Next Cruise credit sucks - am I missing something?

[jewopaho]

I believe the $25 most are referring to is for any stateroom on a 7 day cruise, when you purchase an open booking.

That's why I added the comment about booking a specific cruise ... the open booking deposits are non-refundable, in addition to the reduction in OBC. And if you book more expensive accommodations, you'll get a bit more OBC. Open bookings never made any sense to me on Royal ... Princess' policy is much more "cruiser-friendly."

 

I don't see any of this as a deal-breaker. If you're undecided and object to the cutback, don't book anything onboard. Keep your eyes out for the deals and go for them when they come up. You'll also be entitled to a full refund if plans change prior to final payment. So you'll need to deposit more ... shouldn't matter, since it won't affect the price of the cruise ... "Pay me now, or pay me later."

Edited October 17, 2014 by jewopaho

[ryano]

And if you book more expensive accommodations, you'll get a bit more OBC.

 

Pay several hundred dollars more per person to get 50.00 - 75.00 dollars more in OBC. That makes no sense to me as a "steerage" cruiser.

 

I will start looking at TA perks and offers from now on. No more booking on board for me.

 

Open bookings use to give 100.00 OBC for a 7 night cruise. Now its 25.00. Thats what all the fuss is about

[The Sunset Glow]

Is it REALLY a hassle?I dont see how its a hassle in any way shape or form.You are blowing it out of proportion.Takes 3 minutes.Thats not a hassle.lol

 

Just pick the date you want to go on vacation and you are back to original obc.

 

Yes it REALLY is a hassle to me. Who are you to tell me what I feel is a hassle? Wow. :rolleyes:

 

It might take 3 minutes to fill out the form but the payment of it and actually using it is a lot more work. We are Canadian, we buy our cruises on a CDN VISA in CDN Dollars. We also have a US$ MC that we use to pay our onboard account. We need our next cruise to be in CDN funds in order to apply it with our TA - it always get charged in US$ and we have to call C&A to get it changed.

 

Then when you actually go to use it the TA rep usually does not know what it is and it takes awhile to go through that process.

 

No, $25 is not worth that HASSLE to ME. In fact, a piddly $25 is not even worth the 3 minutes to fill it out and then drop it off to the LA - to ME. YMMV.

Edited October 17, 2014 by The Sunset Glow

[orville99]

We will continue to purchase them. Not because of the OBC, and not because of the reduced deposit, but because it lets us book the day the next year's itineraries are released so we can always get the cabin that we want. It also gives us the maximum opportunity to take advantage of any price drops that pop up.

[snorkelman]

Wow, this thread really took off.

 

My conclusion is that I nailed it. Some people may love the extra $25 OBC, but I am limited because I cannot pick the exact sailing date due to work calendar that takes a couple weeks/months to nail down.

 

I don't really care if $25 is in line with competition for interior rooms. My perspective is that I felt it was worth $100 OBC to lock myself into a RCI cruise, but not worth it for a measly $25.

 

I cruise 1-3 times a year, so chances are pretty good that I will go on an RCI ship, so it is not like I am "forced" to picking a line I am not sure about. It just isn't worth it to have $100 charged to my cc now for a measly $25 OBC a long time from now.

 

I am sure some people won't care because they feel any OBC is better than none, or they book a different category cabin, or they know the exact sail date they will be going on, but when a person is not in that situation, it will reduce a LOT of people from feeling that this is actually an incentive to book their next cruise while onboard, even if it only takes a few minutes.

[AggieCard]

I agree with everyone that the onboard credit really isn't worth the time anymore, but I will continue to book the future crusie credit because if you are like me Day 7 on a cruise is depressing because you know you will getting off soon, so we book because it then gives the wife and I something to look forward to. This may seem silly, but it really works for us. Gives us the anticipation of knowing that even though one is over another is just around the corner!!!

[dorisis]

RC has lots of ifs ands and buts in their regulations. One is non combinability and the future cruise is part of that.

[orville99]

RC has lots of ifs ands and buts in their regulations. One is non combinability and the future cruise is part of that.

 

NCCs (now called open bookings) are combinable with balcony discounts, BOGO's, residency/senior/military/LEO discounts. The only non-combinability that I'm aware of is that you can't stack multiple RCL OBCs on top of each other.

 

FCCs (future cruise credits) are different animals altogether - they are usually issued as compensation for some RCL foul up, and they have tons of restrictions.

Edited October 17, 2014 by orville99

[critterchick]

But IIRC when I actually book the cruise with my TA, she still hits me up for about $500. Is that the TA, as opposed to RCI? Are you saying if I booked with RCI rather than my TA, I wouldn't have to pay a dime more than the $100 they charged my cc until 90 days out?

 

If you are booking your cruise without using an NCC, then you have to pay the full deposit, whether you book through a TA or directly with RCI (if you're going solo it would be $250, $500 for a couple, but it also depends on the length of the cruise).

 

If you're using an NCC and your TA is giving you additional amenities, such as OBC or dinner in a specialty restaurant, then she has likely booked you into a group. Group bookings require a full deposit at the time the reservation is moved into the group, whether you use an NCC or not, and a solo cruiser has to pay a double deposit when moved into the group.

[ryano]

Wow, this thread really took off.

 

My conclusion is that I nailed it. Some people may love the extra $25 OBC, but I am limited because I cannot pick the exact sailing date due to work calendar that takes a couple weeks/months to nail down.

 

I don't really care if $25 is in line with competition for interior rooms. My perspective is that I felt it was worth $100 OBC to lock myself into a RCI cruise, but not worth it for a measly $25.

 

I cruise 1-3 times a year, so chances are pretty good that I will go on an RCI ship, so it is not like I am "forced" to picking a line I am not sure about. It just isn't worth it to have $100 charged to my cc now for a measly $25 OBC a long time from now.

 

I am sure some people won't care because they feel any OBC is better than none, or they book a different category cabin, or they know the exact sail date they will be going on, but when a person is not in that situation, it will reduce a LOT of people from feeling that this is actually an incentive to book their next cruise while onboard, even if it only takes a few minutes.

 

My sentiments exactly.

[jewopaho]

Pay several hundred dollars more per person to get 50.00 - 75.00 dollars more in OBC. That makes no sense to me as a "steerage" cruiser. I will start looking at TA perks and offers from now on. No more booking on board for me. Open bookings use to give $100.00 OBC for a 7 night cruise. Now its $25.00. That's what all the fuss is about

I gotcha ... which is what I previously posted. Travel agents offer all kinds of incentives, and there's no difference in price ... and you can still book future cruises onboard, then have your TA pick up the booking (there's a short, one-page transfer form that you send back to Royal the first time ... then, once the information is in the system it's no longer necessary). All onboard bookings came with $100 OBC ... now it's dependent upon accommodations and length of the cruise. I agree that $25 isn't worth the hassle ... but it won't change my mind about what we do. Save for stacked OBC, pretty much all offers are still combinable ... we're Texas residents, C&A Diamond, retired law enforcement, and over 55 ... and yet to have any perk denied based on combining. We have five cruises currently booked, all on Royal, and all but one booked onboard.

[Grandma Petania]

.....Save for stacked OBC, pretty much all offers are still combinable ... we're Texas residents, C&A Diamond, retired law enforcement, and over 55 ... and yet to have any perk denied based on combining.

I am over 55, and the four people in our two adjoining cabins are all from Virginia. However, it is my understanding that I got only the state discount - not the senior rate for my cabin. I may call my TA tomorrow to see what they have to say.

[orville99]

I am over 55, and the four people in our two adjoining cabins are all from Virginia. However, it is my understanding that I got only the state discount - not the senior rate for my cabin. I may call my TA tomorrow to see what they have to say.

 

I do not believe those discounts can be stacked. If multiple discounts are available on a particular cruise, you get the one that is the largest.

[molly361]

I am over 55, and the four people in our two adjoining cabins are all from Virginia. However, it is my understanding that I got only the state discount - not the senior rate for my cabin. I may call my TA tomorrow to see what they have to say.

 

I do not believe those discounts can be stacked. If multiple discounts are available on a particular cruise, you get the one that is the largest.

 

That is correct- You can pick whichever is the best price

[RoamingRetirees]

That is correct- You can pick whichever is the best price

 

And not all discounts are available on every cruise--there is no automatic senior discount.

[jewopaho]

I do not believe those discounts can be stacked. If multiple discounts are available on a particular cruise, you get the one that is the largest.

The last cruise we booked included discounts for residency, age and Diamond loyalty status. It could be that my TA did something on his own ... I know that we get our balcony discount irrespective of any other incentives (we only book one when there's a deal ... our last two were $700 and $800 including tax, tag, title and prepaid gratuities).

 

I must say, though, that I pay less attention than I used to ... if it's about what I figure, I don't bother. Just as $25 OBC isn't a great incentive for onboard booking, going over all the numbers with a fine-tooth comb to save a similar amount isn't worth the time ... and they're right 99% of the time (I think I caught a $20 error about ten years ago).

 

In any event, none of the changes have diminished our love of cruising, and Royal Caribbean remains our line of choice.

[GonnaSailtoo]

I cruised four times this year and am cruising again next month. I've found that most of the "perks" have been cut back, so I'm not surprised.

[Calgon1]

But IIRC when I actually book the cruise with my TA, she still hits me up for about $500. Is that the TA, as opposed to RCI? Are you saying if I booked with RCI rather than my TA, I wouldn't have to pay a dime more than the $100 they charged my cc until 90 days out?

 

 

To quote Cousin Eddie . . . "bingo" :cool:

The FCC allows you to keep more of YOUR money in YOUR bank account, longer. Rather than the cruise lines or your TAs.

And yes, the OBC credits are not that much. But, for heaven's sake . . . IT'S FREE MONEY! If you don't want it, send it to me....

[VillaHappy]

Like many of the pp said, $25 is not worth my valuable time. And like I read on here, it doesn't change the cost of the cruise. Pay now, pay later. I'll book through a TA when I am good and ready :cool:

[kathykoala]

The OBC varies according to the days at sea booked. The lowest being $25....it is worthwhile because the longer the cruise the more OBC....plus you don't need to pay a deposit and the $100 you paid comes off the trip.. win win situation I say. We always do it. We are doing New Year 14 night and get $75 each.

[usetobeacagirl]

I thought it was $100 for 7 to10 days and $200 for longer cruises. Ships are getting greedy they use to give us Military OBC and Shareholders OBC if you owned stock...we got nothing on NCL for a Dec cruise in Europe.

[orville99]

The last cruise we booked included discounts for residency, age and Diamond loyalty status. It could be that my TA did something on his own ... I know that we get our balcony discount irrespective of any other incentives (we only book one when there's a deal ... our last two were $700 and $800 including tax, tag, title and prepaid gratuities).

 

 

 

I must say, though, that I pay less attention than I used to ... if it's about what I figure, I don't bother. Just as $25 OBC isn't a great incentive for onboard booking, going over all the numbers with a fine-tooth comb to save a similar amount isn't worth the time ... and they're right 99% of the time (I think I caught a $20 error about ten years ago).

 

 

 

In any event, none of the changes have diminished our love of cruising, and Royal Caribbean remains our line of choice.

 

 

The only way to know that would be to do multiple mock bookings with only one option selected (i.e. senior or residency) and see what price each produces, and then do a third with both selected and see if they indeed stacked. The balcony discount is always available unless you are using Visa points - and then it goes poof as well.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Clarea]

I thought it was $100 for 7 to10 days and $200 for longer cruises. Ships are getting greedy they use to give us Military OBC and Shareholders OBC if you owned stock...we got nothing on NCL for a Dec cruise in Europe.

Here are the terms:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/NextCruise/14037219_Onboard_NextCruise_Flyer_2015.pdf

[FinallyCruisinIn2014]

I wonder if we can book a cruise, get the OBC & low down payment & then change cruises at a later date. You know, just switch cruises to one we really want maybe 6 months down the road. Hmmmm..........

 

This is EXACTLY what the agent on the ship told me to do when I wasn't sure which cruise we wanted. She said, just pick a cruise to get the better OBC and you can change it once you get home and decide what you really want. And that's exactly what we did. Then we changed it again due to vacation circumstances changing.

 

I will note that from the initial cruise booked onboard - 4 people / 2 cabins: one balcony/one inside. Then when we changed the cruise but kept the same cabin options/number of people, the TA put us in a group and said I needed to fork over another $500 (I wasn't too happy about that but it was obviously paying down the cruise so whatever). THEN, when we needed to change cruises AGAIN, I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

 

This is what happened: changed cruises, switched from balcony/inside to balcony/balcony and added a 5th person. We did not have to give anymore money AND we now have $100 OBC in each room because we bumped the inside to a balcony and they honored the original deal with booking onboard and gave us that OBC. I was pretty happy about that.

[RoamingRetirees]

This is EXACTLY what the agent on the ship told me to do when I wasn't sure which cruise we wanted. She said, just pick a cruise to get the better OBC and you can change it once you get home and decide what you really want. And that's exactly what we did. Then we changed it again due to vacation circumstances changing.

 

I will note that from the initial cruise booked onboard - 4 people / 2 cabins: one balcony/one inside. Then when we changed the cruise but kept the same cabin options/number of people, the TA put us in a group and said I needed to fork over another $500 (I wasn't too happy about that but it was obviously paying down the cruise so whatever). THEN, when we needed to change cruises AGAIN, I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

 

This is what happened: changed cruises, switched from balcony/inside to balcony/balcony and added a 5th person. We did not have to give anymore money AND we now have $100 OBC in each room because we bumped the inside to a balcony and they honored the original deal with booking onboard and gave us that OBC. I was pretty happy about that.

 

I think you were fortunate. Others have said they lost OBC when they made changes--they were put down to the lower next cruise certificate amount. We were also told we could make a change and keep the original OBC, but we shall see.