What is the benefit of booking another cruise onboard?

[Clarea]

Tried to do a future booking on Freedom at Thanksgiving and absolutely positively could not get them to give the OBC on the future cruise, they insisted that the only option was to give OBC on the current cruise.

 

Even to the point of pulling up my bill with me to go through and see if I had any refundable OBC that I would be able to get back since I would not have any "balance" on the Freedom cruise to apply the OBC to ....

 

Decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

All I can think of is that the Next Cruise people are getting some sort of incentive to make people take the instant OBC, such that they are willing to lie about the options.

[impatientlywaiting]

Tried to do a future booking on Freedom at Thanksgiving and absolutely positively could not get them to give the OBC on the future cruise, they insisted that the only option was to give OBC on the current cruise.

 

Even to the point of pulling up my bill with me to go through and see if I had any refundable OBC that I would be able to get back since I would not have any "balance" on the Freedom cruise to apply the OBC to ....

 

Decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

 

They tried that with us too but we remained firm and did NOT back down. I would have sat there all night if I had to.

 

I made a future booking - I booked a cruise as far out as I could - then when the cruise I really want opens up I will transfer my booking.

[jticarruthers]

They tried that with us too but we remained firm and did NOT back down. I would have sat there all night if I had to.

 

I made a future booking - I booked a cruise as far out as I could - then when the cruise I really want opens up I will transfer my booking.

 

I booked a cruise on Carnival instead when we got back ..... make it too painful to make my money from me and eventually I will stop trying to give it to you.

[CanadaRob]

All I can think of is that the Next Cruise people are getting some sort of incentive to make people take the instant OBC, such that they are willing to lie about the options.

 

 

It is either funny or sad I'm not sure which. Some of the NEXT cruise staff are truly engaging.

Some are in the other group. I have both on the same cruise.

I have always loved to look at the options at the Next cruise to see if they have any further dates out from what I can see and also to see if they have any other 'deals' around that I haven't heard about from CC or RCL :)

Some of the staff as noted work really hard to show you your options and know all the deals for all levels of C&A off the top of their head. This is when i book because I feel I have made an informed decision.

 

If someone is bullying me to take instant OBC I would really feel like not booking and would probably stand my ground or leave in a huff....

[wowprincess]

Yes, but if you have opted to take the OBC on the future cruise, they reserve the right to reduce the OBC to that of the Open Booking.

 

On our TA in April 2014 (after the rule changes) we booked a cruise out as far as possible that we knew we wouldn't take to get the benefits because the cruise we wanted wasn't open yet. We were assured we would be able to keep the OBC, etc. We were skeptical. When we called RCI last summer to change the booking to our Hawaii-Sydney cruise for Sept 2016 the rep assured us we could make ONE ship/cruise change to our booking and retain the benefits. But if we moved it again we would go back down to the future-cruise benefits.

 

Not sure how consistent that is, but that's how it worked for us.

[Clarea]

On our TA in April 2014 (after the rule changes) we booked a cruise out as far as possible that we knew we wouldn't take to get the benefits because the cruise we wanted wasn't open yet. We were assured we would be able to keep the OBC, etc. We were skeptical. When we called RCI last summer to change the booking to our Hawaii-Sydney cruise for Sept 2016 the rep assured us we could make ONE ship/cruise change to our booking and retain the benefits. But if we moved it again we would go back down to the future-cruise benefits.

 

Not sure how consistent that is, but that's how it worked for us.

I appreciate the feedback. I may try that technique on our next cruise.

[DonTreadOnMe]

So just to confirm I understand, I can book a 2017, 6 or 7 night sailing Int/Ext room for just $50 (dep) when I am on Navigator in 3 weeks. I then get $50 OBC for my cruise in 3 weeks (which I could use to help cover my tips).

 

Assuming that is correct are there any fees/issues with then changing that booking to a different one at a later time (before the final payment is due), and would it limit what I could/would get with any current offers at that time?

 

Also, does it matter that I would be booking a room for 4 people? Would it still just be $50 dep?

Edited December 30, 2015 by DonTreadOnMe

[Clarea]

So just to confirm I understand, I can book a 2017, 6 or 7 night sailing Int/Ext room for just $50 (dep) when I am on Navigator in 3 weeks. I then get $50 OBC for my cruise in 3 weeks (which I could use to help cover my tips).

 

Assuming that is correct are there any fees/issues with then changing that booking to a different one at a later time (before the final payment is due), and would it limit what I could/would get with any current offers at that time?

 

Also, does it matter that I would be booking a room for 4 people? Would it still just be $50 dep?

No fees to change the booking later. Since you will have taken the OBC immediately, then there would be nothing to lose by changing the ship or sail date. As far as combinability with future offers, there's nothing that you would be combining.

 

The deposit and OBC amounts are per stateroom, regardless of the number of guests in the stateroom.

[lalenalei]

The whole thing is a giant PITA as far as I'm concerned. Extra time trying to move an open booking, difficulty getting the deposit moved to the cruise (they just tried to keep it). Time is money. And mine definitely wasn't worth all the heartache I went through.

 

DCL is much better at this. You can make an open booking and use it within a certain amount of time. Book on opening day and get 10% off plus (usually) the lowest price. That is where the true benefit is, IMO. Specialty cruises not included but the OBC still way larger than RCI.

[chris_kelowna]

This is a good point, because it seems they really push you to use the OBC immediately. Some have een gone so far as to say that you cannot get the OBC on the future cruise.

That happened to us on the Allure TA in Oct/Nov this year. We booked next year's Brilliance TA on the second to last day of the cruise and he insisted that we had to take the OBC immediately. We cashed out at the casino.

 

Sent from my Venue 7 3730 using Tapatalk

[moopetguy]

When I was aboard Oasis in November 2014, I did a "NextCruise" booking. This worked out really well beyond the normal perks of reduced deposit and OBC for two reasons:

 

• There was a special $300 OBC draw that you were entered into, ONLY if you made a NextCruise booking. This was a one-time thing organized by the loyalty desk on Oasis and had nothing to do with RCI corporate. We happened to win that $300 OBC! I saw that our chances were quite good relative to what I expected -- fewer than 10 ballots were in the draw box. I thought far more people would have booked since normally their appointment time slots fill up so quickly. My wife and I treated ourselves to a couples' spa treatment and a specialty dinner.
  
• The USD/CAD exchange rate having gone crazy this year with the CAD falling off a cliff meant we had a good price locked in, immune to the exchange rate change.
  

We weren't given any hassle about deferring the NextCruise booking OBC bonus to the future cruise (which is only 6 days away!).

 

A cool coincidence was that the loyalty desk rep we met with on Oasis was the same rep we had dealt with a year earlier on Explorer!

Edited December 31, 2015 by moopetguy

[Clarea]

When I was aboard Oasis in November 2014, I did a "NextCruise" booking. This worked out really well beyond the normal perks of reduced deposit and OBC for two reasons:

 

• There was a special $300 OBC draw that you were entered into, ONLY if you made a NextCruise booking. This was a one-time thing organized by the loyalty desk on Oasis and had nothing to do with RCI corporate. We happened to win that $300 OBC! I saw that our chances were quite good relative to what I expected -- fewer than 10 ballots were in the draw box. I thought far more people would have booked since normally their appointment time slots fill up so quickly. My wife and I treated ourselves to a couples' spa treatment and a specialty dinner.
  
• The USD/CAD exchange rate having gone crazy this year with the CAD falling off a cliff meant we had a good price locked in, immune to the exchange rate change.
  

We weren't given any hassle about deferring the NextCruise booking OBC bonus to the future cruise (which is only 6 days away!).

 

A cool coincidence was that the loyalty desk rep we met with on Oasis was the same rep we had dealt with a year earlier on Explorer!

Excellent deal you got.:)

[DonTreadOnMe]

No fees to change the booking later. Since you will have taken the OBC immediately, then there would be nothing to lose by changing the ship or sail date. As far as combinability with future offers, there's nothing that you would be combining.

 

The deposit and OBC amounts are per stateroom, regardless of the number of guests in the stateroom.

 

Thanks for the response. The future offers I was referring to would be if the current deal later included OBC, Spa offers, Dining for free, etc. Would I still be eligible for that?

 

What if I book a balcony for $100 but then change to an Oceanview later on, would they just reduce my deposit amount to $50 or would it stay $100?

[Clarea]

Thanks for the response. The future offers I was referring to would be if the current deal later included OBC, Spa offers, Dining for free, etc. Would I still be eligible for that?

 

What if I book a balcony for $100 but then change to an Oceanview later on, would they just reduce my deposit amount to $50 or would it stay $100?

If you change your booking, any promos you had would go poof, however you would be eligible for the then current promos.

 

I don't know the answer to the deposit question.