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Ultimate drinks package price increase for 2018


stubee

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Have booked a cruise for early 2018 and notice that RCL want to charge me USD$69/day for the ultimate drinks package.

This is up from the price of around USD$55/day we paid on a cruise earlier this year.

Has anyone heard about changes to the pricing of the drinks packages for 2018 ?

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5 minutes ago, stubee said:

Have booked a cruise for early 2018 and notice that RCL want to charge me USD$69/day for the ultimate drinks package.

This is up from the price of around USD$55/day we paid on a cruise earlier this year.

Has anyone heard about changes to the pricing of the drinks packages for 2018 ?

WOW (but not the good kind)! That's a 25% increase. Cruise planner for my May 2018 trip still shows $55/day. Wait it out. It will probably come back down and then some more with a cruise planner sale. Royal's inconsistency is, at the very least, frustrating.

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$69 sounds like the full price as $55 is 80% of 69.

If this is true then it seems like they have removed the 20% off the package pricing for your cruise.  I doubt it's permanent.  They've had 20% off the Ultimate Package for so long that it's now pretty much the de facto full price.  I still see 20% off on all of the packages for the cruises I am booked on.

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I have a February 2018 sailing on Harmony booked and I am keeping an eye on this.  For my cruise it is currently listed as regular price $55 a day, so when you add the 18% gratuity it takes it to $65 a day.  I am figuring there will be a 20% off sale at some point, which is essentially save the gratuity.  Hoping for sure maybe on black Friday.  We will see.

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12 minutes ago, JBC said:

I have a February 2018 sailing on Harmony booked and I am keeping an eye on this.  For my cruise it is currently listed as regular price $55 a day, so when you add the 18% gratuity it takes it to $65 a day.  I am figuring there will be a 20% off sale at some point, which is essentially save the gratuity.  Hoping for sure maybe on black Friday.  We will see.

I know since I booked our Oct 2017 cruise back in Feb, drink packages have been on sale at least 3 times at 30% off since then. Just keep watching. I'm sure prices will drop before then.

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3 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Im waiting it out too...mine are still 55 plus gratuities for my match freedom sailing.   As soon as i see a sail i will book 2 pkg....just in case they make both people in a cabin share...and then cancel one of they don't.   Jane

Although you may not want to lay out the money this far in advance, booking it now will protect you from any future price increase. If/when the sale happens, you can cancel it and buy at the sale price.

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2 hours ago, Skid said:

Although you may not want to lay out the money this far in advance, booking it now will protect you from any future price increase. If/when the sale happens, you can cancel it and buy at the sale price.

I completely agree. If you can afford it, lock in the price now as you can always cancel later and rebook if the price of the package goes down. I do there same with gratuities and excursions. 

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4 hours ago, DocLC said:

I completely agree. If you can afford it, lock in the price now as you can always cancel later and rebook if the price of the package goes down. I do there same with gratuities and excursions. 

I know...im in the process of booking my river cruise and about 5 other trips...will do when i can!   I had a question though.   Its not a vig deal to cancel and rebook the drinks pkg, because its not limited.   What about dining and excursions.   I booked them early...if a sale happens,  am i playing with fire if i cancel and immediately rebook?  Im afraid i will lose them or the dining time.   Jane

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7 hours ago, Skid said:

Although you may not want to lay out the money this far in advance, booking it now will protect you from any future price increase. If/when the sale happens, you can cancel it and buy at the sale price.

Totally true...im just taking a chance right now because im planning 5 trips right now....fwp right?!  But it is a good idea!   Jane

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2 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

I know...im in the process of booking my river cruise and about 5 other trips...will do when i can!   I had a question though.   Its not a vig deal to cancel and rebook the drinks pkg, because its not limited.   What about dining and excursions.   I booked them early...if a sale happens,  am i playing with fire if i cancel and immediately rebook?  Im afraid i will lose them or the dining time.   Jane

That is a great question Jane! My first instinct is to book the new ones, then cancel the old. But I'm guessing the website wouldn't allow 2 bookings for the same person. Maybe by calling, a rep can put in the new order while cancelling the old??? Does anyone know the best way to handle this?

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2 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

I know...im in the process of booking my river cruise and about 5 other trips...will do when i can!   I had a question though.   Its not a vig deal to cancel and rebook the drinks pkg, because its not limited.   What about dining and excursions.   I booked them early...if a sale happens,  am i playing with fire if i cancel and immediately rebook?  Im afraid i will lose them or the dining time.   Jane

I did this on my Allure sailing without any problem. However, I was on the dining packages, so I couldn't prebook any of my meal times until onboard. You could search to see if they're available before cancelling and let that be the deciding point for you. 

 

@Skid The system will not allow you to book duplicates. The best option is to see if there's availability first by searching through the excursions and then rebooking if they're still available. 

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I booked Symphony maiden voyage (April 21, 2018) back in March.  Since that date I have been tracking the prices daily (a bit of OCD, but just for my own curiosity).  Drink prices for 2 with gratuity (16% as it is Europe) were as follows:  

23 March - £675.92; 5 Apr - £659.44; 06 Jun - £634.70; 19 Jun - £800.28 (^20.69%) (it appears that they have removed any discount and the price listed is over £49 pppn)  

There has been no change in the price since this date, even accounting for fluctuations in currency exchange rates.  I am still watching, with 275 days until sailing, I am hoping for a sale or a package with Voom added in.

I just hope they have not removed all discounts for the 2018 sailings. That would not work to their benefit.

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We are paying $54 on Harmony for the Group Cruise and that includes Voom. That would be pretty much my limit. I will go a la carte and drink less if I was ever faced with $69 pp/pd.  No way will I pay that. That's $569 w/ gratuities. We all know that RC offsets the relatively small profit from the fares by the huge profits of onboard spending, primarily alcohol sales.  $69 would be the tipping over point for me, where they would get less out of me, not more. 

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Well the cruise line is just trying to help you gain reward points faster using your RCL credit card,the more you spend the more points you get. Has anyone noticed any fluxuation in the interest rate between 12.99% and 22.99% ? I wonder if the interest that one accrues on the unpaid balance counts for points.

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16 hours ago, Chris besanson said:

Well the cruise line is just trying to help you gain reward points faster using your RCL credit card,the more you spend the more points you get. Has anyone noticed any fluxuation in the interest rate between 12.99% and 22.99% ? I wonder if the interest that one accrues on the unpaid balance counts for points.

I doubt it. Plus, if you're paying interest on any balance, any rewards you're benefiting from are costing you dearly. 

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