Booking Future Cruises while on Board

[fancymeetingyouhere]

We are going on the Solstice in Dec and I am wondering if I should wait to book my spring break cruise while on the ship. Do they give much of a discount when booking on the cruise for future cruises. Do they also offer deals on RCCL when on Celebrity.

[Andy]

We are going on the Solstice in Dec and I am wondering if I should wait to book my spring break cruise while on the ship. Do they give much of a discount when booking on the cruise for future cruises. Do they also offer deals on RCCL when on Celebrity.

 

Hi Fancy !

 

While there may be some "specials" while onboard, they do not offer special prices for most sailings. You can purchase a Future Cruise Certificate, which costs 100.00 per person. This allows you to book a Cruise at a later date. You will recieve an onboard credit, based on the price of your next cruise. The onboard credit ranges from 50.00-250.00. However, unless you are spending a large amount of money on your next sailing, it will usually be in the 50.00 - 100.00 range. Still, it's worth meeting with the Future Cruise Consultant onboard, to see if there are any special deals being offered.

 

They offer the same type of certificate on Celebrity for Royal Caribbean sailings, but you must be very clear that you want one for RCL, as they are not interchangable.

 

The benefits of booking onboard used to be fantastic, but the program was downgraded about 18 months ago. Unless there is something special onboard, we do not use this new program. We used to book onboard all the time, but we do not think the benefit is worth the bother, and doesnt bring much to the table.

 

I hope this answers your questions. Have a wonderful Cruise on Solstice !

[SLCBoys]

fancy...I would definitely wait until your onboard to book your future cruise. We booked the Solstice while on Freedom of the Seas. Prior to our sailing on the Freedom I called X and asked about onboard credits, I was told no by one person but yes by another.

 

When on the Freedom, they person that did our bookings surprisingly said the agents at the call centers are only trying to get you to book right then so they can earn their commission. They will tell you anything to get a booking regardless of company policies etc.

 

We ended up getting a $200 OBC for the Solstice, first time on X for us and they even transferred our Diamond status over to match the same level as Captains Club.

 

I was also able to book others in our family that were not on the Freedom with us and was able to get OBC's for them as well. We were told you can get the same credits on Royal while booking on X.

 

Hope this helps!!

[fancymeetingyouhere]

Hi Fancy !

 

While there may be some "specials" while onboard, they do not offer special prices for most sailings. You can purchase a Future Cruise Certificate, which costs 100.00 per person. This allows you to book a Cruise at a later date. You will recieve an onboard credit, based on the price of your next cruise. The onboard credit ranges from 50.00-250.00. However, unless you are spending a large amount of money on your next sailing, it will usually be in the 50.00 - 100.00 range. Still, it's worth meeting with the Future Cruise Consultant onboard, to see if there are any special deals being offered.

 

They offer the same type of certificate on Celebrity for Royal Caribbean sailings, but you must be very clear that you want one for RCL, as they are not interchangable.

 

The benefits of booking onboard used to be fantastic, but the program was downgraded about 18 months ago. Unless there is something special onboard, we do not use this new program. We used to book onboard all the time, but we do not think the benefit is worth the bother, and doesnt bring much to the table.

 

I hope this answers your questions. Have a wonderful Cruise on Solstice !

 

So I guess the $100 is basically a deposit for an unknown cruise and with that you will get an OBC. Do I then book directly with an x/rccl agent. Are the prices they quote on the boat basically the same as shown on line? I'm guessing if I book Dec 08 for a March 09 cruise its pretty last minute - i guess then its pretty slim pickings.

[Andy]

So I guess the $100 is basically a deposit for an unknown cruise and with that you will get an OBC. Do I then book directly with an x/rccl agent. Are the prices they quote on the boat basically the same as shown on line? I'm guessing if I book Dec 08 for a March 09 cruise its pretty last minute - i guess then its pretty slim pickings.

 

Hi Fancy !

 

You can book direct with Celebrity/RCI, OR with your own TA, if you have one. The prices are the same as online, unless they are offering any specials onboard.

 

You should be fine with the Certificate. It may not be much, but every little bit helps. Enjoy your Cruise.

[jmfdr]

Hi Fancy !

 

You can book direct with Celebrity/RCI, OR with your own TA, if you have one. The prices are the same as online, unless they are offering any specials onboard.

.

 

Andy, I have an additional question. If, on board, you purchase a future cruise certificate which will earn OBC (based on cruise price) and you later book with a TA who offers OBC, can both OBC's apply to the cruise?

 

Wordy, hope you understand the question.

 

Thanks, Jan

[Andy]

Andy, I have an additional question. If, on board, you purchase a future cruise certificate which will earn OBC (based on cruise price) and you later book with a TA who offers OBC, can both OBC's apply to the cruise?

 

Wordy, hope you understand the question.

 

Thanks, Jan

 

Hi Jan !

 

It's a bit complicated. Under normal circumstances, they should be combinable. However, some recent sales have stated that OBC's arent combinable. To be certain.... I would call Captain's Club and ask them directly. Good Luck !

[choochoocruiser]

I recently booked a RCCL cruise while on board the AOS. When I returned home I found out thru the RCCL Cruise Critic Board that the itinerary had changed from a partial Canal cruise to a cruise that just stopped in Colon. I eventually changed to the 17 day San Diego to Baltimore cruise. Even though i had booked the RCCL cruise on board, I was not able to keep my on-board credit or Balcony credit when I changed to a Celebrity cruise. Oh, well.

[Sailawaytoday]

We have, several times, booked a future cruise while on board. Each time, we received a shipboard credit that would not have been provided if we had booked later. The reservation could either be with Celebrity or a travel agent of our choosing. We always had Celebrity take the reservation, and then "shopped" the reservation among a few agents to get the best price/promotion. There's not much risk to booking on board, since the deposit is fully refundable.

Its been a couple of years since we've been on Celebrity, and I don't know what the new policies are, but I'm sure we'll book something while we are there.

[angelpug]

We've NEVER booked onboard until our last Cruise on the Grandeur of the Seas when some fellow CCrs let us know the benefits of OBC's when booking ahead! We booked our Constellation Cruise while onboard, and even though the cabin we wanted wasn't showing as available at the time, since it wasn't BOOKED (only On HOLD by an agency), we were able to book it through RCCL/Celebrity! Once we got home we were able to turn the reservation over to our own TA, who GIFTS us with OBC, and we got a $200.00 OBC for booking onboard.

 

Now, since we are booked on Celebrity, we decided when we saw that Mercury is cruising out of Baltimore to change the reservation over to THAT ship. So a simple call to our TA, and we were able to change, and for the same price of the Constellation cruise, we even got HIGHER cabin class. So along with going out of a port we would prefer without having to deal with airlines, we get a really nice cabin, and we still get our onboard credits, ALL FOR BOOKING AHEAD!

 

Take care,

Jaime