Kids sail free

[Ckappes]

Hello I’m trying to book our first cruise with our kids on royal Caribbean with the kids sail free. I noticed when I just enter me and my wife our cruise fair is $356 each, but when I add in our two young children their fee is $286 which does get subtracted with the kids sail free deal, but mine and my wife’s cruise fair goes up to $616 each. So really we actually aren’t saving any money. Am I doing something wrong here?

[sparks1093]

The only thing that I can think of is you still need to pay the taxes and fees for the 3rd and 4th passengers, but that should show clearly in the accounting.

[navybankerteacher]

13 minutes ago, Ckappes said:

Hello I’m trying to book our first cruise with our kids on royal Caribbean with the kids sail free. I noticed when I just enter me and my wife our cruise fair is $356 each, but when I add in our two young children their fee is $286 which does get subtracted with the kids sail free deal, but mine and my wife’s cruise fair goes up to $616 each. So really we actually aren’t saving any money. Am I doing something wrong here?

The only thing you are doing wrong is completely believing the pitch that lures you in.  "Free" appears in many cruise line ads.

[LHT28]

31 minutes ago, Ckappes said:

Hello I’m trying to book our first cruise with our kids on royal Caribbean with the kids sail free. I noticed when I just enter me and my wife our cruise fair is $356 each, but when I add in our two young children their fee is $286 which does get subtracted with the kids sail free deal, but mine and my wife’s cruise fair goes up to $616 each. So really we actually aren’t saving any money. Am I doing something wrong here?

Call RCL or your TA & have them work out a quote  for you

 Usually  the kids will still pay port taxes & fees

[Flatbush Flyer]

6 minutes ago, Ckappes said:

Hello I’m trying to book our first cruise with our kids on royal Caribbean with the kids sail free. I noticed when I just enter me and my wife our cruise fair is $356 each, but when I add in our two young children their fee is $286 which does get subtracted with the kids sail free deal, but mine and my wife’s cruise fair goes up to $616 each. So really we actually aren’t saving any money. Am I doing something wrong here?

Possibly.

Do your research and find a well-respected, cruise specialist Travel Agency that does a lot of Royal Caribbean bookings and who will add other perks to your deal (e.g., gratuities coverage, commission sharing, etc.).

 

That said, if what you figured is correct, the “kids sail free” deal, saves you about $50. And when you check the fine print, you may find something like “only their fare is ‘free’ but not their port taxes and related fees.”

 

If nothing else, you are getting an introduction to the nickel/diming practices of many mass market cruise lines.

 

And FWIW, do the true math on your required and anticipated costs. When comparing cruise lines, particularly across industry segments (e.g., mass market, premium, luxury, etc), you need to account for ALL of your required and optionally preferred purchases (e.g., gratuities, beverages w/wo booze, internet, specialty restaurants, airfare et al.)

 

Different lines and industry segments include different things in that base fare. And, if you do decide that you’ll continue cruising, computing these expenses and then dividing them by the number of cruise days will give you a “net daily rate” which is a far more accurate picture of what you are truly paying.
 

We used to cruise on mass market lines (in fact, about 25 years ago, we took our young daughter on a Royal Caribbean cruise just because of the kids club reputation (no Disney ships at that time). Over time, once we figured that it was better to use “net daily rate” and consideration of the comparable quality of food, service, cabin amenities in our decision process, we moved on to the “premium” cruise lines which, for our needs/wants provided far better value and enjoyment.

Go find a good TA!

[Flatbush Flyer]

26 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

…that should show clearly in the accounting.

Not necessarily.

Unlike air travel, the cruise industry is not yet fully regulated for pricing practices (I.e., disaggregating each cost item). Some cruise lines state only the bottom line fare and do not state port taxes/fees as separate line items. However, it may be possible to request a separate accounting if you want to try to recoup taxes from a replaced port stop. (Note however that what you lose in not getting the missed port tax refund often may be a wash with the taxes you will not be charged for the new port).

 

 

[ColeThornton]

1 hour ago, Ckappes said:

Hello I’m trying to book our first cruise with our kids on royal Caribbean with the kids sail free. I noticed when I just enter me and my wife our cruise fair is $356 each, but when I add in our two young children their fee is $286 which does get subtracted with the kids sail free deal, but mine and my wife’s cruise fair goes up to $616 each. So really we actually aren’t saving any money. Am I doing something wrong here?

 

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Here is the link to the RCL forum which is where you will want to ask questions/research pertaining to that line:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Not necessarily.

Unlike air travel, the cruise industry is not yet fully regulated for pricing practices (I.e., disaggregating each cost item). Some cruise lines state only the bottom line fare and do not state port taxes/fees as separate line items. However, it may be possible to request a separate accounting if you want to try to recoup taxes from a replaced port stop. (Note however that what you lose in not getting the missed port tax refund often may be a wash with the taxes you will not be charged for the new port).

 

 

True enough, I did a faux booking and they just show the total of everything. Other cruise lines that I've been on break it down by passenger. (and the faux booking did show the total taxes and fees going from $235 for two people to $470 for four).

Edited December 29, 2022 by sparks1093

[Ashland]

The KSF has worked out great for our extended family every time it's been offered for one of our cruises. Actually it's saved "me" quite a bit....as recently as a couple of times this year and will when we sail with them again in 2024.

[iuki]

Curiosity question:  When “KidsSailFree”, does a single parent with 2 children qualify, or does the single parent pay for 2 adults and only one child sails free?

[DukeASUGirl]

5 minutes ago, iuki said:

Curiosity question:  When “KidsSailFree”, does a single parent with 2 children qualify, or does the single parent pay for 2 adults and only one child sails free?

It's 1 kid under 12 per adult. So if it's 1 adult with 2 kids, then you're paying for 2 adults and only 1 kid is free.

[Ourusualbeach]

11 hours ago, Ckappes said:

Hello I’m trying to book our first cruise with our kids on royal Caribbean with the kids sail free. I noticed when I just enter me and my wife our cruise fair is $356 each, but when I add in our two young children their fee is $286 which does get subtracted with the kids sail free deal, but mine and my wife’s cruise fair goes up to $616 each. So really we actually aren’t saving any money. Am I doing something wrong here?

A cabin for 2 is a different category than a cabin for 4 and is priced differently.

 

The only true way to compare costs is to price a cabin with 4 adults and conpare that to 2 adults and 2 kids.  Apples to apples.  

[Ourusualbeach]

28 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

It's 1 kid under 12 per adult. So if it's 1 adult with 2 kids, then you're paying for 2 adults and only 1 kid is free.

Not entirely correct. 

 

The first 2 guests are always treated as adults, after thst it is age based. Could be 1 adults and 3 kids then 2 kids would sail free. 

[nelblu]

10 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Not necessarily.

Unlike air travel, the cruise industry is not yet fully regulated for pricing practices (I.e., disaggregating each cost item). Some cruise lines state only the bottom line fare and do not state port taxes/fees as separate line items. However, it may be possible to request a separate accounting if you want to try to recoup taxes from a replaced port stop. (Note however that what you lose in not getting the missed port tax refund often may be a wash with the taxes you will not be charged for the new port).

 

 

On Royal web site after you choose your cabin you will see a line that will show you cruise fare & t& f by  individual. 
 

[iuki]

2 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

It's 1 kid under 12 per adult. So if it's 1 adult with 2 kids, then you're paying for 2 adults and only 1 kid is free.

Thank you for the info.  So, 12 and above is considered to be an adult.  I was just curious how that worked.  When we cruise, we don’t want to share our room with anyone. 😂. So I was asking in case my daughter, granddaughter, and the great-grandkids decided to join us on any cruise in the future.

[easyqueasy]

1 hour ago, iuki said:

Thank you for the info.  So, 12 and above is considered to be an adult.  I was just curious how that worked.  When we cruise, we don’t want to share our room with anyone. 😂. So I was asking in case my daughter, granddaughter, and the great-grandkids decided to join us on any cruise in the future.

I believe it’s 12 and under are free (for third and on passengers).

[DukeASUGirl]

20 hours ago, iuki said:

Thank you for the info.  So, 12 and above is considered to be an adult. 

Sorry if I wasn't clear. It's 13 and up. 12 is still considered a kid. Sorry if I phrased that weirdly before.

 

My daughter was 12 during the cruise we had to cancel. When we rebooked using the credit, she was still 12, but would be 13 by the time we sailed, which was annoying. But yes, she counted as an adult, so we have to pay for 3 adults and 1 kid now.

[jacobtsf]

As Ashland said above Kids Sail Free is one of the best deals Royal has (some might say one of the only true deals out there). You do have to make sure you are comparing TOTAL occupancy and correct room category. 
 

Two recent success stories!
 

My family did a British Isles cruise this past summer, that was originally supposed to be a Baltic cruise in 2020. After many changes due to Covid and then Putin, we finally had a cruise we were going to go on, and we noticed there was a Kids Sail Free promotion going on. Even though they say “new bookings only” they applied it to the cruise, and it dropped our total by over $1500. 
 

A similar thing happened with the cruise we will be taking this March from Barbados. We were Originally scheduled for one cruise, which Royal canceled. They emailed saying we could reschedule to certain other cruises with price guaranteed, I called with the new sailing we wanted. The woman on the phone said “by the way, there is a Kids Sail Free promotion” and added it. The original price for my wife and I remained the same, even though the new cruise was around $400 more per person, and my kid’s entire charge (minus taxes and port fees) was gone, a savings of around $900. 

[Ashland]

2 minutes ago, jacobtsf said:

As Ashland said above Kids Sail Free is one of the best deals Royal has (some might say one of the only true deals out there). You do have to make sure you are comparing TOTAL occupancy and correct room category. 
 

Two recent success stories!
 

My family did a British Isles cruise this past summer, that was originally supposed to be a Baltic cruise in 2020. After many changes due to Covid and then Putin, we finally had a cruise we were going to go on, and we noticed there was a Kids Sail Free promotion going on. Even though they say “new bookings only” they applied it to the cruise, and it dropped our total by over $1500. 
 

A similar thing happened with the cruise we will be taking this March from Barbados. We were Originally scheduled for one cruise, which Royal canceled. They emailed saying we could reschedule to certain other cruises with price guaranteed, I called with the new sailing we wanted. The woman on the phone said “by the way, there is a Kids Sail Free promotion” and added it. The original price for my wife and I remained the same, even though the new cruise was around $400 more per person, and my kid’s entire charge (minus taxes and port fees) was gone, a savings of around $900. 

We haven't ever had a problem applying the KSF option regardless of it being an already booked cruise when the KSF became available.

 

I completely agree the KSF is one of RCI's best offers. Glad it's worked out for you as well.

[cookingardener]

On 12/29/2022 at 10:19 AM, Ckappes said:

Hello I’m trying to book our first cruise with our kids on royal Caribbean with the kids sail free. I noticed when I just enter me and my wife our cruise fair is $356 each, but when I add in our two young children their fee is $286 which does get subtracted with the kids sail free deal, but mine and my wife’s cruise fair goes up to $616 each. So really we actually aren’t saving any money. Am I doing something wrong here?

I see the same when I try to do a booking.  And funny enough the difference is the room cost for each of the kids.  Total for 2 of us would be $1200, with 2 kids as well is just over $2000... The room charge for each of the kids is just over $400.  🤦‍♀️

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, cookingardener said:

I see the same when I try to do a booking.  And funny enough the difference is the room cost for each of the kids.  Total for 2 of us would be $1200, with 2 kids as well is just over $2000... The room charge for each of the kids is just over $400.  🤦‍♀️

You are not gomparing the same cabins or categories.  Cabins that hold 2 are a different category than those that hold 4.  Compare 4 adults to 2 adults and 2 kids. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Ourusualbeach

[DukeASUGirl]

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are not gomparing the same cabins or categories.  Cabins that hold 2 are a different category than those that hold 4.  Compare 4 adults to 2 adults and 2 kids. 

Yes, the only way to compare it is to compare 4 adults in a room (or 2 adults and 2 kids when there isn't a KSF sale) to 2 adults and 2 kids. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

The only time KSF has worked better for us is when we we were able to price match after we had booked. (Not normally available in the uk)

Every other time i have looked and compared it to a cruise i have been price watching the base fare of the adults has gone up to almost match what we would pay normally for a 3rd guest, ie child. 

[nelblu]

10 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

Sorry if I wasn't clear. It's 13 and up. 12 is still considered a kid. Sorry if I phrased that weirdly before.

 

My daughter was 12 during the cruise we had to cancel. When we rebooked using the credit, she was still 12, but would be 13 by the time we sailed, which was annoying. But yes, she counted as an adult, so we have to pay for 3 adults and 1 kid now.

Isn't amazing Royal considers 13 years of age an adult, but they are prevented from the Solarium.😜

[DukeASUGirl]

It's just annoying because we are ending up paying more for this cruise than what we had been paying, despite it being a cheaper cruise on a less desirable ship, just because she turned 13. Even though she won't eat anything other than grilled cheese the entire week because she still eats like a kid.

 

Not that I'm bitter or anything.