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Black Friday

Joyfulcruiset
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ray985

ray985

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It completely varies for each sailing. You have to pay attention to the actual dollar amount they're charging, not the percentage off. Last year, they raised the prices of almost everything the week before Black Friday to offer "amazing deals of up to 40% off" during the sale. For many things, the prices were not much different than other sale prices (ie. Labor Day, Memorial Day, Arbor Day?)

 

For my 3 sailings I was monitoring, no prices were better on Black Friday than other times during the year. That includes internet, drink packages, and excursions. For some others, they were seeing good deals on excursions (mostly Perfect Day). For the past 2 years, the Drink Packages prices have NOT been the lowest on Black Friday. 

 

Rule of thumb though is to constantly watch prices. If you see a price you're willing to pay, book it. You can always cancel and rebook it later if you see better pricing. 

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dada2199cc

dada2199cc

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I wrote my own little "app" to help me remember to track price changes.  I've invited some of my cruiser friends to use it as well, and now it's so helpful to see how many sales are outright lies but then how often pricing DOES change for no reason whatsoever.

 

For me, I book early, and then track!  If I see a change, I'll call in and get it fixed/matched/whatever.

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Newbieflorida

Newbieflorida

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Black Friday 2021 I got combo of Unlimited Drink Package and Internet Surf/Stream for $72.99 a day (plus tip) for my August 2022 Harmony cruise.  Was a great price and didn't see anything close to it after. I will definitely be checking the Black Friday sales this year!!

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rockmom

rockmom

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Over the years, I have seen great deals and not-so-great deals over Black Friday.  2020 and 2021 had some great bargains because Royal was trying to lure people back onboard and generate revenue. Now that so many sailings are booked almost to capacity, they may not need to do deep discounts. I check a couple times each week for my upcoming sailings and purchase when a price is reasonable to me. Pre Covid, some of the best deals I got were not on Black Friday. And prices were totally different depending on which ship. Royal raised the base price on a lot of things over the last few months, so overall most things are quite a bit more expensive these days.

 

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cruisetorelax44

cruisetorelax44

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three of us booked all of our alaska excursions during last year's black friday sale, for our sailing last month. we probably saved $600 total between the three of us, over the prices that we saw later. it all depends on your individual sailing, and how far out it is. i'm sailing the first weekend in december this year, and am not optimistic we'll see any good black friday sales for that though...

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Mum2Mercury

Mum2Mercury

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On 8/30/2022 at 8:56 AM, ray985 said:

It completely varies for each sailing. You have to pay attention to the actual dollar amount they're charging, not the percentage off. Last year, they raised the prices of almost everything the week before Black Friday to offer "amazing deals of up to 40% off" during the sale. For many things, the prices were not much different than other sale prices (ie. Labor Day, Memorial Day, Arbor Day?)

So true -- sometimes a sale is a sale, other times a sale is a fake.  No one's looking out for your wallet except YOU. 

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tigers04champs

tigers04champs

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It is completely different for each ship/dates like everyone has said. With that in mind last Black Friday I got Unlimited Dining for $175 pp and deluxe beverage for $49 pp. That was a steal so we grabbed that up as quickly as I could. This was for the Allure and a December cruise.

 

We leave on October 15th on the Symphony and lowest I've seen the DB is $73 pp and UD at $219 pp. A big difference from that sale. 

 

Like everyone said, monitor it before then and if you see a cheaper price than normal that seems fair, buy it. If a better price comes along, just cancel and rebuy.

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dada2199cc

dada2199cc

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5 hours ago, tigers04champs said:

It is completely different for each ship/dates like everyone has said. With that in mind last Black Friday I got Unlimited Dining for $175 pp and deluxe beverage for $49 pp. That was a steal so we grabbed that up as quickly as I could. This was for the Allure and a December cruise.

 

 

That is an amazing deal!  Never saw it before.

 

I track almost daily (I wrote my own little web app to help, and it even gives me little email notifications when there are changes) and I just nailed a SMALL discount today on the Odyssey that was unexpected.  

 

$250.99 -> $237.99 is a few bucks, but every dollar counts!

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
NightOne

NightOne

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On 8/30/2022 at 8:05 AM, dada2199cc said:

I wrote my own little "app" to help me remember to track price changes.  I've invited some of my cruiser friends to use it as well, and now it's so helpful to see how many sales are outright lies but then how often pricing DOES change for no reason whatsoever.

 

For me, I book early, and then track!  If I see a change, I'll call in and get it fixed/matched/whatever.

 

Care to share?

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klfhngr

klfhngr

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On 8/30/2022 at 5:39 AM, Joyfulcruiset said:

I have seen posts suggesting waiting for sales on Black Friday. In the past what is typically on sale and amount of discount?

2 weeks before BF, prices double. On BF, prices 'drop' to the normal rate. No sales. FAKE SALES!

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