Another cruise planner sail?

[Leroyr55]

So I already purchased a deluxe beverage package so I can’t price this one. Buy one second half price? Is this the usual smoke and mirror sale ? It’s listed at 72 so is the second one really 36?

[Pattycruise]

14 minutes ago, Leroyr55 said:

So I already purchased a deluxe beverage package so I can’t price this one. Buy one second half price? Is this the usual smoke and mirror sale ? It’s listed at 72 so is the second one really 36?

no the second one will not be 36.  It is smoke and mirrors.

[Pooch]

[Pooch]

I’m not a fan of RCs non-sale sales either but it is not false advertising.  It means what it says.  You pay full price, $98 for the first package and get the second 50% off so $49.  Add them together, divide by 2 & you get just about $72.99pp.  

[cdixon22]

3 hours ago, Pooch said:

I’m not a fan of RCs non-sale sales either but it is not false advertising.  It means what it says.  You pay full price, $98 for the first package and get the second 50% off so $49.  Add them together, divide by 2 & you get just about $72.99pp.  

I know right. I was a math major and can’t figure their fuzzy math. . Sale no sale. I always ignore the percentages and look at total price in cart and buy if I think it is worth it to me!

[Pooch]

33 minutes ago, cdixon22 said:

I know right. I was a math major and can’t figure their fuzzy math. . Sale no sale. I always ignore the percentages and look at total price in cart and buy if I think it is worth it to me!

Sorry but nothing fuzzy about it.  Just because we don’t like the sale doesn’t make it misleading.  

[FSUFAN]

I get that that it is probably not dishonest.  It's just that they seem to make these sales purposefully confusing.  Sad to say but we as a society are notoriously bad with math (for the most part). I've stated that they should just list the prices and get rid of the X% off stuff (not that they are going to listen to me).

Read the A&W Root beer 1/3 pound burger vs the McDonald's quarter pounder. People actually thought that the 1/3 pound burger was smaller than the 1/4 pound burger due to 3 denominator being smaller than 4.

Why no one wanted the A&W 1/3 pound burger

[Ampurp85]

The sale is not dishonest or misleading as everything can be worked out. I know people like to say RCG uses fuzzy math but it's not fuzzy per se. It is more so convoluted. 

Lots of people get caught up in wording and choosing to focus on one aspect and not the whole. Even if you aren't saving anything doesn't mean that the sale is not a "sale."

[Xaa]

I agree Ampurp85.  The ad clearly shows the list price and states that the price shown already reflects the discount.  Sure, someone could quickly glance over it and come to an incorrect conclusion, but it is all right there and pretty clear.

[Pooch]

1 hour ago, FSUFAN said:

I get that that it is probably not dishonest.  It's just that they seem to make these sales purposefully confusing.  Sad to say but we as a society are notoriously bad with math (for the most part). I've stated that they should just list the prices and get rid of the X% off stuff (not that they are going to listen to me).

Read the A&W Root beer 1/3 pound burger vs the McDonald's quarter pounder. People actually thought that the 1/3 pound burger was smaller than the 1/4 pound burger due to 3 denominator being smaller than 4.

Why no one wanted the A&W 1/3 pound burger

Bad at math and cannot be bothered to read!!  Don’t get me started on not learning to AT LEAST sign one’s name in cursive!!!!

[teddy]

Math and the magic of measurement are a lost art.

Our scales at work measure in hundredths of a pound.  I've been in the business since 1985, and every place I've worked, it's been like this.

Here's a quiz....what's wrong with this?

People will ask us for a half a pound of something.  The scale will read .51, and when we hand it to them, they tell us it's 5 ounces, and that's more than they wanted.

[Pooch]

Cuz 5 ounces is way more than the HALF of a (16 ounce) pound!!!  

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, teddy said:

Math and the magic of measurement are a lost art.

Our scales at work measure in hundredths of a pound.  I've been in the business since 1985, and every place I've worked, it's been like this.

Here's a quiz....what's wrong with this?

People will ask us for a half a pound of something.  The scale will read .51, and when we hand it to them, they tell us it's 5 ounces, and that's more than they wanted.

Here in Chicago people will ask for meat by the dollar. I was once behind a lady when Sara Lea ham was $5.99/lb and she asked for $3.50 worth. Most places are used to this, the scale read .56 or something and another lady called the deli person an idiot. Screaming at her that the lady asked for $3.50 worth not $5.60 worth. I had to explain to her that the measurement was in pounds. She looked at me as if I was speaking Latin and then said the machine should only state the dollar amount, because the deli person could overcharge.......which I pointed was indeed listed.

When I was younger, I worked at Circuit City, we would raise prices in October, so that when Black Friday rolled around the "sales" would seem amazing. In most cases the sales we had in Aug/Sept were cheaper than Black Friday deals. I am sure that is what Royal does, as I have seen it. The UDP was $247 not on sale for my Oasis sailing but $207 with 35% off. That number is based off of possibly a $284 price, because otherwise it would be $161.  

[Pattycruise]

Fuzzy, misleading, whatever you want to call it.  A consumer sees a % off that is higher % than when they purchased it they expect the end amount to cost less.  It is common sense.  Unfortunately Royal changes the cost of the product and then the % off, that is why it is "fuzzy" or "misleading".  Not everyone knows to look at the bottom line of the cost.  The final icing on the cake is the inability to put a product in your cart to see the new price once you have purchased it.  So I'll vote with "fuzzy" and "Misleading", if there was transparency we'd see the actual bottom line price regardless if it was purchased or not.

[Pooch]

Caveat Emptor.  It doesn’t matter what a consumer THINKS.  It matters what the promotion SAYS.  If you can’t read, if you can’t do third grade math, maybe get someone else to do it for you.  The promotion always lists the discounted price, multiply by 1.18 to get the daily price with gratuities then multiply by the number of days.  Is this number higher or lower than you paid?  It’s not rocket science or brain surgery.  If this is too much trouble, call & ask. 

[Psycho and Barb]

32 minutes ago, Pooch said:

If you can’t read, if you can’t do third grade math, maybe get someone else to do it for you. 

Not cool

[mistertomatohead]

On 8/17/2022 at 12:24 PM, Leroyr55 said:

So I already purchased a deluxe beverage package so I can’t price this one. Buy one second half price? Is this the usual smoke and mirror sale ? It’s listed at 72 so is the second one really 36?

So is $72.99 per person cheaper than what you purchased? What was your purchase price per person?

[twangster]

Sales prices are measured against the on board price.  A new sales price is not calculated based on a prior sale price.  

Just because someone saw something on sale a month ago, that month old sales price is the not the standard or full price for the item.  That was the last sale and nothing more than that.

Human nature - we want to stack discounts but when you read, and I know reading is hard to do, you will find it is all explained thoroughly.  

[cdixon22]

Putting all the badgering and insults in this thread aside, can someone explain this calculation?  Onboard price is $105 if I buy 2 packages it should be a total of $157.50 ($105 + half off $52.50) divided by 2 is $78.75 correct?  Where does the $77.99 come from?

[JimnKathy]

My personal experience is that the Black Friday sales around Thanksgiving seem to offer some of the best discounts as opposed to other sales offered throughout the rest of the year...I've saved a lot of money buying/rebooking packages during that week pretty consistently.

For the above reason, I always attempt to book a sailing in a timeframe that allows the Thanksgiving sale to occur before the cruise departs.

Happy sailing everyone...and don't let the goofy RCCL "math" make you crazy, just use the sales to your advantage.  

 

[michaelp1446]

4 hours ago, cdixon22 said:

Putting all the badgering and insults in this thread aside, can someone explain this calculation?  Onboard price is $105 if I buy 2 packages it should be a total of $157.50 ($105 + half off $52.50) divided by 2 is $78.75 correct?  Where does the $77.99 come from?

I believe original onboard price was 103.99.( I'm not kidding) They bumped it to 105 but did not change the Buy one get one 50% off price....You can't make this stuff up!...

[cdixon22]

1 hour ago, JimnKathy said:

My personal experience is that the Black Friday sales around Thanksgiving seem to offer some of the best discounts as opposed to other sales offered throughout the rest of the year...I've saved a lot of money buying/rebooking packages during that week pretty consistently.

For the above reason, I always attempt to book a sailing in a timeframe that allows the Thanksgiving sale to occur before the cruise departs.

Happy sailing everyone...and don't let the goofy RCCL "math" make you crazy, just use the sales to your advantage.  

 

100%. And just look at bottomline price not percentage off. 

[Psycho and Barb]

2 hours ago, michaelp1446 said:

I believe original onboard price was 103.99.( I'm not kidding) They bumped it to 105.

I’m sorry but at that price I would have to start drinking as soon as I got up till I passed sometime in the evening…Just saying 

[sk8erguy1978]

6 hours ago, cdixon22 said:

Putting all the badgering and insults in this thread aside, can someone explain this calculation?  Onboard price is $105 if I buy 2 packages it should be a total of $157.50 ($105 + half off $52.50) divided by 2 is $78.75 correct?  Where does the $77.99 come from?

In my small dataset over the years, I've noticed the BOGO 1/2 Off never lined up with the 'base' price. The 20% and 30% always did. I gave up lol. 

[Swar]

I am so thankful that I am out of the drink package mess. I have 4 drinks a day (soon to be 5) and free casino drinks through 1 April 2024. On last week's cruise, I had between 1-4 drinks left over, each day, and that was with supporting a non-diamond  SIL. If you are going to do more than 2 cruises a year, try the gambling.

P.S. we get specialty coffee on the debarkation day, sometimes mimosas as we head off the ship. During the cruise, we get specialty coffee in the Diamond Lounge.

[mistertomatohead]

10 hours ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

In my small dataset over the years, I've noticed the BOGO 1/2 Off never lined up with the 'base' price. The 20% and 30% always did. I gave up lol. 

My current 30% off doesn’t. I chalk it up to some marketing/sales person requiring the sale price to be .99, regular price .00 and percent off to be in some nice percentage of 5s or 10s. Meanwhile the programmers are going mad and customer service people have to deal with it. 

Edit: Seems like they’re just rounding down to the nearest .99 because that one cent difference means more sales I guess.

[sk8erguy1978]

4 hours ago, mistertomatohead said:

My current 30% off doesn’t. I chalk it up to some marketing/sales person requiring the sale price to be .99, regular price .00 and percent off to be in some nice percentage of 5s or 10s. Meanwhile the programmers are going mad and customer service people have to deal with it. 

Edit: Seems like they’re just rounding down to the nearest .99 because that one cent difference means more sales I guess.

Should have mentioned this was all pre-pandemic. The cruises I've sailed since the restart I just bought the package without thinking twice about a current sale.

I was always under the impression the .99 was a psychological thing as people just saw the whole number.