Onboard Future Bookings?

[martyap]

I could use your advice. My husband and I will be on the Allure this April and we are planning a family cruise, 10 people, 5 cabins for June, 2018. The itineraries are not open yet and it is hard to say what the timing will be as to their availability.....before or after our cruise(?)

 

We would like to get adjoining cabins so there is a chance if these open up before our April cruise, I would have to make the reservations. Is there much of an advantage booking onboard? We would like to take advantage of any perks but it seems cabins book quickly and we don't want to delay booking and end up with the five cabins spread out on several decks.

 

(footnote) We do not really have a TA we use. We booked this cruise directly with RCCL via phone and then took advantage of several price reductions; drink package & internet sales. In the past we transferred the bookings to one of the big box travel departments.....but not this cruise. I like controlling any reservations/promotions online rather than calling a TA every time one is offered. I know a good TA might be able to attach the five cabins to another group and get lower rates but I don't want to make this too complicated.

 

Any advice would be appreciated........Thanks

 

(Grandma) Karen

Edited January 16, 2017 by martyap

[Ken at the beach]

The new itineraries should be released in March. I would book them as soon as they are released to get your choice of cabins and lock in the price. If the price is the same when you go for your cruise in April then you can rebook on board for the added OBC.

 

As the next cruise staff can't actually cancel your existing reservations just book 5 new cabins in the exact same category and once you get back call C&A to have the cabin numbers switched around and the original reservation cancelled.

[Clarea]

... (footnote) We do not really have a TA we use. We booked this cruise directly with RCCL via phone and then took advantage of several price reductions; drink package & internet sales. In the past we transferred the bookings to one of the big box travel departments.....but not this cruise. I like controlling any reservations/promotions online rather than calling a TA every time one is offered. I know a good TA might be able to attach the five cabins to another group and get lower rates but I don't want to make this too complicated. ...

My advice would be to reconsider using a TA. I'd let the TA watch for the itinerary opening so you are not running down to the Next Cruise desk in order to book all the staterooms.