Onboard booking offer

[LBJB2009]

Can anyone tell me what CC booking while onboard offer is or where I could find it? I’m just curious since We haven’t cruised since 2019, before ‘all included’ ……and we figured the offers must be different now since there would be no option to ‘pick two perks’ . 

[hiccups]

It’s extra OBC, depending on cabin category and length of cruise.  For a 7 night cruise in a balcony cabin, I think we got $150.

[wrk2cruise]

The plus 1 additional offer just means it's combinable with Always Included.

 

[CruiseCrew123]

Just remember it doesn’t always pay to wait . We are cruising in a few weeks and were thinking of booking on board for the extra $250 obc . Saw a good deal on Beyond for 2023 so booked with our TA so missed out on the additional OBC . I checked the price last week and it’s now nearly $2000 more - so glad I didn’t wait 

[cltcruisers123]

Other than the OBC you get, the deposit is drastically reduced as well when booking on the ship. Booked a Med cruise on the Beyond in the Retreat for next year and only had to put $200 down vs $900 otherwise.

[asnaleah]

We booked on board Silhouette for Retreat and still had to pay the $900 deposit. Still on board, so I will ask about it.

[york survey]

Do you get anything offered onboard for a Galapagos cruise? I see the 2024 Galapagos timetable is out and don't know weather to book now or wait until I'm onboard next month?

 

Any help appreciated

[HskrCrsr]

1 hour ago, york survey said:

Do you get anything offered onboard for a Galapagos cruise? I see the 2024 Galapagos timetable is out and don't know weather to book now or wait until I'm onboard next month?

 

Any help appreciated

 

You do get the reduced deposit but there seems to be no mechanism to allow OBC. All I got for was the reduced deposit.

Note that both promotions (20% off plus flights, and the discount for Captain's Club Elite) both end Dec 31 2023. 

[Jim_Iain]

 

Here's the forms from our last cruise -

 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[mac_tlc]

10 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Just remember it doesn’t always pay to wait . We are cruising in a few weeks and were thinking of booking on board for the extra $250 obc . Saw a good deal on Beyond for 2023 so booked with our TA so missed out on the additional OBC . I checked the price last week and it’s now nearly $2000 more - so glad I didn’t wait 

We did exactly the same thing for our 1/29/2023 Beyond sailing. Saw a SS at a low (for Beyond) price and thought about waiting until we were onboard Apex, which we are now. Then I figured I’d book it and if the price did not change, I’d cancel and book onboard. I pushed the deposit date past the date we boarded Apex. 
 

Price went up a couple days before  we boarded and the SS in now $2K more. Glad we booked it. I paid the deposit yesterday. 
 

mac_tlc

Edited February 2, 2022 by mac_tlc

[Ken the cruiser]

May I suggest a 3rd option, the "placeholder" booking, that Celebrity does not actively promote. This is where you book a cruise onboard as far out as you can, but with a refundable deposit. You still get the minimum deposit perk along with the appropriate amount of OBC when booking onboard. The one additional perk is that you can subsequently change the ship and/or itinerary of the booking to one you may later actually want to cruise on.

 

Our CVP told us about this "option" a long time ago and it's proved very beneficial quite a few times. But, the key is you have to make sure you book the cruise with a refundable deposit. Sure, the price of the cruise will be higher, but who cares. You're most likely going to swap it out later on anyway.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Jim_Iain]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

May I suggest a 3rd option, the "placeholder" booking, that Celebrity does not actively promote. This is where you book a cruise onboard as far out as you can, but with a refundable deposit. You still get the minimum deposit perk along with the appropriate amount of OBC when booking onboard. The one additional perk is that you can subsequently change the ship and/or itinerary of the booking to one you may later on want to actually cruise on.

We were just talking about booking a couple place holders also.    Another option is you can book a Future Cruise Certificate but have to book within 60 days of purchase.   Remember if you are booked with an agent it will be assigned to that agent unless you ask that it be in your name only.   You can then also use that as a placeholder booking if you don't use it within the 60 days.   You get the same benefits.

[terrydtx]

We always try to book a future cruise while onboard a cruise, the $200 deposit and extra OBC is well worth doing this. If we do not have a cruise we are interested in we take the FCC and book later.

[HskrCrsr]

29 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Here's the forms from our last cruise -

 

 

 

You can download that form here:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/2021_CruiseLater-v7.pdf

 

Earlier versions excluded some Galapagos ships (Xpedition specifically, I believe) from the OBC but no such exclusion is apparent here.

[garyl62]

10 hours ago, cltcruisers123 said:

Other than the OBC you get, the deposit is drastically reduced as well when booking on the ship. Booked a Med cruise on the Beyond in the Retreat for next year and only had to put $200 down vs $900 otherwise.

 

6 hours ago, asnaleah said:

We booked on board Silhouette for Retreat and still had to pay the $900 deposit. Still on board, so I will ask about it.

Deposits are reduced to $200 for Sky Suites and below.  Celebrity Suites and above do not have reduced deposits but do carry more OBC.

[asnaleah]

Thanks Gary!

[wrk2cruise]

7 hours ago, asnaleah said:

We booked on board Silhouette for Retreat and still had to pay the $900 deposit. Still on board, so I will ask about it.

 

Reduced deposit is only up through Sky Suites.  If you booked a CS or above full deposit is required.

[GIGGLER]

Does anyone know if  someone on board can purchase a book now or book later for someone that's not currently sailing. 

[emmas gran]

31 minutes ago, GIGGLER said:

Does anyone know if  someone on board can purchase a book now or book later for someone that's not currently sailing. 

 

It is possible but I think you have to be cruising with them,  that's what I remember being told when we did it about 5 years ago

[TMLAalum]

4 hours ago, GIGGLER said:

Does anyone know if  someone on board can purchase a book now or book later for someone that's not currently sailing. 

We have had friends do this for us pre-covid days.

 

[TMLAalum]

Our next "future cruise" is for 2024- hopefully the US to Iceland or the reverse which are currently scheduled on the Summit in August for this year and next.

 

Friends will be on the Millennium ending an Alaska cruise on 9/16/22. The 2024 Iceland/Greenland itineraries are unlikely to be out during their voyage. What would be the best strategy for them to book onboard for them and us? Dummy booking, FCC or Place Holder?

[downsmead]

18 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We were just talking about booking a couple place holders also.    Another option is you can book a Future Cruise Certificate but have to book within 60 days of purchase.   Remember if you are booked with an agent it will be assigned to that agent unless you ask that it be in your name only.   You can then also use that as a placeholder booking if you don't use it within the 60 days.   You get the same benefits.

Hi Jim

Do you mean a FCC as given by X when they or you have cancelled a sailing, or do you mean the Future Cruise Deposit which you can ‘book’ on board? The FCD has 90 days to be applied to keep the OBC.  We did this with our one bought back in October. Had to remember to apply it within the 3 months. 

[lilalila]

Regarding the "Book Later" option:

 

If I choose a cruise within the 90 day window--in order to get the OBC offer--but the cruise is inside final payment does it have to be booked directly through Celebrity?  Or, can I reach out to a TA and book with them taking advantage of whatever their in-house OBC might be?  I ask because bookings can't be transferred to a TA inside of final payment.

[wrk2cruise]

Can someone explain to me the reason why "Book Later" is a good idea.   From what I understand if you don't select the sailing within 90 days you lose the OBC and it just becomes a deposit when used in the future.  I at least hope that you retain the reduced deposit when eventually selecting a sailing.

 

I've never seen it as an option to me over booking a placeholder sailing with a refundable deposit as far in the future as I can.  Then when I find something I want I just change the ship/sail date and decide if I want to take the refundable or non-refundable fare.   I still get the OBC (which is adjusted to the value for the new sailing length/category) and the reduced deposit.  If I know I will not take the placeholder I select the most generic balcony cabin category and let the agent select the room to not tie up a "special" cabin.

 

I understand why the book later is better for Celebrity but I don't see any advantage to me.  Help me see the errors in my thinking.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

Our next "future cruise" is for 2024- hopefully the US to Iceland or the reverse which are currently scheduled on the Summit in August for this year and next.

 

Friends will be on the Millennium ending an Alaska cruise on 9/16/22. The 2024 Iceland/Greenland itineraries are unlikely to be out during their voyage. What would be the best strategy for them to book onboard for them and us? Dummy booking, FCC or Place Holder?

We would book a "refundable" Place Holder cruise, as I suggested in post #11 and @wrk2cruiseposted in #24.