Is it just me or is the sale promotions bogus?

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, alfaeric said:

Every company on the planet does this.  It's not unique to RCI, it's no unique to sailing ships, it's not unique to vacations.  You see it all the time in appliances and electronics.

 

The difference is that when you buy an appliance, you can see the original (base) price of $1,000, the markdown of 50% and the sale price of $500.

 

Since Royals (and other companies, airlines, hotels, etc) use dynamic pricing that changes the original (base) price based on supply and demand, it's difficult to figure out what the base price was to begin with. That's why the 30% off sale may be better than the 50% off sale.....or worse....or be exactly the same.

 

 

[mayleeman]

I don't know if this was normal or not, but the Buy1Get1@60%Off sale this past spring resulted in not only a major price reduction on the fare but also applied the 60% off to my wife's RC trip insurance. 89 for me, 29 for my wife. So the sale made a difference there!

[GEORGIEGIRL]

On 7/11/2019 at 6:38 AM, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Na its you......RCI would never do something shady!😱😜

 

No, it's not SHADY, It's Creative Pricing.....😎

[kidless]

They do use fuzzy math. I love when pricing a cruise on line. The price comes up exactly the same whether or not you punch in all the things that could net you lower fare....over 55, Military, Florida resident or Diamond member.

 

We’ve been loyal to Royal long time but lots of cruise lines offer the same or close to the same experience at lower fares. We are going to start shopping around! 

[LUVINMYHUBS]

15 minutes ago, kidless said:

They do use fuzzy math. I love when pricing a cruise on line. The price comes up exactly the same whether or not you punch in all the things that could net you lower fare....over 55, Military, Florida resident or Diamond member.

 

We’ve been loyal to Royal long time but lots of cruise lines offer the same or close to the same experience at lower fares. We are going to start shopping around! 

We love RCCL too, but am of the same mindset as you are becoming, and that is we are loyal to our wallets, not a cruise line! Have found GREAT deals on Carnival, and NCL, when we looked at 90 day or less ticker. Start there, if you can manage to pay total when you book. They offer deep discounts when they know they have vacant rooms and not much time to sell them...just sayin 🙂

[awestover89]

28 minutes ago, kidless said:

They do use fuzzy math. I love when pricing a cruise on line. The price comes up exactly the same whether or not you punch in all the things that could net you lower fare....over 55, Military, Florida resident or Diamond member.

 

We’ve been loyal to Royal long time but lots of cruise lines offer the same or close to the same experience at lower fares. We are going to start shopping around! 

 

Not all cruises qualify for the resident, senior, or military discounts, but when they do they definitely lower the price. The Diamond discount also actually lowers the price for eligible rooms (balcony or suite)

[icsys]

Doesn't the FTC have rules about false, misleading and deceptive advertising?

The commission states that a product can be advertised as being sold at a reduced price if the former price was “a bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time."

Although there appears to be no specific federal rules about how long a sale can run..

 

The OFT has similar rules/laws in the UK but to be fair, RCI.CO.UK doesn't seem to have 'never ending sales' like you have on RCI.COM

 

We do, however, see occasional 'all inclusive promotions' which are inflated to cover the cost of the drink package.

Not long ago this was transparent in that you could see the price without the promotion and a price with. They no longer do that.

Edited July 12, 2019 by icsys

[alfaeric]

On 7/11/2019 at 11:32 AM, HBE4 said:

 

The difference is that when you buy an appliance, you can see the original (base) price of $1,000, the markdown of 50% and the sale price of $500.

 

Since Royals (and other companies, airlines, hotels, etc) use dynamic pricing that changes the original (base) price based on supply and demand, it's difficult to figure out what the base price was to begin with. That's why the 30% off sale may be better than the 50% off sale.....or worse....or be exactly the same.

 

 

So you think that that "base price" isn't adjusted during a sale?  I'm pretty sure it commonly is. 

 

Just like with appliances, everyone needs to keep track of the actual price you are going to pay for an item.  That way you know when a sale is actually a good deal, or  it's just words.  

 

 

[KelSny1011]

I think that's common practice for any business that is selling something.  I always "shop" around before I purchase, and I always check how long I have to try to find a better price and keep looking up until I cannot anymore.   I have made 2 reservations with RCL so far where I was able to get a better price while continuously checking the current prices on cruises we were booked on.  We booked a cruise on NextCruise a couple years back and they didn't have the "Children Sail Free" when we made our booking.  A couple months later they ran that promo and I was able to get one of my kids for free saving us around $400.  Then, the cruise I have us booked on in April 2020 was running us around $600pp and one day I randomly did a mock booking on the same cruise and saw that the price had dropped $115pp.  So I called up RCL and asked about it, they did their look up and confirmed that there was a drop and credited me the difference.  With that being said; I have never booked a cruise where I felt like it was too much for us to spend.  I'm just a best bargain shopper.  😉

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, awestover89 said:

 

Not all cruises qualify for the resident, senior, or military discounts, but when they do they definitely lower the price. The Diamond discount also actually lowers the price for eligible rooms (balcony or suite)

 

My first cruise in 2009, I got a sizable New York State resident discount for a cruise out of Florida.  Not sure why or how or if it was a mistake, I just figured that maybe it was geared towards Northeast snowbirds that migrate south for the winter.

 

Never got another resident discount again, even after sailing out of the New York/New Jersey area.

[tallnthensome]

Royal has the least overall value anymore based on what you pay and what you get. Their fake sales don’t result in any savings and you won’t find any better deals because of the, compared to Royals competitors ...... with all things compared; newness of ship, sail date, sail length, cabin type, destination , and drink package Royal is priced very high for what it is. Fake sales don’t result in real savings. We used to cruise Royal but have gotten way better deals with some decent sales elsewhere on MSC, NCL, and Celebrity. To be fair though most line’s sales over the last year or so don’t really result in any mega deals .

[awestover89]

41 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

My first cruise in 2009, I got a sizable New York State resident discount for a cruise out of Florida.  Not sure why or how or if it was a mistake, I just figured that maybe it was geared towards Northeast snowbirds that migrate south for the winter.

 

Never got another resident discount again, even after sailing out of the New York/New Jersey area.

 

I had one for a Texas resident on an Alaska cruise on Celebrity, and one for a Florida resident on a Florida cruise on Royal Caribbean, those are the only two times I've seen it though

[NavyCruiser]

3 hours ago, awestover89 said:

 

Not all cruises qualify for the resident, senior, or military discounts, but when they do they definitely lower the price. The Diamond discount also actually lowers the price for eligible rooms (balcony or suite)

 

Be careful of the military discount. 

I signed up with that discount on the Big Battle Grey line, & they sent me on a free cruise to the persian gulf... twice

Worst B2B ever...

[HBE4]

33 minutes ago, NavyCruiser said:

 

Be careful of the military discount. 

I signed up with that discount on the Big Battle Grey line, & they sent me on a free cruise to the persian gulf... twice

Worst B2B ever...

 

I bet the ships didn't even have a diamond lounge or a pool.

 

Then again, no chair hogs or tipping dilemmas!

[kidless]

4 hours ago, awestover89 said:

 

Not all cruises qualify for the resident, senior, or military discounts, but when they do they definitely lower the price. The Diamond discount also actually lowers the price for eligible rooms (balcony or suite)

My experience on line (perhaps yours is different) any cruise I’ve gone to check pricing. The price never changes With or without adding in all the other factors I listed above. I check a lot of cruises because always planning. 

[vacationlover_mn]

All I can say is... we always book super early- usually a year or more in advance.  Usually balconies.  Only ONE time has a sale given us a better price!  One example- we booked Oasis over a year in advance for next Feb.   We’ve never seen the price go down- in fact, it is currently $500

more than we paid!

Edited July 12, 2019 by vacationlover_mn

[Inconspicuous]

Last year sometime in October-ish 2018 we booked a 7 night that sailed on January 20th of this year.  We got in on the Kids Sail Free promotion.  2 adults, 1 kid.  The total price was $2,174 with a spacious ocean view balcony room.

 

I was just looking to book again, the same exact cruise, same ship, same stateroom, ports, 7 nights and all.  With the current 2nd cruiser at 50% promotion, that exact same cruise, leaving around the same date in January 2020 and it would be $3,300.  Guess I'll be waiting to see if they do the Kids Sail Free promotion again.  The math doesn't even come close to adding up between the two.

[Iamcruzin]

20 hours ago, icsys said:

 

Although there appears to be no specific federal rules about how long a sale can run..

 

 

A sale on an item in a store can run 14 days at the same sale price. After that you can't use the word sale. It than becomes the new regular permanent mark down price or clearance or they can change the percent off pricing and use the word sale.  My company runs a sale for a week or two on a product than puts the price back up for a week or two then puts it on sale again.  Since Royal Caribbean raises the original price as they sell down inventory it is always a new sale price. 

[Ocean Boy]

On 7/11/2019 at 10:17 AM, awestover89 said:

 

 

I have a local grocery story that is always advertising sales on 12 packs of soda. Buy 2 get 2 free, but they charge $8 per 12 pack. The other grocery store never puts soda on sale but charges $4 per 12 pack. No matter what you're paying $16 for 4 12 packs of soda. The sale makes no difference at all

 

You need to find a new grocery store. At mine when something is on sale I actually pay less for that product than when it is not.

[LuCruise]

9 hours ago, Inconspicuous said:

Last year sometime in October-ish 2018 we booked a 7 night that sailed on January 20th of this year.  We got in on the Kids Sail Free promotion.  2 adults, 1 kid.  The total price was $2,174 with a spacious ocean view balcony room.

 

I was just looking to book again, the same exact cruise, same ship, same stateroom, ports, 7 nights and all.  With the current 2nd cruiser at 50% promotion, that exact same cruise, leaving around the same date in January 2020 and it would be $3,300.  Guess I'll be waiting to see if they do the Kids Sail Free promotion again.  The math doesn't even come close to adding up between the two.

Earlier this year we were on Symphony (booked on opening day 2 years earlier) and Mariner the summer before (booked about 6 months in advance). 

We have a few more cruises booked over the next couple years and prices have skyrocketed. 

Mariner we have the same week booked, same room type for 2 years later and when we booked close to opening day, our cost is $900 more....and now it's $1500 more.  Our Symphony price was really pricey at the time and today, it is the normal cost for lower staterooms on Oasis.  I'm assuming this is all because of the amplifications they are doing and the new ships coming....so they need to raise prices.  

Edited July 13, 2019 by LuCruise

[HBE4]

9 hours ago, Inconspicuous said:

Last year sometime in October-ish 2018 we booked a 7 night that sailed on January 20th of this year.  We got in on the Kids Sail Free promotion.  2 adults, 1 kid.  The total price was $2,174 with a spacious ocean view balcony room.

 

I was just looking to book again, the same exact cruise, same ship, same stateroom, ports, 7 nights and all.  With the current 2nd cruiser at 50% promotion, that exact same cruise, leaving around the same date in January 2020 and it would be $3,300.  Guess I'll be waiting to see if they do the Kids Sail Free promotion again.  The math doesn't even come close to adding up between the two.

 

Most likely, in October-ish 2018, the Jan 2019 cruise still had a lot of unsold cabins and it was withing 90 days of sailing , they dropped the price.

 

The Jan 2020 cruise is still 6 months away. Check back in Oct-Nov time frame to see if there have been any price drops.  Of course, there is always the risk the ship has low inventory and prices have gone up!

 

EDIT: wanted to add that the Jan 2020 cruise is post-Amplification so that may explain the higher prices.

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by HBE4

[Inconspicuous]

On 7/13/2019 at 7:41 AM, HBE4 said:

 

Most likely, in October-ish 2018, the Jan 2019 cruise still had a lot of unsold cabins and it was withing 90 days of sailing , they dropped the price.

 

The Jan 2020 cruise is still 6 months away. Check back in Oct-Nov time frame to see if there have been any price drops.  Of course, there is always the risk the ship has low inventory and prices have gone up!

 

EDIT: wanted to add that the Jan 2020 cruise is post-Amplification so that may explain the higher prices.

 

 

Kicking this back up now that KSF is on.  With KSF we're now at $2,952 for this sailing, compared to $3,300 that it was under BOGO 50%.  So, certainly a better deal but I think we'll wait a month or two to see if prices come down some more.  I'm not interested in paying for a bunch of "amplification" projects that I don't really care about and won't be stepping foot on a new ship anytime soon.

[nonnie&dgd]

I repriced with the kids sail free for my October 2020 cruise. Saved a whopping $95. Price for guests 1 and 2 went up a lot.