New pricing transparency policy...

[smokeybandit]

21 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

However the gratuities are MUCH easier to add on top of the advertised cruise price.  You know ahead of time exactly what they will be for the number of guests, nights you are looking at, and the type of cabin you are looking for.

 

I'm guessing the majority of cruisers have no idea what the daily gratuities are.

[time4u2go]

24 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

You know ahead of time exactly what they will be for the number of guests

How is this (daily gratuity) known ahead of time?  I just started a mock booking, and I got as far as entering the guests' information, and it's not shown.

[Scottdalfonso]

3 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

How is this (daily gratuity) known ahead of time?  I just started a mock booking, and I got as far as entering the guests' information, and it's not shown.

It will ask you at the VERY end if you want to add them ahead of time. So you won't even see that until you are in the payment phase of the booking. IF you don't select to pay them ahead of time when booking, you can no longer do it online and have to call RC or do it on board at the end of the cruise

[The Fun Researcher]

15 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

How is this (daily gratuity) known ahead of time?  I just started a mock booking, and I got as far as entering the guests' information, and it's not shown.

 

With how much you sail and post here, not sure if this is a serious question or not.  Pretty simple to go to Royal Caribbean's website and type "gratuities" into the search bar and it takes you here:

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense

 

Pretty much grade school math after that, and it doesn't change.  It's determined just like I said above, Number of passengers, night sailing, and what the cabin category is.

 

Gratuities are optional, unlike taxes and port fees.  They can't roll that into the displayed price, since you can opt out.  I too hope that Royal would do away with daily gratuities and would roll them into the cruise fare.

 

To be more transparent, I would suggest with the new pricing strategy that they state the pricing something like "$799 plus gratuities"... but I doubt that will happen.

Edited May 14 by The Fun Researcher

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

It should be rolled into the fare, and called a service fee or hotel fee like some other do. Then it WOULD be mandatory as it would just be part of the price. Then people wouldn't feel like they were being forced to pay the gratuity and many would be more likely to tip cash on the ship. 

First you said it was mandatory then you said it would be mandatory if...

 

Seems like you contradicted yourself. I guess that is your way of not having to admit that you were wrong?

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Works ok with the majorty of the rest of the world. Even the Royal UK website has to display the total costs ( not including Graturites) not just the cruise fare. I dont see what the issue is tbh. 

 

Makes it easier to understand surely. 🤷

[time4u2go]

38 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

With how much you sail and post here, not sure if this is a serious question or not.  Pretty simple to go to Royal Caribbean's website and type "gratuities" into the search bar and it takes you here:

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense

 

Pretty much grade school math after that, and it doesn't change.  It's determined just like I said above, Number of passengers, night sailing, and what the cabin category is.

 

Gratuities are optional, unlike taxes and port fees.  They can't roll that into the displayed price, since you can opt out.  I too hope that Royal would do away with daily gratuities and would roll them into the cruise fare.

 

To be more transparent, I would suggest with the new pricing strategy that they state the pricing something like "$799 plus gratuities"... but I doubt that will happen.

It is a serious question.  I was thinking about new cruisers, and those that haven't cruised in a long time.  I would bet some don't even realize there's an automatic gratuity option. 

 

I do like your idea of adding "plus gratuities".  At least it would warn new cruisers that they aren't necessarily looking at the total cost.

[Tree_skier]

My default assumption is any idea or law coming out of Sacramento is at best a waste of time and at worst going to cost me a ton of money or hurt me in some other way.  We'll see how this unfolds.  

Edited May 14 by Tree_skier

[PhillyFan33579]

8 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

Yes, which is what most places do- they'll show you the sale price, but you still owe the sales tax, etc... I guess people in CA don't like seeing 1700.00 as the price, then when they get to the end its 2200.00 after fees and taxes.  It's a given that you are going to be paying some kind of tax and fee with just about anything, especially resorts, hotels, etc... but now I guess you don't have to click through the whole process to SEE those fees at the end. 

My take on the law is California residents apparently aren’t the brightest group. 🙂

[The Fun Researcher]

20 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

It is a serious question.  I was thinking about new cruisers, and those that haven't cruised in a long time.  I would bet some don't even realize there's an automatic gratuity option. 

 

I do like your idea of adding "plus gratuities".  At least it would warn new cruisers that they aren't necessarily looking at the total cost.

 

Agreed.  👍  The more transparency the better, especially like you say for first time cruisers.  

 

I do love the change as it at least takes out the question of taxes and port fees, which vary so much sailing to sailing.

 

Happy sailing

[CruisingWalter]

19 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

A new law in California, but Royal is just doing it across the board. this is from an email they sent to travel advisors today explaining it....

 

Yep, Carnival Corporation made the same announcement a few weeks ago. All of their brands will now display the full fare with all port fees and taxes included. It's long overdue. 

[smokeybandit]

7 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

Yep, Carnival Corporation made the same announcement a few weeks ago. All of their brands will now display the full fare with all port fees and taxes included. It's long overdue. 

It's a shame people can't do math on their own. RC has always shown the taxes next to the cruise fare. They just didn't add it up until you picked a cabin.

Edited May 14 by smokeybandit

[Ocean Boy]

12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

It's a shame people can't do math on their own. RC has always shown the taxes next to the cruise fare. They just didn't add it up until you picked a cabin.

And we all know that RCI isn't the best at doing math either so this should be interesting.

[smokeybandit]

43 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

And we all know that RCI isn't the best at doing math either so this should be interesting.

So keep an eye on the current price of any booked/followed cruises on June 30 to see if the price goes up on July 1.

[firefly333]

Imo very few that arent really cruisers realize the price shown is for 1 pax. X 2.

 

It's not priced like a hotel room which is for the actual price of a cabin. Even posters here will state the price for 1 as if everyone is a couple and would have to do the math. I will see some price like 799 and later find out they really mean le person but didnt say that.

 

As a solo I think if you have to assume everyone knows you mean X 2, you bought into the fake pricing for the cabin. That is NOT the price for the cabin, unless you write out pp based on 2 occupying the cabin. Then they argue same as a hotel when no its not. A hotel has the same price for 1 or 2. I dont even care if they add on taxes and fees if they cant figure out and type this is the price they paid for the cabin. If I buy airfare SW gives me the price for flying not half. I think too many have drank the kool aide. Who else advertises the price for half the item?

[Orsino]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

My take on the law is California residents apparently aren’t the brightest group. 🙂

As I understand it, the main target of the law are fees like resort fees which distort the market. Honest hoteliers who don't charge a junk resort fee end up getting hurt by those that do because a hotel that tacks on a resort fee "looks" cheaper at first and draws away business from a hotel that is *actually* cheaper. This also hurts the consumer, so California is stepping in, which I think is the right move and I hope becomes standard in the whole country. I hate resort fees, they are dumb and totally unnecessary except to bamboozle customers.

That RCL is also caught in the net is more of a by-product than the main intent. But knowing the total price earlier in the booking process can't be a bad thing, right?

[Scottdalfonso]

7 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

First you said it was mandatory then you said it would be mandatory if...

 

Seems like you contradicted yourself. I guess that is your way of not having to admit that you were wrong?

 I never said it was mandatory, I said it should just be included in the price of the fare, Basically raise the price by 126 a person and be done with it, it'd be up to you if you want to give tips on board, but otherwise it's already in your cruise fare

[Ocean Boy]

12 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

ABSOLUTELY, as it's pretty much a mandatory charge!

 

32 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

 I never said it was mandatory, I said it should just be included in the price of the fare, Basically raise the price by 126 a person and be done with it, it'd be up to you if you want to give tips on board, but otherwise it's already in your cruise fare

You are right. It wasn't you. But someone did say it.

[CruisingWalter]

20 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It's a shame people can't do math on their own. RC has always shown the taxes next to the cruise fare. They just didn't add it up until you picked a cabin.

 

That has created a ton of confusion for years with guests on many cruise lines. So many TAs have to explain why the price being quoted is 'higher than the one on the cruise line website.'  I also agree with the folks who say the gratuities should be rolled in to the cruise fare. Virgin Voyages and many of the luxury lines do this already, just roll it all into one price so there are no surprises. 

[gatour]

Many times I have a general idea of when, about how much I want to pay, and the itinerary.  But not a very specific date, exact ports.  Since different ports charge different fees the end costs may vary.  Two different ships may sail similar itineraries but not exactly the same,  for example one port out of three may be different.  It makes it easier to compare these two cruises if the total mandatory costs are put upfront instead of only showing after you gone through almost all of the booking process.  This makes it easier in the decision making process.

 

Hotels nowadays, advertise one rate but once you dive into it the resort fees and now parking fees show up later.  Two hotels of similar quality and even next to each other may show different rates, with one being higher but once you dive into each you find the "less" expensive hotel, actually costs more because of a vast difference in the resort fees.  Makes it a pain to compare apples to apples in choosing a particular hotel stay.

 

If something is mandatory, it should show up in the upfront advertised price, so the consumer doesn't have to spend and inordinate amount of time in deciding on which to choose. 

[ONECRUISER]

On 5/14/2024 at 10:03 AM, Ocean Boy said:

And we all know that RCI isn't the best at doing math either so this should be interesting.

Not only math. Last year I received from Royal a FCC in my name for Cruise I didn't take

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Not only math. Last year I received from Royal a FCC in my name for Cruise I didn't take

Wow, yes please!

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Not only math. Last year I received from Royal a FCC in my name for Cruise I didn't take

Very fortunate for you!

[ONECRUISER]

Just so all understand should have stated it, Royal sent me a FCC in my name for a Cruise I was never even Booked on

[Sianli]

On 5/14/2024 at 6:11 AM, Ocean Boy said:

So what happens if you have to cancel after final payment or you are a no show? Do they break out the taxes and fees and refund them?

Yes, taxes and fees are always refunded.