Onboard booking...How would this work?

[Iamthesea]

First of all, I have a question. Is the 1-2-3 still being offered onboard Celebrity ships for onboard booking? I realize that the regular promo ends tonight, but will it remain for onboard bookings?

 

OK, this scenario is confusing! We will be sailing on a RCCL ship at the end of August. I wanted to make an onboard booking for a Celebrity sailing while onboard the RCCL Oasis.

 

How would the onboard booking incentive of OBC work when making a booking for another cruiseline? :confused: Would we get immediate OBC for the RCCL sailing? Would we receive the 1-2-3?

 

Any recent experience?

[Iamthesea]

Does anybody have an idea? :rolleyes:

[Tara Jane]

Things may have changed but last September when we were on RCCL Legends of the seas we weren't able to make a booking on Celebrity, only on RCCL. The previous September we were on the Celebrity Solstice and could only book Celebrity while on board.

[Iamthesea]

I wonder if that could have anything to do with where you are from?

 

There have been more recent reports of passengers booking future bookings on opposite cruiselines. I did read one review where a Loyalty folks frowned upon it, but it is suppose to be available.

[hulamoon]

This option was enthusiastically available in April on the Equinox.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you...I thought so. ;)

[pcur]

I just got off the Vision on 8/4/14, and they were booking both RCCL and Celebrity cruises onboard.

[Iamthesea]

Do you have any details?

 

Here is my question, again. ;)

 

We will be sailing on a RCCL ship at the end of August. I wanted to make an onboard booking for a Celebrity sailing while onboard the RCCL Oasis.

How would the booking incentive of OBC work when making a booking for another cruiseline? :confused: With the changes in how the OBC is given, would we get immediate OBC for the RCCL sailing? Or would we get a future OBC for Celebrity? Would we receive the 1-2-3? Confusing! :eek:

 

[pcur]

Do you have any details?

 

Here is my question, again. ;)

 

We will be sailing on a RCCL ship at the end of August. I wanted to make an onboard booking for a Celebrity sailing while onboard the RCCL Oasis.

How would the booking incentive of OBC work when making a booking for another cruiseline? :confused: With the changes in how the OBC is given, would we get immediate OBC for the RCCL sailing? Or would we get a future OBC for Celebrity? Would we receive the 1-2-3? Confusing! :eek:

 

 

You book it like any other future cruise. RCCL, Celebrity, and Azamara are all owned by RCCL, so you can book any of their cruises on any of their ships. The Future Cruise Consultant knows how to do it, and they have written instructions they pull out to refresh their memories if possible. The booking OBC goes according to the policies of the cruiseline you are booking the new cruise for, and Celebrity's obc is more generous than RCCL.

[Tiggertastic]

My understanding is 123 is available to book onboard

[jelayne]

Yes you can book a Celebrity cruise on Royal and you will get the 123 promo. Did it a couple of months ago. Not sure how the OBC will work as it is now applied to the cruise you are on when you book.

[cruisecle]

First of all, I have a question. Is the 1-2-3 still being offered onboard Celebrity ships for onboard booking? I realize that the regular promo ends tonight, but will it remain for onboard bookings?

 

OK, this scenario is confusing! We will be sailing on a RCCL ship at the end of August. I wanted to make an onboard booking for a Celebrity sailing while onboard the RCCL Oasis.

 

How would the onboard booking incentive of OBC work when making a booking for another cruiseline? :confused: Would we get immediate OBC for the RCCL sailing? Would we receive the 1-2-3?

 

Any recent experience?

 

I believe we are sailing with you on the Equinox this coming Feb. We booked the cruise while on a RCCL ship. Got the 1-2-3 and OBC the same as if we were booking while on a Celebrity ship.

[Iamthesea]

:rolleyes:Yes, Tigger, the 1-2-3 is available for onboard bookings. Taken advantage of that for my last few cruises.

 

Yes you can book a Celebrity cruise on Royal and you will get the 123 promo. Did it a couple of months ago. Not sure how the OBC will work as it is now applied to the cruise you are on when you book.

 

BINGO...that is the question. :)

 

cruisecle - Yes, I am on that cruise with you. ;) You probably booked it before the new Celebrity OBC change took effect. Change was at the end of May 2014.

 

Oh well, I guess I will find out at the end of the month how the credit will work. :rolleyes:

Edited August 7, 2014 by Iamthesea

[helen haywood]

That's what I want to know as well. Specifically where the OBC is allocated. If one books a Celebrity cruise while on a Royal cruise, will the OBC for the Celebrity cruise show up as OBC for the future Celebrity cruise or will it be given as OBC on the Royal cruise the cruiser is currently on.

[rmalbers]

Wow, wouldn't the OBC have to be on the future cruise, otherwise people would game it and get the OBC, use it, then just cancel the future cruise. If that worked word would get around quick, LOL!

[Iamthesea]

That's what I want to know as well. Specifically where the OBC is allocated. If one books a Celebrity cruise while on a Royal cruise, will the OBC for the Celebrity cruise show up as OBC for the future Celebrity cruise or will it be given as OBC on the Royal cruise the cruiser is currently on.

 

I hope not, because the RCCL cruise that we are going to be on is only a 2 nighter. No way we could use 150+ OBC for that cruise.

 

Wow, wouldn't the OBC have to be on the future cruise, otherwise people would game it and get the OBC, use it, then just cancel the future cruise. If that worked word would get around quick, LOL!

 

That's not how the new system works. The deposit for the cruise equals the OBC amount and the deposit is non-refundable. It's no longer just $100pp deposit, It's the full deposit that you put down. ;) Also, if the OBC is not spent onboard, the unused amount IS refunded to your credit card. it's a win, win, but not sure how it would work when booking one cruiseline while on another.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Iamthesea

[Algebralovr]

:

 

cruisecle - Yes, I am on that cruise with you. ;) You probably booked it before the new Celebrity OBC change took effect. Change was at the end of May 2014.

 

 

 

I thought that was an experiment on just one or two ships? I booked 3 future cruises on Equinox in June and only put down $100 per person per cruise. The OBC we received was dependent on the class of room and the length of the cruise we were booking.

 

Has this now spread to all the ships?

[helen haywood]

The information I received about this, on another thread I started, is that receiving the OBC for the future cruise on the cruise you were currently on was something that Celebrity tried on a couple of ships for a few months but they have now gone back to the old way of doing it.

 

The way it worked under the new (now obsolete) program was you got the OBC on the current cruise. If you booked it the last day and couldn't spend it it was credited to your credit card. It therefore was non-refundable because you either spent the OBC on your current cruise or it was a credit to your credit card.

 

I'm glad they decided not to continue with that.

[Iamthesea]

I thought that was an experiment on just one or two ships? I booked 3 future cruises on Equinox in June and only put down $100 per person per cruise. The OBC we received was dependent on the class of room and the length of the cruise we were booking.

 

Has this now spread to all the ships?

 

The information I received about this, on another thread I started, is that receiving the OBC for the future cruise on the cruise you were currently on was something that Celebrity tried on a couple of ships for a few months but they have now gone back to the old way of doing it.

 

The way it worked under the new (now obsolete) program was you got the OBC on the current cruise. If you booked it the last day and couldn't spend it it was credited to your credit card. It therefore was non-refundable because you either spent the OBC on your current cruise or it was a credit to your credit card.

 

I'm glad they decided not to continue with that.

 

 

That's interesting news that I had not heard. I thought it was a done deal. :)

 

I wish someone had mentioned this at the beginning of this thread. :rolleyes:

[floridafolks]

The information I received about this, on another thread I started, is that receiving the OBC for the future cruise on the cruise you were currently on was something that Celebrity tried on a couple of ships for a few months but they have now gone back to the old way of doing it.

 

The way it worked under the new (now obsolete) program was you got the OBC on the current cruise. If you booked it the last day and couldn't spend it it was credited to your credit card. It therefore was non-refundable because you either spent the OBC on your current cruise or it was a credit to your credit card.

 

I'm glad they decided not to continue with that.

 

When did they decide not to continue it? Are you sure about that?

 

On July 14th, Celebrity Cruises responded on another thread:

 

"Special Update: Onboard Solstice, Eclipse, Constellation, Silhouette, Equinox, and Summit, the benefit of up to $500 with a Cruise Now booking is being given to you during your current cruise. Guests are enjoying instant Onboard Credits during this voyage and 123Go for their next voyage. Just something new we've begun to roll out on the fleet. It's going very well and guests are very excited to not only book their next reservation, but to get the instant OBC to spend on Tours, Gift Shops, Spa, Specialty Restaurants and more."

 

Indeed it was started as an idea on just the Silhouette and Constellation originally, but it has since spread to the other ships listed above.

Edited August 8, 2014 by floridafolks

[Algebralovr]

Can't spend all my time on these boards, I have a job to pay for my cruises!

 

One thing to be aware of, while you can book on board for any of the sister lines, not all the agents have experience with booking on the sister lines. We saw someone go through that on Equinox. The woman in front of us wanted to book on RCCL and the FC guy was clueless. She walked away annoyed looking.

 

Best bet is to go in knowing what you want to book, and if possible with the flyer that shows the perks, to make things smooth.

 

The online version of the flyer is still live: http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/13033187_CEL_Onboard_Passages_Form.pdf

[Algebralovr]

When did they decide not to continue it? Are you sure about that?

 

On July 14th, Celebrity Cruises responded on another thread:

 

"Special Update: Onboard Solstice, Eclipse, Constellation, Silhouette, Equinox, and Summit, the benefit of up to $500 with a Cruise Now booking is being given to you during your current cruise. Guests are enjoying instant Onboard Credits during this voyage and 123Go for their next voyage. Just something new we've begun to roll out on the fleet. It's going very well and guests are very excited to not only book their next reservation, but to get the instant OBC to spend on Tours, Gift Shops, Spa, Specialty Restaurants and more."

 

Indeed it was started as an idea on just the Silhouette and Constellation originally, but it has since spread to the other ships listed above.

 

Interesting news. I missed that one, plus I cannot find the flyer for it. I like the earlier version better, particularly when I'm booking for the entire family and want the OBC for the future cruise. On the other hand, the newer version with the instant OBC does not allow you to cancel and get your deposit back. Better for the Celebrity bottom line that way.

[Algebralovr]

I found this: http://www.celebrityonboardcruisesales.com/ which suggests that the flyer may still be good.

 

No telling exactly, since the OP will be sailing on RCCL ship, rather than a X ship. OP, we have provided what info we can. Please come back in a couple weeks and let us know how it went!

[Iamthesea]

I will! :);)

 

I know exactly what I want to book. And a great idea to take a copy of the current flyer for Celebrity.

 

The flyer that I received in May, on the Constellation, is not the first flyer that you linked to. That was a 2013 publication. The second link also seems to be outdate, although it is a 2014 publication. We will see! ;)

Edited August 8, 2014 by Iamthesea