Chased off by Royal Caribbean & Celebrity

[Pistachio42]

Having been run off by RCI/Celebrity by their newly announced no agency discounts policy, I'll be booking on other lines, especially Norwegian, once the two RCI cruises already booked are taken. Any others feel the same way about RCI's new price-fixing scheme?

[swysong77]

where did you find this information? i'd like to know more. :confused:

[Luvtotrav]

There is a long thread regarding this on Celibrity's page. It covers this very extensively. "no longer Celebrity discounts?'

[Pumbaamd]

Be patient. Things might change by the time you've finished your two RCCL cruises. If RCCL's new policy results in lost bookings, they'll change, and the TA's will become innovative to keep their business. NCL has also announced new mandatory surcharges, and their quality of service seems to be slipping, if you read the NCL board.

[tinkerme1]

Don't be misguided by the directive from RCI to their TAs. This directive DOES NOT tell RCCL and Celebrity TA's that they cannot reduce/discount cruises! What it says is that they can no longer "advertise" discounted prices. There is a BIG difference.

 

There are tons of threads here now about the same subject. I suggest you read them all before moving over to Norwegian.......

 

:o

[kkorman]

Having been run off by RCI/Celebrity by their newly announced no agency discounts policy, I'll be booking on other lines, especially Norwegian, once the two RCI cruises already booked are taken. Any others feel the same way about RCI's new price-fixing scheme?

 

 

NCL will be your only choice as Carnival Corp is behind the RCI decision.

 

From what I can understand, this has to do with advertising and not necessarily the price you pay. Keep that in mind.

[smeyer418]

Don't be misguided by the directive from RCI to their TAs. This directive DOES NOT tell RCCL and Celebrity TA's that they cannot reduce/discount cruises! What it says is that they can no longer "advertise" discounted prices. There is a BIG difference.

 

There are tons of threads here now about the same subject. I suggest you read them all before moving over to Norwegian.......

 

:o

read this thread

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=67050

[isujim]

I think you are very pre-mature until you see how things shake out.......nobody really knows the impact of this.........yet...............

[Rick R]

Why are you such a loyal fan of RCCL anyway? I will never under stand this. I do enjoy RCCL, but why limit yourself? Other cruise lines go places that they don't. Sometimes better deals can be found.

 

Why get upset over any cruise line?

[riekl]

Don't be misguided by the directive from RCI to their TAs. This directive DOES NOT tell RCCL and Celebrity TA's that they cannot reduce/discount cruises! What it says is that they can no longer "advertise" discounted prices. There is a BIG difference.

 

There are tons of threads here now about the same subject. I suggest you read them all before moving over to Norwegian.......

 

:o

 

tinker,

 

This is NOT true at all you are misleading. The policy is very clear that RCI/Celebrity rates may not be rebated at ALL not even in secret. Not only that but the TA's can not use "value added" programs that are tied to hard dollars. This is a very very bad policy and is every bit as bad as people feared.

[kkorman]

tinker,

 

This is NOT true at all you are misleading. The policy is very clear that RCI/Celebrity rates may not be rebated at ALL not even in secret. Not only that but the TA's can not use "value added" programs that are tied to hard dollars. This is a very very bad policy and is every bit as bad as people feared.

 

 

I get about 6-10 e-mails per day from agency sites and they are certainly taking advantage of this weekend as the last time to get RCI/Celebrity at a discounted rate. There is a very detailed and informative thread ont eh Princess bpoard about this topic and it seems like the prices should not change, just the advertising part of it. So either the travel agencies have gottena different memo than was given to the public, or they are taking advantage.

[NiniB]

I agree with what the others have posted..... BUT there is not a price change or hike in the world that could MAKE me go to NCL........ :eek:

Wait it out UNLESS you have to book now,,,,, things ALWAYS change.........:D

[Erie Dave]

Why arent any TA's posting to any of these topics to try to kill off some of these dumb assumptions that are going around? Who in the world would ever believe you can no longer get a discount on a cruise???? Please come back to reality.......

[berd0625]

One of the senior executives of an agency that advertises here posted early today to "confirm" that no more discounting will be avialable.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=67050

 

Personally, I think some agencies are taking advantage of the situation. Many people here pointed out that the initial communication stressed advertising being limited, not actual sales price. Time will tell.

[ripleysmom]

I think some agencies are taking advantage of the situation.

I agree.

[kelmac]

My wife and I have cruised eight times in the past two years--the reason--we found great rates, for great cruises. If the prices increase above what we feel is cost effective, we will no longer cruise. We will just shift back to our land based vacations. RCI will double it's profits this year, and earn over $2.50 per share. Online agencies give me just what I am looking for--control, speed and savings. RCI is trying to save brick and mortar TAs, so they will educate the next generation of cruisers. This will all shake out soon, and it will be interesting to see how the frequent cruiser reacts.

 

Enjoy! Kel

[Pistachio42]

kelmac: I can't see how this new policy will save brick & mortar TAs if the only price available is the one available directly from RCI. People who stick with RCI will just simply call RCI directly. The airlines did it .. and now it appears the cruise lines are heading that way. Perhaps all the companies who package land vacations will soon bypass the traditional TAs as well.

[Pistachio42]

Rick R: You're probably correct .. I need to ask myself why am I a loyal RCI cruiser? Perhaps all RCI loyalists will need to rethink this loyalty.

 

T

[VTSKIandCRUISEGUY]

I think this is a lot about nothing. If they are not competitive, cruisers will just go to other lines or not cruise. It's all supply and demand. If bookings drop, they'll just lower prices or reverse their policy.

 

Also, if you are willing to pay $1500 pp for a cruise, what's the difference how much it's been "discounted."

[Annieeee]

We are going to just take the wait and see attitude on this.

 

Annieeee

[rcicruiser]

So what you are saying is you only book a cruise if it is cheap. Well good luck with NCL just watch out for the hidden charges once you get on board. There is a 10.00pp per day non refundable charge. Carnival is going to start the same thing soon. They already have the same pricing for everyone at least with RCI they give special rates to their top producing agencies.

[NY Mike]

Celebrity/RCCL's new policy regarding the pricing of their products is a reminder of a time when Consumer Products (particularly electronics) were labeled as "fair traded" items by their manufacturers and could not be discounted by retailers. Those retailers caught discounting were cut off by the manufacturer

 

Perhaps the the Federal Trade Commision ( FTC) will take a look at the new Celebrity RCCL policy if they recieve some complaints. Following is a quote from the FTC's Bureau of Competition:

 

"The FTC's antitrust arm, the Bureau of Competition, seeks to prevent business practices that restrain competition. As a result, purchasers benefit from lower prices and greater availability of products and services."

 

I would think that Celebrity's actions will clearly impact the cruising consumer's benefit from lower prices and it certainly will limit if not eliminate competition from TA's. Perhaps some filing of complaints by consumers and particularly TA's are in order. They are basically telling the the TA's to "sell at the price we tell you or you can't sell my product".

 

This is just one consumer's opinion

[FIRELT5]

http://www.traveltrade.com/traveltrade/headline_news.jsp?articleID=5194

[Mark_K]

Having been run off by RCI/Celebrity by their newly announced no agency discounts policy, I'll be booking on other lines, especially Norwegian, once the two RCI cruises already booked are taken. Any others feel the same way about RCI's new price-fixing scheme?

Shouldn't you continue to do as you've always done (or should have) - compare several different cruises and pick the one that's the best value for you.

 

The only thing that might change is the likelihood that it's an RCI cruise. To automatically eliminate them seems rather short-sighted to me. You could be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Knighton]

For as much as the total cost of a cruise is, what are we talking about, anyway? A couple of hundred dollars? Yes I suppose that is a lot of money to some and it could make the difference between going and not going. When you're talking about approximately $5000 for the 12 night cruise we're going on, a couple hundred dollars really doesn't make much of a difference in the scheme of things. Shopping around for this particular cruise, the best deal we found only saved us about $300, so we would have went anyway even if we hadn't found that savings. We always book way ahead, and with TA's we'll be sure to get a confirmed cabin number with, so I don't know anything about those last minute deep discounted cruise outlets-maybe that's where the new rule is really going to be a problem.