Price drop before final due date

[ludde]

Hi,

 

The final payment due date of my cruise is on the 27th. I paid it in full already, four days ago.

 

Today, the price of it has dropped by $300. I called my TA to get the reduced price, but he said that price guarantee only offers reduced price within 48 hours of the original booking and that there was nothing they could do about it. The only way would be to cancel and rebook, but that would be a big hassle and we could lose our rooms.

 

Then I chatted with a live agent on RoyalCaribbean.com, and they said no problem, we'll give you the lower price (without having to cancel and rebook). She did not realize it was a TA booking and even lowered the price for me. This erased the TA from the system cancelling its commision.

 

Eventually, this all got sorted out, the TA got the booking back, and I got the lower price.

 

So, how does the booking guarantee really work? Is it really just 48 hours? cause RCL itself don't seem to follow that too strictly.

 

Maybe the 48 hours start counting AFTER the final payment due date?

 

Anyone else has experience with this?

[Clarea]

Hi,

 

The final payment due date of my cruise is on the 27th. I paid it in full already, four days ago.

 

Today, the price of it has dropped by $300. I called my TA to get the reduced price, but he said that price guarantee only offers reduced price within 48 hours of the original booking and that there was nothing they could do about it. The only way would be to cancel and rebook, but that would be a big hassle and we could lose our rooms.

 

Then I chatted with a live agent on RoyalCaribbean.com, and they said no problem, we'll give you the lower price (without having to cancel and rebook). She did not realize it was a TA booking and even lowered the price for me. This erased the TA from the system cancelling its commision.

 

Eventually, this all got sorted out, the TA got the booking back, and I got the lower price.

 

So, how does the booking guarantee really work? Is it really just 48 hours? cause RCL itself don't seem to follow that too strictly.

 

Maybe the 48 hours start counting AFTER the final payment due date?

 

Anyone else has experience with this?

The 48 hours starts on final payment date, or on the date the cruise was booked, if it was booked after final payment date. If you make final payment before final payment date, then you are still entitled to price drops that occur before final payment date.

[39august]

I'd change TA's. Sounds like he was just trying not to lose any of his commission by getting you the lower price that you were entitled to. The 48 hours rule is for those who book on or after final payment date, thus have to pay in full at the time of booking, I believe.

[Cuizer2]

I'd change TA's. Sounds like he was just trying not to lose any of his commission by getting you the lower price that you were entitled to. The 48 hours rule is for those who book on or after final payment date, thus have to pay in full at the time of booking, I believe.

 

Given the information available at this time - I agree.

[chef_christoph]

I'm glad you were able to get the lower price and, honestly, I'm surprised to hear your TA told you that you could only get a price reduction within 48 hours of booking your cruise, especially since you booked this cruise prior to the final payment date. Sounds to me like the TA doesn't understand RCIs policies on price drops or the Best Price Guarantee.

 

The BPG is in effect for the first 48 hours after booking your cruise. Had the price drop occurred within 48 hours of you booking your cruise you would have been eligible under the BPG to receive 110% of the difference between the price you booked at and the new lower price.

 

However, even after the 48 hours has passed, as long as you are before the final payment date you are still eligible for price drops (as long as it isn't for new bookings only) and you can still receive the reduction in price. The difference is that once the 48 hours have passed, you are only eligible to receive the actual price reduction, not the 110% the BPG would have given you.

 

The 48 hour window the BPG gives you is really important if you had booked this cruise after the final payment date. Since RCIs new price drop policy came into effect on April 17, 2010 you can no longer get the OBC for price drops that occur after the final payment date.

 

The exception to this policy is the 48 hour window provided by the BPG.

 

Even if you book after the final payment date, price drops that occur within that 48 hour window are eligible under the BPG (as long as the lower price isn't for new bookings only) and you will receive 110% of the difference in price between what you paid and the new lower price.

 

Once the 48 hour window of opportunity has passed, you are not eligible for OBC for price drops. You can, however, still request an upgrade if a higher cabin category drops in price to one equal to or below what you paid for your cabin and the lower price isn't for new bookings only.

 

So having said all that, your TA was completely wrong in what he told you and I'm glad you called RCI and had it straightened out.

 

Have a great cruise!

[wg6530]

perhaps your travel agent is ill-informed, unethical, or lazy? i would have let Royal keep the reservation.

[richstowe]

Change TAs ! I just took advantage of a great price reduction today with

on line TA (starting with a P), There should never be a problem changing or altering or cancelling

a booking before final payment date.

[Coralc]

OMG! The TA outright lied to you? :D <that was sarcasm> We had that problem, and it was why we quit using TA's. And then we found one that we liked again, but she passed away. We went back to booking directly with the cruise line, and the onboard booking OBC and balcony discount are sufficient.

 

You don't need to worry about the best price guarantee, for the most part it is pretty useless. You should be eligible for most (excluding Tuesday) price drops and possibly upgrades or minor outlay purchases to higher categories.

 

These are available to you before the cruise line required final payment DATE. :) EDIT: Unless you have a deceitful travel agent.

[richstowe]

We went back to booking directly with the cruise line, and the onboard booking OBC and balcony discount are sufficient.

 

You don't need to worry about the best price guarantee, for the most part it is pretty useless. You should be eligible for most (excluding Tuesday) price drops and possibly upgrades or minor outlay purchases to higher categories.

quote]

 

"balcony discount " -What is this?

[Cuizer2]

"balcony discount " -What is this?

 

Past guest on Royal Caribbean get a discount if they book a balcony or higher cabin.

[crookedhalo]

Platinum and above have a discount on balcony or higher category cabins. The amount of the discount is based on the length of the cruise. On the 10 night trip we are scheduled for in December, the platinum discount was $200 per cabin (I think diamond was around $325 per cabin).

 

But don't forget about C&A savings certificates:D There was one on our upcoming trip for $225 per cabin (but darn, it can't be combined with the balcony discount). So in this case I took the certificate discount over the platinum discount.

 

On the next trip, going to explore booking a 2013 Med while onboard and thus be able to take advanatage of the balcony discount, reduced deposit and OBC this route offers:cool: