No more price drops for RC?

[marci22]

Ocean Boy also wanted to add that we book our Airfare through Southwest Airlines where there are no change fees , so if we would need to cancel the airflights we still have up to a year to use the credit.

 

I believe this new change in Price Guarantee is going to allow us to cruise even cheaper then before. Should be able to get some really low deals when all these ships still have berths available after final payment dates.

 

Royal Caribbean......Get Out of There.....

 

Jimbo:)

 

2 springs ago we did something like that: booked airfare for a cruise out of Port Canaveral & when the prices stayed high, changed over to Disney. Of course the cruise prices started dropping after final.

[DChamp]

I love this part:

"When we looked at our existing policy, we saw that we were very much out of line with our cruise competition"

 

So, if the competition's policy was that everyone had to jump off the ship, RCI would change their policy to be the same.

 

Why not strive to be different, AND BETTER????

 

It's people that think outside the box that get my interest, and money!

[marci22]

Maybe the question shouldn't be: why can't we get price drops after final?

 

Maybe the question should be: why is Royal pricing their cabins so inappropriately that people have come to expect, and frequently relate experiences of getting, big price drops after final?

 

My last several cruise choices have resulted in getting big price drops after final payment is due. This is in summer, this is during spring break. From my perspective, booking these cabins early, or anytime before final, without having any price guarantee in place, is unwise, so I just won't do it any more. If they can fill their ships with a policy like that, great, but it probably needs some further modifying.

[Ocean Boy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocean Boy

When that happens I will pick out several cruises that I am interested in around the same time frame and 30-60 days out I will pick the on that is the best value. The big shots at RCI will be swallowing bottles of aspirin and changing their underware several times a day when ships have no bookinging until 30-60 days prior to their sailing.

 

 

 

 

 

Ocean Boy also wanted to add that we book our Airfare through Southwest Airlines where there are no change fees , so if we would need to cancel the airflights we still have up to a year to use the credit.

I believe this new change in Price Guarantee is going to allow us to cruise even cheaper then before. Should be able to get some really low deals when all these ships still have berths available after final payment dates.

 

Royal Caribbean......Get Out of There.....

 

Jimbo:)

 

I always fly SW when we are going to FLL also.:)

[mommabean]

We'll be cruising with you!

 

We booked this cruise while on the fall trans-Atlantic last year (early December) for $1,100 each for a balcony. December 22, a fare of $799 came up for a couple of days and, like you, haven't seen it that low again. I don't think I will beat that but I still keep checking (lol). It's selling for $1,300 now. They don't have any suites available.

 

However, a friend who took the AOS over the pond recently said they must have given away cabins at the end because the cruise was loaded with Puerto Ricans so there is hope. We should be grandfathered in.

 

Tucker in Texas

 

$799? for a balcony for 2 weeks? Very cool!

 

We must have gotten the tail end of that low pricing. We booked it on board Navigator of the Seas just after Jan. 20th. It went way up right after returning home.

 

I DO keep checking, too. :) Maybe a flood of JS will be canceled and the price will drop - not likely. :)

 

My husband can speak Spanish so he does well with Puerto Ricans and will be an asset for our 4 days in Barcelona prior to the cruise. We're looking forward to a fun cruise. We already met some of our fellow cruisers on our Celebrity cruise in March so we will even have "friends" on board.

 

Gina

[estoyer]

I always fly SW when we are going to FLL also.:)

 

 

I guess we would have to say with everything going up in cost if the cruise costs should be higher. Only time will tell if the new PRICE DROP POLICY works. As far as booking early I think I will stay with booking on board. Unless they change this policy also. Let's face it there may be some folks who are on the boarder of not being able to afford cruising anymore. This will probably take some of these folks off the manifest. Thanks for the tip on southwest. We are booking a cruise out of Cape Canaveral in 2012...

 

Happy Sailing!

Earl

[tyler6597]

Just got a price drop yesterday of $350.00 per person for a large oceanview stateroom on a 12 night southern carribean on the Enchantment of the Seas. is now only $939.00. Hopefully there will be more seeing that the cruise is only 32% sold. price drops are what we live for.:D

[EVALUATOR]

Just got a price drop yesterday of $350.00 per person for a large oceanview stateroom on a 12 night southern carribean on the Enchantment of the Seas. is now only $939.00. Hopefully there will be more seeing that the cruise is only 32% sold. price drops are what we live for.:D

That 32% sold...AKA 68% availibility you are probably referring to is not the cabin availability. It is the % of categories that show available cabins. In other words 15 of the 22 categories still have cabins. 15/22=68%

 

It does not mean 831 of the 1223 cabins are still available.

[njmomof2]

Going back to Michelle's comment a page ago regarding the language mentioning "cancel and rebook", the language we received talks about if you see a price drop on a different cabin category and this is what has me worried.

 

I totally understand that it appears they will simply price adjust if the price of your already booked D1 comes down. But how many times have we seen the price of the JS drop, so we change our cabin to take advantage of that price change? Given the language they sent us, it would appear that if we want to upgrade from a D1 to a JS because the JS price dropped, we will have to cancel and rebook our clients.

 

That is where the sticky wicket shows up. If that is the case, then our clients risk losing OBC or reduced deposits. I recently had clients in an E1 triple. Resident rate came out, and they were repriced. Then we did some searching and found out that the pullman bed in the E1 is over the heads of the lower beds. Not going to work. So we upgraded them to a D1 triple with a sofabed. They had OBC attached to this booking number and it was not lost in the changeover.

 

I do agree with Michelle that this is the one part that I still don't have full understanding of (and Michelle, it's not because you were spun around on those Hershey roller coasters!). So maybe Erica or someone else can get this piece clarified.

[firefly333]

Going back to Michelle's comment a page ago

 

But how many times have we seen the price of the JS drop, so we change our cabin to take advantage of that price change? Given the language they sent us, it would appear that if we want to upgrade from a D1 to a JS because the JS price dropped, we will have to cancel and rebook our clients.

 

...or say if you are in a cheap Q for now hoping to move to a guarantee. Im now grandfathered in with price drops ..but if I have to cancel and rebook to get the guarantee down the line (not offered now), I would no longer be price protected. Before you could just switch rates without cancelling.

 

If I could combine my stock OBC with my platinum balcony discount, Id move to a balcony, but the Q is just a place holder, until I decide what I want ... and now if I move, Im no longer price protected?

[critterchick]

My husband can speak Spanish so he does well with Puerto Ricans and will be an asset for our 4 days in Barcelona prior to the cruise. We're looking forward to a fun cruise. We already met some of our fellow cruisers on our Celebrity cruise in March so we will even have "friends" on board.

Gina

 

Don't count on it (the red part, not the fun cruise part;)). My husband also can speak Spanish, but Catalan is quite different. Let's just say we had quite a few adventures trying to communicate!:)

[mommabean]

Don't count on it (the red part, not the fun cruise part;)). My husband also can speak Spanish, but Catalan is quite different. Let's just say we had quite a few adventures trying to communicate!:)

 

Yes, I realize that. But he is creative and does well with Portugese and Italian, too based on his knowledge of latin. In Buenos Aires, they tend to say things differently, too (the zha sound instead of ya comes to mind), but he catches on quickly. People there will tell him..and he will remember the first time.

 

So....I will count on it. ;)

 

Gina

[UandMe4Ever]

What's going on w/ RCCL???? This morning I got an email from "**********", telling me the starting rate for 11/7/10 on Explorer was back up to $1,399 p/p (w/ taxes). Checked RCCL and it was so!

 

Now I checked and its back to $1,147 w/ taxes p/p.

 

If they do anything they should price drop that E-1 Balcony cabin for us..That would be fine....

 

Thought I'd share

[UandMe4Ever]

What's going on w/ RCCL???? This morning I got an email from "**********", telling me the starting rate for 11/7/10 on Explorer was back up to $1,399 p/p (w/ taxes). Checked RCCL and it was so!

 

Now I checked and its back to $1,147 w/ taxes p/p.

 

If they do anything they should price drop that E-1 Balcony cabin for us..That would be fine....

 

Thought I'd share

CC: I apologize for using the name of the search engine....Never had occasion to do it before. I won't do it again.

 

My sincere apology!

[lovemylab]

Going back to Michelle's comment a page ago regarding the language mentioning "cancel and rebook", the language we received talks about if you see a price drop on a different cabin category and this is what has me worried.

 

I totally understand that it appears they will simply price adjust if the price of your already booked D1 comes down. But how many times have we seen the price of the JS drop, so we change our cabin to take advantage of that price change? Given the language they sent us, it would appear that if we want to upgrade from a D1 to a JS because the JS price dropped, we will have to cancel and rebook our clients.

 

That is where the sticky wicket shows up. If that is the case, then our clients risk losing OBC or reduced deposits. I recently had clients in an E1 triple. Resident rate came out, and they were repriced. Then we did some searching and found out that the pullman bed in the E1 is over the heads of the lower beds. Not going to work. So we upgraded them to a D1 triple with a sofabed. They had OBC attached to this booking number and it was not lost in the changeover.

 

I do agree with Michelle that this is the one part that I still don't have full understanding of (and Michelle, it's not because you were spun around on those Hershey roller coasters!). So maybe Erica or someone else can get this piece clarified.

 

I would also like to have clarification surrounding this.

[ClipperMiami]

She also noted that RCCL had heard from its travel agent partners that they were frustrated at losing commission every time a cruise fare dropped, so this new policy further benefits them by preserving their compensation.

So what about people that never book through a TA? I always book direct so they get to keep the commission in my case ---- but I don't get the benefit of the price drop just so they can keep their agents happy. Thanks.

[Sue L]

She also noted that RCCL had heard from its travel agent partners that they were frustrated at losing commission every time a cruise fare dropped, so this new policy further benefits them by preserving their compensation.

So what about people that never book through a TA? I always book direct so they get to keep the commission in my case ---- but I don't get the benefit of the price drop just so they can keep their agents happy. Thanks.

 

 

don't believe everything you read, many TA's search for and get the drops for their clients and would totally disagree with the statement.

[VioletF]

Get a new TA. We cruised in April and saved $500 one week before we cruised due to price drops.

[crusinmama06]

Just tested out the Grandfather policy. A client had a price drop and I called RCI. The client had already paid final payment. And the first thing the rep said is "You are aware of our new policy that there are no price drops after final payment"

 

And I replied "This client book this cruise a year ago, so they are grandfathered in right?"

 

The rep replied "Oh uh, yes, that's right. The drop will be applied as on board credit. Please hold, I have to get another department to make the change." (never had that happen before)

 

So I held for a few minutes, the change was made, everything is right in the world. For now.

[rubrrick]

Just tested out the Grandfather policy. A client had a price drop and I called RCI. The client had already paid final payment. And the first thing the rep said is "You are aware of our new policy that there are no price drops after final payment"

 

And I replied "This client book this cruise a year ago, so they are grandfathered in right?"

 

The rep replied "Oh uh, yes, that's right. The drop will be applied as on board credit. Please hold, I have to get another department to make the change." (never had that happen before)

 

So I held for a few minutes, the change was made, everything is right in the world. For now.

 

 

That's cool....I have a few clients that are in the same position. I expect RCCL to honor their policy, as they did when we had clients that booked, that also had several types of OBC's several years ago.

 

It's rumored that starting in 2011 that hot dogs in the WJ will cost $1.00!!

 

Nawwwwwwwwwwwwww, let's not start that rumor.

 

Michele, when are you going to come up with a new avatar for me????

 

Rick

[firefly333]

Just tested out the Grandfather policy. A client had a price drop and I called RCI. The client had already paid final payment. And the first thing the rep said is "You are aware of our new policy that there are no price drops after final payment"

 

And I replied "This client book this cruise a year ago, so they are grandfathered in right?"

 

The rep replied "Oh uh, yes, that's right. The drop will be applied as on board credit. Please hold, I have to get another department to make the change." (never had that happen before)

 

So I held for a few minutes, the change was made, everything is right in the world. For now.

 

Im booked for Feb 2012 ... and grandfathered in.

 

Im already thinking by that time, far in the future, they will have forgotten all about this grandfathering in stuff. The RCL lady told me they have all the dates on my booking, dont worry ...lol. sure...

[snowshh]

I booked a balcony on April 21, 2010 for a cruise May 29, 2010, through RCL. Noticed price drop on RCL web site. Called and was upgraded to a JS AND an OBC per stateroom (I booked 3) of $300.00. I AM MORE THAN HAPPY !!!!!!!! YEAH~~~ We are Diamond members.

[Ocean Boy]

Just tested out the Grandfather policy. A client had a price drop and I called RCI. The client had already paid final payment. And the first thing the rep said is "You are aware of our new policy that there are no price drops after final payment"

And I replied "This client book this cruise a year ago, so they are grandfathered in right?"

 

The rep replied "Oh uh, yes, that's right. The drop will be applied as on board credit. Please hold, I have to get another department to make the change." (never had that happen before)

 

So I held for a few minutes, the change was made, everything is right in the world. For now.

 

Could you elaborate as to whether or not the cruise was in the penalty phase after final payment date or if your client had paid off the cruise prior to final payment date?

[Ocean Boy]

Im booked for Feb 2012 ... and grandfathered in.

 

Im already thinking by that time, far in the future, they will have forgotten all about this grandfathering in stuff. The RCL lady told me they have all the dates on my booking, dont worry ...lol. sure...

 

That is exactly when I start worrying!:D

[Ocean Boy]

I booked a balcony on April 21, 2010 for a cruise May 29, 2010, through RCL. Noticed price drop on RCL web site. Called and was upgraded to a JS AND an OBC per stateroom (I booked 3) of $300.00. I AM MORE THAN HAPPY !!!!!!!! YEAH~~~ We are Diamond members.

 

And would you be here talking about how happy you are if you had booked under the new rules?:rolleyes: