CocoCay - Cabanas - Buy Early

[Djsmrs]

So - we are sailing Allure Dec 8 departure and as there are 7 of us (4 kids) and we want a home base and shade we went for it with the Thrill Waterpark Cabana.  Now - keep in mind these prices are Canadian.    We booked in May for $627.  Prices for a day pass at that time were about $72, so it made sense, and we bought one extra ticket for the extra kid (Cabana valid for 6 pax)

 

Fast forward to the end end of July when we realized our itinerary had changed, so we started considering cancelling the cruise - but there was a KSF promo, so we cancelled our two cabins (1 crown loft and one balcony) and merged everyone into a 2 BR aquatheatre suite.  (Star Class.  First Time.  Stoked.  Potential blog to follow).   So RCCL, of course cancelled all our cruise planner reservations. 

 

So we re-booked the cabana at just under $800 Cdn.   

 

Just checked it today and its over $1,000 Cdn.  

 

Suite jumpin jelly beans (keeping it kid friendly - this isn’t my honest reaction).  That’s a crazy price jump.   

 

Our TA is being awesome and giving us the equivalent price difference in OBC, but wow.   So I guess this is an example of buy early and keep an eye on prices.  We initially bought when there was a cruise planner sale - and it never came even close to that price again after May for a December cruise.    

 

A little annoyed that royal wouldn’t honour our initial price as all we did was move our room - to a much more expensive room - but whatevs.  It’s going to be a bucket list trip.  

[fletch1027]

11 minutes ago, Djsmrs said:

So - we are sailing Allure Dec 8 departure and as there are 7 of us (4 kids) and we want a home base and shade we went for it with the Thrill Waterpark Cabana.  Now - keep in mind these prices are Canadian.    We booked in May for $627.  Prices for a day pass at that time were about $72, so it made sense, and we bought one extra ticket for the extra kid (Cabana valid for 6 pax)

 

Fast forward to the end end of July when we realized our itinerary had changed, so we started considering cancelling the cruise - but there was a KSF promo, so we cancelled our two cabins (1 crown loft and one balcony) and merged everyone into a 2 BR aquatheatre suite.  (Star Class.  First Time.  Stoked.  Potential blog to follow).   So RCCL, of course cancelled all our cruise planner reservations. 

 

So we re-booked the cabana at just under $800 Cdn.   

 

Just checked it today and its over $1,000 Cdn.  

 

Suite jumpin jelly beans (keeping it kid friendly - this isn’t my honest reaction).  That’s a crazy price jump.   

 

Our TA is being awesome and giving us the equivalent price difference in OBC, but wow.   So I guess this is an example of buy early and keep an eye on prices.  We initially bought when there was a cruise planner sale - and it never came even close to that price again after May for a December cruise.    

 

A little annoyed that royal wouldn’t honour our initial price as all we did was move our room - to a much more expensive room - but whatevs.  It’s going to be a bucket list trip.  

 

Yeah, we’re on Harmony in Feb 2020. Booked a Chill Island cabana a few months ago for $499 and now they are $1200. Holy crap!!

[ONECRUISER]

Been few threads last week or 2 on this. Prices vary sailing to sailing and ship to ship. But as Cabanas fill up looks like remaining are going up. My sailings in Spring are still going for $799US

[parothead]

Sailing on Mariner in Dec. booked last Nov and booked Chill Island Cabanna in Jan for $319. They are now $799. I used Free $200 onboard credit from my Vegas for $200 and it only cost me out of pocket $119 

[Iamcruzin]

21 hours ago, Djsmrs said:

 

A little annoyed that royal wouldn’t honor our initial price as all we did was move our room - to a much more expensive room 

I don't follow this logic at all. Don't you get charged immediately ?  What happens if you win a Royal Up Bid? Do you forfeit all of your purchases like Drink Package, Excursions or Cabanas?  This seems shady.  

[Tree_skier]

4 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I don't follow this logic at all. Don't you get charged immediately ?  What happens if you win a Royal Up Bid? Do you forfeit all of your purchases like Drink Package, Excursions or Cabanas?  This seems shady.  

I've called and upgraded rooms and didn't lose my items purchased in the cruise planner?  That seems weird.

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I don't follow this logic at all. Don't you get charged immediately ?  What happens if you win a Royal Up Bid? Do you forfeit all of your purchases like Drink Package, Excursions or Cabanas?  This seems shady.  

It sounds like they cancelled the cruise entirely, and then rebooked anew -- changing reservation numbers.  If they had just upgraded the existing booking and kept the same reservation number, the cabana would have followed along.

Not sure why the TA did it this way, unless they just had a brainfart when they did it and that's why the TA offered to cover the difference in price -- because they knew it was their own fault that the OP lost their previous cabana pricing.  

[Clarea]

8 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I don't follow this logic at all. Don't you get charged immediately ?  What happens if you win a Royal Up Bid? Do you forfeit all of your purchases like Drink Package, Excursions or Cabanas?  This seems shady.  

 

Nothing should be lost, those purchases should stay with the booking.

[coops]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

 

It sounds like they cancelled the cruise entirely, and then rebooked anew -- changing reservation numbers.  If they had just upgraded the existing booking and kept the same reservation number, the cabana would have followed along.

Not sure why the TA did it this way, unless they just had a brainfart when they did it and that's why the TA offered to cover the difference in price -- because they knew it was their own fault that the OP lost their previous cabana pricing.  

Because it was a new promo with KSF instead of just switching cabins and upgrading.

Edited August 23, 2019 by coops

[Iamcruzin]

43 minutes ago, coops said:

Because it was a new promo with KSF instead of just switching cabins and upgrading.

Oh ok Thank you. That makes sense.

[bburk00]

There is talk on another site where RCI cancelled their cabana and said they were overbooked. They originally booked it at $499 and they were welcome to rebook the cabana at the new price of $1299. 

[Clarea]

9 minutes ago, bburk00 said:

There is talk on another site where RCI cancelled their cabana and said they were overbooked. They originally booked it at $499 and they were welcome to rebook the cabana at the new price of $1299. 

 

Somehow, I'd not surprised.

[fletch1027]

20 minutes ago, bburk00 said:

There is talk on another site where RCI cancelled their cabana and said they were overbooked. They originally booked it at $499 and they were welcome to rebook the cabana at the new price of $1299. 

 

For our Harmony cruise next Feb, I booked a CI cabana for $499 a few months ago. If they pulled that crap I'm not sure what I would do, but it wouldn't be pretty! 😮

 

That makes no logical sense - they booked it early when there was more inventory at $499, then were told it was "overbooked" but they could then re-book? How can you re-book if they are oversold? Then again, I have given up assuming RCI will do anything logical - unless it's making them money...

 

[booplesnoople]

We're on Mariner in October. I booked a Chill Island cabana back in May for $359, they're up to $799 on the first CocoCay stop and $699 on the second. 

[bburk00]

We booked one for our Anthem cruise in March 2021 for $499. A few days ago we decided to do an Anthem cruise in March 2020 and looked at the same cabanas which are now $1099.

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, coops said:

Because it was a new promo with KSF instead of just switching cabins and upgrading.

You still shouldn't have had to switch reservation numbers.  Just because a new program offered a better price (KSF or otherwise) that doesn't mean your reservation number should change.  Maybe one of our TA's could chime in.  Sounds to me like your TA messed up and is trying to blame Royal.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, bburk00 said:

There is talk on another site where RCI cancelled their cabana and said they were overbooked. They originally booked it at $499 and they were welcome to rebook the cabana at the new price of $1299. 

??? If they are overbooked they are overbooked. How can they offer one at any price? 

[Iamcruzin]

41 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

 TA messed up and is trying to blame Royal.

I see that a lot on this site. However Royal keeps changing rules, prices and itinerary so much it's hard to keep up. You may need a travel agent for your travel agent.

[DISFANS3]

Yes, they change the game as they go...

[Djsmrs]

14 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I don't follow this logic at all. Don't you get charged immediately ?  What happens if you win a Royal Up Bid? Do you forfeit all of your purchases like Drink Package, Excursions or Cabanas?  This seems shady.  

Yes - it was confusing to me too.  Our TA was having a hard time with RCCL customer service (odd - right?) and they couldn't figure out how to move the reservation.  Perhaps it was because we were moving two rooms into one.  So we both lost our original reservation numbers and were given a new reservation with all of us on one booking.  We forfeited all our reservations (dining, drinks, cabanas) which wasn't a big deal as we now are star class so everything is included, with the exception of the cabana.   He's been fighting with RCCL about it and has escalated it to no avail.  It makes no sense to me when all we did was move rooms - but whatcha gonna do?  He's almost making up the difference in OBC which we will use for gratuities - so in the end it all works out.