booking a cruise onboard

[MikkiDawn]

I cannot find this thread anywhere so I will just ask myself. We are thinking about booking a cruise for NEXT December while onboard this December, or even for 2008 (will those be available then?) anyway, what exactly do you save when booking onboard ? Or should I just wait and do it when I get home ? We would be taking our 3 kids with us this time, so there would be 5 of us ? Should we look at 2 rooms or should we try to get a Family Oceanview ?

[RevSmith]

Do it on board...you save as little as 50 dollars and as much as 200 depending on how many RCL cruises you have been on...and you can always change the cruise and transfer the credit...your TA gets the credit for your cruise, so it's a win, win situation all around.

[Murphy]

You will not save anything with regards to the cruise price, however, you will be eligible for $$$ of onboard credit. $100 per stateroom for a 7 night cruise.

[MikkiDawn]

Okay I will have to see !!

 

Any idea when I can book a December 2008 cruise ? Would I be able to do that onboard in December ?

[Murphy]

Okay I will have to see !!

 

Any idea when I can book a December 2008 cruise ? Would I be able to do that onboard in December ?

Dec 2008 sailing won't open up until sometime around May 2007. You "could" book any old cruise during this trip and once the Dec 2008 sailings open up change your onboard booking reservation to the new Dec sailing. If you do that, just make sure your TA keeps the original booking number so you insure you get the onboard credit.

[MikkiDawn]

That sounds good !!

 

How can I ensure I get a Family Oceanview room ? Are there on a few of these on the Mariner ? Will they fit a family of 5 ? Or should I just get 2 inside staterooms ?

[dmndlil]

We just booked our Feb 2007 cruise for the Serenade while on board the Majesty. We are staying in an inside cabin and will receive a $100 cabin credit. It just happened that our state (NJ) was eleigible for a resident discount ($50 p/p I think) while on board as well.

 

Happy cruising!

[dmndlil]

We just booked our Feb 2007 cruise for the Serenade while on board the Majesty. We are staying in an inside cabin and will receive a $100 cabin credit. It just happened that our state (NJ) was eleigible for a resident discount ($50 p/p I think) while on board as well.

 

Happy cruising!

[Murphy]

That sounds good !!

 

How can I ensure I get a Family Oceanview room ? Are there on a few of these on the Mariner ? Will they fit a family of 5 ? Or should I just get 2 inside staterooms ?

Since you aren't really booking the sailing you want, I'd suggest you book 2 inside cabins now. That way you get $100 onboard credit per cabin for a total of $200! Then, as soon as the sail date you want becomes available, check to see if the Family OV cabin you want is available. If it is and that's what you want, convert one of your inside cabins to the FOV and simply cancel the other inside cabin. You'll be giving up the $100 extra obc, but if the bigger cabin is what you want, go for it.

 

I haven't ever sailed the Mariner, nor have I seen the cabin you are referring to, so I can't make a recommendation on which cabin option to choose.

[meyer4two]

Dec 2008 sailing won't open up until sometime around May 2007. You "could" book any old cruise during this trip and once the Dec 2008 sailings open up change your onboard booking reservation to the new Dec sailing. If you do that, just make sure your TA keeps the original booking number so you insure you get the onboard credit.

 

I know that you have to keep the same booking # to keep the onboard credit when changing cruises. Do you know if you can switch from Celebrity to RC with the same booking # and keep the credit?

[Murphy]

I know that you have to keep the same booking # to keep the onboard credit when changing cruises. Do you know if you can switch from Celebrity to RC with the same booking # and keep the credit?

I have not personally attempted that, but I would think so... A few years back we were booked on a Celebrity sailing of the Century to the Southern Caribbean. A few months after we booked, they decided to move the Century to Europe during the same time. We were offered a deal to move to any RCCL or Celebrity ship for a pretty decent $$$ off deal and we took it on a RCCL ship without any problem. Not exactly the same thing, but I'm pretty sure you could do it.

[Lovincruisin1321]

I cannot find this thread anywhere so I will just ask myself. We are thinking about booking a cruise for NEXT December while onboard this December, or even for 2008 (will those be available then?) anyway, what exactly do you save when booking onboard ? Or should I just wait and do it when I get home ? We would be taking our 3 kids with us this time, so there would be 5 of us ? Should we look at 2 rooms or should we try to get a Family Oceanview ?

My husband and I just sailed the Radiance in August and booked the Jewel for August 2008 with no problem. The itinerary and pre land tour were already available. We received a $200 onboard credit. Also RCI guarantees a maximum price for airfare and the cruise price, which means if you find a special discount on that same cruise or better airfare, RCI will honor that. One other benefit is that I am always sad to get off the ship on the last day because I had such a wonderful time. Now that we booked our next cruise, I have something to look forward to! :)

[Lovincruisin1321]

My husband and I just sailed the Radiance in August and booked the Jewel for August 2008 with no problem. The itinerary and pre land tour were already available. We received a $200 onboard credit. Also RCI guarantees a maximum price for airfare and the cruise price, which means if you find a special discount on that same cruise or better airfare, RCI will honor that. One other benefit is that I am always sad to get off the ship on the last day because I had such a wonderful time. Now that we booked our next cruise, I have something to look forward to! :)

Oops! Correction. We booked for August 2007. In answer to your question, yes, you should be able to book one year in advance.

[meyer4two]

I have not personally attempted that, but I would think so... A few years back we were booked on a Celebrity sailing of the Century to the Southern Caribbean. A few months after we booked, they decided to move the Century to Europe during the same time. We were offered a deal to move to any RCCL or Celebrity ship for a pretty decent $$$ off deal and we took it on a RCCL ship without any problem. Not exactly the same thing, but I'm pretty sure you could do it.

 

Thanks, I think I'll call and see what happens. We are thinking of switching from the Constellation to the Navigator and hate to lose the $200. if we just cancel. I love Celebrity but are doing the same itinerary in Dec. '07 so decided to pick a different cruise.

[cruiseonly]

When we were looking for a cruise to the Baltics, our regular TA could not get the booking for us.

 

We found a TA out of town that had space, and since we really wanted to go with that itinerary, we booked with her. Everything went okay with the booking.

 

While aboard Celebrity, I booked another cruise to get the shipboard credit. I wanted it to go to my regular TA, but they said they could not do that, as it had to go to the TA that booked the Baltic Cruise.

 

We went ahead and said OK, as we did not want to loose the shipboard credit.

 

Now when I go on that Celebrity cruise again, and want to book on board, it has to go to the out of town TA.

 

So I can forget about the shipboard credit, and book when we get home with our regular TA.

 

I just feel more confortable with our regular TA right here in town, rather than deal with someone out of town.

 

Has any one had this experience.

[Murphy]

If that happens again, tell the LA you just want to leave the booking with RCCL/Celebrity. AFTER you get home, call RCCL and have them switch the booking to the TA you want to deal with. I understand you can't just call now, but need to fax RCCL the permission slip to transfer the booking, but I'm not sure where to get that form and they will be able to tell you when you call.

[cruiseonly]

Murphy:

 

Thanks for info. I will try that.

[meyer4two]

So to cancel one cruise & re-book on another you have to keep the same TA? In other words, cancel a Celebrity cruise & re-book on RC you can't switch TA's and still keep the $200. credit. You can switch cruises, but you have to keep the booking with the same TA.