Royal Eliminates Neighborhood Balcony Perks

[Judyrem]

6 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Not only are they reimbursing themselves for the $18 dollar drink package------

 

But also the Oasis repairs, and the extended sailings of those during Hurricane Dorian.

 

 

But, what I still cannot comprehend is the prices that are listed on ships sailing the Caribbean next summer--the highest I have seen in awhile.

 

But, watching closely for reductions.

 

Safe travels.

I had planned to take my granddaughter again on Oasis class ship's summer cruise, but I decided the prices were too high.

We are going to La Jolla/San Diego for a week with Airbnb plus airfare, we are coming in at 3200$ 

 

There are alternatives to cruise travel for me.  Hear that Royal?  I am sure they don't care.😏

[Ocean Boy]

6 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Chacun a son gout.

 

 

Are you saying that you are having a gout attack???

[voyager70]

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

That bottle retails for about $8.50.

 

Barely a notch up from the Le Terrible they used to serve in the DL.

 

[Judyrem]

3 hours ago, DrewFoundLander said:

So I wrote Mr. Bailey.

 

I said 

 

"I booked these (4) BW rooms while on board in April and the cost of the rooms and what was included was a major factor when the decision was made and to make matters worse, I booked Non Refundable Deposit so if I wish to cancel I have to pay a fee or if I wish to change rooms I get repriced to today's rate and then there is the availability issue.

 

The most significant insult is the offer of $50 USD on board credit (X 4 = $200). Seriously, I paid more for the room because of what was included and now I'm offered 50 bucks for the inconvenience? The cost of the soda alone for the same period would be $550!

 

I realize changes happen and you cannot personally be aware of all things at all times but this is genuinely unfair. I expect nothing more that what I booked or reasonable compensation, you would expect no less yourself."

 

Received a call from someone in Miami within a hour on his behalf. Was told it was an executive decision, sorry for your disappointment, no one will receive more than $50 USD OBC as that was part of the executive decision. One nice piece the rep included was that I booked a room, not the perks, they were free. I said I booked the room because of the perks. She said she believes the changes to the program and the $50 OBC is fair. I politely ended the call.

 

 

 

 

All I can say is that they are PUTZES.

[Ocean Boy]

19 minutes ago, CP3o said:

Since the perks had some value it would seem cruise fare will decrease, or at least the price difference between BW and CP compared to an OV balcony will increase.  Some might prefer a cheaper cruise fare over the perks and it's one less thing to worry about administering.  

Seriously?

[Ocean Boy]

Double post

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, Sherri914 said:

The prior perks for Central Park Balcony included gaming lessons (not sure the value of that), lunch at Jamie's or Sabor, plus the bottle of wine.    So the value of OBC should be more than $50 per stateroom.  

 

That said, I haven't been notified of the change in perks either.  I guess i'll be on the lookout for a notice from RCI.

 

 

I disagree, the lunch was worth $40 -$50, the wine is truly undrinkable, the gaming lessons are free almost every afternoon. I'd prefer $50 every day

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I've seen that St. Martin offered as the "free" wine in the lounges, so you know that's likely the lowest end wine of that type that is stocked on the ship.

 

Beringer @ $3.75 is better. 🤣

[Ocean Boy]

5 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Beringer @ $3.75 is better. 🤣

I'm sure some RCI corporate guy is on the phone with their supplier placing the order.

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm sure some RCI corporate guy is on the phone with their supplier placing the order.

 

They're trying to sneak Rose' in.

 

I'm told the Beringer WZ is one of their most popular wines. 

Edited September 19, 2019 by John&LaLa

[JAMESCC]

Glad we booked a Central part INSIDE view cabin over this. I capitalized inside because people often confuse these cabins. We saved a bunch of money and we get sun light and the location seems great. We on Oasis next May from NJ.

Edited September 19, 2019 by JAMESCC

[gatour]

9 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Beringer @ $3.75 is better. 🤣

Cheapest wine by the glass on board ship is $11.80 including service fees.

 

Where do you get get a glass of wine for $3.50 on board>

 

While the bottle of wine is shlock. you would still get 4+ glasses out of it, for $47.20.  Doing lunch at Jamie's is about a $50 value.  An appropriate OBC would be $100.

 

I currently have no skin in the game, but if I booked under the former terms, I would be a bit irked.

[LuCruise]

3 minutes ago, JAMESCC said:

G;ad we booked a Central part INSIDE view cabin over this. I capitalized inside because people often confuse these cabins. We saved a bunch of money and we get sun light and the location seems great. We on Oasis next May from NJ.

We're giving that room a try on Harmony. Never tried CP room before and the CP balcony was 700-1000 more than CP interior. (no perks with it)

We tried Boardwalk balcony on Symphony and really enjoyed it.  Fun room (and you can still see the water in the background).  The perks were nice bonus, but not not a huge savings.  DH gets the soda package so it saved him there (I barely used mine as I don't drink pop so just had some flavored water), but we didn't even use our JR lunch voucher.  Too much other good food that we didn't want the heavy greasy meal.

[JAMESCC]

1 minute ago, LuCruise said:

We're giving that room a try on Harmony. Never tried CP room before and the CP balcony was 700-1000 more than CP interior. (no perks with it)

We tried Boardwalk balcony on Symphony and really enjoyed it.  Fun room (and you can still see the water in the background).  The perks were nice bonus, but not not a huge savings.  DH gets the soda package so it saved him there (I barely used mine as I don't drink pop so just had some flavored water), but we didn't even use our JR lunch voucher.  Too much other good food that we didn't want the heavy greasy meal.

As soon as I saw that cabin and it has sunlight, at the price it was I jumped on it. It looks like a fun room in a pretty cool location. The little love seat in front of the window looks like a nice place to sit and look at the scenery. 

[dsvd79]

I got the boardwalk balcony room because of the free soda package.  I have Oasis booked for 2021.  If I wanted to go with the Ocean balcony it is $300 more.  

[John&LaLa]

19 minutes ago, gatour said:

Cheapest wine by the glass on board ship is $11.80 including service fees.

 

Where do you get get a glass of wine for $3.50 on board>

 

While the bottle of wine is shlock. you would still get 4+ glasses out of it, for $47.20.  Doing lunch at Jamie's is about a $50 value.  An appropriate OBC would be $100.

 

I currently have no skin in the game, but if I booked under the former terms, I would be a bit irked.

 

Apparently the Royal Executive Team disagrees with you. 

 

And I'm fairly certain there are $8 wines onboard and $20 bottles. Plus 18% gratuity of course.

 

I never said wine was $3.50, we were talking retail prices

[danv3]

This is a surprisingly anti-guest decision.  Clearly people booked based on these promised perks.  RCI should, at a minimum, honor them on existing reservations.  

[JAMESCC]

2 minutes ago, danv3 said:

This is a surprisingly anti-guest decision.  Clearly people booked based on these promised perks.  RCI should, at a minimum, honor them on existing reservations.  

Yeah to not honor already booked perks is even lower than RCI usually is. Pretty ridiculous really. Its not hard to just honor current bookings. Its wrong either way but this is way wrong.

[Joebucks]

It would be nice if for once, a company could just be honest. Although the public would get too butt hurt with the truth.

 

"We have changed it because we don't need to give away the farm anymore. People will book the rooms regardless"

[Host Jacquelyn]

I just received the official email, very disappointing.

[Host Jacquelyn]

Who writes their copy anyway? Their email reads, as a consolation prize,  "And, you'll still be able to enjoy incredible views of our distinct neighborhood from your stateroom. "

 

Really? They will not take those away too?

[WeMissSeaView]

I have also heard a lot of complaints about noise for CP and BW cabins.  Just got off of the Allure doing a BtB this month, and the ocean balcony was great.  I want to see ocean, not a wall of balconies. 

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, Judyrem said:

I had planned to take my granddaughter again on Oasis class ship's summer cruise, but I decided the prices were too high.

We are going to La Jolla/San Diego for a week with Airbnb plus airfare, we are coming in at 3200$ 

 

There are alternatives to cruise travel for me.  Hear that Royal?  I am sure they don't care.😏

Nope, been consistently filling all their ships above 105% capacity. Last time I was on Royal ship wasnt full was months after 9/11. Still when my kids were younger was cheaper spend week at Disney. Now the Cruise is Cheaper

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

Who writes their copy anyway? Their email reads, as a consolation prize,  "And, you'll still be able to enjoy incredible views of our distinct neighborhood from your stateroom. "

 

Really? They will not take those away too?

Dont give them any ideas. Known to add cabins anywhere. Just wall off those cabins and fill in the park areas with more

[rabidstoat]

2 hours ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

Who writes their copy anyway? Their email reads, as a consolation prize,  "And, you'll still be able to enjoy incredible views of our distinct neighborhood from your stateroom. "

 

Really? They will not take those away too?

 

Somewhat related story: I work for a very large 100,000+ person company and there are rules for everything, including who is allowed to have a window in their cube or office. You have to have a certain level of seniority in employee rank to get one.

 

There was one location that had a lot of cubicles with windows, and not enough employees who were senior enough in rank to be 'allowed' to have one. So what they did, to be 'fair', was put those employees in the window cubicles and then covered the windows so that they didn't let any light in and you couldn't see out, effectively 'removing' the window!

 

Now don't tell Royal about that....