Benefits of booking onboard

We are preparing to cruise aboard the Voyager next month. Although we have enjoyed previous Regent cruises, we have never taken the time to talk to a representative in the sales office. We are usually so busy and having such a good time, we forget about it until it is too late! This cruise begins with a day at sea where we will have the time. We are wondering what the advantage is to making an appointment to speak to someone in the office. Some specific questions we have are: Is there a discount involved in utilizing the onboard sales representative? Do they have information that is not available through your travel agent? How does your personal travel agent work into the equation? Also, I have read on some of the posts that you can purchase vouchers or coupons. What are these? Any enlightenment would be appreciated!

Aloha Smat,

We have done this twice now in the past two years, and while there was a discount for each itinerary we booked, it was not substantial. The greatest benefits were a greatly reduced deposit, the ability to cancel within 30 days (I think) with no penalty, and the ability to change itinerary once (which we did last year) with no penalty.

And they will transfer the booking to either your TA of record or anyone you choose.

Hope this helps.

Aloha from Hanalei,

Mark

The BIG benefit is for Regent - it has your thousand or so for several months - very little benefit for pax, alas.

We like the discount that we get from either booking another cruise on board or purchasing a future cruise certificate. We purchased two future cruise certificates on our last cruise.

In the past, the discount was sometimes pretty substantial; however, it has been reduced in the past couple of years that I only do a book onboard if I have a cruise picked out that I really want to do. It saves a little.

Do you receive an OBC that can be used immediately if you book a future cruise?

Do you receive an OBC that can be used immediately if you book a future cruise?

Not generally. However, on our last cruise you would receive a $100 OBC for your current cruise if you booked a future cruise.

My wife and I have taken 6 Regent cruises and have one booked for later this year. All but the first were booked onboard. Our onboard booking savings have typically been $500-800 per person plus the reduced deposit. There is also a period after booking (30 days ?) when you can cancel without penalty. For us a major benefit is the opportunity to sit down across a desk with the Cruise Consultant. We can discuss cruises of interest and often receive comments from a person who recently took that cruise. Alternatively we have told the Consultant what itineraries we are interested in, and he has been able to suggest Regent cruises that fit or let us know of upcoming new Regent itineraries that we should watch for. The Consultants do not receive commissions on cruise sales. They are on salary. Should you be on a cruise with Mike Coleman as Cruise Consultant, we have found him to be particularly knowledgeable, low key, and friendly.

Our recommendation is by all means book onboard if you find a cruise you want to take. Our experience is that you save significant money and receive excellent advice.

My wife and I have taken 6 Regent cruises and have one booked for later this year. All but the first were booked onboard. Our onboard booking savings have typically been $500-800 per person plus the reduced deposit. There is also a period after booking (30 days ?) when you can cancel without penalty. For us a major benefit is the opportunity to sit down across a desk with the Cruise Consultant. We can discuss cruises of interest and often receive comments from a person who recently took that cruise. Alternatively we have told the Consultant what itineraries we are interested in, and he has been able to suggest Regent cruises that fit or let us know of upcoming new Regent itineraries that we should watch for. The Consultants do not receive commissions on cruise sales. They are on salary. Should you be on a cruise with Mike Coleman as Cruise Consultant, we have found him to be particularly knowledgeable, low key, and friendly.

 

Our recommendation is by all means book onboard if you find a cruise you want to take. Our experience is that you save significant money and receive excellent advice.

Thank you for your explanation. I agree with you completely including your opinion of Michael Coleman. As posted above, bookings made on board are transferred to your TA. There is no need to feel that you are booking behind their back. Even copies of future cruise certificates are sent to your TA.

What is a "future cruise certificate"?

Thanks to all who have filled us in on the benefits of booking onboard. Like KathyPet, I do not know what a future cruise certificate might be. If we happen to have Michael Coleman assist us, we'll be certain to pass on your kind remarks, jgm and Travelcat2. Appreciate the responses from everyone.

What is a "future cruise certificate"?

Paraphrased from our future cruise deposit certificate:

You pay $2,000 towards a deposit of a future cruise. The $2,000 is fully refundable within 2 years. If you wait until after it is expired, you lose the $2,000 (don't think anyone would forget to use the certificate or get your money back.

You can book a voyage and receive Onboard Booking Savings from $200 to $8,000 per suite based on sailing date and suite category selected. This is combinable with current savings offers at the time of the selection. The voyage you choose may commence outside of 2 years.

Onboard Savings is offered on all voyages initially and is subject to change closer-in due to popular demand. Guests are encouraged to select their preferred future sailing as early as possible to secure preferred pricing and suite availability. A $200 Shipboard Credit per suite will be offered in the event Onboard Savings is closed.

The $2,000 certificate will satisfy the new booking deposit unless the sailing is 15 nights or longer or if you are in a Penthouse "C" category or above.

There is also the non-transferable clause, the clause which states that you cannot use more than one certificate per cruise and that this is applicable only on new bookings.

In our case, we purchased the certificates because there is no itinerary currently on the books that we are interested. in If something shows up in the second half of 2015, we will book as quickly as possible after the new itineraries are booked. We will do the same when the 2016 itineraries are posted. The most important point, IMO, is that you lose the "Onboard Booking Savings" if you decide to cancel and transfer to another cruise.

Hope this makes sense. It took us a while to recognize the value of these certificates.

So to clarify if you give them $2000.00 it gets you one of these certificates. Applying the certificate towards a specific cruise that you book,after you return home allows you to,get the same on board booking price that you,would have received if you had booked that specific next cruise while on board. So if you don't see a itinerary that is what you want on the current schedule you can get the certificate and keep looking for another cruise and if you find one up to two,years in the future you get the on board booking price? How much of a discount do you get by using the on board booking feature?

You understand it correctly. The amount you save depends upon the level of suite that you book. I would guess the average to be around $500/person. jgm posted $500-$800 so it is somewhere in that range.

On our recent cruise, the certificates were $3000, not $2000. We bought one, but I don't know how to find out the discount for a specific cruise. The discounts can change over time, so there's got to be a way to look up the current info on the web. I haven't been able to find it yet tho.

Something to be concerned about based on the quoted material from the certificate is that the discounts are not a fixed value and can be changed at any time by Regent to a lesser value. It goes further to state that if there is no discount for the cruise you want, you get a small on board credit. This means that the value of the certificate and the discounts can be a little as zero with a small OBC

To caps lock on, doubt the web would be able to keep up with changes to the discount so suggest you have your TA or you contact Regent to get the current discount for your cruise(s) of choice.

It appears to me that the main benefit of the certificate is to regent, not the customer. They get to use your money for a period of time without having to do much in return.

On our recent cruise, the certificates were $3000, not $2000. We bought one, but I don't know how to find out the discount for a specific cruise. The discounts can change over time, so there's got to be a way to look up the current info on the web. I haven't been able to find it yet tho.

Wow -- this change must be very recent since we purchased our $2,000 certificates in July. I wouldn't worry about changes to the discount or not being able to get the cruise that you want since you can get 100% of your money back within 2 years. However I would book as far in advance as possible.

Hopefully you are using a good TA that can give you the on board credit amounts for whatever cruise you are looking at. If not, give Regent a call -- they will be happy to assist you.

I just looked at the two cruises we have booked on the Mariner next year. We received an on board booking credit of $500/person on an 18 night cruise for a Penthouse "B" suite. Had we been in category G-H, it would have been $250/person (for category D-F it would have been $375).

Not all cruises are the same. Our Cape Town to Cape itinerary on the Mariner - 15 nights, we are getting a $525/person on board booking credit ($250 for G-H and $275 for D-F).

We would not book a cruise based on the amount of discount we would get for our on board booking certificates. However, if there is a Seven Seas Society savings as well as a decent on board booking credit, we'd give the itinerary a closer look.

If we buy another one we definitely will be careful about how we use it. We bought one before Regent changed the rules expressly for the savings we could get. We knew we would cruise with Regent again but there wasn't a cruise we wanted at that time. However when we went to use ours on a cruise after the rules changed we didn't get any discount for it. Regent would not do anything but our TA made good on the discount which was substantial for the cruise we picked.

Lesson learned. If you buy the certificate definitely find out what the savings are before applying the certificate to the one you choose. Had we known that there was no discount available on our cruise we would not have used the certificate. We would have saved it for a different cruise as we still had at least another year before it expired.

As TC2 said book a cruise early to ensure the discount hasn't been eliminated. The discount is definitely worthwhile as long as you get it otherwise Regent has just used your money with very little benefit to you.

It appears to me that the main benefit of the certificate is to regent, not the customer. They get to use your money for a period of time without having to do much in return.

As a member of the "trust but verify club" I have some additional questions. If you buy a certificate and then find a cruise a year later does the certificate entitle you to get the "on board booking price" that is in effect at the time you book the cruise. If so how can you confirm the accuracy of that price? Obviously the reduced amount would not be a figure easily obtainable to you at home booking a cruise. Do you just trust that Regent is giving you the correct pricing based on using the certificate you bought and that they are giving you the current on board pricing for that cruise?? Is the certificate stating that you will receive the current on board,pricing for the cruise IF there is a current reduced on board pricing figure for the cruise you want?? Does the certificate provide for a OBC for the difference between the current going rate for that cruise and a on board booking price or is it a actual $ fare reduction? I am not a big fan of OBC credits on Regent as I find them difficult to spend and if it is a Regent issued OBC it is my understanding that if you have credit left at the end of the cruise you forfeit it. I would want a actual price reduction using the certificate not a OBC. Help please!

Wiw, that's a lot of questions! Here's the terms and conditions from the certificate:

Terms & Conditions:

In terms of OBC's, in addition to using them for wine and the spa, it is easy to use them in the Boutique. I have a collection of watches that I only wear from on a cruise. When we purchase something from the Boutique, it is taking a memory of the cruise home with us.

It sounds as if your questions go further than what is explained in the terms and conditions of the future cruise certificate. Really think that you should discuss this with your TA (and hope that you have a TA that knows Regent and regularly books cruises with them). Your TA should have a Regent contact that he/she can go to with difficult questions. As much as we try to help on the board, when things change - like the cost going from $2,000/certificate to $3,000/certificate from July to August, sometimes our information is not current..

We have just proven the benefits of booking onboard.............. and the additional flexibility that this enables (especially for those normally booking under the Regent UK Ts & Cs).

While on board Voyager in March 2014 we booked a future cruise for Spring next year, receiving the following immediate benefits:

1. on board discount of approx 6%

2. reduced deposit (7.5% rather than 20%)

3. complimentary voyage DVD (makes a good bird scarer when hung up in the garden :rolleyes:)

4. $100 shipboard credit

Last month (Sept 2014) a flier came through for an excellent deal on a different Regent cruise next Spring. The itinerary, dates and price all now appealed to us more than the cruise we had already booked.

Because we had booked on board we were able to move our deposit to the alternative cruise without penalty and also benefited from an 'on board' discount on the new cruise :). The process was very simple through our TA and Regent UK.

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We also like the Regent Future Cruise Deposit certificates and always keep one in hand. If not used they are refundable and with present interest rates we think that an investment in our favourite cruise line and in our future cruising enjoyment makes perfect sense.

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