Wishing I hadn't prepurchased Internet and drink packages

[Blackjackmark]

I didn't realize how the NextCruise worked and could easily earn a $500 OBC by booking the next cruise and spend it had I not prepurchased the Internet and drink packages prior to the cruise. I'm on the ship now. I don't suppose they would be willing to reverse those charges and apply them to my OBC would they? :p

 

I guess I could just ask them...maybe it'd give them a good laugh!

[truffles2]

Can you not have the on board credit applied to whatever cruise you choose when you use the next cruise certificate. I would NOT want it on the cruise on which I am getting the next cruise certificate but I understand that is what they are "pushing" these days.

[Blackjackmark]

My goal was to essentially double-dip and pay for the $200 of charges already charged to my account with the OBC I earned by booking the next cruise. I figured at the worst I'm paying the $200 I would have paid anyway...but by booking another cruise that earns $200 OBC for the cruise I'm currently on, I get that $200 as my deposit on a future cruise.

 

So assuming i was told correctly, I can change the future cruise I booked today to a different one and do that repeatedly as long as it's done before the final payment is due. Thus my $200 I spent on this cruise is acting as a $200 credit towards my next cruise.

 

Had I realized this was how it worked, I would have waited and bought the Internet and drink packages onboard and then booked a NextCruise that would have earned me a $500 OBC for my current cruise.

 

My only concern is that in another thread someone stated you could only rebook once and also you couldn't rebook into a lower stateroom than your initial NextCruise booking. I asked today and was told that my $200 credit that was earned booking a Grand Suite could still be applied to my next booking even if I changed to an interior cabin. If that's the case I'll be upset but I guess not really out any extra money since I would have had to pay $200 in charges tonight when we dock anyway. But it would sure be nice if that full $200 is there for me regardless of the type of room I eventually buy.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Let us know how it worked out for you.

Edited August 29, 2015 by suzyluvs2cruise

[whitshel]

We booked onboard and were told we could switch as many times as we wanted. We actually just switched our Jewel cruise(booked onboard the NOS and chose the instant OBC) to the Celebrity Summit, the travel agent we linked the reservation to originally wasn't sure if we could cross brands, he called RCCL and they said no problem and since we took the instant OBC we can switch as much as we wanted because we already spent the obc, they cant take that away.

[Inukshuk Gal]

So they will give you $500 credit just for booking another cruise with a $200 deposit? How do they control this? I mean why wouldn't everyone just do that by picking some random cruise and plop down a deposit to get the OBC. Even if you lost the $200 deposit it would still be a better deal. What am I missing?

Edited August 30, 2015 by Inukshuk Gal

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

So they will give you $500 credit just for booking another cruise with a $200 deposit? How do they control this? I mean why wouldn't everyone just do that by picking some random cruise and plop down a deposit to get the OBC. Even if you lost the $200 deposit it would still be a better deal. What am I missing?

 

No, to get the $500 you would have booked a Suite on a 15 night or longer (I think it's 15, might be slightly lower) cruise and paid a $500 deposit.

 

It's divided up into categories by length of cruise and cabin type - Inside/Ocean View, Balcony, Suites - and whatever the OBC is, THAT is your deposit.

[Inukshuk Gal]

No, to get the $500 you would have booked a Suite on a 15 night or longer (I think it's 15, might be slightly lower) cruise and paid a $500 deposit.

 

It's divided up into categories by length of cruise and cabin type - Inside/Ocean View, Balcony, Suites - and whatever the OBC is, THAT is your deposit.

 

Thanks for the clarification, it now makes A LOT more sense!!

[suzyluvs2cruise]

No, to get the $500 you would have booked a Suite on a 15 night or longer (I think it's 15, might be slightly lower) cruise and paid a $500 deposit.

 

It's divided up into categories by length of cruise and cabin type - Inside/Ocean View, Balcony, Suites - and whatever the OBC is, THAT is your deposit.

 

Here is the new OBC/Deposit Breakdown, when booking on board, that went into effect March 8, 2015: The amount of OBC and Deposit are the same now.

 

•5-7 night cruises

◦Interior/Oceanview: $50

◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $100

◦Grand Suite and above: $200

 

•8-10 night cruises

◦Interior/Oceanview: $100

◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $150

◦Grand Suite and above: $300

 

•11-14 night cruises

◦Interior/Oceanview: $150

◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $200

◦Grand Suite and above: $400

 

•15 nights or longer cruises

◦Interior/Oceanview: $200

◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $250

◦Grand Suite and above: $500

[suzyluvs2cruise]

We booked onboard and were told we could switch as many times as we wanted. We actually just switched our Jewel cruise(booked onboard the NOS and chose the instant OBC) to the Celebrity Summit, the travel agent we linked the reservation to originally wasn't sure if we could cross brands, he called RCCL and they said no problem and since we took the instant OBC we can switch as much as we wanted because we already spent the obc, they cant take that away.

 

Understand that you can switch the cruise as many times as you want since you've already spent the OBC but am curious about something. Say you booked a 15 nt cruise in a Grand Suite. $500 deposit/$500 OBC. You take the OBC on the cruise you're on. You then transfer the booking to a 7 night cruise in a Balcony. You still have the $500 as your deposit but the OBC for the balcony should be $100....not the $500 you got and already spent.

[Aeryn]

So, it sounds like there is no choice but to take the OBC instantly? I don't like that at all, please someone tell us there is the choice to take it on the cruise being booked.

[Clarea]

So, it sounds like there is no choice but to take the OBC instantly? I don't like that at all, please someone tell us there is the choice to take it on the cruise being booked.

The LA on Enchantment last week told me that we could still take the OBC on the future cruise.

[John & Lydia]

We have booked while on the cruise a few times in the past and we were never offered or given OBC on that cruise we were currently on, it was always applied to the future cruise that we booked and pd the deposit on. We could pick one and choose to change it later as we did this past cruise. I wanted to go to Maine etc. and then after about a hr or so she thought it would be too cold to do that in Oct. so we went back and changed it to Our upcoming 3 Oct, to Bermuda again.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

So, it sounds like there is no choice but to take the OBC instantly? I don't like that at all, please someone tell us there is the choice to take it on the cruise being booked.

 

We booked on Radiance in March and were able to take the OBC on the future cruises we booked.

[whitshel]

Understand that you can switch the cruise as many times as you want since you've already spent the OBC but am curious about something. Say you booked a 15 nt cruise in a Grand Suite. $500 deposit/$500 OBC. You take the OBC on the cruise you're on. You then transfer the booking to a 7 night cruise in a Balcony. You still have the $500 as your deposit but the OBC for the balcony should be $100....not the $500 you got and already

 

Not sure. I switched for like cabins, so not sure how they would handle that. But I will say that as far as I know celebrity cruises uses the same format, obc = deposit but for a balcony the deposit/ obc is $150 per cabin, but mine didn't change, since my obc was $100 my deposit for the celebrity cruise deposit is only $100. So they definitely will work with you

[whitshel]

So, it sounds like there is no choice but to take the OBC instantly? I don't like that at all, please someone tell us there is the choice to take it on the cruise being booked.

 

You can take the OBC on a future cruise, you get the choice. As for changing it, who knows. All I know is what I was told and what I have done. Now I may call tomorrow and transfer to a different cruise and they may tell me "no". But since it's just a deposit and I already have their money there is probably no reason for them to say "no". So it may be an advantage to take the instant obc but you do still have the choice.

 

And if you are on a cruise and you have a balance on your seapass card of $100 why wouldn't you take the OBC instantly? You basically book a cruise with no deposit. Just wondering?????? People seem to get so upset at the instant obc, but if you have a balance, why not??

[Aeryn]

You can take the OBC on a future cruise, you get the choice. As for changing it, who knows. All I know is what I was told and what I have done. Now I may call tomorrow and transfer to a different cruise and they may tell me "no". But since it's just a deposit and I already have their money there is probably no reason for them to say "no". So it may be an advantage to take the instant obc but you do still have the choice.

 

And if you are on a cruise and you have a balance on your seapass card of $100 why wouldn't you take the OBC instantly? You basically book a cruise with no deposit. Just wondering?????? People seem to get so upset at the instant obc, but if you have a balance, why not??

Thank you for your take, I did not think of it that way. I was concerned though since we are getting a substantial OBC on our fall cruise and not expecting a large balance--but maybe It won't matter. Thank you to all who responded quickly to my question.