Discounts... really?

[st5310]

Good day all,

 

I was investigating a Liberty of the Seas sailing, August 29-Sept 7, 2024, Canada/New England in a Grand Suite. There seems to be no difference between the regular pricing and the discounted pricing when factoring in C&A, state (PA), military, and senior discounts.  For the aforementioned sailing, total price listed without discounts is $9085.46.  WITH discounts the price is $9085.46.  I thought maybe the discounts would be subtracted at the payment step, but it does not appear that's the case.

 

What is your take on this?  Am I not reading the pricing correctly?

[loman]

RC is not in the discounting business much these days .

[Spudd]

Those discounts aren't always active. If they are active, there is a different fare class that gets applied. But on this sailing, none of them are active, so the only pricing available is the prevailing public rate.

[smokeybandit]

Military/state/senior discounts don't apply to all cruises. C&A discounts may apply, but are rarely stackable against the current promo

[HicksRA]

My take is that there’s no way I’d spend $9k on a GS on Liberty….  Even if they gave me a 4 or 5 hundred $ discount off of that. Is that for two pax?  

[PhillyFan33579]

I have never seen a military discount reduce a fare on any RCI cruise I have booked. Just an FYI, I have gotten a military discount on every Celebrity cruise I have booked. 

[st5310]

Good replies, folks, thank you.  To HicksRA: yes, the price is for two.  I would spend $9K in a GS on Liberty, or most any other ship, but the sailing would need to be longer than 9 days.  For that length, I agree.

[GJustice]

I was playing with a mock booking yesterday and the website was wonkier than usual. I had to reload the payment page a couple of times then go back a couple of pages and forward again for it to show the discounts that DO apply. The first couple of times, the numbers listed didn't match the totals. Finally loaded all the numbers and they totalled correctly.

[deliver42]

I haven't had on of their supposed discounts in years. State, Military, C&A. Nothing

[Tatka]

11 hours ago, HicksRA said:

My take is that there’s no way I’d spend $9k on a GS on Liberty….  Even if they gave me a 4 or 5 hundred $ discount off of that. Is that for two pax?  

I think it’s good people want to spend it. Please don’t discourage. 

[joeyancho]

$9000 ??  That's crazy

Try MSC Yacht Club for way less and better everything ....

[cruiseguy1016]

I don't qualify for the military discount but I do qualify for the first responder discount and I have gotten that several times.

Edited October 29, 2023 by cruiseguy1016

[smokeybandit]

I've never paid 9k for a suite for 3 people, none the less 2.  

[toxicfairy]

8 hours ago, joeyancho said:

$9000 ??  That's crazy

Try MSC Yacht Club for way less and better everything ....

We did one msc cruise and wouldn't do it again if it was free. It was that bad!

[joeyancho]

10 hours ago, toxicfairy said:

We did one msc cruise and wouldn't do it again if it was free. It was that bad!

I have taken one also and loved it.  Sorry you had a lousy time.   I guess if everyone liked the same thing there would only be one flavor of ice cream.  Bon Voyage.

[firefly333]

5 minutes ago, joeyancho said:

I have taken one also and loved it.  Sorry you had a lousy time.   I guess if everyone liked the same thing there would only be one flavor of ice cream.  Bon Voyage.

These are the royalcaribbean threads lol. No surprise they prefer rcl. It's like me saying I prefer rcl over on the carnival pages. .. falls on deaf ears. 

[ONECRUISER]

On 10/28/2023 at 12:23 PM, PhillyFan33579 said:

I have never seen a military discount reduce a fare on any RCI cruise I have booked. Just an FYI, I have gotten a military discount on every Celebrity cruise I have booked. 

I have, used it many times on Royal Ships in last 10yrs. At times its offered few months before Cruise, more often at 6-12months as seems to be available more when they are trying fill Ships... Just looked at my last yrs Cruises, received it 3 times since Oct 2022

Edited October 30, 2023 by ONECRUISER

[Tree_skier]

18 hours ago, joeyancho said:

$9000 ??  That's crazy

Try MSC Yacht Club for way less and better everything ....

Better everything is subjective but far from cheaper...

 

[joeyancho]

41 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Better everything is subjective but far from cheaper...

 

I have a deluxe balcony suite (not really a suite, just a big room).  On the December 2 sailing of the MSC Seascape.   Includes the premium drink package, private lounge,  private pool,  private dining room with upgraded offerings,  such as filet mignon available every night,  unlimited access to thermal spa,  24 hr concierge,  own personal butler and on and on.  Price: $3100 for wife and me.   I would say better..

Edited October 30, 2023 by joeyancho

[st5310]

I have looked at MSC cruises, Yacht Club in particular, and it does look like a pretty good deal.  Some of the comments on CruiseCritic complain about crowding, food, and long waits, but I'll admit one can find similar complaints about Royal as well.  We are, however, moving closer to Pinnacle, which is arguably one of the better top tier levels in the industry, so it seems more sensible for us to book Royal over others.

Joeyancho, could I trouble you for a few more details on that $3100 price you quoted?  Did you book a Yacht Club cabin?  May I ask how you were able to get all those perks for that price (premium drink package, private lounge, private pool, private dining room with upgraded offerings, unlimited access to thermal spa, 24 hr concierge, personal butler, etc.)? 

 

$9K for 9 days in a Grand Suite is not a crazy price, considering what is included.  I was only making the point in my original post that the discounts were not applied.  But even had they applied them, the price would not have been reduced by that much.  That price is generally competitive with other similar suites on mass market ships.  As everybody on these Boards knows, pricing depends on length, time of year, cabin size, etc.

 

Again, I appreciate all your replies.  Thank you for taking the time.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tree_skier]

13 hours ago, joeyancho said:

I have a deluxe balcony suite (not really a suite, just a big room).  On the December 2 sailing of the MSC Seascape.   Includes the premium drink package, private lounge,  private pool,  private dining room with upgraded offerings,  such as filet mignon available every night,  unlimited access to thermal spa,  24 hr concierge,  own personal butler and on and on.  Price: $3100 for wife and me.   I would say better..

But not really helpful to the OP since they are looking for a Canada New England sailing in late August / early Sept. in a Grand suite. Your cabin is more comparable to a Jr suite.  

 

You can't just pick random sailing, in a random cabin at a random time and call that a fair comparison.

[st5310]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

But not really helpful to the OP since they are looking for a Canada New England sailing in late August / early Sept. in a Grand suite. Your cabin is more comparable to a Jr suite.  

 

You can't just pick random sailing, in a random cabin at a random time and call that a fair comparison.

Good point.  I agree.

[Traveler1977]

In the past, being a Florida resident has gotten me discounts on Caribbean cruises out of PortMiami. Haven’t found these same discounts being applied recently. I suspect most of these discounts are only available when bookings are slow to encourage locals to sail at a discounted price. With bookings up, I’m not sure we’ll be seeing these discounts much in the near future.