RCCL sales? yeah right

[PCWalton1]

I see on the Royal website the new promo is huge amounts of OBC. I was curious how much of a deal it really was so I did a mock booking on the Radiance Alaska cruise for June 12 in an E2 balcony. Under the guidance of the sale, that cabin type would be eligible for $1000 OBC.

 

The price of that E2 cabin today is $2804 but looking up the pricing history on another site I found the price of that same cabin two days ago was $2102.

 

So if my wife and I wanted to receive $1000 OBC all we would have to do is dish out $1404 more than we would have two days ago. Such a deal.:rolleyes:

 

Of course what Royal is banking on are the thousands of new or current customers that don't bother or know how to research what they have done and willingly dish out the extra to get that OBC "deal". And they will find many of those people as they are in the cruise news with the roll out of Quantum this week.

 

They will probably not get any of you reading this to take advantage of this deal but that is not their intended audience for this sale anyway.

[mitchell4141]

I just did a mock booking without signing in and the price I paid was 1450 for a 7 night eastern PR on the freedom sept 20 now the price would be 2150 :eek:never did see how much OBC they where giving me. Still with that kind of price I wouldn't have ever booked it.

[patrickusaf08]

get ready for more of theses gimmicks. with royal moving ships out of the caribbean they will be able to put the price they want and if you want to go then you will pay it. supply and demand at its finest. they know they have a huge demand and if they reduce the supply they can increase the prices and people will go. also they are moving a bunch of the inventory over to china because that market is going to grow and royal wants to be on the ground floor as it grows. gone are the days where you could look at a gps and see a bunch of royal ships all going through the islands and at almost every port having two royal ships in port. know if you want to go you are going to have to pay the price

[The Sunset Glow]

Yup....I have a speadsheet with 4 cruises that I've been tracking prices on. Every single one in every category either stayed the same price or went up (from $25 to $1000) when factoring in the huge OBC except one - one JS was actually down $78.

 

On average each price was up about $200 overall.

 

What a deal:rolleyes:

Edited November 2, 2014 by The Sunset Glow

[Polarbear Pa]

Just looked at a 7 day Alaska JS is about 6800 I think I will wait until after their sale. We have done this trip twice and one was a 14 day ans=d we did not pay this much. Wonder what RCCL thinking?

[ivanrocko]

WOW...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Retired LEO]

I just looked at one particula cruise in April on the Enchantment. JS's are going for $3209.00. $1599.00pp. OS's don't go for that much on the Enchantment. I think those at RCI started their Christmas partying at little early.

[Demongear]

They are forcing me to start looking at celebrity, but I guess it doesn't matter to them as Rccl is the parent company.

[Liz]

I'm loyal to Royal, as they say, but as a solo cruiser I'm also driven by price. (I'm not here to debate the single supplement argument, by the way.). I was intrigued by an Explorer OTS European itinerary and priced it last week. A promenade cabin was $2652, oceanview category I $3066 and balcony D3 $3438. I decided to book it over the weekend, hoping that the BOGOHO sale would be replaced by something that would reduce the rate for a solo traveler. Here are the new "sale" rates, with my Crown & Anchor rate in parentheses: promenade $3448 ($3218); oceanview $3606 with $600 OBC ($3365.87); balcony $4488.87 with $1000 OBC ($4175.87). Even with a port-intensive itinerary, I would have a hard time spending $600 in a week, let alone $1000. Someone may have mentioned it already, but it think this may be RCI's way to direct passengers back to ship-sponsored shore excursions, among other things. With independent tour operators offering better values, I would not be surprised if the operators used by RCI were putting a bit of a squeeze on the cruiseline. Needless to say, I am looking at other options. Could I reserve a cabin and hope rates go down before final payment? Sure, but I don't want to tie-up my money. JMHO.

 

Liz

[Vitamin_Sea]

I have also noticed a HUGE increase in price on the same room we are booked on. Which was a lot less plus we have a 75 OBC anyway from the TA.

 

They now have the room prices sky high and they give a large amount of OBC.

 

Its a dumb sale really.

[LBumb]

i hate gimmicks

[rcclfanbp]

I see on the Royal website the new promo is huge amounts of OBC. I was curious how much of a deal it really was so I did a mock booking on the Radiance Alaska cruise for June 12 in an E2 balcony. Under the guidance of the sale, that cabin type would be eligible for $1000 OBC.

 

So if my wife and I wanted to receive $1000 OBC all we would have to do is dish out $1404 more than we would have two days ago. Such a deal.:rolleyes:

 

They will probably not get any of you reading this to take advantage of this deal but that is not their intended audience for this sale anyway.

 

Good post Bill. Intuitively, I assumed prices were increased to offset the OBC. But I did not even try a mock booking as I was not sufficiently enticed by the notion of an OBC driven sale. Thank you for your research.

 

Brian

[JasonV1]

If the new direction of no late price drops holds, booking when the schedule drops may be key to getting good deals. This is essentially what I've done as I've booked all the cruises I want through the end of the current schedule.

 

Right now for the cruises I've booked the prices total multiple thousands more. It'll one tough to afford balconies based in the number of times I cruise if this pricing trend continues. We shall see.

[icsys]

i hate gimmicks

 

Its a very good 'gimmic' though. (For RCI)

 

Put the per person price of the cabin up by, say $600, then give the '$600' as OBC.

I now have all this credit to spend (Use it or lose it), may as well buy some excursions, spa etc... you have now spent that extra $600 on the ship!

 

They could put the price up and not give ANY credit! That would be a real bummer.

Edited November 3, 2014 by icsys

[Vitamin_Sea]

Its a very good 'gimmic' though. (For RCI)

 

 

They could put the price up and not give ANY credit! That would be a real bummer.

 

if they jack the price sky high w/o obc. people will use another cruise line!!!

Edited November 3, 2014 by limoguy1

[griffy116]

Just did a mock booking this morning on same as we booked for June on FOS. $789 more today, even including our $225 discount...and oddly, no mention of OBC. I never use the cruise line for excursion anymore because we enjoy the private excursion and get to see more of what we want. We don't buy the photos anymore and we wouldn't spend $400 each for booze. I would certainly hope we didn't lose $800 in the casino so I don't think OBC would be an incentive. I'm pleasantly pleased that we have already booked this cruise. I don't really see the price being reduced to anything close to what we paid.

[ryano]

I just did a mock booking without signing in and the price I paid was 1450 for a 7 night eastern PR on the freedom sept 20 now the price would be 2150 :eek:never did see how much OBC they where giving me. Still with that kind of price I wouldn't have ever booked it.

 

My April 2015 Freedom cruise which I paid $1438.00 for two in a OV cabin is now $2446.00 for the same deck 2 OV :rolleyes: But but but they are giving a whopping 200.00 per person OBC!!!!!

 

Nice "sale" RCI :rolleyes:

[PCWalton1]

Just did a mock booking this morning on same as we booked for June on FOS. $789 more today, even including our $225 discount...and oddly, no mention of OBC. I never use the cruise line for excursion anymore because we enjoy the private excursion and get to see more of what we want. We don't buy the photos anymore and we wouldn't spend $400 each for booze. I would certainly hope we didn't lose $800 in the casino so I don't think OBC would be an incentive. I'm pleasantly pleased that we have already booked this cruise. I don't really see the price being reduced to anything close to what we paid.

 

That is because the OBC "sale" cannot be combine with the C&A discount.

 

Under Terms & Conditions:

 

"Offer is not combinable with restricted rates (including, but not limited to, seniors, residents, military), Interline, Travel Agent Rates, Travel Agent Friends and Family Rates, Going, Going, Gone Sales Events, Net Rates, Crown & Anchor Discounts, or Shareholder Benefits."

Edited November 3, 2014 by PCWalton1

[nelblu]

That is because the OBC "sale" cannot be combine with the C&A discount.

 

Under Terms & Conditions:

 

"Offer is not combinable with restricted rates (including, but not limited to, seniors, residents, military), Interline, Travel Agent Rates, Travel Agent Friends and Family Rates, Going, Going, Gone Sales Events, Net Rates, Crown & Anchor Discounts, or Shareholder Benefits."

 

I did a mock booking for a C1 cabin (Allure) and got both the D balcony discount and the $300 per OBC. What was strange is that a mock booking for 4 in a C1 cabin, no OBC, but a smaller credit of $215 per for the 3/4 person. Don't understand it.

[setsail]

This promo is not a sale on cruise prices, unless you are reading cc:rolleyes:

[SHSLIM]

I'm not sure if this would work,but if you book now and get the obc and after the sale is over hopefully the prices will drop back down and you could get a price drop.if the prices don't drop just cancel.

[Clarea]

I'm not sure if this would work,but if you book now and get the obc and after the sale is over hopefully the prices will drop back down and you could get a price drop.if the prices don't drop just cancel.

As long as they know that a request to change price will eliminate the OBC.

[Lyndonn]

I guess someone has to pay for all these new ships being released. I remember the good ole' days when RCI was a mid-price, if not lower then their competition.

 

We're starting to lose interest in RCI...we're not interested in Rock Climbing or Bumper Cars. I think that RCI is steering their market to the family travelers. I would have to say...big mistake on their part, us Baby Boomers are a huge population base.

 

We are now booking more with Celebrity and Holland America Line.

[mdwcruises]

How do you know if your cruise is eligible for this promo? I am looking at an Allure cruise next fall and nothing indicates it is eligible or not. :confused:

Edited November 3, 2014 by mdwcruises

[Retired LEO]

How do you know if your cruise is eligible for this promo? I am looking at an Allure cruise next fall and nothing indicates it is eligible or not. :confused:

 

Only Quantum and Anthum are excluded.