Elite booking on board?

Do Elite members get any sort of discount for booking while on board or any other incentive, please?

All Captains Club members get the one category upgrade, whether they book on board or not.

Otherwise there are not any special discounts for bookings.

Do Elite members get any sort of discount for booking while on board or any other incentive, please?

No. Only the one category upgrade (within the same subcategory) which is exactly the same as you can get by booking shore side.

We are Elite + and are presently on the Infinity. We booked a B2B set while onboard, and we didn't receive any additional perk due to our Captain's Club loyalty level (excerpt the one level upgrade

No upgrades to suites...unfortunately!

I have just got off the Connie and resisted booking a further cruise whilst on board. The offer was 2 perks plus $200 OBC (veranda - Aqua for 10-13 nights). However I have costed the trip now I am back in the UK and am amazed that it is a better deal to book directly with X here. The only benefit of booking on board would have been a lower deposit but the holiday would have ended up costing more!

I have just got off the Connie and resisted booking a further cruise whilst on board. The offer was 2 perks plus $200 OBC (veranda - Aqua for 10-13 nights). However I have costed the trip now I am back in the UK and am amazed that it is a better deal to book directly with X here. The only benefit of booking on board would have been a lower deposit but the holiday would have ended up costing more!

Had you booked on board, would your travel agent not have been able to give you the lower rate and you still would have received the onboard booking OBC and reduced deposit?

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TAs in the UK hardly ever discount cruises from Celebrity and almost never offer perks such as OBC 😢, hence I book directly with Celebrity. Some UK cruisers book through agents in the USA to get the discounts and perks but there are pros and cons. We are on the Infinity later in the year and I will go prepared, knowing exactly what it will cost to book whilst on land and then compare it to the price (and perks) being offered on board and see which is the better deal and book accordingly.

We have never found booking onboard to be a good deal (financially). However, on one cruise we did a future booking to grab a specific "hump" cabin. We immediately had the booking transferred to one of our favorite cruise agencies who "sweetened" our booking by adding a substantial OBC plus paying for our gratuities.

Hank

TAs in the UK hardly ever discount cruises from Celebrity and almost never offer perks such as OBC 😢, hence I book directly with Celebrity. Some UK cruisers book through agents in the USA to get the discounts and perks but there are pros and cons. We are on the Infinity later in the year and I will go prepared, knowing exactly what it will cost to book whilst on land and then compare it to the price (and perks) being offered on board and see which is the better deal and book accordingly.

Check on both sides of the pond prior to booking to see which offers the better deal - obviously taking into consideration any extra OBC and, where possible, how the exchange rate may make it a better/worse deal. Monitor what the prices are doing using the comparison sites to judge whether price drops are likely - if there are, then don't book in the UK unless you are perfectly happy with your initial pricing.

When I book a Sky Suite on board we get the reduced deposit. If you book above Sky Suite there is not a reduced deposit. I transfer the booking to my TA . If the price drops I she takes care of it for me. I see it as a win, win for booking on board. I get to keep my money in the bank. We have a cruise May 7. 6 more cruises with reduced deposits. We have cruises booked until April 2019

No upgrades to suites...unfortunately!

Also, you can upgrade from C3 to C2 but not from C2 to C1

We have never found booking onboard to be a good deal (financially). However, on one cruise we did a future booking to grab a specific "hump" cabin. We immediately had the booking transferred to one of our favorite cruise agencies who "sweetened" our booking by adding a substantial OBC plus paying for our gratuities.

 

Hank

I was told that the benefit for booking onboard is the special onboard perks + OBC. We could always move it to another cruise if it is better or cheaper and in many cases you could keep the onboard perk/OBC on top of that. So we pretty much just pick a random 2019 cruise and booked it.

I have just got off the Connie and resisted booking a further cruise whilst on board. The offer was 2 perks plus $200 OBC (veranda - Aqua for 10-13 nights). However I have costed the trip now I am back in the UK and am amazed that it is a better deal to book directly with X here. The only benefit of booking on board would have been a lower deposit but the holiday would have ended up costing more!

You surprise me, thats not my experience when we booked last month aboard the Eclipse. We received the 2 perks deal plus $250 to spent on the current cruise. When we got home our TA gave us their deal which was £550 cheaper than Celebrity price, so win-win.

Another interest point is Celebrity are using $1.68 to £1 to calculate the deposit.

I have just got off the Connie and resisted booking a further cruise whilst on board. The offer was 2 perks plus $200 OBC (veranda - Aqua for 10-13 nights). However I have costed the trip now I am back in the UK and am amazed that it is a better deal to book directly with X here. The only benefit of booking on board would have been a lower deposit but the holiday would have ended up costing more!

Hi! Hope you had a good trip back to the UK. We got off Connie in Dubai and stayed a couple of days. It was great to meet you.

We booked a trip for 2018 while on Connie and costed it online first. The charge was exactly the same but the benefit of doing it onboard was the reduced deposit and an extra $250 OBC making $550 in total as we took one of the perks as $300 OBC.

(For info for others......Internet is another perk offered and that is currently $319 for unlimited on board. The third perk offered is classic beverage packages for both people in the stateroom. The value of these if bought on board was $973.50 x2. )

We have never found booking onboard to be a good deal (financially). However, on one cruise we did a future booking to grab a specific "hump" cabin. We immediately had the booking transferred to one of our favorite cruise agencies who "sweetened" our booking by adding a substantial OBC plus paying for our gratuities.

 

Hank

For US citizens it can never be a bad deal financially since you can always transfer it to a TA and an entirely different cruise and still retain the on-board booking OBC benefit. Or worse case you can just cancel it and get your deposit back - so absolutely no downside.

Our recent experience matches Hank's. We booked a Scandinavia, Russia cruise while on Equinox this past January. When we got home and priced the same cruise at several of our favored TAs we found that we could save over $500 by booking through a TA as compared to the onboard booking that included $200 of additional OBC. We even asked the TAs if they would add the onboard credit to the lower price and was told that was not possible.

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For US citizens it can never be a bad deal financially since you can always transfer it to a TA and an entirely different cruise and still retain the on-board booking OBC benefit. Or worse case you can just cancel it and get your deposit back - so absolutely no downside.

If you booked your current cruise thru a TA, the booking on board goes back to them automatically unless you tell them not to.

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For US citizens it can never be a bad deal financially since you can always transfer it to a TA and an entirely different cruise and still retain the on-board booking OBC benefit. Or worse case you can just cancel it and get your deposit back - so absolutely no downside.

You have a point. Once upon a time we spent nearly 2 hours of a sea day waiting our turn (despite an appointment) and then booking a future cruise. We later had it transferred to a cruise agency. But a few weeks later there was a much better promo (from that same agency) which was for "new bookings only." This provision was caused the cruise line. So we had to cancel our booking...wait a few days....and then rebook with much more attractive terms. DWs comment was..."so why did we waste most of a nice sea day morning at the future cruise office?"

We often preach, here on CC, that the best deals are often found by simply "shopping around among several reputable cruise agencies." And that is still true. The savings are generally in the 7 - 10% range over the best deal you get from a cruise line. Transferring a booking does not often get you that kind of deal because of new booking restrictions. So now, instead of wasting my cruise time in an office we simply do a a few clicks of the mouse (at a time of our choosing) and generally do a lot better. And I should add that we are not "stuck" on any one cruise line (we have been on 14 lines) so when we shop around...we have sometimes stumbled on a much better cruise/deal with a different cruise line.

Hank

You have a point. Once upon a time we spent nearly 2 hours of a sea day waiting our turn (despite an appointment) and then booking a future cruise. We later had it transferred to a cruise agency. But a few weeks later there was a much better promo (from that same agency) which was for "new bookings only." This provision was caused the cruise line. So we had to cancel our booking...wait a few days....and then rebook with much more attractive terms. DWs comment was..."so why did we waste most of a nice sea day morning at the future cruise office?"

 

We often preach, here on CC, that the best deals are often found by simply "shopping around among several reputable cruise agencies." And that is still true. The savings are generally in the 7 - 10% range over the best deal you get from a cruise line. Transferring a booking does not often get you that kind of deal because of new booking restrictions. So now, instead of wasting my cruise time in an office we simply do a a few clicks of the mouse (at a time of our choosing) and generally do a lot better. And I should add that we are not "stuck" on any one cruise line (we have been on 14 lines) so when we shop around...we have sometimes stumbled on a much better cruise/deal with a different cruise line.

 

Hank

Thanks Hank - always enjoy your comments. Yeah, I would not waste 2-hours to make a booking - always look for an off-time near the beginning of the cruise. I probably need to shop around a little more for a TA with better deals - currently using a TA that only gives about 5% OBC.

Thanks Hank - always enjoy your comments. Yeah, I would not waste 2-hours to make a booking - always look for an off-time near the beginning of the cruise. I probably need to shop around a little more for a TA with better deals - currently using a TA that only gives about 5% OBC.

You have hit on the reason we always suggest "shopping around." For the past 5 or so years we have only used 4 different cruise agencies and have found that for one cruise one particular agency might have the best deal...and for another cruise (even on the same cruise line) we might do better with a different agency. Each of our "favored" agencies is aware that we do shop around...and we think this sometimes results in some "sweetening" of the offers we get from the agencies. Not sure if this works for everyone. Our agencies know that we are "live ones" (something told to us by an agent) and will quickly book and seldom cancel. And since we tend to book longer cruises, they have additional incentive to give us a good offer. From the point of view of an agency, it takes about the same time to handle a 60 day...$25,000 booking as it does to handle a 7 day $2000 booking.. But that longer cruise will generate as much commission as perhaps 10 seven day cruises. Sometimes, leverage can be a good thing :). Sometimes saving 5% is the best you will do...but other times you might be able to save 10% or more!

Hank