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Holy WOW sale??????

champagne123

By champagne123,
in Royal Caribbean International

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jewopaho

jewopaho

Posted
Posted
It just occurred to me that I don't bother looking at their sales anymore. They usually have 3 - 4 flashing by on their home page and I just skip past them and scroll down to Plan A Cruise to search for my cruise. It's not like I'll get a better price using the 'sale' link so I just look for what I want.

We do pretty much the same thing, although we've used the same TA for about seven years. Since prices are the same (sale or no sale, BOGOHO notwithstanding), we always get additional OBC and/or a perk or two, so we generally ignore the "sales."

 

RCI has what I call voodoo math. Sometimes you think you have it down and then you get that confirm email and you go, what's this. So, while you are on the phone you must ask for the final figure and is this the same figure that will show on the confirm email, then if you agree and accept the price have them send the email while you are on line so you can view it while you are still connected to the rep. Also if you have obc, make sure it stays intact.

Always good to get immediate e-mail confirmation of any booking, be it from RCI or a TA (mine sends the invoice within an hour, so if there are any discrepancies, we can resolve them expeditiously). I've had experiences with cruise lines over prices quoted on the phone, then raised when confirmed ... that's why I use my TA. I certainly wouldn't want any of those folks at Royal Caribbean doing my taxes.

 

Al

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jules815

jules815

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Posted
Yes and Yes.

 

Okay, just got off the phone with my favorite RC rep. So glad I got her again because that never has happened to me.

 

She said in order to get the obc, I'd have to do a reprice. I told her "NO!" She laughed and said "don't worry, wouldn't do that to you." Then when I asked about upgrading my C&A discount from Emerald to Diamond, she put me on hold and had to talk to resolutions. They're the only ones who can make changes like that without having to go through a reprice. Thought they could make the change, but because I got such a good rate, I have to keep the Emerald discount I received when booking. Not going to change anything.

 

Btw, I had no idea the Diamond balcony discount was $325. I figured it was maybe $25-$50 better than Emerald...not $100. That's pretty sweet. What a way to get their hooks into me. :eek:

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lovesthebeach2

lovesthebeach2

Posted
Posted
Well, it still makes you say "WOW!", just not in a good way.

 

Tired of the WOW and BOGOHO teases, and it would be nice if the prices dropped, even for a day or two, to what they were during the first and only legit BOGOHO back in May of last year. Though they only lasted a few days, those were some great deals.

 

We got one of those great deals. I saw the sale and booked our upcoming cruise on Freedom on May 1 of last year. I think prices went up either the next day or the day after that. We got a true BOGO deal. I don't think we will see that for a long time, if ever. As long as there's demand, prices won't drop.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Posted (edited)
I just booked a cruise 2 days ago - BOGO - via TA. Now I get an email saying I could get $200 OBC for 10 day cruise - will they give that to me?? or is that NOT combinable with Diamond Plus balcony or better discount? Thanks

I haven't seen the terms for this WOW sale, but if it's like others, they will usually grant you the OBC if you are willing to re-price your cruise to current prices and you don't have other OBC from Royal. There may also be a restriction with regard to the balcony discount. Just have your TA call them.

Edited by clarea
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molly361

molly361

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Posted
I just booked a cruise 2 days ago - BOGO - via TA. Now I get an email saying I could get $200 OBC for 10 day cruise - will they give that to me?? or is that NOT combinable with Diamond Plus balcony or better discount? Thanks

 

The OBC is not combinable with your D+ balcony discount

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SnappyNappi

SnappyNappi

Posted
Posted (edited)

I booked Anthem for NYE this year - 5 people in 2 cabins, and the price with the sale and the new increased OBC that they are offering is still over $2000 more in total (that is $400 per person higher in our case) than what I paid when I did my original booking in November 2014. I still check to see if any of the promos are actually better than what I got, but so far, FOR US, I always seem to do better when I book early. It may be because we travel in peak times like school breaks and summer vacations, when the lines know that they can get the money from families that are trying to take vacations.

 

Our Final Payment date is next Monday... so I guess we will see what happens after that date passes and rooms are released back into inventory. It is a holiday sailing, so I am only expecting the prices to rise, especially since they added Anthem promotional eligibility list in most cases. Either way, I am happy with what I paid for this sailing and I guess since I am comfortable with the price, all things are good in my world.

Edited by SnappyNappi
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conandrob240 "Live from...." Rare

conandrob240

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I booked Anthem for NYE this year - 5 people in 2 cabins, and the price with the sale and the new increased OBC that they are offering is still over $2000 more in total (that is $400 per person higher in our case) than what I paid when I did my original booking in November 2014. I still check to see if any of the promos are actually better than what I got, but so far, FOR US, I always seem to do better when I book early. It may be because we travel in peak times like school breaks and summer vacations, when the lines know that they can get the money from families that are trying to take vacations.

 

Our Final Payment date is next Monday... so I guess we will see what happens after that date passes and rooms are released back into inventory. It is a holiday sailing, so I am only expecting the prices to rise, especially since they added Anthem promotional eligibility list in most cases. Either way, I am happy with what I paid for this sailing and I guess since I am comfortable with the price, all things are good in my world.

 

This is a unique situation. For a peak holiday like NYE, you will almost always do better booking early.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

Posted
Posted (edited)
I just booked a cruise 2 days ago - BOGO - via TA. Now I get an email saying I could get $200 OBC for 10 day cruise - will they give that to me?? or is that NOT combinable with Diamond Plus balcony or better discount? Thanks

 

The e-mail that I got today says $50.00 for 6-9 nights and $100.00 for 10nights or longer. If that is correct then RCI is getting pretty cheap with the OBC compared to what they used to offer.

 

Edit: I checked the RCI website. The site states $100.0 for 6-9 nights and $200.00 for 10 nights or longer.

Edited by Ocean Boy
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GuitarPlayer

GuitarPlayer

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Posted
I just got off the phone with Royal and was able to get the OBC added to our existing reservation. They didn't have to rebook us.

 

Ditto here, and it included the bogoho sale previously booked, so no change in price, just $100 OBC added on.

 

My first dealing (cruise) with RC seems to be good so far.

 

GP

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molly361

molly361

Posted
Posted
Ellen, where do you go to see that? I always seem inept at locating T&C's

 

If you go to the RCL website and click LEARN MORE on the page with the WOW sale. Scroll down and right where you see the 127 cruises listed to the left of that it says Terms and Conditions. Click on that and they will come up

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Smitty815 Great Review Rare

Smitty815

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Posted

I just went online and checked my Oasis 2016-Apr-30 cruise. Boardwalk "B2" Balcony.

It was a few hundred dollars cheaper online. I called up RC and they could not figure out how I was seeing it for cheaper. They kept saying it was more expensive. I had to email him screen shots of my booking.

After 1hour15 minutes on the phone with the RC-Agent (some of that was spent on hold while he spoke to his supervisor), he figured out that it must have been some sort of "glitch" that was happening because I live in Newfoundland. I'm really not sure how that would affect anything.

 

In the end I got $386CAD of my cruise and they also gave me the $100USD OBC from the WOW sale! (Both will be split between myself and the girlfriend). Well worth the 75 minutes on the phone!

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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If you go to the RCL website and click LEARN MORE on the page with the WOW sale. Scroll down and right where you see the 127 cruises listed to the left of that it says Terms and Conditions. Click on that and they will come up

 

Bummer, thanks.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
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Every now and then a few deals pop up, but not for long. I know this past June, at least for the first week or so, RC had some low prices for Harmony sailings. You could get an L1 at that time for about $2300 pp (double occupancy), or less than $4900 "out the door" after taxes/fees, and with $100 OBC. The price today is almost $6500 for that same cabin & cruise.

 

That probably has a lot to do with scarcity. There are only a very limited number of CLS and as they sell, the prices go up regardless of whether there is a sale or not.

 

For example, we're on Oasis leaving in November (inside final) and a L1 CLS is $8830 for two. We booked at $5054 in Jun 14. There are three L1 available.

 

We have a OS on Allure booked for Mar 16. An OS is $14,382. We booked at $5750 in Dec 14. There is only one OS available.

 

I understand the argument that you should delay booking till after final for best pricing. Probably a great strategy for lots of people. I don't think it works well for suites which appear to increase in price as they sell. There may be exceptions...

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mil76 "Live from...." Rare

mil76

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I found it amusing this Tuesday when I got an email from one of the price watching services that said my cruise next month on Oasis went up by $300, and within an hour I got an email about the WOW sale. :rolleyes:

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TheInnocentAge

TheInnocentAge

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That probably has a lot to do with scarcity. There are only a very limited number of CLS and as they sell, the prices go up regardless of whether there is a sale or not.

 

For example, we're on Oasis leaving in November (inside final) and a L1 CLS is $8830 for two. We booked at $5054 in Jun 14. There are three L1 available.

 

We have a OS on Allure booked for Mar 16. An OS is $14,382. We booked at $5750 in Dec 14. There is only one OS available.

 

Yes, I agree about the scarcity. Wow, that is a huge difference for the OS. Good job grabbing that early.

 

We're on the Oasis the first week of November (sail date 10/31), and that OS was $4729 out the door when we booked in May of 2014. It had gone up close to about $9000 at one point, then bounced between 7K and 8K before they finally sold out.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

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Yes, I agree about the scarcity. Wow, that is a huge difference for the OS. Good job grabbing that early.

 

We're on the Oasis the first week of November (sail date 10/31), and that OS was $4729 out the door when we booked in May of 2014. It had gone up close to about $9000 at one point, then bounced between 7K and 8K before they finally sold out.

 

We have been very fortunate getting the pricing we did. I'm convinced that the best booking strategies for suites is to book very early, as soon as itineraries are released, for the best pricing. Booking other categories may require different strategies.

 

We're really looking forward to these cruises. Oasis will be our fourth cruise and our first suite on Royal. Our very first cruise was an aft balcony on Freedom. In fact, all our previous cruises have been aft balconies or suites. We booked the OS as an experiment to see if we like 'not aft' cabins.

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