been able to get two 2-person rooms for cheaper than a single 4-person room. I assume they have been doing this as a means of keeping the total passenger load down. It also makes it easier for them to move rooms around due to "covid spacing" since there are far more 2-person rooms than 4-person. Not sure if this will change as they again pack more people on the ship but not uncommon up till now.  

[smplybcause]

A while back royal split up the same exact cabins into sub categories whether they can fit 2 or 3/4. This allows them to charge more or less for the 3/4 passenger in a room based on what they want. I've seen the 3/4 cabins cheaper than the two some times. 

 

This is often really prevalent when royal is running a kids sail free sale - like they're doing now. They can up the price of guest 1/2 in the 3/4 cabins while still letting guest 3/4 go "free" if they're under 12. Though this sale screws over people that want someone over 12 as the third. You might see better pricing once the kids sale is over. 

[Ourusualbeach]

8 hours ago, Florida32 said:

When you add a third person it jumps to $900 a person! Same category room and all. 
 

While it may be the same room type it is not the same category.

 

An inside stateroom for 2 guests eill be either a 2V or a 4V category.  An inside for 3 or 4 guests will be a category 1V or 3V.  Each category is priced separately.because of the lower numbers of cabins that hold 3 and 4 guests the price for guest 1 and 2 is usually higher.

 

I just did a booking last night where it was cheaper to get two cabins for 2 even though one cabin will be solo than it was to get a cabin for 3

[gumby_ng]

This was the case of my recent booking on Vision for Aug 25th although I did book on another site with a group rate. The group rate only applied for categories with maximum 2 passenger. Adding a 3rd or 4th changed the category to a much more expensive base rate. Still got a very good rate so I'm happy the kids can have their own room. It will make things so much easier with more space and 2 bathrooms.

[Florida32]

11 hours ago, smplybcause said:

A while back royal split up the same exact cabins into sub categories whether they can fit 2 or 3/4. This allows them to charge more or less for the 3/4 passenger in a room based on what they want. I've seen the 3/4 cabins cheaper than the two some times. 

 

This is often really prevalent when royal is running a kids sail free sale - like they're doing now. They can up the price of guest 1/2 in the 3/4 cabins while still letting guest 3/4 go "free" if they're under 12. Though this sale screws over people that want someone over 12 as the third. You might see better pricing once the kids sale is over. 

So because it’s a third adult we are paying a lot more? 
 

I’ll check once the kids sail free is over. It seems like it’s almost every cruise I’ve looked at. 

[gumby_ng]

7 minutes ago, Florida32 said:

So because it’s a third adult we are paying a lot more? 
 

I’ll check once the kids sail free is over. It seems like it’s almost every cruise I’ve looked at. 

Have you tried to just book 2 separate cabins?

[dcgrumpy]

Very common, like Ourusualbeach said it's the same type of room but not the same category. Check the price for 2 rooms, its often just about the same price or cheaper. I priced a cruise last night for 4 people. It was $100 cheaper to get 2 inside cabins over 1 inside cabin. 

 

We're sailing with our 3 kids this summer. Our balcony was $1400, a balcony for them was about $2350. Sorry kids, across the hall in an inside, it is. LOL

Edited April 29, 2022 by dcgrumpy

[Florida32]

Yeah,

 

I told my mom and sister is was cheaper to book a balcony and then an inside. Honestly the inside would just be used for sleeping and then no complaints over the couch bed or snoring. 
 

We probably won’t book for awhile but we will keep it in mind. 

[smplybcause]

7 hours ago, Florida32 said:

So because it’s a third adult we are paying a lot more? 
 

I’ll check once the kids sail free is over. It seems like it’s almost every cruise I’ve looked at. 

 

It's because you're looking at rooms that can handle 3 or 4 people. They are different categories than the ones that can only hold 2 and each have independent pricing. For your current sailing royal is placing a premium on those cabins that hold more than 3. It could just be a premium for that sailing, could have something to do with the kids sail free sale.