US Citizen Booking Through UK Website

[brentp]

Seems things have reversed themselves on where it makes sense to book an international cruise :)

 

We are looking to book a cruise out of London (Harwick), . . . and am finding it would be a lot more economical to book through the RCCL UK website.

 

Current Costs for the same cabin class per person are:

US Website: $2373.29 USD (Cruise + Taxes)

UK Website: 999.00 GBP (Cruise + Taxes) - ~$1310. USD @ Today Exchange Rate.

 

Unbelievable! Given this would amount to ~$2000. savings for 2, . . . it is enticing to say the least. :)

 

So, . . . question is, how many US citizens have booked their Europe Cruise through the RCCL UK website and have you had any issues? Anything else we need to be aware of if we do this?

 

I found one recent reference to this, but that person hadn't set sail yet, so am looking for US Citizens that have booked through UK website and sailed, . . . and if you had any issues in booking your cruise this way.

 

FWIW, I have taken the reservation all the way to the deposit page - with logging in and using my US address, . . . there was no block that would have stopped me from entering my CC for payment.

 

Thanks in advance,

[isdoo]

makes a nice change for this to be in reverse :)

 

Which cruise btw?

[postmeome]

Seems things have reversed themselves on where it makes sense to book an international cruise :)

 

We are looking to book a cruise out of London (Harwick), . . . and am finding it would be a lot more economical to book through the RCCL UK website.

 

Current Costs for the same cabin class per person are:

US Website: $2373.29 USD (Cruise + Taxes)

UK Website: 999.00 GBP (Cruise + Taxes) - ~$1310. USD @ Today Exchange Rate.

 

Unbelievable! Given this would amount to ~$2000. savings for 2, . . . it is enticing to say the least. :)

 

So, . . . question is, how many US citizens have booked their Europe Cruise through the RCCL UK website and have you had any issues? Anything else we need to be aware of if we do this?

 

I found one recent reference to this, but that person hadn't set sail yet, so am looking for US Citizens that have booked through UK website and sailed, . . . and if you had any issues in booking your cruise this way.

 

FWIW, I have taken the reservation all the way to the deposit page - with logging in and using my US address, . . . there was no block that would have stopped me from entering my CC for payment.

 

Thanks in advance,

how much are your flights? fuel surcharge is sky high now.

[cinnamon]

We are cruising on Adventure late May 2013 and the UK prices are substantially cheaper than the US ones.

 

As UK residents we frequently book cruises with a US agent when it is in our interest to do so, pay in $US and take the hit if the exchange rate goes against us. I don't see any reason why you could not book with a UK agent in £s but I do invisage a problem if you try to book direct with RCI. You would of course need a credit card that either doesn't charge extra or whose charges are minimal for international use.

[librayacht]

Seems things have reversed themselves on where it makes sense to book an international cruise :)

 

We are looking to book a cruise out of London (Harwick), . . . and am finding it would be a lot more economical to book through the RCCL UK website.

 

Current Costs for the same cabin class per person are:

US Website: $2373.29 USD (Cruise + Taxes)

UK Website: 999.00 GBP (Cruise + Taxes) - ~$1310. USD @ Today Exchange Rate.

 

Unbelievable! Given this would amount to ~$2000. savings for 2, . . . it is enticing to say the least. :)

 

So, . . . question is, how many US citizens have booked their Europe Cruise through the RCCL UK website and have you had any issues? Anything else we need to be aware of if we do this?

 

I found one recent reference to this, but that person hadn't set sail yet, so am looking for US Citizens that have booked through UK website and sailed, . . . and if you had any issues in booking your cruise this way.

 

FWIW, I have taken the reservation all the way to the deposit page - with logging in and using my US address, . . . there was no block that would have stopped me from entering my CC for payment.

 

Thanks in advance,

Before you can book a sruise on the UK website you will need a permanent UK address. I am a UK citizen but a permanent resident alien living in the US. I tried to book a cruise with the UK website without any success despite the fact I could have paid for it in GB pounds sterling but without that address they would not let me do it.

If you should find a way please post how you did it.

[postmeome]

We are cruising on Adventure late May 2013 and the UK prices are substantially cheaper than the US ones.

 

As UK residents we frequently book cruises with a US agent when it is in our interest to do so, pay in $US and take the hit if the exchange rate goes against us. I don't see any reason why you could not book with a UK agent in £s but I do invisage a problem if you try to book direct with RCI. You would of course need a credit card that either doesn't charge extra or whose charges are minimal for international use.

do these prices include flights?

as a uk resident i can book a european cruise for £299 but this does not include a flight,flight included is more than double

i can book 7 day allure or oasis for £399 but flight would cost me £600

swings and roundabouts:)

[will773]

i can book 7 day allure or oasis for £399

 

:eek::eek::eek:

[Elizanessie]

i can book 7 day allure or oasis for £399

 

I cannot find a price like that anywhere for Oasis or Allure...well not for a 7 nighter anyway.:confused:

[brentp]

A couple of follow ups.

 

Prices above are apples to apples - cruise and taxes, no air or pre-paid gratuities. I would book air separately anyway and spend some extra time in London. Outside cabin class on the Jewel, . . . 12nt Baltic - pretty much all the dates are coming up this way.

 

Not sure about requiring a UK address - I did get that response from a 3rd party UK TA that was offering some additional discounts, . . . but this would be direct with RCCL's UK site - first indications are this might work.

 

I did find someone else that posted a few months back that they were able to completely book the cruise through the UK website, make on-board reservations, . . . but at the time of posting, had not yet set sail.

 

So, . . . anyone successfully done this, . . . and sailed?????

[Elaine0138]

Remember if you book through the UK once you have booked your deposit is non refundable

[foxesden1]

I would try and find a UK travel agt and book with them. But make sure you understand the travel laws regarding deposits, etc.

[villauk]

Non-refundable deposits (£150 pp) and you are charged for changing to other sailings should you have to rearrange. Check if the TA gives price drops as some UK TAs don't and those that do, only the first drop is free, any other changes I believe cost £35 per alteration. You may be able to negotiate a discount off the RCI web price with a UK TA, best contact a few and see what they offer.

[postmeome]

I cannot find a price like that anywhere for Oasis or Allure...well not for a 7 nighter anyway.:confused:

sorry probably mixed up between $ and£ plus port fees etc.

but does price op said include flights?:confused:

[brentp]

FWIW - I mentioned that I found one other person that has done this but had not yet sailed. Here is the link, . . . I am trying to contact them. :)

 

Reference to the Recent Post of the Person That Has Done This

[sheila59]

I do it but the other way around, I normally book my cruise and return flights with a USA company, I get the return flights for much cheaper and normally the cruise. I can understand you finding it cheaper on UK sites as we have 2 cruise booked and the one booked later in the year we booked through a travel agent that has companies in both UK and USA, the cruise is much cheaper on the UK site.

The one we are doing at the end of this month is much cheaper through a USA company so we have gone with them.

[norn iron]

We are cruising on Adventure late May 2013 and the UK prices are substantially cheaper than the US ones.

 

As UK residents we frequently book cruises with a US agent when it is in our interest to do so, pay in $US and take the hit if the exchange rate goes against us. I don't see any reason why you could not book with a UK agent in £s but I do invisage a problem if you try to book direct with RCI. You would of course need a credit card that either doesn't charge extra or whose charges are minimal for international use.

 

I have booked a week on Adventure of the Seas for a week in June through a US agent. The starting price was £214 for an inside and £279 for a balcony.

I haven't found any UK agent anywhere near these price. Return flights to Malaga were £177 all in.

[brentp]

 

Current Costs for the same cabin class per person are:

US Website: $2373.29 USD (Cruise + Taxes)

UK Website: 999.00 GBP (Cruise + Taxes) - ~$1310. USD @ Today Exchange Rate.

 

 

Ooops, . . . I made a bit of a mistake in the original post - my bad. Thought I had GBP selected for my currency converter, . . . only to now realize it was still on the Euro from another conversion I was doing. Updates are below.

 

Current Costs for the same cabin class per person are:

US Website: $2373.29 USD (Cruise + Taxes)

UK Website: 999.00 GBP (Cruise + Taxes) - ~$1590. USD @ Today's Exchange Rate.

 

This is still a savings of over $1500 for the 2 of us. Frankly, I don't think we would go on this trip if we have to pay the US rate - there is another trip in the mix that we would likely go for.