BOGO beverage pkg!

[newfiegirl4]

I have a question regarding the so called beverage pkg promotions that are offered? Like the bogo 30% and the bogo 50%? 

So my girlfriend and I are taking a 6 night cruise in November and purchased the bogo at 30% off approx 3 months ago for $844 Canadian. So she sees the new promo offered yesterday, bogo 50% off. So she cancelled the first one to rebook the better deal the 50% one! It was the same price!! 

That can't be right so she calls RC directly to straighten it out. They are still telling her it's the same price??? She asked to speak to a manager so the attendant briefly asked her manager why there wasn't any difference only to come back with some crappy answer, So now she wanted to speak directly to the manager. She's put on hold for a very extended period of time so she hung up. Doesn't make any sense. Something fishy going on with that!! 

Anyone have any issues with this? Any advice is welcome. We have since emailed our TA to see if she can straighten it out. 

Thanks,

Cathy

[legaljen1969]

1 minute ago, newfiegirl4 said:

I have a question regarding the so called beverage pkg promotions that are offered? Like the bogo 30% and the bogo 50%? 

So my girlfriend and I are taking a 6 night cruise in November and purchased the bogo at 30% off approx 3 months ago for $844 Canadian. So she sees the new promo offered yesterday, bogo 50% off. So she cancelled the first one to rebook the better deal the 50% one! It was the same price!! 

That can't be right so she calls RC directly to straighten it out. They are still telling her it's the same price??? She asked to speak to a manager so the attendant briefly asked her manager why there wasn't any difference only to come back with some crappy answer, So now she wanted to speak directly to the manager. She's put on hold for a very extended period of time so she hung up. Doesn't make any sense. Something fishy going on with that!! 

Anyone have any issues with this? Any advice is welcome. We have since emailed our TA to see if she can straighten it out. 

Thanks,

Cathy

It's called Royal Caribbean math.   They raise the original price to be able to discount it to the virtually same rate.   There really are very few sales.

I experienced the same thing with trying to redo the drink package.  It's all a big game.

[HicksRA]

It’s the same deceptive practice done by department stores and other cruise lines. 

Just look at the end price and ignore the hype and fuzzy math. 

[MrsKC08]

This happens ALL the time. The price fluctuates and it is of off the amount it is being offered on the ship (which you don't know how much it is because you aren't on the ship). Honestly, it's just better to add $$ to your on board account before cruising to use toward drinks and items like this. That way, if you don't use it all, you get that money back at the end of the cruise. Ever cruise we have done in the past 10 years we have walked off the ship with money in our pockets.

[johnjen]

14 minutes ago, newfiegirl4 said:

I have a question regarding the so called beverage pkg promotions that are offered? Like the bogo 30% and the bogo 50%? 

So my girlfriend and I are taking a 6 night cruise in November and purchased the bogo at 30% off approx 3 months ago for $844 Canadian. So she sees the new promo offered yesterday, bogo 50% off. So she cancelled the first one to rebook the better deal the 50% one! It was the same price!! 

That can't be right so she calls RC directly to straighten it out. They are still telling her it's the same price??? She asked to speak to a manager so the attendant briefly asked her manager why there wasn't any difference only to come back with some crappy answer, So now she wanted to speak directly to the manager. She's put on hold for a very extended period of time so she hung up. Doesn't make any sense. Something fishy going on with that!! 

Anyone have any issues with this? Any advice is welcome. We have since emailed our TA to see if she can straighten it out. 

Thanks,

Cathy

I was a bit taken aback at reading this. 844 Canadian dollars is currently $635.15 and that was for a six night cruise? We just did a 12 night med cruise and the deluxe beverage package on board was $786! I'm sure they'll tell us it's based on availability, ship, location, etc. but overall, drink packages are insanely priced and I don't see how anyone can see them of value at all (those of us that don't drink much and prefer just using OBC for drinks....we end up having money coming back on our cash accounts as it is after our cruises AND we drank at least a couple of drinks every night each). 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I hate the fake sales so many cruise lines have. 😏

[dpostman]

22 minutes ago, johnjen said:

I was a bit taken aback at reading this. 844 Canadian dollars is currently $635.15 and that was for a six night cruise? We just did a 12 night med cruise and the deluxe beverage package on board was $786! I'm sure they'll tell us it's based on availability, ship, location, etc. but overall, drink packages are insanely priced and I don't see how anyone can see them of value at all (those of us that don't drink much and prefer just using OBC for drinks....we end up having money coming back on our cash accounts as it is after our cruises AND we drank at least a couple of drinks every night each). 

$786?  Is that for 2 people with grats in? Because I'm quite certain that the OP was quoting price for 2 people.

 

My 12 night next week cost us $1536 CAD, including service charge for 2 people.

 

dp

Edited August 6, 2019 by dpostman

[awestover89]

24 minutes ago, johnjen said:

I was a bit taken aback at reading this. 844 Canadian dollars is currently $635.15 and that was for a six night cruise? We just did a 12 night med cruise and the deluxe beverage package on board was $786! I'm sure they'll tell us it's based on availability, ship, location, etc. but overall, drink packages are insanely priced and I don't see how anyone can see them of value at all (those of us that don't drink much and prefer just using OBC for drinks....we end up having money coming back on our cash accounts as it is after our cruises AND we drank at least a couple of drinks every night each). 

 

That seems ridiculously low, especially for an onboard price. Unless, is that for only one person? That would make a bit more sense. 

 

Also, to be fair, if you don't drink much you won't see any value in an unlimited package. Same thing applies to pretty much anything that's "unlimited" If you're on a strict diet/don't eat much you won't see value in a buffet, but others definitely do.

 

For me personally, we almost always get a good value on the beverage package. The only exception is port extensive cruises, particularly if it's just my husband and I and none of our friends or family travelling with us

[johnjen]

8 minutes ago, awestover89 said:

 

For me personally, we almost always get a good value on the beverage package. The only exception is port extensive cruises, particularly if it's just my husband and I and none of our friends or family travelling with us

Pretty much that's our driving factor, most of our cruises were port intensive and we're not on board often enough to justify the high prices (I think they're outrageous) just saying.

[johnjen]

27 minutes ago, dpostman said:

$786?  Is that for 2 people with grats in? Because I'm quite certain that the OP was quoting price for 2 people.

 

My 12 night next week cost us $1536 CAD, including service charge for 2 people.

 

dp

Oh! TWO people would have been better....maybe I didn't catch that....our price quotes were per person! That seems more like it.

Edited August 6, 2019 by johnjen

[Sherri914]

With this most recent 30% off (fake) "sale" on the deluxe package, I checked my cruise planner and, not coincidentally, the base price was 30% higher than the day before.   

[timf2001]

The biggest scam with the sales is they never show you what the base price is.  They only show the final price with the supposed discount included.  Therefore, they can claim whatever percent off they want since you can't prove what the current base price is.  As others have said, ignore the sale banner and simply check the final price.  Occasionally it actually does drop, and then you can cancel and rebook.

[dpostman]

Well, in all fairness,  I just look at the ppd of the package as it already reflects the discount.   If it is lower than when I previously bought it, then when all is added in the checkout page, it should be lower than what I paid before.  If so, I cancel and repurchase.   I save the receipt in my google drive and ad the price I paid right in the filename.  Makes it easier to reference next time there is a so-called sale. I did that 4 times for our upcoming cruise. 

 

dp

[twangster]

The base price is the on board price which you can't find out until you are on board at which point the cruise planner sales are closed.

 

There is some creative marketing but in a nutshell, this weeks "sale" is not calculated using the price you saw during last weeks "sale" .  In many cases one sale to the next yields the same price,  Here's why:

 

Royal calculates drink package pricing based on sales trends.  If your ship and sail date is selling the DX really well, no additional sale for you.  If the week after on the same ship has slow sales, they may get an extra savings this sale.  

 

Royal it totally into data analytics.  While some cruise lines have a standard rate for the drink package, Royal does not.  Three nights cruises have higher prices compared to four night cruises.  Holiday cruises have higher prices than off-peak cruises.  Certain ships are known to have slow DX sales due to demographics.  They'll see more discounted prices. 

 

Royal knows how to squeeze every dollar out of every scenario.  Sometimes that mean no sales for you. 

[ileys]

2 hours ago, dpostman said:

Well, in all fairness,  I just look at the ppd of the package as it already reflects the discount.   If it is lower than when I previously bought it, then when all is added in the checkout page, it should be lower than what I paid before.  If so, I cancel and repurchase.

 

dp

Agree with this ^^

 

[ryano]

Just look at the bottom line and ignore their marketing.  Basically put, if you can get the package for $57.82 USD per day ($49+18%) with grat included or $404.74 total per person, you have bought it as about as cheap as it gets from what Ive seen over the last year on my sailing.    Some people have got it even cheaper than that but Im guessing those days are long gone.  SOME were even lucky enough to take advantage of a glitch and secure it for $21.24 a day total for some 2020 cruises and RC honored it much to my surprise 

Edited August 6, 2019 by ryano

[fdthird]

Most people compare prices based on the per person per day charge.  Frankly, I don’t even know what my whole package cost is, but know that at $42 pdpp, I’m happy. 

[Baowen]

I just look at the per day total or do a mock booking and compare the bottom line price.  You can't look at the % off.

[Ourusualbeach]

5 hours ago, newfiegirl4 said:

I have a question regarding the so called beverage pkg promotions that are offered? Like the bogo 30% and the bogo 50%? 

So my girlfriend and I are taking a 6 night cruise in November and purchased the bogo at 30% off approx 3 months ago for $844 Canadian. So she sees the new promo offered yesterday, bogo 50% off. So she cancelled the first one to rebook the better deal the 50% one! It was the same price!! 

That can't be right so she calls RC directly to straighten it out. They are still telling her it's the same price??? She asked to speak to a manager so the attendant briefly asked her manager why there wasn't any difference only to come back with some crappy answer, So now she wanted to speak directly to the manager. She's put on hold for a very extended period of time so she hung up. Doesn't make any sense. Something fishy going on with that!! 

Anyone have any issues with this? Any advice is welcome. We have since emailed our TA to see if she can straighten it out. 

Thanks,

Cathy

You also have to remember that companies get away with a lot more when advertising sales in the US than in Canada.  Unfortunately it won’t do you any good trying to fight it.  As others stated just look at the bottom line price and base your decision off that and not the fake %’s that advertise.

[Casino Comp Chick]

16 hours ago, MrsKC08 said:

This happens ALL the time. The price fluctuates and it is of off the amount it is being offered on the ship (which you don't know how much it is because you aren't on the ship). 

 

That was a big issue when it came to the $18.00 deluxe beverage package glitch. The fact that they do not have one set price made it that new passengers really had no way of knowing that price was wrong. 

They really just should set one price per day and be done with it.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Casino Comp Chick

[Sancho_proudfoot]

It's a common RCL trick. My DD (who we took on her first cruise on July 21) is now looking to cruise again (hurrah! Another convert!) and we have drilled it into her to ONLY look at the bottom line, and ignore the so-called "offers".

[newfiegirl4]

Thanks everyone. My first time dealing with sort of thing. Just seems so shady and dishonest.  

Guess I'll keep checking 😂😂.