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rubbish and misleading pre-cruise promotions


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This is getting frustrating even as a loyal cruiser. 

you guys decide for yourself how shitty this promotion is;

"BOGO 2 night dining option for Quantum was offered for $58+"

this was took down and replaced by;

"Chops + 1 night dining @ $102" 

It's like Royal Caribbean is telling us - "Hey fellow cruisers, pls buy the same stuff but pay almost double the price & thank you for being stupid"

What a bad decision by them!

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Promotions will always be changing and with that the nature of the offer and the price will change with it.

If you browse the boards you'll see multiple threads for the drinks packages, watching and waiting for it at the right price. All sales end and the items will return to their RRP but the good thing is its never too long a wait till the next sale. Keep you're eye out and I would say that the BOGO dining option may return in time for your sailing

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2 hours ago, cmdrfrag said:

Promotions will always be changing and with that the nature of the offer and the price will change with it.

If you browse the boards you'll see multiple threads for the drinks packages, watching and waiting for it at the right price. All sales end and the items will return to their RRP but the good thing is its never too long a wait till the next sale. Keep you're eye out and I would say that the BOGO dining option may return in time for your sailing

you know what... that's precisely why i'm upset because i kept a daily check on cruise planner.

i bought 3 nights dining @ $121 without promotion. when the promotion was launched like yesterday, the only change was they added a "Pink - Up to 50% off" tag to the 3 nights dining option @ $121 which was obviously the same as before the promotion.

and they have the cheek to state that 'the discount has been reflected in the pricing already'

I'm in a marketing field and what pisses people is when they don't mean what they say. if you do a marketing sales promotion, be serious and mean it. not just play around the pricing.

if you notice the tread, Royal Caribbean has been doing just that with their so-called promotion.

For example:

-Kids cruise free promo, 2nd guest 50%, WoW promo, Anniversary offer

All actually works out to be around the same pricing for the same sailings. they just simply change the name of the promo. 

I'm changing from being an advocate to a hater for Royal Caribbean, disgusted with their marketing.

 

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Reality is you will find that on other cruise lines too, just like you will find it with most retailers.  I am a manager with a national retailer.  One week the sale will be BOGO, and the next week it will be a price point.  The following week it will be specials for certain suits.  Overall though in the end unless you show up at the store on a Monday or Tuesday, you will be able to get it at the same price regardless of the sale.  

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Welcome to Royals Marketing scheme/scam...They have been doing this for years with their cruise pricing and now all the extras.....

 

Only way to get a deal is to NOT book directly with Royal is my experience.......but then your still stuck with the BS cruise planner sales...

 

You know what the definition of insanity is right?.....:4_joy:

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It's no different than any business that changes prices of its products throughout the year. As an example, TV's at Best Buy are not the price on Black Friday versus today (unless you are reading this post on Black Friday).

It has become clear the Cruise Planner has become a major source of revenue. Cruise packages (dining, drink, internet) are currently making the cruise line insane profits. So RC isn't dumb, and they are seeing what the market may bare.

Keep in mind a very important thing when it comes to these packages....you don't have to buy them. Seriously. There are ways around it and if the price is too high, then skip it.  Vote with your wallet.

Also, please do not use profanity on these boards. Thanks ?

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I think in my dozen cruises with Royal..only once did a sale result in a lower price.......and I check pricing often.....so taking 12 cruises, usually booking about a year out....that means that there have probably been close to 150 sales/promo's during my bookings...and 149 times the sale price was higher...

Something's wrong with that picture...lets be honest. Even if you love Royal (which I do) I am still smart enough to be annoyed with their "sales".

The only people that should fall for this is the first time cruisers....after that no one should. And I think most of us here are smart enough to see the games that Royal plays. Doesn't mean its right or you have to like it.

As for the pre-cruise planner...I have only looked at the drink promo's and sometimes they actually are on sale

 

That being said, I am still always looking for the next sale...I mean deal..I mean "promo" with Royal to book my next cruise.:6_smile:

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It is a bummer the BOGO dining pkg is no longer available.  You never know, they may put it back on if sales of the new Chops + 1 is not generating as much revenue as they predicted.  The 3-Night dining pkg looks much more attractive.  Maybe that was their intention.  What I have learned from this blog is to grab it while it's hot!  You can refund it if you change your mind or a lower price from a different promo. 

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I genuinely hate the pricing model of most of the travel industry. It drives me crazy knowing that you have to time things just right, and watch daily to try to buy at exactly the right time. Then, knowing that the person sitting next to me on an airplane might have paid half what I paid for my ticket. Just tell me what the price is, and let me decide whether I'm willing to pay it or not. I don't want to make it a part-time job trying to get the best deal. Small fluctuations in price due to sales are acceptable to me, but the way the airline, cruise, hotel industries work is maddening to me.

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2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

OK, you've got me curious. What's special about Monday and Tuesday in the retailing (or in your case I'm guessing specifically sartorial) world?

Mainly most sales will run Weds- Sunday.  Actually, the sales are suppose to run Thurs-Sun., as advertised, but they always set up on Weds., thus you get the price on Weds. This has been going on for decades.   The only people that usually shop on a Mon or Tues are people that need it that day.  Them and the very savvy customer that wants to shop with no crowds to guarantee that their size/product is not sold out.  They will than pop back in on the sale dates and get their price adjustment.    I have worked in mgmt. for multiple national retailers from Macys to fine men's clothing, they all operate the same.  

When I worked at Macy's we always joked about how every week there was a Super Saturday with the lowest prices of the season.   Sure, there was maybe a few items that were the lowest price it had been in the season, but it was maybe 1% of the items on sale.  They also make you think it is only Sat., however, reality is except for that 1% of the items,  the rest of the sale was running from Friday through Sunday.  Same is true for stores like Michaels, or J Crew, etc.  

Hence, my remarks regarding RCL is doing nothing different than any retailer.  They just change it up to grab the attention of specific clients.  If you are sailing alone you don't want the BOGO refreshment package, you want the price point package, which will show up the following week or two.  I don't sail with kids so that sail means nothing to me.    

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Makes me glad I am in the twilight of my cruise travel franchise. I certainly do empathize since the "BOGOHOAX" drives us batty too. Having said that, there are ways to money at times but they have really added obstacles as we all attempt to run the gauntlet. Since so many of the posters on this board seem quite happy with the work done by their travel agency (MEI, I believe) I wouldn't run the course alone ;>)

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, JerseyJoe said:

I genuinely hate the pricing model of most of the travel industry. It drives me crazy knowing that you have to time things just right, and watch daily to try to buy at exactly the right time. Then, knowing that the person sitting next to me on an airplane might have paid half what I paid for my ticket. Just tell me what the price is, and let me decide whether I'm willing to pay it or not. I don't want to make it a part-time job trying to get the best deal. Small fluctuations in price due to sales are acceptable to me, but the way the airline, cruise, hotel industries work is maddening to me.

I agree.  What is interesting is that you would think the airlines and hotels now with kayak, expedia, priceline, etc.  would just go to this is the price, end of subject.  The only reason I would get my ticket with a certain airline over another is if I have enough points for upgrading.

The same can be said for the automobile industry. My husband knows I refuse to go car shopping with him.  I do the 1st round of just looking and test driving.  We go home and decide which car, color and upgrades.  He calls USAA car  service and get's their guaranteed pricing (we pay nothing for that service).  He returns and inevitably the salesperson starts their price haggling.  He stops them and says beat this or I will go back home and purchase it through USAA.  They will take it off your lot, and no guarantee you will get the commission.  Immediately they say I have to ask the mgr., 5 mins later we are told fine.

I always wonder with this day and age of the internet who do these companies really think they are fooling?  Heck, even now we probably switch out our credits cards, except for USAA and AMEX every 2 yrs.  We get 0% interest with bonus points for 18 months.  Once they jump us up, we close that account and start again.  See above regarding us buying a car.  We will put down on our credit card what KBB tells us our car is worth that we will get rid of.  Get our points for the deposit. sell the car and pay off the credit card within 30 days.  I now have points to use to travel and paid 0% int.  I am also a woman that pays anything and everything on my credit card (I just keep a tally so we pay in full every month).  You'd be amazed when you start paying your car, cable, cell phone, electricity, groceries, college books, etc how fast you accumulate those points.  We flew our family of 5 to Italy and back 1st class for $1K using just AMEX points we accrued within a yr.   Our DD is getting married in Oct.  everything for her wedding will be on 1 credit card, even though we have the money in the bank to write a check.

 

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Off topic, but if you live in an area that has a Harris Teeters grocery store, here is another way to save money.  Harris Teeters offers Fuel Points.  For every 100 dollars you spend, you get 10 cents off at BP or Amoco.  Here is the catch.  If you purchase gift cards, such as Visa, than you get 20 cents for every 100.  I purchase using my 0% point earning credit card the Visa gift card, I than use that card to buy my groceries.

Hard to follow I know.  So here's how the numbers work.  I go in and buy 200 for the Visa gift card, because that is double points, I now have 40 cents off.  (Credit Card is also getting points since that is how I pay for the gift card)  I now go and buy 200 in groceries, which means 20 cents more per gallon.  I now am getting 60 cents off per gallon while at the same time getting CC points.  My husband drives a RAM pick up truck, large tank, crappy gas mileage.  He fills his tank every other week.  We have not paid more than 1.50 per gallon in the last 6 months for both of our cars.  

Just saying that when you think about marketing in any aspect it is everywhere.  I am sure sooner than later Harris Teeter will catch on that customers are doing what I am doing and put a halt to that, but until they do, I am going to use the system they created.

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14 minutes ago, DunkelBierJay said:

If anything, this topic underscores the need to pay attention to what they're offering. This increases awareness of what a good deal really is, and sometime, you stumble upon one like a $39 drink package I got on a previous sailing. While PR can = marketing, marketing =/= PR

I haven't seen a $39 price point in the last 18 months.  I want to say when we sailed Anthem Sept/Oct 2017 we got it at that price.  However, that was also before RCL upped their drink costs.  

 

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3 hours ago, Rose City Cruiser said:

It is a bummer the BOGO dining pkg is no longer available.  You never know, they may put it back on if sales of the new Chops + 1 is not generating as much revenue as they predicted.  The 3-Night dining pkg looks much more attractive.  Maybe that was their intention.  What I have learned from this blog is to grab it while it's hot!  You can refund it if you change your mind or a lower price from a different promo. 

It certainly seems like that's their plan.  Chops + 1 is much more than BOGO was, but yet only a few dollars less than 3 night dining.

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For my cruise the Chops + 1 is 65.  The 3 night is 69.

Again, this brings me back to my retailing and how we all would laugh at the marketing dept as we were setting the signs.  We all swore they were drunk when they did the sale and wanted to F with people.

Hey, let's see who falls for this 1!   They will see Chops at 42.99, Giovanni's at 34.99, so when they see Chops +1 at 64, it seems like a steal.  Hoping they hit that button without looking further down for the specialty 3 night package.

Got to give it to them, because you know they would not offer this unless passengers were paying for it.

It is kind of like the Key.  I get the Key for certain ships, but when you are looking at the smaller ships with a 4 night sailing I don't see the benefit, especially if you are a passenger that unplugs.

I am not doing the key, even at 19.99.  I got Voom Surf and Stream for 11.99.  I am on Adventure.  I purchased the 3 night dining package, my TA threw in another specialty dinner, and we purchased Chef's table using OBC.  Lunch at Chops would be the only plus.  I am also a freak when it comes to sailing.  We prefer to embark @ noon,  by that time the big crowd push is gone.

 

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5 hours ago, JLMoran said:

OK, you've got me curious. What's special about Monday and Tuesday in the retailing (or in your case I'm guessing specifically sartorial) world?

For an item to be advertised as "on sale", at some point it has to be "off sale"  i.e. full price.  In the retail world (25 years with Macys) this usually happens on Monday and/or Tuesday.

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37 minutes ago, Pooch said:

For an item to be advertised as "on sale", at some point it has to be "off sale"  i.e. full price.  In the retail world (25 years with Macys) this usually happens on Monday and/or Tuesday.

Pooch is on point.   That ties into RCCL.  they have to pull down one sale and offer a new one so they can say legally last week or X amt of days this has not been offered.  Look at the cabanas on Coco Cay that should prove the point.

 

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19 minutes ago, Constantino said:

the multinight dining packages typically have a dollar cap on them anyway... so perhaps chops was going to exceed that dollar cap and would therefore be more valuable being fully included?  could be, though it wouldnt explain that price gap either way.

Sorry, I am not following regarding what you mean by dollar cap, can you explain further.

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On 5/14/2019 at 12:30 PM, Pima1988 said:

I always wonder with this day and age of the internet who do these companies really think they are fooling? 

Many people aren't savvy enough to check prices as well as you do. And another big group just doesn't want to bother. The result is that they end up paying more than you, and are actually subsidizing your low prices. It took me a long time to really appreciate this idea. I was always one of those people who thought that companies should do away with sales and just charge one low price all the time. But in the real world, that's not possible -- it would have to be a medium price or they'd end up losing money. And because there are people who can't or won't pay the medium price, sales would go down. I've been convinced that sales and similar pricing tactics are actually good things, provided (and this is very important) that it's not done in a deceptive cheating manner.

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1 minute ago, Pima1988 said:

Sorry, I am not following regarding what you mean by dollar cap, can you explain further.

The $35PP coverage that they are supposed to bill you if you go over, which BTW, in the 20+ times at Chops they have never billed me anything extra.

Of course I've never gotten the Sea food tower even when I went Star Class.

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7 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

@tiny260  I forgot about those add ons, such as the seafood tower and lobster.  I have never had to pay extra at any specialty which is why I was confused, but like you, I don't order the seafood tower..  Heck I don't think you can even max out at Izumi which is a cap (ala carte).   

 

I have never been charge at Izumi either, the last time I even ordered 2 specialty rolls as appetizers and they never charged me.

I've said this in other threads, when my Grandson was with us in 2018 on Liberty, some of the specialty restaurants charged me the $10 for him, some didn't.

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So basically, this tells me to be a savvy shopper! Do your homework, compare offers, and go with a price that’s best for you! No need to get upset over Royal Caribbean marketing...it’s marketing, after all, and as others have mentioned, it’s no different than other cruise lines, retailers, etc.! Happy Cruising!

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First time on RC.  I am sailing to Alaska on Ovation of the Seas in 30 days..Deluxe Drink Package is $47 pp today and has been that for several days.  In the experience of others, do the prices usually go up or down less than a month out? 

I am really irritated with the spa services (which I knew would be overpriced).  Sale states $89+ for a 50 minute massage but all available times are $129 or higher... and I have looked through all the days and times and there are NO $89 prices for that service.  

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8 hours ago, cactusgal said:

First time on RC.  I am sailing to Alaska on Ovation of the Seas in 30 days..Deluxe Drink Package is $47 pp today and has been that for several days.  In the experience of others, do the prices usually go up or down less than a month out? 

I am really irritated with the spa services (which I knew would be overpriced).  Sale states $89+ for a 50 minute massage but all available times are $129 or higher... and I have looked through all the days and times and there are NO $89 prices for that service.  

That means there were times/days that were 89.00.  Just like those big billboards that say HOMES STARTING FROM the 260's and when you show up all they have left are 400,000+.

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10 hours ago, cactusgal said:

I am really irritated with the spa services (which I knew would be overpriced).  Sale states $89+ for a 50 minute massage but all available times are $129 or higher... and I have looked through all the days and times and there are NO $89 prices for that service.  

1 hour ago, marti314 said:

That means there were times/days that were 89.00.  Just like those big billboards that say HOMES STARTING FROM the 260's and when you show up all they have left are 400,000+.

And just like those home advertisements, or similar ones for cars / electronics, there's usually a single item that qualifies. In the case of the spa, that was probably something like 7:30 AM on a port day; maybe with a clause stating "only in the event of bright sunshine that will ensure the ship is nearly devoid of passengers."

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10 hours ago, cactusgal said:

I am really irritated with the spa services (which I knew would be overpriced).  Sale states $89+ for a 50 minute massage but all available times are $129 or higher... and I have looked through all the days and times and there are NO $89 prices for that service.   

Wait until you get on the ship and go by the Spa, they usually have some really aggressive pricing for embarkation day, if that doesn't fit your needs have them look at port days, they are also usually discounted. Sea days are the most expensive so stay away from them.

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Its actually not Buy one Get one Free, its buy one get the next at 50% off.  The Regular price is unknown so you are paying ??? for the first one and getting 50% off ????.

As others have said, find the price you feel is of "value" and buy it.  

Promotional Marketing is an Art not a science, everyone has their trigger points so changing prices is in the best interest of anybody who sells something.

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37 minutes ago, marti314 said:

Its actually not Buy one Get one Free, its buy one get the next at 50% off.  The Regular price is unknown so you are paying ??? for the first one and getting 50% off ????.

As others have said, find the price you feel is of "value" and buy it.  

Promotional Marketing is an Art not a science, everyone has their trigger points so changing prices is in the best interest of anybody who sells something.

Yes, but the fact that these are displayed on the same page at the same time is not very artistic.

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1 hour ago, MrMarc said:

Yes, but the fact that these are displayed on the same page at the same time is not very artistic.

Wow, yes that is a bad image for RCCL, i thought you had screen captured from a previous sale and then just put them next to each other here on the boards.  

Nice find though, its like the wheres waldo on the RCL site, although there are thousands of waldos instead of just one.

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