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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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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

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B&J_Pgh

B&J_Pgh

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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.

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Milwaukee Eight

Milwaukee Eight

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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,.

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alfaeric

alfaeric

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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.

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NemoCrownie

NemoCrownie

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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.

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knittinggirl

knittinggirl

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Posted
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.

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grandgeezer

grandgeezer

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Posted
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?

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Tatka

Tatka

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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.

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payitforward

payitforward

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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.

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B&J_Pgh

B&J_Pgh

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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.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Posted
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.

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Clarea

Clarea

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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.

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GSOTall1

GSOTall1

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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.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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Posted (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 by Ocean Boy
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KeywestK

KeywestK

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Posted

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.

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papaflamingo

papaflamingo

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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.

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