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Cruise Planner Sales


LovetoCruise87

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Essentially every few weeks but it's important to check regularly so you get a feel for what is the "normal" price and what is the "sale" price. Note that you should pay no attention whatsoever to the % off touted during the sales as they are supposedly off the onboard price and nobody knows what that is! Just look at the bottom line and remember that even that may vary as some cruise planner items get tax or gratuities added to them at checkout. 

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Our next cruise I'm planning for is 05/05/22 Alaska.  I've looked at the excursions and wrote down the ones that really impress me and their cost so I can track the prices.

On our cruise this August I've booked everything so I just check to make sure the price does not go lower than what I've already paid.

Like @FionaMG said just look at the bottom line, RC math is worst than Core Math. 

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49 minutes ago, MicDay said:

Our next cruise I'm planning for is 05/05/22 Alaska.  I've looked at the excursions and wrote down the ones that really impress me and their cost so I can track the prices.

We normally add all the stuff we want in the cart, and then I print that out as a PDF. Every once in a awhile, I log in and view my cart and then compare the prices online and the PDF.

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9 hours ago, Floski said:

We leave on Sunday after Thanksgiving.

I don't reckon we'd be able to enjoy any BF deals for that sailing, eh?   Maybe Labor Day.

So your best bet is to book it now and keep an eye on it from a price point of view. If you see something for a lower price, just call and cancel the more expensive option.

Problem is that you will giving them $$$ to hold on to since the refund takes several weeks. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hello! New to cruising, so I’m hoping this isn’t a silly question. 
Heading to Barcelona for a jaunt on Harmony 8/22. We were recently notified that Italy is requesting all guests attend RC sponsored excursions to disembark.  Despite this little hiccup, we are still very excited—  we all deserve a little R&R after this past year! 
The email alerted discounted on-board prices for excursions after embarking... however it seems that we can still pre-book on cruise planner.

My questions—

1. Is capacity limited on excursions (ie will we chance missing out on our first choice ex if we do not pre-book), 

2. Are different excursions advertised on board as opposed to what is showing as available online, and 

3. Someone with a crystal ball, what should we do?

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49 minutes ago, Ch3l51 said:

Hello! New to cruising, so I’m hoping this isn’t a silly question. 
Heading to Barcelona for a jaunt on Harmony 8/22. We were recently notified that Italy is requesting all guests attend RC sponsored excursions to disembark.  Despite this little hiccup, we are still very excited—  we all deserve a little R&R after this past year! 
The email alerted discounted on-board prices for excursions after embarking... however it seems that we can still pre-book on cruise planner.

My questions—

1. Is capacity limited on excursions (ie will we chance missing out on our first choice ex if we do not pre-book), 

2. Are different excursions advertised on board as opposed to what is showing as available online, and 

3. Someone with a crystal ball, what should we do?

I would pre-book as much as you can. Then you know you have a spot on a tour. Yes, tours can sell out. It’s also a pain in the butt to stand in line at the shore excursion desk. 
 

As far as I know, what’s online is what’s available on the ship. 

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I consistently find the best prices on excursions between sales.  I find random price drops and jump on them.  It takes some work (checking daily for something you're interested in), but when I've gotten these deals I've never seen the price go that low again.  It's worth checking frequently.

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On 8/8/2021 at 5:39 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

I consistently find the best prices on excursions between sales.  I find random price drops and jump on them.  It takes some work (checking daily for something you're interested in), but when I've gotten these deals I've never seen the price go that low again.  It's worth checking frequently.

^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The price and offerings will never be better than a) online, and b) inbetween "sales" (my experience).

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Prices for excursions on my Harmony sailing jumped massively when the most recent "sale" ended. They are now much, much higher than they have ever been (we're talking increases in the region of 30 to 50% or more). Perhaps I'm being unfair, but coming hot on the heels of a change in protocols requiring all passengers, vaccinated or not, to take ship-sponsored excursions in order to go ashore, it smacks to me of price gouging. I hope they will offer some more sensible prices later but if they don't they'll actually lose potential revenue because many European cruisers will simply opt to stay on board. ?

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34 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Prices for excursions on my Harmony sailing jumped massively when the most recent "sale" ended. They are now much, much higher than they have ever been (we're talking increases in the region of 30 to 50% or more). Perhaps I'm being unfair, but coming hot on the heels of a change in protocols requiring all passengers, vaccinated or not, to take ship-sponsored excursions in order to go ashore, it smacks to me of price gouging. I hope they will offer some more sensible prices later but if they don't they'll actually lose potential revenue because many European cruisers will simply opt to stay on board. ?

Since when has Royal Caribbean changed its protocols requiring all passengers, vaccinated or not, to take ship-sponsored excursions??

UnVaxed? Yes

If Port of Call requires it? Yes

All pasengers?????

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11 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

Since when has Royal Caribbean changed its protocols requiring all passengers, vaccinated or not, to take ship-sponsored excursions??

UnVaxed? Yes

If Port of Call requires it? Yes

All pasengers?????

This is for Harmony's European sailings. The original protocol allowed vaxed guests to roam freely but then it was changed a week ago to require all guests to use ship excursions. I think it's requirement of the Italian government. 

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Something to note - the last "sale" with most excursions listed as "10% off" just ended.

The items purchased for a sailing next June at those rates are now all listed at "25% off" with a total savings of $36 per person (what was $207.96 each has dropped to $171.96 each).

Good time to check your prices.

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Be careful about cheaper prices. Everything is not always as it appears.

I had UDP on Navigator in March 2022 for $182 per/person.
I saw the current sale of $154.99.

Hey, cancel the $182, buy the $154.99 and save, right?

Wrong!

After I cancelled and tried to get the $154.99, it now adds 'Gratuities of $55+.'
Gratuities for the $182 were included.

No mention of that in the deal. No way to know until after canceling and trying to reorder.
Only a net $1.76 lesson, but a lesson I learned nonetheless.

Next time I will call Royal or my TA to verify before canceling.

 

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2 hours ago, LifesEz said:

No way to know until after canceling and trying to reorder.

There is a way to know. 

The old cruise planner had gratuity included. 

Regardless how you booked it you know the final price you paid.  

If your cruise now uses the new "My Royal Cruises" interface gratuity is not included.  Add 18% to the price you see.  Is that cheaper than what you paid?  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/12/2021 at 10:22 PM, Floski said:

We leave on Sunday after Thanksgiving.

I don't reckon we'd be able to enjoy any BF deals for that sailing, eh?   Maybe Labor Day.

We are sailing the day after BF as well, and if memory serves me right everything needs to be purchased at least two days prior to embarkation day or then on the ship. Fingers crossed for Labor Day!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/8/2021 at 6:39 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

I consistently find the best prices on excursions between sales.  I find random price drops and jump on them.  It takes some work (checking daily for something you're interested in), but when I've gotten these deals I've never seen the price go that low again.  It's worth checking frequently.

 

On 8/13/2021 at 10:03 AM, Baked Alaska said:

^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The price and offerings will never be better than a) online, and b) inbetween "sales" (my experience).

These in-between sales prices...will they last the entire day or just for a brief moment in time and you have to be lucky?

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1 hour ago, Travldworld said:

 

These in-between sales prices...will they last the entire day or just for a brief moment in time and you have to be lucky?

I've seen some last for a couple of days. With others it's possible that I just caught them on the last day as well.  Or it could be based on  how many they sell at that price.

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On 8/18/2021 at 6:50 PM, twangster said:

There is a way to know. 

The old cruise planner had gratuity included. 

Regardless how you booked it you know the final price you paid.  

If your cruise now uses the new "My Royal Cruises" interface gratuity is not included.  Add 18% to the price you see.  Is that cheaper than what you paid?  

Noted that it may have been in the old planner. Fair observation.
My cost increased only costed less than $2 more.
But the warning here was Royal changed the system seamlessly.
The statement in the cruise planner didn't say whether or not gratuity was included.
The topic of gratuity was omitted.  

I guess you could say, Buyer Beware.
Only after you cancelled, and paid for the new price, did it show up as not included.

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4 minutes ago, LifesEz said:

It only costed less than $2 more, but I included a photo of the statement in the cruise planner and it didn't say whether or not gratuity was included.
The topic of gratuity was omitted. Only after you paid did it show up.

That confused a lot of people.  Under the old way it was buried in fine print resulting in guests not knowing that it was included.  Going forward they took an approach that clarified gratuity and make it very easy for everyone to see.  

Naturally some people will see this as a money grab which it isn't.  People like it when they are transparent and clear.  Now some people are calling foul because they made it transparent and clear.  They can't win.  

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

People like it when they are transparent and clear.  Now some people are calling foul because they made it transparent and clear.  They can't win.  

you got that last part right.

as a computer system admin, at time I made changes without notification and used the negative responses to gauge weather it was a right decision or not. 80 percent of the time no one ever said anything and it changed the way I as admin wanted it.. 

Personally I prefer an "All in Price" right up front.  But as long as everything is clear at checkout.  Have made many internet order right to the pay button until i found hidden shipping charges etc.  Like everything you have to do your due diligence.

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