Price Change

[cruisecrazy221]

Hey everyone!

question. We are sailing out on 11/4 on the Independence of the Seas. 
just looked at pricing and cabin availability and prices are so much lower than we paid. 
min the past they have either given shipboard credit or upgrades to compensate for the difference. 
 

so I called today and they are saying that since it’s past the final payment date they won’t do ANYTHING. I’m a bit annoyed. I’ve paid $500 more than what it’s going for now (for a lousy interior too). 
 

I’m waiting on a supervisor call back. But is this the new norm post Covid?

[Tulsacoker]

Been like that for a while. Once past final payment date no adjustment. Now there are trying to discount the remaining rooms to get the ship full. 

[mjkacmom]

It’s a fire sale to sell the remaining cabins, I’m guessing not all are ideal.

[OCSC Mike]

It’s part of the Going, Going, Gone sale; that’s why. Interior GTY’s have been in the $129-149 range for the Indy 4-nighters for quite a while during the sales.

 

I’ll be on the 10/24 sailing. If my wife’s schedule allowed, would have booked more.

[deepcman]

This is the same situation as airlines ticket pricing. If you keep checking pricing after purchase you'll just agitate yourself.

Im sure you wouldn't request to speak to a supervisor if the price went up $500. You'd be keeping a low profile. 😇

[HicksRA]

You can always upgrade if ocean views are cheap too. 

[Ourusualbeach]

If you think Royal is bad for slashing their prices you should check out NCL.  Just had a suite drop from $6600pp to $2200pp after final payment

[CruiszBug]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If you think Royal is bad for slashing their prices you should check out NCL.  Just had a suite drop from $6600pp to $2200pp after final payment

Ouch!

[smokeybandit]

It has always been that way, other than the brief period to accelerate the restart

[Russ Lomas]

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If you think Royal is bad for slashing their prices you should check out NCL.  Just had a suite drop from $6600pp to $2200pp after final payment

The "scam" that NCL pulled on friends of ours who sailed with them this past summer (if what they said is true)...They originally paid about $2200 per person.  Price dropped to about $1100 per person.  They called in and the $1100 difference was offered as a future cruise credit.

 

They just booked a European cruise with NCL for next summer.  The price was supposed to be about $2000 per person as advertised (they were also offering 40% off the booking price as they usually do -originally $2800 per person).

 

They asked to apply their $1100 future cruise credit and the amount they still owed was not the expected $900 after taking $1100 off the $2000 price.  It was about $1700 each (this had nothing to do with port fees and taxes according to them).  They asked why they did not get the $1100 off per person and the NCL rep said that they apply the future cruise credit to the price BEFORE the 40% off sale they are advertising, and not the price advertised on their website.  Therefore, the true value of each $1100 future cruise credit in reality was only $300 each (times the six credits they had, this meant they got $1800 off instead of the $6600 they had expected).

 

Pretty shady way of doing things if you ask me.  At least RCCL does not pull that kind of dishonest math (as far as I know).

[Ourusualbeach]

32 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

The "scam" that NCL pulled on friends of ours who sailed with them this past summer (if what they said is true)...They originally paid about $2200 per person.  Price dropped to about $1100 per person.  They called in and the $1100 difference was offered as a future cruise credit.

 

They just booked a European cruise with NCL for next summer.  The price was supposed to be about $2000 per person as advertised (they were also offering 40% off the booking price as they usually do -originally $2800 per person).

 

They asked to apply their $1100 future cruise credit and the amount they still owed was not the expected $900 after taking $1100 off the $2000 price.  It was about $1700 each (this had nothing to do with port fees and taxes according to them).  They asked why they did not get the $1100 off per person and the NCL rep said that they apply the future cruise credit to the price BEFORE the 40% off sale they are advertising, and not the price advertised on their website.  Therefore, the true value of each $1100 future cruise credit in reality was only $300 each (times the six credits they had, this meant they got $1800 off instead of the $6600 they had expected).

 

Pretty shady way of doing things if you ask me.  At least RCCL does not pull that kind of dishonest math (as far as I know).

Thanks for thet.  I'll gave to keep an eye out as that is very shady. 

[cruisinfanatic]

4 hours ago, deepcman said:

This is the same situation as airlines ticket pricing. If you keep checking pricing after purchase you'll just agitate yourself.

Im sure you wouldn't request to speak to a supervisor if the price went up $500. You'd be keeping a low profile. 😇

Not with Southwest

[josefina022]

I called this week too about a price drop after final payment and they said nothing could be done, I was very disappointed as I had gotten price drops before. But after final payment they told me nothing can be done, not even onboard credit 

[StephPS79]

I really love the idea of price adjustment, just not sure it something to be expected.  Nice if it's offered, but not everyone is going to honor this type of pricing scale.  It's like clearance merchandise, they are trying to unload what didn't sell.  I can't take my designer jeans that I bought 3 months ago and expect them to adjust the price based on the clearance priced merchandise.  I mean, some business have this practice, fantastic!  But some don't, and that is to be expected.  

 

And yes, I know it used to happen.  We need to accept this as a new model and move forward.

[sowhat]

The answer  is  do not  book early !
We always  book after final  payment  date and some times  only a week  before  the sail date
We have had some good deals

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, sowhat said:

The answer  is  do not  book early !
We always  book after final  payment  date and some times  only a week  before  the sail date
We have had some good deals

 

It depends greatly on a number of variables. There is no one "answer."

 

We book late as well b/c we live an hour from PC and are flexible during a certain time of the year but lots of people book very early and wind up with very good prices. Many people also want to make sure they get a certain cabin type and/or location.

 

This is not a subject you can generalize about.

Edited October 13, 2022 by OCSC Mike

[Tulsacoker]

4 minutes ago, sowhat said:

The answer  is  do not  book early !
We always  book after final  payment  date and some times  only a week  before  the sail date
We have had some good deals

 

you just run the risk of sold out cabins, especially if you want certain types. 

[mjkacmom]

1 minute ago, Tulsacoker said:

you just run the risk of sold out cabins, especially if you want certain types. 

Or prices can go up, or it gets sold out. We live close to cruise ports so we do have the ability to snag last minute deals.

[sowhat]

3 minutes ago, Tulsacoker said:

you just run the risk of sold out cabins, especially if you want certain types. 

There's  more than one cruise line,  just look around at all the options 

[GetToLivin]

Back in the day when this happened I'd call and see if we couldn't just upgrade to a better cabin. Example: if I paid 1500 for an OVB, but an OVB with large balcony was near the same price, they'd just move my booking to that cabin. At least makes you feel better about the situation, lol. Not sure if they still do that, but maybe worth a try if that's a scenario for your sailing.

[vegascruiser1]

Before covid you were unable to get a price drop after final payment or on obc. When they restarted cruising they were giving price drops after final payment. Now that cruising is back to normal they went back to no price drops after final payment. 

[cruiselvr04]

Booking after final payment only works if you don’t care about where your cabin is located and it’s not high season like summer or holidays. Caribbean yes. Alaska maybe in the fall at the end of the season.   We have itinerary’s in 2023 and 2024 that are almost sold out.  We have done some out of Galveston that way but it doesn’t work for us from Florida due to the flights.  
 

I price watch until final payment and then don’t look again.  It can be painful.  If we want a quick cheap getaway we will wait until after final payment and take what’s left.  However people who are still working and need approved vacation time usually can’t do this.  

[crzndeb]

Since I know that Royal does not honor price drops after final payment, I don’t bother to look at prices after I make final payment. What I don’t see won’t hurt me.

As others have mentioned, Royal has never offered price drops, except the short period of time when the restart happened. Other cruise lines do have certain rate codes that you can get price drops after final payment, but those codes come with penalties.

Alternative is to try for an upgrade.

[SRF]

Royal has not done anything for price reductions after final payment.

 

One cruise with my parents we have a JS and a Balcony booked.  And we booked late.  

 

A Royal Family Suite opened for 4 (now called 2 br Grand Suite).  The price was almost $4000 less than our two rooms. 

NOTHING, NADA from RCI. 

 

We did take the suite, because, it was a suite. 😄

[OCSC Mike]

46 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Booking after final payment only works if you don’t care about where your cabin is located and it’s not high season like summer

 

I don't care about my cabin but somehow I make it work in the summer.