Booking another cruise while on board (MERGED)

[strype2]

We are sailing on the Explorer January 21, 2007 out of Miami. We are also thinking of booking the Explorer out of Bayonne for the July 29, 2007 sailing. Should we just book it now or are there perks to booking whle on board in Jan.? July 29 is our 35 wedding anniversary and our Daughter and Son-in-Laws first anniversary. We will all be doing an anniversary cruise.

[H8mundays]

We just returned from the naviagtor and booked our next cruise while on board.

We were given a $100 on board credit to use during our next cruise.

[paulap70]

If you book on board, you're *supposed* to get the better pricing plus onboard credit of $100 per cabin for a 7-night cruise (I think it's $200 for longer cruises).

 

If you want a certain cabin or type of cabin, I'd probably reserve it now so that it's still available 3+ months from now when you're on board. I wonder if you could book the cabin now, obtain the booking ID number, then rebook/cancel once on board (this would preserve your cabin). Final payment for a July 2007 cruise won't be until late April or early May.

[Newfy Friend]

When we booked on board this spring, the loyalty ambassador was very helpful to us in finding a cruise that we were interested in and also in the choice of cabins. You might want to make an appointment early in the cruise as the times fill up. The on-board credit, of course, is another nice inducement.

[trilind]

My wife and I have done our booking on board for years. Not only do they give you good pricing and room credit for the next cruise your travel agent receives credit (if that is important to you). Your agent should be able to follow-up behind the booking with even better pricing if it is available.

[BillOh]

Can anyone quantify the better onboard pricing? We have number 2 reserved and will probably make reservation #3 while onboard.

[trilind]

We always obtain the best price we can find on line at a number of travel/cruise websites before we leave on our next cruise. Sometimes the price on board is slightly higher and sometimes it is slighly lower but it is always very close. With the on-board credit it is always cheaper. Last cruise they also gave us a special $100 cabin discount due to status with RCCL and the specific cruise selected. We are off on our next cruise next week and will be booking two additional cruises on board. One on Celebrity and the other on RCCL. Also-as a somewhat related note-I recommend investigating RCCL stock as 100 shares owned will give you even more on-board credit depending on the length of the cruise booked (on-board booking not required).

[boingy300]

Every 2 years whether we need it or not..... we book a cruise while on the ship. We book the cruise we want, the room we want and then just wait for the date to open and move the date. We get a decent price and $100 credit. We have not had any problem doing this and figure we are on the ship, might as well get $100 credit. In May we'll book our 2009 Alaska cruise at the latest date. Then move it.

Karen

[beachchick]

If you book on board, you're *supposed* to get the better pricing plus onboard credit of $100 per cabin for a 7-night cruise (I think it's $200 for longer cruises).

 

If you want a certain cabin or type of cabin, I'd probably reserve it now so that it's still available 3+ months from now when you're on board. I wonder if you could book the cabin now, obtain the booking ID number, then rebook/cancel once on board (this would preserve your cabin). Final payment for a July 2007 cruise won't be until late April or early May.

 

Where does it say this? That's never been part of the booking onboard thing (or at least not on RCI in the past 5 years). The price is the same as whatever the going rate is that day; the benefit is the onboard credit.

 

beachchick

[suezyq50]

Boingy300: Are you saying you book before prices, etc are released? Do you than wait for them to be published? I am considering when we should book our next. Your info will help. Thanks

[sassmofi]

Did you loose your first post with?!?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=424022

[pmshirl]

If you book on board, you're *supposed* to get the better pricing plus onboard credit of $100 per cabin for a 7-night cruise (I think it's $200 for longer cruises).

 

If you want a certain cabin or type of cabin, I'd probably reserve it now so that it's still available 3+ months from now when you're on board. I wonder if you could book the cabin now, obtain the booking ID number, then rebook/cancel once on board (this would preserve your cabin). Final payment for a July 2007 cruise won't be until late April or early May.

Here is an incident that I had. Just recently booked onboard the Radiance for a 2007 Liberty B2B Cruise. I received my registration # and called my TA while still on my cruise. I wanted the same stateroom for both weeks, which the C&A rep could not seem to get for me. By the time I arrived home, my TA had found me a stateroom (same cabin)(same category) for both weeks and the price for the 2nd week was $250.00 less than the onboard booking price I received 10 days earlier! I was not very pleased with the rep who handled my onboard bookings, since i spent 45 minutes with her and I was put on a wait list for a cabin, and never received my confirmation papers until 7 days after the appointment. I also called the Loyal Amb. everyday from my cabin to inquire about my reservation and nothing was resolved until I got my TA involved with my booking! I am so glad I have a very good TA, since dealing with the rep and RC didn't seem to get me anywhere! As far as booking a cabin before you book onboard, and then cancelling the cabin and rebooking while onboard, you most likely will never get that cabin, since they do not immediately go back into the system and there is also a chance that the cabin had an increase in price by the time you book onboard and you will pay the increased price (price at time of booking). I had a group of 19 Pax on my Hawaii Cruise, I had a cancellation 6 months prior to our cruise, I wanted to keep the cancelled cabin in my group (since a price increase of $650.00 had occured ) the price of the cancelled cabin was subject to the increased price in order to remain in my group. I am sharing this info to let people know that you don't always get the best prices and best services when booking onboard, and yes I am sure if the price goes down, your TA or RC will adjust the price for you!

[Driftwoodgal]

Every time we have booked on board we have been given the same prices as posted on the RCI website.

 

We have always been given paper work before we leave the LA desk.

 

We have only be able to book out as far as the listings are posted. We booked a 4/07 Splendour cruise in 1/06. We transfered that booking to our Alaska cruise once the bookings opened.

[IMNiles]

Here is an incident that I had. Just recently booked onboard the Radiance for a 2007 Liberty B2B Cruise.

... I was not very pleased with the rep who handled my onboard bookings, since i spent 45 minutes with her...

dealing with the rep and RC didn't seem to get me anywhere! ...I am sharing this info to let people know that you don't always get the best prices and best services when booking onboard, and yes I am sure if the price goes down, your TA or RC will adjust the price for you!

 

Would that have been Soledad, by chance? I booked four cabins with her when I was on Radiance a few weeks ago, and she acted like she was really doing me a favor, and was not very helpful.

[pmshirl]

Imniles: Yes it was Soledad Fernandez Johnson. Very poor customer Service Rep. Everyday after My initial appoitment (of course days we were docked) I had a message on my phone to call her. Well, Hello ! When I am on land I sure am not in my cabin waiting for the phone to ring!

Of cource when she was available I wasn't. So I called my TA and had him take care of the booking for me since I did receive my booking ID #.

[Aquahound]

You get on-board credit as follows:

$50.00 for 3 & 4 night cruises.

$100.00 for 5-8 nights.

$200.00 for 9+ nights.

As for the price, you get no additional discount for booking on board.

 

Advise: Stay away from Jesse on the Freedom. He is brand new, no personality, and horrible with the computer.

[orknot2be]

I guess everything is a matter of perspective because we had Soledad as our loyalty ambassador last year on the Radiance, and of the few loyalty ambassadors we've dealt with, we found her to be the most helpful, patient & informative of all of them.

[boingy300]

Boingy300: Are you saying you book before prices, etc are released? Do you than wait for them to be published? I am considering when we should book our next. Your info will help. Thanks

We cruise every 2 years, but the schedule isn't out. We book the cabin we want, then as soon as the dates open (I watch closely) we call RCCL and move the cabin, along with our onboard credit. In 6/2006 we cruised Western, onboard we booked for latest date 4/2007, eventhough we wanted 5/07. We finalized all the details, and then when the 5/07 date opened we just moved the date everything else stayed the same (room,itinerary,credit) The price didn't change significantly for us, but it's the same season. If I moved from fall to winter, I'd expect to pay more. It works for us.

Karen

[aqhacruiser]

We always obtain the best price we can find on line at a number of travel/cruise websites before we leave on our next cruise. Sometimes the price on board is slightly higher and sometimes it is slighly lower but it is always very close. With the on-board credit it is always cheaper. Last cruise they also gave us a special $100 cabin discount due to status with RCCL and the specific cruise selected. We are off on our next cruise next week and will be booking two additional cruises on board. One on Celebrity and the other on RCCL. Also-as a somewhat related note-I recommend investigating RCCL stock as 100 shares owned will give you even more on-board credit depending on the length of the cruise booked (on-board booking not required).

 

I contacted RCCL to purchase stock a couple of weeks ago. After a couple of days I received an email stating that they do not sell directly but they didn't give me a referral. Could you please give me some ideas of where I can purchase the stock. Thank you!:)

[OPSoccermom]

I contacted RCCL to purchase stock a couple of weeks ago. After a couple of days I received an email stating that they do not sell directly but they didn't give me a referral. Could you please give me some ideas of where I can purchase the stock. Thank you!:)

Just use your stock broker or ask a friend who they use. If you don't have one, I guess you can try one of the on-line trading services, since you know exactly what you want. Stock is traded through one of the markets (New York, Amex, NASDAQ, etc) via brokers, so buying directly through the company usually is not possible.

[ChristieNJ]

Do you have to put the deposit down right then & there when you book onboard? Or do you have a certain number of days after you return to get the deposit in to them?

[Sheffie]

Do you have to put the deposit down right then & there when you book onboard? Or do you have a certain number of days after you return to get the deposit in to them?

 

We had to put the $$ down right then. We put it on our credit card, so it didn't show up for a while and then we had the time to pay it, so we had about a month before we had to have the cash.

[ChristieNJ]

Ok cool thanks for the info! :)

[pinguino]

We want to get on genesis in 2009. Could we make a reservation for late 2008 while onboard next week, and transfer it to genesis (2009) at some point in the future? Can you switch the ships the reservation is for, and have the credit still apply?

[aqhacruiser]

Just use your stock broker or ask a friend who they use. If you don't have one, I guess you can try one of the on-line trading services, since you know exactly what you want. Stock is traded through one of the markets (New York, Amex, NASDAQ, etc) via brokers, so buying directly through the company usually is not possible.

 

Thank you, I will contact a local broker this week!:)