Oops, we did it again!

I, who have said in the past that I would NEVER go on a cruise longer than a week, have booked a 10-day Caribbean cruise out of NY for next year. We had such a wonderful experience on our cruise last week, that we booked onboard (left a deposit with an open reservation.)

I am still working on the review from last week. Reality hit really hard when I got back. Lots of work piled up at home and the office. Our agent called today and I was so busy at work that I asked her to call Steve at home. Within five minutes, he called back with the news -- P2 guarantee, November 30th, 2007.

We are a 3.5 hour drive from NY. This is a great thing to look forward to. No worries about flying or overweight baggage. We can take as many bags as we want! I am very happy.

--Judy

Congratulations! Always good to have another one to look forward to.

Did they offer you a better deal onboard than you can get on land?

Congratulations! Always good to have another one to look forward to.

Did they offer you a better deal onboard than you can get on land?

Yes. They will hold an open-ended reservation for four years with a deposit. There is a shipboard credit, also. It varies depending upon the length of the voyage and the category of accommodation. It's nice, because you are not committed to a certain cruise -- you don't have to make a decision onboard the ship -- just the deposit. Our travel agent knew about it before the ship returned to port! It's really a win-win for us. If the prices go down, we can get the better deal. I think there is also an early booking discount as well. Our travel agent gets the booking.

Now, I just have to figure out how many formal nights on a 10-day cruise!!

--Judy

We are already booked back2back for July, but our T.A. suggested we see what they will offer us onboard and we can always cancel what we have.

So Judy,

Which 10 day cruises, and where do you live? We are in CT. And I am desparate to book. There are so many thing I want to do. I need to book about 5 cruises.

Unfortunately, it would make the bank account rather thin. Espcially after they fire us for abandoning our jobs!

Karie,

Who is ACHING to go SOON!

So Judy,

Which 10 day cruises, and where do you live? We are in CT. And I am desparate to book. There are so many thing I want to do. I need to book about 5 cruises.

Unfortunately, it would make the bank account rather thin. Espcially after they fire us for abandoning our jobs!

 

Karie,

Who is ACHING to go SOON!

Hi Karie -- We live in Baltimore. I am a recent Cunard-convert!

The cruise leaves from NY (11/30/2007) and goes to Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, St. Lucia and Tortola (not necessarily in that order.)

Last week, I had the best vacation experience of my life. We only plan one at a time.

We can make it to New York in under four hours -- thank heaven for EZ Pass! I just hope we can stuff our many suitcases in our car!

Back to work, and freezing weather.

Judy

We booked on-board for the NY-UK-Norway-UK-NY this June when we were on the June/July RT last year and I think we saved 20% or more off the price by booking on-board plus very impressive on-board credits. Then, when we assigned the booking to our TA, she found a way to cut the price even further.

We also made very sure to take care of as many of the details as possible on-board. Including seating, table number, etc. With the way some of the the California staff can sometimes make dumb mistakes, that saved us a lot of trouble AND gave us something in writing to wave about in case someone changes something we reserved.

On the other hand, we've had a few logistics problems with a short trip in January that we did not book on-board. So, the plan is to book the January '08 10-day while we're on board in January '07. We expect to save quite a bit, get more on-board credit AND have all the details ironed out so we don't have to worry about them.

My experience thus far is that the shore-side staff do a good job about 75% of the time and that the ship-board staff do an excellent job about 95+% of the time.

SO, maybe the BEST deal is to book the shortest and least expensive trip possible and THEN book yourself the longer segments you want for the future. 'Slip yourself "inside" for less and then enjoy all the benefits of knowing your way around without having to pay the premium up-front.

Hello,

Is this onboard booking discount a new feature?

Whilst aboard the QM2, we spoke with Annabel, the Cunard cruise sales specialist concerning booking three sailing; one on the QM2 and two on the QE2. We were never told about these open booking deposits, and decided to book with Cunard once we arrived home. Cunard has given us a past passenger discount on top of the early booking rate, however, it is not close to the 20% discount mentioned in this posting. It is a better rate than our travel agency can give us due to exchange rates.

Is this for US bookings only?

Is there a way to get these discounts without booking onboard?

Thank you!

Alan