Book on Board -Advantages?

[PMT51]

We are sailing in December and are planning a future cruise in about March 2021. We are pretty sure the cruise we want to take.  We booked our December cruise through a big box TA. We are Elite. 

 

What are the advantages of booking the March 2021 cruise on board during our December cruise?

 

I know this question has been answered, but I can’t figure out how to search🙁

 

Thank you all. 

[39august]

Reduced deposit and OBC. Plus whatever promotion is going on at the time. Usually perks.OBC depends on the length of the cruise you are booking, i.e. 7 nights is $150, 10 nights is $200.

[keesar]

The deposit is usually $100 per person.  Also, you get additional OBC depending on the type of room.  The perks have been the same as you seen online.

[ghstudio]

We have often seen the on-board offer include an extra perk if you book concierge or above....but of course, offers change so check to see what your cruise is offering. 

 

A couple of important notes:

 

1) If you don't ask, they will assign the booking to the travel agent that booked you on your current cruise.  You can ask that Celebrity hold the reservation and you will be asked to sign a form.  Just sign it...it only tells the TA that you decided not to rebook with them....net..it protects celebrity...no risk to you at all.

 

2) Understand if you are booking a refundable or non-refundable fare.  See 3 below

 

3) Once you have made a reservation on-board, you can change that reservation to another ship, different time and keep the same reservation number.  That's important because the on-board OBC offer stays and you will still get the additional OBC.  If you change a non-refundable booking, you will be charged the change penalty.  Go through all that with the on-board TA.

 

 3a) if you book a longer or shorter cruise, the on-board OBC offer $'s may change either up or down because the OBC is based on the number of days in the cruise you finally take.

 3b) Be careful with Travel insurance if you change the trip....if you have a pre-existing condition and want that waived, your purchase date is the date you pay on board...not the day you book the new trip.  OTOH, check other posts to understand if you really do have a pre-existing condition AS DEFINED IN THE POLICY.

[davekathy]

We always book a future cruise when we first board the ship after enjoying our welcome aboard glass of sparkling wine. We've received OBC, reduced deposit and a bottle of wine for each future cruise we've booked. 

[Denny01]

Yes, agreed on the deals mentioned above and we’ve done it numerous times. We then transfer it to our TA an that works great too. Make sure it’s the right TA you want to use. Have their phone number if they aren’t the ones who booked the cruise you are on. 

 

And the on-board team appears to be very knowledgeable of the cruises and works with you. No rush and no pressure, at least in our experience. 

 

 

Den

[jelayne]

We never let the on board booking go to the TA who has the current booking.  We  leave it with X until we get home and then we check which of the 3 TAs we use has the best deal.  Often 1 of them has a group rate so we get a lower price, keep the on-board booking perks and get some refundable OBC. 

[ipeeinthepool]

7 hours ago, jelayne said:

We never let the on board booking go to the TA who has the current booking.  We  leave it with X until we get home and then we check which of the 3 TAs we use has the best deal.  Often 1 of them has a group rate so we get a lower price, keep the on-board booking perks and get some refundable OBC. 

 

When you get the group rate from a TA does that lower amount of OBC or other perks you receive?

[Hlitner]

In the past we have not been big fans of booking onboard with Celebrity, although we have done the deed a few times.  The problem is that up until recently, Celebrity would often offset the extra OBC (for booking onboard) against other OBCs one could get by booking on land.  So, for example, if X gave us $200 OBC for booking onboard they would simply take away the $200 OBC we would have received for being a stockholder.   One onboard future cruise rep explained to us that the home office does not normally the "stacking" of OBCs.  So simply, what X gives on one hand they take away on the other.

 

That being said, there have been some indications on this board about recent changes in how X handles OBC.  We will probably pay a visit to the future cruise office on our next Celebrity cruise (if there is a next Celebrity cruise) to inquire about the, then, current policy (Celebrity policies change with the direction of the wind).

 

Hank

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

When you get the group rate from a TA does that lower amount of OBC or other perks you receive?

I do exactly as jelayne said in post #7. Our Celebrity OBC and perks have never been reduced. We always receive a group booking discount and additional OBC and sometimes a voucher for a one night specialty dining from the TA. 

[ipeeinthepool]

6 minutes ago, davekathy said:

I do exactly as jelayne said in post #7. Our Celebrity OBC and perks have never been reduced. We always receive a group booking discount and additional OBC and sometimes a voucher for a one night specialty dining from the TA. 

 

My question was if the TA get's you a group rate discount, does that diminish the amount of additional OBC the TA provides or perhaps the voucher is eliminated?  My logic is that you are already getting the discount in the lower group rate so the OBC would be reduced.

[davekathy]

6 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

My question was if the TA get's you a group rate discount, does that diminish the amount of additional OBC the TA provides or perhaps the voucher is eliminated?  My logic is that you are already getting the discount in the lower group rate so the OBC would be reduced.

Not in our experiences with the TAs we use. But obviously I can't speak for what other TAs do. 

[JOVERNITE]

We found we got better deals with future cruise than our TA ever got for us. Some TA's are better than others. I like dealing directly with X. We always get a great package (low deposit, OBC, at least 2 perks).

 

We booked on board this past Feb for Feb 2020. We went with the non-refundable $200 deposit because we got all 4 perks (with $500 OBC😮) & cabin price lower than published at that time. Only C3 available but moved to a C2 when one opened up. (Elite upgrade). This is the best deal we've ever gotten. Not sure why X was being so generous. I doubt we'll ever see that offer again!

[red919]

On 6/17/2019 at 10:38 AM, davekathy said:

I do exactly as jelayne said in post #7. Our Celebrity OBC and perks have never been reduced. We always receive a group booking discount and additional OBC and sometimes a voucher for a one night specialty dining from the TA. 

How do you find out which TA offers group bookings on the cruise you want?

[ghstudio]

Cruise Critic doesn't allow mentioning TA's by name.  Generally speaking, just check the largest TA's....page 1 and 2 of google will probably get you all of them (I haven't looked).  Compare prices and perks.  If possible, talk to people on your next cruise and they'll give you their experiences with TA's.

[red919]

2 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

Cruise Critic doesn't allow mentioning TA's by name.  Generally speaking, just check the largest TA's....page 1 and 2 of google will probably get you all of them (I haven't looked).  Compare prices and perks.  If possible, talk to people on your next cruise and they'll give you their experiences with TA's.

Can you give a hint? 😉

[ghstudio]

13 minutes ago, red919 said:

Can you give a hint? 😉

Are you seriously asking:

 

see: 

 

[mtnman100]

On 6/16/2019 at 2:20 PM, ghstudio said:

We have often seen the on-board offer include an extra perk if you book concierge or above....but of course, offers change so check to see what your cruise is offering. 

 

A couple of important notes:

 

1) If you don't ask, they will assign the booking to the travel agent that booked you on your current cruise.  You can ask that Celebrity hold the reservation and you will be asked to sign a form.  Just sign it...it only tells the TA that you decided not to rebook with them....net..it protects celebrity...no risk to you at all.

 

2) Understand if you are booking a refundable or non-refundable fare.  See 3 below

 

3) Once you have made a reservation on-board, you can change that reservation to another ship, different time and keep the same reservation number.  That's important because the on-board OBC offer stays and you will still get the additional OBC.  If you change a non-refundable booking, you will be charged the change penalty.  Go through all that with the on-board TA.

 

 3a) if you book a longer or shorter cruise, the on-board OBC offer $'s may change either up or down because the OBC is based on the number of days in the cruise you finally take.

 3b) Be careful with Travel insurance if you change the trip....if you have a pre-existing condition and want that waived, your purchase date is the date you pay on board...not the day you book the new trip.  OTOH, check other posts to understand if you really do have a pre-existing condition AS DEFINED IN THE POLICY.

Having just booked a future cruise while on the Reflection, this is helpful to understand here...thanks.

 

Based on the current June promotion and the cruises we looked at, something to consider is the extra cost of 2 or 4 perks.  I found it is quite high, and am considering switching to no perks.  The no perk option does mean the $100 deposit per person is non-refundable, although one could still change it to another ship, time and place I would think.  I'll need to ask that question the next time I speak with them. 

[red919]

3 hours ago, ghstudio said:

Are you seriously asking:

 

see: 

 

Did you not see the wink and do you not have a sense of humor? Get over yourself. 

 

Yes, I was lied to years ago by a dishonest travel agent and still, I did NOT name her on this site.  That proves my integrity.  Quoting a thread from SIX years ago? Someone has too much time on their hands.

Interesting....thanks for the painful reminder. 

[ghstudio]

Actually, I was looking back in cc history to see if you might have entered your email address (many do at some point) so I could send you some names of TA's.  I stumbled on that post and found your current question ironic given your previous post.  Sorry if it brought back bad memories.