Help with booking process

[Stephany]

I only been on one RC cruise so I'm a newbie, bare with me lol.

I'm trying to book a family vacation for December 2022 on Oasis of the Seas, 4 rooms, that will be paid half by the parents. So I'll be booking the cruise with their CC, but I am unaware if booking like this would be a problem later on. Because they will be paying half of everything, but for excursions we will have to pay ourselves. So if booking all the 4 rooms together will not come with 4 separate cruise planners so everyone can book their own reservation for shows and such right? 

I am a bit stuck on how to do this properly, as I'd like to book myself without a travel agent, for experience you know. 

Any tips and tricks?

Thank you in advance!

Stephany

[Reigert2008]

I would highly recommend a travel agent.  This is an "advanced" booking and using a TA really would be the best option.  

[Linda R]

I also would use a TA.  They will be familiar with the process.

[MuttMutt]

Technically everyone who is on the cruise will be able to log in to the cruise planner and pay for things they want to do. If something is going to be booked as a group it may even be best to book an excursion with one person paying in case there are limited spots. Otherwise someone may get left out. 

 

With that said a Travel agent would not be a bad idea with so many people and rooms. Especially if you want them all close together. 

 

 

 

[CruiseGus]

Agree with the travel agent advice, I use @michelle from MEI.

I will tell you I booked a family Xmas cruise vacation, 3 cabins 7 people, a while back myself but on board and each cabin had its own Booking Number.

[Reigert2008]

1 hour ago, Reigert2008 said:

I would highly recommend a travel agent.  This is an "advanced" booking and using a TA really would be the best option.  

To add to my previous comment, the TA would be able to get the payments from whomever is paying for various things and ensure that no one is "short changed".  

[Pooch]

Unless you are looking to become a TA yourself, not sure you need the experience.

[Jill]

I will echo the TA thing. If the cruise goes south (cancelled etc) you’re suddenly dealing with refunds or FCC’s and with different forms of payment being used, sounds like a headache in the making. 
 

Personally I’d call a TA (I use @Sharlawith MEI) and ask if there’s a group rate for that sailing. She got our group a great deal on Odyssey out of Rome (now cancelled because of covid). 
 

Good luck with whichever way you decide. I used to book all of ours and switched to Sharla about 6 months before Covid hit. So glad I did because she’s dealt with RC through all the FCC mess and has moved one cruise 4 times now and another one once. She’s pretty awesome  

[Stephany]

23 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Unless you are looking to become a TA yourself, not sure you need the experience.

Yes I kinda want to be one. But I need to do more cruising for myself first.

[Stephany]

The thing is, I do not live in the US. I am from Aruba, and here we do not have travel agents that work closely with RC. And they charge an insane amount of money per person for the booking process, so that's why I want to book it by myself, while I also love doing it. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Each room gets a different reservation number.  Also when on cruise planner you can link other reservation numbers to yours in order to make purchases easier.  I like doing all my own booking, etc so do not use a TA.  Whenever I need help or need to make changes calling the main number is simple and I never wait for someone to answer.  

[Baked Alaska]

41 minutes ago, Stephany said:

The thing is, I do not live in the US. I am from Aruba, and here we do not have travel agents that work closely with RC. And they charge an insane amount of money per person for the booking process, so that's why I want to book it by myself, while I also love doing it. 

Go with MEI travel. People from around the world use them. They are the sponsors of this website. You cannot go wrong with them. Like @Jill and @Neesa, @Sharla is our TA, and we have nothing but good things to say about her. She saves us money, checks on cruise fare reductions, puts up with my goofy questions. The list goes on and on. Here is the link to start the process. Fill out the page on the right: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/

 

[teddy]

2 hours ago, MuttMutt said:

With that said a Travel agent would not be a bad idea with so many peyote and rooms. 

 

 

 

I didn’t see this option in the cruise planner

[Stephany]

51 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Each room gets a different reservation number.  Also when on cruise planner you can link other reservation numbers to yours in order to make purchases easier.  I like doing all my own booking, etc so do not use a TA.  Whenever I need help or need to make changes calling the main number is simple and I never wait for someone to answer.  

Thank you, this is very helpful.

[Stephany]

28 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

Go with MEI travel. People from around the world use them. They are the sponsors of this website. You cannot go wrong with them. Like @Jill and @Neesa, @Sharla is our TA, and we have nothing but good things to say about her. She saves us money, checks on cruise fare reductions, puts up with my goofy questions. The list goes on and on. Here is the link to start the process. Fill out the page on the right: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/

 

Alright, thank you. I was unaware of that possibility. 

[MaryCS62]

On 6/3/2021 at 4:33 PM, Baked Alaska said:

Go with MEI travel. People from around the world use them. They are the sponsors of this website. You cannot go wrong with them. Like @Jill and @Neesa, @Sharla is our TA, and we have nothing but good things to say about her. She saves us money, checks on cruise fare reductions, puts up with my goofy questions. The list goes on and on. Here is the link to start the process. Fill out the page on the right: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/

 

Anyone ever work with Jacki? Just got an email from her after contacting the site\

[Matt]

3 hours ago, MaryCS62 said:

Anyone ever work with Jacki? Just got an email from her after contacting the site\

Lots of folks love @Jacki_MEI

[MaryCS62]

11 minutes ago, Matt said:

Lots of folks love @Jacki_MEI

Good!! We've done our own booking, have transferred bookings to AAA (& had them do 1 for us), but haven't been overly impressed. Then, sometime last year, "our" TA left, & we've been contacted by at least 3 others, so we don't really know who's in charge of our current Anthem (Jan 2022) booking. So, since we still have FCC & have to use it before the end of 2022 (we think, but that's a whole separate issue), we booked Oasis for Aug 2022, and were thinking of giving MEI that one, since everyone here sings their praises.

[smokeybandit]

On 6/3/2021 at 12:45 PM, MuttMutt said:

 

 

With that said a Travel agent would not be a bad idea with so many peyote and rooms. Especially if you want them all close together. 

 

 

 

Wait, travel agents can get you peyote?  Why isn't everyone using a TA then?

[CruiseGus]

4 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Wait, travel agents can get you peyote?  Why isn't everyone using a TA then?

could be because it make you violently sick first, don't ask how I know.  Like President Clinton I didn't inhale either.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

21 hours ago, MaryCS62 said:

Good!! We've done our own booking, have transferred bookings to AAA (& had them do 1 for us), but haven't been overly impressed. Then, sometime last year, "our" TA left, & we've been contacted by at least 3 others, so we don't really know who's in charge of our current Anthem (Jan 2022) booking. So, since we still have FCC & have to use it before the end of 2022 (we think, but that's a whole separate issue), we booked Oasis for Aug 2022, and were thinking of giving MEI that one, since everyone here sings their praises.

I do believe the FCC's need to be used (meaning finished with cruise) by Sept. 30, 2022...unless it has been (or will get) extended.  I believe the cruise would need to be booked by April 30, 2022.