Booking while on board

[bonnie voyage]

Can any of you seasoned cruisers give me the "low down" on booking a cruise while you are on board? I am looking for both pros and cons. We will be cruising in February 05 and plan to cruise again in February 06. If there is an advantage to booking on board, we would like to go ahead and do it while on board. Thanks in advance.

[angani]

I am not a big pro in this but will give you an example:

 

I asked about Scandinavian cruise on Jewel and the price they gave me was $4000 for an inside cabin. After I came back home and checked Travelocity, the price was half the one they called.

[bruins12]

booking on board is just a marketing tool for NCL...I checked into it many times, and there "special on board prices" are not so special...even with the on board credit they give you, it still doesn't make up for the difference...you can get a better price yourself from an agent...They make it sound like such a deal, when in reality it ISN'T.

[debjo]

For bonnie voyage...

We sailed on the DAWN in the spring of 2004. This was our 4th cruise, but our first time with NCL. We fell in love with the DAWN, her crew, and the entire cruise experience so much, that we booked our Spring of 2005 cruise for the exact same week on the DAWN before we left the ship. Of course, we DID NOT have our 2004 booking papers with us (we work through a Cruise Planner), so we didn't have the "exact" figures for what the 2004 cruise cost us. (NOTE: If you "think" you might "book a cruise while on a cruise", be sure to have those numbers with you for comparison purposes.)

 

The DAWN's Port & Cruise Consultant gave us the pricing for our 2005 cruise for the same cabin category as our 2004 trip. From what I remembered, it did seem like it was a "savings" over what we paid for the trip we hadn't yet completed, which seemed odd! I asked him if he could search in his computer and see what we had paid for our current cruise...he found the figures (those that I didn't have with me) and "our" 2004 pricing seemed to be $50 MORE than what he was quoting us for 2005! So, we were surprised to learn it would cost us "less" for the same cruise next year! On our 2004 trip we enjoyed a BA category cabin...thinking that we'd like to save a bit more money, we decided to go with a BC cabin in 2005. The DAWN'S Cruise Consultant gave us the new pricing for the change in cabins. I also inquired about our Cruise Planner getting credit for the booking and having her handle things once we got home...he said that would not be a problem. Beyond the cruise price savings, the only real "perk" to booking a cruise while on a cruise was the On Board Credit that was offered. The addition of $100 On Board Credit was a factor that weighed heavy in our decision.

 

We decided to "sleep on things" and after talking things over extensively with each other, decided to "book our 2005 cruise" the next morning with the Port and Cruise Consultant before we disembarked. He said that the $250 pp deposit would be charged to my credit card and he issued Booking Confirmation. The "On-Board" credit was mentioned on the Confirmation, but the "amount" wasn't...the "amount" was recorded on a seperate piece of paper which was attached to the Confirmation, yet is didn't state whether is was $100 per cabin or $100 per person. (We later learned that is was $100 per cabin not per person, after our Cruise Planner checked this out.) There was something nice about knowing we were going to be going on another cruise that made leaving the DAWN seem not as sad as previous disembarkations have been for us.

 

Now here is where the sage contains a twist. Upon arrival at home and back at my computer (mind you, the 2005 NCL brochures had not yet hit our mailbox, so getting pricing for our 2005 trip could only be done on the web), I quickly discovered that the pricing we were quoted by the Port and Cruise Consultant on the DAWN was also the same price that were being quoted by TRAVELOCITY, ORBITZ, and EXPEDIA. :confused: These prices were only $50 less than the brochure rate. Needless to say, I was a bit dismayed and contacted our Cruise Planner to share that I thought I made a big mistake. :eek: We met with her and showed her our paperwork. She said that we shouldn't "worry" about the pricing...she would be able to give us a better price when the time came for our "final payment". Furthermore, I found our 2004 cruise pricing paperwork and learned that the figures the Port and Cruise Consultant give us (from his computer) were actually $75 more that what we paid, therefore it meant that we weren't saving $50 per person on the 2005 cruise, we would actually be paying $25 per person MORE. :o (The difference in cruise fare pricing for our 2004 trip ended up being a "break" in price that our Cruise Planner gave us out of her commission.)

 

Now, if you've been able to follow all of this to this point, you are doing a remarkable job. I also want to interject here that is isn't about saving $50 or paying $25 more per person...it is the principal that matters. We all like to think we are getting the "best deal" possible, and in my opinion, the cruise lines make the "booking a cruise while on a cruise" offer seem like a BIGGER DEAL than it actually turns out to be. MY WORD OF ADVICE...if you plan to do this...have all the figures with you ahead of time so you have them when you meet with the Cruise Consultant.

 

And now for the "icing on the cake"...over the past several months, I've been watching the pricing on NCL's website for our 2005 cruise. The prices have been climbing and within 3 months of our booking, the category that we booked for our 2005 cruise was "sold out". Now, eight months since our booking, the ship is "sold out" for our sailing date in 2005. Our Cruise Planner has now given us a "new" price, which is a $25 pp savings off of the booking price we got from the Port & Cruise Consultant. :) And, overall, we are glad that we "booked our upcoming cruise while we were still on a cruise". Had we waited...we would have had to pay more and perhaps not have been able to take advantage of the cabin that we wanted or the sailing dates we needed.

 

So, the lessons we've learned through this are:

1. Do as much advance research as you can.

2. Realize that the "deal" that is presented to you for "booking another cruise while you are on a cruise" probably isn't as glorious as it is made out to be at the time -but- over the course of a year, in a time when prices of everything continue to rise, you'll soon learn that your advance booking turns out to be better than it looked when you initially did it.

3. The real "perk" to booking a cruise while on a cruise comes in the form of ON BOARD CREDITS.

 

Hope our "tale" and experience has helped in some way.

 

Happy planning and MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

Debjo

[shoreguy]

Debjo

 

You saved me a lot of typing. Almost the same story. I booked my 2005 Dawn cruise while on the Sun for two reasons. I could lock up one of the 2 aft facing BA cabins on deck 10. Number two I needed to invest my winnings from the casino before I gave them back ;) This is for the new Western Itinerary and I had checked prices before we cruised.

 

When I got home the fare taking into account the OBC was within $30 of the best I could find online. I knew I could transter the booking to a TA but if there were not meaningful savings I want to control my booking.

 

As it turns out the fare has gone up over $300 since I booked. If the fare drops with the discounters I can always transfer the booking, keep the cabin, and get the better rate. I understand by doing that I will most likely give up the OBC. With the new NCL policies kicking in next year I am not sure we are going to see the dicounts that we have in the past.

 

I waited untill the last minute to book the Dawn this winter. As it turns out the rates went up the closer we got to final. Inventory improved post final but the rates went up again.

 

The net - there is no compelling reason to book onboard but it is a fun thing to do while you are in the "cruise zone". Nice to walk off the ship knowing you got another one in your pocket. I think they do it to take advantage of passengers "high" on sea air ;)

[debjo]

For shoreguy...

How nice to see one of your postings again. Glad to hear our situation was similar to yours. Now about that "high on sea air"...I knew there had to be some covert reason that everyone is always so "happy" and content on a ship...getting your "highs" from the sea air seems to be the answer. We need to find a way to get that "sea air" piped inland during the middle of winter!

 

Now I just have to figure out how to fit a cruise ship underneath our Christmas Tree!

Debjo

[fin]

While I was on board the Sea, the on board rep quoted me a price for the Dawn which was 1/3rd more than what I ended up paying. I had already booked on-line and was merely curious to see if he could match or undercut the fare I had locked up.

 

While on the Dawn, the on board rep booked a fare and told me that if I found a lower fare, they would honor it. I have and they did.

[bonnie voyage]

Thank you all for your input...at least if we do decide to book onboard, we will be doing it with eyes wide open. Happy holidays to you all.

[jimmm]

We have booked on next NCL cruise while on board a cruise and the P&C rate given by the consultant on board simply can't be beat for a price, especially considering the $50 per person on board credit you will be given on that next cruise.

 

We turn over the next cruise to our travel agent when we get home (which is encouraged by the P&C consultant, and they usually give us a few more dollars off the cruise in thanks.

 

I admit that the last two cruises, the P&C price on board was only $50 per person cheaper than our travel agency, which is one the biggest NCL selling agencie around.

 

Since the cruise can be cancelled with no penalty, book on board, see if you can beat it when you return home, is my thought.