Difference between Next Cruise Cert and Book on Board?

[wowprincess]

I saw in another thread that thanks to the posts here they would do a NCC next time when booking on board instead of actually "booking on board".

 

What is the difference in the two?

 

I've been reading this site pretty consistently for the last 10 days and haven't seen this mentioned before.

 

Thanks!

[waterbug123]

I saw in another thread that thanks to the posts here they would do a NCC next time when booking on board instead of actually "booking on board".

 

What is the difference in the two?

 

I've been reading this site pretty consistently for the last 10 days and haven't seen this mentioned before.

 

Thanks!

 

While onboard, you can do one of two things. 1) You can book another actual cruise. Pick the ship, the sail date, the whole thing. Or 2) you can do an open booking, which means you put a deposit down and get a booking number, but you don't actually select a future cruise, it's just an open booking. Later on, when you decide on a particular cruise, you have the booking number from your "next cruise certificate" applied to a particular ship/sailing.

Either way, the advantage is that you can book for a deposit of only $100/person, rather than the usual deposit of $500/cabin. When you sail, you'll get onboard credit of $100 if it's a 7-9 night cruise ($50 for shorter cruises, more for longer cruises but I forget the exact amount)

 

I just got off Monarch today, and yesterday while onboard I did two open bookings for future cruises. Only did them in my name, so put just $100 down for each one. When we decide on the cruises we want to do, we'll pay another $100 at that time to have my boyfriend's name added to the booking. Note: I got a printout from the cruise sales manager with the booking number for each, but just for the record, it doesn't say "next cruise certificate" on it, it just says "Booking Recap" so don't worry if that exact term isn't used.

[Daghis]

Note: I got a printout from the cruise sales manager with the booking number for each, but just for the record, it doesn't say "next cruise certificate" on it, it just says "Booking Recap" so don't worry if that exact term isn't used.

As things change with Royal Caribbean, so has this. They're no longer called NextCruise. Instead, the new term is "Open Booking".

 

The other change is that NextCruise bookings used to come with two friends & family certificates that you could pass along to people who book the same cruise as you and give them the same onboard credit that you get as long as they book within 30 days of your conversion to an actual booking.

 

A related new feature is that "Open Bookings" are now transferable. You can purchase them for yourself and give them to someone else to use.

[wowprincess]

Thanks for the information.

 

When we were on our Alaska cruise last summer, we knew we wanted to book for the 2014 TA that wasn't on the books yet. So they just booked us on the furthest out cruise they had scheduled, then we just needed to transfer the booking a couple of weeks ago when the TA opened.

 

Sounds like either option works kinda the same, the only difference is making sure you change your booking before final payments.

 

PS - OBC was $150 for the 16 night cruise.

[molly361]

The OBC for a cruise less than 5 nights is $25.

 

The open booking certificates are non-refundable although there have been reports that once you convert your open booking to an actual cruise if you have to cancel it you will get your money back.

[A Pisces]

In addition to the other information, you can reserve several open bookings, and then pass them on to family and friends, there by giving them the onboard credit, and discounted deposit. You just change the name on the booking number, to their name. That is how it was explained to me, when I purchased mine two weeks ago.

[AeroBaldness]

So the only real advantage to picking a particular ship and sailing date is to lock in a cabin, or is there more to it? We sail on Jewel on Thursday and had thoughts of booking a specific ship and date for our next cruise.

[Daghis]

The open booking certificates are non-refundable although there have been reports that once you convert your open booking to an actual cruise if you have to cancel it you will get your money back.

This may not be true with the new "Open Bookings". They added explicit language saying that the $100 deposit is no longer refundable under those circumstances.

4. If your Open Booking account balance is applied to an actual ship and sailing date, and then the booking cancels, the guest may request a refund, less the value of the initial deposit.

[Ashland]

This may not be true with the new "Open Bookings". They added explicit language saying that the $100 deposit is no longer refundable under those circumstances.

And the reasoning why you "never" use the word "cancel" just "transfer" always keeping the same booking # ;)

[ehfl]

Can someone confirm...are the 2 friends/family certificates that used to come with the NextCruise no longer available with the Open Booking?

 

Thanks

[Daghis]

I just got two Open Bookings on my cruise a bit over a week ago and they did not come with any Friends & Family certificates this time.

[ehfl]

I just got two Open Bookings on my cruise a bit over a week ago and they did not come with any Friends & Family certificates this time.

 

That's a shame. We used these and gave to RCL newbies, and they had a great time, and have gone on more RCL cruises.

[molly361]

Can someone confirm...are the 2 friends/family certificates that used to come with the NextCruise no longer available with the Open Booking?

 

Thanks

 

 

Here is the thread with the changes in it

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1811758&highlight=nextcruise

[waterbug123]

The OBC for a cruise less than 5 nights is $25.

 

 

My apologies; I think I say 3-5 night cruises got $50.

 

Can someone confirm...are the 2 friends/family certificates that used to come with the NextCruise no longer available with the Open Booking?

 

Thanks

 

I did not get any friends/family certs for the open bookings I made this past Sunday on Monarch, BUT as pointed out, you can transfer an open booking to a friend or family member and can purchase up to 3 of them. So you could buy 3 open bookings, keep one, and transfer the other 2 to friends/family. I suppose it would be up to you whether you "give" them away and consider the $100 deposit your gift to them, or work it out so that they reimburse you for the $100 you would have had to put down to get it. So in the end, it's almost the same thing; RC just makes sure they get $100 for each one, rather than giving away F&F certs that may go unused/unbooked. ;)

[fletch1027]

I just got two Open Bookings on my cruise a bit over a week ago and they did not come with any Friends & Family certificates this time.

 

So because we didn't do it until a couple of hours before the office closed on the last day, we filled out the NextCruise / Open Booking form for one "open booking" ($100 deposit) and the guy said that our certificate would be emailed to us.

 

What I got a few days after getting home was three emails, each with a .pdf attachment.

 

All three attachments are Open Booking Confirmations. All three have the same Reservation ID. One shows the $100 we paid and the other two show $0 paid.

 

I'm confused as to what the other two confirmation PDF's are for? Is this common?

[Daghis]

I also received three e-mails per Open Booking that I had requested. The first two were Agent and Guest copies of the initial booking being created, copied from the booking I was sailing with at the time. (These copies had no deposit paid and still had both passenger names listed.)

 

The last copy was the "correct" Guest copy that matched my request (just my name and the $100 deposit on file).

 

I did call Royal Caribbean to confirm that the two booking numbers I received were correct and everything was fine. Why they sent out the preliminary booking information before it was finalized is a mystery.

 

Why I'm listed in the upper left-hand corner as the Agent ("Certified Vacation Planner") another mystery, but that's more of a curiosity.

[ehfl]

So in the end, it's almost the same thing

 

How is it the same thing? Before, $100 for $300 in credit (with Friends/Family)...now, 100 for 100 in credit?

 

Am I missing something?

[sandy toes]

ehfl:

 

I have that same view...maybe, someone can explain to us both? I liked the 3 for 1 deal in the past. Plus I was able to have some friends join me that were Princess fans that are now loyal to Royal! So, Royal won with it too with repeat bookings.

[hummy0605]

We were on Adventure 24/3 to 31/3 and got quotes for a cruise but there was a problem with our card being blocked as the credit card company were ringing us at home to check on transactions. We hadn't taken our mobile & just had a payg mobile in case our daughters needed to contact us.

 

Rung Rci to throw myself on their mercy and as loyal bookers to see if they would let us do it as still within a week of returning BUT C&A have said because we didn't do it on board they can't do anything. Read on here that some people have been lucky but looks like we aren't.

 

Gave her the reference number of the quote we had been given but that was for brilliance 12 nts and next year the Adventure has just come on sale for 12 nts out of Southampton which would suit us better. She said she may be able to do brilliance but if we wanted to change to another ship it would be £75 to swap.

Do you think it's worth me trying another C&A agent or am I just going to have to leave it?

 

Thanks in anticipation