No more balcony/suite discount within 6 months(as of Sept 1,2016)

[Blizzard54]

When we hit PC I plan on joining the Central Florida inside cabin Pinnacles club. ;)

 

 

Do they limit membership to residents of Central Florida?

 

Beside price another benefit of insides (and OV's) is that you can get the shareholder OBC.

[Clarea]

...

As silentbobo said, perhaps the shareholder discount will come back into play for us. It's been so long since I've used it on RCI that I can't remember if it's combinable with the onboard booking OBC. It was on Azamara in March.

It's not combinable with special fares ... and since every fare on Royal is on (fake) sale all the time ... well you can figure it out.

[crookedhalo]

Wow, so this blows...after our November trip we only need 5 more nights to diamond. I know we'll never make D+ but now not too sure we'll even try for diamond. Balcony discount is pretty important to us (even though most times we are booking more than 6 months out), and this just seems like another slap from Royal:(

[silentbob007]

It looks to me that there is a work around in the FAQ

If you use an open next cruise, you still get it.

 

 

4. What if my client makes a “Decide Later” booking through NextCruise outside of the 6 months but decide on the cruise within 6 months of sailing? Will we honor the discount? Yes, in this case, the discount will be honored within 6 months of the sail date.

 

I'll see it when I believe it. Once already RCI has attached me to another object by an inclined plane, wrapped helically around an axis with regards to whether an onboard booking is a "new" booking or an "old" booking. What it came down to was ... it was whatever favored RCI, even if it were both at the same time. For example, I couldn't transfer a next-cruise to a last-minute rate because those were for new bookings only. However, on that exact same sailing, I was also not eligible to avoid a fee bump because it was for existing bookings only and my next-cruise didn't count as an existing booking.

[samben]

This totally stinks.

 

Now makes it much easier to go to different lines........

[Anton]

The official company answer the phone talkers are giving is 'most loyalty members book greater than 6 months out anyway' as the reason for the change.

 

I was struck by the matter-of-fact manner in which this little grenade was dropped. 'Just stick it in a sales promotion as part of the narrative and maybe they won't notice'. Well, 'oops' on that theory.

[LMaxwell]

That's certainly a reduction of benefits.

 

For all you loyal to Royal's, if you haven't tried MSC, they know how to "wine and dine" to get you over. Flat 5% off your cruise fare regardless of when you book.

[Merion_Mom]

The official company answer the phone talkers are giving is 'most loyalty members book greater than 6 months out anyway' as the reason for the change.

 

I was struck by the matter-of-fact manner in which this little grenade was dropped. 'Just stick it in a sales promotion as part of the narrative and maybe they won't notice'. Well, 'oops' on that theory.

 

And the obvious comeback to that is: Well, if it's so few people who use the perk, why eliminate it?

 

Such BS. Their eyes are turning brown. :mad:

[LMaxwell]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

[irishgal432]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

 

I normally sail in suites and try to find a good deal when they pop up. The discount was nice to have. It will make me re think booking last minute cruises and the ones I do book, I will be spending less on board, especially drinking, eating at speciality resturants and gambling. Royal normally got my money that way, now I will be a little less free with spending additional $ on those cruises

[CruisesOnMyMind]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

 

Within the 6 month period we'll start looking at OV's more now. At lot of the times after applying the balcony discount it didn't make sense to even consider OV or inside.

 

I just wonder how this will play on the bigger ships with the huge amount of balconies they have to fill. I know we have filled them a few times or more in the past.

[TravelerThom]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

I doubt that I will cruise less often, but your options 2 and 3 are quite likely.

 

Thom

[SamFritz]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

 

 

1. Less often

 

2. In inside or outside cabins

 

3. With other lines

 

 

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

 

 

 

I will be much more likely to book OV cabins. I value the balcony at about $50 per day. I'm not willing to pay over $350 more for a balcony on a seven day cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

RC you suck!

 

This makes our decision to move onto other lines very easy.

 

***

[sandebeach]

Why in the world would they do something like this???

[SherriZ366]

It's not combinable with special fares ... and since every fare on Royal is on (fake) sale all the time ... well you can figure it out.

Yeah but I will still check if I book a cruise less than 6 months out. We booked Celebrity a few years ago and the Shareholder Credit -- $100 OBC -- would have been applied (we ended up cancelling).

[Blizzard54]

It's not combinable with special fares ... and since every fare on Royal is on (fake) sale all the time ... well you can figure it out.

 

The shareholder OBC has been combinable with the 30% off and BOGOHO.

It is the CAS that is not combinable.

[Blizzard54]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

 

1. no

2. already did this year to cruise more often in retirement.

3. started that when they abandoned the west coast most of the year.

 

About 1/3 of our current 24 bookings are on balconies because the discount made them less than insides. Since they were all over 6 months out this would not have effected them.

[renech]

Just curious - will this cause anyone posting here to cruise either:

 

1. Less often

2. In inside or outside cabins

3. With other lines

 

If the answer is no, Royal has no reason to change this back...

 

#3, definitely.

 

-There's no reason for me to cruise less often.

-I doubt I'd opt for a cabin without a balcony - it's a big part of what I love about cruising.

-RCCL has had my business for years because of satisfaction, familiarity and loyalty perks. Now, if I want to book within 6 months, I will consider several cruise lines and go with the one with the best deal and itinerary.

 

Ultimately, I may still prefer RC, but it will no longer be my default cruise line.

[SherriZ366]

The shareholder OBC has been combinable with the 30% off and BOGOHO.

It is the CAS that is not combinable.

That's good to hear. Sometimes the 30% off for a JS is close to the C&A balcony discount.

[Clarea]

The shareholder OBC has been combinable with the 30% off and BOGOHO.

It is the CAS that is not combinable.

Well, they denied me, and all I had was BOGOHO. No OBC, no balcony discount. I asked for an explanation, but got no response.

 

Glad to hear others got it with BOGOHO.

Edited August 10, 2016 by clarea

[whitshel]

Looks like more Celebrity cruises for us! No balcony discounts but the perks are great.

[RoyalDiamond]

They may honor the discount with the "decide later" bookings, but the OBC is basically useless with those bookings, so why bother?

 

If we book more than 6 months out, then alter the booking within the 6-month window, I wonder if they'll remove the discount? Ha, listen to me. "Wonder"...duh.

 

Peter

[ltjn]

I am very disappointed with the change, but what really infuriates me is how it was sent out. On an announcement citing Customer Appreciation Week.

 

I wonder how many laughs Royal's Marketing Group and Vicki Freed had when putting this flyer together. We appreciate you spending your money and your loyalty and by the way say good-bye to your balcony discount.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

I am very disappointed with the change, but what really infuriates me is how it was sent out. On an announcement citing Customer Appreciation Week.

 

I wonder how many laughs Royal's Marketing Group and Vicki Freed had when putting this flyer together. We appreciate you spending your money and your loyalty and by the way say good-bye to your balcony discount.

 

And without Cruise Critic most of us wouldn't know anything about a change.