Sigyn

$88.99. But they're refunding the original payment, too. It still shows up as reserved. If they don't cancel and refund it, I can just click on "cancel" up to 48 hours pre-cruise and cancel it myself. I already spent the OBC. 🙂

I only bought one package, but they gave me $100 of onboard credit. Just checked.

I received my stateroom assignment for my GTY balcony on March 6 and we sail on April 1.

The $50 OBC is a nice apology from Royal Caribbean.

Love following along here! Why would they be in such a big line for the port and shopping desk? (I'm asking because I'm new to RCCL and embarking on my first cruise in 19 days.) Also, the line for the Flowrider signups - how does that work and when do people start lining up to sign up for it? My son is going to want to do the Flowrider. Thanks!

I was able to score a pass to the waterpark for my son, so that's well worth it. Beach club, not so much.

It only appeared 21 days before our cruise.

I saw evidence of surge pricing just two days ago on Friday when, for my cruise on April 1 on Harmony of the Seas, RCCL opened up half-day options for the water park at CocoCay. When it first opened up, the tickets were about $77 each. Then they went up to $80-something. Then they were in the $90-range. Finally, as they got closer to selling out, they were full price at $104. All within a few hours. As demand increased, the price went up.

oh yeah....I've talked about this before. I forgot. Sheesh. I'm just utterly at a loss.

You can click on Packages and get to the initial page on my April 1 Harmony cruise, but then when you click on the actual thumbnail to get to the page to buy it, you get a 404 error page:

Interesting article in The Wall Street Journal this morning: https://www.wsj.com/articles/surge-pricing-creeps-into-restaurants-movies-gym-class-bowling-e9c4a395?mod=hp_featst_pos5 It references several companies that use surge, or dynamic, pricing, which means raising prices up and down as demand increases even hour by hour. All sorts of businesses are getting in on this trend, from bowling alleys to movie theaters, gyms and yes, even cruise lines. Here's the excerpt on Royal Caribbean: Cruise fan Patrick Jandorf, a software consultant in Orange County, Calif., has taken five in the past year or so. But even he was thrown when he went to book excursions for his family’s recent seven-day cruise to the Bahamas with the Royal Caribbean Group. He was eyeing an offered outing to a water park on the cruise company’s private island. But instead of the $62 to $70 per entrance ticket he was expecting from researching online reviews and message boards, “when you go to book they raise the price to $120.” He said the message boards explained it depends on the cruise, and that different boats at different times charged different amounts. “It’s all a mystery, it’s not clear at all to the consumer what causes the price to go up or down,” he said. He and his family didn’t go to the water park when the ship docked for the day, they just wandered around the island and then went back to the ship. His verdict? “It turned me off.” Royal Caribbean didn’t respond to a request for comment.

hahaha! or riding in the life boats instead of the ship! The only actual cost for them is the champagne, which I'm sure they buy a lot cheaper than the $65 I paid at retail, and the wine at the lunch or whatever it is. The food they'd give you in one form or another for a meal. And then there's the labor for the tour and laundry, which they're already paying people for their time on board, so that's already covered.

It'll be interesting to see. No biggie if it is. We'll just have what we started with, but we had a weekend of excitement! I do love Vueve Cliquot. I have a bottle of it in my wine rack, waiting for a reason to chill it. I paid $65 at our local wine store. On our recent NCL cruise, it was $30 a glass. We had the premium drink package, tho, so it was included. We had a free bottle with dinner every night.

Very true!!! Or on a cruise. With bad Wi-Fi.

I have always been in the habit of delaying payment on things that mean giving my money in advance when I don't have to. To the IRS, to cruise companies, to whomever it is. There's no reason in giving away $2.25 if I don't have to. It's a paltry sum, but if they're getting that from everyone, it adds up for them. I try to not add to their coffers any more than I have to, and keep it in mine as long as I can. Perhaps that's why my husband and I will be retiring young(ish).

When is the road supposed to fully reopen? In summer 2024? Or are they unsure?

We'll be in Ketchikan in July and I'm thinking I won't book an excursion. Nothing really appeals. What would be a bit of low-key fun to do without one? Bar hopping? Shopping in town? Having lunch? We're on the Celebrity Millennium and docked from 7 am - 3 pm. Thanks!

This has made my weekend more exciting, at the very least!

A very popular blog for RCCL has already written about it and that's searchable on Google News. It's not just here. It's so easy for an IT department to pull down a page. Once they have the proper approvals, that is.

I don't believe Celebrity offers it any longer. I'm on an upcoming Celebrity cruise and it's not an option.

Royal Caribbean has had plenty of time to see the package and price that's advertised online and pull down the page if they didn't intend to offer it.

SOLD! On the UDP. That's where I'm putting my extra money. Thanks for the help in making a decision.

No, that would bring bad press. That wouldn't benefit them, or their stock prices.

I thought the same thing!!!!!