On Board Booking with new pricing structure.

[Virgo61]

Does anyone know if you can book the lowest rate on board and have the lower non refundable deposit? We're currently looking at a 14 day cruise which carries a NRD of $900 which worries me. If I wait until I am on board (4 months) I realize the price can go up but will I be able to book the lowest rate with a $200 NRD?

[AdGuyMG]

If you book 2 people now at the $900 NRD and cancel before final payment, you will lose $200 and have a $700 future cruise credit issued.

 

If you book onboard with the $200 NRD and you cancel before final payment you will lose the full $200.

[Virgo61]

AdGuyMG , thank you for the answer. I hope to keep cruising so we probably would use the $700 credit.

[gold1953]

You only lose $100 per person as stated in the contract

[jagoffee]

At least now, they might be improved “truth in advertising” with the new pricing model.  Does anyone have a copy of the on board flyer since the change?

The old “book on board and receive all four perks”, failed to mention that you were paying the best price or that the same deal was available when booking at home.

 

Perhaps now, they we advertise:

1. Book on board with a low nonrefundable deposit for the lowest price.

2.  Book on board, pay the two perk price, get two perks, and a refundable deposit.

3.  Etc.

 

Unless Celebrity changes the program, it will be very clear that a low deposit and additional OBC are the benefits for booking on board.

 

Seriously, I like it better.  I think the new pricing model is much more honest and easy to understand.  

 

Of of course I have yet to see the new on board booking flyer.

 

 

 

[Jeremiah1212]

CRUISE NOW ONBOARD OFFER:

• Reduced deposits OF ONLY $100 per person (Premium Suites excluded)
• Up to $500 onboard credit + the Cruise Now offer is combinable with one additional offer of their choice on most sailings.
• Flexibility - they may change their reservation up to final payment with no fees
• Reservations can be moved to a group
• Reservations are by default automatically credited to YOUR travel agent

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by Jeremiah1212

[39august]

Thanks for posting. One extra perk sounds good. 

[wrk2cruise]

Just a clarification on the Future Cruise credit when cancelling a non refundable deposit or changing sailing or ship.  The FCC must be used within 1 year.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

When booking on board always make sure it is a refundable deposit and you can cancel or change the booking without any penalty. next, you usually get a great price and extra perks when booking on the ship. They will credit your cruise planner with the booking. When you arrive home, check with your cruise planner and make sure it is with them. They then can make any changes or add any extra perks they may have or lower the price if it goes down.

[NantahalaCruiser]

41 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

When booking on board always make sure it is a refundable deposit and you can cancel or change the booking without any penalty. next, you usually get a great price and extra perks when booking on the ship. They will credit your cruise planner with the booking. When you arrive home, check with your cruise planner and make sure it is with them. They then can make any changes or add any extra perks they may have or lower the price if it goes down.

Actually the default is to associate your reservation with whoever had your then current reservation - either Celebrity or a TA. You must request and sign a form if you wish to have it associated in a different way.

[jagoffee]

On 4/19/2019 at 12:39 PM, 39august said:

Thanks for posting. One extra perk sounds good. 

I am confused by this statement.  The on board document above does not say anything about on extra perk?  Just wishful thinking?

[villauk]

3 hours ago, jagoffee said:

I am confused by this statement.  The on board document above does not say anything about on extra perk?  Just wishful thinking?

 

I didn’t understand that either on the flyer when it stated:

On 4/19/2019 at 5:37 PM, Jeremiah1212 said:

Up to $500 onboard credit + the Cruise Now offer is combinable with one additional offer of their choice on most sailings.

 

On the chart, it gives the pricing for the new ‘Sail’ programme and you are paying extra for 2 perks on the ‘Sail Plus’, so does that mean you actually get 3 with that option?

[wrk2cruise]

I believe it is this condition which is causing the confusion:

 

Up to $500 onboard credit + the Cruise Now offer is combinable with one additional offer of their choice on most sailings.

 

This is nothing new and refers to the On-board booking promo only (up to $500 OBC, the left side of the chart).  It's saying that offer is combineable with one other promo like the "Sail Your Way" where you would get either the 2 or 4 perks with the standard booking promo.  I'm hoping they don't consider the "Sail" with no perks as an additional offer!

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

So do you have to book for a specific cruise? Or can you pay a rate to then convert it to an actual cruise?

[villauk]

1 minute ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

So do you have to book for a specific cruise? Or can you pay a rate to then convert it to an actual cruise?

 

 

As as far as I’m aware, the FCC system was ceased a good few years ago and you have to book a specific cruise; you can move this placeholder though at a later date to another cruise. However, only your OBC would move with the booking (and obviously it would be adjusted if the future cruise was a different duration, cabin category etc.). 

[TFree]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

 

As as far as I’m aware, the FCC system was ceased a good few years ago and you have to book a specific cruise; you can move this placeholder though at a later date to another cruise. However, only your OBC would move with the booking (and obviously it would be adjusted if the future cruise was a different duration, cabin category etc.). 

I hope I am not confusing apples and oranges here.  I think FCC stands for Future Cruise Credit.  Last October, we were on the Constellation, and we were interested in booking another cruise to secure the additional OBC.  But as I recall, we were waiting for an additional set of cruises to become available (I think we were waiting for spring 2021 Asia cruises).  At any rate, we were able to just create a booking without attaching it to a specific cruise, and we had until December 31 to attach the booking to a specific cruise.  So at least in this circumstance, we were able to create a future booking without attaching the booking number to a specific cruise immediately.

 

Tom & Judy

[villauk]

1 minute ago, TFree said:

I hope I am not confusing apples and oranges here.  I think FCC stands for Future Cruise Credit.  Last October, we were on the Constellation, and we were interested in booking another cruise to secure the additional OBC.  But as I recall, we were waiting for an additional set of cruises to become available (I think we were waiting for spring 2021 Asia cruises).  At any rate, we were able to just create a booking without attaching it to a specific cruise, and we had until December 31 to attach the booking to a specific cruise.  So at least in this circumstance, we were able to create a future booking without attaching the booking number to a specific cruise immediately.

 

Tom & Judy

 

 

Future Cruise Certificate - which I thought X stopped issuing a few years ago as you virtually couldn’t use them with other promotions on offer. I don’t think there was a time restriction on them (definitely not 2 months as you suggested in your post), so this may have been something different. Usually, you book a placeholder cruise if your specific cruise hasn’t opened, with a view to moving it at a later date when you find your desired cruise (many on here, including me, move the onboard bookings around when our itineraries have been released). Hence, the flexibility X promote when booking onboard.

[TFree]

9 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Future Cruise Certificate - which I thought X stopped issuing a few years ago as you virtually couldn’t use them with other promotions on offer. I don’t think there was a time restriction on them (definitely not 2 months as you suggested in your post), so this may have been something different. Usually, you book a placeholder cruise if your specific cruise hasn’t opened, with a view to moving it at a later date when you find your desired cruise (many on here, including me, move the onboard bookings around when our itineraries have been released). Hence, the flexibility X promote when booking onboard.

Right - several times we have booked one cruise on board and then changed it later to a different cruise.  So, whether initially intended that way or not, we have used onboard bookings as placeholders until something better came along.  I think in this case we were having trouble selecting a suitable placeholder, and so the Future Cruise office person offered us the ability to book a short-term pure placeholder.  We ultimately moved that placeholder booking to a cruise on the Reflection next month.  Maybe they have this short-term FCC available to them as an alternative when they are confronted with people like us who are having trouble deciding.

 

Tom & Judy

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

2 hours ago, villauk said:

 

 

As as far as I’m aware, the FCC system was ceased a good few years ago and you have to book a specific cruise; you can move this placeholder though at a later date to another cruise. However, only your OBC would move with the booking (and obviously it would be adjusted if the future cruise was a different duration, cabin category etc.). 

 

Gotcha. So the system creates artificial demand when there is no intention for a specific cruise to be taken. Disney used to do that then determined “placeholders” were a better option so people could book that and convert it to a sailing within 2 years rather than people putting a deposit on the cheapest cabin as far out as possible, raising the rates on those cruises with supply and demand only to have to discount them later when everyone transferred.

 

I may just forego the fake booking and just book with whatever the land-based booking deal is when I know. Seems a lot easier. Fake bookings you know you are going to move just seem pointless.

[NantahalaCruiser]

34 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Gotcha. So the system creates artificial demand when there is no intention for a specific cruise to be taken. Disney used to do that then determined “placeholders” were a better option so people could book that and convert it to a sailing within 2 years rather than people putting a deposit on the cheapest cabin as far out as possible, raising the rates on those cruises with supply and demand only to have to discount them later when everyone transferred.

 

I may just forego the fake booking and just book with whatever the land-based booking deal is when I know. Seems a lot easier. Fake bookings you know you are going to move just seem pointless.

The System is what it is. So Fake Bookings are not "Pointless" since they are the only way to get your on-board booking bonus OBC when you are still waiting for the next round of new cruise announcements to be released. We will be doing so on our next cruise this coming September while waiting for the OCT/NOV announcements for 2021.

 

Since our September 2019 fake booking will be for an April 2021 cruise and in November 2019 (19 months before the fake cruise) we will transfer it to an actual summer 2021 cruise - I doubt that it will have any significant impact on the supply/demand pricing of the fake booking. But even if it did; that's the current system - so go with the flow!

Edited April 21, 2019 by NantahalaCruiser

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

16 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

The System is what it is. So Fake Bookings are not "Pointless" since they are the only way to get your on-board booking bonus OBC when you are still waiting for the next round of new cruise announcements to be released. We will be doing so on our next cruise this coming September while waiting for the OCT/NOV announcements for 2021.

 

Since our September 2019 fake booking will be for an April 2021 cruise and in November 2019 (19 months before the fake cruise) we will transfer it to an actual summer 2021 cruise - I doubt that it will have any significant impact on the supply/demand pricing of the fake booking. But even if it did; that's the current system - so go with the flow!

Or refuse to participate in a system that shows false demand.  You do you, I will do me.