Black Friday Deals 2018

[GINNY L]

I am on Jewel of the seas for December and the package still shows $42 a person

 

[timf2001]

The only deal that seems truly unique is the Ultimate Dining Package discount.  The rest seem to be recycled from other sales.

[KelJ]

I have been having a lot of trouble getting into my cruise planner, but I finally was able to look at everything I had previously booked for the 1/6/19 Liberty of the Seas.  Nothing is a lower price today than what I already paid. If anyone is on this cruise and is having problems getting into their cruise planners, here are some prices that I checked today:

 

Deluxe beverage with voom $55

Deluxe beverage $47

Chops $34.39  (I paid $31.20)

Playa Mia cooking, tasting & beach break $75 (I paid $71)

[FrannyK]

On 11/21/2018 at 3:29 PM, Biker19 said:

I think that's been the "normal" everyday sale price.

Yes, that is the normal price.

[Buckeyecruiser76]

Trying to call now to book the drink package....1:20 minutes later still on hold.  Obviously it's black friday but I was thinking it would be more of a 30 to 40 minute hold. Not sure how long I'm willing to wait for a 3 dollar a day discount that I've seen available many times in the last 2 months.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Buckeyecruiser76

[dip13]

No price change for new sailings. Everything is the same price as it was 2 days ago. I don't see any BF specials.

[LuCruise]

2 minutes ago, Buckeyecruiser76 said:

Trying to call now to book the drink package....1:20 minutes later still on hold.  Obviously it's black friday but I was thinking it would be more of a 30 to 40 minute hold. Not sure how long I'm willing to wait for a 3 dollar a day discount that I've seen available many times in the last 2 months.

So much for the 15 min wait that the message states. I'm going on 35 min but can't hold on much longer.

 

Do these deals last all weekend?  I have 2 excursions to cancel and rebook (and need to do it by phone due to original credit card no longer existing)

[Buckeyecruiser76]

I think they run through cyber Monday, but I'm not entirely sure.

[twangster]

Sale prices are Nov 23 to Nov 27.

 

Black Friday will likely bring the highest load on their website of any day all year.

 

I worked at a company that hosted the website for a major retailer.  No one was allowed to take vacation this week and it was all hands be ready to jump in and assist.  The volume of website traffic on this day was incredible. 

 

If will taper off after lunch, pick up again after dinner but not as bad as right now and be fine over the weekend.  Monday will see a spike but not as big as right now.  If they can get through the next few hours they can start to relax.

[dandi799]

8 minutes ago, Buckeyecruiser76 said:

Trying to call now to book the drink package....1:20 minutes later still on hold.  Obviously it's black friday but I was thinking it would be more of a 30 to 40 minute hold. Not sure how long I'm willing to wait for a 3 dollar a day discount that I've seen available many times in the last 2 months.

Am I supposed to be hearing anything on hold? It's been dead silence for 6 minutes. Lol. Very strange to not hear music or a voice saying "your call is very important to us...."

[Buckeyecruiser76]

Thanks, I really want to bail on this call but I feel like I've invested to much time to give up!

[RCCLNYMETS41]

trying to plan a cruise.

it's spinning-aaarghh

[Buckeyecruiser76]

Ok, 1:40 minutes later someone answered!  Thankfully, the rep was unusually good...she took care of a price adjustment quickly and efficiently along with booking my drink package. Good luck to everyone else looking to call in today, maybe take twangster's advice and call in later tonight.

[Biker19]

[twangster]

Black Friday.  It's being killed by those trying to find pre-cruise specials.

 

Or, if you are in the with the conspiracy crowd here, It's Royal's attempt to avoid having to sell cruises with a Black Friday discount by making their website unavailable.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, Buckeyecruiser76 said:

Ok, 1:40 minutes later someone answered!  

So, have you done the math to see what you hourly holding rate was worth? Better than min wage?

[RCCLNYMETS41]

For those who were able to get on the website, are they running any deeper discounts than normal?

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, RCCLNYMETS41 said:

For those who were able to get on the website, are they running any deeper discounts than normal?

Yes, but it varies by ship/date/amount.

 

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

if you are in the with the conspiracy crowd here, 

I think there might be quite a few of those.

[GINNY L]

We bought the ultimate dining package for the December 1, sailing on the Jewel for $126.  Less than an hour after we bought it, it was deleted and not available anymore.

[Buckeyecruiser76]

@Biker19 Haha, yes I did the math and I might've made out a little better than minimum wage.

[taylor1293]

I was on hold around an hour this morning. Saved $80 on my cruise and around $180 on the drink package. 

 

I was was hoping for a better price on the drink package but it is what it is :). 

[twangster]

15 minutes ago, GINNY L said:

We bought the ultimate dining package for the December 1, sailing on the Jewel for $126.  Less than an hour after we bought it, it was deleted and not available anymore.

 

It's capacity controlled.  Trying to avoid having no specialty restaurants available every night, otherwise you wouldn't be happy if you have to eat in the Windjammer after buying the UDP.  

[WorkerBee74]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Sale prices are Nov 23 to Nov 27.

 

Black Friday will likely bring the highest load on their website of any day all year.

 

I worked at a company that hosted the website for a major retailer.  No one was allowed to take vacation this week and it was all hands be ready to jump in and assist.  The volume of website traffic on this day was incredible. 

 

If will taper off after lunch, pick up again after dinner but not as bad as right now and be fine over the weekend.  Monday will see a spike but not as big as right now.  If they can get through the next few hours they can start to relax.

 

Can you imagine working for Amazon LOL!

[Nashna]

Ugh...can't get anyone to answer and the web site is not responding anymore.... 

 

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, Nashna said:

Ugh...can't get anyone to answer and the web site is not responding anymore.... 

 

 

The gerbils powering the server are on break.