Pre-cruise "review" of diffs between CCL & RCCL

[HB Cruiser]

Normally, reviews are done once the cruise is over. I’m going to offer a different perspective.

We have not cruised yet with CCL but have over 20 with RCCL. Our cruise with CCL will be the end of May 2013 on the new ship, Breeze. This pre-cruise review is going to showcase what I am calling “major” differences between the two lines prior to the cruise that I feel are mostly fact, not really opinion.

Sorry if this kind of stuff is boring to you but this is something I haven’t seen that I can remember. Hopefully this information might help someone.

1. Price change (pre final payment)
When a price drop occurs, a call to RCCL is all that is necessary. With Carnival, you must complete and submit a price drop form for their accounting to see if the change is correct. If the price reduction is granted, the price is changed and you receive an email with the new price indicated. Notification on our first change took 5 calendar days. Notification of second price change took less than 24 hours. Second change came after CCL fire on one ship and generator problem on another in St. Maarten (not saying this played a part in the speed). Point for RCCL

2. Price change (after final payment)
We had a price change approximately 7 weeks prior to cruise. After submitting price change form, CCL issued OBC of almost $800. The policy on RCCL is after final payment, to bad so sad. RCCL will give you credit towards an upgrade but not OBC. Point for CCL

3. Making final payment via phone
In making my final payment with CCL, I called and was told they could not take payment in person, I had to be transferred to a computer generated machine that would handle the transaction. That particular day their system was down and then transferred back to a person. I know the problem was not CCL but would much rather talk with a person to complete the transaction. Point for RCCL.

As I said, I have not cruised with CCL yet but am looking forward to our cruise in May.

Note: I am posting this on both the RCCL and CCL boards.

Tim

[dwaterhouse]

You will love the breeze!
The slides are great....
And make sure you try guys burgers

That being said....
1. If you booked with a pvp on carnival... All you needed to do was call them... They would have handled the price drops for you, gotta love booking early saver.

2. YEAH for OBC!

3. Refer to #1 or it can also be done online, but I love my pvp

[Keith1010]

Enjoy the cruise.

Keith

[agc291]

As far as #2 goes - you should disclose the rate you booked at. You ONLY receive OBC after final payment when you have booked an early saver rate. If you were to book past guest or super saver rate etc you can upgrade for free if the category is the same cost as you booked OR you can pay the difference to upgrade.

[HB Cruiser]

[quote name='agc291']As far as #2 goes - you should disclose the rate you booked at. You ONLY receive OBC after final payment when you have booked an early saver rate. If you were to book past guest or super saver rate etc you can upgrade for free if the category is the same cost as you booked OR you can pay the difference to upgrade.[/QUOTE]

You are correct. I booked Early Saver. Other than that, CCL and RCCL are the same. Thanks for asking for the clarification.

Tim

[agc291]

[quote name='HB Cruiser']You are correct. I booked Early Saver. Other than that, CCL and RCCL are the same. Thanks for asking for the clarification.

Tim[/quote]


No problem. I only say that because for some reason Carnival has a million different rates. It confused me at first when we booked with Royal but I find Royals method to be a lot simpler.

I hope you enjoy your cruise. I cant say we wont cruise with Carnival again but our last cruise left a lot to be desired. However, Breeze is one ship we are interested in. We would love a review :)

[onefishtwofish]

[I][COLOR=purple]We just sailed on the Breeze for spring break in March and loved it! :D[/COLOR][/I]

[I][COLOR=purple]We are loyal Royal cruisers, but sorry, the Breeze's Waterworks makes the H2O zones look boring!! LOL :eek:[/COLOR][/I]

[HB Cruiser]

[quote name='agc291']No problem. I only say that because for some reason Carnival has a million different rates. It confused me at first when we booked with Royal but I find Royals method to be a lot simpler.

I hope you enjoy your cruise. I cant say we wont cruise with Carnival again but our last cruise left a lot to be desired. However, Breeze is one ship we are interested in. We would love a review :)[/QUOTE]

I'm not real good at being wordy and doing a review of the ship but I will definitely return with diffs between the two lines. It will be similiar to what I did here, those things that are black and white diffs, not opinions.

If you will remind me, via email, you are wanting a review, I will prepare one for you with my borish writing skills.

Tim

[Rick-n-Lisa]

Then have the "hot chick " write it! :D

We are Booking Oasis next May 17th, 2014 I think. Eastern. We did Allure last year. Our best friends here want to do Oasis. Think about it....

[HB Cruiser]

[quote name='Rick-n-Lisa']Then have the "hot chick " write it! :D

We are Booking Oasis next May 17th, 2014 I think. Eastern. We did Allure last year. Our best friends here want to do Oasis. Think about it....[/QUOTE]

Would love to go with you but it is one week early for us. We cannot go until May 24th or 25th. Crystal wants to go on a "big ship" but it has not worked out so far. That might be the ticket for next year if things work out, just wish it was with all of you. We really miss you guys, specifically the "hot chick."

Tim & Crystal

[dshebert]

Hi Tim and Crystal. Long time no chat. Was just out looking around and found this post talking about going on a "big ship" maybe next year. We are starting to plan for next May also. Just celebrated out 25th anniversary yesterday:D Wish we could have been on a ship but it just didn't work out this year. Definitely planning on next year. We are looking at Allure/Oasis. Maybe we'll hang on a couple weeks and work it around the 24-25th?????

[silentbob007]

I've complained about RCI's IT department for years, but in my experience, Carnival's isn't much better. I'm taking my first Carnival cruise in a long while next month and their website generally hates it when I try to look at my booking information in my go-to browser (Chrome for Mac).

I also have to say, for Europe, CCL does not offer nearly the excursion options as RCI. I was on the Serenade last May, visiting many of the same ports, and found many options including budget options. CCL only offers a few excursions and they all seem to be higher-priced ones (ie, I took a $70 tour of Florence last year with RCI ... the cheapest to get to Florence on CCL is $120).

[RSLeesburg]

I saw this in another thread, but just wanted to make sure I fully understood it. If I pay off my trip early, before the "final payment date" set by RCI, does that mean I can still get the price reduction if it occurs before the "final payment date", or once I make final payment, that is it? I booked directly with RCI, not through a TA.

Also, what is the general approach to this - wait till the final payment date, pay it off in chucks, or just pay it as soon as possible. My final payment date is July 15th, so I was planning to pay it off in installements, but I could easily pay it off tomorrow. Just wondering if there are any advantages to paying off early (maybe OBC :) )

[Clarea]

[quote name='RSLeesburg']I saw this in another thread, but just wanted to make sure I fully understood it. If I pay off my trip early, before the "final payment date" set by RCI, does that mean I can still get the price reduction if it occurs before the "final payment date", or once I make final payment, that is it? I booked directly with RCI, not through a TA.

Also, what is the general approach to this - wait till the final payment date, pay it off in chucks, or just pay it as soon as possible. My final payment date is July 15th, so I was planning to pay it off in installements, but I could easily pay it off tomorrow. Just wondering if there are any advantages to paying off early (maybe OBC :) )[/quote]
Final payment [U]DATE[/U] is the key. As long as it's before final payment date, you can get a price drop. Does not matter if you have paid off the cruise.

I wait until about a week before final payment date to pay.

[RSLeesburg]

Thanks!

[silentbob007]

No benefits to paying early ... except knowing you have it paid.