Onboard Booking Incentives

[DeepWaterMariner]

Has anyone done an onboard booking on their Royal Caribbean cruise lately? I'm interested in what incentives RCI offers for booking the next cruise while on one of their cruises. We've done this on a couple of Princess cruises to gain onboard credit for the next cruise...about enough to cover the tips.

[harry0]

In booked a cruise on the Empress in Sept-and received $100. I went down again (last day of the cruise) and talked to the "future cruise director" about another cruise(in addition to the voyager. I could not make up my mind so she gave me a voucher good for 10 days for $100 off another cruise. I came home and booked the Splendour in Feb. I would do it again in a heart beat. You get $100 on a 7 day and I think $200 on a 11-14 day.

Harry

[Host Caroline]

You get shipboard credit but have to pay full deposit amount for a future cruise. On Princess you can "hold" a cruise (I think more than one actually) for $100pp per cruise. I guess it's a toss up for some between onboard credit and the reduced deposit but I'd rather pay $100 deposit for a 10-night cruise than the higher 450? (I think it was)

[Apex Cruiser]

Host Caroline you are right.

 

7 day cruise $100 credit $250 per person deposit.

9-13 day $200 credit $450 per person deposit

14+ days $250 credit not sure of deposit

 

The other incentive was that they gave us the key account rate. It matched the rate our TA offeded and they are a key account TA. You can assign to your current TA or leave with RCCL and shop TA's for deals then have it reassigned.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Sounds like its worthwhile, particularly for longer sailings. We're considering a transatlantic on the Splendour in November of 2005, a 14 day cruise. That would be a $500 savings for my wife and I, if I understand your postings. The downside is having a large deposit tied up for nearly a year. We're sailing on the Rhapsody this December so we can do the booking for the transatlantic then.

 

The Princess deal is pretty good. We've done it twice, taken an "open booking" for a $100 each for my wife and I, and then received onboard credit at a rate dependent on the type of cabin booked and duration of the cruise. The latest one turned out to be a 16 day cruise in an outside cabin which got us a $300 onboard credit. The open booking is good for 3 or 4 years and it can be cancelled for a refund. It's worth doing if you ever think you'll cruise Princess again.

[pmfan]

DeepWaterMariner

Sorry, but the shipboard credit is per stateroom booked; not per guest.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Dang...but $500 did seem too good to be true. $250 is still nothing to sneeze at. I like Princess onboard incentives a bit better due to the very low deposit amount, but it's still worth doing one on RCI if you're pretty set on a future cruise as we are.

 

Thanks all for the info.