Price Drops - the Down-n-Dirty Science

[johnjen]

Checking on PD's was never something I was that talented with. I've scored magic a couple of times in some big savings, but....is there a science or logic what to look for, where to look to see? I just checked my total charge on next year's cruise, then I bounced the latest price check by mock booking a cruise, same category (JS) "just to see" if I was saving anything. While it appeared at first I was on to something that looked like a $200 lower price per person, I phoned them up, the guy was nice and all, but he explained I had forgotten to deduct our pre-paid gratuities (we always do that to get them out of the way early)....

But, IS there some techniques or tips you might share with us on this thread about checking for price drops? Is there "key times" to run these checks? Do you see a "sale" (I know....) THEN call in after checking to see?

And, what if you DO see a PD? Do they then REMOVE any pre-existing OBC automatically? This is something I always seen as unfair....like a way of penalizing for calling in on a lower price.

I hope this topic somewhat helps those of us who might just need a little help....thanks in advance.

Edited September 4, 2019 by johnjen

[Ashland]

Nothing scientific about it...I check and if it looks like there might be...I call. Sometimes it works out sometimes not.

[juanrod]

Exactly what @Ashland said... no real magic just have to take the time to check, and they will change the price if it drops but you can leave the pre-paid grats if you choose.  

 

I will usually check my bookings at least once a day by going to the royal website and going all the way thru the booking process.  Lately I have had to get back on the phone with Royal after they didn't give the full price drop.  H

 

Good luck

[Clarea]

All you can do is the mock booking thing periodically.  You can use Royal's website or a travel agency website or a price checking site. 

 

If you opt for the new price, you get any perks associated wth the new price and lose any perks you had with the old price that are not also offered with the new price.

[soremekun]

My travel agent has software that checks daily.  When she informs me she has applied a lower price, it's a pretty good feeling.

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, soremekun said:

My travel agent has software that checks daily.  When she informs me she has applied a lower price, it's a pretty good feeling.

 

Love to have that software!

[Stick93]

42 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Love to have that software!

If you use a TA with a website - some have a price tracker that you can watch. My TA is part of a larger company who’s website is very good and let’s me track all my future bookings, show my past trips and has a price tracker. 

[motheroftwocats814]

Every so often I will check for price drops..I happened to luck out with our upcoming cruise on the Allure. It dropped about 200 dollars. It was already a great price to begin with. The price has been going up, up, up and is now about 1500 more than what I paid. LOL! 

[Zephanor]

I have the Ship Mate app on my phone which allows me to create a price alert that emails me whenever there is a change. If there's enough of a difference then I'll mock book to confirm and reach out if there is.

[Antric]

Hi All,

I have just tried a mock booking for my cruise and it is now $2000 cheaper for an adjacent cabin in the same class. (less $800 OBC in original deal)

I called RCI and the agent claimed her best price was more than the original price I was quoted. Am I missing something or did I just get a bad agent?

[rusty nut]

36 minutes ago, Antric said:

Hi All,

I have just tried a mock booking for my cruise and it is now $2000 cheaper for an adjacent cabin in the same class. (less $800 OBC in original deal)

I called RCI and the agent claimed her best price was more than the original price I was quoted. Am I missing something or did I just get a bad agent?

No, you're not missing anything. RCI likes to play these games and when you call for a price drop, they're very good at making you believe that you must be mistaken. I had a $200 price drop once and when I called, it was like pulling teeth. They mumbled and jumbled the numbers into all kinds of smoke and mirror tactics to make me believe there was no price drop. Infuriating, really. Took about an hour on the phone. I honestly believe they're trained to do this.

[Esmerelda]

If you find a better price on RC, always do a screen shot.  I have had RC folks many times they don’t see the price I’m inquiring about.  I send them the screen shot so we are on the same page.  

[hp_slash]

I just had a PD on my Anthem of the Seas cruise in December.  It wasn't much but since I booked GTY and now it was cheaper to choose my room, I called RCI to change it.  I got pushback from the representative saying that there was no price drop but I was persistent (taking a screen shot would help in hindsight).  I ended up being able to choose my room and getting the price drop, but if I hadn't stuck to my guns I may have been out of luck. If you are certain the price has dropped, don't take a representative's word for it!

[Biker19]

12 hours ago, johnjen said:

But, IS there some techniques or tips you might share with us on this thread about checking for price drops?

Price drops generally depend on inventory, so looking at what's available and more importantly the trend will usually indicate drops. An easy way to check inventory is to bookmark RCI's UK web site on that particular sailing. The site will list up to 50 cabins and then a link appears after the 50th cabin to say how many more there are. Any category which has 50+ cabins left over an extended period will likely have drops (or the  associated GTY).

 

The trick to all this is to have patience, especially if you are around final payment time. If the inventory is not moving, the trend I've seen is that RCI doesn't usually do big drops all at once, it's more a stair step affair, which is really important if you book inside final payment - meaning, try to not fall for the first drop. 

[AlohaLivin]

There are a few ways that we check (like cruiseplum which is a great search tool for cruises and ***** which sends alerts for drops within your unique criteria), butI get some of the best info from my roll calls!

 

I always join and try to participate in the roll calls - for us it not only means you already “know” people when we board, but it also brings together a group of frequent cruisers and where there are frequent cruisers there are people who check pricing (and like me will post any good finds to the roll call!) 👍🏼 We save not only from price drops in cabins, but also things like VOOM packages, and helps us not missing a real sale among the almost daily fantasy sales 🤦🏼‍♀️

[johnjen]

1 hour ago, hp_slash said:

I just had a PD on my Anthem of the Seas cruise in December.  It wasn't much but since I booked GTY and now it was cheaper to choose my room, I called RCI to change it.  I got pushback from the representative saying that there was no price drop but I was persistent (taking a screen shot would help in hindsight).  I ended up being able to choose my room and getting the price drop, but if I hadn't stuck to my guns I may have been out of luck. If you are certain the price has dropped, don't take a representative's word for it!

How do you get a screenshot to a rep/agent though? Email? If so, what's the email address?

[Sizzlechest]

I'm fortunate that the TA website I use has the booking available as a link, so I can just bookmark it and check each day. The lowest price was 1 year from the cruise date and now it's much higher than that. Prices for Internet and Unlimited Dining fluctuate a bit, but my cruise is too far off for a sale to come into play. Excursion price has remained constant.