No more price drops for RC?

[PH8]

A BIG Thank You to Erica for conducting the interview with Carol Cabezas and to Dan for posting the link here.

 

If RCI would have worded what is on their website under the new Best Price Guarantee Program in the same text that Ms. Cabezas answered the questions posed to her..........it would certainly have eliminated the frustration felt by many over the last two days.

Yea,now what can we get riled up about????????? OH YEAH~~I know.....June 1st(or is it the 8th??;);))

[Ocean Boy]

You know, these are the same thoughts I have every time people complain when there has to be a cut of some kind. Right now, it's a matter of survival. I'll be happy if they just don't add on the fuel surcharge before we leave on the Oasis WAY DOWN THE ROAD. (But if they have to do that to survive, I'll still be happy.:))

I figure I get a pretty nice vacation for my $$$ when I cruise on Royal Caribbean. Call me a Pollyanna, but I love them.

Kathy

 

I have no idea if this is pertinent to this discussion or not, but my Oasis (inside cabin) went up in price $150 since this morning, when I first checked.

Kathy

 

Maybe you could cancel and rebook at the higher price. I'm sure Mr. Goldstein would be very appreciative.;):D

[rubrrick]

Yea,now what can we get riled up about????????? OH YEAH~~I know.....June 1st(or is it the 8th??;);))

 

Right.......we are just sitting here with baited breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop!!!:rolleyes:

 

Rick

[cruisenfever]

Yea,now what can we get riled up about????????? OH YEAH~~I know.....June 1st(or is it the 8th??;);))

 

Until the big big announcement :eek::eek:

Here's Gunnar's count down clock for June 1st!!

 

if the announcement is the 8th!!

[PH8]

Right.......we are just sitting here with baited breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop!!!:rolleyes:

 

Rick

It was quite the distraction............Oh RCCL,you are very,very tricky..:p

[marci22]

One could say that 'no adjustments after final' is palatable but with this new pricing policy, I think they will make a real effort to avoid discounting until after final. On our last cruise, there were 3 price drops after final; they just couldn't seem to sell those JS. As a result, I saved ~2k.

 

I'm happy for those who 'book at a price they can live with' but I can tell you: I would have been extremely PO'd if my rooms went down 2k and I had no options left to me, at all. I don't think there were many upgrades available at that category level, and looking forward I don't expect to see a lot of happy last-minute upgradees.

 

Therefore I will do as many others, and book last-minute. That's what Royal seems to prefer so let them try it out. As OB said I think there will be lots of underwear changes as itineraries approach final and the ship is 50% full.

[marci22]

ps I am going to go against prevailing sentiment and predict that C&A benefits will get better in June, or December, or whenever. Repeat cruisers are an essential part of their business, and I can't see them pissing us off even further.

[Sue L]

 

Until the big big announcement :eek::eek:

Here's Gunnar's count down clock for June 1st!!

 

if the announcement is the 8th!!

 

 

Ok Patti , what did I miss, what announcement? Sorry no time to go back through the thread.

[Ocean Boy]

ps I am going to go against prevailing sentiment and predict that C&A benefits will get better in June, or December, or whenever. Repeat cruisers are an essential part of their business, and I can't see them pissing us off even further.

 

 

Oh yee of little faith!;):D:D

[marci22]

Ok Patti , what did I miss, what announcement? Sorry no time to go back through the thread.

 

He made a funny countdown clock(s) for the supposed announcement of C&A changes.

[Sue L]

He made a funny countdown clock(s) for the supposed announcement of C&A changes.

 

 

ah Ok, thanks for the update.

[isujim]

It was quite the distraction............Oh RCCL,you are very,very tricky..:p

 

 

Maybe this whole thing was an end run for the June 1 announcement:D

Hi Kathy........I have missed posting with you.

[truffles2]

I have no idea if this is pertinent to this discussion or not, but my Oasis (inside cabin) went up in price $150 since this morning, when I first checked.

 

Kathy

 

My cabin on Liberty TA Oct. 2011 went up $100 today--a result of the WOW "sale" I guess.

[cruisenfever]

Ok Patti , what did I miss, what announcement? Sorry no time to go back through the thread.

I figured that since everybody should understand the new Best Price Guarantee Program after Erica's interview.............and so as not to let people get bored............and Kathy suggested the C&A Announcement.........

 

OK, I was just being a smart @$$ and brought the clocks over from another thread.:D

[isujim]

One could say that 'no adjustments after final' is palatable but with this new pricing policy, I think they will make a real effort to avoid discounting until after final. On our last cruise, there were 3 price drops after final; they just couldn't seem to sell those JS. As a result, I saved ~2k.

 

 

 

I agree they will make every effort to avoid discounting before final payment is due.....otherwise why change the program to begin with. Princess has very few price drops. They are pretty good at what you see when the itinerary for a ship is released until final payment is due. They just don't discount much from my experience with them.

 

They also have pretty good previous cruiser discounts and you don't need to be at the highest level to get them........again at least in my experience.

[isujim]

ps I am going to go against prevailing sentiment and predict that C&A benefits will get better in June, or December, or whenever. Repeat cruisers are an essential part of their business, and I can't see them pissing us off even further.

 

I agree with you........ok I'm hoping I agree with you. At this point RC needs a GOOD release.........let's say they are due one.:rolleyes:

[ucfknight07]

I'm glad there's some clarification on the issue now. While to me it is NOT 'much ado about nothing,' as I certainly don't mind putting a little OBC into the bank and this effectively removes that opportunity, at least the change isn't as substantial as the language can be interpreted on their web site.

 

For what it's worth, after seeing this thread yesterday, I sent a short email expressing my disappointment to Adam Goldstein with a copy to Richard Fain and a number of other RCCL execs. This afternoon I received a phone call from RCI's "Executive Guest Specialist Team" regarding the email. I missed the call, but they left a number to call back. Haven't decided yet whether I'll call or not, but probably will just to express my disappointment in the changes. Being that they are less severe than we thought earlier, though, we'll see...

[cruisenfever]

I agree with you........ok I'm hoping I agree with you. At this point RC needs a GOOD release.........let's say they are due one.:rolleyes:

It better be good or I can see a March being organized down to Miami specifically 1050 Caribbean Way!:D

[isujim]

It better be good or I can see a March being organized down to Miami specifically 1050 Caribbean Way!:D

 

Again "Trust but Verify":) I'm going to trust them one more time but I'm dang sure going to verify.......:D

[elephant98]

I'm glad to see to see that RCCL has clarified their new best price gauranty policy. The next step is to make sure that their vacation planners understand the policy themselves. Or, better yet, that they even know that it exists. When I called RCCL this morning at 8 am to book a 2011 cruise on the Allure, the vacation planner I spoke with insisted that I had up until 72 hours before sailing to call and get an onboard credit. When I read her the new policy, she was baffled. From posts by others in this thread, it appears that the vacation planners who were aware of the new policy were just as confused as we were as to how it worked and were unintentionally misinforming people about it. I suspect that this education is already happening. To make things easier, RCCL should forward the excellent cruise critic Q&A to them.

[isujim]

I'm glad to see to see that RCCL has clarified their new best price gauranty policy. The next step is to make sure that their vacation planners understand the policy themselves. Or, better yet, that they even know that it exists. When I called RCCL this morning at 8 am to book a 2011 cruise on the Allure, the vacation planner I spoke with insisted that I had up until 72 hours before sailing to call and get an onboard credit. When I read her the new policy, she was baffled. From posts by others in this thread, it appears that the vacation planners who were aware of the new policy were just as confused as we were as to how it worked and were unintentionally misinforming people about it. I suspect that this is already happening. To make things easier, RCCL should forward the excellent cruise critic Q&A to them.

 

Very good point!!!! If the VCP don't understand the program or get it right........you could almost be back to square one with misinformation.

[mommabean]

I agree with you........ok I'm hoping I agree with you. At this point RC needs a GOOD release.........let's say they are due one.:rolleyes:

 

And what do you think it might be? The return of pillow chocolates? New style hats or picture frames for us?

 

I know....the return of combines benefits..........

 

 

 

NOT :p :rolleyes:

 

Gina

[RetireeWannabee]

...For what it's worth, after seeing this thread yesterday, I sent a short email expressing my disappointment to Adam Goldstein with a copy to Richard Fain and a number of other RCCL execs. This afternoon I received a phone call from RCI's "Executive Guest Specialist Team" regarding the email. I missed the call, but they left a number to call back. Haven't decided yet whether I'll call or not, but probably will just to express my disappointment in the changes. Being that they are less severe than we thought earlier, though, we'll see...

 

You should call them back. You emailed all these people and they called, you should call them back.

[isujim]

And what do you think it might be? The return of pillow chocolates? New style hats or picture frames for us?

 

I know....the return of combines benefits..........

 

 

 

NOT :p :rolleyes:

 

Gina

 

You know Gina..........this one doesn't really bother me that much......they can't take away too much more can they:D So anything they might add back has to be a bonus.

[mommabean]

It better be good or I can see a March being organized down to Miami specifically 1050 Caribbean Way!:D

 

If a protest was really planned...I'd show up. I need a good excuse to go back and see why I'm glad I left. :eek:

 

Gina