Never happened before on a Price Drop?

[Ourusualbeach]

40 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Sometimes I’ve had minor credits on my invoice and it’s T&F.  Not a lot, just minor amounts. 

Yes but that is done on board not when trying to get a price drop

[jencruzin]

On 2/8/2023 at 11:27 AM, Jbluebird said:

It's always interesting to look at cabin prices and price drops.  Our balcony cabin in November when I originally booked was 3527 pp.  I was able to get a price drop in December, but the cabin price at that time was about $150 more than the original price.  I then got another price drop at the beginning of January with a cabin price that was about $140 less than the December price.  My last price drop was at the end of January with a cabin price about $40 less than the previous price.  All of the cabin prices are before the percentages or money off and all for the same cabin category.  I was also told that even though the port fees/taxes are significantly less for each successive price drop, my fees etc will not drop because they are for the original booking. I don't understand all the differences in cabin pricing from month to month or even week to week. 😕

This is exactly why we're AVID on conducting price checks....DH creates a spreadsheet, loaded with formulas. He keeps track on excursions, dining options...if he catches a PD on an excursion, he will cancel the reservation and then re-purchase for the cheaper rate. So far, for just this one cruise, we have saved $1505.48. He also observes flight costs, (even though we know we can't cancel those and rebook, too risky). On flights alone, for this upcoming cruise, we have saved $1507.94.

 

Seriously, it pays to check....AND, pays to hold off on the final payment (until the last day) to get the bargaining power through Price Drops.

[jencruzin]

17 hours ago, Miloomar said:

Never noticed this before

If you observe a price drop, and they tell you it's because port fees and taxes have went down, this is how we found out. I'm wondering though, from the different calls made to RCL's customer service, if this might be turning into a trend so that they can avoid checking PD's - or have been told to say this.

[jencruzin]

17 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I've had ports change and port fees drop. You dont get those back. Twice iv had fairly large fees drop. I even wrote to mbayley and they replied since we dont charge more if they go up, we dont have a policy fleetwide to price match. I also missed a port of the 3 lower priced ports. No refund. It's up to the ship. 

 

@Ourusualbeachwill tell you. If its fees too bad, so sadm bye bye. No refund.

 

Yes a ship can refund some port fees if you miss a port, but not obligated. 

During our Med cruise summer 2017, we had one French port visit get cancelled, we were oblivious realizing that ships can refund some port fees. Now wondering if, let's say, Lisbon gets cancelled, and say I go to the service desk and they refund us. Perhaps they might not tell everyone else about it, or simply be quiet about it?

[bajathree]

On 2/8/2023 at 9:06 AM, jencruzin said:

So, here was the OUTCOME of all this.

 

After me trying three times, three different agents...

agent 1 (early morning): "No, I see a a price INCREASE. Where are you seeing a drop?"
 

agent 2 (early afternoon): "I only see an increase. I cannot see what you're referring to. Are you mock booking the same category as your own booking? I do see that port fees and taxes have dramatically dropped, we have no control on that." Me: "Well, if port fees and taxes have dropped, shouldn't this come off from my outstanding balance I still owe?" 

A pause....
"No, that doesn't change."
 

agent 3 (after dinner last night): "I don't see what you're seeing. I'll have to cancel your flights and start over. Want me to do that?" We instantly hung up.
 

agent 4 (around 9pm): "Oh, hold on. What I have done is deducted your excursions, your dinner bookings, your flights and gratuities....I see it. I am going to see about you possibly saving more money on the price drop" he came back, "I'm not seeing a $72 price drop. I see a $90 drop instead" and he honored it.

See the different responses? All from different agents from the same company. Utterly ridiculous, even though we gained a bigger PD than intended.

I would be more concerned that agent 4 screwed something up...cause like mentioned in prior posts port fees and taxes go by your booking date and aren't considered a price drop and don't get credited back if they get reduced at a later date post booking.

[Ourusualbeach]

15 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

AND, pays to hold off on the final payment (until the last day) to get the bargaining power through Price Drops

As long as it is before Royal's final payment date it does not matter of you are paid in full.  I've taken advantage of many price drops for clients after they paid in full, money just gets refunded to your card

[Ourusualbeach]

12 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

During our Med cruise summer 2017, we had one French port visit get cancelled, we were oblivious realizing that ships can refund some port fees. Now wondering if, let's say, Lisbon gets cancelled, and say I go to the service desk and they refund us. Perhaps they might not tell everyone else about it, or simply be quiet about it?

It is up to the ship on how to handle refunds of port fees of the ship misses a port.  In many cases they don't and if they decide that they will not refund yours.  What they do for one they do for all

Edited February 9, 2023 by Ourusualbeach

[orville99]

On 2/8/2023 at 9:06 AM, jencruzin said:

agent 4 (around 9pm): "Oh, hold on. What I have done is deducted your excursions, your dinner bookings, your flights and gratuities....I see it. I am going to see about you possibly saving more money on the price drop" he came back, "I'm not seeing a $72 price drop. I see a $90 drop instead" and he honored it.

I’d check and make sure that the agent didn’t cancel anything that they “deducted”. They have been known to confuse “deduct” with “cancel”

[firefly333]

16 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

During our Med cruise summer 2017, we had one French port visit get cancelled, we were oblivious realizing that ships can refund some port fees. Now wondering if, let's say, Lisbon gets cancelled, and say I go to the service desk and they refund us. Perhaps they might not tell everyone else about it, or simply be quiet about it?

You are assuming I didnt ask at the desk onboard. Of course I asked and was told it was weather related, we had 6 ft waves and couldn't  dock. They said they were not refunding port fees. I wouldnt have written without first asking onboard.

 

Originally we had grand Cayman and Jamaica and cozumel. Grand Cayman and Jamaica were changed to costa maya and Belize  .. twice. That's why mine dropped a lot. . And then we missed costa maya. 

 

We got back $0.00. I asked onboard and was told nothing would be refunded. 

[jencruzin]

11 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

You are assuming I didnt ask at the desk onboard. Of course I asked and was told it was weather related, we had 6 ft waves and couldn't  dock. They said they were not refunding port fees. I wouldnt have written without first asking onboard.

 

Originally we had grand Cayman and Jamaica and cozumel. Grand Cayman and Jamaica were changed to costa maya and Belize  .. twice. That's why mine dropped a lot. . And then we missed costa maya. 

 

We got back $0.00. I asked onboard and was told nothing would be refunded. 

I didn't assume anything.

Weather-related....that's what happened to us on that med. Too choppy to go pierside.

[nelblu]

11 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yes but that is done on board not when trying to get a price drop

Gotcha 

[Engineroom Snipe]

On 2/7/2023 at 6:31 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

It is only the cruise fare that they will lower. 

 

Port fees and taxes stay the same as the day that you booked the sailing.  The only option you have is if you have a refundable deposit is to chance and rebook, of course this means waiting for a refund and losing any pre-purchased cruise planner items.

I have a very sharp TA. When I quoted him that my port fees and taxes where about $72 more than the current prices before final booking, he responded that the port fees and taxes prices when I booked cannot be changed. My TA booked me a very lucrative price and I was not about to risk that price for $72.

 

Your response reinforces his response and seems logical.

[Jbluebird]

On 2/9/2023 at 12:28 PM, jencruzin said:

This is exactly why we're AVID on conducting price checks....DH creates a spreadsheet, loaded with formulas. He keeps track on excursions, dining options...if he catches a PD on an excursion, he will cancel the reservation and then re-purchase for the cheaper rate. So far, for just this one cruise, we have saved $1505.48. He also observes flight costs, (even though we know we can't cancel those and rebook, too risky). On flights alone, for this upcoming cruise, we have saved $1507.94.

 

Seriously, it pays to check....AND, pays to hold off on the final payment (until the last day) to get the bargaining power through Price Drops.

In addition to the price drops on the cabin, I've been checking the rates on our flights through Air2Sea.  The other day it dropped almost $400 so I called and was able to rebook the same flights, still getting our same seats for the lower price. It may be hard for some to believe, but we're now saving about $1,000 using the Air2Sea program.  And, if prices keep dropping before our final payment in May, we'll save even more (but I'm still very happy with what we're saving so far). 🙂

Edited February 11, 2023 by Jbluebird
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[S.A.M.J.R.]

On 2/9/2023 at 8:34 AM, BeachLover718 said:

One of our April cruises dropped by over $1300!!! We have already paid in full. Our travel agent tried twice and we called C& A twice (supervisors) and the only thing they’d do is give us a cabin ‘upgrade’ to a balcony (which we already have) on a different deck- which we aren’t interested in. They won’t even use the price drop as a credit against a Jr suite and let us pay the difference. We’re Diamond Plus (25 cruises on Royal, not to mention our Celebrity cruises) and NOTHING for us loyal cruisers because we paid in full last month! We know their policies but this shows that they don’t really value their loyal customers. I guess corporate gets a letter next not that anything will change but just to vent. 

If you're Diamond Plus, how do you NOT know that there's no price drops after final payment DATE?  We've been on four cruises, our first in 2013, and I knew back then that we couldn't get a price drop after final payment.  We did get a better cabin than what we had originally booked.  

 

Unless all 25+ of your cruises have been since 2021, that's been the standard policy for a decade (if not more).