Why so many 3rd/4th guests free promo's?

[monctonguy]

Now they have this offer out for the Empress.

 

This seems to be one of the favorite promo's that RCI puts on.

 

Besides a young family travelling, who does this benefit?

 

No solo travelers, no couples, no one travelling with extended family or friends really.

 

I wish they would offer some deals and promo's that would benefit a greater percentage of the cruising population or give something that everyone would benefit from a little, rather than a deal that a few people  benefit from greatly!

 

 

 

 

[DocLC]

My guess is that more people onboard represents a greater opportunity for revenue and the cost to the cruise line is largely born by the first two berths. In addition, on short cruisers, I've heard of lots of people going 3-4 to a cabin to maker it a cheap getaway.

[Matt]

A point of clarification, this 3rd and 4th pax free on Empress deal is for any guest, regardless of age.

 

All promos are about marketing, and I will tell you that as a family of 4, when I hear kids sail free or 3rd & 4th pax free, I immediately pay attention and consider new bookings.  

[monctonguy]

I knew that it wasn't a kids sale free promo.

 

Just for arguments sake....MOST times the 3rd and 4th free are prob kids or children...which will not really result in them making much extra revenues on things like the casino, drink packages, specialty restaurants etc..

 

I think that a 50% off sale for the first two ppl...would result in higher bookings, more interest, be a bigger deal.....plus those first 2 ppl would spend much more on board on average than if its a family taking advantage of 3/4 free.

 

And it would result in the same $$ that RCI would collect initially on the base fare.

 

 

I know I wouldn't book a cabin with 2 other ppl even if they were free.......but that's me I guess.

 

I am not an accountant...but if I do the math...I am guessing 9/10 RCI would end up ahead with my promotion.......so not sure why they don't realize it.

 

Only thing I can think of is that it's just a promo they can throw up and know that not many will take advantage of it so they don't lose anything in the end.

[Matt]

What I have learned is that the various promotions rarely (if ever) benefit everyone, but a subset of everyone will benefit from each.  BOGO 50%, 60% off second guest, WOW sale, Kids Sail Free, etc.  They all will have different appeals.

Royal Caribbean is always interested in tweaking offers and seeing which ones drum up the most business. 

I agree that ordinarily I would not want to stick 4 people in one room.  I love my kids, but need separation from them (especially around bed time), but I cannot help but look at the deals for some of the larger staterooms if the 3rd and 4th passengers are free.  It amounts to a big savings.

 

 

Only thing I can think of is that it's just a promo they can throw up and know that not many will take advantage of it so they don't lose anything in the end.

It's not that few will take advantage.  You might not, but others will and then sooner or later another deal will come out that will benefit you more than others.  It's all a game to get people thinking about booking a cruise.

From what I've heard, BOGO 50% off deals resonate extremely well with first time cruisers.  

 

Again, no one promotion ever seems to benefit everyone (perhaps last year's Cyber Monday deal was the one exception) but it is important to track them all for that one promotion that gives you a slight edge.

[jticarruthers]

Ultimately all of the deals they throw our are just marketing spiels, have checked every deal that came out on every cruise I have booked over the last few years. Last time a deal did anything for me was the very first week of the never ending BOGO sales when RCI misunderstood the plan and actually just applied the logic directly to the price that existed the day before without bumping up the prices first over night.

 

I know there are people that do save a little bit from time to time as the sales mutate slightly but in general if you book within the first month of them rolling forward their schedule I will pretty much guarantee that you wont see a sale between then and your sailing 2 years later that saves you money.

 

Its just a never ending stream of "sales" to try and attract new cruisers to the table and it seems to work really well.

[Sweety]

Ultimately all of the deals they throw our are just marketing spiels, have checked every deal that came out on every cruise I have booked over the last few years. Last time a deal did anything for me was the very first week of the never ending BOGO sales when RCI misunderstood the plan and actually just applied the logic directly to the price that existed the day before without bumping up the prices first over night.

 

I know there are people that do save a little bit from time to time as the sales mutate slightly but in general if you book within the first month of them rolling forward their schedule I will pretty much guarantee that you wont see a sale between then and your sailing 2 years later that saves you money.

 

Its just a never ending stream of "sales" to try and attract new cruisers to the table and it seems to work really well.

You are correct. I booked two years in advance. My prices are always lower then any sales. I also, get the cabin I want in the location I want. Planning saves money most of the time. I have 9 cruises booked with RCCL and 1 with Celebrity.