Christie Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Thanks to Beci's little Periscope adventure on Anthem of the Seas just now, I'm considering doing a cruise for our anniversary next year. We will be on Oasis of the Seas for Christmas. What kind of discount could I expect to get on board if we booked a future cruise? Is it much better than the prices advertised online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I just booked a cruise onboard through "NextCruise" on the Liberty of the Seas last week. It's for the Anthem of the Seas for FEB 2017 (12-night southern caribbean). We are only Gold level (until we get credit for this past cruise) so we basically got the current promo (30% off) like everyone else (I hear sometimes higher levels can get balcony discounts)... The benefit for us specifically was: (1) a significantly reduced deposit of $200 (modeled online today and they want a $900 deposit for same cruise) to reserve the balcony stateroom, and (2) an immediate onboard credit of $200 on our Liberty cruise "tab"/account... You retain all other flexibility... you can have the rate adjusted anytime before final payment if a new promo comes out that is better than the current 30% off promo. They will credit your travel agent, or in my case, just set it up so I can monitor it myself through royalcaribbean.com (I did not use a TA for the last cruise). Also, if you are booking far enough in advance you can of course hand pick your stateroom. I'm not sure, but they may offer deeper discounts on specific cruises... you can make an appointment ahead of time for a later date or just sign up in the walk-in book and just speak with them... thefoodguyjamesinasia and Jerel 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 JohnK nailed it. The price does not change with NextCruise, however, you do get a reduced deposit and extra onboard credit in addition, whatever deal Royal Caribbean is running at that time. So if you booked today, you would get 30% off cruise fare + extra onboard credit + reduced deposit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Also, if you are considering booking onboard, I would recommend going to the NextCruise office (for us on the Liberty, it was in the Royal Promenade) very early in the cruise and schedule an appointment in the book. They had a table outside of the NextCruise office with the latest RC cruise catalogs, flyers and two logs. One log to schedule an appointment (time slots set up for duration of cruise) and another to sign-in as a walk-in (you just wait until they call your stateroom number from the log). Pre-scheduled appointments booked fast and the last couple of days of the cruise tend to be extremely hectic for them of course! I believe the normal office hours were 9:00AM-5:00PM (or maybe 6:00PM) and on the last day they stayed open until 8:00PM. If you book, you will get the onboard credit on your current cruise account the next day and also an envelope will be delivered to your stateroom with the booking confirmation paperwork. Jerel and David Bennett 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerel Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Thanks for all the info John, I think I'll try next cruise for my sailing at the end of the week. Iv always found it confusing for some reason. Still do but I'm starting to get it. JohnK6404 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Basically the benefit is a vastly reduced deposit. There is a lot of confusion on the OBC offer. When I booked back in March they gave me an OBC for the cruise I was on equal to the deposit I was putting down on my nextcruise. So, the deposit for the 7 night cruise on Adventure OTS next Thanksgiving in a balcony was $100. They charged my card $100 and then put a $100 OBC on my account onboard Jewel OTS. Essentially my card got charged exactly the same amount as it would have on Jewel anyway but now I have a deposit of $100 on AOTS for next year. FYI the deposit is non-refundable but since it didn't cost me anything that's fine. I had heard that if you elect to take the OBC on the future cruise then the deposit is refundable still, this wasn't offered to me and I didn't ask but I believe it is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 I had heard that if you elect to take the OBC on the future cruise then the deposit is refundable still, this wasn't offered to me and I didn't ask but I believe it is the case. I don't believe that to be the case. It's always been my understanding anything you book in NextCruise is non-refundable. That's pretty much the only "catch" of booking online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeK Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 On our last cruise last May out of San Juan we went to the NextCruise desk on the first night.to book our next cruise. As always we had a meeting with our TA just prior to the cruise to research our next cruise to compare pricing and on board credits etc. We got a rough idea to take on board with us what we would be paying for the Baltic Sea cruise in June 2016. Well to our disappointment we found out the only cabins left were Jr Suites and below. We were hoping to get into the Grand Suite again. Our TA told us when we returned that on some cruises the higher end cabins and lower end cabins(Price wise) are the first to go. I have checked back off and on for the last six months and none of the suites are available. We did book a Jr. Suite but we are hoping in March when its pony up time there will be some cancellations. Just a little food for thought that a cruise that you are planning to book on board might not be available even like us when its 13 months ahead. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Just a little food for thought that a cruise that you are planning to book on board might not be available even like us when its 13 months ahead. Good tip. Definitely keep an eye on availability because folks cancel all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galveston Steve Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 We booked with NextCruise on Liberty of the Seas a couple weeks ago. The process was very easy. We used the ship's computer to surf the Royal Caribbean website for free. We found the cruise that we wanted to take and then went to the NextCruise office and told them which date, ship, and cabin we wanted. The NextCruise guy took it from there. We booked a future Liberty sailing for January 2017, balcony cabin. Here was our deal: Cruise pricing was exactly the same as the website (we got a BOGO deal) Deposit was reduced to just $100. Charged it on our credit card. Immediately received a $100 OBC for the cruise we were currently on. Received $300 OBC for the future cruise that we had just booked (The November Promotion) We will also have the booking transferred to our travel agent and get their perks for OBC, etc. The NextCruise office was very busy all week. As others said above, go during the first day or two of your cruise and make an appointment if they are busy. I will definitely try to book onboard from now on. As Matt always says, "It's free money". EDITED: clarified, as others point out below, that the $300 OBC was the November promotion, not part of the NextCruise onboard booking bonus. David Bennett and JohnK6404 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bennett Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Brilliant tips from you all. Def going to book appointment on next cruise in 2016 when I am onboard. Galveston Steve and JohnK6404 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Wow...that wasn't my experience at all on my trip to the Nextcruise office in November. I tried to do this on my last cruise on Majesty as I had 3 future cruises booked and wanted to see if I could get a better deal, or book something else. I could not for any of them, even with the extra "incentives". I can't believe they gave you $100 OBC for your current cruise PLUS $300 OBC for the cruise you booked, and that was ONLY cause you booked on the ship. So your telling me there was no OBC promo that RCI had going at the time? I am pretty sure they had a OBC promo in Nov with the BOGO promo whether you booked at sea or on land. Maybe offers vary from ship to ship, because you were on a bigger newer ship you got a better offer than I could?...although that wouldn't hardly seem fair...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 The $300 on the future cruise was the standard offer in place from RCI. The $100 on the current cruise was the Nextcruise benefits. The Nextcruise benefit is a greatly reduced deposit and an OBC on your current cruise equal to the amount of the deposit. Just off Freedom last week and sat with Nextcruise desk to see what the options were, nothing worth doing :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Ok...that's what I thought...... Poster said he got an extra $400 obc JUST for booking on board...I didn't think that was the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Poster said he got an extra $400 obc JUST for booking on board...I didn't think that was the case. You can get $400 OBC just for booking onboard IF you book a 11-14 night cruise in a GS or higher http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2014/01/04/next-cruise-certificates-everything-you-wanted-know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Right as Matt said the future OBC is based on what length of cruise you book and also what type of cabin that you book. The immediate incentives are what everyone has said - and the next cruise deposit is not refundable - Really wish they would just discount future cruises based on your loyalty I'd always rather save more money-then OBC but that is me. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Especially if you have no need for OBC. Walked off Freedom owing them $18 ... visited NextCruise and he kept selling me that in addition to the $300 OBC on the future cruise I would get $100 right now on this cruise .... nonrefundable so I would have to buy an extra $80 of stuff I don't want in order to use it up .... Not a real strong offering there :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Same is true not booking on board.....promo last mth was $400 OBC booked in a GS suite......nothing to do with booking on board. So really, its the $100 OBC you immediately receive that is the only cash perk....and I could have received that booking an inside room at the next cruise desk. Like I said...I checked 3 different cruises, on 3 different boats...and there was NO savings or extra incentive at all with the next cruise desk for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Same is true not booking on board.....promo last mth was $400 OBC booked in a GS suite......nothing to do with booking on board. I think you're confusing the promos, or I am not understanding what you're saying. Let me give you this example. Let's say you want to book a 7-night cruise on Allure of the Seas in a balcony and let's say Royal Caribbean is offering $100 OBC for that to anyone booking. By booking at NextCruise, you will get that $100 OBC that anyone can get PLUS the onboard booking bonus, which is another $100. So by booking onboard, you get $200 OBC total. I don't know about you all, but I love free money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Yeah..I am confused.....there was NO perks to booking on board for me except the instant $100 OBC for the current cruise I was on. The OBC they were offering for the 3 cruises I was looking at booking, was NO different than me sitting at home and booking on the website. Promo in Nov with RCI was a big OBC...nothing to do with booking onboard, you had it posted here many times during the month of Nov.(Bogo + OBC promo) The above poster saying he got $400 OBC "because" he booked with the next cruise desk is not correct. I could have gotten the same deal sitting at my office and booking online....the only perk is the $100 immediate obc he received which is standard right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 monctonguy, you are correct there are only 2 benefits to booking on board. 1. Reduced deposit (occasionally matched by the RCI sale going on off the ship but very rarely). 2. Instant OBC equal to the amount of the deposit you put down. In all other respects all you are offered is the same sale price as is currently available to everyone at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galveston Steve Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 I can't believe they gave you $100 OBC for your current cruise PLUS $300 OBC for the cruise you booked, and that was ONLY cause you booked on the ship. So your telling me there was no OBC promo that RCI had going at the time? I am pretty sure they had a OBC promo in Nov with the BOGO promo whether you booked at sea or on land. I stand corrected. The additional $300 OBC must have been the November promotion, not a NextCruise promotion. I have edited my original post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Ok..just wanted to make sure I understood! I felt like I had been ripped off if that wasn't the case when I spoke to the next cruise desk......and I was ready to sit down and not leave the next cruise desk on my next cruise coming up till they gave me lots of OBC...haha Too bad they wouldn't give more to book when on a cruise. But I guess with their full ships, they don't really need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Personally, I don't think the onboard booking incentive is worth it in most cases unless you're booking a long cruise or a balcony or suite. The messily amount of OBC, in my opinion, just isn't enough to be meaningful. With this said, I did book a Baltics cruise onboard as the OBC came to $250 for an inside and that made it worth it to me. However, $100 OBC isn't enough incentive for me. I really wish they'd adopt Disney's strategy where you get a straight percentage off or significant category upgrades (e.g., ocean view for the price of an inside). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 I had a family group with me and they expressed interest in doing a Thanksgiving 2017 cruise .. knowing the schedule doesn't go that far yet I figured I would spend a few minutes to see if there were any options. The future cruise had no real benefits and is non-refundable so that didn't seem worth it and the NextCruise only offered the OBC on the current cruise which all of us would have forfeited at that point so that seemed worthless too. The strategy obviously works for RCI, just not for me as a consumer :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 The down payment is not refundable but isn't it still transferrable ? It has been a while since I used the onboard booking program b/c I get a much better deal through Club Royale but the last one I used was a couple of Christmas's ago. I booked the Adventure out of SJ but later decided to change it to Grandeur. Not only did the down payment transfer, but the amount of my balcony discount actually increased b/c I went from a 7 night to an 8 night and the C&A OBC for 8 night is more than it is for a 7. So if you want to book a cruise for 2017, for which the dates have not yet opened, you can always (unless things have changed !) book onboard and then change the reservation to the 2017 booking once the dates open up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 If you book the "open" future cruise, the OBC is so tiny as to be not worth it. If you book the "next" cruise option, the OBC is applied to your current cruise immediately (No option to defer it to the future cruise itself) so unless you are going to use the OBC now then you lose the OBC and essentially get no benefit. In our case we had plenty of OBC, didn't really do any excursions due to weather so we were all at basically zero bills to start with, getting minimally more OBC for this cruise wasn't worth the hassle of doing a booking and then changing a booking. EDIT: And Balcony Discounts are not combinable with the (better) OBC being offered for bookings under the current sales so the Balcony Discount doesn't have any value either :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 So it has changed. The OBC you get is for the cruise you are on and you get nothing for your future cruise. I was never given the option of using OBC on my current cruise. This program is already worthless to me. Sorry that it seems to be going that way for everyone else, too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Is this a new change? We were given the option in August to apply the OBC to the current cruise or to carry it over to the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Is this a new change? We were given the option in August to apply the OBC to the current cruise or to carry it over to the next. It's still a choice. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Then I have a bone to pick with the NextCruise staff as I was very specific in asking for exactly that choice and he repeatedly told me that it was not a choice. That was my thinking was to book a random cruise to pick up the reduced deposit and the OBC and then switch the booking once the schedule rolled, he was in agreement that that was a great plan but was insistent that the OBC had to be on the current cruise. Even to the point of pulling up each of our accounts to try and figure out how much of the OBC was refundable so that we might be able to get that money back instead of losing it if we didn't want to go spend it. Grrrrr, I forgot RCI rule 1. If you don't like the answer you get keep asking other people until you find someone to give you the answer you want. bobroo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Grrrrr, I forgot RCI rule 1. If you don't like the answer you get keep asking other people until you find someone to give you the answer you want. Yup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobroo Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Another RCL rule: Different ships have different rules. Many, many passengers have difficulty with this concept. So whether you can bring cases upon cases of bottled water onboard, a surge protected outlet strip is/is not contraband, or how diligent the pool chair police are is different as the ship you are boarding. Two weeks ago we booked onboard the Rhapsody. We got $100 of OBC applied to our current room and were not offered what cruise we'd like it applied to. Co-incidentally at the end of the cruise we were refunded $165 (promptly!) back to our credit card stemming from various sources ( OBC, a cancelled excursion, dining credits). Your results may vary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterfly Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Got back from our freedom of seas cruise a couple of weeks ago. We actually thought it was a great deal to book onboard. We booked 2 future 7 day cruises and only had to put down $50 per stateroom so $100 down for 2 cruises. Plus the deal they were running online. If booked at home 2 cruises our deposit would have been alot more. For us this was great we are just typical middle class money making people and love the huge savings of the upfront The only thing is as someone also stated on the blog is we went in thinking what we put down would be matched for onboard credit for our future cruise. This was not the case at all. They gave us 200 dollars for onboard credit for our cruise that we were on and it could not be transferred to our future cruise. We asked two different agents onboard so I believe this is something new where that is no longer an option. We rarely have a use for obc so we always use it to pay for our gratuites. Which is in itself a huge savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 While I agree the reduced deposit is a nice perk, I don't see much value in it as it doesn't reduce the overall price of your cruise. Personally, I'd like to see real savings. And if it is RCI's policy to not allow OBC to be carried over to the booked cruise, I no longer see the incentive of booking onboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I think it's the old "a bird in the hand..." principle..." that they are using here... DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 While I agree the reduced deposit is a nice perk, I don't see much value in it as it doesn't reduce the overall price of your cruise. Personally, I'd like to see real savings. And if it is RCI's policy to not allow OBC to be carried over to the booked cruise, I no longer see the incentive of booking onboard. The benefit of reduced deposit is you can book cruises with less obstacle. Personally, I do not pay off my cruises until final payment, so the less I have to lay out now, the better. That being said, I would not book a cruise purely because of reduced deposit. But I certainly am glad to have it. Steve L 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I have the opposite approach. I divide my cruise balance by the number of months remaining until final payment and pay a little every month to a AVOID having to make one big payment at the end. I do not pay it off early but I do pay it down systematically so that I don't have such a huge bill facing me at one time. It's much more palatable. AGSLC5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Reduced deposit is a nice to have but ultimately doesn't matter to me, real savings would make me a whole lot more likely to book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I do see your point, Matt, and it does make it easier to book and doesn't tie up one's money. However, it's simply a convenience rather than a savings and I'd rather have the savings if I had the choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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