british cruiser questions

[sandian]

booked with TA and now got a few queries. Not sure if cruise price goes down do we get reduction? How soon do you get your confirmation invoice we booked in june and still not received it. Also fuel surcharge credit will we get this or not? Thanks for any help:confused:

[Elizanessie]

Hi :D

 

Yes if there is a price drop on your category of cabin on your sailing you will get price drop...but you have to see it and let your TA know. Some UK TAs are not aware that UK Cruisers can get price drops.

 

When I book a cruise I get the invoice by post about a week later and usually RCCL UK will send me emailed version also as soon as booking made if I request it.

 

I ask for my booking number when making the booking so that I can go online and see the booking there and start the online check in process. :D

 

As to fuel surcharge credit,you will get that as an onboard credit if your cruise qualifies.

 

When is your cruise?

[NorbertsNiece]

booked with TA and now got a few queries. Not sure if cruise price goes down do we get reduction? How soon do you get your confirmation invoice we booked in june and still not received it. Also fuel surcharge credit will we get this or not? Thanks for any help:confused:

 

Hi sandian,

 

Elizanessie did a great job answering your question. Definitely chase the TA for your paperwork though your booking WILL be on line but you'd need the RCI booking reference for that not the TA one.

[sandian]

Hi norbertsniece

Glad to speak to some other british cruisers thanks for all your help I have checked my booking with RCI as i have the booking ref from my deposit receipt, but its my confirmation invoice I am still short of. Hopefully I wont have long to wait or I will be chasing them for it. Glad to hear I can chase them for a reduction on fare as RCI have dropped the price and I had heard it was only those over the pond who could get a refund

[Albert Ross]

booked with TA and now got a few queries. Not sure if cruise price goes down do we get reduction? How soon do you get your confirmation invoice we booked in june and still not received it. Also fuel surcharge credit will we get this or not? Thanks for any help:confused:

 

Good to see yet another Brit on these boards - the word is spreading!

 

Yes, you do get the price drops in the UK - just get it in writing before you book that your TA will honour any prices drops and will not charge any penalties. It is section 1.9 in the T&Cs if they don't believe you!

 

If you book direct with RCCL in the first place, whilst you may not get the inital 10% reduction, they will honour price drops and you do have complete control over your booking and what you do with it, instead of going through some 17yr old intermediary ...!

 

You will get price drops refunded right up to sail date -it will be refunded to your creditcard so keep an eye out. Price drops are only given if there is a room in the exact same category still available.

 

Fuel surcharge refunds will be given as OBC - based on a complicated formula where they ”will determine on a quarterly basis whether fuel supplements will be refunded. Refunds, in the form of an on-board credit, will be provided if the closing price of West Texas Intermediate fuel is $65 or less at the closing time of the New York Mercantile Exchange, two weeks prior to the beginning of the upcoming calendar quarter.” (PHEW!)

[NorbertsNiece]

Hi norbertsniece

Glad to speak to some other british cruisers thanks for all your help I have checked my booking with RCI as i have the booking ref from my deposit receipt, but its my confirmation invoice I am still short of. Hopefully I wont have long to wait or I will be chasing them for it. Glad to hear I can chase them for a reduction on fare as RCI have dropped the price and I had heard it was only those over the pond who could get a refund

 

There's a few of us Brits about ;) These boards are a real treasure trove of information. Even when there's major disagreements the reading is great!!

[angelina46]

sandian

i would like to know if you do manage a price reduction! my dec cruise on brilliance has gone down by £600! each! but thomas cook wont hear of it. will never use them again. in future will book direct with rcci. i even asked for an upgrade instead of price drop. they had cheek to ask for another £150 each! do let me know

angelina46

[Elizanessie]

sandian

i would like to know if you do manage a price reduction! my dec cruise on brilliance has gone down by £600! each! but thomas cook wont hear of it. will never use them again. in future will book direct with rcci. i even asked for an upgrade instead of price drop. they had cheek to ask for another £150 each! do let me know

angelina46

 

 

Please do not let them away with this stand your ground...ask for a conference call to be set up with your TA & RCCL and yourself. Tell your TA that they need to read the terms and conditions set out in the RCCL brochure. Ask your TA why they will not give you the price drop.Get it in writing if you can.

Please let us know how you get on.

 

Oh this makes me soooo mad :mad:

[NorbertsNiece]

Please do not let them away with this stand your ground...ask for a conference call to be set up with your TA & RCCL and yourself. Tell your TA that they need to read the terms and conditions set out in the RCCL brochure. Ask your TA why they will not give you the price drop.Get it in writing if you can.

Please let us know how you get on.

 

Oh this makes me soooo mad :mad:

 

Ditto.... that's one hell of a discount and it's your money. :mad:

[ScotFi]

Hi

 

I asked this question prior to booking in two different TA's one did not honour the drop Thomsons. The other First Choice stated they would often give an upgrade rather than the difference in the price. When pushed they said they would.

Only reason I knew to ask was by being a Scot on these boards. Have now booked through Virgin Hols who say they will honour drop if we find it.

 

Scotfi:)

[sddsddean]

No problems getting a price drop. We got about £150 each off our Med cruise earlier this year and last Tuesday we booked the Independance Trans Atlantic for Nov 09. The next day we got a price drop of over £100 each!! Keep an eye on these boards and do dummy reservations on RCI's website to see if the price of your cruise has gone down. I do it at least once a week, but some people do it every day!

 

Simon

[bozza]

We always book direct with RCI as I like to add on a few days either before or after a cruise. Also we've aways found it cheaper to book your cruise and flights seperate.

We had a 200 hundred price drop a few weeks ago on our January cruise and today saw another 306 pound drop, rang RCI and they have honoured it already!!:):)

Also if you need to change your cruise for some reason you can change without losing your deposit.

[Albert Ross]

sandian

i would like to know if you do manage a price reduction! my dec cruise on brilliance has gone down by £600! each! but thomas cook wont hear of it. will never use them again. in future will book direct with rcci. i even asked for an upgrade instead of price drop. they had cheek to ask for another £150 each! do let me know

angelina46

It is such a shame to read this - you are probably into penalty phase otherwise it would be worth your while cancelling, losing the £100pp deposit, and taking your business elsewhere....that'll learn them!

[eaststandbaggie]

I am off on Splendour next September and do keep checking to see if the price has dropped. However I have booked a fly cruise with RCL and although the cruise itself has gone down by £114 each, the airfare has rose by over £300. After speaking to RCL they tell me that the whole package (including airfare) has to have gone down to reduce the price. They did tell me that if the package does come down then they would reduce the price with no qualms at all. By the way I am another Brit.

Cheers Chris

[Elizanessie]

I am off on Splendour next September and do keep checking to see if the price has dropped. However I have booked a fly cruise with RCL and although the cruise itself has gone down by £114 each, the airfare has rose by over £300. After speaking to RCL they tell me that the whole package (including airfare) has to have gone down to reduce the price. They did tell me that if the package does come down then they would reduce the price with no qualms at all. By the way I am another Brit.

Cheers Chris

 

Hi Chris :D

 

This is one of the reasons I dont book a fly/cruise...the other reason being I have always found flights much much cheaper than RCCL. The prices they charge can be about 3 times as much as I can find them for :eek:

 

But I do understand that this doesnt suit everyone.

[Albert Ross]

I am off on Splendour next September and do keep checking to see if the price has dropped. However I have booked a fly cruise with RCL and although the cruise itself has gone down by £114 each, the airfare has rose by over £300. After speaking to RCL they tell me that the whole package (including airfare) has to have gone down to reduce the price. They did tell me that if the package does come down then they would reduce the price with no qualms at all. By the way I am another Brit.

Cheers Chris

Absolute rubbish I'm afraid - there are two elements to your cruise - the flight and the cruise. You lock in at the air fare rate when you book - if that drops you do not get a refund, (and if the flight cost rises you do not pay more); but your basic cruise price is flexible and if there is a drop in price on your cruise fare you are entitled to that. So Chris, get onto your T/A and get yourself that £114 refund! Let us know what happens.

[Elizanessie]

Absolute rubbish I'm afraid - there are two elements to your cruise - the flight and the cruise. You lock in at the air fare rate when you book - if that drops you do not get a refund, but your basic cruise price is flexible and if there is a drop in price on your cruise fare you are entitled to that. So Chris, get onto your T/A and get yourself that £114 refund! Let us know what happens.

 

Thanks for that info Albert on fly/cruise prices....nice to know :D

[eaststandbaggie]

Absolute rubbish I'm afraid - there are two elements to your cruise - the flight and the cruise. You lock in at the air fare rate when you book - if that drops you do not get a refund, (and if the flight cost rises you do not pay more); but your basic cruise price is flexible and if there is a drop in price on your cruise fare you are entitled to that. So Chris, get onto your T/A and get yourself that £114 refund! Let us know what happens.

 

Hi Albert thanks for the info, I have actually booked direct with RCL and not a TA. Thats what they themselves told me yesterday however I will give them another go.

I have been given my flights and they are with Lufthansa, I have been on their site and the price is just about the same if I had booked directly so I cant complain about the airfare.

[Albert Ross]

...you know the motto on these boards - "Speak to 3 different agents at RCI and get 3 different answers.."! Keep trying until you get the answer that you want (and is correct!)

[Elizanessie]

...you know the motto on these boards - "Speak to 3 different agents at RCI and get 3 different answers.."! Keep trying until you get the answer that you want (and is correct!)

 

Funny thing...I said that to some friends at RCCL UK earlier this year...and they agreed :D

[eaststandbaggie]

Absolute rubbish I'm afraid - there are two elements to your cruise - the flight and the cruise. You lock in at the air fare rate when you book - if that drops you do not get a refund, (and if the flight cost rises you do not pay more); but your basic cruise price is flexible and if there is a drop in price on your cruise fare you are entitled to that. So Chris, get onto your T/A and get yourself that £114 refund! Let us know what happens.

 

 

Albert you are an absolute star, thankyou very much,

 

Rang RCL again today, sweet as a nut they knocked off £114 each for my DW and I. You ought to start charging commission. Price of airfair rose when they changed the codes but they emailed their flights office and the original price was back within half an hour. They have now emailed my confirmation so everything is sweet,

 

Thankyou again,

 

Cheers Chris

[Albert Ross]

I'm not going to say 'I told you so but...'!!!

 

Glad it worked out for you - and have a beer on me with your savings!

(and keep a watch out for further drops!);)

[sandancer]

Albert you are an absolute star, thankyou very much,

 

Rang RCL again today, sweet as a nut they knocked off £114 each for my DW and I. You ought to start charging commission. Price of airfair rose when they changed the codes but they emailed their flights office and the original price was back within half an hour. They have now emailed my confirmation so everything is sweet,

 

Thankyou again,

 

Cheers Chris

Don't you just love it when it all works out!!!

[hackette]

Hi norbertsniece

Glad to speak to some other british cruisers thanks for all your help I have checked my booking with RCI as i have the booking ref from my deposit receipt, but its my confirmation invoice I am still short of. Hopefully I wont have long to wait or I will be chasing them for it. Glad to hear I can chase them for a reduction on fare as RCI have dropped the price and I had heard it was only those over the pond who could get a refund

 

Sandian,

I think it's pretty typical of we British that we don't actively look for discounts whereas people in the USA do.

We have only taken two previous cruises but I logged on to this website before our first to Alaska in 2007 and as a result of tips gleaned, managed to get the offer of a £200 a head price reduction on the cabin we'd booked or an upgrade.

I booked direct with RCCL and booked the flights separately and reckon we saved in total somewhere in the region of £800!

Our next cruise is to the Eastern Mediterranean on Brilliance of the Seas in March, and although this curise has been virtually sold out for months I check the RCCL website daily, and last week managed to gain a cabin upgrade to a DI cabin at £200 less than we were paying for the E1 we'd originally booked.

Prices can fluctuate not just from day to day but from hour to hour - the offer on D1 cabins was only posted on the site for a few hours as there were only two cabins available.

As one of those who was previously reluctant to seek discounts I'm enjoying playing this "game" especially as it can bring considerable financial benefits which in these difficult times are very welcome!!!!

Good luck.

[sandian]

great to hear from you all I am also originally from scotland so dont want to lose out, glad to hear that virgin will refund as that is who I booked with. I am fly cruise but dont know if I will go down that road again.

Sandian