Jump to content

Next holiday sale cruise planner?


Recommended Posts

So I had an April cruise booked and I had ended up getting fabulous prices for the Refreshment package, wifi, and shore excursions thanks to a presidents day sale. 

Had to rebook for August and now I'm bargain hunting all over again. 

Are the sales a usual occurrence on holidays? Should I be looking toward Memorial Day to get some price drops? 🤞

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Wanderlust876 said:

So I had an April cruise booked and I had ended up getting fabulous prices for the Refreshment package, wifi, and shore excursions thanks to a presidents day sale. 

Had to rebook for August and now I'm bargain hunting all over again. 

Are the sales a usual occurrence on holidays? Should I be looking toward Memorial Day to get some price drops? 🤞

Best prices happen when they happen. Some of the steepest discounts mentioned on these boards were during random times. If you're wanting the lowest price possible, commit to signing into the cruise planner frequently (if not daily) for a 30 second price check. Book when the price is acceptable, and be willing to refund and repurchase if a better price becomes available (assuming your finances allow it).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Rackham said:

Best prices happen when they happen. Some of the steepest discounts mentioned on these boards were during random times. If you're wanting the lowest price possible, commit to signing into the cruise planner frequently (if not daily) for a 30 second price check. Book when the price is acceptable, and be willing to refund and repurchase if a better price becomes available (assuming your finances allow it).

What do you mean by check the cruise planner? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lousy prices for sure!  The Deluxe Drink Package for my 8 night cruise in September on Allure had been hovering somewhere around $65.99 - $68.99 until yesterday when all of a sudden it increased to $74.99.  Today, for the sale, it is priced as BOGO 1/2 off with the final price for each as $72.99.  I am super glad we purchased the Refreshment Package several months ago for $18.99 because since then it has not gone below $22.99 sale or no sale!!  We will stick with that package and pay for any drinks we might decide to have...certainly will end up cheaper!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Those on the old format still have reasonable prices

Not so much for the UDP on my bookings.  Those base prices have gone insane.  The UDP for the 7 night Voyager NE/CAN cruise I am booked on went from $168PP to $259PP !  Granted, that is a sale price ($168) compared to a full MSRP ($259) but that's still quite a gap.  Not sure what the new "sale" price will be on this once a CP sale happens along.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Not so much for the UDP on my bookings.  Those base prices have gone insane.  The UDP for the 7 night Voyager NE/CAN cruise I am booked on went from $168PP to $259PP !  Granted, that is a sale price ($168) compared to a full MSRP ($259) but that's still quite a gap.  Not sure what the new "sale" price will be on this once a CP sale happens along.

My June Serenade cruise has $53 for the beverage package, yet my July Navigator is up to $75

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Not so much for the UDP on my bookings.  Those base prices have gone insane.  The UDP for the 7 night Voyager NE/CAN cruise I am booked on went from $168PP to $259PP !  Granted, that is a sale price ($168) compared to a full MSRP ($259) but that's still quite a gap.  Not sure what the new "sale" price will be on this once a CP sale happens along.

BTW, I just checked and the new "sale" price for the UDP on this sailing (Voyager to NE/CAN) is now $245PP.  So the "sale" brought that outrageous price of $259PP down a little bit but nowhere near what the previous sale price was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking across my booked cruises, I'm seeing those with a summer departure have increased the DBP base price to $98.00. Anthem of the Seas, Feb 2023 and their holiday cruise in 2023, is at $90.00. Enchantment in July 2023 (Alaska from Vancouver) is still at $72.00 in the older, cruise planner style.

Edited by Rackham
Added "base" to the starting sentence so there's no ambiguity as to which price I'm posting.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guess Royal is trying to make up for lost revenue these past couple of years. I feel like cruising is quickly on the way of becoming unaffordable for a lot of people. I already fear for when cruise planner goes live for my October 2023 cruise on the Harmony. I will have to really pick and choose carefully!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, CJS2766 said:

Guess Royal is trying to make up for lost revenue these past couple of years. I feel like cruising is quickly on the way of becoming unaffordable for a lot of people. I already fear for when cruise planner goes live for my October 2023 cruise on the Harmony. I will have to really pick and choose carefully!!

 

My take based on prior public conference call transcripts with RCI execs and discussion board comments, is due to how much demand the company is seeing on dining and drink packages (paraphrasing, "No DBP = no cruise! Gotta have it!"), RCI is seeing how high can they go and have people still willing to pay the asking price. I doubt fares will increase significantly, beyond inflation, like we've seen from major hotel and theme parks because of the economics of running a cruise ship. Sure, base fare will increase with time, but probably not like what we've seen with other leisure activities.

Interestingly enough, while the DBP has increased across the board, I'm still seeing the same-ish price (I haven't been tracking these so I can't compare their non-discounted price) for the Refreshment and Classic Soda packages. And while the dining packages have gone up, among the specialty dining experiences, I'm seeing the Chef's Table as the only one to have a serious price increase. Taste of Royal and Sushi & Sake both seem to have the same price as before. Individual restaurant bookings seem to be mixed on price increases (at least on my sailings where I can book these). Izumi's offerings seem to be the same. Chop's and 150 Central are both higher than before. Giovanni's might be higher?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with all of the above regarding the UDP.  For our May cruise on Navigator, it went from 79.99 for the unlimited drink package and Voom Surf & Stream combined to just 75.99 for the drink package alone.  They are not offering the combo anymore, it seems.  Same for our August trip on Navigator as well.  Definitely not a sale by any means.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So glad I hit Diamond so I can not stress over the Bev Package pricing. I would not be happy at all with these prices (both list and sale) but I can survive on paying for the few drinks I want over my Diamond allowance quite easily.

Disappointed that the Dining options are skyrocketing too .. guess we just ski the traditional Chops evening though.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Lousy prices for sure!  The Deluxe Drink Package for my 8 night cruise in September on Allure had been hovering somewhere around $65.99 - $68.99 until yesterday when all of a sudden it increased to $74.99.  Today, for the sale, it is priced as BOGO 1/2 off with the final price for each as $72.99.  I am super glad we purchased the Refreshment Package several months ago for $18.99 because since then it has not gone below $22.99 sale or no sale!!  We will stick with that package and pay for any drinks we might decide to have...certainly will end up cheaper!

I also got the $18.99 refreshment package for the April cruise I had to postpone. Now it's up to $23. I was able to get the swim with pigs at our previous rate yesterday so that's a plus. Seems like it's a crap shoot. Maybe there will be a Mother's day sale. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm really glad we're not getting the DBP on our next 2 cruises (Alaska and Holy Land/Greece). Thankfully they are port intensive and I just don't think we will break even. We are Diamond so our 4 drinks a day should suffice. We will be Diamond Plus after Holy Land and then the decision will be do we buy the DBP for next May on Wonder, or use our 5 drinks and pay for the rest? It seems when we travel with friends, alcohol consumption increases with group size. That Wonder cruise will be 3 couples. Last Wonder cruise was 3 couples and one day I managed 11 drinks. 😳 The DBP isn't even available yet in my planner but I'll see what price appears when it goes live. The prices right now are too high IMO. (although maybe I'm one of the reasons they are higher, they likely lost money on me 😂)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...