Question for UK

[seb530]

hello, we are interested in doing a cruise with RCL in April 2024 on one of the big ships (Wonder looks promising).
However, being in the UK i have some questions having previously sailed with P&O and Princess:

 

1. Do RCL ever have any promotions in UK? ive been watching for a few weeks and never seen any offers yet? if so, any idea best time to look  (e.g. black friday)?
2. is it easy to book back to back cruises as they only seem to do 6/7 nights - i would assume you can get off and on at the middle port
3. How do you do flights - do you organise independently or have a TA that will put together a package
4. The drinks package looks expensive c$65-80 per person per day (albeit i know individual drinks are expensive). for 13 nights this is near £1500! is it just that RCL are expensive?

 

Any tips would be welcome.

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[UKWLDCruise]

Yes they do do promotions but you have to look out if you are not a previous cruiser with them, if you are e mails come regularly.  It is pretty easy to do back to back cruises and in the UK brochures you even get cruises marked A and B so you can easily book them together.  A little tip though is to book early and book the same cabin if you can.  You can get off the ship while B2Bing but normally you have to report to one place where they will escort you off the ship to get back on again or go off sight seeing .  They will let you back on without going through the whole process again just security.  You can either get flights separately or through the cruise line, the advantage of going with their flights is that they will provide transport to and from the ship as well but prices can vary though.  Drink package costs can vary even by ship and are known to go on offer  so calculate if a package is better than buying individually and then grab the best rate you see, if a better one comes up you can cancel and reboook.

[EmilyJay]

Hi,

 

1. Yes RCI do have promotions for UK sailings, it's a case of looking out for them or going through a TA who can find them for you or offer you an incentive. You can wait for Black Friday, I have seen many offers however it just depends whether you want to wait and hope something comes up. But overall, yes there are offers. 

 

2. B2B should be easy enough to book. As UKWLDCruise said they are marked as Cruise A + B and this is true of a brochure I picked up from my local TA it's all labelled and clear for those wanting to book a B2B. Again, less hassle book via a TA for this type of cruise, they'll sort you out and try and get you the same room if possible. 

 

3. Flights again it's up to you. That's a personal preference I think and whether you want to search for best prices/ times etc. 

 

4. Yeah drinks package is expensive I totally agree.... I've a cruise booked and the price of the drinks package has gone up and down massively depending on sales/ holidays etc. The lowest I've seen was $63 so far ... Best time to book drinks packages is Black Friday / when there is an American holiday. As mentioned if you book it at 1 price and see it lower you can cancel, get refunded and rebook at a lower price. Onboard drinks vary in price a cocktail is around $11-13 onboard so it's working out roughly if you'd drink more or the same as the drinks package price or much less and buying 1 drink at a time would be more cost effective. 

We've decided to not buy the drinks package on this cruise. If you book through a TA you could see if this is an incentive they offer? 

 

We booked our last UK cruise through a TA and they were amazing, they sorted everything and answered any questions we had.. We sailed during Covid as cruises had started up and they just made life so much easier. Usually I book myself and sort everything myself, but I would definitely go through a TA again. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by EmilyJay