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Open Onboard Bookings (future cruises) might be ending

ticktoneer

By ticktoneer,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Coralc

Coralc

Posted
Posted
We were on Independence a week ago and one of the loyalty staff said that RCI might be ending the open onboard bookings you can do with reduced deposit at the end of January !!!

 

I hope they don't !!!

 

Well that stinks! I will have to buy 2 in February if they are still available.

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ctcruiser1721

ctcruiser1721

Posted
Posted
She said it was the whole program of open future cruise certificates !

 

Uggg. That's terrible. I have not really been too upset by some of the changes RC has made over the years as I know the economy has not been great and cruising is still a good value. I didn't complain when the Andes chocolates went away, I didn't complain (too much) when you couldn't combine different coupons with balcony discounts, when you had to sign your life away for a pool towel, and I didn't even complain when the new methodology of calculating C&A points meant that I would need 1 more cruise than I thought to turn D (I'm now D+) but THIS will upset me!

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yogimax

yogimax

Posted
Posted
one of the loyalty staff said that RCI might be ending the open onboard bookings

 

Just because "one of the loyalty staff" says something does NOT make it true. I have found a lot of speculation and misinformation coming from various crew members.

 

BTW, Carnival did end this a few months ago.

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ticktoneer

ticktoneer

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Just because "one of the loyalty staff" says something does NOT make it true. I have found a lot of speculation and misinformation coming from various crew members.

 

BTW, Carnival did end this a few months ago.

Thanks yogimax - I am not stupid, I did realise that - ha ha ha

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Coralc

Coralc

Posted
Posted
Yes, of course... but here's the problem...

 

Read the responses to your post. Many are already accepting this as a done deal!

 

Not really. I was posting/thinking about it with the Carnival decision in the back of my mind. After February, our next scheduled cruise isn't until December of next year.

 

We are presently out of NC cruise certificates....so I have been giving some thought to stocking up again.

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molly361

molly361

Posted
Posted

I suume that if this is true you could still pick a specific cruise and book it.:rolleyes::confused:

 

Has anyone tried calling C and A to verify this? Of course, they might not know the answer yet!!!

 

Does RCL answer questions on Facebook/Twitter? Someone could ask there if they do. I am not on either.

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bananawindnj

bananawindnj

Posted
Posted

I booked a future cruise for 4 cabins in Oct on enchantment, and was told there would be no cancellation fees if I cancelled within so many days before the sail date. This was for a Nov 23 2013 cruise on Explorer. I was also told I could let my TA get credit for the booking If I wanted. I did and unfortunately I had to cancel 2 cabins the other day. My daughters couldn't make it after all.

Now the TA wanted to charge me a cancellation fee of $100 for each one. I called RCCL and got no satisfaction. They blamed the TA agency for The fee charge.

Why would I switch to the TA if I was going to get charged the Cancel fee!!!! That was the main reason I booked on the ship.

My TA said she told me , but I would have not gone along with it otherwise.

The TA got credit for the booking and I got SQUAT. Another example of everyone passing the buck to keep our buck!

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Karter

Karter

Posted
Posted

Talked to C&A and they said they had not heard of any plans to end the program and that it is very popular. Since I was within the grace period from my sailing on the Independence I asked how many next cruise certificates I could buy. His response was as many as you want. So knowing they are good forever and we cruise 4 - 7 times a year on RCCL I purchased 7 with no problem even though I still had quite a few stocked up from previous purchases. I thought why take a chance since CC rumors seem to come true fairly often and I can get the triple points on my RCCL credit card.

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reney313

reney313

Posted
Posted
I booked a future cruise for 4 cabins in Oct on enchantment, and was told there would be no cancellation fees if I cancelled within so many days before the sail date. This was for a Nov 23 2013 cruise on Explorer. I was also told I could let my TA get credit for the booking If I wanted. I did and unfortunately I had to cancel 2 cabins the other day. My daughters couldn't make it after all.

Now the TA wanted to charge me a cancellation fee of $100 for each one. I called RCCL and got no satisfaction. They blamed the TA agency for The fee charge.

Why would I switch to the TA if I was going to get charged the Cancel fee!!!! That was the main reason I booked on the ship.

My TA said she told me , but I would have not gone along with it otherwise.

The TA got credit for the booking and I got SQUAT. Another example of everyone passing the buck to keep our buck!

 

In this case, I think this is the TA Cancellation fee and not RCI. It sounds like you completed a next cruise onboard where you booked the actual cruise then. In that case, it is all fully refundable. However, some TA's do charge cancellation fees. I know that many have recommended before using a TA to ask up front if they charge these fees or not. Many do not, but unfortunately, some do.

 

 

I'm sure others with more experience in using these certificates can speak better in case I am incorrect.

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ahecht

ahecht

Posted
Posted
I booked a future cruise for 4 cabins in Oct on enchantment, and was told there would be no cancellation fees if I cancelled within so many days before the sail date. This was for a Nov 23 2013 cruise on Explorer. I was also told I could let my TA get credit for the booking If I wanted. I did and unfortunately I had to cancel 2 cabins the other day. My daughters couldn't make it after all.

Now the TA wanted to charge me a cancellation fee of $100 for each one. I called RCCL and got no satisfaction. They blamed the TA agency for The fee charge.

Why would I switch to the TA if I was going to get charged the Cancel fee!!!! That was the main reason I booked on the ship.

My TA said she told me , but I would have not gone along with it otherwise.

The TA got credit for the booking and I got SQUAT. Another example of everyone passing the buck to keep our buck!

 

A significant number of TAs charge their own cancellation fees to compensate themselves for the time spent on your booking that they now won't be getting a commission for. There's nothing RCCL can do about it. It's up to you to do due diligence when choosing a TA - there are many out there that don't charge fees.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

Posted
Posted
Talked to C&A and they said they had not heard of any plans to end the program and that it is very popular. Since I was within the grace period from my sailing on the Independence I asked how many next cruise certificates I could buy. His response was as many as you want. So knowing they are good forever and we cruise 4 - 7 times a year on RCCL I purchased 7 with no problem even though I still had quite a few stocked up from previous purchases. I thought why take a chance since CC rumors seem to come true fairly often and I can get the triple points on my RCCL credit card.

 

Years ago I called RCI to ask if there was now a charge to eat at Johnny Rockets. They told me that there was no extra charge and that it was included in the cruise fare even as people were coming back from cruises and posting here that there was, indeed, a charge. Just saying.....

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Teeara "Live from...." Rare

Teeara

Posted
Posted
We were on Independence a week ago and one of the loyalty staff said that RCI might be ending the open onboard bookings you can do with reduced deposit at the end of January !!!

 

I hope they don't !!!

 

Probably just trying to get you to panic purchase!

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Big_G

Big_G

Posted
Posted
We were on Independence a week ago and one of the loyalty staff said that RCI might be ending the open onboard bookings you can do with reduced deposit at the end of January !!!

 

I hope they don't !!!

 

Did you happen to ask why?

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