Future cruise deposit benefits?

[BarbaraB2]

We are getting ready to take our first Oceania cruise and wanted information regarding booking another cruise onboard. What are the benefits of doing so? Are the fares different from what's publicized? Are the perks increased? What is the benefit of purchasing a Future Cruise Deposit? :confused:

[skiladyldp]

For us, we got a total of $400.00 credit for a future booking. Virginia

[Saltyscot]

We are currently trying to sort out an issue with Oceania regarding a future cruise we booked whilst onboard Riviera in September. Whilst onboard, we received a promotion in our stateroom advertising a $550 saving when booking a verandah stateroom for a particular cruise we liked. We duly booked this cruise thinking we had saved $550, but when we arrived home, there was an Oceania brochure waiting for us selling our cruise at exactly the same price we had paid onboard- we had not saved $550 booking oboard. Our TA spoke to Oceania who said basically the price was the price and she could only give us an email address if we wanted to complain. We have written to Oceania and are awaiting a reply. So just check offers very carefully before booking.

[sitraveler]

The benefits to on board booking have been

Half price deposits

various discounts on most cruises

$100. credit on current cruise.

 

Discounts have been only available on outside cabins of late.

[marilynfaye]

If you make a deposit for a future cruise, you have two years to apply it and you get whatever discount you would have gotten if you had actually been on board at the time of booking. You can request a refund of that deposit at any time. So, there really is no down side except your cash is tied up. We did this while on board last September. We knew we wanted to sail South America, but the itineraries weren't out yet. When they did come out a couple of weeks later, we booked our cruise, the deposit was applied and we got a small discount. As seasoned O cruisers know, those on board discounts are not what they used to be. It used to be 5%. Now they vary by cruise and cabin category, but don't seem to come close to 5%. But, better than nothing.

 

Marilyn

[Hawaiidan]

If you make a deposit for a future cruise, you have two years to apply it and you get whatever discount you would have gotten if you had actually been on board at the time of booking. You can request a refund of that deposit at any time. So, there really is no down side except your cash is tied up. We did this while on board last September. We knew we wanted to sail South America, but the itineraries weren't out yet. When they did come out a couple of weeks later, we booked our cruise, the deposit was applied and we got a small discount. As seasoned O cruisers know, those on board discounts are not what they used to be. It used to be 5%. Now they vary by cruise and cabin category, but don't seem to come close to 5%. But, better than nothing.

 

Marilyn

 

The only remote advantage is if you want a special cabin that has limited inventory..... Book with an agent you have a relation with and you will find priced 8 to 10% cheaper than on board....

[corpkid]

We did that last month for an upcoming British Isles cruise in July. We received a $200 stateroom credit for the cruise we were on. That's about it. I thought it was paltry, but we were going to book it anyways and it was literally the last day of a sale they had (extra $1500 off PP) so we can't really complain and just did it. Checked the latest prices and they are indeed, $1500 more than what we paid.

 

Cruise pricing is such a complicated matter, no?

[BarbaraB2]

We did that last month for an upcoming British Isles cruise in July. We received a $200 stateroom credit for the cruise we were on. That's about it. I thought it was paltry, but we were going to book it anyways and it was literally the last day of a sale they had (extra $1500 off PP) so we can't really complain and just did it. Checked the latest prices and they are indeed, $1500 more than what we paid.

 

Cruise pricing is such a complicated matter, no?

 

Yes, cruise pricing is VERY complicated. Do I understand you correctly that you did indeed get a $1500 reduction in the cabin price PLUS OBC of $200?

Was the reduction off of the full listed price from O, or from their published 'Sale' price?

[dorisis]

We have found that future cruise bookings onboard are not as good as working with a TA who has good connections to Oceania. When I do book onboard I can have the booking switched to my TA and get the additional benefits.

[corpkid]

We have found that future cruise bookings onboard are not as good as working with a TA who has good connections to Oceania. When I do book onboard I can have the booking switched to my TA and get the additional benefits.

 

As did we. One thing they told us at future booking was that we MUST have a TA, which our very experienced O TA told us, not so! Either way, we gave them that TA info, then switched when we got home (we booked last cruise with timeshare points, thus had to use their limited TA).

[YoHoHo]

We have found that future cruise bookings onboard are not as good as working with a TA who has good connections to Oceania. When I do book onboard I can have the booking switched to my TA and get the additional benefits.

An on-board booking is automatically assigned to your current TA so no need to have it switched (unless for some reason the current booking was not made through your favourite TA.

The only remote advantage is if you want a special cabin that has limited inventory..... Book with an agent you have a relation with and you will find priced 8 to 10% cheaper than on board....

So book on board for that discount & have your agent will do their magic. have cake and can eat it too

 

General opinion

A Future Cruise Deposit (FDC) is an okay idea but actually booking a cruise on board to get the extra booking discount, unless you are certain you want to take it and as Hawaiidan points out, has limited availablity on a cabin your want, I think is a screwy system.

 

We did this and now regret it. The offer was half-price deposit, so less 'tied up' (but for us as CDNs the possible loss due to currency spread on a refund is greater risk anyway) plus $100 OBC on the current cruise if we actually make a booking vs. a FCD.

 

The deposit can be transferred once to another sailing and, like a FCD, whatever the on-board booking discount is offered at that time will apply. If one simply cancels (outside of normal penalty time lines) the deposit is refunded less the $100 OBC (fair enough)

 

First off I don't like this program because it encourages phantom bookings just like the old one. Perhaps O knows that x% of phantom bookings will not be cancelled and that % is higher that FCD never turning into bookings so they are okay with it. I am sure on-board impulse purchases are very important but the not knowing the actual price removes that impulse for me.

 

As for me selecting a cruise I really do not like the not knowing the bottom line until I sit down with the on board sales person and go through this and that and that and this. Sheets and sheets of promotions are sent to the cabins with listings of this cruise at $150 pp off or $250 on that but it also depends on the cabin on the sailing so the one with a $150 off balcony might have $350 of a PH but the one with $250 off balcony might have $300 off PH.

 

who knows - who cares. It was sooo much easier to 'shop' with the 5% or even flat $200 (an perhaps an occasional special $400 on a soon-to-sail cruise). This newer method is too complicated for a few $$

 

I should have either put down full price deposit for a FCD or not bothered.

[findacruise]

We were on Nautica in June and had already booked our upcoming November cruise. While we were on board, our TA told us we would be able to get the on board booking credit for our November cruise. It ended up being $185 pp. A pleasant surprise! We would not have been able to use the certificates they used to send out, as it was an already booked cruise.

[YoHoHo]

We were on Nautica in June and had already booked our upcoming November cruise. While we were on board, our TA told us we would be able to get the on board booking credit for our November cruise. It ended up being $185 pp. A pleasant surprise! We would not have been able to use the certificates they used to send out, as it was an already booked cruise.

Actually in the olden days you could still get the 5%/$200 on-board booking discount (i.e. what was offered also on the certificate you receive once your home) on an already booked cruise (they did not want to penalize you for cruising with a booking). I have never used the 'certificate' itself but have requested this discount from the on-board sales person.

 

They always had to 'check with Miami' and would follow-up with a letter of what discount was determined. More completely they had rules that the cruise must still have some cabins in the same category to get full amount or must have availability ... etc etc. They worked it out.

 

none-the-less getting a $185 pp on an already booked cruise would make a great day at sea even better.