black friday sales!! what did you get??

[cmdrfrag]

Just saw this thread this morning, rushed over and picked up the Deluxe Drinks Package for our Cruise in the Summer, £59 per person per night, Not too shabby

[Mike.s]

56 minutes ago, cmdrfrag said:

Just saw this thread this morning, rushed over and picked up the Deluxe Drinks Package for our Cruise in the Summer, £59 per person per night, Not too shabby

Managed to get it for £46pppn for our transatlantic next autumn, happy days.

[Ray]

Still showing same deals as last week! Not even a mention of Black Friday on my screen lol 

[KJRanch]

2 minutes ago, Ray said:

Still showing same deals as last week! Not even a mention of Black Friday on my screen lol 

I was just about to post that as well.  No mention of Black Friday on the home screen or the Cruise planner website.  Internet went up from $19.99/day to $21.99....

 

Was hoping to get the refreshment package around $20-22 as well but alas $23.99 it is.  

[Xaa]

For internet folks, look at the multiple device savings.  The 1 device price isn't great, but DEEP discounts on the 4 dev plan.  Refreshment package also a big saver and the new lower price for kids is appreciated even if this is the last sailing where my young one qualifies.  Labadee bargain basement pricing!

 

On a December Cruise we saved $212.82 on items cancelled and rebooked

• 4 Dev Int from $299.94 to $203.94 - $96 (that's $8.50 per dev per day on this 6 day cruise)
• Refreshment PKG (2x) from $396.24 to $290.04 - $106.20
• Giovanni's Lunch (3x+1c) from $60.10 to $56.56 - $3.54 (went lower than the Pasta Day Sale)
• Soda - from $70.68 to $63.6 - $7.08

I'm going to pick up a Chops lunch on Embarkation and probably grab an activity on Labadee (our Barefoot Beach Cabana did not go down)

 

On an Icon Cruise the savings were not as great on excursions.  Thrill dropped only to $185 so it went from insane crazy to really stupid, but we did score Internet and Refreshment again.  Total cancel and rebook savings $218.68

• 4 Dev Internet from $475.93 to $405.93 - $70 (14.50 per dev per day or 70% more than the Dec cruise offering.  That's your Icon premium at work)
• Refreshment 3x from 742.98 to $594.30 - $148.68

All in all, how can I complain?  They essentially paid for my parking on both of these upcoming trips.  All I had to do was 5 minutes of shop and swap.

[Xaa]

5 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

$23.99 Not One Rotten Dime Less Then Yesterday's Price!!!!

Truly count yourself lucky if not going on ICON in 2024! Everything runs more money. Only can afford because we booked the first day it came out. Paid $1150 per person for an inside cabin. Same goes for $3000 pp today. 

Disappointed couldn't even get a buck a day off internet. Held back on 3 more items because I really feel Royal could have played ball with a buck or two off some things to at least make everything feel cheaper then yesterday/last week. So they lost about $300 more I would have spent if I felt a little more Black Friday sale spirit from them. 

I'm with you @CanHardlyWait, the Icon Premium is high on everything for sure!  On the Internet piece, I found the tag rate to not be reduced but deep discount on multi-device.  I think maybe that doesn't help your situation.  At 4 devices on our May Icon we're down to $14.50 per dev per day, we had been running $16.99 on 4 Dev at the previous low.

Our clan uses multiple devices and we're Refreshment Package consumers so we lucked out into the value pocket.

 

[OCSC Mike]

We don’t buy much pre-cruise. Saved some money on a few Mason Jar brunches.

As discussed above, Internet sale is good if you have 4 people, not so much if you’re a frugal couple who are content to share one person, one device, lol.

[ScottD]

6 hours ago, TessFromFlorida said:

Should I grab this steal?

 

My planner did this as well. All of the sale prices are the ones crossed out. But they do show up as the correct price when you check out. 

[ScottD]

deleted duplicate

[CanHardlyWait]

37 minutes ago, Xaa said:

I'm with you @CanHardlyWait, the Icon Premium is high on everything for sure!  On the Internet piece, I found the tag rate to not be reduced but deep discount on multi-device.  I think maybe that doesn't help your situation.  At 4 devices on our May Icon we're down to $14.50 per dev per day, we had been running $16.99 on 4 Dev at the previous low.

Our clan uses multiple devices and we're Refreshment Package consumers so we lucked out into the value pocket.

 

We discovered last trip that 1 person 1 device was all we really need. We just bump each other off our phones when needed. Checking voice-mail, email, wifi calling, reading news. We're together almost all the time on board anyway.

Just would have been nice to get a little discount. Everything ICON is more. LOL.

Except I think people are paying more for the new adult beach. Wasn't on my list but I've read people paying $60 plus so when I saw $46.99 I thought OK for ICON this is a sale price, why not try something new. Jury is out on if we keep it till I see some YouTube videos. LOL. Have had 2 great times this year at Chill beach for no additional cost. It's was a new car smell purchase. LOL.

[CanHardlyWait]

47 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

We don’t buy much pre-cruise. Saved some money on a few Mason Jar brunches.

As discussed above, Internet sale is good if you have 4 people, not so much if you’re a frugal couple who are content to share one person, one device, lol.

I think I learned about the 1 person, 1 device, bump each other out as needed system from you. And for two adults just checking their phones it was a great savings on last trip in September. Multiple devices plan just is more than we need. Still they could have dropped the 1 device plan by two bucks a day to make it feel like a sale. Not the end of the world, but Royal "sale" math gets old. LOL.

Thanks for the 1 device bump tip in the first place. Just good enough for our needs.

[OCSC Mike]

36 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Thanks for the 1 device bump tip in the first place. Just good enough for our needs.

Glad I could help. Unfortunate for both of us that the single package has basically no sale price this year but what can ya do?

Fortunately we’ll be D+ after our next cruise which means sharing 4 free days on board / using the credit towards the rest of the cruise so it’s not that big of a deal. We have even been known to go without access for the 1st night after leaving port & starting on day 2 (with our 2 free D days) to save a day, lol.

[Xaa]

36 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Not the end of the world, but Royal "sale" math gets old.

It's one of the things about RCI that I dislike the most.  Not the math part because I only concern myself with the final price, but the need to babysit the cruise planner from time of booking until cruise or risk paying more than you had to.  Of the 4 cruises I have on the books now, two are on 2 other lines and this screwing around isn't something you have to do with the others.  The price is the price and it is generally a good and reasonable price that is often, but not always less than the best prices I have to work to get on RCI.

It is what it is, and it's not a deal breaker for me, but I agree with the sentiment that it "gets old"

But today is a day for being happy, because I did save money vs what I had committed yesterday.

[OCSC Mike]

44 minutes ago, Xaa said:

It is what it is, and it's not a deal breaker for me, but I agree with the sentiment that it "gets old"

But today is a day for being happy, because I did save money vs what I had committed yesterday.

Well said.

[ScottB]

Canceled and repurchased all of my husband and I excursions and refreshment drink packages for our eight or so upcoming cruises. Saved a lot

[Jill]

My icon UDP was $70 more than what I paid a year ago. Hideaway Beach is $10 less total so not rebooking it for that small amount. That’s all I’ve bought for icon. Being D+ we don’t buy drink or internet packages anymore and I book private excursions on the islands. 
 

Utopia next October we don’t plan on any buying anything as we’re doing a sky class JS. We possibly will buy the new restaurant on Deck 4 or see if we can use our BOGO. I have a feeling that restaurant will be excluded from the BOGO 

[TessFromFlorida]

3 hours ago, ScottD said:

My planner did this as well. All of the sale prices are the ones crossed out. But they do show up as the correct price when you check out. 

Thanks!

[PatsFanBrian]

I just saved $220 on the Coco Beach Club for our January Odyssey sail.  Had booked it last month, big price cut, cancelled and rebooked.  Very pleased.

We're skipping the UDP as the Diamond vouchers and big on-board credit will more than cover our consumption.

The 3 night dining package is still the same price as I booked last month.

[jupiter03]

Thanks for the heads up. I was able to get a 4-device internet plan for my Harmony cruise for $300. I was going to get the 3 device plan for $280, but for another $20, that 4th device will come in handy when somebody inadvertently kicks someone else off when switching devices and forgetting to logout. These are the cheapest prices I've seen for a long time.

For the people complaining about having to watch the cruise planner for sales, I'd rather have sales then no sales. I have a cruise booked on another line that never has cruise planner sales and their add ons never get this cheap.

[teddy]

Nothing at CocoCay dropped for our February '24 cruise on Anthem, but I didn't expect anything to.  The week we are going is vacation week for many schools in the northeast.  While I personally don't like the prices, I understand why they are so high.

[CruzOnBye]

I got the Black Friday email just now. But it says "Early Access- on Internet". I went to my planner, and same note. I wonder if maybe more deals will roll out later on then on  drinks/dining...wishful thinking probably lol.

[asquared17]

i mean if internet drops lower, i will be the first to cancel and rebook that!!

[Xaa]

1 hour ago, jupiter03 said:

For the people complaining about having to watch the cruise planner for sales, I'd rather have sales then no sales. I have a cruise booked on another line that never has cruise planner sales and their add ons never get this cheap.

Your experience with ad ons from other lines is different than mine then.

Here's a comparison.

Royal Black Friday vs just booking on Princess.  Black Friday is best these prices get and I am thankful for the savings they offered over scouring the CP every day since booking as I had prices better than their normal everyday CP prices which are in turn lower than onboard pricing.

Princess Premier $80/Day includes Gratuities, DBP, 4 Dev Internet, 2 nights of Specialty Dining, All Casual Dining (places similar to Johnny Rockets or Playmakers), Unlimited Premium Desserts, Medallion shipping and trinket, All Photos taken onboard.

Here's what the best RCI offers for a 6-night cruise this December (Princess exact same week next Dec)

• Gratuities=$16/Day (legacy price)
• DBP=$70.99 plus 18%=$83.77
• 4 Dev Internet=$203.94=$33.99/day
• 2 Nights Specialty=79.99 plus 18%=$94.38=$15.73/day (I got here being the most favorable to RCI and using 2/3 of 3 night dining package)
• Casual Dining and Premium Desserts=Let's say I go to Johnny Rockets twice =$12.99 plus $5 for a shake=$36=$6/day (in practice onboard Princess this will be sushi, but I'm going conservative)
• Medallion shipping and Trinket - $0 not available or needed
• Photo Package - We buy 50 photo package and BF deal is $175=$29/Day
• RCI Black Friday best pricing =16+83.77+33.99+15.73+6+29=$184.49/day

Now being more fair to what I don't need, we would be refreshment package buyers so let's drop the 83.77 to 27.12 (22.99 plus 18%) and for the 2 of us we don't need 8 devices of internet so lets make that 1/2 of one 2-device plan or (.5*101.94)/6=8.5/day.  Then that gives us 16+27.12+8.5+15.73+6+29=$102.35 and there would be some a la carte wine going this route.

Closest RCI comes is 28% more and all I have to do to get it is scour the CP everyday and participate in a forum (would do this anyway) that alerts me that there will be a BF sale and then babysit my CC statement for the next few weeks.  All I had to do on Princess was book it.

For those that wouldn't want photos, Princess Plus is just $60/day.

So call this a sale if you want and I agree, I'd rather have today's prices than yesterday's and I'd rather have yesterday's prices than normal CP pricing and I'd rather have normal CP pricing than on-ship pricing, but in the end, I pay more and do a ton more babysitting for it.

I love sailing Royal and I absolutely find value and buy the things I want and have a great vacation.  I don't begrudge them one bit for using the capitalistic marketplace to maximize values for their shareholders.  I will love my cruises with them and will absolutely book more.  I just don't love playing Cruise Planner bingo.

 

[tjcruisers]

Just checked, nothing really spectacular that would convince me to purchase anything.

[cmich068]

Going on Harmony in January.

Locked in the Soda Package and Water Bottles as they're the cheapest I've seen since I booked in the summer. 

I was hoping to see the Wifi a bit cheaper, still $20.99 for one device. Might not bother booking that at all.

[Ryan79]

I managed to rebook all my excursions for a Dec 2024 eastern Caribbean cruise and save $450!!

[Jolly Ogre]

Not bad but not that good either.

My banner said up to 55% off, but when I go to the things that I want to book it is 30%-35% off. Still saved $256.

 

This is for my 2024 sailing... there were no savings for my 2023 cruise better than I got last year.

[Ampurp85]

A lot of my Alaskan excursions dropped to about 30% off. I had to call in but I used the Club Royale line so wait was minimal. I am traveling with a group so the 4device internet packages are an amazing deal.  Saved about $590 with just the excursions. I got the Evian for all my sailings as well. Being D+ and prime I decided the bev packages aren't a good deal and I paid less for my UDP before the sales. But the lunches are a really good deal as they are 40% off. I rebooked cheaper ones from the pasta day sale.

[TheMaxRebo]

For our Icon cruise in Feb '24 I just rebooked stuff I already had but saved a bit (It's presidents week so starting prices seem really high - the water park at PDCC is over $200 to start with as an example)

 

Got Internet - 4 devices was 45% off (previously had 3 devices at 30% off)

Rebooked some specialty sea day lunches:

- Izumi Hibachi (20% off, was 10% off)

- Hooked Seafood (40% off, was 10% off)

- Giovani's (40% off, was 35% off)

 

Deluxe drink package is still at Buy One, get one 50% off, which is what we already have (and that is off a starting price of $115/day - so was hoping for a bit more off, oh well)

[LoyalRoyalist]

A few select sales I was targeted for, compared to last week's prices (Freedom, Dec. '24):

 

Deluxe Beverage: was $84, now $78

Refreshment: was $34, now $24

Soda: was $10, now $9

Water: was $31 (for 12) and $55 (for 24), now $19 and $34

 

Chops, Giovanni, Izumi dinner: no change ($56/$43/$54)

Chops lunch: Was $24, now $16

Giovanni lunch: Was $20, now $13

 

Internet: was $21, now $20 for 1 device, down to $10 each for 4 devices

The Key: was $30, now $25

 

Ship tour: Was $90, now $92.

 

Labadee bungalow: was $520, now $275 (Guess who bought one! )

 

Most excursions 30% off, which is significantly cheaper than previous week. 

[Marlena]

11 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

I am also curious if your daughter is younger or older than 12... This is a really good deal and I wish it happened for my teens (I tried). I'm jealous!! We opted not to get it at $23.99 - just the soda package for the kids for $8.99.

 

Yes she is 8. We have never gotten her this package before but at that price it seemed like a nice surprise for her. I am aware she certainly doesn't need it at her age but its fun and basically 2 mocktails and it pays for itself.

[LoyalRoyalist]

One question for y'all. I'm traveling with another person, and we both want to get internet. If I add 1 device for each of us, the price is $240. If I add 2 devices under my name, the price is $200. 

If I buy 2 devices under my name, could I make my companion's phone my second device? Or does it not work like that?

Thanks!

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Marlena said:

Yes she is 8. We have never gotten her this package before but at that price it seemed like a nice surprise for her. I am aware she certainly doesn't need it at her age but its fun and basically 2 mocktails and it pays for itself.

I have 2 slightly older nieces (one is 9 but I've sailed with her at 8 and younger)... and man do they enjoy their mocktails, lol!

I agree it's a nice surprise.

[KJones]

1 hour ago, LoyalRoyalist said:

One question for y'all. I'm traveling with another person, and we both want to get internet. If I add 1 device for each of us, the price is $240. If I add 2 devices under my name, the price is $200. 

If I buy 2 devices under my name, could I make my companion's phone my second device? Or does it not work like that?

Thanks!

Yes, that's totally fine

[Skippy67]

Compared to the prices yesterday, I saved $418 for my solo cruises in February and April on Navigator. This was for the Refreshment Pakage, UDP & The Key (don't judge).

[Sweety]

Booked some lunches on my cruises. Great deal! Always wanted to try Jamie's.

[Cactus527]

I got refreshment package for $23.99/day for both my 2024 sailings, $20.99 cooler bag with water, Giovanni's for lunch at just under $18 total with gratuity, and Izumi's for lunch at just over $28 total with gratuity. Those are all wins for me. Seriously considering that $42 pickleball clinic too! 

[asquared17]

8 minutes ago, Sweety said:

Booked some lunches on my cruises. Great deal! Always wanted to try Jamie's.

jamie’s is so good!! i know taste is subjective but we prefer it to giovanni’s table (the older giovanni’s format). we loved it so much, we went back a second time on our last sailing. 

i hope you love it too!

[TessFromFlorida]

Thought I would share some of the deals I snagged early this morning for our next trip on Allure in March. Note my poor man's drink package of 2 bottles of wine and the Truly beach bag 

[craftycruiselady]

Booked the zip line in labadee for our spring cruise, we have been on the fence about doing it or not but for that price we jumped on it. Also booked chops lunch for our upcoming cruise, we have never done it for lunch and the price was right :). I considered the brunch galley tour but decided to wait for another trip. I thought the prices were really good for my next 2 cruises on Adventure. I'm sure it varies if you are on one of the newer or bigger ones but I am happy with my deals. The cooler bag deals are a great price but the last thing I need is another cooler bag LOL so I passed.