How good is the onboard future cruise discount?

[Orsino]

Hi,

I'm looking to book a new cruise and as it happens I'm going to go on a cruise with Royal Caribbean next week. Should I wait to book until I'm on board? The current fare is 25% off according to the RCCL website. My understanding is that the onboard discount is also 25%.

 

Should I book now, or is the deal better onboard?

 

Thanks!

Edited September 19, 2016 by Orsino

[Clarea]

There is no discount for booking onboard, you get the same prices and promos as everyone else.

 

Onboard booking gives you reduced deposit and onboard credit.

[tonyweir]

We were on Liberty in July. The deal they had was a low deposit and the amount of the deposit would be your on board credit. I put $100 on a future cruise with full cancellation option (at whatever their current price was at the time of booking - bogo at the time). That got me a $100 on board credit on the current cruise or on the future booked cruise, my choice.

 

When I got home, I found a much better deal on to same cruise, same date, same cabin class, with a travel agent that got me a much lower fare and $200 on board credit.

 

I cancelled that one I booked on board. Now booked through the same travel agent that booked the previous cruise.

[Biker19]

 

When I got home, I found a much better deal on to same cruise, same date, same cabin class, with a travel agent that got me a much lower fare and $200 on board credit.

 

I cancelled that one I booked on board. Now booked through the same travel agent that booked the previous cruise.

You may have been able to transfer the booking you made on board, kept the $100 OBC and got all the same perks the TA offered.;)

[MikeBTN]

You basically get a "free" deposit if you book on board. You pay for the Future Cruise with a credit/debit card, and then they credit you that same amount on your Set Sail account, so its essentially a wash. You can modify the cruise if later on you see a better itinerary, pricing, etc. You also don't have to keep the same category of ship. We booked a GS on Anthem (initially just myself and the Mrs) and have since switched it to connecting Virtual Insides (sailing with the kids).

[chazg]

You basically get a "free" deposit if you book on board. You pay for the Future Cruise with a credit/debit card, and then they credit you that same amount on your Set Sail account, so its essentially a wash. You can modify the cruise if later on you see a better itinerary, pricing, etc. You also don't have to keep the same category of ship. We booked a GS on Anthem (initially just myself and the Mrs) and have since switched it to connecting Virtual Insides (sailing with the kids).

 

Keep in mind, if you take the OBC for the Cruise you are currently on, you cannot cancel that booking without a penalty you can transfer it but not cancel. Our TA emailed us while we were considering our options and gave us that little tidbit of info. We applied the OBC to the new booking and when we got home we also got the OBC that our TA was offering as well.

[Biker19]

Keep in mind, if you take the OBC for the Cruise you are currently on, you cannot cancel that booking without a penalty you can transfer it but not cancel.

 

:confused: where's the penalty? You are not out any money. Sure, you "lose" the deposit but you really didn't pay for that, you already spent it on the OBC.