The BOGO sale

[FloGaleRNTX]

Just wanted to let you all know......My sister and I were going to book the Liberty repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Galveston. When we looked at the prices on line, they were great! We thought we would be able to look at the online prices, then deduct 1/2 for the second person, and have our final price (without taxes, port fees, etc). Well, come to find out, the prices listed have already been adjusted!!

 

This might already have been posted on here. To me it seems like a bait and switch.

 

Barb

 

PS. And yes, I am loyal to Royal, just a bit disappointed.......

[kc320]

Sorry...I don't see how it would be bait & switch when the prices & discount are clearly shown online...just check on the pricing detail and it breaks everything down...

[Cruzin-K]

Just wanted to let you all know......My sister and I were going to book the Liberty repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Galveston. When we looked at the prices on line, they were great! We thought we would be able to look at the online prices, then deduct 1/2 for the second person, and have our final price (without taxes, port fees, etc). Well, come to find out, the prices listed have already been adjusted!!

 

This might already have been posted on here. To me it seems like a bait and switch.

 

Barb

 

PS. And yes, I am loyal to Royal, just a bit disappointed.......

 

I thought the same thing when looking at prices. It is very confusing.

 

It has been posted here on a couple other threads.

 

I still got a pretty good deal on the cruise I booked today.

[airmanship]

I think its a great deal with the BOGO sale.

I just booked a 7 day Navigator GRAND SUITE for $1299pp.

Please tell me the last time you saw a GS for that price!

 

I look at WOW sales all the time and this one is pretty good.

[seaofwonder]

I just got a balcony (D1) on a fjord cruise out of Southampton for $1000 pp. I thought that was a steal....cheaper than a caribbean cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Eeyoregon]

Just wanted to let you all know......My sister and I were going to book the Liberty repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Galveston. When we looked at the prices on line, they were great! We thought we would be able to look at the online prices, then deduct 1/2 for the second person, and have our final price (without taxes, port fees, etc). Well, come to find out, the prices listed have already been adjusted!!

 

This might already have been posted on here. To me it seems like a bait and switch.

 

Barb

 

PS. And yes, I am loyal to Royal, just a bit disappointed.......

 

I won't question your loyalty...I'm disappointed too!! This "sale" is no sale. Just an industry gimmick to get you on the website and looking at cruises. I have two cruises booked for next April. I checked out the WOW BOGO rates and the rates actually went UP for both cruises. :rolleyes:

[Ashland]

I won't question your loyalty...I'm disappointed too!! This "sale" is no sale. Just an industry gimmick to get you on the website and looking at cruises. I have two cruises booked for next April. I checked out the WOW BOGO rates and the rates actually went UP for both cruises. :rolleyes:

Yes...the discount is on current prevailing rates...with this "sale" my original booking is still priced lower...prices have gone way up...No thanks to the sale price :)

[dirtgirl]

It depends upon the cruise. Maybe your cruise fare went up before the sale? I have seen rates higher than what they were originally booked at, and rates that are substantially lower. It would all depend upon how your cruise is selling. ;)

[marci22]

I agree, they way they present the pricing is a bit deceptive. It ropes you in with the low price thinking you'll get an additional 50% off the second fare, but it's already there. I'm sure it gets more people past the first page and into the booking process.

 

To those people saying it isn't deceptive, did you immediately realize the price had already been discounted?

[nelblu]

I agree, they way they present the pricing is a bit deceptive. It ropes you in with the low price thinking you'll get an additional 50% off the second fare, but it's already there. I'm sure it gets more people past the first page and into the booking process.

 

To those people saying it isn't deceptive, did you immediately realize the price had already been discounted?

 

In the past, Paxs have been complaining that RCL should show the discounted prices on their website, especially to the savings certs & balcony discounts--now they are reflecting the net pricing, excluding taxes & fees, and Paxs are still complaining. What to do?

[molly361]

Their website if definitely NOT user friendly. Ever since April 1 when they started the new C and A savings program you can never go by the prices listed when you first start the booking process.

 

I now have to keep going in order to see the final price which may or may not include a C and A savings discount.

[newbiecruiser09]

I won't question your loyalty...I'm disappointed too!! This "sale" is no sale. Just an industry gimmick to get you on the website and looking at cruises. I have two cruises booked for next April. I checked out the WOW BOGO rates and the rates actually went UP for both cruises. :rolleyes:

 

Yes...the discount is on current prevailing rates...with this "sale" my original booking is still priced lower...prices have gone way up...No thanks to the sale price :)

 

I think it depends on when you booked and the rate you got. We booked an Alaska cruise for 6/15 back in Feb. Prices have gone up but only about $50/pp since we booked. Checking prices the other day (as I do from time to time ;) ) saw it had dropped, called and got the BOGOHO rates. Save over $2200 on 2 rooms. :):)

Edited May 3, 2014 by newbiecruiser09

[marci22]

In the past, Paxs have been complaining that RCL should show the discounted prices on their website, especially to the savings certs & balcony discounts--now they are reflecting the net pricing, excluding taxes & fees, and Paxs are still complaining. What to do?

 

I think there's a little more to it than that, in this instance.

 

They are saying BOGOHO sale but presenting pricing that is the *average* between the 2 passengers. I expected to see the price, then click through and see the 50% come off the second passenger. As did a lot of other people.

[marci22]

Their website if definitely NOT user friendly. Ever since April 1 when they started the new C and A savings program you can never go by the prices listed when you first start the booking process.

 

I now have to keep going in order to see the final price which may or may not include a C and A savings discount.

 

I like it when discounts come off at the end. That way you can see what's what.

 

The way they have it structured, they now include your applicable discounts so you have to figure out what you are getting.

 

I think it just makes it harder to compare prices. So when you eventually do see a price drop, you can't really be sure if it would benefit you to change over or not. You have to know what discounts you have already gotten, if they are combinable, etc.

 

Most people would just say 'I paid 2k pp'. Not 'I paid 3k pp but I got a military discount and a platinum balcony' or whatever. So when the price shows up later for 2k they think 'oh I already paid 2k'. They don't consider that there may be other (hidden) discounts.

 

Of course no one on this website would do that but the general population is too trusting.

[bouhunter]

This "sale" is no sale. Just an industry gimmick to get you on the website and looking at cruises. I have two cruises booked for next April. I checked out the WOW BOGO rates and the rates actually went UP for both cruises. :rolleyes:

 

We had an E1 booked at an already good price. Just switched it to a junior suite for 100.00 less. Cheapest junior suite I've ever seen for a 7 night cruise. Sounds like a sale to me. Of course not every cruise will be the sale of the century under this promo, but there ARE some great deals to be had.

 

I know what the OP is saying about the prices at the initial online screen incluiding the BOGO being a bit misleading, but that doesn't change the fact that there are some savings to be had.

Edited May 3, 2014 by bouhunter

[CP3o]

Just forget the name of the promo and see if end rate is considered "good" or not to you. If you booked at a great rate, may not be sale for you. If booked at an OK rate, this sale might be lower.

 

The higher priced cabins get the biggest discount so you'll find better "deal"s on D1 D2 balconies and suites especially combining C&A and balcony discounts. Although any high priced balcony, bc on mega ship or spring break pricing, will likely seem like some savings. I saved 450 on Allure B1 spring break cruise.

Edited May 3, 2014 by CP3o

[Janet524]

In the past, Paxs have been complaining that RCL should show the discounted prices on their website, especially to the savings certs & balcony discounts--now they are reflecting the net pricing, excluding taxes & fees, and Paxs are still complaining. What to do?

 

Like the old saying goes: You can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

[nelblu]

I think there's a little more to it than that, in this instance.

 

They are saying BOGOHO sale but presenting pricing that is the *average* between the 2 passengers. I expected to see the price, then click through and see the 50% come off the second passenger. As did a lot of other people.

 

So the bottom line is, you want to see the higher cost for each rather than the average. Then at the end you get a big thrill that you can see a large savings. To me if the average is the sale price, how can anyone argue with it. I booked a C1 (Central Park) category on the Oasis for Feb. 6. '16 and got a great price for less than $800 per, plus a OBC from RCL and an OBC and dinner for 2 at a specialty restaurant. I was exploring this cruise prior to the half-off and it would have cost over $1,100 per. No bait and switch for us.

[marci22]

Here's another thing: people have been complaining so much about the high prices lately. Now RC has a sale and everyone is posting the hundreds and thousands of dollars they saved. But if it was too high to begin with, maybe it is just more reasonable now.

 

They're just trying to stay one step ahead of peoples' various attempts at beating their pricing game and this is just another game. It's promo party time. And when that stops working, they'll do something else. Maybe swing around to no deals, no gimmicks, just straightforward pricing. And then we'll all get bored because it's no fun when you can't get a deal.

 

So far I have a hold on one date for this sale because the pricing on Liberty is lower with the BOGOHO but it was outrageous to begin with. The rest of my bookings are non-Bogo ships.

 

It seems like it is cheapest on the shorter cruises out of Florida but they always fire sale them at some point anyway.

 

RC is getting like Kohl's. They price things way too high then they give you 50% off and you feel like you got the deal of the year.

[marci22]

So the bottom line is, you want to see the higher cost for each rather than the average. Then at the end you get a big thrill that you can see a large savings. To me if the average is the sale price, how can anyone argue with it. I booked a C1 (Central Park) category on the Oasis for Feb. 6. '16 and got a great price for less than $800 per, plus a OBC from RCL and an OBC and dinner for 2 at a specialty restaurant. I was exploring this cruise prior to the half-off and it would have cost over $1,100 per. No bait and switch for us.

 

Not at all. I want to know the price and what discounts are coming off where. Not, 'this is our best offer for you' with everything combined.

 

Yes, you can figure it all out by yourself, but I am betting that a lot of people won't bother (not the people here of course).

 

btw I have never used the term 'bait and switch' but I have said it was a bit deceptive. And it is.

Edited May 3, 2014 by marci22

[Mapleleafforever]

I really don't see how the pricing is confusing, click on the pricing details and it gives you a breakdown. Simple. Easy peasy.

[nelblu]

Not at all. I want to know the price and what discounts are coming off where. Not, 'this is our best offer for you' with everything combined.

 

Yes, you can figure it all out by yourself, but I am betting that a lot of people won't bother (not the people here of course).

 

btw I have never used the term 'bait and switch' but I have said it was a bit deceptive. And it is.

 

So the true price is deceptive--ow c'mon. We both live in the Garden State and we know what true deception when it comes to our politicians.LOL

[Familygoboston]

While I agree it's confusing when you see BOGOHO, then see two fares priced exactly the same (until you click on the price break down) but I think I prefer this new method where the price I see on the break down includes all my discounts. I feel it is more transparent and it does in fact benefit them by showing you a lower price at the outset instead of having to call to add a C&A discount later and then see your true price.

 

While I agree with you, Marci, that the per person prices on many cruises I was watching went waaaay up in the days before the sale; the fact that the sale wasn't held to "new bookings only" did save a lot of people money...especially on high initial price cruises.

 

For instance, even with a super cheap early booking pp price on Adventure and having to give up a earlier 3 rd person promo, I saved 110 on Adventure this week, and the pricing is in my target range of of 100-150 pp per day for a cruise of this type. A friend re booked his group on Oasis, all were in balconies, booked the day it opened and he was able to save over 300 per cabin. I had been eyeballing a 15 day Jewel Panama Canal repo that was near 3000 pp for the cabin I wanted, and even though pp prices were rising rapidly, (I see only one JS left) I was able to book it for the around the 2 k pp price I was looking for with the sale.

 

That would have been a good price with out a sale, and you are right, they could just price it that way, but they need to draw some attention from their competitors and a "sale" is the way you do that. I hear about NCL sales on the radio every day. It's up to us as consumers to make sure the value of the sale works for us!

[Jan_In_Maine]

I'm actually happy with the savings we got with this BOGO sale .. even if the pricing did go up before the sail .. we ended up saving 400. This will be the 1st time in a JS on Royal.

 

This cruise we have the NCC $100, BOGO $400, balcony credit $125, Casino credit $225 (guess I did well last time), then we have skymiles credit $400, and rccl visa credit $400. I almost feel as if I'm sailing for free!!!:D

 

NCL had a "kids" sail free on cruise we take this summer, and the pricing went down --- unfortunately we would have had to re-book to get it and with only 2 rooms similar to what we have, and they were already booked, we wouldn't have been able to get our room back. I would have saved almost $1500. I was very disappointed. Jan

[nbsjcruiser]

It seems that RCI did make some adjustments to some cruise shortly before the BOGO sale. For example, our Indy cruise in February shout up something like $400 the day before the sale. On the other hand, our Indy cruise for October 2015 didn't shoot up in price and we saved $250 on that one.