Carnival cruiser think of trying out RCCL - Questions

[travelgarn]

As you see in the title, I would be a newbie RCCL cruiser. I have seen the "sale" offers the end today & saw postings of the "sale" that begins tomorrow. I am thinking of giving RCCL a go. I live in South Georgia, so Port Canaveral, Tampa & FLL are the 3 ports I would be willing to sail from. A few questions:

1) Which would be the best financial option...sailing with just me & DH? me, DH & DS (16)? or adding our 2 toddler grandchildren? (saw a kids sale free but didn't know if they jack the rates up so they end up not really being free)

2) I am open to how many nights to do - which do you suggest? (If a 5,6,7 is not much more than a 3-night, I may can make it work)

3) Which sale would be the better deal 60% 2nd person or sale beginning June 7?

4) Is there a particular way I should book as a 1st time RCCL cruiser?

 

Any additional information/help is appreciated. (BTW, I have fished through a few threads & opted to post to hopefully save some time searching multiple times)

 

Thanks so much!!:D

[rukkian]

As you see in the title, I would be a newbie RCCL cruiser. I have seen the "sale" offers the end today & saw postings of the "sale" that begins tomorrow. I am thinking of giving RCCL a go. I live in South Georgia, so Port Canaveral, Tampa & FLL are the 3 ports I would be willing to sail from. A few questions:

1) Which would be the best financial option...sailing with just me & DH? me, DH & DS (16)? or adding our 2 toddler grandchildren? (saw a kids sale free but didn't know if they jack the rates up so they end up not really being free)

2) I am open to how many nights to do - which do you suggest? (If a 5,6,7 is not much more than a 3-night, I may can make it work)

3) Which sale would be the better deal 60% 2nd person or sale beginning June 7?

4) Is there a particular way I should book as a 1st time RCCL cruiser?

 

Any additional information/help is appreciated. (BTW, I have fished through a few threads & opted to post to hopefully save some time searching multiple times)

 

Thanks so much!!:D

 

There are unfortunately allot of unknowns - Will they altar the base price before/after one sale? How exactly will the 1-2-free be calculated, but generally, the consensus is that cruises with a number of nights that is a multiple of 3 (3,6,9, etc) will be a discount, but others would probably be more. Unfortunately that means you have to make a decision quick without all of the facts.

 

If you are more than 100 days from sailing, you could book today, and then since final payment is not due, if the next sale is cheaper, then you can have it adjusted unless it is only for new bookings.

 

For FYI, from my limited time here, it seems most of their "sales" end up just being the same price (+- a couple %). Most seem to recommend booking when the price is one you can deal with, and then if it goes down, you have saved money.

[bethco]

You never know which of the many sales gimmicks will be the best or even better than another. I would suggest pricing it with Royal Caribbean either by phone or online for a feel for what it's going to cost. Then contact a travel agent. Since we cannot mention travel agencies by name I would suggest that you contact a large agency, possibly one who deals exclusively with cruises or the agency of a big box membership store and ask what they can do for you in comparison. As you probably know, it can pay to NOT be married to idea of a particular cabin category, but instead questions like what's the best price you can get me for a balcony cabin - not I really want an E2 balcony cabin.

 

For my upcoming September cruise, we not only got a great price, we have considerable OBC, dinner for 2 in Chops and a massage (for ME of course). This is not always the kind of thing I receive from them, but it was booked during one of their major sales.(The agency's sale).

 

If you have booked with Royal Caribbean directly, you can transfer the booking to a TA as long as it before final payment and before a certain amount of time has elapsed since booking (60 days??). Another thing to be aware of is deposit differences. While the cruise line may have some kind of special with half price deposit amount, the large agencies tend to operate on a full deposit basis. I have had to up my deposit amount when transferring to the agency. They also tend to hang onto a bit of your deposit if you cancel - something in the neighborhood of $50pp.

[travelgarn]

:eek: That is a really great deal!

[bethco]

Yes, it really was. I booked it during the agency's 4th of July Sale nearly a year ago knowing that he may not be able to go. But I was NOT passing up on a deal that good. The thing about getting a cruise for a good price is not so much picking a cruise and then looking for a good deal, it's more looking for good deals and then deciding if you can make that work for you. I have a friend who is even better at it than I am. That's how I got this one.

[cb at sea]

It's ALWAYS cheaper to sail as a "couple"...the 3rd and 4th person ALWAYS cost extra!