Shall we book our next cruise while on a cruise?

[vaindioux]

Hi

 

3rd cruise coming up in October in the Western Caribbean with MSC.

The next one will be in January, looking at booking for the Eastern Caribbean.

Is it worth booking a cruise while on one?

We hear it can be good deal.

 

 

Thxs

 

Pat and Kris

[8420PR]

The only real benefit is extra on board credit (OBC) - for cruises at least 7 days you get between $50 OBC for an inside cabin to $200 OBC for a YC cabin.  

 

 

[maehara]

Don’t they also offer a price guarantee if booked on board? (See the same cruise cheaper after booking and they’ll match the price.)

 

That’s just from what I’ve seen online & not from experience. 

[miched]

I was told that MSC does not do price guarantee by one of their agents.  

 

It would be nice if they did for booking a cruise on board.

 

Happy cruising 

[Mark_T]

Here is the onboard deal...

[miched]

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

Here is the onboard deal...

What are the terms and conditions of that almighty little * after the price match?  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited July 9, 2023 by miched

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, miched said:

What are the terms and conditions of that almighty little * after the price match?  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

That it is limited to offers advertised by MSC Cruises... Nothing else.

[lcpagejr]

I find I get more OBC via  internet booking >>>For example I received $800 OBC for booking a YC cabin...and this was 0ver 9 months out which included my %5 Voyagers discount and an additional 5% for booking 9+ months out!

[kelleherdl]

We did find one advantage of speaking with the future cruise consultant on board. We had a weird situation on a future cruise we already had booked  of having to book a back-to-back Baltic/Norway cruise, as the YC allocation in the US for the 14-day collector option was used up. The consultant was able to go directly back-office and get us rebooked, and added additional OBC and slightly reduced fare for the collector option; and still transferred all that to our US agent. Now I know that may have been a one off. We did book another cruise with her. I perish the thought of trying to pull that off by speaking with an MSC US customer service agent. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by kelleherdl

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, lcpagejr said:

I find I get more OBC via  internet booking >>>For example I received $800 OBC for booking a YC cabin...and this was 0ver 9 months out which included my %5 Voyagers discount and an additional 5% for booking 9+ months out!

Don't you get the same deal on board + extra OBC?

 

I get that by the time you're on board a certain sale may not be happening, but at any given time you should get the same deal on and off board, but on board should give extra OBC.

[lcpagejr]

Not sure how that could happen… many times agencies get incentives as well as pass along some of their kickbacks ( commissions) to provide extra incentives to book. I book exclusively online with no human interaction … my 3 “ go to” sites had the same cruise price but the OBC was different on each site 

[lcpagejr]

1 minute ago, lcpagejr said:

Not sure how that could happen… many times agencies get incentives as well as pass along some of their kickbacks ( commissions) to provide extra incentives to book. I book exclusively online with no human interaction … my 3 “ go to” sites had the same cruise price but the OBC was different on each site 

Additionally… the cruise price was the same on MSC online booking engine… with no OBC given. I’m sure there is some when they do their sales 

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, lcpagejr said:

Additionally… the cruise price was the same on MSC online booking engine… with no OBC given. I’m sure there is some when they do their sales 

Ah...ok, when you say "internet" you mean through a TA, right?

 

In that case you still book on board and then transfer to the TA of your choice...and get both the TA OBC and MSC OBC for early booking.

[Mark_T]

8 hours ago, alyssamma said:

Don't you get the same deal on board + extra OBC?

Yes you do, we did this last month and we got the current MSC web promotion as well as the onboard promotion.

 

We actually had no idea that there even was a web promotion at the time so the additional £780 OBC was a pleasant surprise. Given you can't use it for anything before you board I have a feeling this will end up in my wife's handbag/jewellery budget 🙂

[vaindioux]

16 hours ago, lcpagejr said:

Not sure how that could happen… many times agencies get incentives as well as pass along some of their kickbacks ( commissions) to provide extra incentives to book. I book exclusively online with no human interaction … my 3 “ go to” sites had the same cruise price but the OBC was different on each site 

Is there a chance you Can you message me your 3 to go sites?

 

thxs

[lcpagejr]

19 hours ago, alyssamma said:

Ah...ok, when you say "internet" you mean through a TA, right?

 

In that case you still book on board and then transfer to the TA of your choice...and get both the TA OBC and MSC OBC for early booking.

Well its a National Cruise Internet booking company...They do have Customer Service...so I guess you are right...althoughI have never had to call after booking my past 15 cruises online since 2000

[lcpagejr]

5 hours ago, vaindioux said:

Is there a chance you Can you message me your 3 to go sites?

 

thxs

Hi..Tried to message you,,, but it said the feature was disabled????

[lcpagejr]

19 hours ago, alyssamma said:

Ah...ok, when you say "internet" you mean through a TA, right?

 

In that case you still book on board and then transfer to the TA of your choice...and get both the TA OBC and MSC OBC for early booking.

Good to know!!  Thank you!! Then again not sure how I will spend all the OBC...since everything but gratuities is pretty much included?? Nice problem to have though!!

[Mark_T]

55 minutes ago, lcpagejr said:

Hi..Tried to message you,,, but it said the feature was disabled????

That is entirely intentional... As per the Guidelines for these forums:

 

"There shall be no third-party recommendation (whether positive or negative in tone) of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted.

Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice.

This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information."

[lcpagejr]

24 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

That is entirely intentional... As per the Guidelines for these forums:

 

"There shall be no third-party recommendation (whether positive or negative in tone) of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted.

Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice.

This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information."

Then remove the message icon from your site??? Can’t be that hard!!

[alyssamma]

2 hours ago, lcpagejr said:

Good to know!!  Thank you!! Then again not sure how I will spend all the OBC...since everything but gratuities is pretty much included?? Nice problem to have though!!

Spa services are pretty expensive...specialty dinners...renting a cabana on the YC side of the island...

[Anastas617]

I'll be cruising this month for first time on MSC and I was strongly considering booking a future cruise on board, but do any of you veterans know when the 2025 itineraries are typically released? I am considering a World America (I think that's the name, right?) in fall of 2025, but am not strongly committed to that and would prefer to look at some European options.

[wayne_trisha]

If you book on board and transfer to a TA do you still get the double points? Contemplating a 3 day cheap cruise in order to get onboard and book World America in fall of next year.

[Mark_T]

3 hours ago, wayne_trisha said:

If you book on board and transfer to a TA do you still get the double points? Contemplating a 3 day cheap cruise in order to get onboard and book World America in fall of next year.

I see no reason why not, the double points offer has no conditions listed, and if you use a TA for the cruise you are on when you make the booking onboard, the new reservation will automatically be transferred to the same TA...

[Ryan82]

On 7/9/2023 at 6:23 PM, Mark_T said:

Here is the onboard deal...

Although the price guarantee is clearly stated they did a flash sale for Euribia after I'd booked onboard. The difference was only 20 pounds but it was principle. Agent I spoke with onshore had no knowledge of the price guarantee offer. When I emailed it in she called back and would match price but removing the OBC offer from booking onboard.