Any benefit of booking new cruise onboard?

[Matt&Carolyn]

Our last Royal Caribbean cruise was before they changed the "Next Cruise" or whatever it is now so we booked a potential cruise, then ended up changing it (to what ended up being our sailing for next month :)) and enjoyed getting the OBC. Is there any current benefit to booking onboard? Can it be changed to another date without penalty?

[Clarea]

You get onboard credit on the future cruise. You can change without penalty if you opt for a refundable deposit.

 

If you opt for a non-refundable deposit, you get more OBC and a lower deposit. You have 30 days to make changes to ship or sailing date, after that it will cost you $100pp for changes.

[Andy C]

If you enjoy getting ripped off you will love Next Cruise. Traveling in a GS on Harmony in September for less than half the price Next Cruise quoted me.

[kcamp317]

I kind of agree. We tried that but I can do it at home for the same price. We really drilled the next cruise guy on our last cruise about it and he just kept bringing up the OBC which in our case was basically very small, not worth the time. We did learn you can switch a refundable to the non refundable price if you switch it up at a later date....I think it was prior to the final payment being due but I cant remember off hand what the time restrictions were. And if you do book via them (next cruise) its kind of up to you to keep up on any sale prices you find at a later date and then have the option to rebook at that price. We don't use suites or anything so in our case theres generally open rooms (of the interior variety or ocean view) that will be available at that time. Ill have to look up the paperwork we were provided and the notes later I can provide more detail of what we were told.

[karena1]

Book a cruise on the ship. Pick any date/ship (that is what we do vs the FCC). Make sure it is refundable. then when itin, etc come out I move it to what I want.

 

But make sure it is refundable. I always book on the ship to get the OBC. That is a big deal for me. Then once the itins come out, I move to a non refundable to get that OBC, but still in the cabin I want. Don't do it much, but ocassionly I need to do it to get the cabin I want

[nelblu]

If you enjoy getting ripped off you will love Next Cruise. Traveling in a GS on Harmony in September for less than half the price Next Cruise quoted me.

 

That's a bit harsh. If you see a lower price, you can request a price reduction.

[Matt&Carolyn]

Haha, it still sounds confusing to me! ;) Thanks for the help!

[lenquixote66]

Our last Royal Caribbean cruise was before they changed the "Next Cruise" or whatever it is now so we booked a potential cruise, then ended up changing it (to what ended up being our sailing for next month :)) and enjoyed getting the OBC. Is there any current benefit to booking onboard? Can it be changed to another date without penalty?

We book our cruises while on a cruise 90 % of the time.

[lifes-a-beach]

For us it was simple. We booked two 2019 cruises last time out. They double the OBC that is advertised at that time. We informed them who our TA was and they sent it to them so we also got the OBC our TA was offering. For instance, one trip had 75 OBC through RC which they doubled to 150. Out TA also had 100 so we went from 175 to 250 for a trip we were planning anyway.

[VillaHappy]

We booked onboard the Oasis in March, and regret it. I don't like this refundable vs. non refundable crap. So much had changed since we booked onboard the Anthem in March 2017.

[Merion_Mom]

We booked onboard the Oasis in March, and regret it. I don't like this refundable vs. non refundable crap. So much had changed since we booked onboard the Anthem in March 2017.

The "refundable vs non refundable crap" happens wherever you book. It's not a feature of Next Cruise.

[little britain]

I asked the girl to book me “any” cruise, the furthest date out. Refundable.

Then when I see a cruise I want I’ll just get it swapped to that one, and I’ll switch to non refundable cheaper rate.

It still makes me jump when I see a 2020 symphony cruise in my planner and I think “I don’t remember booking that”....! [emoji848]

 

 

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[FionaMG]

Piggy-backing the OP's questions to ask a couple of my own because this is confusing for me too.

 

How much is the deposit? Is it a fixed rate or is it calculated as a % of your cruise fare. And is it a different amount for refundable and non-refundable.

 

Sorry if these seem like silly questions but here in Portugal deposits are never refundable and they're 30% of your cruise fare so booking on board might be a useful option for us.

[Clarea]

Piggy-backing the OP's questions to ask a couple of my own because this is confusing for me too.

 

How much is the deposit? Is it a fixed rate or is it calculated as a % of your cruise fare. And is it a different amount for refundable and non-refundable.

 

Sorry if these seem like silly questions but here in Portugal deposits are never refundable and they're 30% of your cruise fare so booking on board might be a useful option for us.

A 7-night cruise has a deposit of $250 per person. If you are booking that 7-night cruise on board, and you opt for a non-refundable deposit, then the deposit is $100 per person.

[FionaMG]

A 7-night cruise has a deposit of $250 per person. If you are booking that 7-night cruise on board, and you opt for a non-refundable deposit, then the deposit is $100 per person.

 

Thanks. Definitely something worth considering for us then. :)

[little britain]

Thanks. Definitely something worth considering for us then. :)

 

And if you only put one name on the booking (as you are not going to take that cruise anyway) they only charge $250.

 

However they will allocate your booking to the TA who booked you on the cruise...so if you use a Portuguese TA then it may work differently... you will need to check. Or find a USA TA.....

 

 

However on board is not always the best price. I knew exactly what cruise/date/itinerary I wanted and the price was £898 on RCI UK screen. The girl in Next Cruise told me it was £2300...... No I said it is £898..... argument went backwards and forwards a bit... she declared there was no such price as £898.... until I showed it live on the RCI UK site...then, suddenly she was able to find that price and book it for me. Roll eyes.

 

She was trying to get me to book the top grade in the category which came with the 'free' drinks package. I guess she gets bigger commission on a larger sale.

 

So point of story is ...know your price before you book!

[Mgugs46]

For $500, you get the extra OBC, and it is super easy to change the cruise, and/or get the lower price when they change. For example, the cruise I leave for tomorrow we paid the $500 on our Med Cruise, then that was it. I called every month to ask if there was a better deal and got a lower price twice, AND more OBC.

[FionaMG]

Good advice Little Britain and Mgugs46. Thanks for that. :)

 

It possibly would be different with a Portuguese TA. However, as it happens, we booked our upcoming cruise by cashing in an old "next cruise" voucher which was assigned direct to RCI because we were on a free cruise when we bought it! So that may let us sidestep the Portuguese TA and booking rules. We will grill the next cruise consultant thoroughly when we are on board. :D

 

Appreciate the help.

Edited July 11, 2018 by FionaMG
added missing word

[steveru621]

Spend 10 minutes on RCI's computers (it's free) and print out the price you expect. We usually know what we want, and choose the cruises we'll book before we board.

 

I've always noticed they quote the highest price, Inside, OV, or balcony categories. Lately, they have started to automatically include pre-paid gratuities.

 

Definitely worth 30 minutes and any hassles you might encounter. Mostly lower deposit, additional OBC, much easier to pick the cabin and location you like. It's automatically transferred to my TA that's on file. Watch for price drops, our OBC has always transferred over even if we upgraded.

 

Most important. Make sure you walk away with a printed guest confirmation and email you a copy.

[Matt&Carolyn]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try to find time before we board to see if there are any current cruises we want or if we might want to do refundable and change it. :)

[cruiselover10]

We have prebooked while on board for our last five cruises. Our cruise broker gets the booking so you usually end up with a double OBC, one from RCCL and one from your cruise broker or TA. For booking while OBC, we have gotten the lowest price offered for our cruises. I think the first two times we booked while on board, we didn’t book a definite date and chose a cruise later, the others we picked a cruise and booked it at that time. The last girl we had was so sweet, she also informed us if we booked a junior suite we would get double loyalty points for our cruise, which no one else has ever told us that so not sure if we would have found that out without sitting with her. Only advice I have if you are going to do it, is do it at the beginning of the cruise, if you wait til the end you won’t get an appointment. On the Allure this past April, if you prebooked in the first three days you got a higher OBC.

[SailingShelley]

We booked onboard the Oasis in March, and regret it. I don't like this refundable vs. non refundable crap. So much had changed since we booked onboard the Anthem in March 2017.

 

Exactly, March of 17 you booked on board for $50 to $150 deposit per Cabin depending on the cruise length-Minimum deposit always movable to another cruise with on board benefits or refundable! Not so anymore! So if you have any of those earlier bookings, just keep moving them out if you have to reschedule-DON'T cancel them! We still have a few lined up but years ago I had so many, I didn't keep them all-big mistake for that minimum deposit!

[lovescats5]

Unless you book a suite, then the amount of deposit required increases.

[monctonguy]

Just so I get this right......as I am cruising in Oct and am looking for something for Feb2019.

 

So I book "something" with the Next cruise......I do the non-refundable option which gives me MORE OBC and a smaller deposit. Then it gets transferred to my TA. At that point then I can still change it to anything else I want at that point. And still get whatever OBC my TA is offering with their deal/price?

 

Seems too good to be true as I thought they changed the rules to prevent people from playing that game?

 

Not complaining..just want to make sure I got it right before I do something and then regret it when it doesn't turn out

[Clarea]

Just so I get this right......as I am cruising in Oct and am looking for something for Feb2019.

 

So I book "something" with the Next cruise......I do the non-refundable option which gives me MORE OBC and a smaller deposit. Then it gets transferred to my TA. At that point then I can still change it to anything else I want at that point. And still get whatever OBC my TA is offering with their deal/price?

 

Seems too good to be true as I thought they changed the rules to prevent people from playing that game?

 

Not complaining..just want to make sure I got it right before I do something and then regret it when it doesn't turn out

If you book non-refundable deposit onboard, you only have 30 days to change ship and/or sailing date for free. After that, changes to ship and/or sailing date will cost $100 per person.