If you want a better deal.......

[Biker19]

......you may need to widen your search.

 

Disclaimer: The following requires some risk taking and bending of rules. Do not attempt without knowing what you are doing. This is for those customers who have not done this yet and are looking to gamble (not in a casino).

 

While in general booking via the RCI US site (or US TA) nets the best prices (and T&C usually), RCI's other country sites do sometimes have better deals.

 

Doing so is not for the faint at heart. You have to do a lot of searching and perhaps some RCI web site manipulation to make it work, but the rewards can be substantial. Also, every country has its own Terms and Conditions (T&C). You need to be OK with those if you want to take the plunge. This probably only make sense for more expensive and higher end cabins. There's just not much savings on insides or if you want to play the exchange rate game.

 

Here are my two experiences.

 

I was looking for a sailing out of Baltimore on the Grandeur for this spring. I was monitoring prices last fall and was about to book an inside when by chance I happen to see a price on the German RCI site (I happen to live in Germany so when I bring up RCI's site it defaults to Germany). I thought OK, that looks pretty good compared to the US site - it was for a JS for a 10 day sailing. US site price was just over $4000 and German site price was about $2500 (and it included port taxes). I started the booking process assuming it would trip me up somewhere. The only thing I had to do to complete the reservation online was to change the residence drop down menu to Germany (technically I have resident status in Germany but anyone can do this). The T&C are very different from US - I had to pay the whole thing at the time of the booking (about 5 months before sailing) and the big one - can't cancel without some financial hit (10% loss of cruise fare up to 60 days before sailing and gradually gets worse closer to sailing). All of the e-mail I received was in German including the cruise docs. The online check-in is still like on the US site and in English (I assume since I have a US based account).

 

My second booking was a bit easier. I already had an L cabin (booked with US TA) on the Rhapsody for a 10 day Med cruise in May. As usual I was checking prices and inventory when I noticed something really odd - the UK price was much lower than the US site for a GS cabin (quite rare). The US site listed the cabin at about $5000 while the UK site had it at about $3300 (including port taxes and the Select drink package whose value is about $800). I started the booking process thinking it would stop me somewhere. Next thing I know a 100 £ deposit ($145 US) has me in a GS for the first time. Like the German booking, the residency drop down menu came at the time of final payment. Again, the T&C are different. Final payment is at 56 days (instead of 90) and I'd lose my deposit (low due to a promo) if I cancel. The check-in and rest of the process up to sailing was the same as a US sailing.

 

There are some caveats. I couldn’t use Air2Sea like with a US booking - I would have had to call. You can’t transfer an existing Air2Sea reservation from one country reservation to another (I bought a one way flight from US - Italy when I had the L cabin) - I had to cancel (when I cancelled the L cabin) but was refunded in full. In the end I didn’t use any Air2Sea since I used FF miles for the flights (and was within driving distance for the first cruise). Also, if you want to book anything before the sailing it will be in the currency of where you booked (Euros for the German booking and British pounds for the UK booking). There can be sizable swings in exchange rates that could affect the savings - on the UK booking I could have saved another $60 by simply waiting 3 more days before making final payment (of course it could have gone the other way as well). If you need any help or adjustments with the booking you have to deal with that country’s support. I did get lucky that a US C&A rep added the balcony discount to the Grandeur booking, but was told that’s the exception and that I should have called the German RCI support number.

 

As I mentioned at the start, it is rare that other countries’ prices are lower than the US. To get the savings above you have to fib on the residency question during payment (though some TA in that country would take your money to make it more legit). You have to be OK with the T&C of the country in which you book. But, if you are OK with all of the above, there can be substantial savings in a few rare cases.

[ColoradoGurl]

That's interesting, thanks for sharing.

[Alohaaloha]

Wow you've made some excellent savings there! I book through a US travel agent ( I'm from the UK) because all the cruises I am interested in are showing a more favourable price in the US as opposed to here.

That said, with the pound so weak against the dollar, and the uncertainty of our EU membership which may make the pound even weaker, the savings aren't as great as they have been in previous years.

However the T&C's are better for us, and of course price drops are always a bonus.

As you said it's just taking the risk of doing it and doing a bit of research.

But well done to you - awesome results and enjoy your trips!

 

 

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[Ocean Boy]

Very interesting thread, thanks.

[Lionesss]

Very creative.

 

Glad you had the time to find the best way for the best price by looking at all the options.

 

Now its time to just think about cruising in the future and have a great time.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[cruisnpat]

A lot of searching and you saved a lot of $$. Good for you , enjoy your cruises!

[rene1103]

i am from germany, too. And from my point of view us-citizen get more special prices and offers as we get. I believe that even the regular prices are lower in US then in EUR... but it´s not possible for me to book a cruise in USD or at the us rcl landing page. Thats only possible for carnival cruises. Here we booked our cruises in the past at the united state page and in USD.

 

But you can compare for yourself:

Harmony of the Seas 01/14/17

Inside Cabin starting at 889EUR would be 997USD

Outside cabin starting at 1021EUR would be 1145USD

Balcony Cabin starting at 1057EUR would be 1185 USD

exchange rate 1.12

 

 

Prices are in germany "all in" that means tax and port fees are included in these pricings.

[Biker19]

i prices are lower in US then in EUR... but it´s not possible for me to book a cruise in USD or at the us rcl landing page

 

My post was mainly aimed at US customers using the RCL web site in other countries. For non-US customers booking with a US TA makes much more sense. Not only do you get around the RCL web site restrictions, you get TA provided perks.

[rene1103]

how could i find a US TA who is specializes for rcl cruise bookings for non-US customers? Do you have any recommandations for me?

 

 

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[Clarea]

how could i find a US TA who is specializes for rcl cruise bookings for non-US customers? Do you have any recommandations for me?

The rules of this website prohibit us from mentioning travel agents by name.

[bigeck]

My post was mainly aimed at US customers using the RCL web site in other countries. For non-US customers booking with a US TA makes much more sense. Not only do you get around the RCL web site restrictions, you get TA provided perks.

 

I do the same. I have booked through the German Rci site and put a cabin on hold. Called in the morning and got it for the price quoted.

Same with the Us site. I also use 2 Us Ta's to price match. I have used them for a few as well. They have a Freephone number from Uk.

I had Harmony booked with a Us Ta and cancelled as Rci Uk was offering Grats and a drink package.

The more options the better

[Ourusualbeach]

Great information.

 

Being from Canada we experience the same thing when comparing Canadian rates to US rates. Sometimes there can be a large difference and while most times it is best to book in Canadian there are times that it us still better to book in US$ and pay the exchange rate. The advantage for us is that we both have the same terms and conditions and it's a simple natter when calling to tell them what currency you want to book in. No "bending" of the rules required.

[Biker19]

how could i find a US TA who is specializes for rcl cruise bookings for non-US customers? Do you have any recommendations for me?

 

Just do a Google search for US online TAs - some even advertise on this site. Ensure that you understand their booking conditions and stay away from ones that impose change and cancellation fees. Also, find one which you can contact easily.

[bigeck]

Just do a Google search for US online TAs - some even advertise on this site. Ensure that you understand their booking conditions and stay away from ones that impose change and cancellation fees. Also, find one which you can contact easily.

 

For us it's sometimes the way 2 go