Booking a Future Cruise

[Casey2]

I will be on the Joy in 3 weeks.  I am considering a cruise for next year.  Is there an advantage to booking it while on the ship?

[Beer Belly]

Maybe see if there are any Cruise Next Certificate deals ?. We usually book next cruise well in advance in case prices rise, can always rebook or cancel if there are changes.

[KeithJenner]

The constant benefit is the saving that you make on cruise next vouchers. If you are booking a balcony or above then this will save $250. You don't have to buy onboard though, just purchase the vouchers.

 

For actually booking onboard the offers vary, but the most usual is that you get a small, within category, upgrade. This means that if you book a balcony cabin then you will pay for the next lowest balcony cabin type. It is only a small saving, as the price difference is often not much (sometimes just $50.

 

They may offer other or alternative deals. It changes constantly.

[julig22]

CruiseNext certificates are a good deal.

They will give you an upgrade within category for inside, OV, or balcony. Value varies, best I've seen is about $900. But they also might be able to see rooms that you can't so possibly a better choice.

 

I haven't seen a true "on board" special for about a year now. - they had a couple of 10% specials this time last year.  I've seen them advertise the CN double/triple up special as onboard but those specials were not actually exclusive to onboard bookings.

 

Note, if you book onboard the booking credit goes to the person who booked your current cruise.  I had a situation with a terrible PCC and I did NOT want to give him any further credit so booked with my current PCC, then made changes onboard.  In the past, you could apply any onboard specials to cruises that were already booked but that's been a little trickier lately, don't know if it's a change in NCL policy or it was just the different teams at the time.  On one cruise they wouldn't make changes to my existing reservation unless there was a price change.  On the next cruise they wouldn't talk to me about existing bookings unless I bought some certificates and there was a price change.

[IAcruising]

8 hours ago, julig22 said:

CruiseNext certificates are a good deal.

 

Yes, if you understand the terms. Only one certificate can be used per booking, unless you know about the double, or even triple options. 

 

Stay informed, and they are an amazing deal.

 

[debbyfelse1963]

I have always found purchasing cruise next onboard and then booking onboard for upcoming a great deal.  For instance we booked last cruise for the next one and now the new one is almost twice for the room compared to what we paid

 

[MkeCruzn]

We have done it both ways. If you want to wait for promos like 2 or even 3 bonus Latitudes points per night, it may be better than the small benefit to get a better cabin. Cruises seem to be filling up faster than before, so you’ll have to decide. There’s no perfect formula 🙂