When do you make final payment?

[DGNY]

Do you get it out of the way early? Do you wait until the final day possible? Something in-between?

[rwdnj]

Usally 60 days prior to sailing date. I always wait till then since I like to look out for price drops

[Desert Cruizers]

I make our final payment minimum of two months prior to the final date. I prefer to pay ahead of the due date, then its paid for and start to relax. The important thing with any payments, regardless if thru a TA or thru the Cruise lines, that you check your Cedit Card statments for proof of payment and you recieve a receipt.

[Colorado Kat]

As late as possible, so I can still try to price drops.

[kc320]

Usually a day or two before my TA tells me it's due...like to make sure she has plenty of time to process it..and if the price drops after that, then I have more money to spend onboard!:D

[Alexis]

Do you get it out of the way early? Do you wait until the final day possible? Something in-between?

 

I always pay it off as early as possible. For the small amount of interest the banks are paying, I would rather have the Yahoo feeling that I get when my cruise or cruises are paid off.

Then I can save the spending money. :D

[Alexis]

Usally 60 days prior to sailing date. I always wait till then since I like to look out for price drops

 

As late as possible, so I can still try to price drops.

 

 

Even if your cruise is totally paid off and the prices drop, you still get the difference in OBC. (On board Credit)

[DonnaK]

About 3-5 days before the due date

[madforcruising]

At the time I get the first reminder from my TA I still have a couple of weeks until the actual due date is. I´ll start to monitor the exchange rates and try to catch a good one. Now if the exchange rate is especially good I might make advance payments.

[joan_al]

When I book................

[will work to cruise]

As early as possible. Just paid off our June 2010 B2B in December. :)

[SASSYnLV]

Why pay them the money before it's do? No way.

I usually pay it off 1-2 days before the final payment is due.

Try and remember to call them at least 1x every two weeks to see if there is a price drop. On my last cruise, I received a price drop and then upgraded to a balcony. I received 38% off the original price.

[newbiecruiser09]

Last cruise we waited til final payment was due and paid it (large bill, ouch!!:eek:) This cruise I have been paying a little as we go along ($100 here, $200 there depending on the month's bills). Plan to pay the final amounts in the next few days so we get the RCI Visa points credited in enough time to get some more OBC.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Why pay them the money before it's do? No way.

I usually pay it off 1-2 days before the final payment is due.

Try and remember to call them at least 1x every two weeks to see if there is a price drop. On my last cruise, I received a price drop and then upgraded to a balcony. I received 38% off the original price.

 

Why not pay it before it's due? What have you got to lose?

 

I just check online for the price drops. No need to keep calling.

 

Bill

[SASSYnLV]

Why not pay it before it's due? What have you got to lose?

 

I just check online for the price drops. No need to keep calling.

 

Bill

And why should I pay for something months before I'm going to use it? Why should they have my money? Yeah, the banks aren't paying any interest but why give it to them before you have to?

 

I'd rather call than check online.

Actually, I received 38% off my last cruise.

When I called before making the final payment, the discount was only 30%. The rep didn't believe I got a better deal.

So, what's 8%? It's more money in my pocket, but that's me.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

And why should I pay for something months before I'm going to use it? Why should they have my money? Yeah, the banks aren't paying any interest but why give it to them before you have to?

 

I'd rather call than check online.

Actually, I received 38% off my last cruise.

When I called before making the final payment, the discount was only 30%. The rep didn't believe I got a better deal.

So, what's 8%? It's more money in my pocket, but that's me.

 

Whatever works best for you is cool with me.:)

 

You couldn't have gotten the 38% off by checking online? That rate was available only on the phone?

 

Bill

[Desert Cruizers]

Here is an example of why I pay our cruises ahead of time. If you are working thru a TA you could run into this risk. Calling in a payment within 2 days of final payment due date, and your TA is not doing their job could result in a late payment and cancelled cruise. Also if the TA your using, charges the payment to her office, & fails to get the payment to the cruise line in time, equals cancelled cruise. Any TA who does this, find another one who only authorizes the cruise line to charge the payment to your CC.

Going directly thru the cruise line will eliminate this, yet a good TA which we have & trust, I have no worries. I also pay a specified amount each month so we don't have a large balance at the end.

[lawskool10]

I prefer to get mine paid as soon as possible. I paid off my July 2010 cruise in November.

[Desert Cruizers]

lawskool, haven't been that early but at least 2 months ahead of time. Our upcoming cruise, I will pay off by Sept. The final date is Jan 30th, and I am hoping to be able to book a 2nd cruise, so don't want to be paying off two at the sametime. I set up a payment chart for myself and it depends on how our bills are running also.

[firsttimeRCcruiserMay2010]

Is there a time that RC requires it to be paid?

[pcur]

It depends.

 

I pay them off depending on when I need the Southwest Visa credits. If I'm close to a free roundtrip, then I will pay off a cruise to get the freebie sooner. I paid off our Rhapsody cruises 7 months in advance as (unecessary) insurance against a fuel surcharge. It was debatable if they would charge the surcharge for paid in full cruises.

 

Sometimes I will pay in increments if it helps the budget: have my TA charge a partial so there isn't a big payment due at final payment time.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Is there a time that RC requires it to be paid?

 

Final payment of the balance must be received at Royal Caribbean's offices at least 60 days prior to the sailing date for 3, 4, or 5-night cruise vacations and 70 days prior to the sailing date for 7-night or longer cruise vacations. The payment schedule for groups is different from that of individuals. You will usually receive cruise and air documents no later than 28 days before the start of your cruise.

 

For all holiday sailings, (Christmas and New Year's), payment is due 90 days prior to sailing.

 

Bill

[bddfc99]

We pay it off as soon as I have the ca$h in my checking account. I understand why people would want to wait for a price drop, but our bar bill is always going to be way more than any discount, so I'm cool with OBC.

[Lady Chew]

I make our final payment the month it is due, based on our credit card cycle, which closes at the middle of the month. As soon as it's closed, I make the payment. Ie, the payment for our Oasis cruise is due Jan 30. Our credit card cycle closed Jan 14, and I made the payment Jan 15. There is plenty of time for it to be credited to my reservation (I check right away just to be sure and print off the page showing paid in full) but we don't actually have to pay for another month.

 

Hope that makes sense ...

[casteenson]

I sail on Voyager on 9th May and my TA has listed our final payment as 28th Feb. Can I ask her when I go that day to pay the final payment to check if the price is lower and if so can I get this lower price even if I have already booked at a higher price ??? 1st time cruiser, please help. Claire