Booking While Cruising

[GabbyKeira]

We are cruising on the Silhouette March 2018. What are the advantages to booking your next cruise while on your current one. This will be my fourth cruise and we've either booked ourselves or a TA

 

 

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[motherchic]

While on our last cruise we booked two more cruises. It gave us onboard credit and we have 60 days to transfer it to a TA and get whatever perks they offer

[keesar]

You will get additional OBC for booking on the ship. For instance, you will get $150 per cabin on a 7 day cruise. More for longer cruises. There is also a reduced deposit. The other perks will be be the same.

[bigbenboys]

We book Sky Suites while onboard. We get all 4 perks plus $300 OBC for booking onboard

 

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[NantahalaCruiser]

While on our last cruise we booked two more cruises. It gave us onboard credit and we have 60 days to transfer it to a TA and get whatever perks they offer

 

 

Basically, there are two upsides:

- additional OBC, with the amount depending on the length of your cruise and the cabin class

- reduced deposit

 

There are really no downsides:

- everything else about your reservation is the same as if you booked it on land

- since you can transfer it to a TA, you will get the same bonuses from the TA as you would have with a land booking

- you can cancel at anytime prior to the final payment date and get your full deposit back

- you can transfer your reservation to an entirely different cruise anytime prior to the final payment date, get the prices and perks for the new cruise that are available at the time of the transfer, while retaining the on-board booking OBC bonus

- you can continue to transfer your reservation ad infinitum, as long as you do so prior to the final payment date for your most recently transferred reservation, while still retaining your on-board booking OBC

- and you continue to have the option to cancel and get your full deposit back, regardless of how many times you transfer the reservation

 

So even if you have no current interest in taking a Celebrity cruise, but think you might want to take one in two years, it would still make sense to book a "place-holder" cruise and then continue to roll it over until you decide to transfer it to a cruise that you actual plan on taking. And of course you can still cancel it at any time and get your full deposit back. Only slight downside to this is the small amount of interest that you could have otherwise earned by investing the money that you used for the reduced deposit.

[GabbyKeira]

Thank you for your detailed responses. When we were on Silhouette last time we were tempted to book then and I couldn't remember what the benefits were.

 

It's definitely a "no-brained"!

 

 

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[JMG]

If you plan to book on board...go early. The last day of the cruise it can get busy with many people trying to book before cruise ends.

 

We booked on board last year and a few days after we got home, we noticed that prices had dropped substantially. We called Celebrity and our fare was reduced without the loss of any of the on board booking perks. Paperwork came through and we retained our on board booking number/date of booking...

[jb008]

Basically, there are two upsides:

- additional OBC, with the amount depending on the length of your cruise and the cabin class

- reduced deposit

 

There are really no downsides:

- everything else about your reservation is the same as if you booked it on land

- since you can transfer it to a TA, you will get the same bonuses from the TA as you would have with a land booking

- you can cancel at anytime prior to the final payment date and get your full deposit back

- you can transfer your reservation to an entirely different cruise anytime prior to the final payment date, get the prices and perks for the new cruise that are available at the time of the transfer, while retaining the on-board booking OBC bonus

- you can continue to transfer your reservation ad infinitum, as long as you do so prior to the final payment date for your most recently transferred reservation, while still retaining your on-board booking OBC

- and you continue to have the option to cancel and get your full deposit back, regardless of how many times you transfer the reservation

 

 

Although I've not dealt with the ad infinitum transfer piece, I did successfully move several bookings once with no issues. I also cancelled 5 or 6 bookings that I'd made on board and received my refunds ~72 hours back on my credit card. Another pro is that you often get a free stateroom upgrade within the category when you deposit onboard. So a C3 booking can select a C2 room, with some exclusions (see below).

 

Also another trick is that you can hold a room and a fare with a single pax name, I was told that you can then add the 2nd person before final payment and that person will still price at the same rate your 1st pax was booked at (in other words they will split the current solo pax rate and then apply the 2nd set of taxes and port fees). I've not experienced the pricing piece first hand though, I've been lucky enough that prices have always dropped from when I made the booking onboard to when I added the new person (and they've always been able to reprice the bookings while keeping the perks, room, and reservation #), knock on wood.

 

I've also had no issues with the onboard agents to book two rooms on the same cruise where I use my name for 1 room and DW's name on the other room - this can let you book 2 different fare categories and then make a decision closer in on which rate you want to sail with (e.g., Concierge & Verandah).

 

Last tip, you can make a deposit for somebody not on board the ship... for example I made a deposit on a cruise in my parents' name for a surprise future cruise we did with them. I called ahead before departing on our cruise to get them a Celebrity Captain's Club # (they had status with Royal Caribbean and came to X as Select), then when I booked on board I was able to secure them the 1 level upgrade within same category that is often offered (ex. pay for C3 but select a C2 room, some restrictions like C2 can't book into all C1 cabins - like C1 aft cabins were excluded) and bonus OBC. This cost me less to make the deposits and got them the cabin upgrade, bonus OBC, and bonus perk (at the time they were offering 3 free perks for price of 1 on some sailings - which that booking qualified for)

[jb008]

In the past, if you google "Celebrity Passages Onboard Future Cruise Program" you can often find a copy of the handouts being offered on board detailing the current promo. However the last promo ended 2/28 and the links are currently dead, so not sure whether new ones are due out shortly or perhaps they've removed the documents from public availability.

 

I attached a copy of the pdf I downloaded in early Feb (right before I left for my recent trip on Silhouette so I could start planning what deposits I might want to make once I was on board) to give you an idea of what the program usually* offers (*Note: expiration on this deal was 2/28). As was already mentioned, taking care of this on your first sea day (or after a port day if you get back a little early) is a great way to beat the crowds later in the cruise. I spent 45m waiting on the 2nd sea day while the reps were sitting around bored the 1st sea day.

CEL_Wave_FEB_2017_Offerv3.pdf

[GabbyKeira]

Thank you so much - I took a screen shot of all the information. I appreciate you taking the time to share!

 

 

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