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

[crazy 4 cruising]

This announcement was for Travel Agents and the motto "Loyal to you Always" is the motto they use for TA's.

 

They're not saying they are loyal to their cruisers, just loyal to the Travel Agents...

 

 

Carla

 

trust me, they aren't loyal to travel agents either!!!! so I get shafted twice many times--as a pinnacle member and travel agent!!!

Edited August 11, 2016 by crazy 4 cruising

[Coralc]

trust me, they aren't loyal to travel agents either!!!! so I get shafted twice many times--as a pinnacle member and travel agent!!!

 

Hey Brenda! It is a pretty p*** p*** announcement for member appreciation week! :D:):D

 

~Patti :)

[setsail]

trust me, they aren't loyal to travel agents either!!!! so I get shafted twice many times--as a pinnacle member and travel agent!!!

 

You must love it . Looks like you have around 11 future cruises booked on rci.

[SherriZ366]

I posted comments on the site expressing my disapointment that RCI has removed the C&A Balcony Discount for cruises booked less than 6 months prior to departue: http://www.casexecutivecomments.com/Thankyou.php

 

Has anyone else posted here? Have you received feedback from RCI?

[PH8]

I posted comments on the site expressing my disapointment that RCI has removed the C&A Balcony Discount for cruises booked less than 6 months prior to departue: http://www.casexecutivecomments.com/Thankyou.php

 

Has anyone else posted here? Have you received feedback from RCI?

 

Sherri...some have written on there but we think writing Mr Bayley is a good idea.

[tallcva3344]

I'm a little confused...we just booked last weekend for the Adventure 5/20/17 balcony. If I wasa to call on 8/15/17 for a price adjustment does that mean I will receive the discount of $125.00 pp?

 

Thank You for the help

 

Apparently if they do not raise he price and most cruises booked in the last few days where a price increase has not happened you will get a higher Balcony discount. As a D+ I would go from $250 to $275. Interesting, but just an 8 day window for this. H

[tallcva3344]

I posted comments on the site expressing my disapointment that RCI has removed the C&A Balcony Discount for cruises booked less than 6 months prior to departue: http://www.casexecutivecomments.com/Thankyou.php

 

Has anyone else posted here? Have you received feedback from RCI?

 

I sent mine in with a dissatisfied status. Made a few good points, and did not rant and rave. H

[cublet]

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.

 

Hello,

 

My local bus company has 'improved' its service by changing from one bus every 15 minutes to one every 20 minutes.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Clarea]

Hello,

 

My local bus company has 'improved' its service by changing from one bus every 15 minutes to one every 20 minutes.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

They must use the same dictionary as Royal.

[travelgoddess1]

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."

 

Wow, talk about a canned response. From what I have gathered, there is an abundance of Crown & Anchor agents who have no idea that there is a new promotion, Member Appreciation Week, and elimination of the balcony discount for cruises booked within 6 months of sail date.

 

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

 

I have responded on this website and also on social media. I realize it is probably for naught, but I feel better for having done it. :rolleyes:

 

I keep going back to how this change was introduced. Did RCI hope that no one would notice? And did they simply ignore the stunningly inappropriate title of the flyer -- Member Appreciation Week?

Edited August 11, 2016 by travelgoddess1

[Merion_Mom]

Wow, talk about a canned response. From what I have gathered, there is an abundance of Crown & Anchor agents who have no idea that there is a new promotion, Member Appreciation Week, and elimination of the balcony discount for cruises booked within 6 months of sail date.

 

 

 

I have responded on this website and also on social media. I realize it is probably for naught, but I feel better for having done it. :rolleyes:

 

I keep going back to how this change was introduced. Did RCI hope that no one would notice? And did they simply ignore the stunningly inappropriate title of the flyer -- Member Appreciation Week?

 

I think that it is always important to let a company know what you think about it and what it is doing.

 

Given that we know that RC sometimes floats "trial balloons", I think that it is CRUCIAL that the feedback on THIS move be loud, constant, severe and condemnatory.

 

Use that website. Use RC's facebook page.

 

Write directly to the president. mbayley@rccl.com

 

Thank you for your kind attention. This PSA has been brought to you by Royal Caribbean Cruisers Everywhere.

[marci22]

On the fb page RC mentioned that instead of C&A discounts in that 6 month period, we would be able to find C&A promo prices instead. Another person mentioned that they were not able to use their shareholder benefit as it didn't combine with the C&A promo price. So that's how they get around that.

 

We have to remember that they have people with advanced degrees sitting around a table trying to figure out ways to have a promo price that stays the same or higher over time, regardless of promo type, and makes it unable for us to utilize any type of other discount we might have.

 

Crafty!

[marci22]

Also they keep citing 'combinability issues' as the reason for the change.

 

Funny that they are blaming something they did themselves as the reason for taking away a nice benefit from the customer.

[PH8]

I think that it is always important to let a company know what you think about it and what it is doing.

 

Given that we know that RC sometimes floats "trial balloons", I think that it is CRUCIAL that the feedback on THIS move be loud, constant, severe and condemnatory.

 

Use that website. Use RC's facebook page.

 

Write directly to the president. mbayley@rccl.com

 

Thank you for your kind attention. This PSA has been brought to you by Royal Caribbean Cruisers Everywhere.

Yes,please.everyone who is not happy with this,please do ALL of the above.....

[pcur]

Does this mean we'll have a whole bunch of future "promo" sales that include the discount less then 6 months out? More promos as a bargain to us! *wink*

 

Hey, if they have a "promo" that gives us a balcony discount if booking less than 6 months in advance, I'll take it in a heartbeat. But, I'll bet the "promo" discount will be less than the current <6 months discount.

 

It would be less painful if they just reduced the amount of the discount for <6 months, rather than take it away completely.

[cublet]

Hello,

 

What do you guys across the pond see when attempting an on-line booking when you ask for a cost breakdown?

 

A previous poster provided a link to the 'Loyal to you Always' website (it makes me feel ill) on which was a guide to current offers. As complete news to me was the indication that, ending 31st August, there was 30% off everything for everyone from 4th September 2016 apart from China sailings.

 

Well there is no mention of this on the UK website and I tried a booking for next October (2017) that I had intended to book on board Navigator this October. I was shown a price and that it included a "Crown and Anchor Loyalty Discount" - presumably the balcony/suite one, but no mention of the August Offer. When I got to the option to ask for a breakdown all I got was Cruise Cost (presumably net of the C&A discount) plus Grats plus Port Fees and Taxes - again no mention of the August discount.

 

I have set my TA the task to find out whether or not the 30% is applicable and whether it has been applied or not. Now I know I'm only simple, as you can tell from my picture my brain is only made of stuffing, but I'll bet good money that the 30% I have/will have off is greater than the $100 I would get from booking on board this October so I'd better get a move soon.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[ltjn]

The more I read about the change to the balcony/suite discount, several thoughts emerge.

 

Is Royal having a cash flow problem. We know prior to the introduction of the Suite Class they were having some problems filling higher end suites on their mega ships. Royal added the Royal Suite Class to help bookings. Since, the introduction of this suite class several offered amenities have been removed, with the explanation they were not being used by the customers.

 

Even their pricing at times defy logic. Not to mention the perpetual Bogo sales. One cruise I wanted to book in 2017 was on the Adventure. When I saw the prices I called C&A to see if pricing was correct. I was told yes it was. The rep firer explained it was during Spring Break time and it was priced higher. I then later booked a B2B to weeks before in Suite 14 days long almost to the same islands for $4000 less. Example, the 29 March 2017 10 night cruise on the Adventure that was released almost 15 months ago, still has 7 Owners Suite ($11734 for double occupancy), Royal Suite is still available for $20739, and the Royal Family Suite is available on line 7 months before sailing for $12182 for double. Also, those prices on in line the higher end suites on the Oasis and Quantum Class ships with the Royal Suite Class amenities, but the are not eligible for those perks.

 

One can see that this removal targets the higher level of loyalty members. I have rarely seen Pinniacle Club Members up in arms about Royal's corporate decisions. After cruising 255 days on Royal, I have meet many Pinniacle's. It is very surprising to me seeing them post how upset they are on Facebook. I have seen some post stating they appeared happy with $25 increase in thier balcony discount. I am not sure if they were happy with losing the discount.

 

Along those lines is this just the start of gradually phasing in more amenities removals. Just the way this announcement was made is very suspect. As many of us on this forum we have seen when Corprate officers make an unpopular customer decision they plant thier feet and will not budge. Just like the way those were treated by Royal with cancellation of the Empress cruises earlier this year.

 

This type of corporate attitude for customers is becoming more persuasive in today's customer service/travel corprations. There is nothing wrong with capitalism as along as the corpration remember who is spending their money on the product.

 

Please don't get me wrong, I enjoy cruising on Royal. We have 7 more cruises booked for 2017.

 

My concern, will this attitude cause Royal to start acting like the CEO, Frank Del Rio of Norwegian (once stated he would find a way to get $5 or $10 more from his customers, captivated customers). It seems almost weekly they are changing some policy or amenity. So much so, we cancelled a January 2017 in a Haven suite. At this point Norwegian is extremely low on our list for future bookings. I just hope some day Royal does not join them.

[marci22]

I think this is a marketing fail more than anything.

 

Instead of saying, 'we are taking away your balcony discount benefit for bookings <6 months out', why not just make it non-combinable with the current promo, whenever or whatever it is? Don't they do that now, anyway?

 

Why make such an inflammatory change, one that has really annoyed many frequent cruisers? Maybe an intern suggested this, the same one who answers the questions under the RCI username...?

[RoamingRetirees]

I think this is a marketing fail more than anything.

 

Instead of saying, 'we are taking away your balcony discount benefit for bookings <6 months out', why not just make it non-combinable with the current promo, whenever or whatever it is? Don't they do that now, anyway?

 

Why make such an inflammatory change, one that has really annoyed many frequent cruisers? Maybe an intern suggested this, the same one who answers the questions under the RCI username...?

 

People were already complaining that they were losing most if not all of the balcony discount during these promos. Maybe they figured they would just eliminate the balcony discount for <6 months, let everyone rant and rave for a while, let it settle down, and then no one will complain about that anymore.

[pcur]

For those thinking of switching to Celebrity, they may not have a balcony discount, but the cabin upgrade benefit is good. We booked the Solstice a few months ago, paid a category 2B price (obstructed balcony), and got a 2A (unobstructed). Saved a few hundred dollars.

 

I never booked a balcony unless it was very close to an OV price. Now, if we book less than 6 months in advance, I'll just look at the OV prices.

 

This benefit cut truly sucks. I have been advocating a "their program/their rules; suck it up; it's free so don't complain" philosophy for years. No more.

[setsail]

Originally Posted by Anton View Post

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."

 

 

So it seems rci is correct. When people fill out that form and put their name and c&a # on there rci will check and when they do they will find out also that all these cc members are booking out greater than 6 months just like their research shows. Of course on here you can check yourself by just checking posters sigs

 

Thanks for posting the feedback Anton

 

Now, has anybody seen the terms and conditions for this policy?

Edited August 11, 2016 by setsail

[ltjn]

I hate to say it, but it is very true about Americans. We complain loud and long (about 1 week) when feel we wronged. The we will roll over and play by the rules. The only exception is if we are attacked by another nation!

 

When I worked in the real world (before retirement) when an unpopular decisions was going to be made we would explore how the public would react, could we hold off the onslaught of negative criticism, and how long would it take to quite down. If the evaluation was within parameters we went ahead. Almost always worked out for us. If the it did not go within parameters we would study it a little longer and find a different way to spin it. Then released the decision. Once again, it usually worked out for us!

 

Oh, yes count on very short memories, unless personally affected.

[kc320]

I commented thru the link & also on FB...on FB I got the canned reply about enjoying more C&A "special" pricing...sorry...anytime I've gone to the special offer section of C&A the prices have been the same...or higher than what I would find on the regular search feature...hopefully the response from their most loyal clients will cause enough of a stir that they will rethink this program adjustment...

[ltjn]

When I spoke to C&A rep yesterday they mentioned the Going Gone Sale was an option. Could someone explain that option to me. When I lolled for it I found nothing. I do remember seeing something like that a while ago, but it seemed it was for only 3 and 4 night cruise on the Majesty or Monarch.

 

Thanks

[Clarea]

When I spoke to C&A rep yesterday they mentioned the Going Gone Sale was an option. Could someone explain that option to me. When I lolled for it I found nothing. I do remember seeing something like that a while ago, but it seemed it was for only 3 and 4 night cruise on the Majesty or Monarch.

 

Thanks

The GGG sale is a set of specially priced sailings close in. You can find them listed in this document, which usually changes every Thursday afternoon:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

Edited August 11, 2016 by clarea