Onboard booking

[jerseygirl3]

We'll be on the Century in two weeks and my brother and SIL are considering booking a Celebrity ship for a Mediterranean cruise next summer (June 2008) with their three children. If they book something while onboard, is the deposit only $100 pp? Can they book only for themselves (they'd need two cabins) or can they book a couple more cabins for some friends who are planning to sail with them?

[DeputyBob]

It depends on the length of the cruise, and it's per person:

1-5 nights $100

6-8 nights $250

9 or more $450

 

Bob P.

[jerseygirl3]

It depends on the length of the cruise, and it's per person:

1-5 nights $100

6-8 nights $250

9 or more $450

 

Bob P.

 

Those are the prices of regular deposits. I thought if you do an onboard booking, the deposit required was less. Is that not so?

[chessbriar]

It depends on the length of the cruise, and it's per person:

1-5 nights $100

6-8 nights $250

9 or more $450

 

Bob P.

I'm not sure where you got these numbers. They don't apply to what is or has gone on with OBC. In the past it was $50 for 1-5 nights, $100 for 6-8 nights, and $200 for 9+ nights.

 

The new plan, the OBC is based on the amount you spend. Tuggers had posted the numbers for the new program.

[DeputyBob]

Last year, we booked cruises on board on the Millenium and on the Connie and paid $450 per person for deposit. I guess it's changed since then.

 

Bob P.

[chessbriar]

Last year, we booked cruises on board on the Millenium and on the Connie and paid $450 per person for deposit. I guess it's changed since then.

 

Bob P.

My bad. I was thinking you were giving the OBC amounts and you gave deposit amounts. I understand.

 

Sorry about adding confusion

[crzrr]

We booked a 14 night Quest cruise while on Galaxy in February. The deposit was $450 pp. We booked for my parents as well and it was $450 pp for them also. So, we ended up putting down $1800.

[tuggers]

The new guidelines which are supposed to take effect at any time (originally was 3/2 or something like that), call for a $100 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit, non-transferable to RCI BTW. OBC's will be determined by the cost of the cruise with a $2,000 cruise getting you a $50 OBC.

Not nearly as good as what we've had.

[Nibby1]

I talked with a Captain's Club rep today because we are planning to book an Alaska Cruisetour for 2008 while on board the Zenith from 3/23-4/2 and I wanted to get as much info on the changes taking place as I could. She told me that they still have the on-board booking program that has been in place in the past and that the change in that is that the obc is based on the cost of the trip and not the length (all these effective 3/1/07).

Less than $2000 - $50 onboard credit

$2001 - 3499 - $100

$3500 - 5499 - $150

$5500 - 6999 - $200

$7000 & above - $300 (These costs do not include air)

If we do this program, our deposit will be $450 per person and you can book Celebrity or RCCL (only at this one time can you do a crossover between lines).

They have a new program effective 3/1/07 that is called Celebrity Passages and it essentially calls for a $100 (refundable) deposit good for up to 3 years for a future cruise. It can only be booked for Celebrity and the obc amounts are the same as shown above.

I'm not sure which route we will go since the Alaska schedule for 2008 will not be out till April 11. If we want to book with Radiance of the Seas, we'll probably take Option #1 and change the booking when the new schedules come out), and if we stay with Summit, we will probably just put the $100 pp deposit down that's good for 3 years.

This was my understanding and I hope I didn't misquote anything. Hope this will help other folks too.

Cheers! Carolyn

[greeneg]

The new guidelines which are supposed to take effect at any time (originally was 3/2 or something like that), call for a $100 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit, non-transferable to RCI BTW. OBC's will be determined by the cost of the cruise with a $2,000 cruise getting you a $50 OBC.

Not nearly as good as what we've had.

 

And probably not enough to justify tying up $900 for up to a year or so. Personally think that this is another "penny wise, pound foolish" decision on the part of accounting management which will discourage repeat cruisers. If you add in the real value of the essentially non-existant Loyalty Program, why bother.

 

Although, given the recently published European Prices, it isn't goig to be hard to spend the big bucks.........

 

It isn't encouraging, IMHO.

[jerseygirl3]

I'm sure my brother would rather tie up only $500 total in deposits ($100 pp X 5 passengers) than $2,250. They are not so much worried about the OBC as they are in putting out less up front.

[greeneg]

Which is a perfectly reasonable approach if the upfront amount is the major concern. On the other hand, reducing the amount of the credit and limiting its use beyond the present options certainly reduces the appeal to me, and I suspect a lot more people. I will be curious to see if booking last minute cruises will be more cost aware than directly with Celebrity and receiving the credit.

 

Of course, dealing with the last minute suppliers also tends to expose me ( and others) to Celebrity's competitors and their offerings as well.

 

I still think that it's a bad management decision; now if they wanted to run both options, well that would just increase the choices, wouldn't it?

[crzrr]

Not a bad deal, at $100 if you don't know what exactly you're looking for. In our case, we were sure (barring any unforseen issues) and though we had to tie up $900 for our cabin, we've already avoided price increases totalling $500 for both of us... and we have the cabins we desired. So, I'd guess it all depends on what you're looking for.