New Royal Caribbean Pricing Policy

[bUU]

Cruise lines will still compete with each other, and indeed compete on price. This doesn't affect that.

[nosnobunny]

And if their prices are similar and I no longer need a TA can you please explain to me how I come out of this a winner? :confused:

Beth

[Ted]

Leosmom has hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what seems to be the cruise lines' intent. Encourage individuals to book directly with the cruise lines so that they will not have to pay commissions.

It used to be not long ago that the cruise lines would not even accept direct bookings. Now, they are trying to eliminate the middle man, and keep their share.

The cruise lines' talk about protecting agencies is one of the most cynical pieces of *%#@% that I have heard in a long time.

[smeyer418]

Of course the intent is to reduce or elimate TA's. That is what the airlines did years ago. The difference here is the TA's for the most part make the market doing most of the bookings not the cruiselines directly. Over the last few years the internet and discounting has become the norm not the exception. The discount brokers have taken over a large portion of the market...I am not sure of what that percentage is. Note that the hotel chains now offer internet only rates that are less than you can book directly or are even available to TA's and so do the airlines. You won't see the end of discounting because the cruise lines still want to fill their ships and will use their own direct marketing(the internet) to lower the fares and as the balance of the number of people who book directly and book through travel agents changes, the travel agency and agents will lose all their power and the cruiselines will cut their commisions and them out all together just like the airlines. IMO anyway. Those agencies that asked for this change can't see the forest for the trees also in my opinion.

[bUU]

And the consumer's benefit is higher assurance that they're getting the best price available.

[xpcdoojk]

OMG, I actually agree with smeyer and Bicker.

jc<------ off to see a psychiatrist.:D

[Ocean Boy]

I thought that I sent you off to the psychiatrist long ago. ;)

[nosnobunny]

No OB. We've been telling him to do just that but so far he's ignoring us. :p :D

Beth

[xpcdoojk]

jc<----- decided to save his money and decided to go to the golf course instead.:p


jc<----- figures it won't last.:D


jc<------ wonders what Mr Tractor and the FOMT think of this that might change his mind!:D

[vossjemi]

[quote name='xpcdoojk']jc<----- decided to save his money and decided to go to the golf course instead.:p


jc<----- figures it won't last.:D


jc<------ wonders what Mr Tractor and the FOMT think of this that might change his mind!:D[/QUOTE]
They say golf is a form of therapy, don't they?:D can you believe its only in the 60s in august? Weird summer weather!!!

[Apex Cruiser]

Good TA's are going to find a million ways around this very quickly.

They will offer discounts on things like airfare, pre and post cruise hotels. They will offer more "group cruises" to offer lower rates to regular customers.

RCI has no way to regulate these things so long as the cruise price is the same. So I'll be looking for my TA to be creative. If they are not I will find one who is.

This will be a problem for the smaller TA's without the volume and means to offer perks in other areas. It will actually speed up consolidation of agencies who do cruise booking as only the strong will be able to survive.

[Maria65]

[quote]They will offer more "group cruises" to offer lower rates to regular customers.
[/quote]

I raised this issue before. An agency could book a block of 50 cabins per cruise and thus be able to advertise a discount price because it is a group booking. They can hold these cabins until 70 days prior to sailing. Couldn't this backfire on RCI if they end up with a lot of agencies doing this and returning cabins as unsold? I'm just asking, I have little knowledge of how the business works.

[SUSANITA]

[QUOTE]They can hold these cabins until 70 days prior to sailing [/QUOTE]
Actually, I am pretty sure that the cruiseline can "take back" any unused group space whenever they want. They also may only allow TA's to block out a smaller number of cabins now, to assure that this doesnt happen.

[triathlete]

RCL may be telling travel agents today that they won't allow discounting, but that doesn't make it legal. It's clearly an anti-trust violation.

RCL either went off without consulting their lawyers, or their bluffing and won't enforce.

Carnival, on the other hand, got good legal advice, and stopped short of telling agents what to charge.

Discounts are a long way from dead....

[smeyer418]

again if you read above its not illegal..you think they did not vet this through their lawyers before issuing it? A principal call tell an agent what they can charge.

[J Diddy]

[quote name='Leosmom']for clarifying RCI's new policy. Now, can you tell us why we
would need an agency when your pricing would have to be set at
the same price we would find on RCI's website and you cannot
discount or rebate? Seems to me we will not need an agency
in booking future cruises with Royal Caribbean or Celebrity.[/QUOTE]

Just remember There are other GREAT cruiselines out there that want you. It now seems RCI&CEL do not.

Look at the economy, people want value for the dollar bill spent!

Its bad enough they nickel and dime you when you are on board!!

I have my 2 last RCI cruises already booked and I will make sure I will tighten up on the sea pass card when onboard, yes I will sneak my booze on board just out of spite!

How do you spell anti trust!!!!

Yea pissed!

[cruiseco]

[quote name='Maria65']I raised this issue before. An agency could book a block of 50 cabins per cruise and thus be able to advertise a discount price because it is a group booking. They can hold these cabins until 70 days prior to sailing. Couldn't this backfire on RCI if they end up with a lot of agencies doing this and returning cabins as unsold? I'm just asking, I have little knowledge of how the business works.[/QUOTE]

Quite often a group contract will contain a clause prohibiting advertising of the rates to anyone not a target of the group promotion. For example, if it's a square dancing group you can pass out flyers at the local dances and advertise in a square dance publication. But you can't put an ad for those cabins in the Sunday paper or on the internet at the reduced rate.

This has always been the case and the cruise lines have always had means of preventing abuse. One thing the cruise lines do not want is travel agencies controlling blocks of space at reduced rates unless they are targeted to a specific pool of potential clients.

[triathlete]

Smeyer:

Personally I'm no lawyer, but I do happen to have one of the top anti-trust experts in the US in the family, and he's had several supplier/distributor cases with similar facts. Believe me, you can't tell people what to charge, and you certainly can't tell them what to do with money that belongs to them if they want to rebate.

If you need more proof, look at Carnival's announcement and Dickinson's comments--they were very careful to stop short of telling anyone how to actually price.

You'll also notice--even in the info. that the Best Price Cruises guy posted--none of the WRITTEN information says you can't discount. When the actual policies come out, you can bet they won't say that either.

The ad ban will stick, but the "no discounting" will go away, mark my words...

[Gillian2]

I have received two emails and the one with the most information is [email]promos@mycruiseclub.com[/email]. I have NEVER booked with them, but they provide a link so that you can read Royal Caribbean's statement. I cannot cut, paste and forward it onto this board, but maybe someone can. It is most interesting.
I am told from another agency that they will still be able to rebate part of their commission, and the statement from RCCL states that agencies with block bookings will (for the time being) still be able to discount cruises.
Hope this helps.
Gillian2

[bUU]

[quote name='triathlete']RCL may be telling travel agents today that they won't allow discounting, but that doesn't make it legal. It's clearly an anti-trust violation.[/QUOTE]That's incorrect. You may want to read some of the messages from folks who know the law.

[wblynch]

[quote name='pslron']

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=4][COLOR=SandyBrown]As Executive Director of Best Price Cruises...[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[/QUOTE]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=4][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]So does this mean you'll have to change your name to "SAME Price Cruises" ??[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT] :)

.

[wblynch]

Boy I can see the reaction already when people start calling RCCL directly to book their cruises and get their calls answered by a bunch of people in India.

RCCL better keep things the way they are and continue enjoying their market leading reputation.

Cost cutting only leads one direction.

GET OUT (of) THERE

[bUU]

Cost-cutting is like any other management strategy. It can be applied with good effect or with bad effect. Presuming it can only have negative results for the company is not rational.

[wblynch]

I don't neccessarily presume it will have negative effects for the company. I presume it will have negative effects for the CUSTOMER.

(although I've seen all too often where it ends up in disaster for the company).

RCCL's product is intangible. It is the enjoyment of the customer. They are obviously not in the transportation industry. They are only indirectly in the hotel and restaurant industry.

RCCL is in the entertainment industry. They live by the repeat customer. The customer has a certain level of expectation for their experience. If that experience is ruined, there goes the customer.

Experience is a fine, difficult to measure line. I have read of returning passengers that became incensed only because a bartender or waiter didn't smile at them or appeared aloof.

What will happen to those formerly happy customers if they have to wrestle with foreign customer service representatives that can't get their dinner seating or cabin requests correct?

One false step and that customer is lost.

RCCL has had a pretty good formula up until now. Lots of happy, loyal customers. Happy Travel Agents that enthusiastically referred their customers to RCCL. Full Ships, even with 9 new ships introduced in less than 5 years.

Mess with that formula and see what can happen.

--------

Just like the economy. Fine Balance. Clinton had the economy going great until GW Bush had to mess with the controls. Now Look.

[bUU]

You might have just convinced me of the opposite of what you were trying to say. Indians are incredibly polite, as compared to most American customer service workers I've interacted with over the last year. While there is no reason to think this idea of using Indias for customer service ever has or will come up at RCI (and I have to wonder what the person who brought it up was thinking, but whatever), if it were to come about, I'm not so sure it wouldn't be better for both cruise line and passenger.