help with pricing

[Cruise_Couple]

OMG... I have committed myself to taking 5 teenage girls on a 7 day Bahamas cruise on Oasis of the Seas as a graduation present (2 are mine and they asked to bring 3 of their friends). All the girls will be 18.  Just starting to work out the financials to give the parents of the other 3 girls but I don't have current pricing. I realize prices are changing constantly but if people could share what they think the "normal" price is I would appreciate it. I need pricesd for:

 

1. gratuities

2. non-alcoholic drink package that includes specialty coffees and teas

3. Voom (streaming?)

4. admission ticket to the water park at coco cay

5. Any other required costs they may encounter

 

Thank you again for any information you can provide.

[leaveitallbehind]

What year are you booking?  If '21, that cruise is not likely to take place as per today's announcement RCCL is not returning to cruising for US based itineraries until May 1, and then only with limited ships and short itineraries.  A 7-day cruise would not be likely until the second half of the year.

 

[stevea36]

11 minutes ago, Cruise_Couple said:

OMG... I have committed myself to taking 5 teenage girls on a 7 day Bahamas cruise on Oasis of the Seas as a graduation present (2 are mine and they asked to bring 3 of their friends). All the girls will be 18.  Just starting to work out the financials to give the parents of the other 3 girls but I don't have current pricing. I realize prices are changing constantly but if people could share what they think the "normal" price is I would appreciate it. I need pricesd for:

 

1. gratuities

2. non-alcoholic drink package that includes specialty coffees and teas

3. Voom (streaming?)

4. admission ticket to the water park at coco cay

5. Any other required costs they may encounter

 

Thank you again for any information you can provide.

I'd suggest using a TA for this as you will have logistics regarding cabin locations and having an adult either in the cabin or nearby (you need to have at least one person, 21 or over, in the cabin or "across the hall", or next door)

 

[Cruise_Couple]

1 minute ago, leaveitallbehind said:

What year are you booking?  If '21, that cruise is not likely to take place as per today's announcement RCCL is not returning to cruising for US based itineraries until May 1, and then only with limited ships and short itineraries.  A 7-day cruise would not be likely until the second half of the year.

 

We are looking at July 2022 so hopefully we will be safe by then! 

[irishgal432]

This is a good list, but keep in mind there are numerous spending opportunities on Oasis class ships.  They have shopping, a candy store, popcorn and cotton candy for sale during movies and shows etc.  They may want to purchase photos as well.  It would be up to the individual parents on how much they will allow for extras while on board.  Also at 18 they are allowed in the casino.

 

Are you the only adult going, if so they only allow age people to book so you would have to have an adjoining room to book your children in.  I would contact a travel agent to make sure everything is done properly.

[Cruise_Couple]

1 minute ago, stevea36 said:

I'd suggest using a TA for this as you will have logistics regarding cabin locations and having an adult either in the cabin or nearby (you need to have at least one person, 21 or over, in the cabin or "across the hall", or next door)

 

We are using a travel agent but I trust the people on this site for the best information! We will be getting 2 adjoining junior suites and listing 1 adult (over 21... wayyyyy over) in each.

[irishgal432]

Just now, Cruise_Couple said:

We are using a travel agent but I trust the people on this site for the best information! We will be getting 2 adjoining junior suites and listing 1 adult (over 21... wayyyyy over) in each.

That works out perfectly.  With that large of a group and the expenditures you are making, you may want to look into getting as A1 or A2 Aquatheater suite.  The First and Second passenger is very high but if you add the other passengers at the 3/4 rate it becomes a little cheaper.

[Cruise_Couple]

1 minute ago, irishgal432 said:

This is a good list, but keep in mind there are numerous spending opportunities on Oasis class ships.  They have shopping, a candy store, popcorn and cotton candy for sale during movies and shows etc.  They may want to purchase photos as well.  It would be up to the individual parents on how much they will allow for extras while on board.  Also at 18 they are allowed in the casino.

 

Are you the only adult going, if so they only allow age people to book so you would have to have an adjoining room to book your children in.  I would contact a travel agent to make sure everything is done properly.

My wife and I will be the 2 adults. We have known the 3 friends since our girls were little and they are like extended family to us.  They know it is not going to be a free-for-all and they know better than to not follow my instructions.

[Cruise_Couple]

2 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

That works out perfectly.  With that large of a group and the expenditures you are making, you may want to look into getting as A1 or A2 Aquatheater suite.  The First and Second passenger is very high but if you add the other passengers at the 3/4 rate it becomes a little cheaper.

I thought about that but I like to sit on my balcony and only hear the ocean. I am concerned about the noise from the rockwall, aquatheater, boardwalk, etc.

[firefly333]

19 minutes ago, Cruise_Couple said:

OMG... I have committed myself to taking 5 teenage girls on a 7 day Bahamas cruise on Oasis of the Seas as a graduation present (2 are mine and they asked to bring 3 of their friends). All the girls will be 18.  Just starting to work out the financials to give the parents of the other 3 girls but I don't have current pricing. I realize prices are changing constantly but if people could share what they think the "normal" price is I would appreciate it. I need pricesd for:

 

1. gratuities

2. non-alcoholic drink package that includes specialty coffees and teas

3. Voom (streaming?)

4. admission ticket to the water park at coco cay

5. Any other required costs they may encounter

 

Thank you again for any information you can provide.

If you are wanting to save a little money, they have soda pkg and vroom for about $18 together. They give you a rcl cup the girls can refill onboard. At that age they wouldnt mind walking to find the self serve machines. Soda pkg a lot cheaper than the beverage package with mocktails and coffees. 

 

I've seen the coco cay $60  and up up up. 

[irishgal432]

1 hour ago, Cruise_Couple said:

I thought about that but I like to sit on my balcony and only hear the ocean. I am concerned about the noise from the rockwall, aquatheater, boardwalk, etc.

We have stayed in those rooms a few times. They have a side balcony that faces the ocean. It is removed from the chaos of the boardwalk. My friend actually napped in that side so it is quiet as long as there are no shows going on. It was actually quieter than my loft on Deck 17 side facing. 

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, Cruise_Couple said:

We are using a travel agent but I trust the people on this site for the best information! We will be getting 2 adjoining junior suites and listing 1 adult (over 21... wayyyyy over) in each.

Your TA will have all of that info as they would get it directly from RCCL and would likely have the latest pricing updates. Your gratuities would be $14.50 per day per person.  As mentioned already, drink packages and Vroom vary and would also be affected by any promotion that is offered at the time.  I don't have the current CocoCay water park pricing but I do know that many of the prices are increasing  - likely as a Covid revenue recovery.  Again, I would check with your TA (unless it is an online only service with no human being to talk to) as they would have the best connection to RCCL for current pricing.  You can also get a lot of this information through the RCCL website.

[notmyrealnameoremail]

For the Water Park on Coco Cay, keep an eyes on the price for a cabana compared to the total of the individual price for people going in to the water park.  When you have the maximum of 6 for the cabana, the cabana which includes entry, sometimes the cabana is cheaper or just a bit more than individual entries.

[leaveitallbehind]

23 minutes ago, notmyrealnameoremail said:

For the Water Park on Coco Cay, keep an eyes on the price for a cabana compared to the total of the individual price for people going in to the water park.  When you have the maximum of 6 for the cabana, the cabana which includes entry, sometimes the cabana is cheaper or just a bit more than individual entries.

Except for the over the water cabana's at the Coco Beach Club which have had their prices raised to $2,000 - just in time for the return to cruising!

[RFerrington]

27 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Except for the over the water cabana's at the Coco Beach Club which have had their prices raised to $2,000 - just in time for the return to cruising!

The OTW cabana for my September Mariner cruise is still at $1199.

[rockmom]

I have a group of 7 going next January (we hope!, we should be on Oasis right now actually).  For the teenagers we did the refreshment package and got it during the black Friday sale for $18 pppd and then they add the 18%.  That's about the best price I've seen all year, on many of the 'sales' it has gone for $20, still not terrible.  That gets them the soda cup, virgin drinks, smoothies, specialty coffees--perfect for teens and even at $20, they'll come out ahead.   I agree that if you can get a good deal on a water park cabana, that isn't a bad plan, gives you a 'home base' to keep all your stuff and comes with 6 wristbands.  You'd need to buy an additional wristband and there's some chatter that they won't allow more than 6 coming into the cabana (there's a different wristband for that).  Not sure if that is one of those 'maybe you can get away with it, maybe you can't', but we had originally booked a waterpark cabana for this week, but for the reschedule we grabbed waterpark passes on Black Friday and got them for an incredible deal of $43.99 per person.  Because there was also a screaming deal on a Chill Island Cabana, we did that too, which allows 8 people, it right on the water, comes with loungers and some floating mats.  For Voom streaming wifi the best deal you'll get is when they have a sale on 4 device and 3 device packages.  That will give you a codes for a total of 7 devices.  Order a 4 device for the one room, a 3 device for the other room, then give out the codes.  That came out to be just under $43 per person for the week.  Since you can't combine Voom with the refreshment package for some reason, this is the best bang for the buck.  And actually is cheaper for Voom this way even if you could combine with the beverage.  Hope this helps.  

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

The OTW cabana for my September Mariner cruise is still at $1199.

That would be very good pricing comparatively and I'm guessing you got that a while back?  I checked a few weeks ago (and confirmed through RCI) that the price for new bookings - we were looking at Thanksgiving - is now $2,000.  I was quite surprised as the last pricing I was familiar with was the $1,199 range you indicate.

[RFerrington]

6 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

That would be very good pricing comparatively and I'm guessing you got that a while back?  I checked a few weeks ago (and confirmed through RCI) that the price for new bookings - we were looking at Thanksgiving - is now $2,000.  I was quite surprised as the last pricing I was familiar with was the $1,199 range you indicate.

I did purchase it a few weeks ago but the price is still the same.  It has not gone up (or down, for that matter) for many weeks.  I think the pricing on the OTW cabanas has more to do with the size (and number) of ships at Coco Cay on that particular day than anything else.  Mariner is very small in occupancy compared to one of the O class ships.  The more people vying for the cabanas, the higher the prices are likely to be.  I suspect that if and when more of the cabanas start to get rented, that will cause the price to go up as well (supply/demand).

 

The cheapest I have seen the OTW cabanas was $1099 and that was a while back on one of my Oasis sailings (there goes my hypothesis about the size of the ship being the biggest price driver !!) but it was in January - yikes.  I knew that there was no way I was going to sit out over the water - much less get IN the water - in January so I cancelled that one.  I figured for $100 more I would try September.  It will likely still be warm enough in Sept. to try the OTW cabana.