Best Price Guarantee on a Back-to-Back Cruise: A Lower Fare on Either Leg

Royal Caribbean says it will match a lower price for the same cruise, date and room type. It works on each booking, so a back-to-back means two chances to ask. Here are the rules.

Royal Caribbean says that if you find a lower price for the same cruise, date and room type, it will match it, and you can ask any time before final payment. It is a rule about one booking. A back-to-back is two bookings, so you ask separately for each leg, and each leg has its own final payment date.

What the guarantee says

• Same cruise, same date, same room type. The lower price must be on Royal Caribbean’s website or through its call center.
• When to ask. Any time before your final payment, or within 24 hours of booking.
• If the same room type is cheaper, the fare is adjusted, and if you have already paid, the difference is refunded.
• If a higher room type is cheaper than what you paid, you may get a free upgrade instead, depending on what is available.
• How to ask. Contact your travel partner to send a price-match request, or chat with Royal Caribbean.
• Not for everyone. The line says it is not available in all countries or for all reservations.

Prices can also go up

The price page says Royal Caribbean may raise or lower any published rate without notice, and that it can add a fuel or other supplement to a booking, even one that is paid in full, as the ticket contract allows. You stay responsible for government taxes, fees and surcharges. Prices are quoted per person, based on two people sharing a room. A single guest who wants a room alone is expected to pay 200% of the room type’s rate, unless the pricing says otherwise.

What it means for two legs

Each leg is priced on its own, as we show in How Often Royal Caribbean Fares Drop, where 85% of the sailings we followed had at least one fare drop in five weeks. Nothing on the guarantee pages talks about back-to-backs. Our reading: the guarantee is checked booking by booking, so a lower price on leg two does not change leg one, and the time to ask on leg two is its own.

• Two clocks. Each leg has its own final payment date. See deposits and final payments. Asking after final payment on a leg is outside what the page describes.
• Same room type. The match is for the room type you booked on that leg. Compare the same one.
• Casino and other offers. The page does not say how a match works with a Club Royale offer. Ask first. See two Club Royale offers on a back-to-back.

Plan for it

1. Write down both legs’ final payment dates.
2. Check each leg’s price now and again before each date. Our tool shows the price history: legtolegcruises.com.
3. If one leg is cheaper in the same room type on Royal Caribbean’s own site, ask your travel partner or chat with the line for a match, before that leg’s final payment.
4. Keep a screenshot of the lower price with the date and room type.

Sources

The legtolegcruises.com Logbook is independent editorial and is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean International or Club Royale. Offers, fares, and program rules vary and change often; confirm every detail with Royal Caribbean before you book.