Stateroom pricing

[Stem2stern]

This may be a stupid question, but this is my first cruise. I am cruising on Royal Caribbean next May and the pricing for my room is $800.51per person with a 50% off for second guest promotion. The way I calculate it is I should be paying $719.50 for myself and my guest should be paying $359.75 for a total of $1059.75 for 2 people, plus taxes and fees of course. But when I look at the pricing, I am being charged for both occupancies and my guest is being charged for both occupancies. The amount being charged per person is $1439 plus $162.02, totaling $1601.02 each then they took $720 off for the 50% off second guest. I don’t understand the calculations. Am I being charged double or am I just not understanding it? Someone please help me understand this. Thanks in advance.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, Stem2stern said:

This may be a stupid question, but this is my first cruise. I am cruising on Royal Caribbean next May and the pricing for my room is $800.51per person with a 50% off for second guest promotion. The way I calculate it is I should be paying $719.50 for myself and my guest should be paying $359.75 for a total of $1059.75 for 2 people, plus taxes and fees of course. But when I look at the pricing, I am being charged for both occupancies and my guest is being charged for both occupancies. The amount being charged per person is $1439 plus $162.02, totaling $1601.02 each then they took $720 off for the 50% off second guest. I don’t understand the calculations. Am I being charged double or am I just not understanding it? Someone please help me understand this. Thanks in advance.

Commonly asked question.  The answer is the prices quoted are after the discounts.  You're assuming those prices are before the discount.

[Stem2stern]

But why am I paying $1439 for the room and my guest is paying $1439 for the same room that I’m in. Shouldn’t we each be paying approximately $720 each?

[Cruseforme]

Without seeing the actual website or pricing as it was specified ( verbatim on site), it’s hard to respond.   All I can say is it is very unlikely that a per person is xxx.51 ( usual pricing is in whole dollar amounts).   It is more likely you are looking at the price, assuming it is for the cabin, and splitting it in half.   It is pp.  So the calculation by RCCL is correct imho without seeing the actual promo in writing.   

 

[BlueCO102]

Rates are normally quoted as per-person, double occupancy. So if the price quoted is $800 that would mean the cabin costs $1600 with two people in it. 

 

As as I read your post, it seems to me the deal they’re promoting is on a “Second guest.” I read this as a third person in the cabin.

[Underwatr]

RCCL frequently has "second person half off" promotions. At the same time they'll price their cabins such that the price for each person is the same and the total cost is 25% off of some (hypothetical) higher rate.

 

Over Labor Day weekend they priced their Deluxe Beverage Package the same way - second guest half off. I assumed that the second guest would get a 50% discount off of the price shown on the website, but actually the quoted price was 25% off what the onboard price will be - even though normally you can get 20% off the onboard price by buying in advance of embarkation.

 

Since then I've been cautioned by friends who cruise on Royal Caribbean frequently that their promotions tend to over-promise in terms of the savings you'll see - the above scenarios are an example of that.

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by Underwatr

[brillohead]

On 9/8/2019 at 12:13 PM, Stem2stern said:

This may be a stupid question, but this is my first cruise. I am cruising on Royal Caribbean next May and the pricing for my room is $800.51per person with a 50% off for second guest promotion. The way I calculate it is I should be paying $719.50 for myself and my guest should be paying $359.75 for a total of $1059.75 for 2 people, plus taxes and fees of course. But when I look at the pricing, I am being charged for both occupancies and my guest is being charged for both occupancies. The amount being charged per person is $1439 plus $162.02, totaling $1601.02 each then they took $720 off for the 50% off second guest. I don’t understand the calculations. Am I being charged double or am I just not understanding it? Someone please help me understand this. Thanks in advance.

None of your numbers are adding up... can you show a screenshot of what you're talking about?

What confuses me at first is you say it's $800.51 per person, but then you say it should be $719.50 for you.... why the two different numbers?

Then you say the amount being charged per person is $1439.... so now we have a third number being tossed around.

I'm not sure if you're looking at different categories, or "starting from" numbers, or what the deal is, which is why it would help if you could take screenshots of the pages you're getting these numbers from.  

Royal will advertise a "sale" of whatever kind, but then the price per person they show is the price WITH THE DISCOUNT ALREADY INCLUDED.  Using round numbers for the ease of demonstration, a cruise that is technically $1000 per person would be $1000 + $500 (half off second person) = $1500 total. 

Instead of showing it as $1000/person with half off the second person, Royal will show it as $750/person for both passengers ($750 + $750 = $1500 total) on the initial page, but when it comes time to make the line item bill, they'll charge $1000 for Guest 1 and $1000 for Guest 2 and then show another line item with a BOGO discount of -$500 ($1000 + $1000 - $500 =  $1500 total).  

And then port fees/taxes get added on to whatever the cruise fare is.  That amount is always the same per person, not cut in half like the fare price.

If you can come back with some screenshots, we can probably give you a better explanation.

 

[Underwatr]

I don't have the OP's numbers but here's an example of how Royal Caribbean markets and prices cruises.

 

Currently there's a "second guest 50% off" sale (images from my phone):

 

 

When you go to book (just randomly choosing) it offers pricing:

 

One might expect that the first person would pay $156 + $90.62 and the second person would pay $78 + $90.62 ($415.24 total) but the $156 is the "average per person" and is 25% off the normal per person double occupancy rate, reflecting 50% off for the second passenger. The actual rate for two totals $493.24.

[Daytona_MAc]

On 9/8/2019 at 12:13 PM, Stem2stern said:

This may be a stupid question, but this is my first cruise. I am cruising on Royal Caribbean next May and the pricing for my room is $800.51per person with a 50% off for second guest promotion. The way I calculate it is I should be paying $719.50 for myself and my guest should be paying $359.75 for a total of $1059.75 for 2 people, plus taxes and fees of course. But when I look at the pricing, I am being charged for both occupancies and my guest is being charged for both occupancies. The amount being charged per person is $1439 plus $162.02, totaling $1601.02 each then they took $720 off for the 50% off second guest. I don’t understand the calculations. Am I being charged double or am I just not understanding it? Someone please help me understand this. Thanks in advance.

RCCI adverts can be a bit misleading and I have seen confusion around this type of sale previously. When the ad says "50% off the second guest, prices from $800.51" what they are telling you is the two guests will start at 1601.02. RCCI does you the advantage of doing the math before writing the ad (even though it is confusing). Not that 1 guest will start at $800.51 and the second guest will start at $400.26. If you check the fine print on the website, you will find the actual room price before any discounts are applied. If you are lucky, some decent math skills will make this all clear for you.

 

My best advice is to use a good travel agent (TA), whether local or online, because the TA will understand these offers, help you understand the actual costs, and may even find you a better deal.

[Host Kat]

Howdy @Stem2stern

 

Thank you for your post on the Ask a Cruise Question forum! 👍

 

Since your post is a question regarding one particular cruise line, I have moved your thread to the Royal Caribbean International forum where it will be on topic. Also, the majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed RCI frequent this forum and hopefully will be able to help you..

 

Anytime you want to start a new thread on any forum, make sure you are on the correct forum for your topic. Word your new thread title in a way to help the members know exactly the information you seek. This will help the members that know the information and they will reply to you. It is best to limit each inquiry to only one topic or concerning one cruise line, ship, port of call, etc. and of course, on the correct forum.   You will get more replies that way. Be sure to mention your cruise line, ship, port or sail date in your inquiry if it will help the members with their answers.

 

And don't forget, after your cruise be sure to go to our Member Cruise Reviews section and submit your review for publication!

 

I sincerely hope this will be satisfactory and so glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 9/10/2019 at 9:15 AM, Underwatr said:

I don't have the OP's numbers but here's an example of how Royal Caribbean markets and prices cruises.

 

Currently there's a "second guest 50% off" sale (images from my phone):

 

 

When you go to book (just randomly choosing) it offers pricing:

 

One might expect that the first person would pay $156 + $90.62 and the second person would pay $78 + $90.62 ($415.24 total) but the $156 is the "average per person" and is 25% off the normal per person double occupancy rate, reflecting 50% off for the second passenger. The actual rate for two totals $493.24.

 

as mentioned above those prices are with the already discounted prices.

 

Smoke and mirrors. At the end of the day they are fake sales.

[SRF]

And has been mentioned, the price found on the early stages are the LOWEST possible price.

 

When you start selecting a deck and forward/aft/midship, the category may change and be a higher price.

Yes, there is at least ONE cabin at that lowest price, but it may not be easy for you to find.  Or may not be the cabin you want for other reasons.