Changing excursion prices

[EllieinNJ]

I'm doing my first RCI cruise in 25 years on Oasis in October.  I had been looking at excursions and finally decided what we wanted to do.  I now see many of them went up in price.  If I  knew this I would have booked earlier.  On NCL and Princess the prices do not change until you get on board. Lesson learned 

[awhfy]

Book it, pay it, if it goes down in price (there’s always sales) then cancel & rebook

[vjmatty]

24 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I'm doing my first RCI cruise in 25 years on Oasis in October.  I had been looking at excursions and finally decided what we wanted to do.  I now see many of them went up in price.  If I  knew this I would have booked earlier.  On NCL and Princess the prices do not change until you get on board. Lesson learned 

I'm on an October Oasis sailing and noticed the same. "Sale" started but prices stayed the same, then sale ended and prices went up. Happened with the internet and drink packages too.

[Iamcruzin]

23 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

I'm on an October Oasis sailing and noticed the same. "Sale" started but prices stayed the same, then sale ended and prices went up. Happened with the internet and drink packages too.

Seems like Royal Caribbean is giving you a sample of the on board entertainment starting with the Illusion Act.

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

I'm doing my first RCI cruise in 25 years on Oasis in October.  I had been looking at excursions and finally decided what we wanted to do.  I now see many of them went up in price.  If I  knew this I would have booked earlier.  On NCL and Princess the prices do not change until you get on board. Lesson learned 

Always book when you see a price that you can afford. Then watch your cruise planner closely for a sale then cancel and rebook (this is the only way to get a price change). RCI prices fluctuate OFTEN . Sorry this has been a surprise to you...Best of luck getting a lower price point.

[lovethesealife]

Tour prices change all the time, mostly going up. I try to book my tours when there is a Cruise Favorites sale (I get email notifications), which is usually a 4 day or more period that happens about every 3 weeks. I book my tours as far in advance as possible, recheck prices if there is a new sale, and cancel/rebook if lower.

[nelblu]

I won't book anything in that planner until I know that things will be to some normalcy, like actually sailing.  It took some 5 months to get the tour refunds for the cancelled Harmony April '20 sail.

[STARFISH*4]

14 hours ago, lovethesealife said:

Tour prices change all the time, mostly going up. I try to book my tours when there is a Cruise Favorites sale (I get email notifications), which is usually a 4 day or more period that happens about every 3 weeks. I book my tours as far in advance as possible, recheck prices if there is a new sale, and cancel/rebook if lower.

How do I get this please?   I’m use to NCL you can book ahead or on the ship and prices don’t change-between the drinks and shore excursions this is a lot of checking

[EllieinNJ]

23 minutes ago, STARFISH*4 said:

How do I get this please?   I’m use to NCL you can book ahead or on the ship and prices don’t change-between the drinks and shore excursions this is a lot of checking

This is exactly what I said about NCL and Princess.  We both have to adjust for RCI 

[Ashland]

5 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

This is exactly what I said about NCL and Princess.  We both have to adjust for RCI 

And taking the time to check and adjust can save you $$$. Nothing wrong with that...Enjoy RCI

[Jenna]

8 hours ago, STARFISH*4 said:

How do I get this please?   I’m use to NCL you can book ahead or on the ship and prices don’t change-between the drinks and shore excursions this is a lot of checking

 Yes I would love to know as well! I am apparently signed up for promotional emails but I never, ever get them

[LilBlackDress]

11 hours ago, Jenna said:

 Yes I would love to know as well! I am apparently signed up for promotional emails but I never, ever get them

Check your spam folder

[birdylady]

Another item to keep in mind.  Righ now it seems there’s going to be some restrictions where you can only do RCI excursions.  While this is in place (who knows for how long), chances are the prices will only go up as availability goes down. So best bet might be book what you’re interested in now.  You can always cancel if things open up.

 

Erika

[kjc852]

This appears to be a clever pricing strategy by Royal that offers an attractive price early on in the booking process to entice passengers to plan and pay for their dining, drinks, wifi, excursions, etc often a year or more in advance.  Thus Royal has the use of your payments 12 months or longer before ever serving a meal, pouring a drink or paying a tour vendor.  Additionally, every time those passengers check out Royal’s latest “sale” in hopes of finding a price reduction, many may be tempted to add an additional item to their cart.  With unlimited dining and the drink package with Voom costing approximately $2k for two people on a 7-night sailing,  that is a nice interest-free loan.  Only wish Royal would invest some of it in improving their IT department!

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, kjc852 said:

This appears to be a clever pricing strategy by Royal that offers an attractive price early on in the booking process to entice passengers to plan and pay for their dining, drinks, wifi, excursions, etc often a year or more in advance.  Thus Royal has the use of your payments 12 months or longer before ever serving a meal, pouring a drink or paying a tour vendor.  Additionally, every time those passengers check out Royal’s latest “sale” in hopes of finding a price reduction, many may be tempted to add an additional item to their cart.  With unlimited dining and the drink package with Voom costing approximately $2k for two people on a 7-night sailing,  that is a nice interest-free loan.  Only wish Royal would invest some of it in improving their IT department!

I take advantage "often" of their attractive early pricing. That certainly doesn't mean I purchase anything else at that time. I wait and watch cruise planner pricing and only purchase when I think it's a good deal and then have no problem cancelling and repurchasing if/when it goes lower. I believe this is the "strategy" most of us use...I'm certainly not enticed to buy something I don't need or want.

[adwo41]

I've 289 days to go before my TA on Anthem in May 2022. I'm happy to make early bookings and reservations, as early as possible in fact. However, no excursions or entertainment are available right now. Drinks and dining packages, sure. But no shore excursions. Too early, I guess. So, when can I expect my cruise planner to come to life?

[lovethesealife]

You should get emails re excursion sales if you sign up for promotional emails on their website. If you signed up and are not getting them send an email to Customer Service about it. They are usually very good about responding.

[Jenna]

On 7/17/2021 at 4:18 AM, LilBlackDress said:

Check your spam folder

Yup. I know. I don't get them.