sk8erguy1978
-
Posts
1,034 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by sk8erguy1978
-
-
On 7/23/2019 at 9:58 PM, JLMoran said:
My upcoming Anthem sailing in October has been alternating between $56 (stock 20% off on-board price) and $52 (BOGO50 / 25% discount) since I booked the cruise over a year ago. Definitely nothing due to the $18/night intern error, just Royal raising the rates on all sailings for 2019.
Same for my September sailing on Anthem. I noticed my Harmony December 2020 sailing went up the other day to $60 for 20% (it was $56). Hopefully that goes back down a bit LOL!
7 hours ago, Hoski said:If a good sale comes up, let me know since I'm sailing at the same time.
My September sailing just had a 30% off sale so we cancelled the 25% (BOGO 1/2) and purchased at the lower price. I check weekly and allow Royal's marketing emails through my filters to stay on top of all sales. Good luck getting a good price!
-
Have a garage sale to get extra cash for a short sailing!
- Skid, Brobbins246 and Lovetocruise2002
-
1
-
2
-
-
On 7/18/2019 at 9:52 AM, AnnetteJackson said:
Just to add - i would check your account a few times during your cruise. I have been on cruises where mistakes were made and I was charged for things that were not mine. Its a lot of people on a ship- things happen. You will be able to check your account on your TV in the room. They are great about fixing things at Guest Services.
Cash Account - just know that requires you to go to the desk to close that out at the end of the cruise. I have seen people stopped on their way off the ship because they did not close their accounts out, or there were outstanding charges. I use a card for this, but typically do not have any charges on it - just easier than going to the desk on the last day of the cruise when the line is HUGE
^THIS. Same as a hotel. If you're able to use a credit card it will simplify your debarkation whether you buy anything or not. Before the drink package days I'd have a pretty nice looking bill so, one thing I've done is put a little of my unused/not lost/won gambling money (always cash) towards my account that was less than the total balance. Just because you use a credit card doesn't mean cash is no longer an option.
-
3 hours ago, JLMoran said:
Yup, Royal doesn’t seem to like having base prices that aren’t round dollar amounts. The real fun one is when the base works out to $65 and you then multiply by .7 to see what a theoretical 30% discount offer should be. You get $45.5, which leads to why some days showing a $46 sale price, and the next day it changes to $45 (this actually happened to me once).
I would totally cancel and re-purchase for the $1 (well $2 if I count my wife) dollar(s) a day savings!
-
44 minutes ago, twangster said:
Currently D+ gets 30% off which means I don't have to play the game seeking drink package sales and watching it every day. I can just board and get what is typically the cheapest you'll ever see in the cruise planner. Most cruise planner sales are 25% at best. Once in a while you can do better than 25%. The idea is to extend what they offer today to D+ to D, then bump D+ and P up to appease them.
There is no base drink package price. You can't use $70 as the base price for all cruises. Many are in the low 60's on board. It varies by cruise length and sail date. That's the heart of the issue, you don't really know what the basis of their discount are until you get on board and then it's too late to buy it in the cruise planner.
My last few cruises I've been able to reprice the "buy one get one half" (25% off) to 30% off that's why I was hoping for a few more. True you don't know the 'base' price for every sailing, my math comes directly from pricing my upcoming cruise drink package. You can calculate the base of the sale price with a simple formula. So, for example my current 30% off sale is $49 dollars a day, so the base price is:
Original price = X
Discount = 30%
Discount = 30% of x = .30x (or .3x).
Sale price = Original price - discount = x - .3X = .7x
Sale price - $49 = .7x
So...
x = 49/.7 = $70.
I've done this for each of the three different sales offered and the 25% off doesn't match $70 dollars.
At 20% the price was $56 dollars: $56/.8 = $70.
At 25% the price was $52 dollars: $52/.75 = $69.333333333333 repeating.
I suspect it's innocently just "rounding down" in our favor. Just curious if anyone else ever noticed it... OR am I the only geek that does this kinda stuff?
-
On 7/18/2019 at 12:31 PM, twangster said:
- Eliminate the Diamond happy hour binge drinking nightly event by removing it from the Diamond Lounge. This would solve the "How many Diamonds can you cram into a phone booth" effect in the lounge every night. Keep 3 drink coupons but expand the hours of use and quality of choices. Give Diamond members 30% off drink packages, move Diamond Plus to 40% off and Pinnacle to 50% off drink packages. Even at those rates there is still profit to be had. Currently many guests at these C&A levels don't buy drink packages or drinks at all, relying on the nightly happy hour for drinks. These changes would increase DX revenue and reduce happy hour costs, a combined win-win.
I like the idea of a few drink coupons for Diamond members, I'd still buy a drink package honestly, but it's nicer than rushing to the lounge just for a "free" drink. I like the discount of the drink package idea even more; only I'd suggest adding 5% to your suggestion for Diamond because 30% off is a popular sale that many wait for, as a Diamond member I'd rather know I got it a little less. Assuming $70 base price 35% is $45.50 vs $49, I'll take it!
*Side note: How does Royal calculate the buy one get one 1/2 off? My algebra say 20% ($56 a day) & 30%($49 a day) point to a $70 dollar base but 25% of $70 isn't $52 it's actually $52.50.
-
31 minutes ago, RWDW1204 said:
We agree with you. Have been on all 4 Oasis class ships, Freedom and Navigator. Like the bigger ones as opposed to the smaller ones, more to do but less ports to see. We're going back on Oasis in November and Symphony twice next year, so I guess we're definitely in the bigger ship group.
Only sailed Oasis when it was first released, been doing a lot of cruises out of NJ vs flying to ports. Next year we plan on doing the Harmony and while there is only 3 ports (one being Coco Cay) I am looking forward to the 3 sea days with two of them back-to-back! The ship & Coco Cay is our main destination.
Also been on Freedom, Explorer, Adventure, Anthem, love the variety of things to do on-board.
-
Today's tip: set a keyword filter to "unsubscribe" and send it elsewhere :). Although, because I was waiting for a 30% off drink package email, I allowed Royal's emails to get through the filter... so, I receive TONS of Royal Caribbean emails... D'oh! LOL.
-
My wife and I both are part of the larger ship fan base. To pick a favorite is extremely difficult, there is something about each ship I like. I'd say it's a coin flip Oasis or Freedom classes.
-
16 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:
but I hate that you don't get the extra points on a bid though.
I forgot about that. If you go from suite to another suite do you keep the double cruise points or lose them?
-
I'm in a Grand Suite on Anthem 5 day to Bermuda.
My offers were...
Owners Suite: min $300 pp
Sky Loft: min $400 pp
"upper?" Loft Suite: min $1000 pp
Here is my take. For $600, the Owners Suite doesn't excite me away from the Grand. For $800 I'd sleep on the Sky Loft and discuss with my wife, but that's a lot for 5 day cruise. For $1400 ($2000 - $600 for drink package since it's included) that's not horrible but also that's a lot of money for something we will not enjoy.
Those are the min bids too.
So, it's on my mind, but I'll probably pass.
Dan
-
On 7/9/2019 at 9:43 AM, Superman47 said:
Is Explorer of the seas A good ship
OMG. Explorer of the Seas is why we love Royal Caribbean. It was our first & second Royal ship. Cannot go wrong with a Voyager class ship. I am actually kind of jealous right now :).
-
I get 3 weeks and depending on the year (4 or 5) personal days. So, about 4 weeks (give or take a day). Wife gets 3 weeks too but it's for everything, but also earns comp time when working extra hours which gives her a few extra days a year.
-
I agree that Royal's website can be frustrating at times, my last cruise took me all day to finally book (was almost a year ago); however, I reported the issues to their IT department, they do want to know. It's also upsetting that some features have been removed - like changing dining options & bed configurations & etc.
However, modern web development is a complex animal. Those who do web design / web development for a living can speak better on the topic, but a site like Royal's isn't a one week task. There are a lot of moving parts between what we see and what we do not see.
I will say, since launch, the site has improved exponentially. Do they test properly? Probably not. Are some of their programmers inexperienced? Maybe. But, they are improving, and I am personally impressed with the Cruise Planner portion of the site. To make all that happen, all the different programming languages, databases and tools interconnected isn't easy.
-
29 minutes ago, Brenna said:
I grew up in the tippy top of Rockland County! Welcome @sk8erguy1978
I've never been to SWF but drive past it all the time
We now live only 20 minutes from EWR so thats our go to
EWR is our go to for most flights too, Stewart just doesn't have the traffic and most flights require a layover.
I too grew up in Rockland. Went to Suffern High in the 90's.
-
Quote
FYI, if you don't mind flying one way, Adventure has a 12 night Southern Caribbean (ABCs, Antigua, St. Thomas and 6 sea days) repo cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale and ending in Cape Liberty in May. To me, that's getting a ship we love, a great itinerary and a local port. Best of all worlds. Will we see you on board?
JetBlue flies direct to FLL from SWF (small local airport to me), I have a lot of miles & a friend in FLL.... HMMM
Edit: not "small" exactly. A military base/airport but does a few flights a day. It's not the EWR/JFK/LGA type airport. You can get from Security to gate in about 3 minutes (that's stopping for a beer).
-
11 hours ago, JLMoran said:
We’re doing our second Bermuda run this October, almost 1 year to the day later!
Bermuda is my favorite island. Enjoy!
-
-
15 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:
Welcome, Dan, Diane and Dave !
Thanks.
-
On 7/6/2019 at 3:47 PM, Skid said:
The MOST important advice I can give anyone is to take enough medication with you to last a week longer than when you are scheduled to be home. Stuff happens and I've heard many stories about delays, weather, etc. and people being stuck with no meds and no way to get them.
^This. We once took a land trip to New Orleans, our flight was canceled and had to stay another night. It took a lot of phone calls and a bit of Walgreens luck to get her the medicine she needed for that evening and next morning.
My wife uses a pill container and has never been questioned via TSA or boarding a cruise ship... Never an issue with customs either. Just keep them on your person, never check them or give them to a porter or anything.
Dan
-
3 hours ago, MotleyCruiser said:
I have never seen anyone searched for food or the like while in port. Just bring some zip locks with you. Bringing items onboard is another issue.
That is actually a really good point, you just walk off (assume no tender) ... My situation was a bit unique as I was rolling off suitcases LOL!
-
5 hours ago, CoupleOfCruisers said:
Hello Dan,
I also just became a member after lurking for awhile. We are diamond members. Due to life getting in the way our last cruise was 6 years ago but we are anxiously awaiting our 11 day, April 2020 cruise! And getting ready to book more!
We’ve been cruising for about 22 years first 8 cruise were with Carnival cruises we then made jump to Royal Caribbean and never looked back.
Diane & Dave
Our first cruise was in 2006/7 (?) onboard Carnival Liberty, it was a 3 day country themed cruise... I have no idea what happened it went by so fast LOL. All I know is I didn't think I would like cruising but instantly wanted more! Booked the 5 night on Explorer of the Seas as a second cruise from NJ to Bermuda in September of 2007. We met good friends on that trip and we still sail with them to this day (when schedules allow). In fact we also hang out outside of the cruising world LOL. Besides one NCL cruise just to try the brand, we've stuck with Royal and couldn't be happier.
-
3 hours ago, Sweety said:
I will be going on Adventure next week. Woohoo.
ENJOY! We sailed Adventure in 2012 so a few things have changed but we loved it! Considering it for next year when it's in NJ.
Non-beach excursion St. Thomas
in Shore Excursions
Posted
An idea for the end of the day is to take a ride up to Paradise Point. It's a short walk from the pier (assuming you're not docked at the pier further away, then a short cab ride) and the views are amazing; you take a SkyRide to the top. There is a restaurant up top where we enjoy a bushwacker and soak up the views.