DublinFC

From what I’ve heard the acquisition rate for the DX is somewhere around 20% on average.  
Royal is totally into data analytics.  This increase wasn’t done to make up for this or that, it’s because the numbers support it or there is other reasoning behind it.
They will constantly test to see what the market will bear.  
It also creates an opportunity for sale events that appear to be really great deals which will increase acquisition rates.  If the new normal is $85 on board then a cruise planner sale comes along at $56 that will appear to be a great deal and large numbers will be motivated to jump on that deal where as today $56 is or was on the high end.
Plenty of new, never cruised before make the mistake of buying drinks as they go and having large bar bills. That’s not a bad worst case scenario for Royal.  
The majority of cruisers are not Diamond or higher.   The acquisition rate of DX for this small segment of their customer base will likely not change very much.   However people may be motivated more for a push to achieve Diamond for the free happy hour drinks which are immensely popular.   
Another worst case scenario is the trial proves to be in error and they lower prices again or offer more sales promotions.  
Perhaps they have plans to offer Celebrity like perk bundles which are popular on Celebrity.   By raising DX prices the perks will appear to have greater value. 

I was thinking the same thing.  We started cruising again last year after many years of all-inclusive because my husband got a free cruise from a casino.  We have achieved Emerald already and continue to travel on free cruises.  When we previously cruised we did Carnival and NCL and I really loved NCL as they were the first Freestyle.  So hubby got a free certificate for NCL and we will be going over Thanksgiving to see how it compares.  We got the free beverage package and other perks so our cruise cost us a little over $900 for both of us.  Drink package on RCCL would cost us about $800.  That being said I would not pay the $100 a day NCL charges without the free perk.  I'm thinking RCCL might be losing me as a package customer if the packages keep up this high.  $50 is where I feel my limit is.  Usually we have two free cabins so hubby could purchase it in his cabin because he drinks more but I will skip and pay as I go.  If it is just hubby and I then we would buy it because we would be in the same cabin.  Seven more nights and I will get Diamond drinks plus I get free casino drinks so I will just be more selective when I drink my alcohol.  I think a giant price jump in packages may cause people to at least try other lines such as NCL. 

OK, two points of clarification here. First off, if I understood @tiny260 correctly he just means that whether Royal raises the package price higher than he's willing to pay or not, he'll continue sailing with Royal because the overall product / experience is still superior. I did not in any way see him saying he'd continue to buy the package if it got too expensive.
And apologies to all for hijacking the thread momentarily, but please do not say that iPhone sales stopped being their largest revenue generator because they got too expensive and people stopped buying them. The iPhone is not just the Xs, Xs Max, and Xr -- Apple continues to sell the iPhone 8 as the "low end" phone, had the fairly cheap (and comparatively tiny) iPhone SE up until last month, and even has a fairly steady supply of refurbished 7 models up for sale. My mother-in-law just bought an iPhone 8 after being on a "dumb phone" for most of her cell-phone-owning time. There are still a lot of phones being sold, it's just been slowing down as the market hits saturation and the models from five years ago hit the "good enough" point for most consumers that upgrading every two years no longer seemed like a no-brainer. I'm exhibit A on this. An iPhone Xr or Xs Max is not "too expensive" for me, but the improvements outside the camera are so incremental for how I use my phone daily that I continue to hold on to my nearly four-year-old iPhone 6s Plus. So does my mom and my older daughter (who bought hers refurbished about a year and a half after I got mine).
I've been an investor in Apple since 2000, and I pay attention to every earnings call and quarterly report to make sure staying invested in them is the right course. Apple has been saying for almost two years now on their quarterly earnings calls that phone sales were hitting a plateau and would stop being a majority revenue driver, and that they were pivoting to services as a new revenue driver because the writing was on the wall. Frankly, I'm amazed that it took this long for the iPhone revenue percentage to start dropping, because the phones really have been at the "good enough" level for most people since about 5 years ago. Samsung is also getting hit by the slowdown in sales, but unlike Apple they have no problem with going into the "low end" of the market where a $200 throwaway phone is the norm. They're trying to "make it up in volume", but even they're feeling the effects of a saturated market.
OK, rant over and thread back to the topic of Royal charging too darn much for us to get our drink on. ?

This is clearly what RCL is hoping for, they can raise the prices to whatever they want and people will keep paying it.  Worked well for APPLE for years and now the IPHONE is not even their largest revenue generator

Not after September.  It will begin to offer the same misleading marketing enjoyed on other ships in NCL fleet.
https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/21130-norwegian-ends-open-bar-on-sun-and-sky.html

Isn't that ship an "Open Bar" ship where everyone that boards can partake?
True, and even more so on the Sky.  But with Free at Sea, you can swap drinks for gratuities, specialty restaurants, etc. which gives non-drinkers some relief.

We've been on  3 7N Breakaway cruises at costs of $119, $191, & $134 pppd.  We had the free drinks and it worked out just fine for us.  I don't remember having trouble getting a drink anywhere.  I know what you mean about NCL's ridiculous drink package price if you actually buy it.  It's been talked about on the Cruise Radio podcast and they surmised like I did that NO one actually buys it.  They concluded it was just pushed up to inflate the Free at Sea advertised savings value.
Either way you choose, I think the two different models are interesting and have value.  That said, I don't think NCL's ships (or anyone else's) can compete with RCL's.

My understanding is that the NCL Sky will no longer include drinks.  I recall seeing an announcement that after a certain date the free drinks are gone.  
Nothing is free on any ship.  It might be included, but you pay for everything on a ship that is included.
Don't believe for a minute that NCL is operating with lower profit margins.  No business is going to leave money on the table.  Creative marketing at it's finest.  
The disadvantage is for people who don't drink.  They help to pay for everyone else's libations.  

If it has any effect at all, I'd assume it would only be one factor among many. I looked at NCL last year for a possible January 2020 sailing on the Bliss out of NYC for a 12-night Caribbean sailing, and the price with the "Free at Sea" perks (drink pkg, internet, whatever the third was) was IIRC very close / slightly less than a 12-night Anthem sailing with the then-current DX package pricing and internet. But it wasn't enough to make me book, as I had reservations about the ship, especially the notoriously small balconies compared to Royal along with the equally notoriously wonky bathroom layout their balcony rooms had. Combine that with reading a blog from someone who sailed another Breakaway class ship and had less-than-flattering things to say about the lack of public spaces and difficulty finding a place outside the cabin to sit and relax, and that was the final nail in the coffin for me.
I imagine that anyone looking at "jumping ship" from Royal to NCL would likewise be looking at the total set of differences and not just a jump in package pricing. As @twangster has pointed out regularly, only a very small percentage of cruisers on any Royal sailing (<5% average IIRC) actually buy the package. If the "pick up" is that small, I have to assume that any bump in "defections" would be due to factors well outside a package price change.

I think you would love Oasis amped or not, I've been on Allure 3 times, Oasis 1, Harmony 1, going on Harmony in October for #2 , have Symphony scheduled for 2020, Oasis 2021 and Allure again in 2021. To be fair I have Freedom schedule for a B2B in 2020, that will be my 4th and 5th time on her. 

Ive sailed NCL and Disney.  Disney only had 1 thing I liked about it.  The DCL sailing hooked me on cruising.  I really enjoyed NCL, but I am stoked about trying Royal. 

Oh yeah again that's why I said "free" because its in the cost somewhere.  When the overall cost is lower due to the different perks it could pull business away no matter how good the value of the overall cruise is with RC.  I am 100% looking forward to sailing with RC.  I want to see how awesome Oasis is going to be like after her Amplification.  I am really excited to see Perfect Day as well.

yeah that's why its "free".  there is a gratuity charge that comes with that perk, same as with the RC package.

@Matt @WAAAYTOOO @Lovetocruise2002 @JLMoran
Added a few tags for this question.
Do you think the rise in the package will drive cruisers over to NCL where its "free"?  When we were planning our honeymoon cruise in 2017 we booked with RC originally.  I looked at NCL because friends of ours really enjoyed NCL.  Their fare was cheaper with the perks they offered.  Our daughter's fare cost us the taxes for her fare and our drinks were covered with the "free drinks" perk.  I called RC to see if they would cut a deal to keep our business and I was told no.  I wasn't expecting one, but thought why not try. 
So again will people balk at the price of the drink package and "jump ship"?  I am just wondering your thoughts.  I know RC is a business and money is needed to keep providing the entertainment value people expect with RC.

I get what you are saying and I agree, you have to find a product you like and probably stick with it, I've tried NCL, Princess and Disney, I chose Royal.
We've all seen the post on here from people that post 1 time then they are gone, Royal probably wasn't for them.
I've actually started DVR'ing a show on AWE channel called "Dream Cruises" I'm probably way behind on this, seems like it's been out there for awhile, but it has opened my eyes to a few things, mostly things that I'm really glad that Royal does the way they do them, also ports of call, there are some really beautiful places out there and places I saw that I said, no way I do not want to go there, even saw a ship that is half cruise ship and half cargo ship, it cruises really tiny ports in the South Pacific, looked really cool though.

Wen I was looking into that the "free" cost me close to $200.

I think @Matt will point this out, free is not free, you are paying for it someplace. I think the decision that people will have to make is do they enjoy the product that Royal is delivering.
I personally like what Royal is selling, so I plan to keep sailing Royal no matter what the drink price is. I may jump over to Celebrity but I will stay loyal to Royal.
I happen to be Diamond plus, so I get the 3 free drinks and the Diamond happy hour every night, but I still bought the drink package on the Anthem GC and probably will buy it on my next cruise in October.
 

I understand gratuity charges but it seemed horribly mislabeled to me.

totally got you. Also, even if you were, that's not for anyone to tell you not to! It's basically what @tiny260 said, you're always paying for it somewhere. A good product and a good deal will work...perks, just for the sake of calling them perks, aren't reason enough to get me to do anything, whether it's RC or another cruise line.

^^^Bingo!  This sums up my thinking exactly.  The hike in drink package prices does not affect my thoughts that Royal offers the best overall package for what my family enjoys in cruising.  It might force me to reconsider buying the drink package but not stop cruising Royal.

100% agree with the mislabeling.  I was annoyed when I saw it later, I still saved on the sailing though.  Also, I want to be clear I am not advocating to change brands or anything.  I am just curious what others are thinking about it :)

^^^totally agree.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/01/28/spotted-updated-diamond-happy-hour-drink-menu
Do you hit Diamond on your December 2020 cruise?  If so, you have to wait till the next cruise to enjoy Diamond benefits.
If you are already Diamond going into the December cruise, then the benefits will be loaded onto your seapass card.

Yes, when when you hit Diamond C&A status you are entitled to a limited drink menu during early evening hours.  See @Lovetocruise2002's link for the menu.  On the Anthem it ran from 4:30PM to 8PM with two ways to obtain free drinks.  1) In the Diamond lounge where you enjoy as many free drinks as you want along with appetizers.  2) Each night you get 3 free drink credits loaded onto your sea pass card.  You can retrieve those drinks at any bar, but they expire at 8PM each night.  IMO, this is the best cruise loyalty rewards perk available.

I'm seeing this as well - this is an INSANE price increase. Maybe a sharp raise before an incoming sale?