Is it a common occurrence for a TA to refuse a next cruise certificate

[MAJ]

I will be cruising on Liberty in April : thinking of paying a deposit for an open next cruise certificate to get my on board credit

 

My problem is the last time I tried to use one , the TA refused it on the grounds that Royal Caribbean would not honour it because the cruise was reduced.

 

I did get to use it eventually on a full price cruise on Oasis. While on board Oasis I asked the Loyalty Ambassador about that and her reply was O yes it does happen

 

Now the next cruise I'm thinking about is a transatlantic in November which may also be reduced in price

 

DH says not to bother it is not worth it ,but I read here on the boards that it does seem to work for a lot of people

 

Just wondering if this has happened to other folk

[cruisinfanatic]

I will be cruising on Liberty in April : thinking of paying a deposit for an open next cruise certificate to get my on board credit

 

My problem is the last time I tried to use one , the TA refused it on the grounds that Royal Caribbean would not honour it because the cruise was reduced.

 

I did get to use it eventually on a full price cruise on Oasis. While on board Oasis I asked the Loyalty Ambassador about that and her reply was O yes it does happen

 

Now the next cruise I'm thinking about is a transatlantic in November which may also be reduced in price

 

DH says not to bother it is not worth it ,but I read here on the boards that it does seem to work for a lot of people

 

Just wondering if this has happened to other folk

I have no clue why any TA would not take the booking. It's nothing out of their pocket

[crazy 4 cruising]

I have never heard of that and have used next cruises since they came out. The only reason I, as a TA, would not be able to help someone is if they bought the next cruise more than 60 days ago & it can not be transferred. I would call RCCL and book it directly with them.

 

 

Good luck

[Clarea]

I will be cruising on Liberty in April : thinking of paying a deposit for an open next cruise certificate to get my on board credit

 

My problem is the last time I tried to use one , the TA refused it on the grounds that Royal Caribbean would not honour it because the cruise was reduced.

 

I did get to use it eventually on a full price cruise on Oasis. While on board Oasis I asked the Loyalty Ambassador about that and her reply was O yes it does happen

 

Now the next cruise I'm thinking about is a transatlantic in November which may also be reduced in price

 

DH says not to bother it is not worth it ,but I read here on the boards that it does seem to work for a lot of people

 

Just wondering if this has happened to other folk

I've used a Next Cruise on a transatlantic cruise before, and I have another booked for the fall, again using a Next Cruise. Both of these bookings are with a travel agent. It would be a shame to lose the OBC because it's a larger amount since the transatlantic cruise is more days. We're getting $150 OBC for a 13 day cruise, and I think the amount goes up to $200 for a 15 day cruise.

 

EDIT: Just read the post above about transferring the NC. You have 60 days from when the Next Cruise is first assigned to a cruise to transfer it to a travel agent.

[setsail]

Group booking

[oneputt18]

Group booking

Yes, but the group booking would only require more than the $100 depsit. It doesn't affect the OBC.

[Clarea]

Group booking

Might have something. We booked Allure using an NC, transferred it to a TA, who put us in a group months later. There was no change in pricing. Could it be that if the group already exists, and the TA wants to give group pricing, then there might be a problem using an NC?

[setsail]

Might have something. We booked Allure using an NC, transferred it to a TA, who put us in a group months later. There was no change in pricing. Could it be that if the group already exists, and the TA wants to give group pricing, then there might be a problem using an NC?

 

Just checked the terms of one I have and it says it cannot be used with a group booking, so I would say if you transfer to a ta who puts you in a group then there is a chance you will not get the OBC, but who can really say how RCI will treat it:rolleyes:

[Clarea]

Just checked the terms of one I have and it says it cannot be used with a group booking, so I would say if you transfer to a ta who puts you in a group then there is a chance you will not get the OBC, but who can really say how RCI will treat it:rolleyes:

Below are some terms I have seen in the past. This was back in 2011, so maybe the terms have changed. It does mention groups, but only in the sense that the full deposit must be paid to move the booking into a group.

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/General_Info/11022730_onboard_revenue_NextCruise_offer.pdf

[setsail]

Below are some terms I have seen in the past. This was back in 2011, so maybe the terms have changed. It does mention groups, but only in the sense that the full deposit must be paid to move the booking into a group.

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/General_Info/11022730_onboard_revenue_NextCruise_offer.pdf

 

Yea, that's different than what I have. I am reading off of the confirm paper with all the info you get in your cabin from the LA and it says can not be used with group bookings. I guess people should check with their TA just to make sure as to how RCI will treat this if the TA is going to include you in their group. My paper is from December 2012

[Clarea]

Yea, that's different than what I have. I am reading off of the confirm paper with all the info you get in your cabin from the LA and it says can not be used with group bookings. I guess people should check with their TA just to make sure as to how RCI will treat this if the TA is going to include you in their group. My paper is from December 2012

Thanks for the info, looks like they may well have changed the terms. I'll try to dig up my NC paperwork from last December.

[oneputt18]

t. 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.

 

You don't lose the OBC, we have done it on our last three cruises. Just had to pay the full deposit. Our TA then gave us additional OBC thanks to the group booking.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[knittinggirl]

I've had the TA refuse a coupon before, but usually an exception that's listed in the fine print.

[TravelerThom]

I have never heard of that and have used next cruises since they came out. The only reason I, as a TA, would not be able to help someone is if they bought the next cruise more than 60 days ago & it can not be transferred. I would call RCCL and book it directly with them.

Quoting from http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/TA_TransferForm.pdf

 

"Bookings may only be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 60 days from creation if the request is made outside of Final Payment period and the booking is not paid in full."

 

A Next Cruise Certificate is not a Booking; the Booking creation occurs when an actual cruise is booked. You have 60 days commencing then to transfer provided the Final Payment date has not occurred. Perhaps something has changed, but that is based on my experience of having done this several times with Certificates that were much more than 60 days old.

 

Do you realize that RCCL is the parent holding company (Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd), and the actual cruise line is Royal Caribbean International (RCI)? Not sure why one would call the holding comany on this issue.

[budgirl63]

t. 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.

 

You don't lose the OBC, we have done it on our last three cruises. Just had to pay the full deposit. Our TA then gave us additional OBC thanks to the group booking.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I did this exact same thing today. Our TA took my "open" booking and moved us into a group once we picked the cruise we wanted. We still get our $100 OBC and our TA was able to give us an extra $50 OBC because of the group.

[cruisenfever]

Quoting from http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/TA_TransferForm.pdf

 

"Bookings may only be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 60 days from creation if the request is made outside of Final Payment period and the booking is not paid in full."

 

A Next Cruise Certificate is not a Booking; the Booking creation occurs when an actual cruise is booked. You have 60 days commencing then to transfer provided the Final Payment date has not occurred. Perhaps something has changed, but that is based on my experience of having done this several times with Certificates that were much more than 60 days old.

 

Do you realize that RCCL is the parent holding company (Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd), and the actual cruise line is Royal Caribbean International (RCI)? Not sure why one would call the holding comany on this issue.

RCI's terminology leaves a lot to be desired and is sometimes very confusing.

 

When you purchase a NC while on board you are "creating" a booking with a number assigned to nothing. So there is no reason to transfer just a number to a TA. You can't even list it in your My Cruises history.

 

When you "convert" the NC booking and assigned a specific ship/sailing date, you then have 60 days to transfer to a TA.

[budgirl63]

RCI's terminology leaves a lot to be desired and is sometimes very confusing.

 

When you purchase a NC while on board you are "creating" a booking with a number assigned to nothing. So there is no reason to transfer just a number to a TA. You can't even list it in your My Cruises history.

 

When you "convert" the NC booking and assigned a specific ship/sailing date, you then have 60 days to transfer to a TA.

 

Actually when we did it I transfered the open booking to my TA first and then she converted the NC booking for us.

[varoo]

I will be cruising on Liberty in April : thinking of paying a deposit for an open next cruise certificate to get my on board credit

 

My problem is the last time I tried to use one , the TA refused it on the grounds that Royal Caribbean would not honour it because the cruise was reduced.

 

I did get to use it eventually on a full price cruise on Oasis. While on board Oasis I asked the Loyalty Ambassador about that and her reply was O yes it does happen

 

Now the next cruise I'm thinking about is a transatlantic in November which may also be reduced in price

 

DH says not to bother it is not worth it ,but I read here on the boards that it does seem to work for a lot of people

 

Just wondering if this has happened to other folk

You get conflicting answers from different people because the NextCruise certificates are combinable with some kinds of reduced rates but not with others.

 

Sometimes travel agents are not aware of when they can or cannot be used.

 

Look at "Terms and conditions" on the certificate.

[Clarea]

I'm looking at the Terms and Conditions of a Next Cruise certificate we purchased in Dec 2012 on Indy. There is only one sentence that pertains to groups:

 

8. Your NextCruise account balance cannot be used for any full ship charter and may not be used for certain customized group programs (i.e value add groups).

I've no idea what a "value add group" is.

[Coralc]

I'm looking at the Terms and Conditions of a Next Cruise certificate we purchased in Dec 2012 on Indy. There is only one sentence that pertains to groups:

 

8. Your NextCruise account balance cannot be used for any full ship charter and may not be used for certain customized group programs (i.e value add groups).

I've no idea what a "value add group" is.

 

Well...that's something I was pondering Bob. ;) I was wondering if a Next Cruise certificate could be used on one of those eastbound transatlantics, where they are offering the "free" premium beverage package.

 

Hypothetical question only, because we don't have one booked. It says for new bookings/reservations. But if I had to guess, I would think that might be a "value add group".

 

I'm so glad you mentioned that. :)

[setsail]

I'm looking at the Terms and Conditions of a Next Cruise certificate we purchased in Dec 2012 on Indy. There is only one sentence that pertains to groups:

 

8. Your NextCruise account balance cannot be used for any full ship charter and may not be used for certain customized group programs (i.e value add groups).

I've no idea what a "value add group" is.

 

I am thinking this is exactly what the OP ran into. I am taking a guess that custom group programs are these ta groups that they put together.

[Clarea]

Well...that's something I was pondering Bob. ;) I was wondering if a Next Cruise certificate could be used on one of those eastbound transatlantics, where they are offering the "free" premium beverage package.

 

Hypothetical question only, because we don't have one booked. It says for new bookings/reservations. But if I had to guess, I would think that might be a "value add group".

 

I'm so glad you mentioned that. :)

I think we need one of our resident travel agents on the boards to help explain a "value add group".

[Coralc]

I think we need one of our resident travel agents on the boards to help explain a "value add group".

 

It would be nice if someone would explain it. Or if you can use a certificate on that sort of promotion. :)

[cruisenfever]

Actually when we did it I transfered the open booking to my TA first and then she converted the NC booking for us.

That is how our NC bookings are done. We create them on a ship and they are automatically transferred to our TA. When I want to convert, I just call her, give her the number(s) and we are good to go.

 

You don't have to do this. You can keep the NC with RCI and convert it yourself. Then if you find a TA offering some incentives after it has been converted you have 60 days in which to transfer.

[PH8]

I think(like others mentioned)maybe your TA would not let you have the reduced fare because it was a group rate.He/she might had created a group earlier when the prices were lower,so they could offer a good deal..For you to take part of that good deal,you most certainly can use a NC but you will have to pay the difference up to a full deposit(ie. $500 per cabin for a 7 night cruise)

Group deposit is based on double occupancy......a 3 night cruise would only require a $200 deposit to be added to the group.

 

You can transfer a NC before you decide what cruise too....as long as it is before final payment or just assign it to the TA while onboard.The agent will get the booking number and have it handy for when you want to book.