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Next Cruise while onboard


KJ1231

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So taking the two younger kids (17 & 20) on the holiday cruise on 12/28. If this seems like a good idea for future holidays I am already looking at the a 7-day next January (1/4/20 on Grandeur) and take the whole family (7 adults, 2 wee ones) for less than half of what I'm paying for just 4 of us for a 5-nighter over New Years.

We stopped at Next Cruise when we went to Alaska but didn't pull the trigger - but booked 3 more since then ? What can we expect at the Next Cruise desk in a couple weeks? Are the deals really that much better? And then transfer to my MEI TA soon after?

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Looking at recent Cruise Compass's they all seem to have "up to" $600 OBC. Some mention $600 in savings OR OBC.

What do you think is "normal" for a balcony room? And would it apply to all 3 cabins? I only have 2 for this upcoming cruise so in theory the kids could book theirs if the benefits only apply to one cabin.

Can you tell I'm already planning the sales pitch for my DW?

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1 hour ago, KJ1231 said:

And then transfer to my MEI TA soon after?

Actually, if you are on a cruise, booked through an agency and you visit NextCruise and book a future cruise, that booking will AUTOMATICALLY be assigned to the agency that booked the cruise you are on....unless you specifically tell them NOT to do that.  So if you want the booking to be handled by MEI and they booked the cruise that you are on when you make the reservation, there will be no need to transfer the booking; it will already be assigned to MEI when you do it.

And it is NOT easy to have that booking removed from the agency, either.  If you do NOT want the same agency to handle your future cruise be SURE and let the NextCruise folks know it UP FRONT.

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2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Actually, if you are on a cruise, booked through an agency and you visit NextCruise and book a future cruise, that booking will AUTOMATICALLY be assigned to the agency that booked the cruise you are on....unless you specifically tell them NOT to do that.  So if you want the booking to be handled by MEI and they booked the cruise that you are on when you make the reservation, there will be no need to transfer the booking; it will already be assigned to MEI when you do it.

And it is NOT easy to have that booking removed from the agency, either.  If you do NOT want the same agency to handle your future cruise be SURE and let the NextCruise folks know it UP FRONT.

Greta info! Thanks! Unless something happens between now and 12/28 I will let it be assigned to MEI - assuming DW goes for it!

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2 hours ago, KJ1231 said:

Looking at recent Cruise Compass's they all seem to have "up to" $600 OBC. Some mention $600 in savings OR OBC.

What do you think is "normal" for a balcony room? And would it apply to all 3 cabins? I only have 2 for this upcoming cruise so in theory the kids could book theirs if the benefits only apply to one cabin.

Can you tell I'm already planning the sales pitch for my DW?

For a normal balcony room the savings is $100 per stateroom for a 7 day cruise with a NRD.  It is a $75 Future OBC with a Flexible Fare.  Here is a link to the RC program.  Open the Travel partner PDF and pay attention to the NRD vs Flexible Fare wording that is hard to figure out elsewhere.  http://www.royalonboardsales.com/#seecommercialvideo

I am fairly certain you can book up to 3 staterooms with the Next Cruise program.

I would be following prices now to know what the price should be and possible get a quote from your TA before the cruise (knowing the rate could change) but make sure you know that you are looking at comparable categories (2D or 4D), etc.  

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8 hours ago, Sweety said:

I always book while I am on a cruise. The deposit is better also. 

We booked next cruise while on board but very little difference.  OBC was a whopping $26 and deposit was the same as if booking online.  What they don't mention is the benefits are only for non-refundable bookings.

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I believe this is current info except for the $600 cap.This was copied a couple years ago. And as stated above, it's the same price as when you book at home. You only get the OBC as listed below. It's not much for shorter cruises, but when we do 15/16 day T/As in a balcony we have gotten that $250 a few times.

We do all our research on the future sailing before boarding our current cruise and make a quick stop once onboard and book the cruise. They charge me $250 ......I now have a cruise booked for $250 downpayment that comes with $250 OBC. The last one we booked like this was about 10 months ago. 

And YES, when you book, it gets credited to your TA of record. If you don't have a TA on record with RCI, you have 60 days to SELL your booking to a TA of your choice. Now you get the TA perks as well as the OBC from RCI. It's a way of getting all the possible benefits out of a booking.

 

Booking a specific cruise
-------------------------

•5-7 night cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $50
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $100
◦Grand Suite and above: $200

•8-10 night cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $100
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $150
◦Grand Suite and above: $300

•11-14 night cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $150
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $200
◦Grand Suite and above: $400

•15 nights or longer cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $200
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $250
◦Grand Suite and above: $500

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23 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Question...can anyone confirm...if there is a price drop for the cruise you booked on board, do we get to keep the OBC that came from booking next cruise when in board?  Or do we lose that with any re-price?

When you reprice a cruise you are basically rebooking.  You will lose whatever booking promotion (those coming from Royal Caribbean) you got with the original booking BUT you will be eligible for any booking promotions association with the new pricing. So yes, you will lose your RCCL-generated booking promotions (OBC, etc.) but if there are any promos going on when you rebook, you would be eligible for them. 

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

When you reprice a cruise you are basically rebooking.  You will lose whatever booking promotion (those coming from Royal Caribbean) you got with the original booking BUT you will be eligible for any booking promotions association with the new pricing. So yes, you will lose your RCCL-generated booking promotions (OBC, etc.) but if there are any promos going on when you rebook, you would be eligible for them. 

+1

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2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

When you reprice a cruise you are basically rebooking.  You will lose whatever booking promotion (those coming from Royal Caribbean) you got with the original booking BUT you will be eligible for any booking promotions association with the new pricing. So yes, you will lose your RCCL-generated booking promotions (OBC, etc.) but if there are any promos going on when you rebook, you would be eligible for them. 

So that's what I thought....BUT...asked because when I spoke to a Royal agent today, she said we get to keep the OBC that came as part of the 'on board' booking (vs obc that came as a promotion as part of the cost).  Shows you they don't always know what they are talking about.

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2 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

So that's what I thought....BUT...asked because when I spoke to a Royal agent today, she said we get to keep the OBC that came as part of the 'on board' booking (vs obc that came as a promotion as part of the cost).  Shows you they don't always know what they are talking about.

I think that’s correct. Sorry. I didn’t think about the promo from onboard booking. Someone else will need to verify. It’s been more than a decade since I booked a cruise onboard.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Welcome to the forum boards, @abundantjoyful!

MEI is the travel agency many here (myself included) use. They are also a sponsor of this site and help the administrator, @Matt, to keep the lights on.

TA is shorthand for travel agent, at least in this case. You'll sometimes see TA also used as shorthand for a transatlantic itinerary, but that's less common. It's usually clear from the surrounding context which meaning is intended. (although I sometimes get mixed up and have to think about it for a minute ?)

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