jmom2004

4 minutes ago, YYCruise said:

The drinks package covers up to $13 but most of the cocktails on anthem are $14, does this mean I will pay $1.18 per $14 cocktail drinks?

I'm not sure, but I have never had extra charges with the DBP.  

20 hours ago, Fouremco said:

It's been quite a number of years since we cruised with RCI, and I don't recall the pricing structure when I previously purchased the DBP. I assume that they take the USD DBP price and convert it to CAD, although perhaps with a slightly better exchange rate than offered by credit card companies. Is this the saving you mention? 

Yes @Fouremco, the exchange rates always get us.  We did our first cruise with RCL and did not purchase the DBP until we ordered our first drink, quickly did the math and ended up purchasing on the ship as it was still a savings - although not as good a savings as purchasing in advance.  Of course, it depends on what you enjoy for beverages, but we do find it a significant savings....and no bill at the end of the cruise is also nice!

Yes @Fouremco, the exchange rates always get us.  We did our first cruise with RCL and did not purchase the DBP until we ordered our first drink, quickly did the math and ended up purchasing on the ship as it was still a savings - although not as good a savings as purchasing in advance.  Of course, it depends on what you enjoy for beverages, but we do find it a significant savings....and no bill at the end of the cruise is also nice!

Being from Canada, the DBP is usually top of our list of pre-purchase items - the shipboard prices are in USD and cruise planner is CAD - so there is a savings for us for sure.  We are not heavy drinkers but don't want to be thinking about prices while we are vacationing.  The price is higher than previous cruises but we're not surprised as prices have gone up for everything.  

On 10/15/2022 at 10:18 AM, Engineroom Snipe said:

I have two future cruises booked and they both show that the deluxe beverage packages are not available. This is not unusual. There are times of change in pricing and computer programming. which leads to options not being available.

 

That said, I have never witnessed any beverage or dining option not being available at the 60 day before cruising window.

 

"Be patient Grasshopper." (a quote from a 1960 TV show that very few will remember 😁)

Thanks for the info - and you're right, I always see it in the couple months before the sail date. I usually see good black Friday sales so I hope it reappears by then. 

2 hours ago, avw3 said:

It is most likely a web site glitch, but if the ship is chartered for a large group, they sometimes won't sell the Deluxe Beverage Package. We were told this by some of the RC bartenders a couple of years ago when the next cruise after our return to port was going to be a heavy-metal rock cruise. The bartenders said that everyone abord that charter cruise is always super nice and very polite and respectful, but they would drink the ship out of alcohol (profits) if they were to offer the DBP. They said that Royal does this for certain "theme" cruises on a regular basis.

 

 

That's interesting...I did not know that! I don't think our cruise is a theme cruise and the DBP was on the site a couple weeks ago so hoping it is a glitch. I just read that RCI has raised their drink prices and are adjusting their package prices so maybe that is the issue. 

2 weeks later and still no deluxe beverage package in our planner for purchase for a cruise in March '23 on Rhapsody - only the soda and other beverage packages available. 

We have a cruise booked for March '23 and have been watching the package pricing; I actually had it in my cart for purchase but needed to connect with my travel partner prior to hitting purchase. The Planner upgraded to the new format and offered only the DB pkg paired with Voom (cart was deleted) - we have the Key so no need for Voom. Now there is no DB package being offered at all and when I called customer service, they noted that the DB pkg is sold out but we could purchase on the ship.  I have never seen the package sell out and at 5 months pre-cruise? My travel partner believes it is more related to a glitch with the upgraded Planner - anyone experienced a sell out before?

thanks, will try that!

Hi - we have a cruise booked and are monitoring the price of the beverage package but just recently, the deluxe beverage package isn't even an option for purchase, only the non-alcoholic packages. Is anyone else having this issue in their cruise planner? Could it be the result of the recent update to planner? Thank you!

That should say 9-12 months pre-sail 🙄

We have cruised on RCL and have pretty much always booked more than a year in advance, and have had cruise planner available more than 365 days out of the sail date - I made purchases at 14 months pre-cruise. Ours, for March 2023, is only showing excursions so far but hopefully we'll see more prices in the next couple months - RCL told us anywhere from 9-12 months post-sail which is contrary to our experience.  We were supposed to cruise on RCL in March 2022 but the they cancelled the itinerary on us unfortunately - it was this particular cruise that we purchased items well in advance of the year - the Key specifically.  Just need to keep checking...and hope items are available when sales are typically occurring! 

4 hours ago, jmom2004 said:

We sail tomorrow and no response for bids made so expecting a rejection email tomorrow.   Oh well, like our cabin so not too disappointed. 

All bids, which were above minimum,  were rejected.  Received emails tonight.  

We sail tomorrow and no response for bids made so expecting a rejection email tomorrow.   Oh well, like our cabin so not too disappointed. 

9 minutes ago, nws2002 said:

I had an issue with no eDocs for a few days, also unable to check in. Then I was finally able to check in and about 4 days later I got the email saying they accepted my bid and then a second email with new cruise docs. I didn't have to check in again, but if I view the SetSail pass it now has suite listed on it.

How far out from the sail date did this happen?

25 minutes ago, M-H-B said:

 

I was wondering this for Australia as well but I just got an email from Royal yesterday saying the Royal UP program is launching here today (Feb 12), so it appears they are rolling it out. I got the email notice as a Crown & Anvhor member - if you aren’t already, worth it to sign up and get notice when it’s starting in the UK?

We get the offers in Canada as well - they are in CAD which is nice.

3 hours ago, FrannyK said:

I sail today!  So only hours notice. 

Thanks and have an awesome trip!

1 hour ago, FrannyK said:

OK we paid $1400 (including taxes/port fees) for two for a balcony guarantee for 5-night Indy cruise.   Got assigned 9242 2 weeks after reserving so no upgrade there.  Since then got two Royal Up email offers.  The second time I offered $300 total ($150 each) for a Junior Suite upgrade.  I JUST received an email tonight saying our offer was not accepted.

When do you sail?  Just wondering how much notice that the offer was not accepted.

27 minutes ago, 3bzmom said:

Several have, including us.

For which sailing? We're 2/24 FOS and no word on success yet and looks like a full ship.  Thanks

53 minutes ago, TanaQ said:

First timer here. Had a GTY  and was offered a Royal up to an unobstructed balcony. I bid 60 PP and got it within a few days. In the grand scheme of pricing, the 120 is worth it to actually be able to see the ocean! (I hope).

Which sailing?

46 minutes ago, GW248 said:

My question also - has anyone that booked through a TA received the offer?

Yes, a few weeks ago on a Feb 24 sailing.  No word on success yet.

On 1/7/2019 at 10:00 AM, BEENSAILING said:

Are staterooms being held for the bid up program? People have reported getting their paid for upgrade even though their cruise was showing sold out in certain category rooms.

Not sure if this is true, but I was told that the bidding for cabins on the cruise lines is related to the desirability of the particular cabin - balcony for example.  Selling upgrades from these cabins results in an inventory of the popular cabins to essentially re-sell.  We were successful with an NCL bid a couple years ago from an balcony to mini-suite even though the inventory on the site showed sold out. We have bid for a few suites on our upcoming RCCL cruise and have fingers crossed for success although no word yet but still 35 days out.   

Thank you CoffeeGoddess for the fantastic review!! We sail away in 39 more days and your review has me looking forward to it even more!!:D

We did get the confirmation showing our cabin number, it wasn't GTY- turns out there was a glitch on the NCL website and our cabin is still ours. All fixed now thanks to TA. :-)

We have had a cabin assigned on the Epic since August. Over the weekend, our cabin number disappeared and changed to a GTY balcony - we sail in less than 2 weeks. Is this common? We used a TA but have yet to hear what is going on - I don't believe we booked a GTY so I'm a bit concerned. Not hearing back from the TA is getting me a bit frustrated...any advice?