Welcome to Staten News — where the drink package you bought in August might be cheaper by Thanksgiving.
🛳️ The price after the price
Most people treat a cruise add-on like a receipt. You bought the Deluxe Beverage Package, the Wi-Fi, the excursion in Cozumel, and that number is done. It isn’t.
Royal Caribbean prices Cruise Planner add-ons per sailing, and those prices move after you’ve paid. The same package can cost a different amount on a different ship or a different week. It can also drop on your own sailing well after you bought it.
Nobody sends you a text when that happens.
💸 Why the numbers move
Think of the Cruise Planner as a second checkout that stays open for months. Royal Caribbean wants that money before you board, and for some items it lists the onboard price right next to the pre-cruise one to make the point. Selling early means locked-in revenue and a ship that knows what it’s stocking.
Because the store stays open, the price is a lever, not a label. Sales come and go. Demand on one sailing isn’t demand on another. And your own Cruise Planner can show something different from the public catalog: offers tied to your reservation, your loyalty status, the guests on it.
Translation: the price you paid was a snapshot.
🔧 So we built the alert
Full disclosure, ShoreSave is ours. It’s a free web app at shoresave.app.
You pick your ship and the day you board. Nights, guests and reservation number are optional. You mark what you already bought and what you paid. ShoreSave checks the public Cruise Planner prices for that sailing about every 6 hours and pushes an alert to your phone when something you bought gets cheaper, with the math already done.
Example: the Deluxe Beverage Package drops from $76.99 to $69.99 a day. Two guests, seven nights. That’s $98.
You don’t have to own something to watch it. Tap the star on any add-on and you get a push once it’s at least a dollar under where you starred it.
It never asks for your Royal Caribbean login. It never buys, cancels or changes anything. No ads, no affiliate links. It covers 31 Royal Caribbean ships and seven categories: drinks, dining, excursions, Wi-Fi, activities, photos and gifts. On iPhone, alerts work once it’s on your Home Screen.
🔎 Before you even book
The same problem exists one step earlier. The cabin fare moves while you’re still deciding.
So there’s a second tab, Not booked yet. Pick a ship and a month and it lists the sailings on sale with the lowest per-person fare for Interior, Ocean View, Balcony and Suite, taxes and fees included, two guests sharing. Watch one and it rechecks the fare about every 6 hours. You hear about it when the fare drops at least $1 and 2%, or when a sold-out stateroom type comes back on sale.
That number is a “from” price. The quote you get at booking can be different, so check it with Royal Caribbean before you commit.
⚠️ The fine print matters more than the alert
Cheaper isn’t the same as refundable. Some items can’t be cancelled. Refunds take time. A lower price can sell out before you rebuy. Always confirm in the Cruise Planner before you cancel anything.
And honestly? The alert is the easy part. The hard part was making sure nobody acts on a number without checking it first.
Price trackers for cruises aren’t new. Plenty of people watch the cabin fare before they book. Far fewer keep watching the add-ons after. ShoreSave does both, for one cruise line, for free.
Sources: ShoreSave, ShoreSave app config
ShoreSave is an independent service and isn’t affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Royal Caribbean Group or Royal Caribbean International.
— The Bandicoots 🛳️💸