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No more last-minute deals

MadManOfBethesda
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MadManOfBethesda

MadManOfBethesda

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"If you’re planning a trip on one of Royal Caribbean’s floating cities, you’ll have to book your cruise early. The days of last-minute deals have officially come to an end.

 

The cruise line announced this week that it will stop offering discount deals 30 days prior to a ship’s sail date on trips lasting more than four nights. The policy will apply to ships in North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland."

 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article58524538.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article58524538.html

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robtulipe

robtulipe

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For us last minute means after the final payment date or around 60 to 74 days prior. That's when we typically get our best deals for cruises and air to get to them.

As an example at the end of October we got our D7 balcony on our Anthem Jan.3rd 12 night cruise for $972 each with $430 per cabin OBC from our TA and RCI. That cruise fare works out to $63 each per night when that OBC is taken in consideration. That was for that new ship with a fabulous itinerary. Note port fees/taxes were an extra $150 so our cruise cost was $75 each per day. Gratuities of course were extra.

The price of this cruise went up significantly after a week or so as this pricing pretty well sold out that sailing quickly. :D

Edited by robtulipe
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Debe7ing

Debe7ing

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Sorry, but a WRONG, WRONG, WRONG decision on their part. While you may have to "discount" unsold cabins, 50% of SOMETHING is better than 100% of NOTHING!!!!!!

 

You can not "sell" to those cabins that are empty, and can not derive revenue from those not there to potential sell to.

 

I see this as a serious mistake that will cost RCL shareholders gravely and potentially drive business that was possible to other lines that do not find this a sound decision.

 

EMPTY CABINS COST ANY CRUISE LINES MONEY AND POTENTIAL REVENUE!!!!!

 

I forcast a quick "reversal of decision" as other lines take advantage of the last minute, flexible travelers who will book with other providers at deeply discounted rates". Having just returned from a 1 week cruise with a "onboard bill" of more than 5K (NOT including the cabin cost) I can assure you that the potential for "onboard revenue" will be a MUCH greater loss than "discounted cabins".

Edited by Debe7ing
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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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Sorry, but a WRONG, WRONG, WRONG decision on their part. While you may have to "discount" unsold cabins, 50% of SOMETHING is better than 100% of NOTHING!!!!!!

 

You can not "sell" to those cabins that are empty, and can not derive revenue from those not there to potential sell to.

 

I see this as a serious mistake that will cost RCL shareholders gravely and potentially drive business that was possible to other lines that do not find this a sound decision.

 

EMPTY CABINS COST ANY CRUISE LINES MONEY AND POTENTIAL REVENUE!!!!!

 

I forcast a quick "reversal of decision" as other lines take advantage of the last minute, flexible travelers who will book with other providers at deeply discounted rates". Having just returned from a 1 week cruise with a "onboard bill" of more than 5K (NOT including the cabin cost) I can assure you that the potential for "onboard revenue" will be a MUCH greater loss than "discounted cabins".

 

I think it's a brand imaging decision and I don't think were talking about a huge number of cabins anyway. Time will tell

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Clarea

Clarea

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Our Freedom cruise is now 30 days out. No balconies or suites left. Inside is $1,700 with $50 OBC. Outside is $2,350 with $100 OBC.

Booking early, our JS is $2,031 with $200 OBC, and free tips courtesy of my TA.

These are total prices for two?

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vxr

vxr

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Posted (edited)
Sorry, but a WRONG, WRONG, WRONG decision on their part. While you may have to "discount" unsold cabins, 50% of SOMETHING is better than 100% of NOTHING!!!!!!

 

You can not "sell" to those cabins that are empty, and can not derive revenue from those not there to potential sell to.

 

I see this as a serious mistake that will cost RCL shareholders gravely and potentially drive business that was possible to other lines that do not find this a sound decision.

 

EMPTY CABINS COST ANY CRUISE LINES MONEY AND POTENTIAL REVENUE!!!!!

 

I forcast a quick "reversal of decision" as other lines take advantage of the last minute, flexible travelers who will book with other providers at deeply discounted rates". Having just returned from a 1 week cruise with a "onboard bill" of more than 5K (NOT including the cabin cost) I can assure you that the potential for "onboard revenue" will be a MUCH greater loss than "discounted cabins".

 

You seem upset because you are a last minute cruiser, and this seems to be coloring your perspective on this a little bit.

 

The thing is, annual reports from RC have reported 104.3% - 105.6% occupancy. This, when combined with their brand identity [1] means they can afford to sell fewer last-minute trips at higher rates while still maintaining 100%+ occupancy.

 

I think they might be right. If they are, the other lines will compete over last minute passengers, while further positioning RC as a "premium" brand.

 

[1] "We believe that the quality of the

Royal Caribbean International brand also enables it to

attract guests from the premium segment, which is

generally characterized by cruises that are seven to 14

nights and appeal to the more experienced guest who

is usually more affluent"

Edited by vxr
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robtulipe

robtulipe

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Our Freedom cruise is now 30 days out. No balconies or suites left. Inside is $1,700 with $50 OBC. Outside is $2,350 with $100 OBC.

Booking early, our JS is $2,031 with $200 OBC, and free tips courtesy of my TA.

 

Surprising what a month or so will do to pricing.

We booked our B2B October 2015 Freedom cruises around the final payment date for both. Just after for the Oct.17th cruise and just before for the Oct.25th one.

Total cabin cost for the two of us without gratuities was $810 for the first and $786 for the second. Both were for inside Cat. L on an upper deck and we got to select our cabin which eventually was a extra large accessible that had had been released to the general public as it was not taken by someone HC. I don't recall exact OV pricing but it was significantly higher but no way as high as what you are showing above.

We didn't get any OBC from RCI at these pricing and didn't bother booking through a TA to get their OBC as what they would have given us wasn't worth losing control of our booking. That, I'm certain, got us the accessible cabin when it appeared for both cruises as we had originally selected a regular Cat. L.

By the 30 days prior no insides were available nor much else either and any showing was at unreal prices.

 

PA230457a.jpg.32ef8965a8dfe6d9a3d0be45130ca8a6.jpg

Edited by robtulipe
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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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Posted
Surprising what a month or so will do to pricing.

We booked our B2B October 2015 Freedom cruises around the final payment date for both. Just after for the Oct.17th cruise and just before for the Oct.25th one.

Total cabin cost for the two of us without gratuities was $810 for the first and $786 for the second. Both were for inside Cat. L on an upper deck and we got to select our cabin which eventually was a extra large accessible that had had been released to the general public as it was not taken by someone HC. I don't recall exact OV pricing but it was significantly higher but no way as high as what you are showing above.

We didn't get any OBC from RCI at these pricing and didn't bother booking through a TA to get their OBC as what they would have given us wasn't worth losing control of our booking. That, I'm certain, got us the accessible cabin when it appeared for both cruises as we had originally selected a regular Cat. L.

By the 30 days prior no insides were available nor much else either and any showing was at unreal prices.

 

[ATTACH]375457[/ATTACH]

 

Do you plan on booking anything last minute in the near future? Curious how that is going to play out.

 

Impatiently waiting for new releases

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robtulipe

robtulipe

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Do you plan on booking anything last minute in the near future? Curious how that is going to play out.

 

Impatiently waiting for new releases

 

We're looking right now for a late winter or early spring cruise but the value of the $CAD really sucks right now. There are good prices on TAs but we don't really want to do an eastbound as we did both the Spring eastbound and Fall westbound between NOLA and Barcelona on Serenade in 2014. The seven 23 hour days on the eastbound was a killer, especially the four close together on the ocean crossing and we much prefer the seven 25 hour days the westbound had. Also the latter was 14 hours longer as both were 16 night cruise.

As you can see we have booked Brilliance's Fall TA which was done last month on Anthem. The price in $CAD was really good for the OV gty we have and at the time our $CAD was dropping against the USD like a rock trying to swim so I locked in at an excellent effective exchange rate compared to USD pricing then. Also doing it onboard got us $150 OBC in greenbacks AKA real good $ and there was another $100 OBC attached to booking an OV. I can't recall booking a cruise this far out, as in 9 months, so that's really different for us. I believe the longest previous for us was 7 1/2 months prior for our first OZ cruise on Voyager.

Just this Monday the $CAD pricing for OV gty we had went down $40 so a quick call to C&A got us that lower price with no lost of OBC. I was very surprised it did so as there was only a gty available and no OV cabins for selection which has been the case for some time. Now even the gty is no longer showing. Our current cruise fare each is equal to $41US per day taking into account the OBC we are to receive. IMO, this a very good and there are no OV showing and lots of balconies for our cabin assignment.. :D

Edited by robtulipe
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Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim

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Posted
Sorry, but a WRONG, WRONG, WRONG decision on their part. While you may have to "discount" unsold cabins, 50% of SOMETHING is better than 100% of NOTHING!!!!!!

 

You can not "sell" to those cabins that are empty, and can not derive revenue from those not there to potential sell to.

 

I'm sure they have a plan to make sure they aren't sailing with a significant number of cabins. For example, maybe they'll send targeted offers of really cheap cruises to previous passengers that have a history of spending a lot of money in the casino. That way, though they'll sell the cruise very cheap, they'll probably make that up an more in the casino.

 

There's also a flaw in your 50% is better than nothing theory. Say there are three cruisers who want to go on a given sailing. But they know from past experience they'll get 50% off if they wait until the last minute. Now RC won't give them that 50% anymore. Maybe 1 of the 3 gives up and won't pay the full price, but the other to grudgingly do pay the full price. Selling 2 cabins at full price made them more than selling 3 at 50% off would have.

 

Plus, they can then do a targeted offer to sell that one empty cabin to a casino person, or some other known high onboard expense revenue passenger.

 

Bottom line is, they are a lot smarter than you and I about it, have studied it a lot longer, and have facts about booking and spending statistics we can only guess at. They know what they are doing.

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robtulipe

robtulipe

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Just this Monday the $CAD pricing for OV gty we had went down $40 so a quick call to C&A got us that lower price with no lost of OBC. I was very surprised it did so as there was only a gty available and no OV cabins for selection which has been the case for some time. Now even the gty is no longer showing.

 

They know what they are doing.

 

I really doubt that sometimes but I'm not complaining about our price decrease. :D

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robtulipe

robtulipe

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The reality is that Royal is ensuring they are almost sold out 30 days earlier. Not sure they are sailing with many empty rooms.

 

+1, all this does is move the discounting up by 30 days.

 

You're right on with those statements. ;)

Edited by robtulipe
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