DMLM Posted August 21, 2019 Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 I'm sorry to say that I have not really followed the RCCL pricing and found opportunities to rebook at a lower price in the past (Despite my Diamond + status). I just have not watched the rates that closely and with all of the "Sales" that RCCL publishes(and subsequent arithmetic to compare), I have not really done it. Yesterday I actually had time and discovered that the new published rate/promotion was only ~$5 more per cabin and I would get an extra $50 in OBC. A win for me. I decided to call the reservation desk since my cruise is booked directly with Royal (and BTW is fully paid). The representative was nice and worked up the comparison and agreed the new price was ~$5 more per room so I elected to rebook. As a result of that action, the rate actually went up $11 per room. Not a big deal but I wanted to know why. The agent agreed the price is not the same as published on the site or for that matter, the rate he quoted me. He proceeded to discuss with another specialist and the answer surprised me. They indicated the taxes and fees were higher when I booked and that is why I need to pay more than everyone else who books now. I still need to pay those higher taxes & fees despite the published taxes & fees being lower. Again, this is still a better deal for me and not a big extra outlay so this is a little sour grapes (I apologize). However, my question is if this is normal and have others had this happen? D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mworkman Posted August 21, 2019 Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 18 minutes ago, DMLM said: I'm sorry to say that I have not really followed the RCCL pricing and found opportunities to rebook at a lower price in the past (Despite my Diamond + status). I just have not watched the rates that closely and with all of the "Sales" that RCCL publishes(and subsequent arithmetic to compare), I have not really done it. Yesterday I actually had time and discovered that the new published rate/promotion was only ~$5 more per cabin and I would get an extra $50 in OBC. A win for me. I decided to call the reservation desk since my cruise is booked directly with Royal (and BTW is fully paid). The representative was nice and worked up the comparison and agreed the new price was ~$5 more per room so I elected to rebook. As a result of that action, the rate actually went up $11 per room. Not a big deal but I wanted to know why. The agent agreed the price is not the same as published on the site or for that matter, the rate he quoted me. He proceeded to discuss with another specialist and the answer surprised me. They indicated the taxes and fees were higher when I booked and that is why I need to pay more than everyone else who books now. I still need to pay those higher taxes & fees despite the published taxes & fees being lower. Again, this is still a better deal for me and not a big extra outlay so this is a little sour grapes (I apologize). However, my question is if this is normal and have others had this happen? D Possible increases to local or state tax since initial booking, maybe even an increase tax rate for port fee's since booking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted August 21, 2019 Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 25 minutes ago, DMLM said: I'm sorry to say that I have not really followed the RCCL pricing and found opportunities to rebook at a lower price in the past (Despite my Diamond + status). I just have not watched the rates that closely and with all of the "Sales" that RCCL publishes(and subsequent arithmetic to compare), I have not really done it. Yesterday I actually had time and discovered that the new published rate/promotion was only ~$5 more per cabin and I would get an extra $50 in OBC. A win for me. I decided to call the reservation desk since my cruise is booked directly with Royal (and BTW is fully paid). The representative was nice and worked up the comparison and agreed the new price was ~$5 more per room so I elected to rebook. As a result of that action, the rate actually went up $11 per room. Not a big deal but I wanted to know why. The agent agreed the price is not the same as published on the site or for that matter, the rate he quoted me. He proceeded to discuss with another specialist and the answer surprised me. They indicated the taxes and fees were higher when I booked and that is why I need to pay more than everyone else who books now. I still need to pay those higher taxes & fees despite the published taxes & fees being lower. Again, this is still a better deal for me and not a big extra outlay so this is a little sour grapes (I apologize). However, my question is if this is normal and have others had this happen? D Useful information - glad you shared so we know to ask about taxes and fees when we re-book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMLM Posted August 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 3 minutes ago, mworkman said: Possible increases to local or state tax since initial booking, maybe even an increase tax rate for port fee's since booking. I would not take exception to an increase in taxes and fees if that was the case at time of rebooking. In this case the taxes and fees are actually lower now and the total cruise should have been less than what they charged me. In essence, they charged me a premium (albeit small) for taxes and fees. I guess I paid one tenth of a cent for each passenger who books from today forward :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMLM Posted August 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 Just an update. I was speaking to the C&A line of Royal about some other things. I took that opportunity to mention this issue. The representative indicated they were unable to adjust the taxes but I would receive a ~$13 refund at the end of the cruise. A small win that made me feel even better at that moment but we will see. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnetteJackson Posted August 21, 2019 Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 5 minutes ago, DMLM said: Just an update. I was speaking to the C&A line of Royal about some other things. I took that opportunity to mention this issue. The representative indicated they were unable to adjust the taxes but I would receive a ~$13 refund at the end of the cruise. A small win that made me feel even better at that moment but we will see. D This happens frequently. But Royal has been really good to refund back to clients after the cruise once they work thru all the accounting for that cruise. StephanieH and Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMLM Posted August 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 On 8/21/2019 at 6:41 AM, DMLM said: I'm sorry to say that I have not really followed the RCCL pricing and found opportunities to rebook at a lower price in the past (Despite my Diamond + status). I just have not watched the rates that closely and with all of the "Sales" that RCCL publishes(and subsequent arithmetic to compare), I have not really done it. Yesterday I actually had time and discovered that the new published rate/promotion was only ~$5 more per cabin and I would get an extra $50 in OBC. A win for me. I decided to call the reservation desk since my cruise is booked directly with Royal (and BTW is fully paid). The representative was nice and worked up the comparison and agreed the new price was ~$5 more per room so I elected to rebook. As a result of that action, the rate actually went up $11 per room. Not a big deal but I wanted to know why. The agent agreed the price is not the same as published on the site or for that matter, the rate he quoted me. He proceeded to discuss with another specialist and the answer surprised me. They indicated the taxes and fees were higher when I booked and that is why I need to pay more than everyone else who books now. I still need to pay those higher taxes & fees despite the published taxes & fees being lower. Again, this is still a better deal for me and not a big extra outlay so this is a little sour grapes (I apologize). However, my question is if this is normal and have others had this happen? D I also want to note that Michelle from MEI was very helpful in the identification of this opportunity. As you will see on my other post related to MEI travel, I was discussing the potential of a transfer to MEI for my next cruise and we discussed this opportunity for the OBC. Since the booking was still with me and directly with RCCL it was on me to call them. I have since elected to transfer that cruise to MEI and give them a try. AnnetteJackson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob&Ana Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 Interesting you would have thought the taxes and fees were fixed per sailing....good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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