Continuous Price Drops

I am currently booked on the Explorer of the Seas on September 15th. This is my sixth cruise with Royal Caribbean and the first time I have received a price drop after my initial booking. I have always seen the price stay the same or increase, but never go down.

I first booked a panoramic ocean view room in March. My cabin had a price drop of $68 in April, but I lost my $50 OBC so it really netted to close to nothing.However, a resident rate became available for a balcony stateroom which was $800pp versus the $789pp (excluding taxes and fees) I was paying so I was able to upgrade to a balcony cabin,receive my balcony discount, and spend less money.

The price of my balcony cabin has continued to drop since I switched at the beginning of May. The balcony cabin went from $800 to $743, and today it is now $664. The price has gone down almost $140pp in under a month and we are still outside of final payment.

In total I have received four price drops on my cruise since booking in March. My question is have other people seen continuous price drops on cruises they have booked? I don't really understand why Royal keeps lowering the price, but it has saved me close to $300 from my initial booking so I am happy.

Also, side note, I was surprised my balcony discount was able to be combined with the resident rates. I am platinum and received a $75 balcony discount, as opposed to the $100, but wasn't expecting to receive it at all.

Happened to me a few times, but normally I see the prices going up. The reason this happens is because some algorithm that RCI uses might be indicating the the rates are too high to fill the ship. Hence, the price drops.

Enjoy it while it lasts. On occasion after final payment, I have been able to get upgrades when the price drops, but since 2009, I have not gotten any on board credit or refunds after the final payment date.

I have never seen a price drop on any of the cruises that I have ever booked with Royal Caribbean. Good for you though!

Do you have to discover these price drops yourself or are you contacted by RCCL or your travel agent?

Happens, never know. 9 cruises scheduled and got 6 reductions so far, 3 on same cruise, 2 on another...

Good, nice to read that sometimes price drops really can happen. Now, how did you book ? On line, with RCI, a travel agency in person? It's not very often that an Agency will notify their clients about a rate drop especially where it affect their commission.

Do you have to discover these price drops yourself or are you contacted by RCCL or your travel agent?

Some travel agents may contact their clients but Royal will certainly not.

There aim is to fill the ship at the best $$$ they can get.

My record was seven refares, big big savings (about $700 ea) and a tin if OBC (around $350 ea) all on a eight night cruise. Though I did loose a specialty restaurant and a bottle of cheap wine.

The next cruise prices only ever went up.

We've had that before. Out last cruise after final payment the price dropped so much we upgraded from a balcony to a grand suite. It was amazing!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've seen price drops (sometimes several) on every Royal Cruise I've taken (5 so far). Not so though for our Med cruise in September.

You should keep a very close eye on this sailing because it could very well keep dropping. If last year is any indicator it did right up to and then past final payment. It's a large ship to fill and not a particularly popular itinerary. I have seen the price drop on my inside cabin 4x so far and really do expect it to drop more.

Something to remember ....... this hasn't been widely discussed on many posts or threads. On July 1st RCI will implement a No Dep Ref policy. Short for No Deposit Refund. I urge everyone to note this new policy that will turn away some people booking RCI. In short it's a way that once you decide a date and ship you'd better stay with it when you put down your deposit because you'll be asked which option you'll take only once. Pay a little less and you'll be locked into that price or pay more money for your cruise and be able to make changes if you need to later on. Keeping in my you wont get your deposit back if you cancel but will have a year to re-book. Attempting to explain everything in detail would take a lot of time, so ask questions to your Travel Agents. Most have started undergoing training for thins. A very complicated matter at first but I urge even the veteran cruisers to ask questions and make some bookings before July 1st. There's going to be a lot of controversy and misunderstandings of the process, in short a mess until everything is worked out, July 1st not that far away.

Good, nice to read that sometimes price drops really can happen. Now, how did you book ? On line, with RCI, a travel agency in person? It's not very often that an Agency will notify their clients about a rate drop especially where it affect their commission.

This is my second time booking with a travel agent. Most of the time I book directly with Royal Caribbean. I check prices multiple times a day, I'm a little OCD, and I have found all the reductions myself. I booked with a big box store so even though I used a specific travel agent I am able to call 24 hours a day and get adjustments from any person who works there. I got $50 OBC from the travel agent which I have been able to keep each time there was a price drop, but I lost the OBC I had from Royal when I booked under the first promotion.

You should keep a very close eye on this sailing because it could very well keep dropping. If last year is any indicator it did right up to and then past final payment. It's a large ship to fill and not a particularly popular itinerary. I have seen the price drop on my inside cabin 4x so far and really do expect it to drop more.

Thanks for the tip. I've never sailed in a suite before and was hoping the price would drop on that category, but it's still over $1,500pp. It would have to drop to around $900pp for me to consider it, but I doubt that will happen.

Good, nice to read that sometimes price drops really can happen. Now, how did you book ? On line, with RCI, a travel agency in person? It's not very often that an Agency will notify their clients about a rate drop especially where it affect their commission.

I booked through an online TA but I needed 2 cabins so I had to call them to book. I asked when I booked about price drops and she told me if the price dropped they would not inform me but if I monitored and contacted them they would do the rest. Sure enough it dropped. Called them and saved a total of $400 on our group of 5 in 2 cabins.

Was going to give link to deposit explanation but it didn't work.

You're right Parrottfeathers... it's something that Cruise Critic just doesn't allow.. As it gets closer to July first I'm sure that RCI will be promoting their new No Deposit Refund Policy. No pun intended...well, maybe a little.

Is there an easier way to check prices on RCI than going through a mock booking?

Is there an easier way to check prices on RCI than going through a mock booking?

Nope, that't the way to do it. However, you can bookmark the page that shows the 4 different category prices and that saves a bit of clicking.

There are a few sites that watch pricing and will send email alerts. Google "cruise price fish"

We just had a price drop as well for a sailing in November. The drop saved me $570!!

Have saved alot money over the years by using ********** web site for alerts

Prices will be determined by inventory left - use the RCI UK site to see that. If lots of inventory left, the prices will keep dropping, especially on the other side of final.

Nope, that't the way to do it. However, you can bookmark the page that shows the 4 different category prices and that saves a bit of clicking.

This is genius.

We leave in a week for a B2B on Adventure, and got several price drops over the 15 months since I booked it. The best was two weeks ago when I went from my Panoramic OV fare to a JS guarantee for $40. Makes changing rooms halfway through completely worth it!