What are the advantages to booking on-board?

[hutt27]

Looking forward to cruising on the Reflection Mar 4-11 Its good to read so many great reviews. My question would be what advantages would there be to booking a future cruise on board. Can you make a better deal? Any tips that you could share?

[Mr. Click]

They often have added perks if you book on board. We got an extra $200 in OBC when we booked on board last September. The way Celebrity markets and prices now it is often hard to compare the deals but it can be done with some effort. When we booked, they were offering a choice of two of the four normal perks plus the OBC and we could immediately transfer the booking to our TA and get the TA's incentives too. The key is to price the cruise you want before you go and then spend a bit of time with the Future Cruises folks and see what they have to offer. We actually did not have cruise in mind when we were onboard so they booked us for a trip that was 18 months away and once we got home and figured out what we really wanted we called our TA and they transferred it all for us. Oh, the also often offer reduced deposits, I think we paid a $200 deposit vs the normal $900 ($450 for Captains Club memebers).

[Beanb41]

The Future cruises team also have access to all the available staterooms for all cruises. The website can be very lax in that regard only indicating a few cabins in each class.

[kkid]

If you want to look into the more distant future, the future cruise reps on the ship have a good ability to do so. On our last X cruise they offered OBCs that could used for the future cruise or the current cruise. In March 2016 we booked 2018 cruises almost 2 year out. So far the price we got booking on board has been lower than what I've seen on the X website, but that could change. It is actually difficult to compare prices when perks and OBCs are factored, because the perks or OBCs may not convey if you chase a lower price. Need TA to determine if a lower advertised prices is actually beneficial.

[keesar]

The main advantage for booking on board are reduced deposits and additional OBC. They may offer choice of 2 perks but you must know the prices. For example, it was going to cost us $800 more to only get $700 in value.

[Ginnyfyr]

We have booked 2 future cruises while on board; in one case we had a specific trip in mind and the last time we did not. In both cases we received extra OBC, got better cabin locations vs what we could get booking online (only know this because I was looking at the X site on my phone while we were meeting with the future sales rep, lol), and received more perks. We sail next Saturday on Reflection and if the perks are good, we will absolutely book a far in the future cruise since we don't have anything in particular that we're looking at right now.

[Amber14]

So I have a cruised booked for 2018...booked early so I could get an aft balcony. We are cruising this March. Wondering if I should cancel the cruise and book onboard. All we got was one perk - beverage package. We have never booked a cruise onboard so had no idea there were extra perks. What should we do?

[ClaudiaB]

Keep the cruise but go talk to them. It may be possible for them to cancel and rebook it, getting more perks. Can't hurt. Also consider transferring within 60 days to a TA. We get lots of OBC from ours.

 

We got what I think was a wonderful deal this past Thanksgiving cruise. They had a Black Friday Sale on board! We were going to book an Azamara cruise anyway, so we booked it that day. Between the extra perks we got from Azamara (X can book that line as well as RC) we got our normal perks PLUS a whole lot of Black Friday deals from our online TA. When it was all said and done, for a normal balcony cabin on Azamara, 15 night cruise, we have a total of $2900.00 OBC! There were all kinds of things like a 10% of the cruise fare and a couple extra $100 here and there - it all added up and was combinable.

 

Our last three cruises have been booked on board and we always had a low deposit and $600 instead of $300 on board credit added to what the TA gives us.

[Northern Aurora]

So I have a cruised booked for 2018...booked early so I could get an aft balcony. We are cruising this March. Wondering if I should cancel the cruise and book onboard. All we got was one perk - beverage package. We have never booked a cruise onboard so had no idea there were extra perks. What should we do?

 

I would also recommend that you keep the current booking but schedule a meeting with the future cruise sales reps onboard.

 

But I wanted to add that the future cruise sales staff frequently have a presentation onboard. I have attended a couple in which the sales person didn't seem well prepared, but sometimes these presentations are extremely informative and worth attending.

[Aunt Tina]

We had made a reservation before going on a cruise. We were able to book better pricing and OBC on board. However, strangely, they were not able to cancel the first reservation, and I had to cancel it when I got home. I transferred it to my TA and got the price reduced again because of new promotions. Then got it reduced a couple more times through the TA. I now book on board to get the reduced deposit and OBC, then watch to see the pricing at least weekly. Since we don't drink, use the spa or go on Celebrity tours, I gladly trade in the perks for reduced pricing.

 

If you don't get better pricing on board, you still have the reservation.

[NantahalaCruiser]

So I have a cruised booked for 2018...booked early so I could get an aft balcony. We are cruising this March. Wondering if I should cancel the cruise and book onboard. All we got was one perk - beverage package. We have never booked a cruise onboard so had no idea there were extra perks. What should we do?

 

Ask your TA that booked your aft balcony if they will be able to transfer your current reservation to a new reservation number that you get with an onboard booking - should be able to do this; my TA just did it for me.

 

If their answer is yes, then make a random booking on board and have your TA transfer it when you get back home.