Question re booking future cruise while on board

Have a question - we have never booked a future cruise on line - what are the benefits to doing so?

Thank you!

Have a question - we have never booked a future cruise on line - what are the benefits to doing so?

 

Thank you!

The two significant benefits are reduced deposits (typically $100 pp) and bonus OBC. The amount of OBC depends on the cabin category booked. For a veranda cabin, it has been $200 and has been as high as $500 for suites. On occasion, a second perk has been included.

You can have the cruise assigned to the TA you used for the cruise you're on - or ask Celebrity to hold the cruise which gives you 60 days to transfer the reservation. Many people do that so they can shop for the best deal once they are home. I did that for a cruise I booked while on my last cruise and was able to transfer my reservation to a big box TA that is giving me a cash back card worth much more than the OBC I was given by any of the TA's I used in the past.

Have a question - we have never booked a future cruise on line - what are the benefits to doing so?

 

Thank you!

Typically Celebrity has promotions for on board bookings. We recently booked a cruise while on board. The promotion was good for bookings during Sep and Oct. The promotion included two amenities - we chose pre-paid gratuities and the classic beverage package. (the others we could have chosen were unlimited internet or $300 in onboard credit.) In addition there was also an on-board credit of up to $500 depending on cruise length and type of cabin. Ours was $250 OBC for a 14 day cruise in a veranda. Suites get all four amenities plus the additional on board $$ based on # nights and type of cabin

Deposits were $100'pp which was fully refundable. I don't know what the status of deposits will be going forward.

The bookings are pretty flexible. You can change sailings up to 90 days prior to a sailing and up to the range of dates for the promotion. Our ending date was for sailings up to April 2019.

These promotions usually exclude trans Atlantics, trans Pacifics and repositioning cruises.

You can later transfer the booking to a travel agent and receive additional on board $$. You have to transfer it within 60 days.

I hope this helps you. We see no downside to booking on board

Thank you everyone this is great and useful information! I'll be sure to check out booking a cruise while we are on board.

When you say transfer a cruise to a TA within 60 days - how does that work? Do I just contact a TA and tell them I booked a cruise on board and interested in transferring it?

Thanks.

Thank you everyone this is great and useful information! I'll be sure to check out booking a cruise while we are on board.

 

When you say transfer a cruise to a TA within 60 days - how does that work? Do I just contact a TA and tell them I booked a cruise on board and interested in transferring it?

 

Thanks.

it varies....some will just do it over the phone, some will ask you to fill out an easy form, some will ask you to contact celebrity. In any case, it's very easy. Just find the TA that offers the most "additional" perks to those that Celebrity gave you on-board. Just be sure to do the transfer a week or so before the 60 days is up...that's 60 days from the date you make the initial reservation with celebrity.

Be advised that if you change your reservation, some of the terms may change such as available perks. The items that mostly remain intact are the reduced deposit and additional OBC. Other items will often depend upon what the current promotion entails.

We often book on board. We did change one cruise from a 14 day to a 7 day. The OBC was adjusted accordingly but the perks and deposit remained the same for us.

We booked while on board our cruise in September. Two perks were offered - we took the Classic Beverage Package and $300 OBC. When we got our paperwork, we were given an additional $125 OBC, so a total of $425 (I'll take it!). Deposits were just $100 p/p. When we got the paperwork in our room, we noticed they already located our TA, as his name was on the paperwork - we just contacted him when we got back. He didn't have to do anything to change over.

When talking with their travel professional as we were booking, she explained we did not have to have an itinerary selected. They would match a cruise to the place we wanted to travel, the approximate time of year, and the level of accommodation. She stressed that this assignment was only a "placeholder", and we could change the cruise after we had a chance to do research. However, we were delighted with the 9-night Southern Caribbean itinerary that was selected, so we kept it! :D

Here is a link to the current on-board booking benefits:

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/CEL_Onboard_Offer_Nov_2017_Offerv3.pdf