Royal Caribbean to Cruisers: Stop Expecting Last-Minute Discounts

[Hoopster95]

Ditto. Watching several cruises and as per usual the Thanksgiving cruise for this year is nosediving in price as I type.

 

I think it was reported on a different thread this week that this policy of no last minute deals is to start Jan 2015.

 

Having said that... Ditto x2 ;)

[George C]

If there are a bunch of empty cabins there will be a deal

[Vitamin_Sea]

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I second that!!

 

Its not possible, they have to fill all those rooms.

 

 

cabins are so tiny so they can squeeze on more bodys!

Edited November 7, 2014 by limoguy1

[molly361]

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Me too!!!!:) And if that happens I guess we may not meet up with you again on the EN next year. That would not be nice!!!

Edited November 7, 2014 by molly361

[Retired LEO]

Like they're going to sail with a bunch of empy cabins and loose revenue on alcohol, gambling, on board sales etc.

I don't see it happening.

[jewopaho]

Like they're going to sail with a bunch of empy cabins and loose revenue on alcohol, gambling, on board sales etc. I don't see it happening.

And there you have it, plain and simple. The basic axiom of the cruise industry ... empty staterooms produce zero dollars. They may go about matters a bit differently (they're pretty good at it, especially as to marketing the same prices as different types of sales) but the bottom line will be close to the same ... if they need to fill some cabins, the timing and prices will reflect it.

 

Do we retired law enforcement folks still have those sharp powers of deduction ... seems we do.

 

Al

[geocruiser]

Like they're going to sail with a bunch of empy cabins and loose revenue on alcohol, gambling, on board sales etc.

I don't see it happening.

 

I agree with you. Empty cabin = lost revenue

[American Bear]

Take it from a D+, RCL stockholder, all this talk about doing away with last minute deals is hot air! If the current senior mgmt. have ships sailing at less then full capacity because of this nonsense, and the stock goes down, they can kiss their butts goodbye!:eek:

We took a B2B May cruise this year, decided to shop around for a balcony! After comparing all the cruise lines, price, itinerary, our benes.(RCL D+,Carnival Gold, NCL Gold) and ship (larger, comfortable, newer ships) we ended up on the MSC Divina, trying out a new cruise line for us, that had us sail out of Miami for 2, 7 day Balcony cruises, one week in the Eastern Med., the second week in the Western Med.!

The price was about $1500. less for the 2 weeks then anything comparable we could find on RCL!

Sure there was less to do on the Divina then a Freedom class, or an Oasis class ship, but $1500. was too much to ignore!:eek: (and we're beyond the age to enjoy a lot of the stuff RCL has come up with in recent years like rock climbing, flow riding, zip line :eek:)

We ended up having a great 2 weeks on the beautiful Divina, so we tried a late summer cruise on the NCL Getaway, another new large ship, and had another good cruise, so RCL can't play games, and start treating their loyal customers badly, cause as we found out this year, there's a lot of good competition out there, for a very good price!:D

If RCL follows through on this 'no last minute deals' nonsense, the rest of the cruise industry will stand up and applaud, and say 'thank you'!

[iancal]

Cruise pricing is really not much different from airline or hotel pricing. The inventory has zero value once the ship has sailed, the plane has left the gate or the hotel room is empty all night.

 

How many different fares do you think there are on a given transatlantic flight or on a night in alarge hotel?

 

We just finished an RCI Med cruise. We booked in Sept for an Oct. Cruise. We were already in the area. Cabin price did it for us, along with some good airfare to get home. If the cruise fare on this particular ship/itineraryhad not been attractive we would have either selected another cruise (we were watching several) or simply extended the land portion of our trip.

 

almost the same for retail. Who does not watch the prices and buy when they know there will be a sale or when they know prices will be reduced? Any complaints about that dress, suit, shirt etc. that someone got on sale?

 

If there are no longer any last minute deals on RCI we are confident that there will be on another of our preferred cruise lines.

 

One could argue that some cruise prices would actually be higher if the cruise lines did not realize revenue from cabins that would otherwise sail empty. Something is better than nothing. It is why we usually book inside the cancellation window. Used to wish we could take advantage when we were working. Now that we are retired we can...and do. This is a supply and demand business-prices go up and down based on vacancy rates.

Edited November 8, 2014 by iancal

[insidecabin]

If they want to avoid last minute sales they will have to lower prices earlier.

 

there may be strategic new bookings only sales with very good short term pricing.

[Paulette3028]

I think it was reported on a different thread this week that this policy of no last minute deals is to start Jan 2015.

 

Having said that... Ditto x2 ;)

 

Please provide a link to the thread that shows that the policy for 'no last minute deals' will start in January of 2015. Everything I have seen and read, gave NO timeline for the start of this -- it was 'some time in the future it will begin'.

[iancal]

Some people are strange.

 

If they book a cruise and the price goes up some feel good about it. If the price goes down they do not feel quite so good.

 

Yet nothing has changed about their 'buy' decision. They were happy with the price when they booked. So why are some people suddenly so happy, or so unhappy if prices change?

 

We usually buy inside the cancellation window. We have a strike price and if it hits we buy. Once we have bought the game is over. We may have the the lowest price, or we may not BUT we are still happy with our choice and with our price.

[Paulette3028]

Some people are strange.

 

If they book a cruise and the price goes up some feel good about it. If the price goes down they do not feel quite so good.

 

Yet nothing has changed about their 'buy' decision. They were happy with the price when they booked. So why are some people suddenly so happy, or so unhappy if prices change?

 

We usually buy inside the cancellation window. We have a strike price and if it hits we buy. Once we have bought the game is over. We may have the the lowest price, or we may not BUT we are still happy with our choice and with our price.

 

Agree.....we book a cruise when we like the price it is on the day we book it.

[Wendy&Grumpy]

Some people are strange.

 

If they book a cruise and the price goes up some feel good about it. If the price goes down they do not feel quite so good.

 

Yet nothing has changed about their 'buy' decision. They were happy with the price when they booked. So why are some people suddenly so happy, or so unhappy if prices change?

 

We usually buy inside the cancellation window. We have a strike price and if it hits we buy. Once we have bought the game is over. We may have the the lowest price, or we may not BUT we are still happy with our choice and with our price.

 

When you're told on opening day that the offered price is the best price you're going to get, it should be. Prices should never go lower than opening day prices.

[setsail]

Take it from a D+, RCL stockholder, all this talk about doing away with last minute deals is hot air! If the current senior mgmt. have ships sailing at less then full capacity because of this nonsense, and the stock goes down, they can kiss their butts goodbye!:eek:

We took a B2B May cruise this year, decided to shop around for a balcony! After comparing all the cruise lines, price, itinerary, our benes.(RCL D+,Carnival Gold, NCL Gold) and ship (larger, comfortable, newer ships) we ended up on the MSC Divina, trying out a new cruise line for us, that had us sail out of Miami for 2, 7 day Balcony cruises, one week in the Eastern Med., the second week in the Western Med.!

The price was about $1500. less for the 2 weeks then anything comparable we could find on RCL!

Sure there was less to do on the Divina then a Freedom class, or an Oasis class ship, but $1500. was too much to ignore!:eek: (and we're beyond the age to enjoy a lot of the stuff RCL has come up with in recent years like rock climbing, flow riding, zip line :eek:)

We ended up having a great 2 weeks on the beautiful Divina, so we tried a late summer cruise on the NCL Getaway, another new large ship, and had another good cruise, so RCL can't play games, and start treating their loyal customers badly, cause as we found out this year, there's a lot of good competition out there, for a very good price!:D

If RCL follows through on this 'no last minute deals' nonsense, the rest of the cruise industry will stand up and applaud, and say 'thank you'!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44599521#post44599521

[nelblu]

When you're told on opening day that the offered price is the best price you're going to get, it should be. Prices should never go lower than opening day prices.

 

That's not the way it works. Supply & demand has all to do with it. If there's a glut of cabins, I'll bet my bottom $ that there will be sales--if not and the ships go empty, it will impacts RCL's bottom line, therefore, as a shareholder and with the help of others will see that Fain & Co. will see the unemployment line.

 

Remember, the profits come not only from the sale of the cabin, but from all of the ancillary products/activities.

 

Remember the Saturn, their no haggle pricing forced them to disappear from the auto landscape.

[rjrpar]

When you're told on opening day that the offered price is the best price you're going to get, it should be. Prices should never go lower than opening day prices.

 

 

 

That's not the way the real world operates in any business.

[Hoopster95]

Please provide a link to the thread that shows that the policy for 'no last minute deals' will start in January of 2015. Everything I have seen and read, gave NO timeline for the start of this -- it was 'some time in the future it will begin'.

 

I apologize for any confusion Paulette. I did say "I think" I read, so I'm definitely not sure, and I said "I read on another thread", so reported by someone else on CC, not from a link or press release from RCL.

[Wendy&Grumpy]

That's not the way it works. Supply & demand has all to do with it. If there's a glut of cabins, I'll bet my bottom $ that there will be sales--if not and the ships go empty, it will impacts RCL's bottom line, therefore, as a shareholder and with the help of others will see that Fain & Co. will see the unemployment line.

 

Remember, the profits come not only from the sale of the cabin, but from all of the ancillary products/activities.

 

Remember the Saturn, their no haggle pricing forced them to disappear from the auto landscape.

 

That's not the way the real world operates in any business.

 

We all know how it really works. That doesn't change the fact that when RCCL tells the customer something, they should stand behind it. If I book a cruise on opening day with the RCCL rep telling me it's the lowest price I'm going to get, I should not see a lower price after final payment.

[iancal]

We really do not care what other people pay.

 

We only care about what we pay. If the price goes down after we pay, and sometimes it does, so be it. Makes absolutely NO difference to us other than give us more experience for the next time we buy.

 

We do our research, understand what the prices are, understand what a good price is, and base our buy decision on this. Do not care what the TA or the cruise line say about increasing/decreasing prices.

 

This is a supply/demand business. Why on earth would we believe what the cruise line tells us about the price at a given point in time? Their objective is to sell cabins at the highest cumulative price point possible. For mass market cruise lines this typically translates into a price curve of some sort. The trick is to be on the most advantageous place on the curve based on your personal cabin and cabin location preferences.

Edited November 8, 2014 by iancal

[Paulette3028]

I apologize for any confusion Paulette. I did say "I think" I read, so I'm definitely not sure, and I said "I read on another thread", so reported by someone else on CC, not from a link or press release from RCL.

 

Below is what you wrote in a previous thread:

I think it was reported on a different thread this week that this policy of no last minute deals is to start Jan 2015.

 

Having said that... Ditto x2 ;)

 

All I am asking is if you read about 'this policy of no last minute deals to start January 2015' please provide the link(or source) that mentioned that specific date.

 

Everything I have read said 'sometime in the future' with no specific date.....and that is a very standard marketing approach.

 

If you can't, you can't -- I did not mean to imply that you doing anything but passing along what you feel is important.

 

I would like to see the basis for the 'date that was used'.

[nelblu]

We all know how it really works. That doesn't change the fact that when RCCL tells the customer something, they should stand behind it. If I book a cruise on opening day with the RCCL rep telling me it's the lowest price I'm going to get, I should not see a lower price after final payment.

 

I've never had that situation where a rep said this is the bottom cost--he's a salesperson. I would take such a statement with a grain of salt, as things like lots of unfilled cabins will of course be discounted--that is how it works. It happens everyday in real life.

[Direwolves]

The lack of last minutes deals does not affect us. It takes months of planning for me and my wife to get the same vacation time off. Then we have to find a price and intermarry that we both like. Once we have paid though we do keep an eye on the prices so we can try for a refund or OBC that we can use against our excursions.

 

*** Canadian Cruiser's Eh ***

Edited November 8, 2014 by Direwolves

[steveru621]

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/RCCLs-Fain-to-analysts-Discounting-not-part-of-2015-strategy/

 

http://www.******************.com/category/category/cruise-deals

[molly361]

Please provide a link to the thread that shows that the policy for 'no last minute deals' will start in January of 2015. Everything I have seen and read, gave NO timeline for the start of this -- it was 'some time in the future it will begin'.

 

There was no specific date, just 2015. Here is a quote

 

"Clearly, we feel we're in a position to hold the price and not give the kind of last-minute discounts that were a feature this year, particularly in the Caribbean," Fain said. "We think we're in a position to do that. That's our plan going forward."