bcarney Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 I was online this morning poking around at about 8:15am. Did a search on November cruises, and saw the 8 day on Independence from Ft. Lauderdale leaving Nov. 22nd that looked interesting. I clicked through the link, and noted an Outside room for $519(!) pp - and with the current sale it meant my wife and I could bring the kids for free, so the cruise would cost $1038+port fees. NO BRAINER! I clicked the Select Stateroom button as fast as I possibly could - and was met with a message saying something to the effect that "this record is currently not available" and it wouldn't let me select a room. When I tried to book it again, just moments later, the price popped up to $1,269/pp. Gosh I hate Royal Caribbean's website - and frankly I'm really starting to dislike this all-over-the-place pricing system they have. Wearing a blue shirt when trying to book? That's $100 more. Are you left handed? $250 discount. Is it Tuesday, and sunny outside? $72 more. Ok, done venting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted August 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 Furthermore, later in the day I went back and re-priced the cruise. Not logged into my C&A Account - was able to get the lowest Outdoor deckplan code, at $1938 Logged into my C&A account - lowest Outdoor deckplan code "not available - sold out" (ok, I suppose that can happen within 60 seconds), the only one available now is $2430 Went to another browser, not logged into my C&A account - $2538. That's a helluva price swing over the course of three minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 Yeah. It seems they REALLY need to spend more on making the site work properly and the app as well. If you can afford to have multiple billion dollar ships under construction (yes I know they're paying for them over several years) then 10/20/ even 50 million on a WOW experience on their site seems a no brainer to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 That's interesting you have wild price swings like that. Did you try calling your travel agent or RC directly? Sometimes the site suffers from glitches. Cowcrazy65 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Sometimes the site suffers from glitches ??? LOL ... I love cruising RCI but their entire Website/IT system is a glitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Back to the OP - I have a couple of cabins booked on the Indy Thanksgiving cruise you mentioned so I have been watching prices on that one for a while. They came down a TON last week. Oceanview for 4 passengers was over $4500 on 8/11, looks like about $3000 at the moment if they have any left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Use the vacationstogo.com search engine, comparable or better $$$ & almost always OBC not avail elsewhere, even ditect wuth cruise line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Yes, i don't even use their website anymore, as it never seems to work well at all. While i havent noticed wild swings on their site price wise.....I just notice wild prices for single travellers with RCI period!....$169 based on double occupanct becomes over $500 with taxes as solo....more than double! Would be cheaper to take someone off the street with me than to travel alone with them. It's really too bad they do that....Carnival nor Celebrity nor NCL are as bad based on my searches... So along with making their webesite better, maybe they could work on their pricing as well..lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 that is quite a difference - if you can screen shot it sometimes they will help you out but they still know that within the same time frame someone else can book the same cruise and it jumps the pricing Bummer calling into C & A can give you deals though too and discounts Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSoxFan Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 I have experienced the same thing recently. When checking a cruise my daughter booked the first screen would show interior cabins staring at $189.00. However, when you clicked "Book Now" and proceeded the lowest price was $318.00. This happened a few times to me on different sailing and different ships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 I have experienced the same thing recently. When checking a cruise my daughter booked the first screen would show interior cabins staring at $189.00. However, when you clicked "Book Now" and proceeded the lowest price was $318.00. This happened a few times to me on different sailing and different ships. Those super deals are often for one category of stateroom. As an example, I never qualify for those rates because I need a stateroom that can handle more than 2 people. If I price it out for 2 people, I see the super low rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted August 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 that is quite a difference - if you can screen shot it sometimes they will help you out but they still know that within the same time frame someone else can book the same cruise and it jumps the pricing Bummer calling into C & A can give you deals though too and discounts Oh trust me, lesson learned about the screen shot... michelle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted August 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Back to the OP - I have a couple of cabins booked on the Indy Thanksgiving cruise you mentioned so I have been watching prices on that one for a while. They came down a TON last week. Oceanview for 4 passengers was over $4500 on 8/11, looks like about $3000 at the moment if they have any left. I was doing some "dream searching" that morning. I might be able to take some time off around Thanksgiving this year, even though I have another cruise booked in April '15, so I was checking out possible options for that week. At the $1,038 I was ready to book instantly :) but at the $3,000 currently I think It'll wait and see if I can snag a last minute cruise at a driveable-in-2-days-from-Michigan port. Heck, I might even try out another cruise line if the price is right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylor Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 I was online this morning poking around at about 8:15am. Did a search on November cruises, and saw the 8 day on Independence from Ft. Lauderdale leaving Nov. 22nd that looked interesting. I clicked through the link, and noted an Outside room for $519(!) pp - and with the current sale it meant my wife and I could bring the kids for free, so the cruise would cost $1038+port fees. NO BRAINER! I clicked the Select Stateroom button as fast as I possibly could - and was met with a message saying something to the effect that "this record is currently not available" and it wouldn't let me select a room. When I tried to book it again, just moments later, the price popped up to $1,269/pp. Gosh I hate Royal Caribbean's website - and frankly I'm really starting to dislike this all-over-the-place pricing system they have. Wearing a blue shirt when trying to book? That's $100 more. Are you left handed? $250 discount. Is it Tuesday, and sunny outside? $72 more. Ok, done venting.... Bill, You should let your travel agent do the dirty work and find you the best price. If you don't have a travel agent, I can refer you to mine. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donalk Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 I see today that Royal have won an award for their website!! I share the frustration abut the site, although checking for price differentials is pointless for me, because as a European cruiser, once you book, the price is locked in. I find the most recent redesign is the most frustrating - The option to "Save to My Cruises" seems to be gone, and I must admit to being a fan of the traditonal itinerary map, which seems to be missing more often than not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXCruiser Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 I too have found that their website is not very user-friendly. To me it just doesn't "flow" easily if that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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