Rare LMaxwell Posted April 5, 2018 #101 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I wouldn’t mind spending a few bucks a day more per person for a better experience. But to me that means good service and included offerings, not package drink or meals. A higher overall standard for everyone onboard Maybe I need to try Celeb again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLACRUISER99 Posted April 5, 2018 #102 Share Posted April 5, 2018 From this week http://www.businessinsider.com/royal-caribbean-ceo-explains-business-strategy-interview-2018-4 Boy it's so easy to spend on their great new website.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:If you can get into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwmmdd Posted April 5, 2018 #103 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Economics 101. Supply-Demand $$$$$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal117 Posted April 5, 2018 #104 Share Posted April 5, 2018 The linked article didn’t specify. Just thinking if I had $64,000 to treat my family to a 1 week vacation, we sure wouldn’t spend it on a ship with 5500-6000 other passengers . I was thinking the same thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&J_Pgh Posted April 5, 2018 #105 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Whatever the sale is. And so far, we are batting 1000 from the old OBC to the new booking. . . . Or we also have seen that the refundable GS's are so cheap that it's worth taking the $100 risk. You must have booked a long time ago because now you can't book a REFUNDABLE GS. I imagine in the future changing to the nonrefundable before final payment might actually cost you more money instead of save you money because of pre cruise prices being higher closer to sailing. I've heard a lot about deals that can be had when booking late but have never seen that in the 10 years we've been crusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milwaukee Eight Posted April 5, 2018 #106 Share Posted April 5, 2018 You must have booked a long time ago because now you can't book a REFUNDABLE GS. I imagine in the future changing to the nonrefundable before final payment might actually cost you more money instead of save you money because of pre cruise prices being higher closer to sailing. I've heard a lot about deals that can be had when booking late but have never seen that in the 10 years we've been crusing. I haven't seen GS and above drop in price after final payment. I have seen GS cabins become available but price was high. Lots of JS come available after final payment as well,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfaeric Posted April 5, 2018 #107 Share Posted April 5, 2018 You must have booked a long time ago because now you can't book a REFUNDABLE GS. I imagine in the future changing to the nonrefundable before final payment might actually cost you more money instead of save you money because of pre cruise prices being higher closer to sailing. I've heard a lot about deals that can be had when booking late but have never seen that in the 10 years we've been crusing. I meant non-refundable GS. Given the fewer non-refundable reservations on many of the cruises we have booked, upgrading after it doesn't matter which you choose or just barely before that, has been easy for us. For the last 3 cruises, we've had a very reasonable upgrade to a GS from a JS. Some, we know, are far less likely. But the frequency that we can do a reasonable upgrade has gotten better since the new policy. Too bad that it's not worked out for you, it's pretty darned nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NemoCrownie Posted April 5, 2018 #108 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I found his tone in the article to be somewhat demeaning toward the customers of RCI. It came across as if he was insulting our intelligence. I am well aware of what I am spending no matter how they manage to split up the various amounts that I contribute to their bank account. And the fact that I might spend thousands on a cruise in no way clouds my thinking that an over priced drink is still an over priced drink. And no amount of razzle dazzle on their part will change that. That picture of Bayley with his thumbs up comes across as celebrating how successful he has been at duping his customers. I had the same thoughts when I originally read the article the other day. Rather off-putting, IMO. I realized a few years ago that we were no longer RCI's target market and this article confirmed it. Very interesting thread.. seeing more and more of this thought process over the last 2 years on this forum. Underlining part of your post above, many of you know I just sailed on Oceania for the first time and loved it. It will be VERY interesting for me in June when I'm on Brilliance for 12 days... we'll see if I feel back "home" on RCL, or whether I wish I was back on Oceania again instead. I am loving your Oceania review and waiting for their 2020 FP itineraries to come out just because of your review. We have friends who rave about them for Med. cruises. I really appreciate your willingness to share - we had the best time in Aruba in February, renting a Jeep and exploring, thanks to your detailed review of the ABC's. We have loved our last few cruises on Celebrity S class ships and I have said we would cruise RCI again if the itinerary and price were right but, after reading Bailey's BI interview, I doubt we will cruise RCI again. It was a real turn-off and I felt like it displayed an arrogant disdain for the customer and their level of intelligence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knittinggirl Posted April 5, 2018 #109 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I wouldn’t mind spending a few bucks a day more per person for a better experience. But to me that means good service and included offerings, not package drink or meals. A higher overall standard for everyone onboard Maybe I need to try Celeb again That packed main dining room on the Radiance really didn't help. Seating was so tight, I had to ask someone at a table to move so I could reach my seat. We spent most of the week in Specialty Dining. Bayley may have made money in the short term, but we don't have any more Royal Caribbean cruises booked. They need to stop converting public rooms to staterooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandgeezer Posted April 5, 2018 #110 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I had the same thoughts when I originally read the article the other day. Rather off-putting, IMO. I realized a few years ago that we were no longer RCI's target market and this article confirmed it. I am loving your Oceania review and waiting for their 2020 FP itineraries to come out just because of your review. We have friends who rave about them for Med. cruises. I really appreciate your willingness to share - we had the best time in Aruba in February, renting a Jeep and exploring, thanks to your detailed review of the ABC's. We have loved our last few cruises on Celebrity S class ships and I have said we would cruise RCI again if the itinerary and price were right but, after reading Bailey's BI interview, I doubt we will cruise RCI again. It was a real turn-off and I felt like it displayed an arrogant disdain for the customer and their level of intelligence. Do you realize he’s the big cheese of RCL, the corporation, which includes Celebrity too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted April 5, 2018 #111 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Do you realize he’s the big cheese of RCL, the corporation, which includes Celebrity too? That would be Fain, Bayley just runs RCI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milwaukee Eight Posted April 6, 2018 #112 Share Posted April 6, 2018 I still believe that the D and D+ that are not spending onboard is a relative smaller percentage than people on here would like you to believe. If they ran off the 32 D and D+ who found seats it the DL, it wouldn’t have a negligible difference to Royal. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted April 6, 2018 #113 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Quite an eye opener. They really use some interesting psychology to get our money. When we were on Radiance, the various crew members were all over the ship with up sell pitches. One change of merit, was the question on the evaluation about crew begging for perfect scores on that evaluation. I got a spa treatment on our last cruise, and had to listen to sales pitches the whole time. I’d planned for a second visit to the spa, but after that, I didn’t return. I wonder if the crew got that 5% bonus. Crew got stocks, not cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
payitforward Posted April 6, 2018 #114 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Wow! As someone who was getting excited about a cruise next week, this is the most depressing thread ever! Do I miss the way things used to be? Sure. But, am I going to sit down and make a list of all of the things I don't like, but can't change. Heck no! What a depressing way to view a vacation. If I were that upset about the whole experience, I just wouldn't cruise RCCL anymore. I much prefer to focus on the things I DO like so that I can actually enjoy myself - and life in general. I also don't understand why people are so upset about the non-refundable deposits. It's really very simple: Does the non-refundable deposit save you more than $100? If the answer is yes, then book it. $100 is all you lose if you change or cancel. The rest goes towards your next cruise. I'll gamble the $100 to save $500. But then again, when I book a cruise, I always plan on taking it. Those that hold the space without knowing they want to use it are the whole reason RCCL did this. CAN they resell cabins when you cancel 90 days out? Sure. But they may have to accept a lower fare for those cabins than they would have if they were able to sell them to someone who wanted them six months ago, but made other plans because they were sold out. The sudden abundance of suites available on most cruises demonstrates (to me at least) that it's working for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&J_Pgh Posted April 6, 2018 #115 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the amount of deposit nore than double between March of '17 and '18. ($500 instead of former $200 for a couple) . Also the the cancel fee is $100 per person and the remaining $300 is a future cruise credit that needs to be booked within a year. Further in order to get a GS or better you don't have a choice of refundable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted April 6, 2018 #116 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the amount of deposit nore than double between March of '17 and '18. ($500 instead of former $200 for a couple) . Also the the cancel fee is $100 per person and the remaining $300 is a future cruise credit that needs to be booked within a year. Further in order to get a GS or better you don't have a choice of refundable. The basic deposit amounts did not change, but RC did stop the part of the WOW sales that allowed reduced deposits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milwaukee Eight Posted April 6, 2018 #117 Share Posted April 6, 2018 The basic deposit amounts did not change, but RC did stop the part of the WOW sales that allowed reduced deposits. Wasn’t there a time where we good get by with $50 ea at Next Cruise onboard? Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted April 6, 2018 #118 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Wasn’t there a time where we good get by with $50 ea at Next Cruise onboard? Sure, Next Cruise Certificates and booking on board offered reduced deposits for many years, but they stopped that last year. For a while, booking on board gave no reduced deposit, then they brought reduced deposits back for booking on board, but only if the booking had a non-refundable deposit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NemoCrownie Posted April 6, 2018 #119 Share Posted April 6, 2018 That would be Fain, Bayley just runs RCI.Thanks Biker19! Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiselvr04 Posted April 6, 2018 #120 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Booking on board and wow sales used to be reduced deposits. I have seen a few sales on Celebrity for reduced deposits still but haven’t been able to take advantage of that yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSOTall1 Posted April 6, 2018 #121 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Of course it decreases the value of your trip. If you choose a refundable deposit you pay more for your trip and if there is any OBC included that is decreased. So you lose value in two ways. You only lose your value if you chose a refundable deposit. If you know you're going on the cruise, why would you need to refund it? The whole purpose for it is to stop people from buying a ton of rooms and holding on to them "just in case" they want to go on the cruise. By doing this, the price actually goes down for everyone since there are unclaimed rooms earlier than 30 days out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted April 6, 2018 #122 Share Posted April 6, 2018 (edited) You only lose your value if you chose a refundable deposit. If you know you're going on the cruise, why would you need to refund it? I have not yet ever cancelled a cruise but life happens.... The cruise line wants the best of both worlds. They want people to book early and they want us to assume the risk from the moment of booking. I don't blame them. Fortunately, since I'm not too picky about cabins I'll just book later and if I don't like what is available, or the pricing, I'll not book at all. It works for me. Besides, with that news article sited earlier in the thread I may not be booking RCI. With all the changes RCI has gone through it might just be Bayley's arrogant attitude that ends up being the thing that drives me away. Edited April 6, 2018 by Ocean Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeywestK Posted April 6, 2018 #123 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Like many long-time cruisers, of both RCI and other cruise lines, of course we've seen the "chip away" effect. But, at the end of the day, cruising is still a very good bang for your vacation buck. We take cruises and land trips. Those land trips are waaaaaaaay more expensive than any cruise we've ever taken. On a cruise, I can choose how we allocate those "extra" dollars, and believe me, after cruising for the past 24 years, there are not a lot of add ons we are interested in. The biggest benefit my loyalty level gets is our balcony discount. On our two upcoming cruises, I saved $226 and $326 respectively, off the price of our cabins, and that is very sweet. We always have OBC, which will pay for a specialty restaurant or two. So if they take away (yes, still pending) the free internet, and if they increase the daily gratuities, believe me, I'm fine with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papaflamingo Posted April 6, 2018 #124 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Those that hold the space without knowing they want to use it are the whole reason RCCL did this. CAN they resell cabins when you cancel 90 days out? Sure. But they may have to accept a lower fare for those cabins than they would have if they were able to sell them to someone who wanted them six months ago, but made other plans because they were sold out. /quote] Exactly. I agree that often we book cruises a year out and things happen so we need to change or cancel them. But we've only booked a cruise then cancelled maybe one or twice in 20 years and 36 cruises. One thing you didn't mention is that often times an entire category is sold out. If I want to go on a 14 night cruise in a JS and 7 months out it's sold out, I will move onto the next option. In fact, we are doing just that. I wanted a transpacific cruise from Sydney to the U.S. It's long and I wanted a JS or better. All the suites were sold out a year in advance, so we are doing it on a different cruise line. If 90 days out a bunch of JS's suddenly come open, too bad, we're already committed. So I can't blame RCCL for this. Just too many of us booked multiple cruises, taking a number of desirable cabins out of inventory, then picking the one we want as final payment approached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted April 6, 2018 #125 Share Posted April 6, 2018 So if they take away (yes, still pending) the free internet, and if they increase the daily gratuities, believe me, I'm fine with that. I am sure Mr. Bayley is happy to know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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