On Board Credit

[FiggyWig]

Having noticed the post earlier on I was wondering .... how do you get on board credit ?

 

We've never cruised before and have finally booked for Celebrity Solstice next year. We booked through a UK travel agent. I've noticed ads in the UK press from various TA's stating £s on board credit, however the TA we booked with had no offer that we were advised of.

 

Do Celebrity ever offer it as an extra, or perhaps could the TA offer it as we get nearer the date? Any info creatly received.

 

thanks

[tbelian]

There are a number of ways to get on board credit. This includes an OBC that might be given by your TA.

 

Other ways are:

 

Booking on board for another future cruise gives you on board credit for the future cruise.

 

Owning RCL stock (not sure if this is available to UK)

 

The 'branded' charge cards (AMEX, Visa), earn 'points' that can be redeemed for on board credit.

[TenerifeSharon]

Having noticed the post earlier on I was wondering .... how do you get on board credit ?

 

We've never cruised before and have finally booked for Celebrity Solstice next year. We booked through a UK travel agent. I've noticed ads in the UK press from various TA's stating £s on board credit, however the TA we booked with had no offer that we were advised of.

 

Do Celebrity ever offer it as an extra, or perhaps could the TA offer it as we get nearer the date? Any info creatly received.

 

thanks

Since you've already booked, it may be difficult to have the agent agree to add an OBC. You might mention to him/her that you have seen other agents offering same and could he possibly match it. Take some hard copy from other offerings with you when you broach the subject. If I am correct, it would definitely not make sense to cancel your booking and rebook with another agent to get the OBC, because I think that any bookings done in the UK (similar with Germany and elsewhere in Europe) incur a loss of deposit when canceling. That's one of the reasons why I book with a US agent -- although I live in Europe.

 

I don't know of any example of Celebrity offering an OBC, or of an agent offering it after the booking is made. Something to think about before you book your next cruise.

 

Shareholder Benefits are available to anyone owning 100 shares of RCCL stock. It's an excellent benefit if you enjoy your first cruise and decide that you want to continue on booking the RCCL or Celebrity products. The stock is pretty reasonably priced to buy at the moment -- down to around $32 per share. It does not make sense to buy the stock only for the OBC unless it happens to fit in with your financial planning.

 

P.S. A hearty welcome to the world of cruising:D

[eandj]

Having noticed the post earlier on I was wondering .... how do you get on board credit ?

 

We've never cruised before and have finally booked for Celebrity Solstice next year. We booked through a UK travel agent. I've noticed ads in the UK press from various TA's stating £s on board credit, however the TA we booked with had no offer that we were advised of.

 

Do Celebrity ever offer it as an extra, or perhaps could the TA offer it as we get nearer the date? Any info creatly received.

 

thanks

 

IF the price of your cruise drops, a lot of Travel agents can get you a cash credit OR on-board credits. Watch the price of your cruise as it gets nearer and notify the TA of its drop, if any. They should be able to help you.

[TenerifeSharon]

IF the price of your cruise drops, a lot of Travel agents can get you a cash credit OR on-board credits. Watch the price of your cruise as it gets nearer and notify the TA of its drop, if any. They should be able to help you.

From what I've heard from fellow cruisers, many TAs in the UK don't know OR don't want to know about this possibility - and will not do anything to put through a fare reduction. You may have to exert a bit of pressure to have them do so.:p

[dizzydancer]

It is not the ta that offers obc unless they have a special group that they buy in, on most occasions if your cruise goes cheaper celeb and rccl will reduce it to the current price and refund you, this will affect your discount from you ta and will be altered accordingly, I know a ta whose customer got a £600 refund !!

[forensic]

Some TA's give OBC as a gift to their clients that book with them. Especially with Celebrity as they do not allow Agents to discount the cruise rate as some other cruise lines do.

[dizzydancer]

most cruise agents discount every cruise, my friend does for all her customers! they discount from their commission

[insidecabin]

Got OBC on our last cruise(24/4 connie) no idea where it came from was not part of the offer when booked with the UK TA as far as we new.

 

The ship had it marked as a promotion OBC. nice supprise on the final bill.