Does this sound like a plan? (Pre-booking phase)

[Verfai]

Hey all,

 

A few weeks back I asked your help for planning our next cruise in 2012…The options where Spledour and Navigator. We decided we would defiantly go for Navigator (Rome, Sicily, Kusadasi, Athens, Chania, Rome). The orginal plan was for June.

 

Now as you can see it’s a busy port schedule, so much to seeeeee :D…So not exactly relaxing, which is what we look for after a long work period…Soooooo we decided to take a different approach:

 

Back to Liberty end of May (28th) on the 5 night short Med cruise, as you can see in my signature, we well know the ship and its itinerary. So this would be our leisurely cruise, just enjoy the ship, relax and catch some sun and have fun.

And let’s not forget the price is excellent!!!

 

We would go for Navigator in September and book this cruise onboard Liberty with the C&A loyalty office…Its also cheaper to go on Navigator in September.

 

Does this sound like a good plan?

Is it smart to wait till end of May to book a cruise for mid September? Is the onboard booking option available to EU residents (actually asked this Q on the “ask Adem December edition” :D, the fine print on the site does not state this)?

Or should we book now?

 

Any pointers or idea’s are welcome!

 

Greets

[Verfai]

Nobody has an opinion!? That’s a first for this board :D :D :D lol.

 

Ive been looking stuff up on the onboard booking advantage, I can’t find any evidence that is available to outside US and Canada residents :(

[Paulxyz2004]

Things have changed over the years and it´s been a while that I used it, but in the past I could not purchase a next cruise certificate as non US/Canada. I was able to book a specific future cruise onboard, but only because I used a US TA. As I said it´s been a while and I´m almost positive they have changed the rules for at least the specific booking.

 

Anyway personally I would not wait til May to book a cruise for September but I´m an early booker and never wait til the last minute. I still book with US TA´s though so I could easily book now and cancel and rebook onboard if the price has not gone up.

[NorbertsNiece]

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about the itinerary. If I wanted a relaxing cruise I could just stay on board during ports of call. On my B2B first leg there is just one day at sea in the week; I doubt I will do excursions each day and you may very well find me relaxing on a beach somewhere ;)

[Verfai]

Things have changed over the years and it´s been a while that I used it, but in the past I could not purchase a next cruise certificate as non US/Canada. I was able to book a specific future cruise onboard, but only because I used a US TA. As I said it´s been a while and I´m almost positive they have changed the rules for at least the specific booking.

 

Anyway personally I would not wait til May to book a cruise for September but I´m an early booker and never wait til the last minute. I still book with US TA´s though so I could easily book now and cancel and rebook onboard if the price has not gone up.

 

That’s exactly what I fear...I don’t find any mention in the fine print. Let’s see how Adem reacts to my question (if he answers)...I don’t really get why we are restricted from taking advantage of this option.

 

We to are normally early bookers...However we wanted to see how much we can win by one, waiting, two, the onboard booking.

 

 

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about the itinerary. If I wanted a relaxing cruise I could just stay on board during ports of call. On my B2B first leg there is just one day at sea in the week; I doubt I will do excursions each day and you may very well find me relaxing on a beach somewhere ;)

 

Agreed, that’s why we would go back to Liberty, just relax and basically ignore the ports...However for Navigator, there is just so much to see at those ports of call, it would not be so wise to ignore the beauty of those city’s :D

[Paulxyz2004]

If the price goes down you will win, if it stays where it is you will gain the OBC fro booking onboard. If the price goes up more than the OBC you will loose.

 

Nobody can really say what´s gonna happen. It´s your call as to what you think is the best choice for you.

 

If the price was acceptable now I would book now to lock in a good price. From there on I would hope for price drops, but be protected from the price going up. In case the price and cabin selection is still right I could still decide to cancel and rebook once onboard. All of this of course would only work for me as I don´t book under the European regulatoins, but online through a US TA, knowingly foregoing the benefits of a booking under European rules like some sort of protection against the unforeseen.

[Elizanessie]

You can do a future booking while onboard your cruise and now there is also the option to UK/Europe cruisers of doing a Decide Later booking...just like the folks in the US can do.

 

If you can login to your C&A account you will find all the information in there regarding the onboard booking bonus.:D

 

There is now a new Live Chat option on the UK RCCL site which perhaps may work for you.

 

Edited to add - The Live Chat is available at - Customer Support - FAQ....a small box will then appear for Live Chat.

[Verfai]

If the price goes down you will win, if it stays where it is you will gain the OBC fro booking onboard. If the price goes up more than the OBC you will loose.

 

Nobody can really say what´s gonna happen. It´s your call as to what you think is the best choice for you.

 

If the price was acceptable now I would book now to lock in a good price. From there on I would hope for price drops, but be protected from the price going up. In case the price and cabin selection is still right I could still decide to cancel and rebook once onboard. All of this of course would only work for me as I don´t book under the European regulatoins, but online through a US TA, knowingly foregoing the benefits of a booking under European rules like some sort of protection against the unforeseen.

 

Well all my common sense in me is telling me to book now (both cruises)…However we have noticed that we have thrown away sooooo much money on are past two cruises by not looking well enough on are options…Hens how I came up with this plan and why I wanted to share the idea with CC, it’s always good to have a second (or more) opinion.

 

May I ask, where you are from and how you practically go about booking with a US TA? (phone, email)?

 

And what benefits do you mean under EU rules, I have found none till now, please share :D.

I do know that I have to pay the cruise in full when I book online under the Belgium RCI site, so I want to avoid cancelling.

 

 

You can do a future booking while onboard your cruise and now there is also the option to UK/Europe cruisers of doing a Decide Later booking...just like the folks in the US can do.

 

If you can login to your C&A account you will find all the information in there regarding the onboard booking bonus.:D

 

There is now a new Live Chat option on the UK RCCL site which perhaps may work for you.

 

Edited to add - The Live Chat is available at - Customer Support - FAQ....a small box will then appear for Live Chat.

 

Thanks for the hint :D I don’t get how I didn’t think of contacting the C&A society…I’ll probably just send them a email.

When I log in to the C&A site I only get fine print regarding US/Can residents, no other mention of all those other 192 countries in the world…I guess the UK has a better version of the RCI site.

[Paulxyz2004]

I´m in your neighbour country to the east.;)

 

The benefits under EU rules I meant are i.e. the insurance coverage in case of a bankrupcy or the better protection if such things like the volcanoe ash deal come up and people from the EU with air/cruise packages were better off.

 

Now as for finding a US TA you just have to search the web as we are not allowed to mention any TA´s on here. With some you can use their online booking features, with others you have to contact them via mail.

Some online TA´s will tell you on their booking engines that you can´t book as a non-US/Canada citizen. Most of them will happily take your booking once you contact them via email. It´s just their online booking system that does not work for us.

 

Also shop around for the best deal, even though discounting isn´t allowed the deals are still out there.

 

Just be aware of their T&C´s especially in regards to cancellation, fees, price drops etc. and remember you are booking under US rules and if something goes wrong it will be harder to deal with it than if you work with a TA in your country.

 

Oh and on a final note, you need to keep the conversion rate between USD and EUR in mind and be prepared for some change in the bottom line if the EUR takes a further dive.:eek:

[Verfai]

I´m in your neighbour country to the east.;)

 

The benefits under EU rules I meant are i.e. the insurance coverage in case of a bankrupcy or the better protection if such things like the volcanoe ash deal come up and people from the EU with air/cruise packages were better off.

 

Now as for finding a US TA you just have to search the web as we are not allowed to mention any TA´s on here. With some you can use their online booking features, with others you have to contact them via mail.

Some online TA´s will tell you on their booking engines that you can´t book as a non-US/Canada citizen. Most of them will happily take your booking once you contact them via email. It´s just their online booking system that does not work for us.

 

Also shop around for the best deal, even though discounting isn´t allowed the deals are still out there.

 

Just be aware of their T&C´s especially in regards to cancellation, fees, price drops etc. and remember you are booking under US rules and if something goes wrong it will be harder to deal with it than if you work with a TA in your country.

 

Oh and on a final note, you need to keep the conversion rate between USD and EUR in mind and be prepared for some change in the bottom line if the EUR takes a further dive.:eek:

 

I think my girl will kill me if want to book that way :D She and for that fact, me to, don’t really trust people we don’t know and a cruise is typically a whole lot of money.

 

We actually lost money in June using a Belgium TA…They charged 200 Euros pp extra and did absolutely nothing for us except book the cruise and flight…We just book online now, did this for September this year and worked out great.