Dieter de Wit

Hi Cruisers,

I am really troubled by some decisions that Royal takes on the cruising dates for Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. This cruise is called 11 Night Great Barrier Reef Cruise https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/11-night-great-barrier-reef-from-sydney-on-brilliance/BR11SYD-75258771?country=USA but takes place on Stinger Season - Wet Season, when water activities are not so enjoyable or even not recommended.

Even if the best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef is from May to October, there are no cruises for that dates. Does that make sense to anyone? Or even more important, has anyone cruised to Queensland with Royal in these dates? Also, let me know if you engaged in water activities (snorkel-scuba being our most important ones).

Many thanks to everyone!

Dieter

1 hour ago, alibobali said:

i am pretty sure (and i could be wrong) but spectrum is excluded from sales/discounts.

it may have been a fever dream, but i distinctly remember someone saying that somewhere on this board.

Many thanks! Unfortunately, I heard that also a couple times today.

I would just love Royal to stop including the "XX% Off" label on top of items if you are sailing on a cruise where that promotion does not apply.

2 hours ago, twangster said:

There will be verbiage somewhere that states the sales may not be applicable to all ships and/or sail dates.  

I understand your point, but still, adding a banner that states that the item has 35% discount applied is False Advertisement and highly deceiving.

12 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

The banner actually says “up to 35% off”. That doesn’t mean anything on your particular sailing is supposed to be 35% off. This is a company wide sail and some sailings have bigger discounts than others based on supply vs demand. Some lower demand sailings will have 35% off on items and others won’t. With yours being so close, I doubt that there is much supply of anything for them to try and discount. 

Uuuhm... I really have to differ with you in that one. I am pretty sure that I would not have called out Royal Caribbean on False Advertisement if I haven't seen a banner right on top of the item I was talking about...

Also, I mentioned specifically that I have been trailing the price for THE KEY, no need on coming out to shield Royal Caribbean on this one. Also, let me share a screenshot so you can see the correct banner.

Also, this price has been the same with or without the 35% "discount" for months now, with or without a banner, and I have been checking almost daily.

Hi, I see that a lot of people have mentioned discounts but I am currently experiencing some issues with the promotions announced by Royal. 

Royal has announced by mail and in the Cruise Planner the Labor Day Sale, and even thought there are a lot of things with the Pink discount banner, there is no change in prices. I have monitored prices for Voom Internet packages and The Key for months, they have stayed the same.

So, for example, The Key is $26.99 per day and has always been that price for this cruise, now it has a banner that says "35% off" and that message "Price Shown Reflects Your Discount", but the prices is still $26.99 ...

I have read the Terms and Agreement but there is no thing stating that the cruise I am taking does not apply for the discount, it really feels like false advertisement.  

I am sailing 5 days aboard the Spectrum of the Seas.

On 9/2/2022 at 5:07 PM, KristiZ said:

I've sailed Spectrum twice, and unfortunately most of the sales say "excluding Spectrum of the Seas" in the fine print  

Originally they were pricing her at set amounts and not ever offering discounts in order to match the expectations of the Chinese market. Not sure if that is still the case, but likely.

However, I did notice that sometimes, unrelated to any advertised sale, items would just suddenly be lower price. So it is to your benefit to check often!

That would make more sense, unfortunately, I read the fine print and the terms and conditions and I do not see what you mention this time. That makes me believe that they are just making false advertisement of sales.

Yeah, I have noticed also that prices do fluctuate sometimes, but that is highly unpredictable and prices can go up also in that time. I was expecting to see a change during a sale, but... anyhow.

Many thanks!

On 9/2/2022 at 4:40 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

Always ignore the percentage off. Just keep track of the price per person per day and track that.   

That is exactly what I am doing... I am tracking the price per person per day. That is what I mentioned above, Royal Caribbean has announced multiple discounts by mail, the most recent one being the Labor Day Sale), but PRICES don't change. 

Let me show you an example, also ignoring the "percentage off"... even though there is no real discount. Last week there was no sale an the prices are as I shared before, and today there is a "Sale", but prices are the same.

Hi everyone,

I am experiencing a great concern at the moment with the discounts that Royal Caribbean send by mail and supposedly are applicable in the Cruise Planner page.

I have tracked the prices, mostly for the Internet and More section, and they have always been the same. Even when I receive the email stating that for X amount of days there is a 35% off Internet and More, the prices never get lower.

Our trip is aboard the Spectrum of the Seas, 5 days, Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand, and the prices for some things that we could use are as follows:

VOOM SURF Internet Package - 1 Device -> $17.59 per day

VOOM SURF Internet Package - 2 Devices -> $27.29 per day

The Key -> $26.99 per day

As I mentioned, this prices have not changed even if discounts are announced or discounts time ended, I know that buying it at the cruise will sure be more expensive but... do you know if Royal actually promotes this discounts falsely? 

As I mentioned, I do not want to know if buying in Cruise Planner will be cheaper than buying on the cruise (I know that it will sure be cheaper for most of the things), but if this "Time Specific Discounts" sent by mail are actually real. 

Many thanks!!!

On 8/26/2022 at 3:09 PM, KristiZ said:

As more ports open up in Asia, Royal will be scrambling to vet shore excursion providers to ensure the experiences they offer are up to par. Many of the companies they used prior to the pandemic are no longer in business, and some of the attractions have not yet fully opened. We had the same issue with our Arctic cruise this summer, with one port stop not showing any excursions until 3 weeks prior to sailing.

Just keep checking every day and I bet you'll see options show up!

Many thanks @KristiZ, I can confirm that Royal updated the cruise planner with activities today.

Hello everyone,

I am really curious about a Shore Excursion that Royal Caribbean offers but it is not yet available in my Cruise Planner page. I am taking a 5 day Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand cruise in October.

The concern is that all Shore Excursions for Malaysia have been posted but none for Thailand are yet there. The cruise sails in less than 2 months and this is an activity we really don't want to miss, do you know if Royal opens up activities for Thailand late or if activities like this are available only to book when on the cruise?

Onboard Experience - Royal Caribbean International

Many thanks!

21 hours ago, Zacharius said:

It may not take quite 1.5 hours to get from Port Klang to KL, but of course it depends on traffic. Even five hours in Kuala Lumpur isn't much. I would absolutely prioritize your top one or two sites, and a place near them for some good local food, and call anything on top of that a win.

Yeah, the excursion says 1.5 hours traveling. It might be 45min each way. 

We were trying to maximize the time in Kuala Lumpur, but taking this or any tour from RC takes too much time as they only last 7 out of the 10 hours on port. I have seen a lot of people that advise contacting a good rated taxi service (Trip Advisor mostly) that will take you from Port Klang to KC and back, even some will take you around the city. 

Has someone taken or would advise in favour or against of this approach?  

Hello everyone, 

I have been struggling finding some information about a shore excursion we want to take with my wife. It is the Kuala Lumpur On Your Own. We want to take this one for two reasons, first, we don't want to rely on a group and having specific time set to visit certain places; second, we don't want to rely on a taxi service from Port Klang to Kuala Lumpur.

The only problem is that we are on port 10 hours, and the excursion says its only 7 hours. The drive from Klang to KL takes about 1.5 hours, so we wanted to know if the ride time was included in those 7 hours? If the travel time is included in the 7 hours that leaves us about 4 hours to explore the whole city. 

Do you know if travel time is included in the time that Royal Caribbean gives? 

Many thanks for your help!