No more balcony/suite discount within 6 months(as of Sept 1,2016)

[skiiergirl]

What the flyer does not tell you is that all balcony prices will be increasing by $25 August 15th- August 22nd;)

 

The truth is they will probably increase by more than that! They will probably increase $50, $75, ??? to more than cover that extra $25! (While the cruiser "thinks" they are getting a "bargain" or "loyalty reward". :)

 

You may have something there. It really ticks me off when a company I do business with regularly offers a nice discount to "new customers only." Imagine the uproar if RCI tries that! :eek:

 

Maybe the customers RCI was "appreciating" this week are the TAs, not us.

 

I think these days they definitely are focusing on enticing new cruisers rather than loyalty. However, if they keep this up they may need even more "incentives" in order to get even more new cruisers to replace the numerous "repeaters" that they are running off!

[cublet]

Isn't it that way in the UK now?

 

Hello,

 

Hot from the UK website (yesterday), under "exclusive benefits that you'll only get if you book through Nextcruise" (on-board)

 

FLEXIBILITY - You can change your ship and sailing date up until final balance (57 days before) without any administration fees.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[John&LaLa]

Hello,

 

Hot from the UK website (yesterday), under "exclusive benefits that you'll only get if you book through Nextcruise" (on-board)

 

FLEXIBILITY - You can change your ship and sailing date up until final balance (57 days before) without any administration fees.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

 

But can you cancel and get your deposit back?

 

I guess it really doesn't matter if the deposit used when booking onboard is taken as OBC

Edited August 10, 2016 by John&LaLa

[cinnamon]

Hello,

 

Hot from the UK website (yesterday), under "exclusive benefits that you'll only get if you book through Nextcruise" (on-board)

 

FLEXIBILITY - You can change your ship and sailing date up until final balance (57 days before) without any administration fees.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

 

 

Wow, that's a big change. Will it be retroactive I wonder? We booked Brilliance for late August 2017 onboard Rhapsody in May this year. Would be great to have that flexibility after committing so far in advance.

[cinnamon]

But can you cancel and get your deposit back?

 

I guess it really doesn't matter if the deposit used when booking onboard is taken as OBC

 

 

That was why we did it John. We enjoyed the specialty restaurants etc and paid the bill in the deposit for Brilliance.

[ltjn]

John&LaLa,

 

I probably interrupted differently then intended.

 

You all should read Royal's response to the change on their Facebook Page. Vey interesting justifications being used. That the balcony discount on cruises purchased after the 6 month time frame were less than the offers being made in Royal's cruise promotions or offers. I can honestly say I have never seen that.

 

Or am I missing something? Or I am just a stupid Diamond Plus member?

[Merion_Mom]

Ahh. Sometimes I miss subtleties!

 

That's ok...you don't know me like Carol and Ellen do.

 

Those crazy Floridians! ;) :D

[Clarea]

John&LaLa,

 

I probably interrupted differently then intended.

 

You all should read Royal's response to the change on their Facebook Page. Vey interesting justifications being used. That the balcony discount on cruises purchased after the 6 month time frame were less than the offers being made in Royal's cruise promotions or offers. I can honestly say I have never seen that.

 

Or am I missing something? Or I am just a stupid Diamond Plus member?

They make no sense. So then why eliminate the balcony discount if it's a non-issue? Give us the option to choose the discount that's best for us.

 

Just typical corporate doublespeak.

Edited August 10, 2016 by clarea

[Anton]

An official response from RCI:

 

"We've found that a large majority of our Crown & Anchor guests reserve outside of the 6 month window. For those who do not, we've noticed that, due to the lack of promotional combinability, it's more beneficial for our guests to take advantage of other promotions offered. We appreciate your honest feedback, and are using it to research ways to improve our Crown & Anchor offerings. If you have further questions, our Crown & Anchor team will be more than happy to go over them with you at 800-526-9723."

[Merion_Mom]

I have been mulling over the degradation of the Loyalty benefits and what they mean.

 

I believe that by taking away the balcony discount within six months of the cruise RCI is telling us that our loyalty to them is not that important, and that all money is equal at that point. I feel they have been heading in that direction with the recent generous incentives that have not been combinable with the balcony discount. I am sure that the bean counters have been crunching the numbers and have concluded that taking away the benefits did not affect the bottom line.

 

I think their goal is to get the new cruiser who is more likely to buy pictures, buy excursions, buy drink packages, go to art auctions. I know we rarely have more than $100 discretionary spending on board. We have an amount in our mind that we are willing to spend on a room, and will sometimes do an inside. We actually dropped from a very expensive balcony to an inside when RCI chartered out a cruise (which was a cruise replacing a different cruise that had been chartered out) They lost $2000 by annoying us.

 

People need to speak with their spending. If this is the final straw, then move cruise lines. If the cost now is above what you want to spend on a balcony, book a different cabin.

 

The biggest stupidity/irony/ignorance/hubris is that they announced the reduction in benefits during Member Appreciation Week. Reminds me of the motto at one of my former employers. "Beatings will continue until morale improves"

 

The truth is they will probably increase by more than that! They will probably increase $50, $75, ??? to more than cover that extra $25! (While the cruiser "thinks" they are getting a "bargain" or "loyalty reward". :)

 

 

 

I think these days they definitely are focusing on enticing new cruisers rather than loyalty. However, if they keep this up they may need even more "incentives" in order to get even more new cruisers to replace the numerous "repeaters" that they are running off!

 

I agree with both of you about "new cruisers".

 

But if they are thinking that, they are sadly mistaken.

 

First of all, they are increasing their capacity every year, with big ships.

 

Second of all, it's the "oldies", the "loyals", the "reliable repeaters" who fill the ships during the slow times, like autumn (after the schools start up again), between Thanksgiving and Christmas (when most people don't take vacation time), etc., etc., etc.

 

It's all well and good to fill the ships with families on school vacation, but what about the rest of the year?

 

VERY short-sighted.

[Clarea]

An official response from RCI:

 

"We've found that a large majority of our Crown & Anchor guests reserve outside of the 6 month window. For those who do not, we've noticed that, due to the lack of promotional combinability, it's more beneficial for our guests to take advantage of other promotions offered. We appreciate your honest feedback, and are using it to research ways to improve our Crown & Anchor offerings. If you have further questions, our Crown & Anchor team will be more than happy to go over them with you at 800-526-9723."

Interesting that "improvement" in this case would tend to cost guests more money. Also, they want to replace a real discount with a fake promotion.

[PH8]

I just got that same reply on FB.

 

Besides FB, is any voicing their displeasure to Mr Bayley?

[setsail]

Interesting thread. It's funny looking at the sigs of some posting saying they won't do this or that or they will just change cruise lines. Well check your sigs, you are already booking cruises way over 6 months ahead of time either for rci or others:rolleyes:

[Clarea]

Interesting thread. It's funny looking at the sigs of some posting saying they won't do this or that or they will just change cruise lines. Well check your sigs, you are already booking cruises way over 6 months ahead of time either for rci or others:rolleyes:

It's not the booking 6 mo ahead that bothers me as much as losing the entire balcony discount if you ask for a price drop within 6 months.

 

I just did this recently and lost $25 of the balcony discount. With this new policy, I would have lost $225, and the price drop would not have been worth it.

Edited August 10, 2016 by clarea

[Karter]

Unless things have changed (and who knows, with Royal Caribbean :rolleyes:), you are limited to 3 purchases.

 

In the past I have been able to buy 8 at a time 4 in my name and 4 in my wife's name. I didn't try to buy more and they didn't say there was a limit but who knows it may be dependent on who is at the desk.

[setsail]

I agree with both of you about "new cruisers".

 

But if they are thinking that, they are sadly mistaken.

 

First of all, they are increasing their capacity every year, with big ships.

 

.

 

They sure are and why are they doing this, because of demand, demand from new cruisers trying cruising for the first time.

[ltjn]

Just a FYI, due to the amount of comments regarding the balcony discount. I was informed a by Diamond Plus C&A rep, Royal has set up a website to collect your comments:

 

http://www.casexecutivecomments.com

[crookedhalo]

Found out last night that they have changed the posting order as well. AFAIK the C&A discount was taken off the bottom line. They are now taking off before any promos are applied. As an example my Anthem trip has a balcony gty at $2796. 12 night emerald discount should be $200 but C&A rate is $2656. They took the $200 off THEN applied the 30% off.:(

[Ourusualbeach]

Found out last night that they have changed the posting order as well. AFAIK the C&A discount was taken off the bottom line. They are now taking off before any promos are applied. As an example my Anthem trip has a balcony gty at $2796. 12 night emerald discount should be $200 but C&A rate is $2656. They took the $200 off THEN applied the 30% off.:(

 

They have been doing this for a while now.:(

[ltjn]

Just sent a comment to CAS, via the website.

 

After looking at the site, I feel it is just to remove complaints from CAS reps. The only way you can receive a response from your comments is I if they look up email or number associated with CAS number.

 

Just more smoke and mirrors!

[cruiselvr04]

We almost always book balcony a for the same reason most of you do. With the balcony discount it doesn't make sense not to. That and we love balcony time.

 

However lately they sometimes denied us the discount as it wasn't combinable. This really irked me as a newbie was getting their cabin for the same rate as Diamond plus.

 

We usually do book way out but sometimes need to change within the six months due to denied or changed work vacation or life events. 2 cruises in the past two years were within final payment dates.

 

And yes we may be moving to outside cabins to keep the costs down so we can continue to cruise 2 to 3 times a year. On a 2017 cruise I just down graded us and saved $1000 which is a lot for us. We will just spend more time in the solarium on sea days.

 

This is also the final straw on being loyal...from now on we will not be taking a cruise without searching for the bottom line with other lines.

[MommaBear55]

Those crazy Floridians! ;) :D

 

Well, there, that's it! The heat there and the cold in Maine set us up for different perceptions. That's why Mainers wear shorts at 60 degrees and Floridians wear park as at the same temps.

[setsail]

It's not the booking 6 mo ahead that bothers me as much as losing the entire balcony discount if you ask for a price drop within 6 months.

 

I just did this recently and lost $25 of the balcony discount. With this new policy, I would have lost $225, and the price drop would not have been worth it.

 

I think we have changed our last 5 or 6 cruises inside of 6 mostly to upgrade and this is what they say about that "In the event a guest purchases an upgrade within six months of sailing, the Balcony & Suites Discount will be protected."

 

I did not find anything about price drops, do you have that link? Of course the reason we always upgrade is price drops and it appears that's protected

[The Grumpus]

I probably book half my cruises within 6-months of a sailing date, so this will affect me. The balcony discount has always been one of the big incentives for me to stick with RC over the years. Without the balcony discount, there is a great deal more incentive for me to shop around. There are many nice ships ships out there to choose from - RC doesn't have the nice ship market cornered like they used to.

[BILL-WI]

Just another change, in the many, many changes, that Royal has made over the years that help to chase their LOYAL customers away.

 

It is their business and they can run it as they please (and they do). It is my money and I can spend it where I please.:):)

 

I still love Royal and cruise with them when it makes sense, but I stopped being LOYAL to them, when they stopped being LOYAL to me...years ago!:)

 

BILL