Go Big, Go Better, Go Best

[BrianAlt]

Do you all book the Go Big, Go Better, Go Best options?  My TA always books the Go Best option.  Seems like the way to go.  What do you all think?

(PDF attached with the details of the program.)

15045079_CEL_Big_Better_Best_FAQ_Overview_Flyer.pdf

[WAAAYTOOO]

When I had the Celebrity Reflection booked for the Mardi Gras cruise next year (I have since cancelled it) we chose the Best program.  It did a nice job of bundling all of the packages together.

[michelle]

Agree I think when you actually break the options out the Go Best really is a great value
AND if you are ever onboard sailing, try to rebook then, they seem to give even more perks
and better prices especially if booking farther out

[JLMoran]

On 9/5/2017 at 10:11 AM, michelle said:

AND if you are ever onboard sailing, try to rebook then, they seem to give even more perks
and better prices especially if booking farther out

Is that the Celebrity equivalent of Next Cruise? They actually still make it worthwhile to book on board, as opposed to Royal which now (based on the recent changes in policy) seems hell-bent on making Next Cruise something to "just say no" to?

[michelle]

yes its like NextCruise- they just seem to offer good things on the ships

 

[monctonguy]

When will Royal start offering and bundling some deals together?...Like the drink package for example....and I don't mean with  extra cost for other things I don't want/need

[twangster]

On 9/8/2017 at 7:18 AM, monctonguy said:

When will Royal start offering and bundling some deals together?...Like the drink package for example....and I don't mean with  extra cost for other things I don't want/need

I believe they are in Europe, select sailings (offering the drink package "free").  From what I've observed RCI is very good at studying sales trends and analytics of customer behavior.  If we do X, how many customers will do Y, sort of thing.   The trial on Harmony soon where "everyone over 21 in the cabin must purchase the deluxe package if any one does" is an example.  Try it, compare against other ships, vs. last year sales numbers, etc.  If its a winner for them, expect fleet wide policy changes. 

For Celebrity, I enjoyed the 4 pack bundle (gratuity, drink, internet, OBC) in June on Millie.  However I think there is some safety there being Celebrity.  They know exactly how many drinks the average Celebrity versus Royal Caribbean cruiser will consume, I'm thinking fewer drink per pax on Celebrity.  At the end of the day, they'll do it when they need to or when driven to by competition and sales trends. Recently on RCI there have been "gratuity included" promos, at least through agency.  The impact of this years very active hurricane season has yet to be calculated, in terms of impact to future bookings.  Seasoned cruisers will continue to book, but what about first timers?  They may need marketing campaigns like "free drinks!" to drive bookings.  Only time will tell.

[monctonguy]

I didn't know Royal did that on their European cruises....although seems to me maybe I remember reading about someone complaining the drinks were included but didn't drink so wished the cruise was cheaper without drinks included.

 

Haven't seen a drop in prices or an increase in deals/pormos yet with cruises...maybe after the next 3 hurricanes roll through it will start to affect bookings. Defn going to hurt Royal's bottom line.,..but I think  all that will do is cause them to increase prices and drop pomo's to try max their returns. .Time will tell!

[DocLC]

@monctonguy I've been on a couple of European sailings that had that promotion, unfortunately, it was a European promotion only and those from North America weren't eligible on my sailings. 

Princess has been running a drinks promotion, but they require a balcony cabin or above and the price increase hasn't been worth it for me.