Heard It Was Better To Book Your Next Cruise While You Were Cruising??

Can anyone give me some information on how it works if you book your next cruise while you are currently sailing? I heard it was cheaper and you may get on board credits.

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks!!

you need to book right away on the ship. You can just purchase a future cruise certificate, which gives you the OBC and allows to book anytime you want within the next 2 years

I think the last poster shof515 meant to post "no" need to book right away on your cruise.

The only advantage of booking on the cruise would be they offer you a cert. or two for a friend or Family to book the same cruise as you, then they too get some OBC

But really if you are going to book one while you are on Vacation, do all your research at home first and know what you want, so it is fast and easy.

no need to waste Vaca time on booking another if it is just your one cabin. get the FCC and decide at a later date.(Pay $100 and that gets taken off your final payment, and you get $100 OBC too)

Now you can even redeem the Cert. online.

I think the last poster shof515 meant to post "no" need to book right away on your cruise.

ya..sorry about..lack of sleep is killing me..If you do buy a future cruise certificate onboard, be aware that it does not show up on your sail n sign bill at the end of the cruise. They charge the certificate to a credit card that you used for the sail n sail. So at the end of the cruise, be prepare to see an extra 100 dollar charge from carnival

rather than type it all out

http://www.carnival.com/Funville/blogs/faqs/archive/2010/09/02/what-is-the-loyalty-and-cruise-vacation-program.aspx

They charge the certificate to a credit card that you used for the sail n sail. So at the end of the cruise, be prepare to see an extra 100 dollar charge from carnival

Sorry -- not to nit pick, but they charge the full $250 pp deposit to your credit card.

Actually, I booked on a cruise last week, and today when I was examining my booking online I noticed that for one of our cabins they actually put through the deposit twice -- instead of $500 for two they charged my card $1000. But the money was correctly applied to the cabin, so I guess I just paid it a little earlier than I planned to... it's that much less to pay off over the next year...

Sorry -- not to nit pick, but they charge the full $250 pp deposit to your credit card.

Thats if you book the cruise on board where you gotta pay the required deposit. If you buy a future cruise certificate on board, they will charge your credit card the $100 since it does not show up on the sail an sign bill. I remember when i bought my certificate last year, i noticed a separate carnival charge on my credit card for $100, it took me a few minutes to notice it was for the FCC..

Thats if you book the cruise on board where you gotta pay the required deposit. If you buy a future cruise certificate on board, they will charge your credit card the $100 since it does not show up on the sail an sign bill. I remember when i bought my certificate last year, i noticed a separate carnival charge on my credit card for $100, it took me a few minutes to notice it was for the FCC..

Doh -- of course you're right!

Talk about needing sleep -- I do too!!

I don't understand, so if you book a future cruise while onboard you are charged 100.00 to book it? That is considered your down payment per person?

I don't understand, so if you book a future cruise while onboard you are charged 100.00 to book it? That is considered your down payment per person?

If you actually book the cruise on board, you pay the regular deposit, $250 per person for a 7 day, and you get a cert for the OBC, $100 per cabin for a 7 day. Deposit and OBC amount differs depending on the length of the cruise. If you just buy the cert and book later, you pay $100 and the $100 will go towards your deposit when you book, and you will get the OBC as well. Bottom line is, if the future cruise is just going to be one cabin, there's no benefit to booking it on board. Just buy the $100 cert. The benefit to booking the cruise on board and paying the full deposit is you get 2 additional certs for the OBC to give to friends and family who go on the same cruise. Those certs would just be for OBC, they would still have to pay the full cruise fare. Make sense? I thought not.

What if you did not use a credit card for your sail and sign?

I believe you have to provide one. We didn't use a CC for our S&S card until the very last day. Then we linked a card so we could buy the FCC.

What if you did not use a credit card for your sail and sign?

They need some type of card-- so if the certificate needs to be refunded they know who to refund to.

it also helps to keep down people buying certificates for extended family members

If you actually book the cruise on board, you pay the regular deposit, $250 per person for a 7 day, and you get a cert for the OBC, $100 per cabin for a 7 day. Deposit and OBC amount differs depending on the length of the cruise. If you just buy the cert and book later, you pay $100 and the $100 will go towards your deposit when you book, and you will get the OBC as well. Bottom line is, if the future cruise is just going to be one cabin, there's no benefit to booking it on board. Just buy the $100 cert. The benefit to booking the cruise on board and paying the full deposit is you get 2 additional certs for the OBC to give to friends and family who go on the same cruise. Those certs would just be for OBC, they would still have to pay the full cruise fare. Make sense? I thought not.

hmmm that is not how it worked for me.

We booked Legend in January- we needed to put down the whole 500.00 and get a booking number-- then sent in the certificate and they took off 100. from the price- and gave us 100 obc-- 50 to him and 50 to me

Thanks for the info!

We booked our next cruise while we were on our current cruise but we had already did our research at home & knew exactly what we wanted right down to what room & deck we wanted. ;) The reason we did it was to get the 2 certificates for friends/family to use as friends of ours were going but they weren't prepared to book right away. We booked an 8 day & had to pay $600 down total, which was a separate charge to our cc. We got a $100 OBC as well. Can't wait!:D

WOW, thanks for all the information everyone. I think I understand how it works now!

I don't know if anyone knows the answer but. . . we are planning on booking a cruise in a couple weeks so our friends can also get the 100 OBC. We have decided on the carnival victory, but when reading the information on carnivals website it says the program is not offered on victory. i am assuming that means you can't book while ON carnival victory and get OBC/ FCC, which would mean we can still book while on the inspiration for the victory? right? did i just confuse everyone?

I think I've had too much to drink!:D

hmmm that is not how it worked for me.

We booked Legend in January- we needed to put down the whole 500.00 and get a booking number-- then sent in the certificate and they took off 100. from the price- and gave us 100 obc-- 50 to him and 50 to me

The way it was done for you is the way it is supposed to be done. If you didn't book while onboard, you would have paid $100 for your FCC and when you booked a cruise, you have to pay the full deposit. Then the FCC gets applied to the balance due and you get the OBC.

THE FCC IS NOT USED TOWARDS A DEPOSIT. It is used towards a payment on the balance, in spite of what was posted by someone on here. By the way, if you are traveling with someone and don't want that person to get part of the OBC, fill out the certificate as a single person (traveler) and all the money will go to you. I wouldn't do that when sailing with my DH, but I would if sailing with someone else.:)

Looks like this is per stateroom. We are about to go on a 5 day just the two of us, but plan on going next year with kids (so 4 of us in one stateroom).

Is there any benefit to booking onboard in this situation? Looks to me like there is not. ??

Looks like this is per stateroom. We are about to go on a 5 day just the two of us, but plan on going next year with kids (so 4 of us in one stateroom).

 

Is there any benefit to booking onboard in this situation? Looks to me like there is not. ??

You are correct in that it is per stateroom. Also, all of our cruises are 7 day cruises, but I believe that if the cruise is shorter, ie 3-4 days, the onboard credit is not $100, it's $50.

We buy them for the OBC and also that we know we have $100 less to pay at final payment time as we have already paid that amount.