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Does this make sense? (35% "discount" on Voom)


jbrinkm

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On the Royal website now, they are advertising 35% off the onboard price for certain items - including the Voom packages. However, the price is exactly the same as yesterday, when they were claiming it was 10% off of onboard prices. Same price, just a different number % off in the corner triangle stated. Is this just a gimmick, or do you think they raised the prices onboard?

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4 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

Is this just a gimmick

Truthfully....yes.  Never EVER go by the % off sham.  Just look at the bottom line....is the new price saving you money over what you paid previously or have been seeing for previous prices ?  If yes, it's a sale.  If not, it's just Royal math.

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I wish there was an event onboard ships were officials talk about the way Royal does business.  I’d ask them about this infamous Royal Math.  How about the inconsistencies in the implementation of their programs and policies.

I think I’ve heard enough of the engines, the azipods, and the desalination process that the captains and engineers talk about at the “Captain’s Corner” event.

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57 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

I wish there was an event onboard ships were officials talk about the way Royal does business.  I’d ask them about this infamous Royal Math.  How about the inconsistencies in the implementation of their programs and policies.

I think I’ve heard enough of the engines, the azipods, and the desalination process that the captains and engineers talk about at the “Captain’s Corner” event.

Ships have no idea what the marketing folks on land do.  Two days before the cruise the cruise planner is closed and the entire cruise with purchases and all is transferred from Royal Caribbean as a business entity to the ship company as a separate business entity.  Yes, each ship is its own company, a well known practice in the shipping world.

The person you want to find onboard is the revenue officer.  I've sat near some at Meals with an Officer events.  They are ultimately responsible for revenue targets on board.  However even they can't articulate the concepts of Royal math before you step on the ship.  Once on the ship they know all about the math on board but they won't tell all.  

That is why there is inconsistency.  We all think of Royal as one big company including the ship crew.  It isn't.  From a corporate structure it may all eventually roll up to the senior executives at the top but it is not a typical corporate structure like Home Depot is on land.  So yeah, to reach their revenue targets some ships deviate from the website because at the end the day reaching revenue targets keeps them employed.  Following the corporate website does not.  There is no "good boy/good girl" to be had for charging what the website says for a hibachi upcharge.    

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1 hour ago, jbrinkm said:

On the Royal website now, they are advertising 35% off the onboard price for certain items - including the Voom packages. However, the price is exactly the same as yesterday, when they were claiming it was 10% off of onboard prices. Same price, just a different number % off in the corner triangle stated. Is this just a gimmick, or do you think they raised the prices onboard?

Yes, the percentage off is just a gimmick and it’s best to go by the bottom line number.  But, to be fair, I did notice that some of my prices did come down last night while the % off banners didn’t update until this morning. 

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The percentage off is not a gimmick. The sale is not fake. At least with the older Cruise Planner system, sale prices would begin adjusting the late afternoon/evening BEFORE the sale start date. When these prices adjust, the percent-off banners do NOT adjust automatically. This is where Royal IT gets a lot of bad-mouthing and well-deserved disrespect. Over the next day the percent-off banners change.

 

So someone looking the day before a sale can see the updated price, but the old percent-off banner. Then on the sale day, they look again, and see the same price but now with the correct percent-off banner. And then go out and tell everyone everywhere how Royal Caribbean raises prices to fake sales. 

 

It's an inept IT department that created a mechanism to update product prices independent of the system displaying percent-off banners with those prices. It *may* be somewhat better in the newer My Royal Shop setup which they're moving to.

 

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8 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

On the Royal website now, they are advertising 35% off the onboard price for certain items - including the Voom packages. However, the price is exactly the same as yesterday, when they were claiming it was 10% off of onboard prices. Same price, just a different number % off in the corner triangle stated. Is this just a gimmick, or do you think they raised the prices onboard?


The cruise planner internet for my March 25 cruise on Wonder is 35% off now too …….. However, 2 weeks ago when it was 20% off, I got the 4 device surf & stream package for $37/day …….. now at 35% off, the 4 device package is $63/day  LMAO 🤣 

They’re supposed to give you an onboard discount for Diamond Plus too, which we will be by that cruise ….. I’m glad I didn’t wait for that, because after the huge increase, I’m sure I would have ended up paying a lot more than I did already buying in advance!

 

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12 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:

They’re supposed to give you an onboard discount for Diamond Plus too, which we will be by that cruise ….. I’m glad I didn’t wait for that, because after the huge increase, I’m sure I would have ended up paying a lot more than I did already buying in advance!

 

Just got off of Freedom.  This is the Diamond Plus perks.  However I did not seek out the onboard price so I’ve no idea if this was a better deal. Somehow I doubt it!

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51 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 sale prices would begin adjusting the late afternoon/evening BEFORE the sale start date. When these prices adjust, the percent-off banners do NOT adjust automatically. This is where Royal IT gets a lot of bad-mouthing and well-deserved disrespect. Over the next day the percent-off banners change.

So someone looking the day before a sale can see the updated price, but the old percent-off banner. Then on the sale day, they look again, and see the same price but now with the correct percent-off banner. And then go out and tell everyone everywhere how Royal Caribbean raises prices to fake sales. 

So if I had looked two days ago, I might have seen a higher price on the Voom package? That makes sense to me because I just switched ships for my upcoming cruise, and I was surprised that the newer, bigger ship had a lower per-day price than the older, smaller ship we would have been on.

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26 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

Just got off of Freedom.  This is the Diamond Plus perks.  However I did not seek out the onboard price so I’ve no idea if this was a better deal. Somehow I doubt it!

089A95AC-474A-4069-810B-0EB131440EBE.jpeg

Does this change from ship to ship sailing to sailing? Those perks seem nice.

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Just got off of Freedom.  This is the Diamond Plus perks.  However I did not seek out the onboard price so I’ve no idea if this was a better deal. Somehow I doubt it!

089A95AC-474A-4069-810B-0EB131440EBE.jpeg

For D+ with $51.98 off the onboard rate on short sailings it's often better to buy it on board.  

For best savings wait until day 2 to buy it on board.  The concept is you are in the homeport until 4-5pm on day 1 and then within cellular range until 6 or 7pm as you sail away.  Then you have dinner and a night 1 show.  Do you really need to buy Voom for day 1? 

By waiting to buy a Voom plan the on board until you wake up on the morning of day 2 the has dropped significantly and with the $51.98 discount you can save money .

For a 3 night Freedom Voom is basically free for a D+ on board when "bought" on board using your CAS discount on day 2.  For a 4 to 6 night cruise Voom can be cheaper on board using the day 2 method.  At $15.99 in the cruise planner you can save ~$15 on day 2 of a 4 night sailing.

A lot depends on the daily rate in the cruise planner.

When I was on an Empress itinerary that left Miami and stopped in Key West first I'd wait until the morning after we left Key West and I'd buy Voom on day 3 for even more savings.

If you can live without internet for a few days waiting until day 3 or 4 on longer cruises you can save quite a bit.  If your cell plan includes Mexico as many do now and that is a stop on day 3 you can save by waiting until you leave Mexico and then buying Voom later in the cruise or getting by with the two free days of Surf at zero cost.   

Start a free Surf pass at 12 noon and you'll have it for half of that day and half of the next day until noon.  By splitting days you sort of get two days coverage using a single day pass.

If traveling as a D+ couple you have four Surf day passes between you.  Share them (and buy at noon) and you can often get by without spending a dime for Voom.  If Surf is good enough for you. 

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I’ve seen sometimes where a price appears to be less than what was originally posted…but when you go to check-out, it bumps back up when tax is added…or gratuities. Buyer beware. Also, there have been times where something like the Coco Beach Club price drops and, after cancelling the higher priced purchase, the planner shows there are no more spaces available. So now I always purchase it at the lower price first…then go back and cancel the original one. Lesson learned. Mysterious, indeed are the ways of the bean counters…..

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  • 3 months later...
On 1/14/2022 at 3:38 PM, PG Cruiser said:

I wish there was an event onboard ships were officials talk about the way Royal does business.  I’d ask them about this infamous Royal Math.  How about the inconsistencies in the implementation of their programs and policies.

I think I’ve heard enough of the engines, the azipods, and the desalination process that the captains and engineers talk about at the “Captain’s Corner” event.

It's their business plan.  They know that there are a ton of people that don't look beyond their nose, don't critically think and just go with what is said without just a little bit of research.  Royal's math makes Royal a lot of money.  

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On 1/15/2022 at 8:39 AM, BrianB said:

I’ve seen sometimes where a price appears to be less than what was originally posted…but when you go to check-out, it bumps back up when tax is added…or gratuities. Buyer beware. Also, there have been times where something like the Coco Beach Club price drops and, after cancelling the higher priced purchase, the planner shows there are no more spaces available. So now I always purchase it at the lower price first…then go back and cancel the original one. Lesson learned. Mysterious, indeed are the ways of the bean counters…..

You have said you do that in the past and some folks have said that you can't do that, you can only buy one package (the same package) at a time (I'm not one of them).  So, please let us know how you do that, anything special you have to do?  It's package purchasing 101 time.  

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15 hours ago, 1st Mate said:

You have said you do that in the past and some folks have said that you can't do that, you can only buy one package (the same package) at a time (I'm not one of them).  So, please let us know how you do that, anything special you have to do?  It's package purchasing 101 time.  

I do it quite often when I see a price change. I always purchase the same item before I cancel my original purchase. I do it for the beach club pass, beach beds, dining…. When I saw others saying it’s impossible to do that, I thought maybe it was because I was doing it only on the older Cruise Planner system. So, I just tried it now on the new Cruise Planner. I purchased another Coco Beach Club pass. See the photo. My original purchase was made in November. I just made another purchase today. Same item…beach club pass. Amex sent me the text notification that the charge went through. Now I’ll go back and cancel the purchase I just made.

 

C586CAF9-500E-474D-8E82-539B521A15D2.jpeg

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2 hours ago, BrianB said:

I do it quite often when I see a price change. I always purchase the same item before I cancel my original purchase. I do it for the beach club pass, beach beds, dining…. When I saw others saying it’s impossible to do that, I thought maybe it was because I was doing it only on the older Cruise Planner system. So, I just tried it now on the new Cruise Planner. I purchased another Coco Beach Club pass. See the photo. My original purchase was made in November. I just made another purchase today. Same item…beach club pass. Amex sent me the text notification that the charge went through. Now I’ll go back and cancel the purchase I just made.

 

C586CAF9-500E-474D-8E82-539B521A15D2.jpeg

Love it, good to know stuff, right there! 😊   Thank you!

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  • 2 months later...

I’m struggling at the minute with booking packages- I have been checking daily and the prices haven’t moved and now apparently they are 35% off and still the same price? 
 

I contacting customer service thinking something was wrong and they were useless. 
 

the only reason I need another drinks package is because they cancelled my first one!

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