san juan cruise local deals

I've reading up on a rci aos 7 day cruise leaving from san juan pr and it
looks like from post on cruisecrited board that rci is discounting last min
state room to the pr locals.
I thought rci had fixed pricing as to stop the difference in prices that are
being charged ? or is it just that the locals don't have to pay that high
air fare to sju ?
reports of like 49% of the boat being locals is what I have read for the
week after thankgiven and a other week in dec too.. now are those weeks just
slow travel weeks and may not represent the same effect as the last week in
jan ??
I did find airfare special from jet blue for just 59 $ from newark to sju,
just need to go a day before and leave next day on return.. so the diff
saved would go to the cost of a hotel.. now getting to sju a day early in
the jan could be a trip saver if the weater is bad.. better early then
late..

thanks BobG

BobG wrote:
> I've reading up on a rci aos 7 day cruise leaving from san juan pr and it
> looks like from post on cruisecrited board that rci is discounting last min
> state room to the pr locals.
> I thought rci had fixed pricing as to stop the difference in prices that are
> being charged ? or is it just that the locals don't have to pay that high
> air fare to sju ?

Bob, the cruiselines still offer local specials in different markets.

We were on the AOTS a couple of years ago from San Juan, and it was
quite true then that deals were offered to PR residents and our sailing
had a HUGE percentage of locals. The only area where this really became
an issue was in the entertainment venues. The Promenade parades, for
example, took on a heavily Latin flavor. Karaoke nights turned into
Spanish sing-alongs. And there was a much greater share of Spanish and
Latin music played in the various lounges.

You might also see a lot more smoking on board, although the folks were
generally pretty nice about it when reminded of the restrictions.

And, of course, there will be A LOT of Spanish spoken, both in the
official announcements, stage announcements and chatter around you.

We were not inconvenienced in any way and generally found our fellow
passengers to be quite nice and, apart from the language preference, not
all that different from any we've met on other cruisers. YMMV, of course.

~ Peri

"Mike" <mike@> wrote in message
news:rq9vf.150092$Ph4.4578484@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
> >
> RCI wants to be careful. Its fine to have a no dscount policy during these
> high times when everyone wants to cruise and this no discount policy
> really has annoyed me. We're booked on Navigator of the Seas for February
> and it might be the last RCI for us for a while. I called Carnival earlier
> in the year after we had booked and paid our Navigator cruise. I called
> just for fun to compare. They made me feel like they wanted my business
> and when I told them I had already booked RCI they gave me a price and
> asked if I thought it was a fair price comparing the two - the implication
> being that had I been serious about switching I could have negotiated an
> even lower price.
>

You simply cannot compare pricing of any other ship to Voyager class.
Voyager class ships have become so incredibly popular that they command
higher pricing... period. They're the ships people want. While I'm not a
big fan of the Royal Caribbean cruise product... NOTHING beats their Voyager
class ships. At least nothing from the mass market lines. Nothing even
comes close to those ships. They're the best. And they command
corresponding high prices.

--Tom

"Mark" <anon@crl.com> wrote in message news:mFUvf.267$7T4.64@fe05.lga...
> Bob,
>
> We've been on AOS twice, most recently in November 2005 and prior to that
> in October 2004. We've never had a problem going out of San Juan, except
> maybe the airport. It's always been wonderful and the people have always
> been great. We just booked the new Crown Princess for next year out of San
> Juan and I just booked our flights from Mass. Not sure about the
> discounting but who cares, if the cruise fits your budget and itinerary
> needs then go.
>

The Vikings are on Crown Princess out of San Juan next year too.... When do
you go?

--Tom