Best Sale RC runs

[Ohserendipity]

What is the best sale RC runs?  Is this 60% of 2nd guest the best?

[Biker19]

There are no fleet wide sales.

[Clarea]

2 hours ago, Ohserendipity said:

What is the best sale RC runs?  Is this 60% of 2nd guest the best?

 

Virtually all of the "sales" RC touts are fake sales.  The names and fake percentages may change from time to time, but the bottom line prices don't change much. 

 

The only promos that seems to consistently save people money are the Kids Sail Free promos. 

[voyager70]

Bob and Biker are correct.  You just have to book at a price you're comfortable with.  "Sales" are really a gimmick to make people think they're getting a great deal.

 

 

[barb in ga]

There is always some kind of "sale" going on with Royal. The way to find the best deal for you is to use the following tips to find your cruise.

 

1. Which is most important to you--a specific ship, fixed dates, or a preferred itinerary?

 

2. Once you decide which of the above is MOST important, you can look at the other factors and see what the price differences are for the dates you are able to travel.

 

3. What cabin type interests you--inside, ocean view, ocean view balcony, neighborhood balcony or a suite?

 

4. Be sure to use your Crown and Anchor discount if you are choosing a balcony or above.

 

5. You can check all these variables by doing mock booking on RCI's website or one of the large online cruise sites.

 

6. By now, you should have a good idea of the ship you want, the timing , and the type of cabin. BOOK YOUR CRUISE NOW!

You have until final payment date to make changes.

 

Have fun and cruise often, Barb

[Ashland]

8 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Virtually all of the "sales" RC touts are fake sales.  The names and fake percentages may change from time to time, but the bottom line prices don't change much. 

 

The only promos that seems to consistently save people money are the Kids Sail Free promos. 

Are there..have there ever been a KSF promo for the month of May?

[tcneal]

I agree, there are no sales.   The best promotions are the KSF (don't happen often) and the WOW sales when they might offer OBC and reduced deposits.

[FionaMG]

3 hours ago, Ashland said:

Are there..have there ever been a KSF promo for the month of May?

I just received a KSF promotional email in my inbox this morning:

 

"35% off all Sailings + up to $150 pre cruise credit + kids sail free"

 

"**Kids sail free Guests 12 & Under sail free on a 4-night or longer Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, CaribNE, Coastal, Cuba, Europe and Hawaii sailings · Booking Window: 01 January – 28 February, 2019 · Sailing Window: 01 January – 14 December, 2019 (Does not include 2020 deployment) · Offer details: Guests 12 & Under Sail Free · Offer excludes President’s Day sailings (Sailings between February 15 – 18, 2019), Spring Break sailings (Sailings between March 16 – 30, 2019), Holy Week/Easter sailings (Sailings between April 13 – 22, 2019) Summer sailings (Sailings between May 15 – September 8, 2019), Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 23 - 30, 2019) and (Sailings between December 18, 2019 – January 1, 2020)"

 

So unless I'm reading it wrong, it looks like the first half of May is allowed.

 

[NateUpNorth]

14 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Virtually all of the "sales" RC touts are fake sales.  The names and fake percentages may change from time to time, but the bottom line prices don't change much. 

 

The only promos that seems to consistently save people money are the Kids Sail Free promos. 

 

This is 100% correct, however as a disclaimer - you need to watch the prices on the Kids Sail Free promos as frequently the end cost is the same as the "non-sale" price.

[NateUpNorth]

3 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I just received a KSF promotional email in my inbox this morning:

 

 

Interesting. We're waiting for a true KSF to book our next trip. We've booked our last 3 cruises on these deals but didn't get the heads up from RCL on this one. Don't see it on the website either. Any chance there's a link you could *try* to share here? Would appreciate it!

Edited January 4, 2019 by NateUpNorth

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Interesting. We're waiting for a true KSF to book our next trip. We've booked our last 3 cruises on these deals but didn't get the heads up from RCL on this one. Don't see it on the website either. Any chance there's a link you could *try* to share here? Would appreciate it!

Trying.  

 

https://campaigns.royalcaribbean.it/bump/newsletter/n,NG5JFIPTE6UO9WPMGO0Q,BGBB660N91HCWQX2RO4M.html

[NateUpNorth]

22 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Trying.  

 

https://campaigns.royalcaribbean.it/bump/newsletter/n,NG5JFIPTE6UO9WPMGO0Q,BGBB660N91HCWQX2RO4M.html

 

Perfect. Thank you!

(I'm unable to locate any of the KSF sailings on the website, seems they may have neglected to actually upload them. LOL. And yes...... I've become pretty expert at making sure I'm looking during their "non blackout" periods from the fine print..)

[orville99]

The last (and in my memory the only) legitimate sale happened was in May 2014 when they introduced the never-ending BOGOHO. For about 2weeks the sale was real, and we rebooked 8 existing cruises and saved over $4,000. Once they realized that they had actually created a real sale, they magically raised the rack rates on all of the cruises so that the BOGOHO "sale" price was the same or higher than the pre-sale price on existing bookings. They've massaged the formula repeatedly since then, but the outcome is always the same - a mythological "sale" that only benefits the cruise line by sucking in novice cruisers who don't have any history for comparison.

[tallnthensome]

Royal has some of the worst pricing and highest deposits around now. NCL has 3rd and 4th guests sail free and other promos going, not just the drink promo.  Just booked the new to come NCL Encore. 7 days April 2021 Family of four in a family balcony, drink package for wife and I. 3 days specialty dining, 250 WiFi. $3891. Zero cruise fare for my 2 kids,  just port charges. $100 deposit. Looked at similar cruises on RCCL and they are $4400 for a balcony for four on the Symphony. - No drink package or anything else I listed above. That would be another $1200 to equal. They want $1000 deposit as well. Trust me, look other places than RCCL right now. 

[BCirlin]

2 hours ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Perfect. Thank you!

(I'm unable to locate any of the KSF sailings on the website, seems they may have neglected to actually upload them. LOL. And yes...... I've become pretty expert at making sure I'm looking during their "non blackout" periods from the fine print..)

I'm with you... just tried the link and still doesn't show up when I mock book.

Hope you have better luck!

[johnjen]

I know it's not what the OP meant, but frankly, the best "sale" is at the ship's store for clothing and other items, a lot of things go for 50-75% off. That's why we avoid buying anything until the very last night of the cruise.

[Biker19]

22 minutes ago, johnjen said:

I know it's not what the OP meant, but frankly, the best "sale" is at the ship's store for clothing and other items, a lot of things go for 50-75% off. 

Those items are almost like cabin pricing, they have a ridiculous high price so that when it is xx% off it seems like you are getting a deal.

[FionaMG]

3 hours ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Perfect. Thank you!

(I'm unable to locate any of the KSF sailings on the website, seems they may have neglected to actually upload them. LOL. And yes...... I've become pretty expert at making sure I'm looking during their "non blackout" periods from the fine print..)

 

33 minutes ago, BCirlin said:

I'm with you... just tried the link and still doesn't show up when I mock book.

Hope you have better luck!

Aw.  Hope you will eventually be able to find something and that it's not another RCI IT blooper. I didn't try doing a mock booking myself as I don't have kids of eligible ages.

[Ashland]

8 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I just received a KSF promotional email in my inbox this morning:

 

"35% off all Sailings + up to $150 pre cruise credit + kids sail free"

 

"**Kids sail free Guests 12 & Under sail free on a 4-night or longer Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, CaribNE, Coastal, Cuba, Europe and Hawaii sailings · Booking Window: 01 January – 28 February, 2019 · Sailing Window: 01 January – 14 December, 2019 (Does not include 2020 deployment) · Offer details: Guests 12 & Under Sail Free · Offer excludes President’s Day sailings (Sailings between February 15 – 18, 2019), Spring Break sailings (Sailings between March 16 – 30, 2019), Holy Week/Easter sailings (Sailings between April 13 – 22, 2019) Summer sailings (Sailings between May 15 – September 8, 2019), Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 23 - 30, 2019) and (Sailings between December 18, 2019 – January 1, 2020)"

 

So unless I'm reading it wrong, it looks like the first half of May is allowed.

 

Thank you so much for your help. Since I'm only looking for May 2020 perhaps I should go ahead and book (I need 3 JS cabins all right next to each other). Would then hopefully be able to do a price adjust if/when the KSF might be offered for our time frame...what do you all think...and what has been your experience? We all have a D+ balcony discount can I combine it  with KSF?

[LauraLL]

4 hours ago, orville99 said:

The last (and in my memory the only) legitimate sale happened was in May 2014 when they introduced the never-ending BOGOHO.

Oh the glorious May 2014 Sale.  I remember it well!  It was the last time there was actually a true sale.  I was able to move my family of 4 from 1 cabin into 2 adjoining cabins AND reduce the cost by $2000. 

[molly361]

4 hours ago, orville99 said:

The last (and in my memory the only) legitimate sale happened was in May 2014 when they introduced the never-ending BOGOHO. For about 2weeks the sale was real, and we rebooked 8 existing cruises and saved over $4,000. Once they realized that they had actually created a real sale, they magically raised the rack rates on all of the cruises so that the BOGOHO "sale" price was the same or higher than the pre-sale price on existing bookings. They've massaged the formula repeatedly since then, but the outcome is always the same - a mythological "sale" that only benefits the cruise line by sucking in novice cruisers who don't have any history for comparison.

I wonder if it was designed to be a sale at first or if it was just an oversight that they forgot to raise the race rates

[Clarea]

27 minutes ago, molly361 said:

I wonder if it was designed to be a sale at first or if it was just an oversight that they forgot to raise the race rates

 

That would be my guess.  In the past that the really good prices have seemed to have been mistakes.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

I wonder if it was designed to be a sale at first or if it was just an oversight that they forgot to raise the race rates

My supposition back then was that they were engaged in a shadow strategy to raise prices across the board, and the perpetual "sale" was the tool they used to obfuscate the process long enough that the current versions of the "sale" off of the permanently raised rack rate would actually appear to people as legitimate sales. Fain actually appeared on CNBC around the time the May 2014 sale was still an actual sale to announce RCI's intent to significantly raise prices across the fleet.

Edited January 4, 2019 by orville99

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

That would be my guess.  In the past that the really good prices have seemed to have been mistakes.

Yes....I did amazing ($$) on my Harmony cruise when RCI forgot to delete her from a sale they were running when her bookings first opened up.

[HOSKI]

17 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I just received a KSF promotional email in my inbox this morning:

 

"35% off all Sailings + up to $150 pre cruise credit + kids sail free"

 

"**Kids sail free Guests 12 & Under sail free on a 4-night or longer Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, CaribNE, Coastal, Cuba, Europe and Hawaii sailings · Booking Window: 01 January – 28 February, 2019 · Sailing Window: 01 January – 14 December, 2019 (Does not include 2020 deployment) · Offer details: Guests 12 & Under Sail Free · Offer excludes President’s Day sailings (Sailings between February 15 – 18, 2019), Spring Break sailings (Sailings between March 16 – 30, 2019), Holy Week/Easter sailings (Sailings between April 13 – 22, 2019) Summer sailings (Sailings between May 15 – September 8, 2019), Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 23 - 30, 2019) and (Sailings between December 18, 2019 – January 1, 2020)"

 

So unless I'm reading it wrong, it looks like the first half of May is allowed.

 

I cannot get this sale to come up.  This would be great if I could.