Benefits for booking onboard

[SusieV]

My husband and I are eyeing an Alaska cruise for next year. We're going on our next cruise in December. How good are the perks for booking onboard- is it worth waiting and risking this price going up?

 

It's under $1000pp and is 10 days long, if that matters.

[smtcan]

The main benefit for us was the $100 each deposit to hold the cruise until final payment. We also got a two category upgrade, but only within the same cabin type and $200 OBC for a 13 day cruise. We booked about eight months ahead and the price has gone up considerably since then.

Sheila

[Orator]

The on board booking credit cannot be combined with a stockholder credit, so if you are a stockholder the only advantage would be the lower deposit and the upgrade. I usually book on board unless there is a cabin I just don't want to lose.

[SusieV]

Nope, we're not stockholders. We're just getting an inside this time around- the premium for our usual veranda is double the price and we'd rather take an extra cruise! A 2 category upgrade of an inside cabin doesn't really matter much.

 

How do they determine the amount of OBC you get for the booking? I know how it used to work but I think it changed.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

The only thing that can be said for certain regarding the price of a cruise down the road is that it will be either higher or lower than it is now, unless it stays the same (or booked as a charter or cancelled altogether). I don't think there's any conventional wisdom saying what prices are likely to do between now and December-- for example, some have recently reported great price drops for Caribbean sailings in January, whereas mine in February has gone up. I don't think it's true that lower prices are offered early on, and tend to go up, but if you suspect you have a great deal which would not be offset by waiting for the onboard bonuses but paying a higher price, you might want to book now.

 

$100pp per day sounds like a good price, but is that for an inside cabin or a suite? In May or July? More information needed. Edit-- you posted as I was posting.

 

Does anyone have experience with booking a cruise, then also booking on board and cancelling the existing reservation? Can that be done? Somehow, I doubt you could, but if I'm wrong, your strategy would be to book now, see what the price (and benefits) are in December.

 

Edit-- you may not want to discount the benefits of an inside cabin upgrade to a center part of the ship-- I understand seas can be rougher than the typical Caribbean cruise.

[cruie4ever]

The only thing that can be said for certain regarding the price of a cruise down the road is that it will be either higher or lower than it is now, unless it stays the same (or booked as a charter or cancelled altogether). I don't think there's any conventional wisdom saying what prices are likely to do between now and December-- for example, some have recently reported great price drops for Caribbean sailings in January, whereas mine in February has gone up. I don't think it's true that lower prices are offered early on, and tend to go up, but if you suspect you have a great deal which would not be offset by waiting for the onboard bonuses but paying a higher price, you might want to book now.

 

$100pp per day sounds like a good price, but is that for an inside cabin or a suite? In May or July? More information needed. Edit-- you posted as I was posting.

 

Does anyone have experience with booking a cruise, then also booking on board and cancelling the existing reservation? Can that be done? Somehow, I doubt you could, but if I'm wrong, your strategy would be to book now, see what the price (and benefits) are in December.

 

Edit-- you may not want to discount the benefits of an inside cabin upgrade to a center part of the ship-- I understand seas can be rougher than the typical Caribbean cruise.

 

When you pay the $100 each pax when you are on board for what we call a open booking # ,you can apply that booking to a real cruise at any time in the futre . The real benefit of doing this in the first place are both the low deposit amount & the future on board credits ($100 for a 7-9 day cruise ,$200 for 10 -13 day cruise & ,$300 OBC for a 14 day or longer cruise) .

 

Once you do use the open booking # to actually book a cruise with that same booking # you are locked in .If you cancel you loose the $200 . The best thing to do is to keep moving the $200 forward from cruise to cruise until you can actually take one of the cruises . Celebrity allows you to move the booking # ;but ,again ,a cancellation looses that $200 & the future OBCs that go along with the on board booking .

 

We have a $200 future booking that we placed the $200 .It is a Hawaii 2012 cruise & presently the prices are way too high . If those prices do not adjust ,we will simply move the booking to another cruise until we can asctually take the other cruise with our $200 open booking # & get the corresponding OBC

[Orator]

The prices for all of my cruises are higher now then when I booked. As had been said, you never really know if they'll go up or down. You will get an OBC for booking onboard. You can transfer the booking to an agent who may give you added benefits. I always receive free gratuities, but you can shop around for your best deal. It costs nothing to transfer from Celebrity to a TA.

[SusieV]

Hmm. For $200, it might well be worth waiting. I agree the price is good now but that's more than I thought we'd get on a cheap cruise.

 

Thanks for the info that it's back to length of cruise and not amount spent.

 

Party- I wish it were a suite! We haven't yet been blessed to enjoy one of those. We're cabin rats but I just can't see paying double for a balcony this time.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

When you pay the $100 each pax when you are on board for what we call a open booking # ,you can apply that booking to a real cruise at any time in the futre . The real benefit of doing this in the first place are both the low deposit amount & the future on board credits ($100 for a 7-9 day cruise ,$200 for 10 -13 day cruise & ,$300 OBC for a 14 day or longer cruise) .

 

Once you do use the open booking # to actually book a cruise with that same booking # you are locked in .If you cancel you loose the $200 . The best thing to do is to keep moving the $200 forward from cruise to cruise until you can actually take one of the cruises . Celebrity allows you to move the booking # ;but ,again ,a cancellation looses that $200 & the future OBCs that go along with the on board booking .

 

We have a $200 future booking that we placed the $200 .It is a Hawaii 2012 cruise & presently the prices are way too high . If those prices do not adjust ,we will simply move the booking to another cruise until we can asctually take the other cruise with our $200 open booking # & get the corresponding OBC

 

I'm not sure what open booking would accomplish, except that if they decided that the Alaska cruise was not financially acceptable between December and their sail date, they could always defer the onboard booking bonuses to another cruise down the line. I think the strategy is great if you don't know what cruise you want to take next, if the itinerary has not yet been released, or you're waiting for a bargain. BTW, how do they determine how much OBC you'll be getting? Do you commit to a cruise of a certain length, or do they assign the amount of OBC once you book (and actually take) a cruise?

 

Since the OP is considering a specific cruise, I don't otherwise see how this would help them. The longer they put off booking, the more likely they'll miss out on the lowest offered price, except for what might happen after the final payment due date. I'm guessing they will want to book before then, since they're talking about booking now or in December. It's just a question of how much might the price go up between now and December, and if that would that offset the onboard booking bennies.

[SusieV]

 

It's just a question of how much might the price go up between now and December, and if that would that offset the onboard booking bennies.

 

That's pretty much the size of it. I don't really know what Alaska cruises normally go for since we've mainly stuck to warm weather trips in the past. We're looking at the 10 night on Infinity Sept 16.

[Leesie6351]

When you pay the $100 each pax when you are on board for what we call a open booking # ,you can apply that booking to a real cruise at any time in the futre . The real benefit of doing this in the first place are both the low deposit amount & the future on board credits ($100 for a 7-9 day cruise ,$200 for 10 -13 day cruise & ,$300 OBC for a 14 day or longer cruise) .

 

Once you do use the open booking # to actually book a cruise with that same booking # you are locked in .If you cancel you loose the $200 . The best thing to do is to keep moving the $200 forward from cruise to cruise until you can actually take one of the cruises . Celebrity allows you to move the booking # ;but ,again ,a cancellation looses that $200 & the future OBCs that go along with the on board booking .

 

We have a $200 future booking that we placed the $200 .It is a Hawaii 2012 cruise & presently the prices are way too high . If those prices do not adjust ,we will simply move the booking to another cruise until we can asctually take the other cruise with our $200 open booking # & get the corresponding OBC

 

we wanted to book the Connie artic circle/norway cruise for 7/9/11 while onboard infinity antartic cruise 2/10-- it wasn't showing up in the system yet so the rep on the ship booked us on a caribbean cruise on the connie for 4/11 to "hold our obc, upgrade benefits and reducted deposit". She told us to watch the web and as soon as the real cruise appeared to call either Celebrity or our TA and have our reservation switched. We did that and then Celebrity refused to honor the upgrade saying that was only good for cruises booked online. We called Captain's Club which agreed and it was only because of our TA hollering loudly (they are a huge supplier for Celebrity) that Celebrity finally relented.

 

Moral of the story--- be careful of open bookings or "phanton" bookings

[jagoffee]

The main benefit for us was the $100 each deposit to hold the cruise until final payment. We also got a two category upgrade, but only within the same cabin type and $200 OBC for a 13 day cruise. We booked about eight months ahead and the price has gone up considerably since then.

Sheila

 

Is the two category upgrade always available? Would this include getting a C1 for the price of a C3?

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Is the two category upgrade always available? Would this include getting a C1 for the price of a C3?

 

It would.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

When you pay the $100 each pax when you are on board for what we call a open booking # ,you can apply that booking to a real cruise at any time in the futre . The real benefit of doing this in the first place are both the low deposit amount & the future on board credits ($100 for a 7-9 day cruise ,$200 for 10 -13 day cruise & ,$300 OBC for a 14 day or longer cruise) .

 

Once you do use the open booking # to actually book a cruise with that same booking # you are locked in .If you cancel you loose the $200 . The best thing to do is to keep moving the $200 forward from cruise to cruise until you can actually take one of the cruises . Celebrity allows you to move the booking # ;but ,again ,a cancellation looses that $200 & the future OBCs that go along with the on board booking .

 

We have a $200 future booking that we placed the $200 .It is a Hawaii 2012 cruise & presently the prices are way too high . If those prices do not adjust ,we will simply move the booking to another cruise until we can asctually take the other cruise with our $200 open booking # & get the corresponding OBC

 

I don't believe that if you cancel you lose your deposit. I cancelled a cruise that I had done with an onboard booking (found a better bargain) and my deposit was refunded.

[smtcan]

Is the two category upgrade always available? Would this include getting a C1 for the price of a C3?

 

Yes, that was exactly what we got.

Sheila

[jagoffee]

It would.

 

Yes, that was exactly what we got.

Sheila

 

Thank you for the clarification. I have not been so lucky to have experience this benefit. Perhaps next time.

[Sun Lakes Cruiser]

On our last cruise, we booked both an actual cruise ($100 dep pp, $300 on board credit (14day) ...and an "Open Booking".

 

The Open Booking deposit is non-refundable, but never expires. If you actually book the "reserved passage" is fully refundable...(it gives you the 2 category upgrade -- no upgrade on Open Passage booking.)

 

We had to cancel our Reserved Passage ... got a full refund of the $100 pp deposit, but lose the on board credit.

 

WE just rebooked using our "Open Passage" ... the biggest problem is that Celebrity A doesn't know what Celebrity B is doing.....we're supposed to get a $100 on board credit for a friend who books the same cruise within 30 days of our booking ..... I think the Future Cruise Consultant on our last cruise was supposed to give us the vouchers for our friends, but didn't .... now it is a pain in the rear trying to get it for them .... the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing ....

 

They're still my favorite though!!

[SusieV]

 

The Open Booking deposit is non-refundable, but never expires. If you actually book the "reserved passage" is fully refundable...(it gives you the 2 category upgrade -- no upgrade on Open Passage booking.)

 

They're still my favorite though!!

 

Open Bookings are refundable (and transferable) if you are a Canadian resident.

 

We changed our minds and now we're eyeing a 14 night Canada/New England sailing so for $300 I'm seriously thinking playing the waiting game and hoping the sailing doesn't go up. I have no idea what these trips go for historically though since we've only been to the Caribbean. NE trips seem an awful lot pricier!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Does the onboard booking upgrade include suites or is it limited to CC or lower?

 

Mary Lou

[FAR_girl]

Does anyone have experience with booking a cruise, then also booking on board and cancelling the existing reservation? Can that be done? Somehow, I doubt you could, but if I'm wrong, your strategy would be to book now, see what the price (and benefits) are in December.

 

I had an existing booking for a cruise and then booked again onboard because the price as still the same. This was a few years back, though, when you could still combine onboard booking OBC with the shareholder benefit OBC. I left the ship with two bookings. When I got home, I called Celebrity and had them cancel the earlier booking (freeing up the cabin we liked) and then changing the cabin in the onboard booking to the cabin we had on the 1st booking. There was a risk that we would lose our preferred cabin, but Celebrity personnel was perfectly nice about what we were doing.

[SeaCod]

Open Bookings are refundable (and transferable) if you are a Canadian resident.

 

We changed our minds and now we're eyeing a 14 night Canada/New England sailing so for $300 I'm seriously thinking playing the waiting game and hoping the sailing doesn't go up. I have no idea what these trips go for historically though since we've only been to the Caribbean. NE trips seem an awful lot pricier!

 

Keep good track of the pricing. Traditionally, the NE/Canada cruises are very popular and can get pricey quickly.

 

Good luck.

[SusieV]

Really? Thanks for the advice.

 

I wonder if I should book it now and try to do the cancellation to protect the current price...