First time cruiser questions

Hi All,

I'm in the final process of pulling the trigger and booking my first cruise for April 2017 on RCI to the South Pacific. I have a few questions i'm hoping people might be able to answer before I go ahead and book.

1) I have read that alot cruise lines offer the option that if you have booked and paid your deposit and the room type becomes cheaper you can go online and update your booking to the new rate. Is this correct and if so does RCI offer that for their Australian based cruises.

2) Is it better to book direct through RCI website or via another cruise website or a travel agent. I need to book early (as in the next week) so as to give enough notice to my work and the fellow cruisers coming along the same time with their work. At this point in time who is better to book through normally?

3) Has anyone cruised on the Explorer of the Seas in a Panoramic Ocean View room? If so is it really that much bigger than the Large Ocean View Stateroom as in the pictures the Panoramic room looks ALOT bigger. I'll be travelling with my wife and 2 kids aged 3 and 5 at the time of sailing.

4) I assume the $200 of included onboard credit is per room not per person?

1) Not in my experience

2) Booking through a good TA will often get you a better deal.

3) Haven't been in theses cabins but the RCI website reports that they can be up to 4sqm larger

4) You are correct

1) Not in my experience

 

2) Booking through a good TA will often get you a better deal.

 

3) Haven't been in theses cabins but the RCI website reports that they can be up to 4sqm larger

 

4) You are correct

Thanks for the info gek. I stumbled across this hence my question 1 :)

For years Royal Caribbean had a policy for adjusting your cruise price that if the price dropped and you called, you could have the new price applied to your cruise. But things have changed since last year and now there's a new policy in place that has some people confused.

Price adjustment policy

The good news is, you can still adjust the price of your cruise from when you book UNTIL final payment for your cruise is due. So if you book your cruise a year in advance, you can rest assured knowing that if there's a sale in a few months, you can adjust the price of your cruise with a simple call. If you do notice a drop in price, you can call Royal Caribbean directly or have your travel agent ask to have the new price applied to your reservation.

Once you reach the date of final payment, which is 45 days before embarkation, you cannot change the price of your cruise anymore. There is one caveat to this rule and that is if the price of your cruise drops to the point an upgrade in your cabin is as inexpensive or more than your current cabin, Royal Caribbean will upgrade you to that category.

Book early or late?

There's no right answer, but the overwhelming consensus is that it's smarter to book your cruise in advance, as prices tend to only go up as you get closer to booking. Occasionally there are last minute sales but if you really want to be on a particular cruise, the smart move is to book as soon as you can and watch prices until you get to your final payment

We had booked a cruise while on board on another cruise. There was later a price drop and it was given by RCI but we had to ring them. There were others that I know of at the same time were refused the price drops - which seems to be the norm for Aussie cruisers.

One of the benefits of booking online with RCI, is that in case of cancellation up to about 150 days out, your deposit is fully refunded. You can take control of your own booking for dining options, excursions, make payments etc. Some agents have no refund for deposits but some can give a slightly better deal or OBC, just do your comparisons. The only problem is that the RCI website can sometimes be a bit dodgy - just keep printed or snapshots of all your correspondence.

Have got good deals from RCI and online agents - just check the terms and conditions.

On Voyager (Explorer and Navigator are mostly same as VOS) we have stayed in the large family oceanview panoramic room - PF - it was like a family suite. There are only 2 of these on each ship. Check out on YouTube for Navigator of the Seas room 1804.

A little smaller is the large panoramic oceanview - P1 - also on YouTube also for Voyager of the Seas room 1864.

Just mentioning that these new rooms are on deck 12 and at the front with floor to ceiling windows. We loved it and have booked again later this year. Views are spectacular. But you will probably feel more motion in less than perfect seas.

Good luck with your choices - it's half the fun.

I would recommend booking directly with Royal either via their website or by phone.

They won't discuss your booking directly with you if you book via a travel agent which can be a pain.

I have never had a better deal from a TA, Australian TA's don't seem to offer the good OBC deals that the US ones do in general. :)

If you are interested in future price reductions doNOT pay off entire total before date when final payment is due.

If you are interested in future price reductions doNOT pay off entire total before date when final payment is due.

You do not get price reductions in Australia...sometimes you can get a better price though by cancelling and then rebooking. Just do your sums.

You do sometimes get cabin upgrades.

I would book direct with RCI eithef on line or by phone. You then have control over your booking. If you go through a TA they have sole proprietory over your booking and if they do give deposit refunds, that can take up to 6 weeks. A refund booked direct is almost instant and the value can also be transferred to another cruise.

Awesome thanks for the info everyone. One more question if i may? I will be booking 3 staterooms under the one booking. If for whatever reason 1 couple can't come can i cancel that 1 room and still access the other 2 staterooms or do i forfeit all 3 staterooms as they were booked under the one booking. Note that all 3 deposits will be paid for via seperate cards.

Forget to add that it would be booked direct through RCI website.

Awesome thanks for the info everyone. One more question if i may? I will be booking 3 staterooms under the one booking. If for whatever reason 1 couple can't come can i cancel that 1 room and still access the other 2 staterooms or do i forfeit all 3 staterooms as they were booked under the one booking. Note that all 3 deposits will be paid for via seperate cards.

 

Forget to add that it would be booked direct through RCI website.

I can't see any reason that it would be a problem. Usually each cabin will have its own individual booking under a different name even if the same person pays for all three. One can be cancelled without affecting the rest.

One warning though, you will probably get addicted.

I can't see any reason that it would be a problem. Usually each cabin will have its own individual booking under a different name even if the same person pays for all three. One can be cancelled without affecting the rest.

Excellent Gek, thanks again :)

I have another problem. I held the cruise and rooms for 24 hours but now when I go to access the site and book and pay the deposit it says I have no held reservations :( so the rooms I want aren't available as I have them held somewhere grrrrr

EDIT: Ok so I found out they have emailed me 3 seperate reservation numbers but when I add them I actually can't see anywhere to modify the passengers names or actually pay the deposit

Excellent Gek, thanks again :)

 

I have another problem. I held the cruise and rooms for 24 hours but now when I go to access the site and book and pay the deposit it says I have no held reservations :( so the rooms I want aren't available as I have them held somewhere grrrrr

 

EDIT: Ok so I found out they have emailed me 3 seperate reservation numbers but when I add them I actually can't see anywhere to modify the passengers names or actually pay the deposit

EDIT 2: Wow this just keeps getting better. It has emailed me 3 seperat reservation numbers and due to me not filling in the passengers name at the time of holding the rooms I can not access the held reservations for the other 2 rooms due to me not being listed on the reservation...What a frustrating experience this is and I haven't even actually booked it yet :(

This is not uncommon. Many is the time I have had to completely wipe my reservations and start again. RCI (and Celebrity) have appalling online booking systems.

Unfortunately if you try to call them you usually find yourself in a queue and emailing them can take days to get a response. On my last booking I just gave up in disgust and went through a TA - had my multi-cabin booking sorted out in less than half an hour and got a cheaper price. TAs aren't always cheaper or more convenient but they can take some of the hassle out of bookings which are slightly more complicated.

EDIT 2: Wow this just keeps getting better. It has emailed me 3 seperat reservation numbers and due to me not filling in the passengers name at the time of holding the rooms I can not access the held reservations for the other 2 rooms due to me not being listed on the reservation...What a frustrating experience this is and I haven't even actually booked it yet :(

Oh, yeah! :rolleyes:

Someone should have warned you that booking direct with Royal Caribbean can be a frustrating process. I love cruising on their ships but I can't say the same for dealing with their booking processes or shoreside staff.:eek:

Have you created a My Cruises Account? You cant access the reservations until you do.

Yeah i can access one of the bookings but not the other two. I'll ring them this morning and hopefully get it sorted

Yeah i can access one of the bookings but not the other two. I'll ring them this morning and hopefully get it sorted

This is normal, the other reservations are for the other people. (i.e. You are not in all three cabins despite booking them.) The other people will need to access those reservations.

Good luck, the website can be tedious and frustrating.:D

This is normal, the other reservations are for the other people. (i.e. You are not in all three cabins despite booking them.) The other people will need to access those reservations.

Good luck, the website can be tedious and frustrating.:D

It is possible to add other bookings to your My Cruises account. I've done it myself but only for people with the same surname. Not sure if it would work if the surname was different.

Should be able click on "cant see my reservation" in my cruises account then type in the reservation number and claim ownership of the reservation. This often happens when going from a held cabin.

Hugh

I spoke to RCI today and they cancelled 2 of the bookings and rebooked them. Also I was advised that the non appearance of make a payment option is an ongoing website issue :(

I spoke to RCI today and they cancelled 2 of the bookings and rebooked them. Also I was advised that the non appearance of make a payment option is an ongoing website issue :(

Glad it is sorted for you. The website issues will persist.