Anyone 'Pre Book' a cruise while sailing

[Giantfan13]

We did the POH last week. While, on board, they announce you can 'pre book' another crusie with NCL anytime, anywhere, with full refundable deposit of $250 per person. They say the guarantee the lowest possible rrate that NCL charges. They also offer a shipboard credit depending on what type of cabin you select. We pre booked the Majesty for 2008, and the rate seemed pretty good. has anyone ever done this before??. Are there obsticles if you want to switch or cancel??. And do they actually offer the 'best' rates around?? They also say you have up to 90 days before sailing to cancel.

Any advice or opinions on this????

[MalkyM]

Giantfan- we booked a cruise whilst onboard the Dream in August. The "conditions" you mention in your post were exactly those that were explained to us.

 

I called NCL (UK) about a flight/hotel package and they confirmed that, should we change our mind about the particular cruise we had booked, it could be cancelled and the deposit transferred to another one. I presume that this would also apply to a full refund as this was part of their sale contract.

 

As for best prices - all I can say is that I called up the same cruise only on the NCL (US) website and it was priced exactly as we had paid on board whilst the NCL (UK) priced it at $900 more :eek: We are happy - even delighted - with the price we got on board but fear that the air costs etc may tip the balance. It's a repo cruise from Valparaiso to Los Angeles.

[7SeasLover]

Yep. Do this all the time. If you have some lower fares quoted by someplace else, they usually try to match or beat those with room credits or upgrades. Do your homework first on a cruise you might be interested in, go to the future cruise presentation, then go talk to the consultant.

 

I love doing this. And you can book as far in the future as you want. Canceling is not a problem if done prior to 90 days before the sailing. Is a great way to plan ahead.

 

We're sailing on the Jewel on 10/9/06 and I booked in while on the Pacific Coastal cruise on the Star back in Sept 05. When I started my countdown it was 375 days away and here I am less than 30 days from sailing! Hoooooya!

[Giantfan13]

Thanks for the info. We checked some other travel sites and the price we were given was a bit cheaoer than they have right now. So we will stay with what we picked out or begin looking around for something better.

[Cruise_More_Often]

I called NCL (UK) about a flight/hotel package and they confirmed that, should we change our mind about the particular cruise we had booked, it could be cancelled and the deposit transferred to another one. I presume that this would also apply to a full refund as this was part of their sale contract.

It didn't work out quite that way for us. We booked another Alaska cruise while onboard the Sun in May. We later decided we'd rather do a Mexican Riviera cruise first. While talking to NCL, we we asked to transfer the deposit, but we couldn't do it. We had to cancel the Alaska cruise, book the Mexican Riviera cruise and give NCL another deposit. In all, we had $1,300 in deposits tied up for at least a month before we got the original deposit back. I also think we lost our onboard credit when we cancelled and rebooked.

[Giantfan13]

They told us that we could bring as many people along as we wish, and they get the exact same rate as what we booked for, provided that cabins in that category are available. It all sounded so good, with nothing to lose and another cruise to gain.

Thanks for all the interesting comments. I never did anything like this before, and, as I said, it does look like we got a good deal, at least so far.