Cruise Planner Discounts

[Dieter de Wit]

Hi everyone,

I am experiencing a great concern at the moment with the discounts that Royal Caribbean send by mail and supposedly are applicable in the Cruise Planner page.

I have tracked the prices, mostly for the Internet and More section, and they have always been the same. Even when I receive the email stating that for X amount of days there is a 35% off Internet and More, the prices never get lower.

Our trip is aboard the Spectrum of the Seas, 5 days, Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand, and the prices for some things that we could use are as follows:

VOOM SURF Internet Package - 1 Device -> $17.59 per day

VOOM SURF Internet Package - 2 Devices -> $27.29 per day

The Key -> $26.99 per day

As I mentioned, this prices have not changed even if discounts are announced or discounts time ended, I know that buying it at the cruise will sure be more expensive but... do you know if Royal actually promotes this discounts falsely? 

As I mentioned, I do not want to know if buying in Cruise Planner will be cheaper than buying on the cruise (I know that it will sure be cheaper for most of the things), but if this "Time Specific Discounts" sent by mail are actually real. 

Many thanks!!!

[SpeedNoodles]

Always ignore the percentage off. Just keep track of the price per person per day and track that.   

[KristiZ]

2 hours ago, Dieter de Wit said:

Spectrum of the Seas

I've sailed Spectrum twice, and unfortunately most of the sales say "excluding Spectrum of the Seas" in the fine print  

Originally they were pricing her at set amounts and not ever offering discounts in order to match the expectations of the Chinese market. Not sure if that is still the case, but likely.

However, I did notice that sometimes, unrelated to any advertised sale, items would just suddenly be lower price. So it is to your benefit to check often!

[Dieter de Wit]

On 9/2/2022 at 4:40 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

Always ignore the percentage off. Just keep track of the price per person per day and track that.   

That is exactly what I am doing... I am tracking the price per person per day. That is what I mentioned above, Royal Caribbean has announced multiple discounts by mail, the most recent one being the Labor Day Sale), but PRICES don't change. 

Let me show you an example, also ignoring the "percentage off"... even though there is no real discount. Last week there was no sale an the prices are as I shared before, and today there is a "Sale", but prices are the same.

[Dieter de Wit]

On 9/2/2022 at 5:07 PM, KristiZ said:

I've sailed Spectrum twice, and unfortunately most of the sales say "excluding Spectrum of the Seas" in the fine print  

Originally they were pricing her at set amounts and not ever offering discounts in order to match the expectations of the Chinese market. Not sure if that is still the case, but likely.

However, I did notice that sometimes, unrelated to any advertised sale, items would just suddenly be lower price. So it is to your benefit to check often!

That would make more sense, unfortunately, I read the fine print and the terms and conditions and I do not see what you mention this time. That makes me believe that they are just making false advertisement of sales.

Yeah, I have noticed also that prices do fluctuate sometimes, but that is highly unpredictable and prices can go up also in that time. I was expecting to see a change during a sale, but... anyhow.

Many thanks!

[twangster]

21 minutes ago, Dieter de Wit said:

That would make more sense, unfortunately, I read the fine print and the terms and conditions and I do not see what you mention this time. That makes me believe that they are just making false advertisement of sales.

Yeah, I have noticed also that prices do fluctuate sometimes, but that is highly unpredictable and prices can go up also in that time. I was expecting to see a change during a sale, but... anyhow.

Many thanks!

There will be verbiage somewhere that states the sales may not be applicable to all ships and/or sail dates.  

[Dieter de Wit]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

There will be verbiage somewhere that states the sales may not be applicable to all ships and/or sail dates.  

I understand your point, but still, adding a banner that states that the item has 35% discount applied is False Advertisement and highly deceiving.

[karl_nj]

2 hours ago, Dieter de Wit said:

I understand your point, but still, adding a banner that states that the item has 35% discount applied is False Advertisement and highly deceiving.

Yes, it's true that Royal almost always sells things in the cruise planner at a discount.  Generally, the sales are not as 'time limited' as they make it seem.  There is always another sale around the corner.

As mentioned by others, if there is something you know you are going to buy, you should by it.  Then you should check from time to time to see if the price went down, and you can cancel and buy again.

Royal does the same thing when selling cruises... the sales get 'extended', and then they come out with a slightly different sale.  Sometimes these differences can have an impact for 'corner cases' (solo passengers or putting a 3rd/4th passenger in a room, or sailing with a child age 12 or younger) but generally they all even out and there isn't that much change from day to day.