any negs to booking next cruise on board

[Orbweaver]

hi going on cruise saturday and was thinking about booking next cruise while onboard. we have the date we want and have heard about getting on board credit is there any down size to booking it onboard. thanks for the help

[Clarea]

hi going on cruise saturday and was thinking about booking next cruise while onboard. we have the date we want and have heard about getting on board credit is there any down size to booking it onboard. thanks for the help

Except for maybe the time you have to spend at the LA's desk, I can't think of any downside to booking a specific cruise on board.

[TBone2K]

No downside per se. However I like to have all the info about pricing options and promos and so on. So if you are like me, do your research ahead of time and know what cruise you want before you go. Saves a lot of time. You can access the RC website for free from the internet stations.

 

On the other hand, if you have no clue about what cruise you want, they can be helpful there as well. Obviously RC biased, but they most likely know a lot about the ships and what cruise is a good fit for you likes.

[Beachammo]

Except for maybe the time you have to spend at the LA's desk, I can't think of any downside to booking a specific cruise on board.

 

The only MAJOR downside for me is not getting that great cabin while you are waiting for your next cruise to start.

 

Shelton

[Cheryl H]

We've only done it once....and the only down side to me was that we simply did an open booking. That was in October. Then we only just decided on which sailing we want. It all worked perfectly, except one thing. Back in October when I purchased it, I should have purchased our travel insurance.

 

So after recently assigning a sailing to our booking number, when I went to purchase our usual insurance, it asked for our initial deposit date which was clear back in October. Ugh. For that company, it had to be purchased within 21 days of initial deposit to have the medical condition lookback waived. Not a big deal, I ended up finding another insurance company that made it work because they only consider the intial deposit as a good faith deposit.

 

However, none of that will apply to you since you already know what sailing you want.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[ksadonnab]

We've only done it once....and the only down side to me was that we simply did an open booking. That was in October. Then we only just decided on which sailing we want. It all worked perfectly, except one thing. Back in October when I purchased it, I should have purchased our travel insurance.

 

So after recently assigning a sailing to our booking number, when I went to purchase our usual insurance, it asked for our initial deposit date which was clear back in October. Ugh. For that company, it had to be purchased within 21 days of initial deposit to have the medical condition lookback waived. Not a big deal, I ended up finding another insurance company that made it work because they only consider the intial deposit as a good faith deposit.

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

The initial deposit date to me would have meant when I actually chose the sailing not when I purchased the next cruise certificate.

[Cheryl H]

The initial deposit date to me would have meant when I actually chose the sailing not when I purchased the next cruise certificate.

 

That's what I thought too....but when I called RCCL to tell them what cruise I want assigned to our booking number....they emailed me my booking and they kept the original booking date of October when we purchased the next cruise option.

[steveru621]

The biggest downside I have found is you can't take too much time choosing your cabin. I've always felt rushed. The OBC makes it all better!

 

My strongest suggestion; go in and do a dummy booking for the cabin class you are shooting for. Most important, print out the Summary of charges and make sure it matches the booking confirmation the LA will print out for you. Don't let them just email, ask for a printed copy! On one cruise the LA had totally different larger dollars than I was seeing online. Took me three trips to the LA to get it fixed.

 

On our last cruise we booked 3 cruises for 2015 for BOGOHO. The LA Nathaniel did it right. I wish he was available for all our bookings.

 

Enjoy your future cruise.

Edited June 12, 2014 by steveru621

[ksadonnab]

That's what I thought too....but when I called RCCL to tell them what cruise I want assigned to our booking number....they emailed me my booking and they kept the original booking date of October when we purchased the next cruise option.

 

Oh My.....You are absolutely right. I just checked my booking confirmation and the booking date shows Nov 6, 2012 when I actually booked this cruise at the end of 2013. Hmmmmm. Good to know. Thank you!

 

I guess another reason it didn't become an issue with me is becasue I just went with the rccl protection plan.

 

I know, I know - I've heard from this board that it's not really good insurance but...............

Edited June 12, 2014 by ksadonnab

[shelbylook]

I called the company we always insure with just after we returned from our last cruise. We purchased a open booking NCC and I was afraid I would have to pay for insurance right then to cover pre-existing conditions (we have to have that coverage). The company said we didn't need to purchase the insurance until we booked. Made sense to me otherwise they'd be insuring something that really didn't exist and had no value to insure.

 

Cathy

[jndsilver31]

DW and I are booked for Allure of the Seas on 9-21-14. We booked this cruise last October when we were on the Freedom of the Seas. We had a list of the 10 cabins that we wanted and lucky us our #1 choice we open. We are going to book our 4-18-16 Serenade of the Seas cruise when we are on the Allure and again I will have a list of the 10 cabins we want. This works for us

[eel]

Here is one "gotcha" to watch out for. If you booked your current cruise through a Travel Agent, they will assign any cruise booked on board to the same travel agent unless you tell them specifically not to. So if you want to have time to "shop" for good deals from travel agents after you get home, then make sure you tell them not to assign the booking to the TA you use for the current cruise. You have 60 days from the booking date to transfer the booking to the TA of your choice. Sometimes you can get additional OBC or prepaid gratuities this way.

 

This is especially true if your booking is "iffy" and may be cancelled. Some TAs charge a cancellation fee and you don't want that if you think there is a reasonable chance you will cancel.

[Jocko97]

Get your cabin number in the appointment book as soon as you can. Prime time appointments book up fast.

 

 

I kept repeating my impersonation of Clark Griswold in the parking lot of Wally World......"First ones here! "

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Guest maddycat]

Make sure to double check all of your paper work. The last LA that we worked with on the Explorer misspelled my first name. I had to go back and have her redo all of the forms.

[39august]

As soon as you can after boarding, go to the Loyalty Ambassador's (future cruises) desk and make a reservation.

[somerandomidiot]

Here is one "gotcha" to watch out for. If you booked your current cruise through a Travel Agent, they will assign any cruise booked on board to the same travel agent unless you tell them specifically not to. So if you want to have time to "shop" for good deals from travel agents after you get home, then make sure you tell them not to assign the booking to the TA you use for the current cruise. You have 60 days from the booking date to transfer the booking to the TA of your choice. Sometimes you can get additional OBC or prepaid gratuities this way.

 

This is especially true if your booking is "iffy" and may be cancelled. Some TAs charge a cancellation fee and you don't want that if you think there is a reasonable chance you will cancel.

 

Yes, this is a HUGE pain. Make sure the booking is assigned to Royal and not a TA unless you are absolutely sure you are going to use the booking with them.

[rubrrick]

Many of us have found out that doing a Next Cruise booking, without knowing the ship and sail date, is, today.......a waste of good money.

 

The old NCC's were a good deal, but today, you need to book a ship and sail date to get a good deal, and you are allowed to change it ONE TIME ONLY.

 

Changing it a second time will result in an increase in deposit monies required.

 

To just purchase a NCC.....I think the best deal is getting a $25.00 OBC.

 

I'm sure that Royal Caribbean is happy with that, but that is also in the American market place. Who knows what is going on in Asia, where Royal Caribbean is headed anyway, because the bottom line is better there.;)

 

Rick