booking next cruise on board

[chris153]

Is it worth it to do this?  Are the staff helpful with choosing a cruise? We know we want alaska.  What kind of deals do you get?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.  

[smokeybandit]

It's worth it for the reduced deposit and OBC. It's not worth it if you know there's a cruise you want to book and are thinking of waiting until you're on board to book.

[Jerseygirl1416]

32 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

It's not worth it if you know there's a cruise you want to book and are thinking of waiting until you're on board to book.

Why not? You still get to pay reduced deposit and not tie up more money early. Plus the OBC. I always know exactly the cruise I’m going to book and the cabin number going in.

[smokeybandit]

5 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Why not? You still get to pay reduced deposit and not tie up more money early. Plus the OBC. I always know exactly the cruise I’m going to book and the cabin number going in.

 

Because the price of the cruise may go up in the time between when you picked out the cruise and when you are on board to book it, negating any OBC. Also obviously someone can snag your desired cabin in that amount of time, too.

[Ourusualbeach]

The biggest downside to next cruise bookings is that they are non refundable deposits.  

[molly361]

I haven't booked onboard since they started the non refundable deposits.  I always book refundable or better yet group rates (it's good to be retired and flexible about dates) which are refundable

[smokeybandit]

5 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The biggest downside to next cruise bookings is that they are non refundable deposits.  

Though I would venture a guess the huge majority of people aren't doing non refundable deposits, or even know they exist

[molly361]

8 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Though I would venture a guess the huge majority of people aren't doing non refundable deposits, or even know they exist

You mean most are not doing refundable I believe?

[crewsweeper]

We book on board for cruises out longer than a year and for new ships.  Never an issue with selecting cabins. " Losing OBC"  because cruise prices go lower is mainly an opportunity cost.  Yes you could have paid a lower cost down the road and also gotten OBC, But cruise costs rise as well.   Non refunadable fares haven't been an issue for us.

[Ourusualbeach]

12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Though I would venture a guess the huge majority of people aren't doing refundable deposits, or even know they exist

I guess that's a perk of booking through a TA.  Refundable rates at a cost that is less than Royal's refundable rates.

[Ourusualbeach]

The OBC is great for the longer cruises of you are in a suite or a longer sailing

[Secretlyfi]

7 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I guess that's a perk of booking through a TA.  Refundable rates at a cost that is less than Royal's refundable rates.

Are refundable deposits possible through a TA for suites also?

[matj2000]

Booking on board

 

=

 

Rookie move.

[orville99]

1 minute ago, matj2000 said:

Booking on board

 

=

 

Rookie move.

Snarking on every thread…loser move.

[matj2000]

6 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Snarking on every thread…loser move.

 

I was being totally serious.

 

Also:   Humour Fail

[imola]

We booked through Next Cruise Desk when onboard in January for a 3B in May.  Came with lower deposits and OBC for each cruise.  RC refused to honor the OBC and yes I moved our issue up the chain onboard and calling RC with nothing happening.  They said that the Next Cruise Desk folks are not RC employees but a third party company allowed to work aboard RC ships.  I had all the paperwork showing the OBC we were supposed to receive and everyone from RC acknowledged that they agreed that we were clearly told that we would get the OBC but since RC did not tell us that and basically we were sold the cruises by a third party company that is allowed to operate on their ships they would not honor the clearly stated OBC.  When I went to the Next Cruise Desk onboard the young man said, "that's too bad sorry" and that there was nothing he could do as "Next Cruise Desk" is not owned by RC.  I know others have had a much better experience booking through them, I am just sharing ours.

Sort of like buying a box of chocolates.  lol

Edited July 24, 2022 by imola

[Trixie21]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The OBC is great for the longer cruises of you are in a suite or a longer sailing

Agree.

We were recently on Jewel and booked a suite on Jewel for next year on a 12 night and got $600 OBC.

Cruise automatically transferred to our travel agent with no issues.

Definitely worth it.

[smokeybandit]

24 minutes ago, imola said:

We booked through Next Cruise Desk when onboard in January for a 3B in May.  Came with lower deposits and OBC for each cruise.  RC refused to honor the OBC and yes I moved our issue up the chain onboard and calling RC with nothing happening.  They said that the Next Cruise Desk folks are not RC employees but a third party company allowed to work aboard RC ships.  I had all the paperwork showing the OBC we were supposed to receive and everyone from RC acknowledged that they agreed that we were clearly told that we would get the OBC but since RC did not tell us that and basically we were sold the cruises by a third party company that is allowed to operate on their ships they would not honor the clearly stated OBC.  When I went to the Next Cruise Desk onboard the young man said, "that's too bad sorry" and that there was nothing he could do as "Next Cruise Desk" is not owned by RC.  I know others have had a much better experience booking through them, I am just sharing ours.

Sort of like buying a box of chocolates.  lol

Are you sure you're actually talking about NextCruise? Or are you omitting part of the story?

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

3 hours ago, chris153 said:

Is it worth it to do this?  Are the staff helpful with choosing a cruise? We know we want alaska.  What kind of deals do you get?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.  

Usually you get a reduced deposit and additional OBC when booking on board.

[imola]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

Are you sure you're actually talking about NextCruise? Or are you omitting part of the story?

I am absolutely talking about next cruise and NOT omitting anything.  As I said not everyone's experience is the same and was sharing ours.

[smokeybandit]

Just now, imola said:

I am absolutely talking about next cruise and NOT omitting anything.  As I said not everyone's experience is the same and was sharing ours.

I've never heard of someone booking at nextcruise and not getting their OBC, unless the reservation was massively changed at some point.

[imola]

8 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I've never heard of someone booking at nextcruise and not getting their OBC, unless the reservation was massively changed at some point.

Well you have heard it now.  There were no changes to the reservation at any point.  Again sharing our experience and acknowledging other have have different experiences. 

May all your bookings and sailing go without ever having a glitch.

[shellunderwater]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

 

Because the price of the cruise may go up in the time between when you picked out the cruise and when you are on board to book it, negating any OBC. Also obviously someone can snag your desired cabin in that amount of time, too.

Or it may go down.  My god RCL fluctuates almost weekly or even daily.

 

I booked a cruise on board, two days later got an alert of a 15% reduction.  Went back to the cruise desk, they gave me the price reduction on the spot.

[shellunderwater]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Snarking on every thread…loser move.

Bing, Bing, bing!  We have a winner!

[orville99]

2 hours ago, matj2000 said:

 

I was being totally serious.

 

Also:   Humour Fail

With everything snarky you post, there is no intent for humor. BTW, learn how to spell like a Texan.

Edited July 24, 2022 by orville99