Royal 35% Internet Discount Pre-Cruise - Really???

[IsanTom]

I've been getting My Royal Emails with a 35% Internet Discount for Pre-Cruise Purchase.  For our next TA 15 days on Brilliance of the Seas. The cost is $239.85

for Voom Surf on device, but NO 35% Discount.. I don't see any advantage of buying this package pre-cruise because we get two days free with our Diamond Benefits

and no discount for pre-purchase. Maybe they'll offer a discount after we use up our two days free. Can anybody give us some advice?

[rudeney]

The "Cruise Planner" pre-purchase prices always have some sort of bogus sale price.  They can label it as "20% off onboard prices!"  or "35% off onboard prices" or "Buy one get one 50% off" and it's all the same price.  Ignore the hype, look at the bottom line price.  If it makes sense, buy it.  If they do offer a lower price later, just cancel the original purchase and re-buy at the better price.  

[Ashland]

Best pricing is usually black Friday & cyber Monday.

[Kezzie62]

We too get two free days of internet, BUT if you are going to be getting the internet for the duration of the cruise then you are cheaper to buy it before you get onboard as the onboard price is higher and even with the discount of two days free you will pay more..

 

[Wriggler]

5 hours ago, IsanTom said:

I've been getting My Royal Emails with a 35% Internet Discount for Pre-Cruise Purchase.  For our next TA 15 days on Brilliance of the Seas. The cost is $239.85

for Voom Surf on device, but NO 35% Discount.. I don't see any advantage of buying this package pre-cruise because we get two days free with our Diamond Benefits

and no discount for pre-purchase. Maybe they'll offer a discount after we use up our two days free. Can anybody give us some advice?

I can't help with your question but you're on the same sailing as we are.

 

Come and join us on our roll call 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2772876-nov-52022-brilliance-transatlantic-for-15-days-from-civit-to-tampa/

 

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, IsanTom said:

Can anybody give us some advice?

The discount may not be the same for the various packages - so maybe only the 4 device package has the 35% discount - the single device package you are looking at could have a much smaller discount or nothing. You can't use your D discount buying in the planner - that can only be used on board.

Edited June 10, 2022 by Biker19

[dcgrumpy]

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The discount may not be the same for the various packages - so maybe only the 4 device package has the 35% discount - the single device package you are looking at could have a much smaller discount or nothing. You can't use your D discount buying in the planner - that can only be used on board.

 

 

Yes that how it is for my sailing. If I select 1 device it's 20% off, 2 is 35%, 3 is 40%, 4 is 50%. The email I received said "up to 50% off". 

Edited June 10, 2022 by dcgrumpy

[fsufancc]

The pricing is like playing a game of 3 card monty.  Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle - find the queen.  There never seems to be a direct, this is the retail cost, this is the discount %.  If the service is listed for $100 and I am offered a 30% discount. I expect to pay $70.  There is the "online cost", the "on the ship cost", the "multiple discount cost", the "you're left handed cost" (okay maybe that one does not exist) but you get the idea. It's confusing at best and it should not be so.

Edited June 10, 2022 by fsufancc
clarification

[vjmatty]

8 hours ago, IsanTom said:

I've been getting My Royal Emails with a 35% Internet Discount for Pre-Cruise Purchase.  For our next TA 15 days on Brilliance of the Seas. The cost is $239.85

for Voom Surf on device, but NO 35% Discount.. I don't see any advantage of buying this package pre-cruise because we get two days free with our Diamond Benefits

and no discount for pre-purchase. Maybe they'll offer a discount after we use up our two days free. Can anybody give us some advice?

 

Most discounts listed in the cruise planner are smoke and mirrors.  You just have to look at the current cost at any given time on the planner and decide if it is a good price, knowing you can cancel and rebook if the price drops.

 

As for the two-day discount, the only way to know if that is a better deal is to find out the price on board and subtract two days worth. I suppose you can get an idea of what that price might be by looking for a "live from" thread on the same ship when you get closer to the day of your cruise, but even that is not a guarantee, especially with a different itinerary.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by vjmatty

[nelblu]

7 hours ago, IsanTom said:

I've been getting My Royal Emails with a 35% Internet Discount for Pre-Cruise Purchase.  For our next TA 15 days on Brilliance of the Seas. The cost is $239.85

for Voom Surf on device, but NO 35% Discount.. I don't see any advantage of buying this package pre-cruise because we get two days free with our Diamond Benefits

and no discount for pre-purchase. Maybe they'll offer a discount after we use up our two days free. Can anybody give us some advice?

Because it's a 15 day cruise the pre-planner will be cheaper than using your D+ 2 day discount.  On recent Anthem cruise it was $21.99 and $26.99 respectively for surf & surf & stream.

[Biker19]

Just now, nelblu said:

Because it's a 15 day cruise the pre-planner will be cheaper than using your D+ 2 day discount.  On recent Anthem cruise it was $21.99 and $26.99 respectively for surf & surf & stream.

Even on a such along sailing, with current lack/small discounts, it may not be cheaper to buy pre-cruise. One has to do the math. The OP said they were D, not D+. Assuming they skip the first day, buy one day on second day and then buy other 12 days with the second D discount (probably $26 off), the pre cruise planner would have to be discounted at least $2/day for it to make sense.

[Sunshine3601]

Last I heard the onboard price for surf only was around $25.99 and $32.99 for surf and stream.   Less your 2 free days.  The price you are currently offered is $15.99 / day if you buy one device.   Definitely cheaper to buy on cruise planner.

Last black Friday surf was selling for $9.99 or surf and stream was $15.99 for one device pkg.    Who knows if we will ever see those prices again.  

 

 

 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Last I heard the onboard price for surf only was around $25.99 and $32.99 for surf and stream. 

Those are likely the 24 hour pass prices - the package price is likely closer to $20 and $25.

[lovesthebeach2]

5 hours ago, Ashland said:

Best pricing is usually black Friday & cyber Monday.

 

That’s always been true for us in the past.

 

5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Those are likely the 24 hour pass prices - the package price is likely closer to $20 and $25.

on the Odyssey TA it was much more to buy on the ship than what we paid in the cruise planner.  It was at least 25. I remember walking past the kiosk and saying wow at the price.

[Jimbo]

Is this a good price?

 VOOM Surf and Stream Voyage Package - 1    $22.49 per day

 

The Key is $23.99

 

Ship: Radiance of the Seas 16 nights.

Edited June 10, 2022 by Jimbo

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Is this a good price?

 VOOM Surf and Stream Voyage Package - 1    $22.49 per day

No.

[fsufancc]

5 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Is this a good price?

 VOOM Surf and Stream Voyage Package - 1    $22.49 per day

 

The Key is $23.99

 

Ship: Radiance of the Seas 16 nights.

Those numbers seem really steep since the nights of the cruise is 16.  We are going on a 7 day to Canada and NE and Voom Surf+Stream was at $19.99.  The Key was at $25.99/pp/day and that included 1 device Voom Surf+Stream.  You would think that the longer the cruise, the lower the price points would be - something in the $12 to $15 a day range for the V S+S for a cruise longer than 14 days.  

[jagsfan]

7 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Is this a good price?

 VOOM Surf and Stream Voyage Package - 1    $22.49 per day

 

The Key is $23.99

 

Ship: Radiance of the Seas 16 nights.

The Key includes Voom, so I’d consider that when deciding. 

[fsufancc]

16 hours ago, jagsfan said:

The Key includes Voom, so I’d consider that when deciding. 

I'm new to RCL cruising and to me The Key is a strange beast.  I just bought it for a 7 night trip because it reached a price point where I felt the few added perks along with the V S+S were worth it (after a big price drop). For me, I cancelled the V S+S and then grabbed The Key. 

[nelblu]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:18 AM, Biker19 said:

Even on a such along sailing, with current lack/small discounts, it may not be cheaper to buy pre-cruise. One has to do the math. The OP said they were D, not D+. Assuming they skip the first day, buy one day on second day and then buy other 12 days with the second D discount (probably $26 off), the pre cruise planner would have to be discounted at least $2/day for it to make sense.

We are not sure what the OP selection was or the listed on-board pricing.  If surf only, and I use the most recent Anthem on-board pricing of $21.99 it would come out to $263.88 ($21.99 x 12) and if S&S it would be $323.88 ($26.99 x 12) versus what the OP has indicated.

 

Ps.  The 12 days is arrived as 1 day of not internet and 2 free days for the 2 Ds internet coupons.

[topnole]

20 hours ago, fsufancc said:

Those numbers seem really steep since the nights of the cruise is 16.  We are going on a 7 day to Canada and NE and Voom Surf+Stream was at $19.99.  The Key was at $25.99/pp/day and that included 1 device Voom Surf+Stream.  You would think that the longer the cruise, the lower the price points would be - something in the $12 to $15 a day range for the V S+S for a cruise longer than 14 days.  

Why would length of cruise matter? This isn’t like a drink package where people can’t drink as much per day for two weeks straight.   If anything, the longer the cruise, the more people will need internet versus on shorter cruises where some may be able to disconnect entirely.  

[dunedinmaiden]

You definitely have to do the math.  My husband and I are Diamond Plus, and I subtract two days from the going internet rate (we both get basic internet for the duration of the cruise) to determine the per person price.  The cruise planner rate at 35% off (one person, two devices) was actually cheaper than using our free days once on board.

[IsanTom]

On 6/9/2022 at 11:59 PM, rudeney said:

The "Cruise Planner" pre-purchase prices always have some sort of bogus sale price.  They can label it as "20% off onboard prices!"  or "35% off onboard prices" or "Buy one get one 50% off" and it's all the same price.  Ignore the hype, look at the bottom line price.  If it makes sense, buy it.  If they do offer a lower price later, just cancel the original purchase and re-buy at the better price.  

I just got the Labor Day Sale. Before Labor Day Sale the price of the Internet Package was $15.99 today it's $19.99, so they marked it up 15% and now have given us a 15% discount back to YES $15.99. Incredible. I think Biden should use this tactic!

[3yorkies]

I use my free days first, then I use the Verizon travel pass on land especially Mexico where only $5 a day, then if I want after that I pay onboard and go to the casino and get my 30% refund through them for being Prime.   It doesn't make sense to buy for the entire cruise

[renza]

I purchased 4 internet packages for 2 of my cruises this year. I only need it for 1 device but I sell the other 3 to people on my FB sailing. I got 4 devices under 1 person for $328 for surf and stream. So only $82 each device. This was on Allure and Harmony. You can share and always find people to buy at that price.