Balcony is less than a oceanview?

[RCIfan1912]

What does it tell you when a balcony is less money than a oceanview/window cabin? We are booked on Oasis May 10 2020 and are all set. We like the cabin we got, and the price we paid but I still track prices. We won't do better than what we paid but I still check once in a while. Right now an balcony is less than outside view. Is it as simple as balconies aren't selling as well so the price reflects it? I just found it kinda odd.

[sk8erguy1978]

We just booked Oasis for September 2020, the Oceanview Balcony was a steal and less than both Boardwalk and Central Park balconies. We were able to pay more for midship and higher deck without breaking the budget. The large balcony Oceanview was the most. We sailed Oasis in 2010 and 2012 and loved the balcony cabin. 

If I recall, the cruise was a lot more just a few months ago, so I'll go with your assumption, lower price to bring in sales. Whatever it is, I jumped and couldn't be happier!

[WannaCruise]

We have odd pricing on our Mariner cruise.  Spacious balcony is less than Standard balcony....and both more than Balcony guarantee.  i.e. why go for a guarantee when the best option in the category is the cheapest?  

Then these are also less than an ocean view.

My guess is they are trying to sell out a specific category of rooms?

[SpeedNoodles]

It happens.  On the Rhapsody sailing that I was booked on in Feb 2021 the 2 bdrm Grand Suite has always been cheaper than the 1 bdrm Grand Suite (even with less of them available).  It''s been that way since last Feb.

[ChessE4]

27 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

What does it tell you when a balcony is less money than a oceanview/window cabin? We are booked on Oasis May 10 2020 and are all set. We like the cabin we got, and the price we paid but I still track prices. We won't do better than what we paid but I still check once in a while. Right now an balcony is less than outside view. Is it as simple as balconies aren't selling as well so the price reflects it? I just found it kinda odd.

The balconies may be interior neighborhood balconies.  It's odd, but the computer apparently tracks supply and demand, changing prices when you least expect it.  Within the category of balconies, sometimes exterior are more expensive, sometimes interior.  Oasis Class ships have more balconies than smaller ships....We go back and forth between Ocean View and Balcony categories depending upon the price and the perks associated with the stateroom, if any. 

[twangster]

Pricing isn't fixed on any cruise.  All cabins fluctuate over time.  If a ship is selling well all cabins trend upward over time.  If a sail date isn't selling well it may trend downward over time.

Oasis and Quantum class are more balcony cabins with fewer interior and ocean view so it happens often.

Each type of cabin is monitored separately.  As a particular type of cabin approaches a sold out condition it crosses thresholds that increase rates within that category.  If 98% of all interior are sold out then interior cabins might increase in price.  At that moment in time maybe a balcony is cheaper.  Over time as people book balconies they too will increase in price and at some point in time be higher than interior once again.

[Flacruiser99]

10 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

It happens.  On the Rhapsody sailing that I was booked on in Feb 2021 the 2 bdrm Grand Suite has always been cheaper than the 1 bdrm Grand Suite (even with less of them available).  It''s been that way since last Feb.

Maybe because the the 2 bdrm Grand Suite cannot be sold to 2 persons and the 1 bdrm Grand Suite can.

[jticarruthers]

It happens, we just switched from the standard oceanview on Mariner to the Panoramic at no addtional charge ... nobody was buying the Panoramic's so they lowered the price to increase uptake to the point it was lower than what we had paid for the regular.

On the one hand as my TA kept trying to explain "you are losing the money you paid for the regular since you are switching to the panoramic and you arent getting the difference back" on the other hand, I got the better room at a price i was willing to pay for the lesser room, so no complaints.

[RCIfan1912]

Just now, jticarruthers said:

It happens, we just switched from the standard oceanview on Mariner to the Panoramic at no addtional charge ... nobody was buying the Panoramic's so they lowered the price to increase uptake to the point it was lower than what we had paid for the regular.

On the one hand as my TA kept trying to explain "you are losing the money you paid for the regular since you are switching to the panoramic and you arent getting the difference back" on the other hand, I got the better room at a price i was willing to pay for the lesser room, so no complaints.

Oh man those rooms look so cool. We almost booked one in Adventure before Oasis was announced was coming to NJ and we had, we had no choice, had to book Oasis from NJ. I do want to sail Adventure while she is in NJ too though. We love Explorer so we would love Adventure. 

[Matt]

This is an example of Royal Caribbean's algorithm working to balance supply and demand.

Essentially, too many people were booking up oceanview rooms, versus balcony rooms. As a result, the system began discounting balcony rooms to even things back out.

[Flacruiser99]

39 minutes ago, Matt said:

This is an example of Royal Caribbean's algorithm working to balance supply and demand.

Essentially, too many people were booking up oceanview rooms, versus balcony rooms. As a result, the system began discounting balcony rooms to even things back out.

Or maybe Royal IT striking again.

[wstephensi]

3 hours ago, Matt said:

This is an example of Royal Caribbean's algorithm working to balance supply and demand.

Essentially, too many people were booking up oceanview rooms, versus balcony rooms. As a result, the system began discounting balcony rooms to even things back out.

This automated pricing is more and more common on web based commerce sites.  True supply and demand economics at work.

[SpeedNoodles]

7 hours ago, Flacruiser99 said:

Maybe because the the 2 bdrm Grand Suite cannot be sold to 2 persons and the 1 bdrm Grand Suite can.

It's available to book with 2 people, and I don't find the prices to be that way on any of my other sailings (or any others that I've looked at, other than Rhapsody).  It's a strange anomaly on Rhapsody, it seems, that might benefit someone who really would like a 2-bedroom suite!

[RicDalek]

On 10/20/2019 at 10:47 AM, Matt said:

This is an example of Royal Caribbean's algorithm working to balance supply and demand.

Essentially, too many people were booking up oceanview rooms, versus balcony rooms. As a result, the system began discounting balcony rooms to even things back out.

There are so many balcony cabins on the new ships about 3:1 that's also why they're so small.