wallyboag

2 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Regarding the section I bolded, yes, that's what they (RCI) WANTS you to do.  They want you to ASSUME you're getting a "deal".  However, you know what happens when you assume anything right?  

 

Your mistake was cancelling your $64 package before going through all the steps for the BOGO50%O deal.  Then you would have realized their "sale" really isn't one.  

 

Here's a life lesson for you... EVERY company is in business to make money.  If they can do so by having customers make false assumptions (it's not "bait and switch", that's illegal), that's what they'll do. 

 

Ever seen a television ad for a car?  You see all of that "fine print" that gives the details about the car they're showing you versus what the price they show you covers?  Same thing. 

1. There is no way to "go through all the steps" without cancelling the original purchase. When I clicked on the package detail, it did not give me any pricing. It just said "You have already purchased this package." Shady!

2. Thanks for the "life lesson" but I already know how business works. Yes, every business is there to make money, however most businesses do it ethically and fairly to both them and their customers. In fact, Royal Caribbean is the only cruise company I know of that uses these disingenuous dynamic pricing tactics. This is not every company. This is just Royal.

3. I am so happy that you think preparing for a cruise with Royal is tatamount to buying a new car. Just the fun type of experience I want when planning a vacation!

Why is it so hard for people to admit that this practice is shady and not customer friendly?

Listen, you all are going to say I am complaining for nothing, but I still think that their pricing of beverage packages is completely stupid and aggravating and not customer friendly.

I booked my beverage package during a sale a couple of months ago not long after booking the cruise. The prices was $64 a night at the time. I have logged in a few times to look at shore excursions etc when a "sale" email comes through, and the price ALWAYS was listed as $69. Hmmm. I guess I got an "OK" deal when it was on sale for $64, eh? Still more expensive than other cruise lines, but it is what it is.

Just last week I saw one that said "Buy one get one 50% off!" that sounded like a good deal to me! The price listed was $69, so I assumed it was buy one at $69 a night, get one at $34.50. Wouldn't anyone make that assumption? So I canceled my package at $64 a night and went to re-book. Once I added the package to my cart, the next screen said "This ($69) price already reflects your 25% discount per person." So wait a second... The raised the price to $92 so that they could then discount it back to the price that it was already on sale for? That is absolutely ridiculous.

At this point I am done with this. I left my package "cancelled." I will drink less on the cruise than I would with the package. I'm sure RCI won't cry about the lost revenue from me, but that is fine. I wanted to give them a shot, but I haven't even set foot on the ship and I already have my doubts because of this bait and switch pricing.

I am on the Radiance right now and Sip and Cover is very much being enforced at all entertainment venues. Compliance is near 100%. 

Don't be a jerk. If someone does their job and asks you to sip and cover, do it.

Does anyone know how much of a tip the bartender/server gets on a cheers package drink?

For instance, a $12 drink paid with cash would have an auto-gratuity if $2.16 added.

If I got the same drink with cheers and did not add an extra tip, how much would the server get? The same $2.16?

On 12/27/2021 at 9:57 PM, wallyboag said:

How does this happen then?

 

After I purchased my cruise I looked at the drink package and it was listed at $64 per night.

 

Around black Friday I got an email saying "Limited time! Extra Savings! Ends Sunday!" and the price of the beverage package was... $64 a night.

 

That Monday I looked again, no sale banner, and the drink package was... $64 a night.

 

Last week I got another email advertising their Christmas sale. Again the banner said there was a discount on the beverage package and when I looked... $64 a night.

 

Today that sale banner is gone, and guess what, the beverage package is still $64 a night.

 

So at what time was the beverage package on sale?

I got another email today saying I could get "Up to 35% off beverage packages!"

Anyone want to guess how much the beverage package was when I followed the link?

Does "Three days before travel" mean three days before boarding the ship? If so everyone is already covered.

6 hours ago, dswallow said:

Royal Caribbean is NOT raising prices before a sale. The prices they advertise in dollar amounts are the net price after the sale terms are applied. In the old-style cruise planner format, a sale would also begin with prices being adjusted beginning the evening prior to the advertised start date, but the percent-off banners overlaid on the images weren't immediately updated so you might get the impression of prices being manipulated; they're not. The percent-off banner will get corrected sometime on the day the sale begins. But there is almost always a time the percent-off banner doesn't match up with the price shown; the price shown however is correct.

This process is getting fixed in the "My Royal Shop" being rolled out. Unfortunately, too, it appears they're now not calculating the "Buy 1 get 50% off the second" terms in the same way; in the old cruise planner, that would simply become 25% off each package. In the new scheme, that seems to mean truly buy one at full price, get the second one at 50% off; if you only need to buy one, you won't get 25% off it, you'll get whatever the pre-sale discount was, which is usually 20% off. Either that is a new mistake, or is intentional. Onboard it is almost always treated as buy one at full price, get the second at 50% off, and if you only need to buy one, you're paying full price.

But they're not committing the fraud some people claim of raising prices prior to a sale so the resulting sale price is essentially the same as it was before. That actually would be fraud and illegal in most US jurisdictions.

 

How does this happen then?

After I purchased my cruise I looked at the drink package and it was listed at $64 per night.

Around black Friday I got an email saying "Limited time! Extra Savings! Ends Sunday!" and the price of the beverage package was... $64 a night.

That Monday I looked again, no sale banner, and the drink package was... $64 a night.

Last week I got another email advertising their Christmas sale. Again the banner said there was a discount on the beverage package and when I looked... $64 a night.

Today that sale banner is gone, and guess what, the beverage package is still $64 a night.

So at what time was the beverage package on sale?

Not gonna lie - 

I am going on my first RCI cruise in February and these pricing games on their drink and internet packages have left a real bad taste in my mouth and are not a good impression. I keep getting emails that they are "on sale" but the price is the same as they were before the sale.

When a cruise line starts out their relationship with you by lying before you even get on the ship....

Thanks everyone!

Hello-

I am sailing on the Navigator 3 days out of Los Angeles and bought the drink package, in part because I love Tiki Bars and the menu of the Bamboo room appealed to me. I could see myself have a drink or two or five there each day.

Today I watched a vlog and they were in the Bamboo room and said that drinks were $14 in there, which is a dollar more than the $13 drink limit on the beverage package. Is this the case? Are beverages at the bamboo room not included in the package? Or is the $13 price out of date and has been moved up to $14? I might be canceling my drink package and go ala carte instead of so.

29 minutes ago, Clarasgrandma said:

You could always book direct with Carnival and then do a “lowest price guarantee” match within the first 48 hours of booking, in the future. Then you are dealing directly with Carnival.

 

 

Ooooh! That is a good idea. I didn't know it was a thing. I will do that if this ever happens again for sure.

To answer some questions:

Only reason I booked Priceline was because it was the only place that had the fare that low. I tried straight through Carnival and it was more expensive. I usually don't like to book through travel agents. Which leads me to another question... Anyone know why that fare seems to only be available through Priceline and not straight through Carnival? Again, I'd be happy to pay the money straight to Carnival so they didn't have to pay a commission, but I guess they are good with getting $39 for the fare instead of $47.

No, this wasn't a casino offer. It was straight through Priceline, no membership or any other restrictions. Anyone can book it. In fact, if anyone does seems like a really good deal, no?

About fees and reading the fine print and what-not, I wasn't really concerned about anything at the time other than getting that super-low fare for a last minute weekend trip. At that price, I really have nothing to complain about unless the ship sinks or I get sever food poisoning or something.

Regarding a new fare booking, again, I can see how that would make sense if say I paid $200 for the balcony and now it is $100. But it seems strange that they don't want me to spend money to upgrade. I'm not asking for a refund here, just asking to spend a more to get a better cabin.

Finally, I am not offended or upset in any way. I know I got a good deal, and I am happy paying what I paid and getting what I got. I just found it kind of funny that they made it impossible for me to spend more money with them.

I guess I just don't understand why I am offering money to them for a cabin that isn't booked and more than likely won't be booked, but they are saying, "Nah, you can keep it buddy. We're good."

Hello-

I have an interesting situation and I am wondering if this makes sense or if it is a bad travel agent or miscommunication with Carnival or if it is indeed the correct policy.

A week ago I saw a ridiculously low fare for a solo inside cabin on a sailing next week. It was only $43 for the fair plus taxes and fees for the room. I had never seen anything that cheap before so I jumped and grabbed it and I am booked and can't wait to cruise next week.

Today I was browsing around and saw on priceline again the same cruise with a solo balcony cabin for $120. I thought, might as well splurge and pay the extra $77 to enjoy the balcony, so I called the agents number. She put me on hold while she talked to Carnival and said that to upgrade to the balcony it would be $322 on top of what I already paid. I asked about the $120 fare that was currently posted for a balcony, and she put me on hold and went back to Carnival. When she came back she said that the only way to get the $120 fare would be to cancel my current reservation (which would be a $100 cancelation fee) and then book a new reservation for $120.

Is that really the policy? Obviously I am not going to cancel my existing reservation and pay double the fare to get an upgrade, so I am keeping my inside cabin.

Why wouldn't they want the extra $77 from me?

The virus has to enter the body and the most common way is from touching your face, rubbing your eyes, scratching your nose etc. You could touch every contaminated elevator button or handrail and never get Noro UNLESS the virus had a way into your body. Keeping your hands away from your face is the best way to prevent noro.

That is simply not true. According to the CDC page on Norovirus (http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/transmission.html) you contract Norovirus by:

"

• eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with norovirus,
  
• touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus then putting your fingers in your mouth, or
  
• having contact with someone who is infected with norovirus (for example, caring for or sharing food or eating utensils with someone with norovirus illness).
  

"

It says nothing in there about touching your face. You have to ingest and swallow the virus, thus you need to touch something and put your fingers in your mouth, or you need to eat food that is contaminated with the virus.

Maybe fingernail biters catch the virus from elevator buttons, but the majority of cruise ship passengers are getting it from eating contaminated food.

All it takes is one crew member preparing 400 dinners. One bar back dumping a bucket of ice into an ice well that is then used to prepare a 50 drinks.

I don't blame the crew members. Being sick means missing tips which means missing money, and they aren't paid enough as it is.

Bottom line is all the elevator button and hand rail cleaning in the world isn't going to stop the virus from spreading if the crew members are not properly quarantined.

Let's call a spade a spade here.

The most likely way someone will get Norovirus is by ingesting food prepared by someone who is contagious. You have to swallow the virus for it to infect you. Touching it doesn't give it to you unless you then put your hands in your mouth, and most people don't put their hands in their mouth. You don't catch Norovirus because other passengers are not sanitary. You catch it because the crew members that prepare your food are sick.

Do cruise lines keep enough staff on their ships so that when an outbreak happens sick crew members can stay quarantined without contact with any other crew for 6 days after being infected?

Judging by how the Crown has been infected twice in a row, my guess is the answer to that question is "No."

I'm sailing on the crown in 3 weeks. I hope the outbreak is over by then, but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for the responses everybody.

We are also on the 2/9 sailing. I guess I will ask in the MDR and see what happens, but not hold my breath.

Does anyone know if the Chef's Table is being offered on the 4 day Crown Princess voyages out of Los Angeles?

Thanks in advance!

As an update to this thread, yesterday the Vista Suites went down $250 pp to $799. All other suites stayed the same price.

As of this morning no additional suites have been sold including the discounted vistas.

It's still a $500 per person jump from Mini Suite to Vista Suite, and I still don't think it's worth that much for a three day cruise.

We have never seen our rarely-booked suites go down in price, other than that $1 price reduction that another poster talked about. We received an offer for an upsell that we took for a 4-nighter on Sapphire earlier this year. The additional $398 (total) was worth it to us, but it may not be worth it to everybody.

Precisely! I would jump at a $400 upsell. But $1400 more for the ameneties does not make financial sense to me (or anyone else seeing how the suites are all unsold).

Thank you for the responses everyone.

It sounds like upgrade offers do happen from time to time but are not consistent. I'm guessing if the suites stay unbooked then there is a chance of an upgrade a few weeks before sailing.

We shall see! Won't be terribly disappointed without the upgrade. At the current prices it'd be about $700 more per person for the Suite over the balcony we booked. For a 3 day cruise, it's just not worth $1400 for the perks offered over three days.

Over a month away and there are only 2 suites left? They will be sold out soon, as will the entire ship as they tend to be on these short cruises.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. What I meant was only 2 suites have sold. I've clicked around the different decks forward, mid, and aft except for two window suites which are marked as "Sold"

Hi all, I have a strange pricing question.

We are booked on a 3 day cruise out of LA on the Golden Princess on Nov. 30. We are currently booked in a balcony cabin and have been eyeing the prices of the suites, considering an upgrade.

In recent weeks the prices of all cabin categories have plummeted, including the cost of our balcony going below what we actually paid for it (final payment is gone, oh well on that one).

However, the prices for suites have stayed the same from the time we booked until now, and have not dropped a dollar in any category. In my opinion, it's not worth the price that they are charging for a suite for such a short cruise.

Looking at the booking engine, I think everyone else shares my opinion because I can only find two suites that are not available, and they are both window suites.

My question is, will the suite prices ever be discounted, or will Princess hold them where they are, preferring to send them empty rather than fill them (the cruise itself is rather empty and I doubt it will be full come sailing date).

If they do not drop the prices, is it possible to negotiate a deal at the pier to upgrade to a vacant suite?

If you are in port on a weekend, then yes! Just outside of the port there is a fountain that does musical shows every half hour on the hour on weekends. It's really fun to watch, like a miniature version of the Belagio Fountains.

There is also a boardwalk opposite the cruise berth that offers a good view of the ships in port, the bridge, and any animals that might wander into the port. Lots of historical signs to read along this walk too.

There is a replica of the famous Los Angeles Red Car street car that runs from the cruise terminal down to the "Ports O' Call" fish markets. Down by the fish markets there is a small maritime museum with some interesting displays.

Back along the port there is a fire boat station with windows so the kids can look in and see the fire boat.

If you have more time and it is on a weekend, there is a large battleship that offers walking tours.

Lots to do in the area. I often bring my 5 year old daughter down on weekends when there is a ship in port to go exploring and watch the sailaway.