Buying Next Cruise Onboard

[Rode Warrior]

I am going on my first cruise this summer, and I am very excited about it. I have done a ton of research about ports of call and the ship. I believe that I will want to plan another cruise for next year. Are the deals they offer onboard really good or what? I understand that prices fluctuate up and down from day to day. What advice do you have for booking onboard? In general, is it better than using an agent?

[wrk2cruise]

In general you get the same deal you would if booking directly with Celebrity except they will give you extra OBC for doing the booking onboard.  If your current cruised was booked via a travel agent, by default the new booking will automatically be assigned to them unless you tell them otherwise and they have you sign a release.  Although I usually use the same TA I always have my new bookings left with Celebrity then I have 60 days to decide to transfer to another agent.  I use this time after I get home to compare offers for additional perks from a couple of trusted agents I use.

 

In my opinion it is a good idea to do a booking onboard if you know what you want to do.

[Jim_Iain]

It is not really a matter of using an agent or Celebrity.    You can book aboard and get extra perks and/or OBC's.   Once you have the booking you can transfer the booking to an agent to obtain additional OBC's

 

Booking on board will generally have a lower down payment and will offer perks and/or OBC's dependent on the class of cabin.   You have 60 days from reservation to transfer to agent.   Also must be transferred prior to final payment.    If your current reservation is with an agent ask them to book directly with Celebrity or you will be locked in with current agency.

 

Attached is an example of what you can expect

 

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[ghstudio]

If you book on-board and decide to change your cruise at a later date with your TA or celebrity direct, the extra Book On-board OBC will remain in addition to any other perks being offered when you make the change.  The other perks that you received with your booking on-board will not roll into the new reservation though....just the extra OBC for booking on-board.

 

Also...the extra perk booking concierge vs a balcony cabin can be significant.  Remember, on the M-class ships, concierge and aqua cabins are also roughly 20 sq ft larger (about 15% larger) in addition to that extra perk.  Coupled with the one class upgrade you would book a C2 at a C3 price....or an A1 at the A2 price.

 

Two things to watch for though....1) make sure you book with a REFUNDABLE deposit, just in case you do decide to change or cancel the cruise and 2) make sure your on-board reservation isn't automatically booked with the travel agent you use for  your current cruise.  That's the default...but better to keep your options open to see which TA will give you the best additional perks if you move the reservation within the 60 days.  You have to sign a simple form or it will be booked with the TA.  Often the on-board booking agent doesn't ask...you have to tell them to book the cruise with Celebrity Directly.

[keesar]

From my experience, there are two advantages of booking on board.  One is additional OBC.  The other is a reduced deposit.  As for the "FREE". perks, they are usually built into the price that they quote you.  Before you travel, do your homework so you can compare apples to apples.   

[Rode Warrior]

Great information: thank you all!

[NCHPcruiser]

Everyone has given great advice.  I would also mention that we have received good advice from the onboard  Future Cruises staff as to the  best available staterooms (pros & cons) in the class we are wanting and have also given advice as to which itineraries/ships might be best for a specific region we are looking at.   In our experience they have not tried to sway us to "slower" selling itineraries.  In hindsight there advice has always be spot on.  

[Muffinz]

We were on Solstice last year and loved it so we booked another cruise while on board... we only had to pay $100 each deposit and we got 2 free perks (balcony cabin)

they transferred the booking over to our TA and she said we got it at a good price

 

[Northern Aurora]

We frequently book onboard, but we also almost always know which ship and itinerary is of interest.  We will be boarding the Eclipse in less than a month, and I am now researching plans for the fall of 2020 as we already have plans for the fall of 2019 and spring of 2020.  Since we book so far in advance I always double check to ensure that the deposit is either refundable or amendable (ie, I can transfer the reservation number to a different sailing date).

[realnice46]

4 hours ago, NCHPcruiser said:

Everyone has given great advice.  I would also mention that we have received good advice from the onboard  Future Cruises staff as to the  best available staterooms (pros & cons) in the class we are wanting and have also given advice as to which itineraries/ships might be best for a specific region we are looking at.   In our experience they have not tried to sway us to "slower" selling itineraries.  In hindsight there advice has always be spot on.  

You are right, when we booked on board they did tell us the pros and cons of certain cabins. Very helpful.

[jaapie]

How much OBC is typical given? And is the OBC for the current cruise you are on or for the future cruise being booked? 

Thanks.

[dkjretired]

15 hours ago, keesar said:

From my experience, there are two advantages of booking on board.  One is additional OBC.  The other is a reduced deposit.  As for the "FREE". perks, they are usually built into the price that they quote you.  Before you travel, do your homework so you can compare apples to apples.   

 

Just be very careful with the lower deposit especially if they have the offers of the $25 deposit.  If you transfer to a TA they may require you to pay the normal deposit.  Depends on TA.

[ghstudio]

36 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

 

Just be very careful with the lower deposit especially if they have the offers of the $25 deposit.  If you transfer to a TA they may require you to pay the normal deposit.  Depends on TA.

 

We have transferred reservations to TA's and been offered their "group rate" instead of what we booked but we would have to pay the full deposit.  We've also been told that they had some special deal but to get it you had to pay the full deposit....as I recall it was an extra $50 OBC.  Most of the time, whatever deposit you paid stays the same.

[ben.chan]

i booked my upcoming cruise onboard last year, and the agent assigned one of those prized "tunnel" balconies on the hump for me (and i didnt realise until quite recently reading up on here, for i am relatively new to cruising).

do keep an eye on the price and ask your TA to apply rate drops when they come around. the perks will follow the prevailing promotions when applying the rate drops, and i wasnt asked to pay full or additional deposits when i applied a drop and added an additional passenger to my cabin

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, jaapie said:

How much OBC is typical given? And is the OBC for the current cruise you are on or for the future cruise being booked? 

Thanks.

See chart in post 3 above.   It is a combination of number of days and classification of room.

 

From $50-$500 and No perks to 4 Perks.

[Northern Aurora]

Our OP is going on his first cruise.  I realized that no one has mentioned that the Future Cruise staff generally has a presentation on deployment schedules of the Celebrity fleet, promotional offers and so forth.   Either drop by the Future Cruise Sales office and ask about the date, time and location, or pay close attention to the Celebrity Today schedule on sea days.

[Gimpy McFarlan]

We are on the Equinox now and just booked a cruise in a veranda stateroom on Connie in 2020. We opted for $100 per person (which was the minimum) nonrefundable deposit and received 3 perks. We chose WiFi, Prepaid Gratuities and $450 OBC. If you choos a refundable deposit you are only eligible to get 2 free perks. Would highly recommend booking while on a cruise if the timing makes sense.

[ben.chan]

Does anyone know, if I have already made a reservation for a future sail, can I still apply the onboard OBC back into the reservation retrospectively? (I am booking refundable deposit with US terms.)

 

My case is that I am currently seeing an attractive cabin (a sweet sixteen) on a 14-night itinerary in 2020, but my upcoming cruise wont be until this August. While I am pretty sure the ship won't sell out this soon, it is more than likely I won't get that particular cabin. However missing out on potentially $200-250 OBC seems a bit sad...

 

Any ideas or experiences is greatly appreciated. Thank you ^.^

[cruisestitch]

You cannot apply the credit for booking onboard retroactiviely -- it is only for booking on board.

 

To do what you want to do is fairly complicated.  You would need to book the room you want, making sure that you can cancel that booking with no penalty. Then, on the ship, you go to Future Cruises, cancel the booking you made and immediately make a new booking -- you have to release the room, then they can book it.  It's all in the timing.  You want to make sure no one else grabs the room after you have released it.  

[ben.chan]

11 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

You cannot apply the credit for booking onboard retroactiviely -- it is only for booking on board.

 

To do what you want to do is fairly complicated.  You would need to book the room you want, making sure that you can cancel that booking with no penalty. Then, on the ship, you go to Future Cruises, cancel the booking you made and immediately make a new booking -- you have to release the room, then they can book it.  It's all in the timing.  You want to make sure no one else grabs the room after you have released it.  

 

Thanks for getting back this quickly...

 

To make matters worse, I need to book with a US based TA (which i currentlt do, in order to use US T&Cs refundable deposits), so this will only make it harder...

 

Thinking outside the box a bit -- can i make a random booking on board for a different itinerary & ship so that i lock in a reservation # with the OBC from it, and later to have my TA cancel the old and change the onboard reservation # to cover it?

 

Sounds like gaming the system a bit though LOL

[irishgal1970]

We booked onboard in 2016 for a 2018 cruise and transferred it to our usual TA. I wasn't sure about the itinerary, but the perks were great and we got extra OBC. In 2017 our plans changed for 2018 (we took a different cruise on a different line). I was able to change my 2018 reservation to a 2019 reservation through my TA and keep all my perks, extra OBC, etc. It was a win-win for us. If you do it, get everything in writing! Then reconfirm your ability to cancel or change and keep your perks directly with Celebrity before transferring to your TA. 

[l_n_m]

On 2/13/2019 at 5:35 PM, Jim_Iain said:

It is not really a matter of using an agent or Celebrity.    You can book aboard and get extra perks and/or OBC's.   Once you have the booking you can transfer the booking to an agent to obtain additional OBC's

 

Booking on board will generally have a lower down payment and will offer perks and/or OBC's dependent on the class of cabin.   You have 60 days from reservation to transfer to agent.   Also must be transferred prior to final payment.    If your current reservation is with an agent ask them to book directly with Celebrity or you will be locked in with current agency.

 

Attached is an example of what you can expect

 

 

I see in this flyer there is also additional savings per person of $100 to $400 depending on stateroom type.  Is this typical of most booking on board offers?

[ghstudio]

6 hours ago, l_n_m said:

I see in this flyer there is also additional savings per person of $100 to $400 depending on stateroom type.  Is this typical of most booking on board offers?

 

There are variations of the on-board offer from month to month.  Generally, they offer you whatever the current "deal" is that anyone can buy through their web site...plus some additional OBC and an additional perk if you book concierge or above.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Does anyone know if booking onboard X for Azamara, is the same deal as booking onboard Azamara itself?  According to CC it is a non-refundable deposit, never expires, with up to $500 OBC whenever you find a cruise that meets your needs.

[wrk2cruise]

11 hours ago, l_n_m said:

I see in this flyer there is also additional savings per person of $100 to $400 depending on stateroom type.  Is this typical of most booking on board offers?

 

The additional savings in this offer are the "Sale Beyond" promotion currently being offered.  Like others have said this changes with whatever the current land based promotion is.