On board future booking- worth it??

[dg33]

We are cruising in a couple of weeks and are sure we will be booking a 2017 Australia/New Zealand cruise. Is it worth waiting to book this onboard??Thanks for any help- have never done this before.

[az_tchr]

Maybe. The problem is if you like the current promotion them book now. Booking on board gets you a couple hundred dollars in OBC for either your current or the future cruise, but then you are sort of locked in. Again if you are happy with the price then book, but again it could go up or down as time moves on. No idea when your upcoming cruise is timewise, so really hard to tell. Also what will happen demand wise next year? The benefit in any case of booking on board is small compared to the total cost of yuor trip.

[irishgal1970]

We booked on board last week. They were promoting a completely flexible booking - change or cancel before final payment is due and you incur no penalty. If you change, you get to keep your perks assuming they were offered on the cruise you change to (example, I believe that you can't keep your bev package if you change to a re-positioning cruise). So we booked 2018 on Eclipse and took the classic beverage package, plus $300 OBC for the cabin. We were given $150 extra OBC (per cabin) that we could use on the current cruise or defer. If we used it on the current cruise, then our deposit for the future cruise would become non-refundable (prevents people from booking just to get the OBC and then canceling).

 

We don't plan on sailing the cruise that we booked, but were assured that we could change to any of the cruises we were interested in without losing our bev package or our $450 OBC. We could also get any price adjustment if the price drops.

 

Basically, we lose nothing if we decide not to cruise, so long as we cancel before final payment (we will get our $200 per cabin deposit back). We have everything to gain, because they may not offer the flexibility and OBC bonus again. Admittedly, better offers could come out and in that case we can still cancel and make a new booking.

[ArtM]

One potential benefit is that on-line bookings for cruises beyond April '17 which may only offer a $300 OBC (Go Big).

 

For on-board bookings, those cruises offer a second amenity, either the drink package or gratuities. The OBC for booking on-board is ranges from $100 to $500 depending on the stateroom category. That additional OBC can be used on the current or the future cruise. There is also a reduced deposit (essentially the amount of the additional OBC) for the future cruise.

 

How this translates. We just booked an outside stateroom on the Constellation cruise out of Dubai in 2018. We received a total of $475 OBC ($300 Go Big + 175 on board booking incentive) plus the beverage package. Had we booked on-line, the only thing we would have received is the $300 Go Big OBC.

 

Will there be a better offer next year? Who knows?

 

There are the usual gotcha's but it is a pretty good deal if one really wants to do a particular cruise.

 

Art

[HokiePoq]

Yes and No appears to be the answer...hard to tell.

We booked onboard for the first time this January. Turned out to be great as we got $150 for immediate OBC, giving us a low bill, and then our booking was moved to our TA who had us on the cruise. When I contacted them, I found they were giving free gratuities (somehow this is a TA-X thing) so we ended up with the beverage package, gratuities, and $300 OBC for our upcoming cruise plus the $150 we got on the spot.

Last year I wanted to book onboard for the Galapagos when there was a large OBC offered..that was in January. DH wouldn't say yes, had to think about it of course. So we were on another cruise in May after I'd talked him into it. No OBC offer. That was for a 2017 booking.

I was able to book 2016 date for the Galapagos with our TA. Only 2017 was offered onboard so in that case not booking onboard gave us our preferred date.

[El Crucero]

In our opinion, definitely YES. Why leave several hundred dollars of OBC and current promotions on the table? If something better comes along, you can always cancel for full refund.

[eandj]

Since they book at the brochure rates, we haven't seen any advantage with ship booking. Our TA offers a lot more in value.

So unless you know pricing available somewhere else to compare, one can get blinded by the thrill of the present cruise and unless totally cancellable, maybe make a mistake.;)

 

Individual choice ...no right or wrong if one is happy with the offers.

[irishgal1970]

Since they book at the brochure rates, we haven't seen any advantage with ship booking. Our TA offers a lot more in value.

So unless you know pricing available somewhere else to compare, one can get blinded by the thrill of the present cruise and unless totally cancellable, maybe make a mistake.;)

 

Individual choice ...no right or wrong if one is happy with the offers.

 

Good advice, also as this was the first time we booked on board - one more piece of advice to anyone who hasn't booked before. When they give you the price, ask them what category it's for! She gave us a price that was ridiculous to us as it was more than 2x what we paid for the cruise we were on. I asked the category and she replied 1A! We were in a 2C (paid for 2D) on the current cruise. I asked her to price a 2D for me and the price was much better. For those who have never sailed S-class before, on both the Silly and Reflection (and I assume the others), the balcony cabins all pretty much look the same. The different categories are about deck number and location on the deck.

[NLH Arizona]

I got a great deal when I booked on board. I got the classic beverage program, complimentary gratuities and $450 OBC. Unfortunately, they cancel the cruise, but were nice enough to let me book another (not one of the ones they offered) and let me keep all my perks, plus an additional $100 OBC.

[vuildog]

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a right answer.

 

We did book our upcoming Summit cruise, back on the Equinox, last May. This was the first time on any cruise line we have done this. Never before felt like it was worth it for us. But this time, we got a great deal. We received the classic drink package, gratuities, & $450 in on-board credit. We also received half off our deposit. Our cabin level has never decreased in price since we booked.

 

On our 2014 Summit cruise, we were looking to book our May 2015 Med. cruise. Not a single benefit to book on the ship. We ended up booking that summer with the 123 Go promotion.

 

Have a fantastic trip!

[Iamcruzin]

There is no right or wrong answer here. For what it's worth with all of the current on again off again promotions, the frequently changing amenities in premium staterooms and the itinerary cancelations due to Celebrity booking charters after you have committed I would steer clear of any future bookings on board. There are just too many variables to calculate to figure out what the best deal would be. It shouldn't be so difficult. Also I'm not about to waist my vacation time booking another vacation just for some on board credit. If there was something that I know I wanted to book I would just book it before I went and I would watch for price drops, promos or book it through a Travel agent for OBC. Who knows what the price and promotion will be once you board. With the drink package we really don't spend much on board so having OBC just to buy things you really don't want isn't an incentive for me to book on board.

[dg33]

Thank you all for your quick responses! Not completely sure what we will do but value all of your advice!