Do you book a cruise then cancel and rebook

[Marylandteachergirl]

I have only recently heard of this, and am wondering what the benefit is. Not being difficult - truly interested.

 

People book a cruise, then cancel that same cruise and rebook it on another sailing with the loyalty ambassador?

 

Is there a benefit to this?

 

Do the loyalty ambassadors get upset or are they helpful?

 

There is no penalty as long as you are outside of RC's cancellation policy?

 

Thank you for all thoughts on this -

[Clarea]

We have done it in order to get the on board credit offered when booking a cruise onboard. However, it's rare for us to do that anymore since the prices have usually gone up more than any benefit we would get from the OBC.

[Marylandteachergirl]

And there are no penalties as long as you are outside of RCI's cancellation window?

 

I agree, prices have seemed to just rise and rise after initial itinerary release. I was just curious about this. Thanks!!!

[Clarea]

And there are no penalties as long as you are outside of RCI's cancellation window?

 

I agree, prices have seemed to just rise and rise after initial itinerary release. I was just curious about this. Thanks!!!

Correct, if you are booked under US/Canadian booking rules, then no penalty for cancelling before final payment date.

[alfaeric]

And there are no penalties as long as you are outside of RCI's cancellation window?

 

I agree, prices have seemed to just rise and rise after initial itinerary release. I was just curious about this. Thanks!!!

 

Benefits change depending on the promotions.

 

But we've never found any penalties.

 

Lives change- and the ability to move a cruise at before the final payment is a nice thing they let us do. We intended to sail on the Allure this coming summer, but family issues means a different vacation. So I moved it to a completely different thing in the fall of '17.

[papaflamingo]

And there are no penalties as long as you are outside of RCI's cancellation window?

 

I agree, prices have seemed to just rise and rise after initial itinerary release. I was just curious about this. Thanks!!!

 

That is generally correct, not always. Occasionally there will be specific rate rules that might prevent you taking advantage of a price drop. One, specifically, is "New Bookings Only." If you have already booked the cruise, you will be ineligible for any "New Bookings Only" rates. But we usually book as soon as we think we want to go on a cruise, to lock in the rate and cabin. Then if we change our mind, it's easy to cancel. Also we have Future Cruise Certificates that we bought on board. Once you book a cruise, in order to keep the deposit and OBC, you must keep it active. So if you cancel the cruise you booked, you must apply it to another cruise down the road. We did that last year. Had to cancel the cruise we booked so I found a cruise that was the farthest out to apply it to. Then if we found a different cruise we could just change it again. Turned out we just got off the cruise I switched it to.

So, even though we do it, we tend to end up on the cruise anyway.

As for booking on board, if you already have the cruise booked, and you go on a cruise and talk to the Next Cruise Desk, they can usually change it to take advantage of the On Board Booking benefits.

One caveat. Whenever you change a booking, even if it's just to get a lower rate, or get OBC, you "re-book" under the current rate rules. So you really need to keep aware of the "bottom line" of the cruise. If you have, say 200 OBC, and the rate drops $100, and if you change it and there is no OBC, you are actually paying more for the cruise by losing $200 OBC for $100 lower rate.

Edited April 6, 2016 by papaflamingo