AlexWinters Posted August 10, 2019 Report Posted August 10, 2019 I have two cruises the summer of 2020 (one on Harmony and one on Oasis) and just noticed a pretty significant price increase on the Deluxe Beverage Package. A couple weeks ago it had 20% off with the price of $56 and now it is 20% off with a price of $65 . Price increases are always expected but wow! Are other people seeing an increase in their package prices? #StillLoyalToRoyal #StillGoingToPurchaseLOL ChessE4 1 Quote
JLMoran Posted August 10, 2019 Report Posted August 10, 2019 I'm seeing this as well @AlexWinters. Started a separate thread on it in the main Discussion forum. Looks like Royal has decided to raise the on-board price of the package by a sizable margin for reasons unknown, unless this is a new (and far less-favorable) "intern glitch". kuruczpa 1 Quote
cdixon22 Posted August 10, 2019 Report Posted August 10, 2019 My DBP jumped to $65 too but I locked in at $52 hoping it would go cheaper before we sail in September. Seems like there is a "sale" every two weeks or so. Fingers crossed labor day "sale" is a good one. Quote
PG Cruiser Posted August 10, 2019 Report Posted August 10, 2019 Even the Refreshment Package has gone up to $26 per day. Good thing I purchased it when it was $20 per day. Quote
JLMoran Posted August 10, 2019 Report Posted August 10, 2019 19 minutes ago, RatedPG said: Even the Refreshment Package has gone up to $26 per day. Good thing I purchased it when it was $20 per day. I've seen the Refreshment package as high as $28 per day in the not-too-distant past, so that's actually not that bad. If your sailing is not until after Black Friday, check then for a better rate. I was able to grab it for $17/night last Black Friday, and it hasn't gone that low since! cdixon22 and Hoski 1 1 Quote
Baked Alaska Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 Got in on the *ULTRA*DBP madness for $18/pp/pd, but (and I know this sounds crazy) I also just purchased the soda package for my 14 yo DS at $8.99. I mean really, if that were to go up!!!!????? Quote
kuruczpa Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 I'm not how true this theory is but maybe they're trying to recoup some of the money they 'lost' (i.e. their lost margin) from the $18 drink package debacle. Quote
ellcee Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 Mine went from $56 to $59 for next summer. I'm not concerned yet, there are plenty of sales coming up. Baked Alaska 1 Quote
marti314 Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 Same, here, this would make one believe that the On Board price is 83 a day plus 18%. Went from 52 to 69 in a week. monctonguy, Hoski and JLMoran 2 1 Quote
Al Horner Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 Pretty soon you'll buy the drink package and they'll throw in the cruise. Neesa, VillainsGin, Zeashore and 8 others 2 9 Quote
KLA Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 I'm seeing this as well - this is an INSANE price increase. Maybe a sharp raise before an incoming sale? Baked Alaska, Hoski and DublinFC 3 Quote
marti314 Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 If you look at the prices that are listed they seem to be the price that all sales are based on. Quote
JLMoran Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 10 hours ago, marti314 said: If you look at the prices that are listed they seem to be the price that all sales are based on. Close, but not quite with my sailing. On-board price has been a very consistent reverse-calculated $70/day, vs. the current $65/day that's listed as "20% off". Believe me, I wish this was a simple glitch where it's showing the on-board price with no discount applied, but that really doesn't seem to be the case. sk8erguy1978 1 Quote
JLMoran Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 11 hours ago, KLA said: Maybe a sharp raise before an incoming sale? If it is, it's purely to make the "sale" price look good when in reality it's still the same or higher than previous pricing has been for the last year. Hoski 1 Quote
marti314 Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 12 minutes ago, JLMoran said: If it is, it's purely to make the "sale" price look good when in reality it's still the same or higher than previous pricing has been for the last year. Whatever the reason might be, the threshold for me is 50.00 a day so I personally would be out. This will just promote more drinking by those that opt to pay 1300 dollars per couple for the week. Hoski 1 Quote
monctonguy Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 pricing like that will drive away cruisers.or at least cruisers who aren't rich.......that's over $110/day for us Canadians...INSANE. hard to justify the drink package or a cruise when it starts getting that high...close to $1000/person for a week cruise....just for drinks??!..come on now.... Hoski 1 Quote
JLMoran Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 2 minutes ago, monctonguy said: hard to justify the drink package or a cruise when it starts getting that high...close to $1000/person for a week cruise....just for drinks??!..come on now.... I'm assuming that's $1000CAD. Really close to the total for a 14-night transatlantic on Celebrity. They never discount their beverage packages from what I can see, and even the "classic" package that limits what wines / beers / cocktails you can order is $59 USD (about $78 CAD) a night. $826 USD ($1,098 CAD) for that "Classic" package, $966 USD ($1,284 CAD) for the "Premium" package at $69/night. And this particular 14-night is port-intensive, with only 6 sea days to make decent use of the package. Quote
sk8erguy1978 Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 7 hours ago, JLMoran said: Close, but not quite with my sailing. On-board price has been a very consistent reverse-calculated $70/day, vs. the current $65/day that's listed as "20% off". Believe me, I wish this was a simple glitch where it's showing the on-board price with no discount applied, but that really doesn't seem to be the case. Yep, same. My base for September Anthem sailing was $70 dollars, the sales were consistent for the last year: $56 for 20% and $52 for BOGO50 and as expected the 30% was $49 just a few weeks ago. Now, the BOGO50 is $61 dollars making the base price $81.3333 (repeat). Hoski 1 Quote
JRT Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 Does this mean onboard drink prices are going up? Hoski 1 Quote
marti314 Posted August 12, 2019 Report Posted August 12, 2019 On 8/12/2019 at 3:21 PM, JRT said: Does this mean onboard drink prices are going up? How much more than 15.50 (After Gratuity) for a blended drink can they charge? Anyone ever wonder if they can sell a 1 LITER bottle of STOLI for 10.00 on the ship how much they must be getting it for? Lets say its 6.00 and there are approx 22 shots in one bottle, YES that 10.00 stoli and soda water is really 35 - 50 cents worth of product itself. Since RCL is not paying the same US taxes on liquor that bars and restaurants on land there is more profit in these drink packages than people realize, even if you drink 30 drinks a day. Hoski and CoupleOfCruisers 2 Quote
Carol A Posted August 13, 2019 Report Posted August 13, 2019 I got my drimk package last week for Feb 2020 and it was $51.00 a day, glad I booked early. Quote
CoupleOfCruisers Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! Quote
YOLO Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 On 8/11/2019 at 4:57 PM, kontraxed said: Pretty soon you'll buy the drink package and they'll throw in the cruise. That's was NCL does! Hoski and CoupleOfCruisers 2 Quote
marti314 Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 1 hour ago, CoupleOfCruisers said: Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! My Max is 50 a day not because I can break even with 5 terribly overpriced drinks but because over 7 days plus 18% I feel that's the max where I personally find value in the benefit. Drinking to drink because you have a package is a chore and with all of the food its not all that fun. YOLO, Susie, CoupleOfCruisers and 1 other 4 Quote
marti314 Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 1 hour ago, CoupleOfCruisers said: Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! They aren't paying these prices which is why they are literally hounding you everywhere on boarding day. Hoski and YOLO 2 Quote
YOLO Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 For me, I guess my threshold is very low. I have never bought a RCL drink package! A week ago my October 9N Anthem dropped to $44 but we did not bite. Currently it is still only $51, but that is over $1K in total for the 9N cruise. With tax and tip that $51 turns into $60 pppd (per person per day). We only paid $90 pppd for the total cruise. When I see the numbers I say NO way! We will stick with the free Diamond well drinks as people call them. They work for us! CoupleOfCruisers, Hoski and KristiZ 3 Quote
YOLO Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 9 hours ago, marti314 said: They aren't paying these prices which is why they are literally hounding you everywhere on boarding day. Yes, agreed! Quote
YOLO Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 9 hours ago, marti314 said: My Max is 50 a day not because I can break even with 5 terribly overpriced drinks but because over 7 days plus 18% I feel that's the max where I personally find value in the benefit. Drinking to drink because you have a package is a chore and with all of the food its not all that fun. Yes, agreed. Having a logically sound plan and sticking with it through all of the price cycling is the way to go. RCL is just fishing to put more of us on the hook! Baked Alaska and Hoski 2 Quote
JLMoran Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 12 hours ago, CoupleOfCruisers said: Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! Like @marti314, $50 per day (before gratuity) is my personal limit. I don't drink a huge amount; normally two glasses of wine with dinner, or one glass with an after dinner cocktail, plus a sail-away cocktail on a port day, or a mid-day drink on a sea day. My daily OJ and cappuccinos are enough to "fill the gap" after that so I can hit between $45 and $50 a day in drinks. Baked Alaska, Hoski and YOLO 3 Quote
sk8erguy1978 Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 16 hours ago, CoupleOfCruisers said: Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! Same here. My max will vary on the length of the sailing but given a 7 night sailing, $55 - $60 is pushing it. After 18% $55 - $60 for two turns into $908.60 - $991.20 and I'm not convinced we will hit $1000 dollars in alcohol even if we drank like we had the package. My wife drinks more now than when we first started cruising (migraine issues that she's finally getting under control) we were hitting about $500 (give or take). I was also drinking a lot of bud lights back then, I've since stepped it up :). So, I think that $900 range is really pushing it for me. I'd only consider that much on Harmony 2020 cruise because 3 sea days and CocoCay, so we will probably drink a decent amount. (Plus we are celebrating her "29th" bday.) So, think what I am saying is, my range is $55 - $60 but other variables can tweak that. JLMoran and YOLO 2 Quote
jticarruthers Posted August 14, 2019 Report Posted August 14, 2019 I'm already only buying the package for convenience not savings at $52+grats .... if the price stays above that i'm not buying. Convenience isn't worth that much to me. YOLO and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote
WannaCruise Posted August 15, 2019 Report Posted August 15, 2019 Wow! My cruise planner just opened up for my 2 day CoCO Cay Mariner cruise and think this is a record.....$91.77 CAD for the deluxe drink package (or $68.93 USD). Not really a record I'm happy to break. Skid, Hoski and YOLO 3 Quote
Sydney_Cruiser Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 Just new to the forums and really appreciate being able to read your experiences and opinions. My first cruise with RCI (Jan 2020) ex Sydney to South Pacific and shocked at the cruise planner package prices. I can see forum members quoting ideal price points of $50-55 pp/pd for Deluxe Drinks package - with a bit of fluctuation. That would equate to approx $75 pp/pd AUD. I have just watched our drinks packages jump significantly in the last week - Deluxe is up to $89 AUD (60 USD) and the Refreshment package jump to $47 AUD (32 USD). What I would like to ask for anyone experienced with Australian cruising, do RCI offer Australian discounts as often as I’m seeing mentioned in these forums? The couple of emails we’ve received included discounts for very specific bookings (and of course not mine!). Quote
YOLO Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 @Sydney_Cruiser Hi and welcome to the RCB forums. Sorry, I have never cruised in your region. Should be someone here who can help you though... Sydney_Cruiser 1 Quote
KristiZ Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Sydney_Cruiser said: What I would like to ask for anyone experienced with Australian cruising, do RCI offer Australian discounts as often as I’m seeing mentioned in these forums? The couple of emails we’ve received included discounts for very specific bookings (and of course not mine!). I have done some recent cruising around the region, including S Pacific last March. I find there are cruise planner discounts offered, often (but not always) around the same time as they come up in North America. As for drink package pricing -- right now seems to be one of those times Royal is doing an across-the-board increase in prices I'm not sure we will ever see $49USD per night again. I hope I'm wrong. The "new normal" should shake out in the next 3-4 weeks. There is often a sale the first week in September so watch for that! Sydney_Cruiser 1 Quote
Sydney_Cruiser Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 5 hours ago, KristiZ said: I have done some recent cruising around the region, including S Pacific last March. I find there are cruise planner discounts offered, often (but not always) around the same time as they come up in North America. As for drink package pricing -- right now seems to be one of those times Royal is doing an across-the-board increase in prices I'm not sure we will ever see $49USD per night again. I hope I'm wrong. The "new normal" should shake out in the next 3-4 weeks. There is often a sale the first week in September so watch for that! Thanks KristiZ - think I’ll start checking into Cruise Planner on a very regular basis and monitoring a little more closely! Quote
DublinFC Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 That is the price for my sailing on Oasis Dec 2020, I bought it at $54/pppd Quote
DublinFC Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 On 8/14/2019 at 7:45 AM, YOLO said: For me, I guess my threshold is very low. I have never bought a RCL drink package! A week ago my October 9N Anthem dropped to $44 but we did not bite. Currently it is still only $51, but that is over $1K in total for the 9N cruise. With tax and tip that $51 turns into $60 pppd (per person per day). We only paid $90 pppd for the total cruise. When I see the numbers I say NO way! We will stick with the free Diamond well drinks as people call them. They work for us! how do the free diamond drinks work? Hit diamond status and then...…? Quote
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 3 minutes ago, DublinFC said: how do the free diamond drinks work? Hit diamond status and then...…? 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. DublinFC 1 Quote
DublinFC Posted August 16, 2019 Report Posted August 16, 2019 5 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: 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. Oh no I am Gold and have a lot of cruising till I reach the lofty Diamond tier :) I do look forward to all the cruises it will take to get there! Quote
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