Cabin Category changes and Goldstein's Response

[broberts]

So in addition to changing over an entire ship between 8 AM and 1 PM you feel they can also add moving furniture around between cabins too? They have a hard enough time putting the beds together or separating them according to the wishes of the next cabin occupant.:eek:

 

So because shore to ship communications and / or staff are unable to accomplish simple tasks it makes sense to deny some customers their preferred cabins?

 

Have you ever tried to move a sofa bed? :eek: It's not as easy as it sounds especially when you want to move it from one cabin to another. The most important thing is that it must be secured so as not to open in the process of moving.

 

Yes I have moved sofa beds. In fact I've moved household models which tend to be bigger and much heavier than those used shipboard.

 

It's not as if a lot of sofas would be involved. But my point was really about the argument defending a transparent move to improve revenue as a kindness to all those poor groups of 3 or 4 who cannot sail because suitable cabins have all been booked.

 

Royal Caribbean can do what it wants in their efforts to earn more revenue. I don't really care. If I don't like it I can always spend my vacation dollars elsewhere. What does sort of annoy me though is what I sometimes perceive as blind devotion to a company when the only interest that company has is to its bottom line.

[A2Mich]

Perhaps this is exactly what the cruise line wants to avoid, UPGRADES. If the rooms for 3/4 are blocked from couples then the chance of an upgrade is much smaller..costing the cruise line less. I have seen lists of things to do to help you get an upgrade and one of them was to book a cabin that accommodates 3 or 4...so if the cruise line needs the room for a family they will upgrade you. I see no problem with the new rule ...I don't like connecting rooms, I never feel entirely safe and they can be noisy. I did have one once and came back to the room after breakfast and the room steward had left the doors between the two rooms open! NOT a good feeling.

 

 

True enough, but it would be at the cruise line's discretion to do so IF they had a handful of cabins unsold right before sailing date. An upgrade at the last minute doesn't cost the cruise line much to upgrade someone from an OV to a balcony, but the revenue potential by filling an empty cabin can be significant. What I was trying to say is that the cabins for 3/4 should be held available for larger groups. Closer to sailing time, the cruise line can always move couples to the 3/4 capacity cabins if there is no further need for that kind of availability. But to simply allow two pax to book quad cabins right off the bat is limiting the cruise line's ability to book larger groups.

 

 

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[Debde]

I have seen lists of things to do to help you get an upgrade and one of them was to book a cabin that accommodates 3 or 4...so if the cruise line needs the room for a family they will upgrade you. .

 

I've already read that people are recommending couples to book these coveted/favorite cabins for 3 or 4 then drop them [the made up passengers] right before final payment. You watch Royal will figure out a way in time to stop that too. I'm thinking one way is that will backfire and they could move you to a completely different cabin that holds two when someone tries that!!!:eek:

Edited February 18, 2014 by Debde

[cle-guy]

I've already read that people are recommending couples to book these coveted/favorite cabins for 3 or 4 then drop them [the made up passengers] right before final payment. You watch Royal will figure out a way in time to stop that too. I'm thinking one way is that will backfire and they could move you to a completely different cabin that holds two when someone tries that!!!:eek:

 

I've suggested that if people book the special cabin configurations and later try to change (i.e. game the system) the way the line should respond is to:

 

1) If 1 cabin makes a change both cabins need to change to leave the unique combination available for booking. Primary passenger name may not change on either cabin.

2) If a cabin reassignment is not possible within the booked cabin category, they get DOWNGRADED with no refund of the cost difference. I would suggest leaving in place any perks regardless of cabin type restrictions related (i.e. do not lower any already granted OBC or 123 perks)

3) Once changed, PAX may not be reacommodated back into the same cabin number regardless of if it sold or not

4) Special cabin configurations should have a $500 change fee linked to them if canceled or changed (that way they can't change to open the cabins, and later come back and change again back into it once the restrictions may be lifted on the special cabin combinations)

5) Special cabins should be paid for by 1 person, to limit people connecting on CC to pair up to get cabin combinations.

[A2Mich]

I'm not a cheerleader for any cruise line, but I think any cruise line would be foolish to allow 2 pax to stay in a standard cabin for 3/4 IF the cruise line needs that cabin for a larger group. The only logical way to allow more desirable triple/quad cabins to be booked by 2 pax only would be to add a supplement to help offset some of the potentially lost revenue by not having the 3rd or 4th pax in that cabin. I'm not at all saying the cruise lines would or should do this, as that opens up all new debates. Yes, I realize that only 2 people in that cabin may overall generate more onboard revenue for the cruise lines, etc. I don't think there is an easy answer for this issue. Maybe the only proper thing to do would be to take the more desirable cabins and give them their own higher priced category? I don't have the answer for this.

 

 

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[riclop]

I hear you but we still love Royal.

[cle-guy]

Maybe the only proper thing to do would be to take the more desirable cabins and give them their own higher priced category? I don't have the answer for this.

 

 

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Probably what needs to happen. Price Quads as quads, triples as triples and all others as doubles, regardless how many occupy the cabin.

 

Imagine paying a quad supplement!!! :eek:

 

Then closer to sailing, put the quads and trips on sale or open them up for cabin swaps if needed.

 

 

 

I wonder, how often ships sail under capacity because all cabins are booked, but many are under capacity, thus the line loses money from lost passengers who wanted to book a trip or quad and couldn't because they were all taken by singles and doubles.

 

If they can increase occupancy, increase profits, maybe we get pens and logo napkins back. A win win for all really.

[A2Mich]

Probably what needs to happen. Price Quads as quads, triples as triples and all others as doubles, regardless how many occupy the cabin.

 

 

 

Imagine paying a quad supplement!!! :eek:

 

 

 

Then closer to sailing, put the quads and trips on sale or open them up for cabin swaps if needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder, how often ships sail under capacity because all cabins are booked, but many are under capacity, thus the line loses money from lost passengers who wanted to book a trip or quad and couldn't because they were all taken by singles and doubles.

 

 

 

If they can increase occupancy, increase profits, maybe we get pens and logo napkins back. A win win for all really.

 

 

Bingo! Cruise lines make very little money on 100% occupancy with little onboard spending. If they can boost the occupancy rate to say 110%, allowing, let's say another 200 pax onboard, that could POTENTIALLY increase their onboard revenue significantly. Whether or not the cruise lines gives any of that many back in perks, reinstating cutbacks, etc is likely questionable. But, if the cruise lines can't increase their onboard revenue to a margin that pleases the shareholders and execs, more cutbacks will take place to make the benchmark.

 

Cruise lines these days, particularly RCI have a lot of debt on their hands, with three Oasis class ships at a billion dollars apiece, plus the two new Quantum class ships whose price tag is likely $700 million each or more, they need to make a lot of money. That doesn't account for any of their older ships that may still be financed.

 

Like it or not, cruise lines need to stuff these ships as full as they can and allowing their ships to sail less than full because they were unable to fill berths because of their booking policies is hurting them. If they can fill their ships and consistently show a profit, they can do several things. They COULD lower their rates to ensure the ships sail full and continue to build more ships, or they could reinstate some of the cutbacks. I would guess they'll build more ships. If the majority of pax aren't complaining about cutbacks, they likely will do nothing about them. Sure a lot of people on CC complain about various things, but we are not the majority of cruisers.

 

Sad to say, but I truly believe that for the cruise lines to bring back all of the things they used to offer, prices WILL go up. RCI would be foolish to raise their rates significantly with competitors like NCL and Carnival nipping at their heels. How DCL can keep charging the rates they do is beyond me, but is likely because people see "Disney" and go nuts over them. I'm not a huge Disney fan, as over the years I've seen Disney make their fortunes by taking advantage of their workers. Granted those were the Michael Eisner days, but the things Disney did to their workers was saddening to say the least.

 

 

 

 

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[Ocean Boy]

Bingo! Cruise lines make very little money on 100% occupancy with little onboard spending. If they can boost the occupancy rate to say 110%, allowing, let's say another 200 pax onboard, that could POTENTIALLY increase their onboard revenue significantly. Whether or not the cruise lines gives any of that many back in perks, reinstating cutbacks, etc is likely questionable. But, if the cruise lines can't increase their onboard revenue to a margin that pleases the shareholders and execs, more cutbacks will take place to make the benchmark.

 

I suspect that if the cruise lines see their ships booked to 110% their attitude would be that their customers are so happy that they can try making even more cutbacks. It could be a loosing proposition for the consumer either way.

[A2Mich]

I suspect that if the cruise lines see their ships booked to 110% their attitude would be that their customers are so happy that they can try making even more cutbacks. It could be a loosing proposition for the consumer either way.

 

That thought crossed my mind as well. Realistically if the ships are sailing at an acceptable occupancy rate with an acceptable onboard profit margin, they won't give anything back for sure. If their bookings drop off, there may be a reason to make some changes, but as long as bookings and revenue remain solid, we wont be recouping any of the cutbacks. The customers speak with their wallets and the cruise lines, like most companies, will try to cut back as much as they can until they reach a point where there their offering is unacceptable or is no longer competitive. If that point is ever reached, I would surmise that the company would reduce fares to remain viable, yet find even more ways to part you from your money.

 

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