Paul, our cruise for nov. 22nd on Liberty OTS dropped over $500.
TM
__________________
CRUISES
Century 4/1998
Mercury 4/2000+4/2006+7/2007
Sensation 4/2002
Infinity 4/2003
Summit 4/2004+4/2005
Carnival Liberty New Year's Eve 2007
Liberty of the Seas 5/2008+11/2009
Solstice 4/2009
Oasis 4/2010
Allure 1/16/ 2011
Equinox 4/11/2011
Clarification on the new RCL price guarantee policy:
Royal Caribbean's Best Price Guarantee Program
By Paul Motter
September 6, 2009
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity still offer price protection on your cruise, but have changed the terms.
Price protection for cruisers, by definition, means that when you make a deposit on a cruise at a specific price, if the price of that cruise goes lower before you sail, your final payment price will go down by the same amount, technically, you should never pay more than the lowest price that cruise ever reaches.
But Royal Caribbean has just changed the terms of their price protection program, and while it doesn't mean much difference to cruise passengers, your travel agent may not be tickled pink.
In the old days, last week to be specific, price protection was simple. If you made a deposit on a cruise you weren't required to pay the balance until about 60 to 90 days ahead of the sail date. But you could make that final payment at any time and if the price went lower then so did the amount of your payment. Furthermore, if the price went even lower then you would get a refund check for the difference from the company. The trick was that someone needed to monitor this and notify the cruise line you wanted to make these adjustments
Even though the best agents will honor it and even fight for it on your behalf, this was not a good thing for travel agents, because a lower fare also meant a lower commission, since they earn a percentage of whatever the customer pays.
So travel agents were quite happy to see a change in the "Lowest Price Guarantee" program from Royal Caribbean appear this week. Royal told its customers that if the price dropped on their cruise before the ship sailed they would not lower the cruise fare or issue a partial refund as they had before, they would give the customer an onboard credit.
Travel agents love onboard credits - it gives the customer an incentive to buy a cruise and save money, but it doesn't lower the actual cruise fare, so their commission stayed the same. So when Royal changed their policy that was what the agents expected. But Royal Caribbean spoiled the party.
At the very bottom of a long flyer explaining how the new price protection program works were five little words that dashed their dreams in one fell swoop, "Commissions will not be price protected." This means that even though the price remains the same for the customer and their refund is in the form of an onboard credit, to the agents it still looks like a fare reduction and their commission goes down.
There are quite a few qualifiers for the customer to get the price reduction guarantee. For guests in the U.S. or Canada, if they have a qualifying booking purchased at a higher fare they can recieve the difference between that fare and a lower advertised fare for the same ship, sail date, stateroom category and number of guests in the form of an onboard credit.
Royal Caribbean must be notified at least 72 hours prior to the ship sailing, and the lower fare has to be available at the time the rate conversion is made. If the final payment has already been made they may still receive a refund.
Not eligible: Royal Sales Events, Exciting Deals, Travel Agent discounts, Interline or Industry reduced rates or employee discount rate programs.
In short, hopeful agents were livid because other cruise lines do not cut commissions when giving onboard credit. In fact, with other cruise lines onboard credit is considered an incentive to the agent to sell one cruise line over another. Here is the rub, if you call an agent and ask for your onboard credit with Royal Caribbean, which you have every right to do, the agent is definitely going to process it for you, but when they do so they are not only doing extra work for you, they are losing money at the same time. Don't worry, the agent won't blame you. They'll take it out on the cruise line. You didn't set the policy.
But if for any reason a cruise agent tells you that you don't qualify, even though you can easily see the rate has dropped for your cruise, sail date, ship and cabin category, you might consider finding a new cruise agent.
__________________
I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
I plan to use the money from the price drop for a deposit on another cruise.
TM
__________________
CRUISES
Century 4/1998
Mercury 4/2000+4/2006+7/2007
Sensation 4/2002
Infinity 4/2003
Summit 4/2004+4/2005
Carnival Liberty New Year's Eve 2007
Liberty of the Seas 5/2008+11/2009
Solstice 4/2009
Oasis 4/2010
Allure 1/16/ 2011
Equinox 4/11/2011
What are the reasons for a price drop?? The ship we are sailing in January is only 50% full. (Freedom) I don't know if that it the usual percent at this point or not. Also, it seems in the past (for us) when the price dropped it was for new customers/bookings only. We would lose our room and have to re-book if we wanted a new price. We have kids so we did not want to take a chance of their cabin being too far from us. Is that true or am I being fed baloney?
Thanks,
Linda A
But that doesn't include the deal prices correct? The cruise we booked has been cheaper for a couple of months but it's a special deal. So we don't get the cheaper price. What is the difference?
__________________
05/01/10 Sapphire Princess
09/14/09 Enchantment of the Seas
10/19/08 Crown Princess
03/04/04 Majesty of the Seas
Clarification on the new RCL price guarantee policy:
Royal Caribbean's Best Price Guarantee Program
By Paul Motter
September 6, 2009
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity still offer price protection on your cruise, but have changed the terms.
Price protection for cruisers, by definition, means that when you make a deposit on a cruise at a specific price, if the price of that cruise goes lower before you sail, your final payment price will go down by the same amount, technically, you should never pay more than the lowest price that cruise ever reaches.
But Royal Caribbean has just changed the terms of their price protection program, and while it doesn't mean much difference to cruise passengers, your travel agent may not be tickled pink.
In the old days, last week to be specific, price protection was simple. If you made a deposit on a cruise you weren't required to pay the balance until about 60 to 90 days ahead of the sail date. But you could make that final payment at any time and if the price went lower then so did the amount of your payment. Furthermore, if the price went even lower then you would get a refund check for the difference from the company. The trick was that someone needed to monitor this and notify the cruise line you wanted to make these adjustments
Even though the best agents will honor it and even fight for it on your behalf, this was not a good thing for travel agents, because a lower fare also meant a lower commission, since they earn a percentage of whatever the customer pays.
So travel agents were quite happy to see a change in the "Lowest Price Guarantee" program from Royal Caribbean appear this week. Royal told its customers that if the price dropped on their cruise before the ship sailed they would not lower the cruise fare or issue a partial refund as they had before, they would give the customer an onboard credit.
Travel agents love onboard credits - it gives the customer an incentive to buy a cruise and save money, but it doesn't lower the actual cruise fare, so their commission stayed the same. So when Royal changed their policy that was what the agents expected. But Royal Caribbean spoiled the party.
At the very bottom of a long flyer explaining how the new price protection program works were five little words that dashed their dreams in one fell swoop, "Commissions will not be price protected." This means that even though the price remains the same for the customer and their refund is in the form of an onboard credit, to the agents it still looks like a fare reduction and their commission goes down.
There are quite a few qualifiers for the customer to get the price reduction guarantee. For guests in the U.S. or Canada, if they have a qualifying booking purchased at a higher fare they can recieve the difference between that fare and a lower advertised fare for the same ship, sail date, stateroom category and number of guests in the form of an onboard credit.
Royal Caribbean must be notified at least 72 hours prior to the ship sailing, and the lower fare has to be available at the time the rate conversion is made. If the final payment has already been made they may still receive a refund.
Not eligible: Royal Sales Events, Exciting Deals, Travel Agent discounts, Interline or Industry reduced rates or employee discount rate programs.
In short, hopeful agents were livid because other cruise lines do not cut commissions when giving onboard credit. In fact, with other cruise lines onboard credit is considered an incentive to the agent to sell one cruise line over another. Here is the rub, if you call an agent and ask for your onboard credit with Royal Caribbean, which you have every right to do, the agent is definitely going to process it for you, but when they do so they are not only doing extra work for you, they are losing money at the same time. Don't worry, the agent won't blame you. They'll take it out on the cruise line. You didn't set the policy.
But if for any reason a cruise agent tells you that you don't qualify, even though you can easily see the rate has dropped for your cruise, sail date, ship and cabin category, you might consider finding a new cruise agent.
They have already changed this statement.
You can still obtain a refund providing it is claimed prior to final payment.
After final payment you have the option of upgrading if available, or OBC. http://www.royalcaribbean.com/conten...PriceGuarantee
But that doesn't include the deal prices correct? The cruise we booked has been cheaper for a couple of months but it's a special deal. So we don't get the cheaper price. What is the difference?
The deal is sometimes there is a disclaimer that says * for new reservations only... we have had price drops several times, before and after final payment, and once I called when I noticed another price drop only to be told- "Scroll on down to the bottom of the page and you will see a disclaimer" - ugh- Sometimes they are just heavily discounting and promoting the cruise and you get lucky!
We are booked on the Adventure Sept. 27 this month. We first booked a deluxe balcony with our future cruise certificates (from a problem we had experienced on the Explorer in March) the booking price was $660.74. In July the price went down $74.00 (total for the both of us) to 586.74. Yesterday I noticed the price had gone down again a total of $66.00 total. When I called to get this price reduction I was given the option of getting a gaurenteed suite for only twenty dollars apiece more (leaving us with an onboard credit of 26.00 total for the difference) When I checked this morning we had been assigned a grand suite!!!!! for the total price out of pocket of $586.74. Oh what a suite life we will be living for a week on the Adventure. And people wonder why we always cruise with Royal and no one else. Thanks Royal
__________________
Future Cruises:
Oasis September 3, 2011
Adventure November 20, 2011
Mariner January 8, 2012
Past Cruises:
Radiance April 2, 2011
Mariner January 9, 2011
Oasis 9 October 2010
Majesty 20 August, 2010
Mariner January 31, 2010
Adventure September 27, 2009
Explorer March 27, 2009
Monarch January 9, 2009
Liberty September 2008
Mariner June 2007
Monarch June 2006
We are booked on Splendour on Sept.26.We asked our T.A. about a price drop and she said she would look into it.She called us back and told us that if we changed from our assigned balcony cabin to a balcony guarrantee,we could get an O.B.C. of ,get this, $720.00!This being a no brainer,we went for it.Then when I checked our reservation on R.C.C.L. web sight I saw that we were upgraded to a junior suite. Sweet! We can't believe our luck. Life is good.
MY OCT. CRUISE ON THE ADVENTURE OTS ALSO DROPPED. I GOT A 270.00 SHIPBOARD CREDIT COMING TO ME. ANOTHER ROUND PLEASE!!
__________________
2010 carnival dream
2009 rccl adventure of the seas
2009 carnival splendor
2007 carnival liberty
2005 carnival destiny
2004 rccl radiance of the seas
2003 rccl explorer of the seas
Alright, I have a question. What fare do you you use as a benchmark to compare to your existing fare? In other words, are you looking for a price drop in the RCCL brochure rate. I did call my agent and got $70 pp dropped for the Oasis Dec. 1 sailing. But I had to take her word for it obviously. I know we had a pretty good fare to start so I just wondered. Just curious as I have never actually tracked the fare after reserving.
Hello,does the site ,,rccl sales promowave" not exist anymore?
Is there a new site for?
By the way, the page on the site of Royal caribbean, were they announced "the Best price guarantee" is not to find on the site for the Netherlands!
Alright, I have a question. What fare do you you use as a benchmark to compare to your existing fare? In other words, are you looking for a price drop in the RCCL brochure rate. I did call my agent and got $70 pp dropped for the Oasis Dec. 1 sailing. But I had to take her word for it obviously. I know we had a pretty good fare to start so I just wondered. Just curious as I have never actually tracked the fare after reserving.
I check out RCCL's website quite often as if I am booking a new reservation. I compare the price I am paying with the price a "new" customer wouuld pay for the same category.
We are sailing next month, and now when I try that, our category says "Call for Price" - so I'm not sure what that means. We already got a couple hundred back - so I'm happy with our current price.
I just want to get my docs and SAIL!!
We are on Feedom of the Seas in May 2010. I noticed on the RCCL web site that the E1, D2 & D3 balcony cabins are now cheaper than our E2. This was not the case when we booked. We are trying to reach our TA now to change cabins. I noticed that many of the EC cruises on Freedom have made similar adjustments.
Great forum topic. Keep up the good work.
Does anyone know if the Universal Studios Royal Caribbean land and sea package qualifies? We are sailing November 23, 2009 and booked the trip in April 09.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN ANNOUNCES BEST PRICE GUARANTEE
Price Protection Program Offers Guests Cruise Line’s Lowest Advertised Fare
MIAMI, September 22, 2009 – Vacationers can enjoy the benefits of booking early and the peace of mind of receiving the best advertised prices with Royal Caribbean International’s Best Price Guarantee program. By booking early, vacationers have access to a much wider selection of staterooms and availability on their desired departure date. If the guest then finds a lower fare advertised by Royal Caribbean for the same ship, sail-date and stateroom category, they can receive the difference in price as an onboard credit to spend on cocktails, spa services, specialty dining and other shipboard purchases. Any dollars not spent will be refunded at the conclusion of the cruise.
“Best Price Guarantee gives guests peace of mind, allowing them to plan ahead, book early and get the staterooms and excursions that they want with no worries that a better deal will come along after they’ve committed,” said Betsy O’Rourke, senior vice president of Marketing, Royal Caribbean International. “We want our guests to know that they received a good deal from us, which helps them enjoy their vacation with us even more.”
Guests can take advantage of Royal Caribbean’s Best Price Guarantee immediately from the time of booking to up to 72 hours prior to sailing. When guests booked with Royal Caribbean find a subsequent qualifying lower price advertised by the cruise line after they’ve booked, they simply contact Royal Caribbean or their travel agent, who will make the request to the cruise line. The difference in pricing will be provided in the form of an onboard credit. For reservations outside of the final payment period, onboard credit may be replaced, upon request, with a reduction to guests’ outstanding balance or a refund, as applicable. A limited number of pricing programs are excluded from the Best Price Guarantee program and does not apply to group bookings. Other terms and conditions may apply. For full terms and conditions, please visit http://www.RoyalCaribbean.com/BestPriceGuarantee.
Royal Caribbean International is a global cruise brand with 20 ships currently in service and two under construction. The line also offers unique cruise tour land packages in Alaska, Canada, Dubai, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand. For additional information or to make reservations, call your travel agent, visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com or call (800) ROYAL-CARIBBEAN. Travel professionals should go to http://www.cruisingpower.com or call (800) 327-2056
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__________________
I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
I have continued to check each week after we booked our cruise on board. I make sure there are no cruise price drops. We got a credit a few years back and again last year. Our cruise had a price drop after we booked the 13 day cruise out of NJ for March 28th. I immed. called our TA and asked her to check into it for us. We have saved as a couple a total of $972 on the price. Since the rebooked price, it went right back up a week later. It makes sense to check once a week for a price drop. I will be surprised if there is a lower fare posted before we cruise, but I do check. I feel like the excursions will now be a gift from RC.
__________________ RC RAPS.HAWAII
Explorer of the Sea 03/28/10
Explorer of the Sea 04/26/09
Explorer of the Sea 9/28/08
Celebrity Ships previous sailings
Our Mariner cruise price dropped again another $139 each. For a total price reducton since booking of almost $1100 total. Keep checking those prices.
__________________
Future Cruises:
Oasis September 3, 2011
Adventure November 20, 2011
Mariner January 8, 2012
Past Cruises:
Radiance April 2, 2011
Mariner January 9, 2011
Oasis 9 October 2010
Majesty 20 August, 2010
Mariner January 31, 2010
Adventure September 27, 2009
Explorer March 27, 2009
Monarch January 9, 2009
Liberty September 2008
Mariner June 2007
Monarch June 2006
6 night on Independence 2-28-10 has dropped. My E1 balcony dropped $150 for the two of us, with my diamond member discount we are paying roughly $540 pp for a 6 nighter with a balcony......how do they stay in business!
Cruise is Feb1/2010, fully paid for at 55# discount. I see the price is $50 lower now. Cruise was booked myself online with RCI. Do I just contact a rep at RCI for credit?
Royal Caribbean Price Drops
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