Booking on Board

[Cthy651]

What is the certificate you can purchase on board to receive on board booking bonus and do they have an expiry date?

We are cruising in May, and would like to book another cruise, but frankly, I do not see any that I really want to go on - would like to do the southern caribbean - but it is such a long flight from Toronto to San Juan, especially if you can not get a direct flight.

I am sort of hoping the open the Mexican Riviera again, but I do not want to buy a certificate if the expire.

Thanks

[Buffettphan1]

We just booked two while on the Adventure. The big advantage for us was the $100.00 per person deposit.

As far as I know you can use the same benefit, in a hold pattern unroll you decide for a long time. Someone mentioned up to ten years.

It also changed our C+A status too.

[willing292]

I beleive you're referring to a future cruise or next cruise booking.

[Buffettphan1]

"until you decide" sorry

[CENTEX CRUISER]

They are now called a next cruise booking. They do not expire , and are non-refundable..So if you purchase one for $100*, when you book ,the $100 is applied to your down payment , and you get OBC based on # of nights sailing..;)

[pinma]

There are 2 ways to do it. With one you book a particular cruise. You can move that to another cruise. That deposit is refundable. You can move to Celebrity or Azamara. The other way you do NOT book a particular cruise. That deposit is, I believe, unrefundable once you make the reservation. That certificate must be used on RC (not Celebrity or Azamara). You also get Friends & Family certificates which you can give to others to get the same deal (reduced deposit/OBC) on the cruise you eventually book.

[cruisenfever]

What is the certificate you can purchase on board to receive on board booking bonus and do they have an expiry date?

 

We are cruising in May, and would like to book another cruise, but frankly, I do not see any that I really want to go on - would like to do the southern caribbean - but it is such a long flight from Toronto to San Juan, especially if you can not get a direct flight.

 

I am sort of hoping the open the Mexican Riviera again, but I do not want to buy a certificate if the expire.

 

Thanks

When booking on board there are 2 types of bookings:

 

1. Booking a Future Cruise where you are picking a specific itinerary/sailing date. You get the reduced deposit of $100pp, which is refundable if you cancel prior to final payment.

 

2. Creating a NextCruise booking is where you are "not" picking a specific sailing date. With this type of booking you also get a reduced refundable deposit of $100pp. A booking number is assigned that only becomes active once you convert to a specific itinerary/sailing date. There is no further money due at the time of conversion until final payment. A NextCruise does not expire. You also can get two Certificates for Family and Friends with a NextCruise booking.

 

Both types of bookings will get you an OBC and balcony discount or the ability to use a C&A Savings Certificate if one becomes available for your cruise..

 

The only time you do not get a reduced deposit is when you book a GS cabin or higher, then the deposit is double what it normally would be.

 

With the above bookings you can combine OBC from Visa Points and OBC received from a TA or as a gift from family/friends with any two benefits from RCI.

[Never2Late2Cruise]

What is the certificate you can purchase on board to receive on board booking bonus and do they have an expiry date?

 

We are cruising in May, and would like to book another cruise, but frankly, I do not see any that I really want to go on - would like to do the southern caribbean - but it is such a long flight from Toronto to San Juan, especially if you can not get a direct flight.

 

I am sort of hoping the open the Mexican Riviera again, but I do not want to buy a certificate if the expire.

 

Thanks

 

You only need to put ONE name on the certificate - pay $100 and when you decide to book the cruise add the 2nd name and deposit.

 

If there is a C & A Savings certificate it can be conbined for additional savings.

 

I remember if friends or Family (2 max?) book within 30 days same cruise they also will get the OBC, but I do not see it now.

 

If you cruised RCCL and are a Gold or better C&A member, your good to go.

 

If this is your first cruise - see the Loyalty Rep to set up your C&A membership.

 

DO NOT WAIT TO SEE THE LOYALTY REP- they get very busy toward the end of the cruise. Go there the first day, they have an appointment book and you can schedule a time to your liking.

 

We always have 1 or 2 Nextcruise certificates waiting - so when the urge strikes we are ready.

 

There are different rules for US and Canadian Residents-

 

Canadian Residents: Guest will receive an onboard booking bonus in the value of $25-$200 per stateroom in onboard credit and a reduced deposit of $100 per guest. Deposit for NextCruise Decide Later bookings is non-refundable. Suites (category GS and above) require full deposit. Maximum ONE onboard booking bonus per stateroom can be applied to a NextCruise booking. Onboard booking bonus value is based on length of sailing and will be assigned per stateroom, when ship and sailing date is selected. NextCruise onboard booking bonus is not combinable with discount offers except Crown & Anchor Society Platinum and Diamond Balcony Discounts and Savings Certificates. Converting a NextCruise Decide Later "open" booking to select restricted fares is prohibited. Full deposit amounts range from $100-$900 per person. Deposit amounts vary by reservation, some deposits are non-refundable. If a NextCruise Decide Later "open" booking is applied to an actual ship and sailing date, and then the booking cancels for any reason, guest may apply for a refund, less the value of the initial NextCruise deposit. Guest may apply the value of their NextCruise Decide Later "open" booking against the cost of a Royal Caribbean International® individual cruise. The NextCruise Decide Later "open" booking can be transferred to another guest. A NextCruise Decide Later "open" booking may be moved into a group once it is converted to the specific sailing and full deposit is collected. Shareholder onboard credits and other onboard credit or dollars off promotions are not combinable with the onboard credit for booking a NextCruise onboard. There is no expiration date on a NextCruise Decide Later “open” booking. A NextCruise Decide Later "open" booking is not valid on any other cruise line, including any other affiliates of Royal Caribbean International®.

Credit varies by number of sailing nights. Offer is subject to availability, may be withdrawn without notice, and is non-transferable. This offer can only be combined with the Platinum Diamond CAS discount or a CAS Savings Certificate. This offer cannot be combined with another Onboard credit on the same reservation. Onboard credit is in U.S. dollars, with no cash value, not transferable and will expire if not used by 10:00 pm on the last evening of the cruise. Certain restrictions apply.

 

1. Onboard Booking Bonus is an onboard credit valid for new individual bookings onboard any Royal Caribbean ship. When reserving, applicable offer code and loyalty number must be referenced. Offer is subject to availability, may be withdrawn without notice and is not-transferable. This offer can only be used with the Platinum Diamond CAS discount or a CAS Savings Certificate. This offer cannot be combined with another onboard credit on the same reservation. The Onboard Booking Bonus is in US dollars, with no cash value, not transferable and will expire if not used by 10:00 pm on the last evening of the cruise. Certain restrictions apply. Offer must be submitted in the reservation by the Loyalty & Cruise Sales Manager or Associate at time of booking to be valid.

 

2. Special rates on Balcony & Suite Staterooms is a discount off to applicable balcony and suite categories only and is available to Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Plus Crown & Anchor Society members . Savings are not redeemable for cash and not transferable. When reserving, applicable offer code and loyalty number must be referenced. This offer can only be used ith the Onboard Booking Bonus while making a reservation onboard a Royal Caribbean ship. This offer cannot be used with certain restricted fares and is not combinable with any other promotion or offer. Royal Caribbean International will deduct the applicable offer value from final payment upon review. Discount applies on a per stateroom basis; double occupancy. Singles paying 200% are entitled to full face value. Prices vary by ship and sail dates and space is subject to availability at the time of making your reservation. Platinum, Diamond, and Diamond Plus Crown & Anchor members will receive an increased discount for booking a saildate outside of 6 months. Please call or have your travel agent call our exclusive toll-free number (888) 437-1953 to make arrangements.

 

3. Crown & Anchor Savings Certificates is a discount off and apply to a select number of ships and sail dates. Savings are not redeemable for cash and not transferable. When reserving, applicable offer code and loyalty number must be referenced. . This offer can only be used with the Onboard Booking Bonus for a select number of ships and sail dates while making a reservation onboard a Royal Caribbean ship. Royal Caribbean International will deduct the applicable offer value from final payment upon review. Discount applies on a per stateroom basis; double occupancy. Singles paying 200% are entitled to full face value. Prices vary by ship and sailing date and space is subject to availability at time of reservation. When reserving through a travel agency, the certificate must be presented to the travel agent at time of reservation. Certificate must be submitted to Royal Caribbean PRIOR TO FINAL PAYMENT of before the certificate expiration date, whichever is earlier.

 

 

Jeff

[Cthy651]

Thank you all, you answered all my questions - I knew I could depend on my cruise critics friends.

Have a great day.

[SteveinPhilly]

I’m posting this on a few Cruise Critic Boards

I know that many of you put down an Open Booking Deposit on the cruise as did we but I JUST learned this morning that Royal changed a policy with no notification that MAY affect many of you (and certainly us).Up until 6 months ago you received your certificate in your cabin before you departed. Now they say they will email it to you. We returned yesterday to find our three certificates.

I noted that it was issued to the agent I used for THIS cruise. Prior ones were issued to me and I transferred it to the TA when I booked a cruise. I USUALLY use the same agent but not always.

I called the C&A society number this morning and was told that “unless you request otherwise” the certificates will be assigned to the agent you used for the cruise you bought the certificate on. If you plan to use another agency, you MUST get a form and send to the agency on the cert and ask them to sign it over to the other (competing) agency. This is NEVER outlined on the form you completed on board. I was told this is RCI policy.

I know many of you use multiple agencies based on the OBCs they offer and, like me, do not want to have to call their agent to say “I may use someone else next time, so please sign this over to them”.

So, in the future, make sure you inform your loyalty consultant that you want the certificate issued to YOU and not a specific agent (if you plan to shop for best deal)

I am going to pursue this further but I wanted to alert others who either bought a cert on our cruise or plan to buy one on a future cruise of this “Catch 22”. By the way the email with the certificate comes with the subject line: “Guest Invoice”

Steve

[gaylemh]

They no longer give a certificate for use with a friend that books within the 30 days. I tried to use a certificate for a friend that booked the same day as I did, and was told the policy had changed. What you can do now, that you couldn't do before, is transfer an unused certificate to someone else.

Edited January 25, 2014 by gaylemh

[cruisenfever]

I’m posting this on a few Cruise Critic Boards

I know that many of you put down an Open Booking Deposit on the cruise as did we but I JUST learned this morning that Royal changed a policy with no notification that MAY affect many of you (and certainly us).Up until 6 months ago you received your certificate in your cabin before you departed. Now they say they will email it to you. We returned yesterday to find our three certificates.

I noted that it was issued to the agent I used for THIS cruise. Prior ones were issued to me and I transferred it to the TA when I booked a cruise. I USUALLY use the same agent but not always.

I called the C&A society number this morning and was told that “unless you request otherwise” the certificates will be assigned to the agent you used for the cruise you bought the certificate on. If you plan to use another agency, you MUST get a form and send to the agency on the cert and ask them to sign it over to the other (competing) agency. This is NEVER outlined on the form you completed on board. I was told this is RCI policy.

I know many of you use multiple agencies based on the OBCs they offer and, like me, do not want to have to call their agent to say “I may use someone else next time, so please sign this over to them”.

 

So, in the future, make sure you inform your loyalty consultant that you want the certificate issued to YOU and not a specific agent (if you plan to shop for best deal)

I am going to pursue this further but I wanted to alert others who either bought a cert on our cruise or plan to buy one on a future cruise of this “Catch 22”. By the way the email with the certificate comes with the subject line: “Guest Invoice”

Steve

Steve, this is nothing new. Any time you created a NC or booked a Future Cruise on board, unless you specifically told the agent at the time of creation/booking that you wanted it to stay with RCI, it was automatically sent to the TA on file for that particular cruise.

 

The form that I picked up from the LA entitled "Book Your Next Cruise OnBoard" specifices in Step #3 at the botton "Should you wish to Decide Later who will handle your next cruise booking, please check here".

[SteveinPhilly]

Steve, this is nothing new. Any time you created a NC or booked a Future Cruise on board, unless you specifically told the agent at the time of creation/booking that you wanted it to stay with RCI, it was automatically sent to the TA on file for that particular cruise.

 

The form that I picked up from the LA entitled "Book Your Next Cruise OnBoard" specifices in Step #3 at the botton "Should you wish to Decide Later who will handle your next cruise booking, please check here".

Patti: They are making you opt out not opt in and based on a quiocki survey of folks, many did noty know this and had to deal with angry agents. It might be on the form but it seems my alert was helpful to others. Similarly, the C&A person on Legend sold FOUR certs to a couple who wanted to bring their two kids (in one cabin) four certs, instead of two. Until I raised the issue in front of her, they didn't realize it is ONE OBC for Cabin. They now have two EXTRA certs at $100 that they will have to get rrid of.

 

As I said, this is a really DUMB RCI policy and has no real up side.

 

Steve

[willing292]

One OBC per cabin, has this been the policy for long?

My husband and I bought 3 each on our cruise last spring for a total of $600.

We just used 2 each for our next B2B. Are you saying that we should have only bought 3 for $300 between the 2 of us?

We put zero dollars down for our next B2B, as we each redeemed 2 certificates.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Daghis]

One OBC per cabin, has this been the policy for long?

It's been this way for as long as I've known about NextCruise certificates.

 

My husband and I bought 3 each on our cruise last spring for a total of $600.

We just used 2 each for our next B2B. Are you saying that we should have only bought 3 for $300 between the 2 of us?

We put zero dollars down for our next B2B, as we each redeemed 2 certificates.

Yes, you could have paid $100 each when you purchased the certificates, but you would have only listed one name on them. When it came time to convert them to actual cruises, you would have listed the second name and paid an additional $100 for the other person. The extra $100 you paid to get the certificate just means that you're covered for both deposits already.

 

Edited to add...

 

Wait, are you saying that you bought a total of six NextCruise certificates, three in your name and three in your husband's?

 

Or did you buy three NextCruise certificates with both names listed? I'm assuming you meant this since you mentioned using two certificates for your upcoming B2B cruises, although saying that you used "2 each" has me a bit confused.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Daghis

[Clarea]

One OBC per cabin, has this been the policy for long?

My husband and I bought 3 each on our cruise last spring for a total of $600.

We just used 2 each for our next B2B. Are you saying that we should have only bought 3 for $300 between the 2 of us?

We put zero dollars down for our next B2B, as we each redeemed 2 certificates.

Yes, it's been one OBC per stateroom for as long as I can remember.

 

Initially, you only needed to put one person's name on the Next Cruise Certificate, which would have cost $100. However, once you assign a cruise the the NCC, you would have had to pay the $100 deposit for the second person on the booking, so at this point it does not much matter.

[willing292]

We each bought 3 . My name is on 3 and my husbands name is on 3. We spent $600 between the 2 of us. For our upcoming b2b, we used 4 certificates between the 2 of us, and put zero cash with them.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[willing292]

We still each have one certificate here at home, for a total of two between both of us. I put them in a safe spot, because they represent an outlay of $200. We bought this many because we like to do b2b's.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[willing292]

Thanks for your help. We like using the certificates for the reduced deposit.

Since we have 2 certificates, I should be good to book 2 more cruises and not just 1 like I thought.?!

Thanks again.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Clarea]

We each bought 3 . My name is on 3 and my husbands name is on 3. We spent $600 between the 2 of us. For our upcoming b2b, we used 4 certificates between the 2 of us, and put zero cash with them.

I'm confused because you only need one certificate per stateroom. If you only have one stateroom and you're only taking two cruises, then you should have only used 2 certificates.

[rrraydon]

I am cruising ExOS in April. While onboard I plan on purchasing 2 certificates. My intention is to use them to book 2 cabins on GOS in Dec. My 16 yr daughter will be on both sailings with me. Can I book each of us in a cabin on the GOS using the certificates in order to get the OBC applied to each cabin? That way I will have OBC for my cabin with my friend and my daughter will have OBC on her cabin with her aunt.

[Coralc]

Thanks for your help. We like using the certificates for the reduced deposit.

Since we have 2 certificates, I should be good to book 2 more cruises and not just 1 like I thought.?!

Thanks again.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Did they assign you 2 booking numbers for the sailing with your husband?

 

They can't possibly have done that....and they should have told you on the phone, that you only need ONE certificate per booking.

 

Each certificate has a booking number. You only need one for a sailing/cabin. And unfortunately for you, the onboard credit is linked to that one certificate, and it is one OBC per cabin.

 

I would be a little ticked off at what has occurred. Unless I am not understanding something....what does your confirmation say about onboard credit?

Edited February 22, 2014 by Coralc

[Coralc]

I am cruising ExOS in April. While onboard I plan on purchasing 2 certificates. My intention is to use them to book 2 cabins on GOS in Dec. My 16 yr daughter will be on both sailings with me. Can I book each of us in a cabin on the GOS using the certificates in order to get the OBC applied to each cabin? That way I will have OBC for my cabin with my friend and my daughter will have OBC on her cabin with her aunt.

 

Yes. It is one certificate per cabin.

[Clarea]

I am cruising ExOS in April. While onboard I plan on purchasing 2 certificates. My intention is to use them to book 2 cabins on GOS in Dec. My 16 yr daughter will be on both sailings with me. Can I book each of us in a cabin on the GOS using the certificates in order to get the OBC applied to each cabin? That way I will have OBC for my cabin with my friend and my daughter will have OBC on her cabin with her aunt.

You can buy one certificate with your name and one certificate with your daughter's name and use the certificates for the two staterooms in Dec.

[Ourusualbeach]

I'm confused because you only need one certificate per stateroom. If you only have one stateroom and you're only taking two cruises, then you should have only used 2 certificates.

 

The other issue is that each certificate is its own unique booking ID. Not sure how they could apply 2 certificates to one cruise.

 

OP you have the option when you purchase the Next cruise Certs to put both names on them and therefore pay a $200 deposit.