Just back off Allure & booked now cruise with USA T&C's - info please

[DaisyDoo246]

Hi

We've just returned from the Allure and booked 2 cruises whilst on board due to the buy one get one half price offer. We love in the UK but have USA terms and conditions to benefit from any price drop, free drinks packages etc.

 

Can anyone tell me how you track any offers and price reductions please.

 

*i meant new cruise not now as in title!

 

Thanks

Edited August 26, 2015 by DaisyDoo246

[Clarea]

Hi

We've just returned from the Allure and booked 2 cruises whilst on board due to the buy one get one half price offer. We love in the UK but have USA terms and conditions to benefit from any price drop, free drinks packages etc.

 

Can anyone tell me how you track any offers and price reductions please.

 

Thanks

We use the US website to make mock bookings to check prices.

[clarky213]

If You Google 'cruise price tracker website' the second in the list with the fish is what I use.

It costs $1 per cruise , but saved me £400 on my cruise last year as you get an email if the price drops.

[DaisyDoo246]

If You Google 'cruise price tracker website' the second in the list with the fish is what I use.

It costs $1 per cruise , but saved me £400 on my cruise last year as you get an email if the price drops.

 

Fantastic, thank you:)

[Trixie21]

Hi

We've just returned from the Allure and booked 2 cruises whilst on board due to the buy one get one half price offer. We love in the UK but have USA terms and conditions to benefit from any price drop, free drinks packages etc.

 

Can anyone tell me how you track any offers and price reductions please.

 

*i meant new cruise not now as in title!

 

Thanks

 

 

Hi

You have answered a question I was thinking about - does booking onboard give you US terms and conditions? Was there a big saving on UK prices?

[DaisyDoo246]

Hi

You have answered a question I was thinking about - does booking onboard give you US terms and conditions? Was there a big saving on UK prices?

 

Yes definitely, it was the difference between booking and not booking. I a family ocean view for 5 we saved £1500 against our UK quote ones $150 onboard credit!!

[Trixie21]

Yes definitely, it was the difference between booking and not booking. I a family ocean view for 5 we saved £1500 against our UK quote ones $150 onboard credit!!

 

 

Sorry for more questions but I was thinking of booking onboard harmony next year so I am interested in your post!

How much deposit did you have to pay?

When final payment is due do you do it through the UK royal website or is it done in another way? I presume the cruise is priced in dollars so how does the exchange rate work out?

Do you have access to the cruise planner on the UK website to book entertainment etc?

Thanks again.

[abo]

Hi, I may be completely wrong on this (and I'm sure someone with better info will correct if so), but my understanding was that if you booked on board the booking automatically transfers to the TA that you booked the original cruise with and you pick up their/that country T&Cs? So, if your original cruise was booked through a UK TA or direct with Royal Caribbean UK the booking may switch to UK T&Cs.

 

We (UK based) book cruises through a US TA without any problems. Always get good service, benefits such as OBC and the odd price drop (such as the original "good" BOGOHO deal). We also booked our next cruise on board and it switched automatically to that TA, who then gave us further OBC as a benefit.

 

Hopefully someone with more experience of the on board booking rules will correct me if this is poor information.

[cruisenfever]

Hi, I may be completely wrong on this (and I'm sure someone with better info will correct if so), but my understanding was that if you booked on board the booking automatically transfers to the TA that you booked the original cruise with and you pick up their/that country T&Cs? So, if your original cruise was booked through a UK TA or direct with Royal Caribbean UK the booking may switch to UK T&Cs.

 

We (UK based) book cruises through a US TA without any problems. Always get good service, benefits such as OBC and the odd price drop (such as the original "good" BOGOHO deal). We also booked our next cruise on board and it switched automatically to that TA, who then gave us further OBC as a benefit.

 

Hopefully someone with more experience of the on board booking rules will correct me if this is poor information.

Our experience has been that when making a booking on board, the rep will ask if we the booking to be automatically transferred to the TA on record or not. Some do and some do not.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Our experience has been that when making a booking on board, the rep will ask if we the booking to be automatically transferred to the TA on record or not. Some do and some do not.

 

Yeah, when I rebooked while on the Radiance, I was with a group that used a travel agency. When I cruise on my own, I like to have control of things and not have to go through a third party. I just had to fill out a form stating why I wanted to not use the travel agency and it was no problem.

 

(And yes, I told our group escort what I'd done and why, and she totally understood and said (because someone else had come up to ask her about individual cruises, so she didn't want to confuse the other woman) that with me she had absolutely no worries about me handling it and getting things set myself. (I cruised with her and this same group last year and have down 4 other cruises on my own, and she knows that the questions I've ever had for her have been specific to the group I was with and not cruising in general.) So it's not like it's going to be a surprise to the agency - as our escort deals mostly with groups, so I would have been handed off to someone I didn't even know anyway.)

[DaisyDoo246]

We got a quote from our UK travel agent before we cruised (£8500) we then got a quote onboard £7,000 BOGO half price, $150 OBC £98 deposit, USA T&C's so we can change the cruise as many times as we want with no admin fee. We have the option to transfer to our UK TA - she then offered further discount if we transferred (£250 I think it was). We then decide if the UK TA gets the booking or the we stay direct customer. The balance is due 8 weeks before (from memory) and we pay RCI direct.

[abo]

We got a quote from our UK travel agent before we cruised (£8500) we then got a quote onboard £7,000 BOGO half price, $150 OBC £98 deposit, USA T&C's so we can change the cruise as many times as we want with no admin fee. We have the option to transfer to our UK TA - she then offered further discount if we transferred (£250 I think it was). We then decide if the UK TA gets the booking or the we stay direct customer. The balance is due 8 weeks before (from memory) and we pay RCI direct.

 

Sounds good. Have you thought about transferring to a US TA? You'll probably find you get a good amount of additional OBC for that (much more than £250 equivalent) and you keep the US terms. Service, if you choose the right one, seems to be really good. Puts the UK TA industry to shame really - sometimes it seems they're more interested in the travel company than the traveller!

Edited August 28, 2015 by abo

[pcur]

Fantastic, thank you:)

 

I used that web site for about a year, but I found their prices weren't updated quickly to reflect changes. Also, you might want to use the RCCL web site as Bob (clarea) suggests, because you can see the pricing with any promotions included.

[Trixie21]

We got a quote from our UK travel agent before we cruised (£8500) we then got a quote onboard £7,000 BOGO half price, $150 OBC £98 deposit, USA T&C's so we can change the cruise as many times as we want with no admin fee. We have the option to transfer to our UK TA - she then offered further discount if we transferred (£250 I think it was). We then decide if the UK TA gets the booking or the we stay direct customer. The balance is due 8 weeks before (from memory) and we pay RCI direct.

 

 

Thanks for info - the process is becoming clearer to me. Can I ask if the onboard sales person quotes you in dollars or pounds ? I just wondered f the £7000 you mentioned is your conversion from a dollar quoted price? There is certainly quite a good saving for the cruise you were looking at and makes all the more determined to check this out next year.

[papcx]

We (UK based) book cruises through a US TA without any problems. Always get good service, benefits such as OBC and the odd price drop (such as the original "good" BOGOHO deal). We also booked our next cruise on board and it switched automatically to that TA, who then gave us further OBC as a benefit.

 

 

 

Hi abo.

 

Could you email me please.

 

Papcx at hotmail dot com

[DaisyDoo246]

Sounds good. Have you thought about transferring to a US TA? You'll probably find you get a good amount of additional OBC for that (much more than £250 equivalent) and you keep the US terms. Service, if you choose the right one, seems to be really good. Puts the UK TA industry to shame really - sometimes it seems they're more interested in the travel company than the traveller!

 

Hi, I wasn't sure we could use a U.S. TA - I'd love some more info if you could email me also! hvwalsh at hotmail dot com

 

Thanks

Edited August 29, 2015 by DaisyDoo246

[DaisyDoo246]

Thanks for info - the process is becoming clearer to me. Can I ask if the onboard sales person quotes you in dollars or pounds ? I just wondered f the £7000 you mentioned is your conversion from a dollar quoted price? There is certainly quite a good saving for the cruise you were looking at and makes all the more determined to check this out next year.

 

Hi

They quoted in £ not $ when onboard and all the paperwork is in £'s

[abo]

Hi

They quoted in £ not $ when onboard and all the paperwork is in £'s

 

Are you sure they're giving you the US T&Cs? It sounds like that's been placed with RCI UK. I'm pretty sure they only quote in USD for US placed bookings.

[DaisyDoo246]

Are you sure they're giving you the US T&Cs? It sounds like that's been placed with RCI UK. I'm pretty sure they only quote in USD for US placed bookings.

 

They told me it was US T&C's - looks like I'd better investigate. My UK TA said if I transfer to her she'd offer me more discount but I couldn't apply any UK offers that may come up as its USA terms .