Family sails free deal

[Hombre59]

So this family sails free deal (pay for 1 and 2 guest, 3 and 4 are free) seems to be a little misleading to me....

 

On the cruises that I have been looking it, it looks as if they just up the charge of guest 1 and 2 to make up for the free 3 and 4.

 

 

Like on the 7 day cruise I am looking at now (ive looked at a bunch with the same results), the fare for a 2 person cabin is 1,166 a person. With a cabin for 4 people (that the 3 and 4th would be free) the 1 and 2 jump up to 1599.

 

 

The grand total being for 2 people, 2 grand. And for 4 ppl 3.5 grand....

 

Am I missing something ? Not exactly a deal at all

Edited August 7, 2014 by Hombre59

[Clarea]

That's just the way Royal works. They don't want to put every single cruise on sale, so rather than limit the sale to specific cruises, they just jack up the prices on the ones they don't want on sale.

Edited August 7, 2014 by clarea

[njmomof2]

Another consideration is that double occupancy cabins are usually less per person for the first and second than they are when you book a triple or quad occupancy.

 

The way to check to see what you might be saving is to compare pricing for 4 in a cabin without the kids sail free promo vs. 4 in a cabin with the promo.

 

You really can't compare it to 2 in a cabin vs. 4.

[franl24fan]

Sadly, inexperienced cruisers do not know how to really see if it is a deal and many just "assume" it must be and go ahead and book. Same thing happens on any other type of travel. The same pricing "smoke & mirrors" occurs on every cruise line sale, not just RCI. It is up to the consumer to do their research , as you did. As Bob said, they find it easier, and more profitable, to overprice the cruises they don't want to be on sale, if someone books it so much the better :-)

[Hombre59]

Sadly, inexperienced cruisers do not know how to really see if it is a deal and many just "assume" it must be and go ahead and book. Same thing happens on any other type of travel. The same pricing "smoke & mirrors" occurs on every cruise line sale, not just RCI. It is up to the consumer to do their research , as you did. As Bob said, they find it easier, and more profitable, to overprice the cruises they don't want to be on sale, if someone books it so much the better :-)

 

Yeah Ive figured it has to be something along those lines, but I thought maybe I missed something lol. Thanks for comments

[John&LaLa]

Sadly, inexperienced cruisers do not know how to really see if it is a deal and many just "assume" it must be and go ahead and book. Same thing happens on any other type of travel. The same pricing "smoke & mirrors" occurs on every cruise line sale, not just RCI. It is up to the consumer to do their research , as you did. As Bob said, they find it easier, and more profitable, to overprice the cruises they don't want to be on sale, if someone books it so much the better :-)

 

We need the casual cruisers to subsidize our hard earned low prices. ;)

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

[rt1092]

Royal is expecting the uninformed masses to rush and book.

Just like the BOGOHO deal.

Neither is really a bargain. But it's a shiny object.

Thanks to the "dumbing" down of the people.

[jmrothermel]

I personally got an AMAZING deal with the kids sail free - I was able to book a RFS for 8 for less than two side by side D1 balconies. So I guess it really depends what you're looking for.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Host Jacquelyn]

Sadly, inexperienced cruisers do not know how to really see if it is a deal and many just "assume" it must be and go ahead and book. Same thing happens on any other type of travel. The same pricing "smoke & mirrors" occurs on every cruise line sale, not just RCI. It is up to the consumer to do their research , as you did. As Bob said, they find it easier, and more profitable, to overprice the cruises they don't want to be on sale, if someone books it so much the better :-)

 

I booked during the BOGOHO sale in May and now got my stateroom repriced with the current Kids Sail Free promo - saving quite a bit! So I guess it depends. Also, we are a family of 5 staying in a family stateroom... #3, #4 and #5 are free.

[dcarjn]

We got a family oceanview cabin on Freedom for our family of 6. First 2 passengers was high, I believe $1100 each, but getting the 4 kids free made up for it. Our total was $2600, including taxes. I re-price every time a new sale comes out, hoping to get 2 connecting cabins, but nothing comes anywhere near that price. So I do think it's a better deal for larger families in a family cabin than 3 or 4 to a regular cabin.

[tramm7]

This promotion appears to be a GREAT deal IF you sail in a family suite which has more than 4 people. I had booked PFS on the Liberty during BOGOHO (8 people) and I just repriced using the new promotion...saved $3K. Thanks to the person above who pointed out savings in regard to RFS. I owe you!!!! I probably would not have called in to reprice as RCCL promotions tend to be "zero sum" as pointed out in the original post.

 

In fact I am thinking about adding people to the reservation as they would only pay tax and gratuity.

Edited August 7, 2014 by tramm7

[SLCfirsttimer]

I was able to reprice my cruise in 2016 under the promotion and save $300 over what it was when I booked it under the BOGOHO sale in July. Did the fare for #1 and #2 go up? Yes, but even with that I saved money.

 

Like others have said, for some sailings it could be a better deal than for others.

[Daghis]

Like on the 7 day cruise I am looking at now (ive looked at a bunch with the same results), the fare for a 2 person cabin is 1,166 a person. With a cabin for 4 people (that the 3 and 4th would be free) the 1 and 2 jump up to 1599.

 

 

The grand total being for 2 people, 2 grand. And for 4 ppl 3.5 grand....

I think you're inadvertently trying to take advantage of two promotions. You didn't specify which cruise you're looking at, so I picked one to try: Independence of the Seas, March 14, 2015, in a category D1 cabin.

 

If you price out two people in the cabin, it shows up at $1,604/person, but it's really $2,139/person less a $1,070 BOGOHO (buy one, get one half-off) discount.

 

Four people in the cabin is priced as the same $2,139/person for the first two and $0/person for the second two. This is the "Kids Sail Free" promotion.

 

You can choose either to get the second passenger half-off or the third/fourth passengers for free.

 

It seems like you're thinking that you'd get the BOGOHO discount as well as "Kids Sail Free". This is a very logical way to think due to the way that Royal Caribbean shows the pricing. You need to click on "View Summary of Charges" to see how the pricing actually works out with included discounts.

[Bama Breeze]

I personally got an AMAZING deal with the kids sail free - I was able to book a RFS for 8 for less than two side by side D1 balconies. So I guess it really depends what you're looking for.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We are a family of 8 and it is so hard to find anything on line about the RFS. Good to know this promotion may apply to that. Do you call to get information opposed to booking online?

[Clarea]

We are a family of 8 and it is so hard to find anything on line about the RFS. Good to know this promotion may apply to that. Do you call to get information opposed to booking online?

Yes, you must call to book the larger suites.

[SnappyNappi]

I had originally booked 2 connecting D1/D2 cabins for my family of 5 during the BOGOHO sale in May for next July on Liberty OTS (9-nights). I priced the RFS at that time and for my family it was just over $15K even with passenger #2 getting 1/2 off. I decided that was just too much, so I booked the connecting D1/D2 combination of 2 cabins and took advantage of BOGOHO on both cabins - still expensive, but more reasonable.

 

When the latest iteration of the Kids Sale Free promo came out last week, I repriced the RFS and it was only about $1200 more total to upgrade to the room that we wanted - and much less than the previously quoted pricing from May. While it is more than my previously booked standard balcony combination, had I booked the RFS in May, the reprice would have saved me about $3K or so. In this case the Kids Sale Free with the free fare for #3, #4 & #5 worked out for us and we decided to take the RFS for our vacation... Of course, I will continue to watch and reprice with each new promotion. Lots of time between now and then - but I am indeed happy with our cabin selection and "savings".

[vacation_junkie]

So this family sails free deal (pay for 1 and 2 guest, 3 and 4 are free) seems to be a little misleading to me....

 

On the cruises that I have been looking it, it looks as if they just up the charge of guest 1 and 2 to make up for the free 3 and 4.

 

 

Like on the 7 day cruise I am looking at now (ive looked at a bunch with the same results), the fare for a 2 person cabin is 1,166 a person. With a cabin for 4 people (that the 3 and 4th would be free) the 1 and 2 jump up to 1599.

 

 

The grand total being for 2 people, 2 grand. And for 4 ppl 3.5 grand....

 

Am I missing something ? Not exactly a deal at all

 

There is no rhyme or reason to their prices. I've been watching the prices since we booked and this is how much they've changed. It's amazing how the base fare changes frequently. The only promo that comes up for us is the BOGOHO.. not the other 2 for some reason.

 

You need to watch their prices and you will notice when there is actually a sale. ;)

 

Allure Feb/2015 B1 Boardwalk Balcony - in Canadian $'s

 

May 19th- Canadian Resident sale

Guest #1 $1570 - $613 resident discount =$957 plus $129 tx = $1086

Guest #2 $1570 - $613 resident discount =$957 plus $129 tx = $1086

Guest #3 $679 plus $129 = $808

Resident sale stateroom total $2980

 

May 20th -BOGO rate

Guest #1 $1629 plus $129 tx = $1758

Guest #2 $1629 - $815 BOGO discount $129 tx = $943

Guest #3 $679 plus $129 = $808

BOGO sale stateroom total $3509

 

 

June 2nd - WOW rate

Guest #1 $1629 plus $129 tx = $1758

Guest #2 $1629 - $815 BOGO discount $129 tx = $943

Guest #3 $679 plus $129 = $808

WOW sale stateroom total $3509

 

July 6th – BOGO Rate

Guest #1 $1638 plus $129 tx = $1767.69

Guest #2 $1638 - $820 BOGO discount $129 tx = $947

Guest #3 $684 - plus $129 = $813.38

BOGO sale stateroom total $3528.76

 

July 16th – (Some Mystery 3rd passenger discount)

Guest #1 $1638.69 plus $129 tx = $1767.69

Guest #2 $1638.69 plus $129 tx = $1767.69

Guest #3 $684 minus $233 plus $129 = $580.38

Stateroom total $4115.76

 

July 25th (Some Mystery 3rd passenger discount)

Guest #1 $1749 plus $129 tx = $1878.00

Guest #2 $1749 plus $129 tx = $1878

Guest #3 $689 minus $235 plus $129 = $583

Stateroom total $4339

 

July 29th (% off ? Promo)

Guest #1 $1769 - $388 discount plus $129 tx = $1510

Guest #2 $1769 - $388 Discount + plus $129 tx = $510

Guest #3 $689 + $129 tx = $818

Stateroom total $3838

 

July 31st (% off ? Promo)

Guest #1 $1799 - $395 discount plus $129 tx = $1510

Guest #2 $1799 - $395 Discount + plus $129 tx = $510

Guest #3 $689 + $129 tx = $818

Stateroom total $3884

 

Aug 1st– BOGO Rate

Guest #1 $1799 plus $129 tx = $1928

Guest #2 $1799 - $900 BOGO discount $129 tx = $1028

Guest #3 $689 - plus $129 = $818

BOGO sale stateroom total $3774

 

Aug 5th– BOGO Rate

Guest #1 $1869 plus $129 tx = $1998

Guest #2 $1869 - $935 BOGO discount $129 tx = $1063

Guest #3 $689 - plus $129 = $818

BOGO sale stateroom total $3879

Edited August 7, 2014 by vacation_junkie