Need help - German in-laws problems booking US cruise

[Basman]

Wanted to see if anyone could help me with this problem? My sister-in-law and her husband, who are German citizen, are trying to book a cruise on the brilliance of the seas in April. We were told that they couldn't book through the US Royal Caribbean site and they've been having problems trying to book over the Internet via the German site.

 

My questions are:

1-do they have to book through the German Royal Caribbean site?

2-Will they be able to access our reservation number to coordinate the dinner reservations through the German site?

3-and is there anything else we need to be aware of when trying to coordinate a cruise with non-US citizens?

 

The other details are, it's 16 April sailing and the only port is Cozumel if that makes a difference.

 

We appreciate any feedback you can give us so we can hopefully make the reservations.

Thanks, Bob

[seaotter15]

Not sure if this will be any help, but I am pretty sure they will have to go through the German website. My mother-in-law in Germany tried to by us onboard credit as a Christmas gift, but was unable to as the site only accepted addresses in the USA. So I assume booking will be the same?

[Ourusualbeach]

You could do the bookings for them. It might mean juggling the reservations and putting one of them in with you and one with your spouse and then switching sleeping arrangements once on board.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Ourusualbeach

[davidsmum]

when we traveled with my family from the UK, they booked in the UK and we booked in Canada.

 

the issue was we weren't able to link the bookings online as they were booked in different currencies.

 

this made making dinner reservations a challenge and we ended up having to amend our bookings once on board.

[Basman]

Thank you for your feedback. I talked to RCI and they confirmed what DavidsMum said. Appreciate the clarification about the dinning reservations needing to be resolve on board.

 

They did tell me that I could make the reservations through the US site on their behalf pending I paid for it in dollars, used a US/Canadian address, they had valid passports w/ 6 months before expiration and we took care of any visa requirements.

 

Thanks again to all for your inputs,

Bob

[steamboats]

Bob,

 

1- If they want to book online they can do it only do it in Euro (they can use the .com website but prices are shown in Euro and the booking will go through the Frankfurt office).

 

Same if they do use a German TA. Anyway you´d be able to book a cabin for them in the US (but then it´s you booking). Some US TAs also do accept German customers. Then it´s automatically a US booking. A (German) friend of mine is using an US TA for his bookings.

 

2 - Booking numbers can be linked but you have to do it. This feature is blocked for German customers. A German TA can link bookings but we can´t do it in MyCruises. I had my US friends link my booking with theirs several times. With bookings linked either of the parties can make reservations for restaurants, shows... I was able to coordinate show bookings for us and my friend onboard the Oasis when they mixed it all up again.

 

3 - No, as soon as your bookings are linked you´re fine. Your SIL might ask her cabin attendent to get her the English Cruise Compasses as the German translation is... yep, if you want to have a good laugh... And usually even the schedule is not correct. Stuff is missing, other activities are listed (which of course never happen)...

 

steamboats

[Sarvowinner]

They could use a US online TA - that's what I did for my next cruise.

For my last cruise, I booked via the Australian RCI site for two couples. My mother (who lives in Toronto) booked via a Canadian TA. When it came to linking the bookings for dinner sittings and also her gaining the OBC credit coming from my Nextcruise credit, her TA said it was impossible as the North American RC customer service said it couldn't see my reservation in the system. I contacted RCI International customer service (in Guatamala) who could see all the reservations and they facilitated the linkage and the OBC.

[Miryam1234]

A side note: RCI has divided Europe into sales different sales regions, like France, German, Scandinavia etc. Each sales region is supposed to handle customers from their area, since customer protection laws are a bit different even among EU countries.

 

However, since EU protects customers overall against unfair competition, we are able to claim that we are entitled to any prices published within EU, if we accept the rules & regulations of that area and currency. That means; we as Scandinavians were able to utilize France EUR pricing on our upcoming Allure TA which saverd us almost 500 EUR. But we are now also handled as any French customer, meaning we have their cancellation fees, due dates etc. The only annoying thing is that all automatic info through emails is given out in French even though RCI French site is published both in English & French. (This is not a real problem for us, just annoying because my French is much worse than my English or German)

 

This might not help with non EUR-countries, for exchange rates, but for those EU countries using EUR, it might be worth checking. Since my booking in Nov I have found several great "weekend sales" in France, which are not visible for me if I have RCI website country setting as "Finland".

 

This does not help the OP, but I though I would share in the hope it might help some other fellow cruiser.

[Con5421]

I'm from The Netherlands and i can book on the America site.

[steamboats]

I'm from The Netherlands and i can book on the America site.

 

In US Dollar in the US?

 

For - unless you use anything to enable this - the US website (.com) is automatically recognizing our country of origin and then shows the "local" prices and currency. So as my computer is located in Germany the .com websites shows exactly the same price as the .de website and of course in Euro.

 

The Frankfurt office is reponsible for the German speaking market, meaning Germany, Austria and Switzerland. But even the .ch website has other prices than the German or Austria website (and of course in Swiss Francs not in Euro).

 

steamboats

[Basman]

Thanks you for the additional information. I am amazed at how much detailed information people have and how accessible it is - all you have to do is ask. This is a great resource.

 

Just wanted to give everyone an update of what happened. When I booked, the RCI rep told me they could call the US number, but they would need to have a US address to book. While it could be done that way, it created more confusion and they spent several hours trying to make their reservation with no success.

 

They went through the German RCI on Monday and made their reservation effortlessly. One other thing, they gave them my reservation number and all of our dining reservations have been coordinated.

 

Thanks again

[sg1phileshipper]

I am not from the US either, and I could book a cruise in the USA, through RCI, by calling them up. Was looking for some info, told them I had to ask my mom, and they told me I could call them if I wanted to book. Didn't do it, because if the dollars goes up against the euro, cruise will be more expensive....

It's great you're booked. I hope you'll all enjoy your cruise :)

 

Cindy

Edited February 26, 2015 by sg1phileshipper