Latest rule on price reductions

[britty1]

I stated my opinion on another thread, but IMHO RCL is making changes based on marketing folks back in corporate that have no clue what is actually going on out in the "real world". We had a high level marketing rep give a presentation on the Legend Panama Canal cruise (which was a disaster) and when she opened herself up to questions(big mistake) it was obvious she thought all of the slick new WOW ads would bring in so much business they would be filling every ship. She did not know about the recent changes to pricing for solos, and now this issue of reducing a balcony discount if the reservation is changed, even for an increase. RCL also does not seem to be reading or responding to comment cards anymore. You used to get a call from RCL if you had negative comments for further info. Even comments from high tier C&A are not being acknowledged.

 

Has any one else noticed the increase in negative member reviews on cruise critic?? The common thread seems to be drop in service and worse food. Seems as if RCL has made cuts in personnel and substituted lower quality food. I guess they think building new ships is more important.

 

I wonder how long it will take them to realize their WOW ads are not offsetting the numbers of former 'Loyal to Royal" cruisers who are no longer booking with RCL, or any cruise line. I can now get much better value on land tours and even European river cruises.

 

RCL really needs to listen to their customers (loyal royals). You are right I am reading more negative comments regarding the basics of cruising, service and food. I think they have cut back just a bit too much in order to gain profits and they are going to loose their loyal royals. We have not cruised in a year but we do go again next month so we will see if things have changed. They have also lost a lot of ground in the CC "best service" "best ships" categories. Loosing ground is not the way to go, they need to bring their service and food back up to par because their prices have not changed.

[polygamoose]

I don't see what the fuss is about.

 

If you lose your $25 early booking credit its because of one of 3 things.

 

1) A drop in price saving you even more money and you get to stay in same cabin

2) A drop in price on a higher category cabin allowing you to make an upgrade you wouldn't of made at the time of booking.

3) You decided within 6 months you were willing to pay for a nicer cabin without a price drop.

 

In instances 1 and 2 you are saving more money that you would have when you originally booked your cabin. I think it is totally fair to give up $25 to save hundreds.

 

In instance 3 it isn't much difference than someone who hasn't decided to book a cabin 6 months out.

 

Ultimately no one is forcing you to upgrade. If you don't want to give up the extra $25 to get a great deal then don't.

 

It seems like this board is full of people willing to complain about almost anything.

 

Imagine what would happen if RCI did what most major industries would do and offer the savings only as OBC or force you to rebook a different cabin to get the price reduction.

 

I think many of you are spoiled because RCI has one of the best loyalty programs around. Perhaps they should just do away with the early booking bonus credit so people won't get up in arms when they want to take advantage of price reductions.

[iuki]

In the last 6mo or so, Royal seems to be concentrating on making changes that are high on the annoyance scale.

 

And too comfortable with their place in the cruiseline industry..and forgetting how they got there :rolleyes:

 

Trust me when I say that I don't enjoy paying higher prices, but when I consider how much the cost of coffee, milk, meat, gasoline, and everything else, I am not surprised that the cruise line industry is making changes and cutbacks to offset these increases. :(

[cruisenfever]

I don't see what the fuss is about.

 

If you lose your $25 early booking credit its because of one of 3 things.

 

1) A drop in price saving you even more money and you get to stay in same cabin

2) A drop in price on a higher category cabin allowing you to make an upgrade you wouldn't of made at the time of booking.

3) You decided within 6 months you were willing to pay for a nicer cabin without a price drop.

 

In instances 1 and 2 you are saving more money that you would have when you originally booked your cabin. I think it is totally fair to give up $25 to save hundreds.

 

In instance 3 it isn't much difference than someone who hasn't decided to book a cabin 6 months out.

 

Ultimately no one is forcing you to upgrade. If you don't want to give up the extra $25 to get a great deal then don't.

 

It seems like this board is full of people willing to complain about almost anything.

 

Imagine what would happen if RCI did what most major industries would do and offer the savings only as OBC or force you to rebook a different cabin to get the price reduction.

 

I think many of you are spoiled because RCI has one of the best loyalty programs around. Perhaps they should just do away with the early booking bonus credit so people won't get up in arms when they want to take advantage of price reductions.

Like

[nhraformula00]

I noticed a price drop for our 5/10/14 Oasis cruise that we had paid in full as of 3 weeks ago. Had my wife call to see what could be done, or not done: confused: We have been on 10 Carnival, and only 1 Royal cruise before. so I was not sure if they would do anything for us. We were booked in a Central park balcony on 9, and they moved us to a Ocean balcony on 11, and gave us onboard credit of $ 75. :D not bad IMOP.

[Clarea]

I noticed a price drop for our 5/10/14 Oasis cruise that we had paid in full as of 3 weeks ago. Had my wife call to see what could be done, or not done: confused: We have been on 10 Carnival, and only 1 Royal cruise before. so I was not sure if they would do anything for us. We were booked in a Central park balcony on 9, and they moved us to a Ocean balcony on 11, and gave us onboard credit of $ 75. :D not bad IMOP.

Not bad. The OBC surprises me, but good for you!:)

[mollyeilis]

Unfortunately, this is not true. I have gotten credits back from both Airtran and Southwest. (I realize these 2 have supposedly merged but at our airport, they are still 2 different airlines, weird.) As a matter of fact, I reused my Airtran credit for our luggage on that last one. Southwest put the credit back to my card.

 

I agree though, I would not bicker over $25.00. RC isn't required to give us anything as frequent cruisers. I'm just happy and feel blessed that we can cruise at all.

 

Jet Blue and Alaska, too.