Insane prices for third person in cabin

[Lil Pups]

I have been on the Allure and will be on the Oasis next month. The Allure with hubby and the Oasis with a good friend. I started checking pricing on either of these ships for our summer cruise with DD and grandsons. Booking a cabin for 2 is fine, put in a 3rd and WOW!! Just got off the Getaway with DD and the boys and the 3rd in her cabin was free. Yes, that was great and don't expect a perk like that from RCCL but really? The 1st person jumps 0ver $500 and the 2nd and 3rd are slightly less than the price for 1 in a cabin booked for 2. Seems a bit outrageous. Does RCCL want to discourage this type of booking?

[mcatmcat]

Yea he en if you out 4 people in a cabin the saving is 100$ or less, I was doing a fake reservation with my friends and I told them " we are better booking 2 rooms that everyone in the same room. NcL promotion is awesome for 3rd and 4th guess, do to kea out carnival and I won't even try [emoji6]

[APDMOM]

Does RCCL want to discourage this type of booking?

 

I have been wondering about this too. A few days ago, I checked prices for next summer. For one of them, the third person was even $200 more! We always travel as a family of 3, and I noticed a dramatic hike in 3rd prson fares since last June/July. Before that, the third person rate was much better.

 

I think the real answer is that they still sell those cabins with 3 people, and from a business point of view, they are making the money.

[The_Big_M]

Agree with APDMOM.

 

They have a limited number of such cabins/capacity, they're recognised as having a lot of family appeal, so they're getting the business. And just keep increasing rates as long as the bookings keep coming.

 

They aren't trying to lose the business, they're just getting enough business at these rates.

[nelblu]

The problem is that when there's a sale ,the regular prices are inflated and while the price of the 1st & 2nd are lower by the sale amount eg. bogoho, 30/30, etc. but the add'l passengers are not affected by the sale, therefore seem higher. When I book with more than 2 Paxs, I look/compare at the overall cost of cruise.

 

When I'm interested in a cruise, I try to book way ahead, sometimes as soon as the itineraries are released and get the best prices (most of the time) and choice of cabins. As an example, booked Oasis for the '16 Easter week for the entire family of 9 (3 cabins) and the current prices for a C1-Central Park cabins are some 40% higher--cabin for 4 is +$2,500. Original booking prices are discounted by the D balcony discount and the residency discount that was available at that time.

[Lil Pups]

Totally agree with the analogy that if they're selling RCCL is making money and there is no reason not to inflate the prices for 3rd and even 4th in a cabin. I will keep on top of it and hope maybe some sort of discount or promotion will magically pop up.

[Russ Lomas]

Totally agree with the analogy that if they're selling RCCL is making money and there is no reason not to inflate the prices for 3rd and even 4th in a cabin. I will keep on top of it and hope maybe some sort of discount or promotion will magically pop up.

We have a family of 6. Our last few cruises with RCCL, it was actually cheaper to book three cabins beside each other than one cabin for 2 and one for 4. Last time we did this, we got the extra cabin (more space and an extra washroom for the 4 daughters), paid $300 LESS, and got an extra $100 OBC.

 

This is a far better way to go for a family of 4, but I really feel for a family of 3 who cannot do this due to having to pay for the single supplement. I would recommend trying to find a 4th person to travel with you who would pay their own fare and get two cabins with 2 passengers in each.

 

Also of note, when I booked one of my cruises under the BOGOHO sale on May 30th of this year, RCCL charged only half price for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th passengers in the cabin. This was such a good deal, I called RCCL to inquire about the 6 person family cabins. Same deal applied, so we booked one of those for your family of 6 and passengers 2 through 6 were all half price. This is not the way it is now however when you call to book these cabins. I do not know if there was a special sale on when I booked it back in May or if their computer systems were not working properly, but we jumped at this offer.

[Lil Pups]

My problem is this. We need only 2 cabins. One for me and DH. One for my daughter and the boys, aged 13 and 14. We do this every summer when the boys are out of school. My daughter's husband cannot cruise then so it's like been a tradition for the 5 of us. The past 2 summers were on the Getaway and although it was great I really want them to experience the Allure or Oasis. As I said I will keep looking and hoping some sort of promotion is offered.

[bouhunter]

People are willing to pay a premium to sale those huge ships. Why should they lower the prices?

[Lil Pups]

The issue is not the prices. The issue is the huge increase for a 3rd person in the cabin. I have willingly paid what I consider fair for a balcony or a suite for 2 people.

[nelblu]

We have a family of 6. Our last few cruises with RCCL, it was actually cheaper to book three cabins beside each other than one cabin for 2 and one for 4. Last time we did this, we got the extra cabin (more space and an extra washroom for the 4 daughters), paid $300 LESS, and got an extra $100 OBC.

 

This is a far better way to go for a family of 4, but I really feel for a family of 3 who cannot do this due to having to pay for the single supplement. I would recommend trying to find a 4th person to travel with you who would pay their own fare and get two cabins with 2 passengers in each.

 

Also of note, when I booked one of my cruises under the BOGOHO sale on May 30th of this year, RCCL charged only half price for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th passengers in the cabin. This was such a good deal, I called RCCL to inquire about the 6 person family cabins. Same deal applied, so we booked one of those for your family of 6 and passengers 2 through 6 were all half price. This is not the way it is now however when you call to book these cabins. I do not know if there was a special sale on when I booked it back in May or if their computer systems were not working properly, but we jumped at this offer.

 

Was it May of this year or last year. The May '14 BOGO sale was a real sale. Got the upcoming Oasis C1 Central Park balcony for less than $800 per, inclusive of the D balcony discount. Was even less when one factors in the obc and free specialty dinner received from our TA.

[spookwife]

between limited lifeboat capacity and the fact that they CAN sell the berths at that price, do not expect much to change in the near future.

[LuCruise]

It depends when you book. We did ours in Dec for a April 2016 cruise. At the time, person 2 was half off, and person 3 and 4 (our kids) were close to person 2. But I've noticed the past few months, this hasn't been the case.

[rudeney]

I think the issue is that adding a 3rd and 4th guest to an inside stateroom is expensive in relation to the overall price of the stateroom, but when you start looking at suites, the additional 3rd and 4th guests price is a small fraction of the price for the first two. For example, the third person in our OS for October was only a 10% increase in total price. I checked prices for the same stateroom for next year and it has gone up to about 18% for the 3rd person, but that includes those new special suite benefits.

[nelblu]

Because the schedules were released in early spring, therefore, at this stage it's supply/demand factor. Examine pricing when the new itineraries are released. As mentioned previously, got very good prices when we booked Oasis when the itineraries were released--now much higher for all parties.

[SheehanDJ]

The only thing I don't like about their pricing is that they need some type of major price drop off for pre-kindergarten age.

 

Kindergarten and above I have no problem dropping off my kids in the kids program as they are used to functioning and (should) know how to behave in that type of environment. The cost of the cruise can be justified as the kids program really is awesome (all my kids loved it) and there is dedicated staff doing a dedicated job which is an expense for RCCL.

 

Pre-kindergarten, I wouldn't do this and my kids would stay with me. So other than being a warm body on board RCCL's expense is minimized. I do understand they are taking up a space of someone else though that should be paying full fare, but that being said, don't cater to children then...

[acegolfer25]

Does RCCL want to discourage this type of booking?

 

I don't think this is unique to RCCL. A family with 2 young kids were on Princess Cruise last year. We were quoted $2,500 for 1 cabin of 4 vs $1,200 for 2 cabins. We saved $1,300 for booking 2 cabins.

 

I guess this is a common practice.

[rt1092]

It all depends on how many cabins of a category are sold. If there are only a few cabins left in a category that holds extra people the prices will be higher.

It's supply and demand.

A couple of weeks ago I was "cruise surfing" Royals site. And spotted a RFS on the Enchantment for less than a regular balcony. I did a "phantom" booking and added a third person (my MIL) the third person was only $199. I jumped on it And got the trip for less than $2600 for 3. All inclusive including taxes, tips, and insurance.

It pays to "Cruise Surf"

[spookwife]

T

Pre-kindergarten, I wouldn't do this and my kids would stay with me. So other than being a warm body on board RCCL's expense is minimized. I do understand they are taking up a space of someone else though that should be paying full fare, but that being said, don't cater to children then...

 

 

so is their profit margin. who do you think they would rather have on board: Person A who is 2 years old and spends no money anywhere or Person B who is 22 years old and buys a drink or two, eats at a specialty restaurant and buys a souvenir tee shirt?

 

expense wise they both require the same cleaning up after, the same attention at meals and take up the same seat on a life boat.

 

it costs the same to pay the steward whether he has to deal with dirty diapers or just a pile of wet towels/ it costs the same to pay the dining staff whether they bring out cut up veggies for a toddler or have to bring back the bread tray ten times

[rudeney]

so is their profit margin. who do you think they would rather have on board: Person A who is 2 years old and spends no money anywhere or Person B who is 22 years old and buys a drink or two, eats at a specialty restaurant and buys a souvenir tee shirt?

 

expense wise they both require the same cleaning up after, the same attention at meals and take up the same seat on a life boat.

 

it costs the same to pay the steward whether he has to deal with dirty diapers or just a pile of wet towels/ it costs the same to pay the dining staff whether they bring out cut up veggies for a toddler or have to bring back the bread tray ten times

 

That all makes sense, but it's curious how sometimes 4 people can book 2 staterooms for less money than all sharing 1 stateroom. For example, I just priced a Jun 5th 2016, 7-night E. Caribbean on Allure. A balcony room for 2 was $3400. But for 4 people, it's $6400. Now, that's still a little less expensive to put 4 people in one room BUT there was something strange! When pricing the room for 2, it was $1700 each for guests 1 & 2. When pricing for 4, guests 1 & 2 were $1800 each, guests 3 & 4 , $1385 each.

 

RCCL's pricing strategy is definitely a mystery, but they seem to be filling ships and satisfying shareholders, so it must be working!

[nelblu]

That all makes sense, but it's curious how sometimes 4 people can book 2 staterooms for less money than all sharing 1 stateroom. For example, I just priced a Jun 5th 2016, 7-night E. Caribbean on Allure. A balcony room for 2 was $3400. But for 4 people, it's $6400. Now, that's still a little less expensive to put 4 people in one room BUT there was something strange! When pricing the room for 2, it was $1700 each for guests 1 & 2. When pricing for 4, guests 1 & 2 were $1800 each, guests 3 & 4 , $1385 each.

 

RCCL's pricing strategy is definitely a mystery, but they seem to be filling ships and satisfying shareholders, so it must be working!

 

It's the half-off the 2nd guest that is distorting the comparison. Also, in the 1st case it seems that it's cat. d2 vs a d1.

[mominva]

My husband and I cruise with our 3 kids. We usually get 2 rooms and always have to pay a ridiculous price for the 3 person room.

 

This past summer, the FOS was completely sold out of 3 person rooms. I talked to a higher up RC sales person, and he found 3 rooms in a row. We put my 17 year old son in a room by himself. We paid a little more for that single, but the other 2 person rooms were so much cheaper than the 3 person rooms (that we had booked in the past). In total, the price was much better, and we had 3 bathrooms!

[rudeney]

It's the half-off the 2nd guest that is distorting the comparison. Also, in the 1st case it seems that it's cat. d2 vs a d1.

 

Actually, it's NOT pricing it as BOGOHO - it's pricing these staterooms the same for guests 1 and 2 (I even checked the summary of charges to verify).

 

As for the D1 vs D2, well, that seems to be another "mystery" - the only difference is that the D1's sofa converts to a bed for two additional guests, otherwise they are exactly same size and they are side-by-side on the same deck. So the only reason there is a price increase for the D1 is because it "can" accommodate addition guests, yet when you add them you then have to pay for them. Again, "mysterious pricing strategies".

[CP3o]

While this is tough on families of 3 and 5............ maybe for the most part it could be 'good' for the rest of the PAX and staff. I was looking at holiday rates and how they are less on Carnival and then thought, nah, it would really be a crowded ship filling out so many 3rd and 4th pax spots (and I'm not anti-kid, have them, and not anti-Carnival) because of holiday travel and kids off.

 

When looking at already inflated holiday rates and traveling with kids, more families would be encouraged to book 4 to a cabin instead of 2 and 2 if it saved a bunch of money. That would push up the "crowd" feel, especially on Carnival. If on RCCL there isn't much of a price difference, more family of 4's will book 2 cabins and family of 6's will book 3 cabins instead of 2. It has to mean RCCL will have more space per person compared to other lines with greatly reduced or even "free" 3rd/4th pax rates.

 

Maybe there is a silver lining to high 3rd pax rates..........

[Russ Lomas]

Was it May of this year or last year. The May '14 BOGO sale was a real sale. Got the upcoming Oasis C1 Central Park balcony for less than $800 per, inclusive of the D balcony discount. Was even less when one factors in the obc and free specialty dinner received from our TA.

The deal I mentioned I got on the family panoramic room was booked in May of this year. I know the deals when the promo was first started back in 2014 were great but disappeared after a couple of days. We book in Canadian funds. The March 2017 cruise we booked the family panoramic cabin on the Freedom for 6 days. Pricing was $1399 for first guest, $699 for second guest, $274 each for guests number 3 through six in the cabin in Canadian funds.

 

Pricing was insanely high I though for the first passenger, fair for the 2nd passenger, and a steal for guests 3-6. The deal was so good, we convinced relatives to book the other family panoramic cabin the same cruise with us. They called a couple days later and paid the same amount, so it was not a one time goof on RCCL's part for our booking.

 

If the same deal existed now, I would likely book a couple more cruises with the family cabins. I will keep watching to see if I can get lucky with that again;)