Benefits of booking on-board the ship

[Sandy1975]

I will be on Equinox next weekend. My last cruise was a year ago and based on what I am reading benefits of booking on the ship have changed. What are the current promotions or benefits if I book during my cruise? Thanks

[agape01]

Having coming off the Millennium last week, I did have a chat with the Future cruise guys.

If you're thinking of booking a future cruise on a Aqua class and below, the deposit is only going to be $200/pax.

If you're going to book a Retreat class, a 10% deposit is required.

There are some onboard cruise credits that might be given but it wouldn't be much so one would have to look at the offers when you get onboard.

Other than that, there is no other incentive.

[Cruise a holic]

Great to book on board.  Lower Deposit and cruise credit.  Many people transfer to a TA or agency that offers additional cruise credit and or perks- you have thirty days to transfer booking to TA- but verify as so much changes.  If you do transfer, you keep the ship cruise credit and add the perks from the TA.  The smaller deposit is great.

 

Best way to book.

[lv2cruisgrl]

We just got $150.OBC and had a $200 deposit

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/2022_FCV_onboard_BFNovember.pdf

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by lv2cruisgrl

[NMTraveller]

Other than the low deposit amounts I think that you end up paying more.  Check with your TA for TA group rates where they have reserved a bunch of cabins on a sailing.

[RTShaker]

1 hour ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

We just got $150.OBC and had a $200 deposit

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/2022_FCV_onboard_BFNovember.pdf

 

That;s a year old page. Certainly no more AI as described anymore.

[Sandy1975]

Thanks everyone for the feedback

[2chiefs]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Other than the low deposit amounts I think that you end up paying more.  Check with your TA for TA group rates where they have reserved a bunch of cabins on a sailing.

Not quite true. When we book on board, we then go back to our TA and if she has a group rate, it gets transferred to that rate if lower than what we booked. You can't lose booking on board. The biggest benefit is the low deposit and not having to pay extra for refundable fare if you are ok with risking the low $200 deposit.

 

Example: We booked a recent cruise on board that had $175.00 OBC for booking on board with $200 deposit. It also had a promotional $400 OBC for the current Celebrity sale. While good, when we got back, our TA had a better deal. We transferred the cruise to her group. We lost the $400 promotional OBC but the cruise was $900 cheaper with a net $500 savings. However, we kept the $175 OBC credit for booking on board (something we wouldn't have received if didn't book on board). One other thing was that we had to now add $700 deposit to the $200 we already put down but that was no issue since the cruise was now refundable (without the extra refundable fee).

 

So booking on board, at least in our experience, has always been a win-win situation. Our TA always encourages us to book on board.

Edited December 5, 2023 by 2chiefs

[wendyatpml]

We just book a future cruise number and then decide later through my TA what we want to do.  We also get reduced deposit and $200 OBC. You just have to book something within 6 months but the cruise you book could be next year or after.