Booking on board

[newcruiser1573]

Can some on tell me the current detail of booking on board. I’m trying to decide if I should wait until my July sailing to book my next cruise. Thanks. 

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, newcruiser1573 said:

Can some on tell me the current detail of booking on board. I’m trying to decide if I should wait until my July sailing to book my next cruise. Thanks. 

Always book now on a refundable rate.  If the price goes down you can cancel and rebook on board though most likely the price will go up more than the small amount of OBC you get for booking on board.

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

Here are the OBC amounts for the reduced non refundable deposits.

[Bee Guy]

12 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Always book now on a refundable rate.  If the price goes down you can cancel and rebook on board though most likely the price will go up more than the small amount of OBC you get for booking on board.

 

 

Is it really in your favor to pay the increased cost for a refundable rate?  We cruise frequently and never have had to cancel.  If we had paid for a refundable rate for all those cruises we would be out a lot of money.

 

What is the amount that you lose if you cancel a nonrefundable cruise.  Can't some of your deposit be moved to a future cruise?

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

Is it really in your favor to pay the increased cost for a refundable rate?  We cruise frequently and never have had to cancel.  If we had paid for a refundable rate for all those cruises we would be out a lot of money.

 

What is the amount that you lose if you cancel a nonrefundable cruise.  Can't some of your deposit be moved to a future cruise?

 

Only $100 pp is actually non refundable. If you should cancel the remainder would be on a FCC that has to be applied to a cruise within a year.

 

it depends on each individuals situation as whether it’s worth it. The difference between refundable and non refundable in many cases is around $100.

 

Booking  2 years out...a lot more things can happen than if you’re booking closer to the sail date.

Edited May 26, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[Bee Guy]

15 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

Only $100 pp is actually non refundable. If you should cancel the remainder would be on a FCC that has to be applied to a cruise within a year.

 

it depends on each individuals situation as whether it’s worth it. The difference between refundable and non refundable in many cases is around $100.

 

Booking  2 years out...a lot more things can happen than if you’re booking closer to the sail date.

 

 

Can the FCC be applied to a cruise that is already booked, or does it have to be a new booking?

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

 

 

Can the FCC be applied to a cruise that is already booked, or does it have to be a new booking?

It can be applied to an existing booking. 

[Croozin Soozin]

My understanding is that you can switch to non refundable up till final payment. I saved $479 recently by switching. 

[Bee Guy]

2 minutes ago, Croozin Soozin said:

My understanding is that you can switch to non refundable up till final payment. I saved $479 recently by switching. 

 

If that is so, it sounds like a very good strategy!

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

 

If that is so, it sounds like a very good strategy!

Both rates will go up over time.  By the time you pull the plug to switch the non refundable rate you paid for it could be lower than the current non refundable rate. 

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

 

If that is so, it sounds like a very good strategy!

 

The price difference between refundable and non-refundable typically declines as you get closer to final payment date, so the sooner you switch, the more savings, usually.

[Croozin Soozin]

The savings I mentioned came one month before final payment on a 5 night Bermuda cruise in a balcony on Anthem. So I guess it pays to check periodically. 

 

PS. I should mention I also get the DP340 promotion. 

Edited May 26, 2019 by Croozin Soozin

[johnjen]

We found a Baltic cruise for Summer 2020 on this latest BOGO "deal" just now, aft cabin, just what we want, etc. Our upcoming cruise is a month out. Wondering should we wait and just book on board, or book NOW, so that cabin doesn't get booked?

It's something I just thought about - does RCL "hold" cabins for on board bookers, making them appear they're already booked, like ticketmaster does with concert tickets?

Weighing the $200 OBC we'd get IF we signed on board. 

 

Is it worth the wait and risk of losing out though? Aft cabins are hard to find....help me out here.

 

WWCCD? (What would cruise critics do)?

Edited May 26, 2019 by johnjen

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, johnjen said:

We found a Baltic cruise for Summer 2020 on this latest BOGO "deal" just now, aft cabin, just what we want, etc. Our upcoming cruise is a month out. Wondering should we wait and just book on board, or book NOW, so that cabin doesn't get booked?

Weighing the $200 OBC we'd get IF we signed on board. 

 

Is it worth the wait and risk of losing out though? Aft cabins are hard to find....help me out here.

 

WWCCD? (What would cruise critics do)?

 

Book refundable fare now and then once onboard cancel and rebook if the price has not gone up.

[molly361]

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Both rates will go up over time.  By the time you pull the plug to switch the non refundable rate you paid for it could be lower than the current non refundable rate. 

That has been the case with all my bookings.  Now most of the non refundable rates are higher than the refundable ones we presently have booked

[johnjen]

50 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Book refundable fare now and then once onboard cancel and rebook if the price has not gone up.

Thanks Bob. We did just that. This way, even if the price also drops, we'd take advantage of that as well. I'm not really all that concerned about losing a $200 OBC right now, we love those aft cabins that much.

[basictek]

Along the same lines, I've recently found my TA has booked groups of balcony cabins on the ship and port that I would probably prefer to cruise on the most in the near future (Harmony out of Canaveral). Now their group rates are unadvertised, even the TA's don't know them until you pick a specific cruise. Their group rate has been showing between $400 and $800 (per cabin) below the advertised prices at RCI or any other agency. In addition they have other promo like $100 - $300 cruise cash and currently free gratuities for memorial day. 

 

Now If I book through my TA (these group rates are always refundable up to 90 days prior), is there any way to apply the deals on next cruise? I'm assuming next cruise will never touch the prices I'm getting but wondering if there was a way to combine both... 

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, basictek said:

Along the same lines, I've recently found my TA has booked groups of balcony cabins on the ship and port that I would probably prefer to cruise on the most in the near future (Harmony out of Canaveral). Now their group rates are unadvertised, even the TA's don't know them until you pick a specific cruise. Their group rate has been showing between $400 and $800 (per cabin) below the advertised prices at RCI or any other agency. In addition they have other promo like $100 - $300 cruise cash and currently free gratuities for memorial day. 

 

Now If I book through my TA (these group rates are always refundable up to 90 days prior), is there any way to apply the deals on next cruise? I'm assuming next cruise will never touch the prices I'm getting but wondering if there was a way to combine both... 

 

You have to book a new cruise onboard in order to get the OBC from booking onboard.  They can book with your travel agent onboard if you like, but the price will not be the travel agent's group price. The agent can change this later. If you don't book onboard with a travel agent, you can transfer that booking to a travel agent to get whatever prices/perks the agent offers.  You have 60 days to transfer.

[basictek]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

You have to book a new cruise onboard in order to get the OBC from booking onboard.  They can book with your travel agent onboard if you like.  Otherwise, you can transfer that booking to a travel agent to get whatever prices/perks the agent offers.  You have 60 days to transfer.

 That's good to know, and should work for the cruise cash and gratuities etc.

 

If I book on next cruise with RCI something like an oceanview balcony 4D, and the price is $2500ish, but my TA has a group rate where the price is $1800, I'm guessing a transfer would not allow me in the group rate since those cabins are effectively bought separately....   

[custompcsys]

Is there a reduced deposit when you book onboard or is the only "perk" the OBC?

[molly361]

3 minutes ago, custompcsys said:

Is there a reduced deposit when you book onboard or is the only "perk" the OBC?

Yes if you book a non-refundable rate

[whitshel]

11 minutes ago, basictek said:

 That's good to know, and should work for the cruise cash and gratuities etc.

 

If I book on next cruise with RCI something like an oceanview balcony 4D, and the price is $2500ish, but my TA has a group rate where the price is $1800, I'm guessing a transfer would not allow me in the group rate since those cabins are effectively bought separately....   

They should be able to get you the group rate after you're home.  All of the bogo promo stuff wont transfer but the booking obc should.  And remember t/a group rates are only on certain categories so if you want a 4d but the t/a only has 8d's then you would have to switch categories.  Here is an example I posted yesterday on a different thread.  Symphony April, 5th 2020 i do believe, you can see a really nice price difference between group(middle column) and bogo pricing (left column), but only certain categories are available.  You would be only able to book a 6d or 8d in the group.  If you wanted the 4d, you would have to book it with the bogo pricing.

 

 

[basictek]

11 minutes ago, whitshel said:

They should be able to get you the group rate after you're home.  All of the bogo promo stuff wont transfer but the booking obc should.  And remember t/a group rates are only on certain categories so if you want a 4d but the t/a only has 8d's then you would have to switch categories.  Here is an example I posted yesterday on a different thread.  Symphony April, 5th 2020 i do believe, you can see a really nice price difference between group(middle column) and bogo pricing (left column), but only certain categories are available.  You would be only able to book a 6d or 8d in the group.  If you wanted the 4d, you would have to book it with the bogo pricing.

 

That's exactly what I'm talking about, 4D was just an example in this case the cruise I have booked is a 4D about $700 below the BOGO price, plus another $350 onboard and gratuities. I was thinking that I would lose some or all of that if I booked onboard. I'll talk to my TA. it would be nice to add even more perks :) Thanks! 

[Clarea]

10 minutes ago, basictek said:

That's exactly what I'm talking about, 4D was just an example in this case the cruise I have booked is a 4D about $700 below the BOGO price, plus another $350 onboard and gratuities. I was thinking that I would lose some or all of that if I booked onboard. I'll talk to my TA. it would be nice to add even more perks 🙂 Thanks! 

 

The travel agent should be able to give you all the detailed comparison pricing, and you may find that the agent's group price is so much better than the web price, that you won't miss any promo OBC.

[newcruiser1573]

Thanks for all those that replied.  Am I understanding that booking on board is only at the non refundable rate.  I would prefer the refundable rate myself.