Next Cruise OBC and Travel Agents

[JohnFLL]

Good morning!

 

Although this subject of Next Cruise and balcony discounts have been covered exhaustively, I can’t quite wrap my head around it. However, it would help me a great deal if I could see the math. Therefore, I was hoping some experienced cruisers might be able to enlighten me based on a hypothetical example.

 

ASSUMPTIONS

 

Eight day cruise/ Balcony/ Sailing in five months/ C&A Diamond member/ 100% sure about taking the cruise

 

NEXT CRUISE

 

Price $2,000

Balcony Discount $100

OBC $150

 

Source: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cas/onboardBookingBonus.do

 

TRAVEL AGENT

 

Price $1,600

OBC $100

 

QUESTIONS

 

• It’s my understanding that the travel agent that booked the cruise I am on gets credit for a cruise booked onboard. Does the NEXT CRUISE agent use the published RCI fare or the Travel Agent’s offer?

• After booking onboard and securing a $150 OBC for this specific cruise, can I take the Travel Agent’s offer? In other words, can I buy the cruise for $1,600 and get a total of $150 + $100 = $250 OBC?

• If the Travel Agent drops the price to $1,500 before the final payment date, does it change the $250 OBC?

 

I have a feeling the answer depends…. However, I probably have left money on the table in the past and hope to gain a better understanding.

 

Regards,

 

John from Fort Lauderdale

[Clarea]

The Next Cruise agent books at the cruise line's published fare, but the booking is automatically with your travel agent.

 

You would get the combined OBC from RC and the agent.

 

You would have to ask your travel agent about any OBC reduction of the fare goes down. RC's OBC won't go down as long as the cruise and stateroom are not changed.

[JohnFLL]

Thank you Bob! If you are 100% sure about taking a specific cruise, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by using Next Cruise, right? Are there cases where you don’t use Next Cruise, Bob?

[Clarea]

Thank you Bob! If you are 100% sure about taking a specific cruise, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by using Next Cruise, right? Are there cases where you don’t use Next Cruise, Bob?

I don't bother with short (3/4 day) cruises, no OBC for those.

[steveru621]

You don't get the TA price if you book onboard. You will get the OBC and RCI will transfer your reservation to your TA, where your TA may give you additional OBC.

 

Check with the travel agent as to why the price is lower. Is it a group rate? Different cabin category? Etc...

[Cruise-A-Hoy]

This question can become complicated depending on many factors.

Booking on board is booking with the cruise lines. The cruise line transfers the booking to the travel agent on record along with the OBC and any other perks they may have given you.

 

The simple answer is yes you keep the cruise line $150 OBC and can get an addition $100 travel agent OBC. Keep in mind that the travel agent OBC comes out of his or her commission so if the price goes down or any other reduction in cost (commission paid) will affect the OBC given you by the travel agent. Believe me commissions is not that high anymore so with a $100 OBC and a reduction in price could cause the travel agent to lose money.

 

Here is something to remember, the cruise line OBC is a use or lose. If you get a cruise line $150 OBC and only spend $100.00 you will lose the $50.00. With the travel agent OBC you will get a refund of the unused amount. If you spend $50 of the $100 given you will get a refund of $50.00.

 

Hope this answers your question