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next cruise haggling allowed????


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I apologize if my question has been answered before.  I will take my very first cruise next week and I have heard that Next Cruise is a great place to get a good deal.  Am I allowed to ask them to “sweeten the pot” or add something to my booking?  For example, asking them to throw in one free soda package or add $50 on board credit on top?  Just bought a new car last week and we were able to talk the guy into free floor mats LOL!  I know this forum is full of kind advice.  Has anyone ever requested and received a deal better than what was originally offered at Next Cruise, or is that not possible????

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Not that I have ever seen. They punch up the #'S on the computer and thats it. 

Book your cruise onboard to take advantage of the onboard booking OBC(onboard credit) that Royal offers. Then when you get home shop your booking around to your favorite travel agents to see what THEY will give you for perks. Get the best of both.

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Go for it, but don't be surprised if they chuckle and politely decline. 

NextCruise isn't what it used to be, at least in my experience.  With so many sales and promos every few weeks Next has become hit or miss.  Now if I see what I perceive to be a good price, I book it even if I have a cruise next week. 

Be aware, Next is only non-refundable deposits now. 

In January I sat at Next while I had my regular travel agent on the phone held up to my ear.  Right there I shopped them, got their best price, asked my agent, took three steps away from Next and booked a refundable fare to NZ cheaper through my agent than Next non-refundable with their OBC factored in.  Plus no $450 deposit.  Same cabin, same sail date. 

YMMV.

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7 hours ago, twangster said:

Go for it, but don't be surprised if they chuckle and politely decline. 

NextCruise isn't what it used to be, at least in my experience.  With so many sales and promos every few weeks Next has become hit or miss.  Now if I see what I perceive to be a good price, I book it even if I have a cruise next week. 

Be aware, Next is only non-refundable deposits now. 

In January I sat at Next while I had my regular travel agent on the phone held up to my ear.  Right there I shopped them, got their best price, asked my agent, took three steps away from Next and booked a refundable fare to NZ cheaper through my agent than Next non-refundable with their OBC factored in.  Plus no $450 deposit.  Same cabin, same sail date. 

YMMV.

"chuckle and politely decline" ??? I won't be surprised if they tossed his butt overboard and started singing , "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean". ????

Also, "Next is only non-refundable deposits now" is incorrectly stated. I booked a  cruise onboard yesterday while on the RotS, with a fully refundable deposit. You can choose either.

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10 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

"chuckle and politely decline" ??? I won't be surprised if they tossed his butt overboard and started singing , "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean". ????

Also, "Next is only non-refundable deposits now" is incorrectly stated. I booked a  cruise onboard yesterday while on the RotS, with a fully refundable deposit. You can choose either.

From my experience they can book the refundable deposit, but you don't get any perks for doing so through NextCruise. It's the same price and perks that you'd get booking through your own TA or the website... that being said, things change so quickly it could be different now!

 

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18 hours ago, twangster said:

Go for it, but don't be surprised if they chuckle and politely decline. 

NextCruise isn't what it used to be, at least in my experience.  With so many sales and promos every few weeks Next has become hit or miss.  Now if I see what I perceive to be a good price, I book it even if I have a cruise next week. 

Be aware, Next is only non-refundable deposits now. 

In January I sat at Next while I had my regular travel agent on the phone held up to my ear.  Right there I shopped them, got their best price, asked my agent, took three steps away from Next and booked a refundable fare to NZ cheaper through my agent than Next non-refundable with their OBC factored in.  Plus no $450 deposit.  Same cabin, same sail date. 

YMMV.

You're a slybot...

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We always do next cruise and ask for any and all possible discounts :  Senior, Military, State, Crown and Anchor status.  Then when we  get home we call our travel agent and transfer the cruises over to her and receive additional on board credits and a bottle of wine and whatever else they may throw  our way.   We then proceed to watch the price of the cruise to see if it drops and get the price  reductions as well.  Next cruise will not be giving you anything more than what is available.   They are very helpful with a lot of ideas and have helped us decide where and when to go and so on and so forth.  

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We have managed to get some good deals through Next Cruise as they offer, at times, the current US deal to everyone. This is usually better than the UK deal of the time, especially if the drinks package (often included in the UK deals) is of less importance than overall price. Non refundable deposit is the norm for us, so that is not an issue. Then, as others have said, we pass the booking to our travel agent, who always manages to add something extra for us. (We have a good travel agent but, from all the excellent reports given on these forums about MEI, there are times that we wish we could use them in the UK.)

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