Do we REALLY Save Money by.....

[johnjen]

...booking that "next cruise" whilst on a cruise? Or is that just sales pitch? We're about to embark in two days but haven't given much thought on what region our next cruise would be. Leaning towards Baltic with hopes we can visit St. Petersburg Russia next year. Or, another med. Trying to decide - book whilst onboard, or, just wait? Is the "savings" really all it's cut up to be?

Edited July 5, 2022 by johnjen

[smokeybandit]

You'll save money with the OBC, that's about it. Reduced deposit saves a bit now but of course more you have to pay later.

[cruiselvr04]

We do it for reduced deposits especially now that they want you to forfeit the whole thing if you cancel.  Or if you have a lot of cruises booked you can keep some of your money freed up.  Sometimes you get OBC but that sometimes disappears if you get repriced for price drop.

[HicksRA]

Next Cruise prices are the same as what you can pull up on their website. 
As above, the only advantage is possible reduced deposit and/or some obc. 

[SummerBeee]

Sometimes you can get the gty cabin rate while selecting your cabin. It doesn’t always happen but when it does it’s nice - especially when booking b2b

[Sunshine3601]

As others have said the cruise fare is usually the same as what you see royal's website but you can book with a $100 deposit instead of a $500 deposit and maybe some OBC.    

I wouldn't count on ships sailing to St Petersburg next summer.    I think the ban on Russia will be around for quite a while.   

If unsure of what sailing you want to book while onboard you can sign up for the Book Later program thru nextcruise and just pay the $100 deposit pp then within a certain timeframe (I think it is 60-days for you decide on which cruise you want to apply towards).

[Surfguyxxx]

We do this for the OBC.  

[the penguins]

On 7/5/2022 at 7:13 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

As others have said the cruise fare is usually the same as what you see royal's website but you can book with a $100 deposit instead of a $500 deposit and maybe some OBC.    

I wouldn't count on ships sailing to St Petersburg next summer.    I think the ban on Russia will be around for quite a while.   

If unsure of what sailing you want to book while onboard you can sign up for the Book Later program thru nextcruise and just pay the $100 deposit pp then within a certain timeframe (I think it is 60-days for you decide on which cruise you want to apply towards).

Russia already cancelled for 2023 and I suspect much longer.

[Plum Happy]

On 7/5/2022 at 2:13 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

As others have said the cruise fare is usually the same as what you see royal's website but you can book with a $100 deposit instead of a $500 deposit and maybe some OBC.    

I wouldn't count on ships sailing to St Petersburg next summer.    I think the ban on Russia will be around for quite a while.   

If unsure of what sailing you want to book while onboard you can sign up for the Book Later program thru nextcruise and just pay the $100 deposit pp then within a certain timeframe (I think it is 60-days for you decide on which cruise you want to apply towards).

I just read that they have already modified Celebrity's sailings to the Baltic , i.e., Russia (removing them with other ports) for 2023.  They have sent out emails alerting people.  Yeah, don't count on going there next year.

[orville99]

The benefits from booking on board are not necessarily monetary for all of the reasons already posted, but we always book on board because we can select the cabin and category we want, and because we always book as soon as we can after the new schedules come out, we lock in price before they start to raise it as they get closer to the cruise date.

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

The benefits from booking on board are not necessarily monetary for all of the reasons already posted, but we always book on board because we can select the cabin and category we want, and because we always book as soon as we can after the new schedules come out, we lock in price before they start to raise it as they get closer to the cruise date.

You can do that at home online too!

[2chiefs]

Most answers already covered. Cruise price is the same.

 

We like to book on board for the reduced deposit. For us, it saves us money because if we book otherwise, we book refundable deposits which costs more.

 

We accept the risk of losing the lower deposits required for booking on board in case we have to cancel. It's only happened once so far and worth the risk.

 

The only other advantage is sometimes they offer some OBC which may not be available otherwise.