Onboard Bookings - Have You Changed How You Book?

[AMTDGT]

Our up coming cruise on X was booked on board and we are very happy with the whole process including the transfer to our TA. The current price difference plus the OBC are quite significant.

 

On our next cruise after the X one in the spring will be on Assumara. Can you book Assumara or Royal Carib. on board an X ship and get the OBC's etc. I seem to recall the brochures are in the X travel office, and it is the same company I believe.

[Guest maddycat]

Can you book Assumara or Royal Carib. on board an X ship and get the OBC's etc. I seem to recall the brochures are in the X travel office, and it is the same company I believe.

 

Yes you can. All three cruise lines are owned by Royal Caribbean.

[scf1270]

After a disastrous experience making a specific booking onboard another line, I will never book onboard again. Open bookings (Passages or Future Cruise Credits, whatever they're called) work best for me. The non-refundable part doesn't bother me, I know we'll cruise X again. The real best part about Passages is that it's good for the first two passengers in a stateroom, much better than buying one per person.

 

Yes, what happened?

Not following your comment highlighted in red. Does that mean a $100 deposit per cabin vs $100 per person?

 

Thanks for all the comments!

Sara

[Infi]

Infi - Can you share with us what went wrong with your on board booking?

 

I didn't elaborate because it happened onboard another line (Princess), and didn't think it was relevant. The short version is that the future booking agent was very incompetent: he booked at a higher rate than what he quoted us, kept the booking for Princess instead of our TA, and bought too many future cruise credits (wanted two, he bought four). The last one wasn't that big of a deal (one can never have too many FCCs, after all!), but the others really soured me and it was a big mess to undo when I got home. I'd rather book when I'm back at home, at my leisure, and have time to search for the cruise and price I want.

 

On the plus (and more pertinent) side, I bought two Passages onboard Eclipse two weeks ago and was very pleased with the professionalism and friendliness of Micki, the onboard booking agent. The process was very easy, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy open bookings onboard Celebrity again.

 

Yes, what happened?

Not following your comment highlighted in red. Does that mean a $100 deposit per cabin vs $100 per person?

 

Thanks for all the comments!

Sara

 

I explained it above, but, like I said, it's not terribly relevant to X but has still made me wary of onboard booking.

 

As for the $100 deposit...it is valid for the first two people in the cabin, so if you only have two, yes, it is $100/cabin. Not sure how it works if you have three or four in a cabin, hopefully someone else knows the answer to that one. To me, it's a great deal - most other lines have you buy one $100 deposit pp. Hope that helps!

[Redtravel]

I wait and select my next vacation when I am home and am able to weigh my options. Why let the cruise line hold your money. The cruise line is hoping that they can sell you another cruise while you are on board. That's an easy sell. Once you select a future cruise, you have a mental image of that vacation. Resist the temptation and at your ease compare and shop. You may find something else that appeals to you. Maybe your next vacation will be something other than a celebrity cruise. I cruise a lot and often select Celebrity/Azamara. However, I also sail other lines and often select land vacations. I like to vary the type of vacations that I take. There's a big world out there and there are many great places to see on a cruise ...and also many places that you cannot see on a cruise. Life is short. Get out and see lots of different places. New places are interesting. Old places are comfortable. Keep traveling.

[Oceangoer2]

No - don't think so! I would not like the prices of my cruises now compared to when I booked. I am really happy I booked early:D Plus OBC + upgrades + low deposit!!

I have a little concern with booking onboard for specific cruise or Passages voucher. I like the OBC, but we don't get a free upgrade as we like CC class and they won't upgrade from there. If we book non-CC there's a chance that category won't be available (our 2/4 Millennium CC class is sold out). We've always booked onboard in the past, but thinking about waiting to book for the next cruise in case prices DO come down or there's an advantage with booking though Captains Club specials. What's your opinion on waiting v onboard booking?

[Christine Frances]

I got a 2 cat upgrade when I booked the SA Infinity - booked a C1 and paid for a C3 + $300 OBC

[Oceangoer2]

I got a 2 cat upgrade when I booked the SA Infinity - booked a C1 and paid for a C3 + $300 OBC

That's interesting. I booked C1 and paid C1 last March 2010 through a Passages certificate I purchased Feb 2009. Received $150 OBC from -X-, deposited $200 (2 people). They say there's no upgrade when C1 is booked. I still made a $960 deposit through my TA (no advantage there), with the $200 Passages reduced from final payment. NO OBC from my TA. One way we're ahead is the price of C1 for Feb 8/11 cruise has shown as sold out (although 1 cabin available on their site today at $500 more PP). How did you pay C3 when you booked C1?? Thanks for your insights.

[Christine Frances]

We booked a specific cruise. Actually a B2B - the first leg Buenos Aires to Valparaiso we booked Cat 6 OV but paid for Cat 8 (We werent sure about how rough it would be going around the horn so we booked low midship:eek:) From Valparaiso to Fort Lauderdale we did the C1-C3 thing.

[scf1270]

You can get upgrades within your category when booking a specific cruise.

C3 to C1 as mentioned, 12 to 9, 1C to 1A, etc. You cannot get 1A to C3 or any other between-category upgrades.

 

I'm leaning towards doing a specific booking - you can change them to another sailing later but keep the same booking number and upgrades.

 

We will be on the Eclipse on SATURDAY **happy dance**.

Does anyone have questions they would like me to ask the Onboard Booking Specialist???

Sara