re-booking a future cruise

[lklgoodman]

We leave this Saturday for our Fantasy cruise. We also have a cruise booked for Jan. 2020, I booked this myself online on opening day. As of right now the price for our Jan. 2020 cruise is the same as when I booked it. I want to re-book it when we are on the ship next week, but have never done so. Should I cancel the reservation I already have first and then make a new reservation or make the new one first? Or does the order matter. I know from reading on here I'll get some OBC, is it $100 or $200? The onboard credit is all they give, correct? Anything else I should know? Thanks

 

[bcwife76]

If you are not picky about the room that you want (I don't mean type, I mean the actual room number) then you can certainly go ahead and cancel before rebooking onboard. But I think most people (myself included) rebook on board first just to make sure the price really is going to be cheaper and you get that all important OBC, then we cancel the original cruise when we get home. At that time, I also will then move my new booking to my original room that I booked (because I usually book the room I want and don't want it going back into inventory). Hope that makes sense!

 

[Dug720]

If you are not picky about the room that you want (I don't mean type, I mean the actual room number) then you can certainly go ahead and cancel before rebooking onboard. But I think most people (myself included) rebook on board first just to make sure the price really is going to be cheaper and you get that all important OBC, then we cancel the original cruise when we get home. At that time, I also will then move my new booking to my original room that I booked (because I usually book the room I want and don't want it going back into inventory). Hope that makes sense!

Are you using a TA and that's why you have to cancel when you get home?

Until this upcoming cruise, I've done my own bookings, and I've always been able to have the onboard booking person get me into the room I'd booked originally. I think there's like a split second where it's available, so I guess there's a chance it could get snapped up in that split second. They cancel the first reservation right there and give me a new reservation number - you do have to pay a new deposit and the other deposit will be refunded to its form of payment.

You shouldn't have to have the two reservations until you get home unless you've used a TA.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We leave this Saturday for our Fantasy cruise. We also have a cruise booked for Jan. 2020, I booked this myself online on opening day. As of right now the price for our Jan. 2020 cruise is the same as when I booked it. I want to re-book it when we are on the ship next week, but have never done so. Should I cancel the reservation I already have first and then make a new reservation or make the new one first? Or does the order matter. I know from reading on here I'll get some OBC, is it $100 or $200? The onboard credit is all they give, correct? Anything else I should know? Thanks

The OBC is $200 for cruises of 7 or more nights, $100 for shorter cruises. The cruise fare is also discounted 10% and deposit is 10% rather than the usual 20%.

 

[bcwife76]

Are you using a TA and that's why you have to cancel when you get home?

Until this upcoming cruise, I've done my own bookings, and I've always been able to have the onboard booking person get me into the room I'd booked originally. I think there's like a split second where it's available, so I guess there's a chance it could get snapped up in that split second. They cancel the first reservation right there and give me a new reservation number - you do have to pay a new deposit and the other deposit will be refunded to its form of payment.

You shouldn't have to have the two reservations until you get home unless you've used a TA.

I've never booked a cruise with a TA, I haven't used a TA since about 2010. But the last two times I've done a rebooking onboard the CM has told me they can't cancel my original booking and that I have to do it when I get home.

 

[Dug720]

I've never booked a cruise with a TA, I haven't used a TA since about 2010. But the last two times I've done a rebooking onboard the CM has told me they can't cancel my original booking and that I have to do it when I get home.

That is weird. It has never been an issue for me to just re-shop it and everything is done there.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Can I just hijack a little. I used a TA for a rccl cruise. It’s been an Awful experience. ( it was easier when I did Entire last booking myself) but others were using this TA and I used them too. Everyone is Unhappy ( little to no communication, no help with anything.. just plain feel like they took the booking and fell off the face of the Earth)
When any one of us calls Rccl, they refer us back to the TA who has access they don’t.
Ultimately we all said we ll write rccl After the cruise to air our grievances.
And... re-reading thru the original paperwork TA charges 100. Per person if you leave the agency. Red flag we all didn’t notice/see.
Any suggestions Pre cruise. I put every inquiry in writing.

 

[Dug720]

Can I just hijack a little. I used a TA for a rccl cruise. It’s been an Awful experience. ( it was easier when I did Entire last booking myself) but others were using this TA and I used them too. Everyone is Unhappy ( little to no communication, no help with anything.. just plain feel like they took the booking and fell off the face of the Earth)
When any one of us calls Rccl, they refer us back to the TA who has access they don’t.
Ultimately we all said we ll write rccl After the cruise to air our grievances.
And... re-reading thru the original paperwork TA charges 100. Per person if you leave the agency. Red flag we all didn’t notice/see.
Any suggestions Pre cruise. I put every inquiry in writing.

I think it's only an issue if you book another cruise while onboard. If you want to do another cruise, just forego the onboard booking benefits for the next cruise and book on your own after you're home. Once you're no longer on board, I don't think they have a way to link you to the agency.

 

[lanejudy]

Ultimately we all said we ll write rccl After the cruise to air our grievances.

There isn't much RCCL can do. The cruiselines (and the travel industry) try not to step in between a customer and a TA unless there's an egregious situation such as the customer paid the TA and the TA never passed along payment to the cruiseline. I'm sorry you are having a problem.

Any suggestions Pre cruise. I put every inquiry in writing.

As to what you can do now pre-cruise -- placing everything in writing is good, but also document every communication, keep a log of every email and/or phone call. Within your communication state when you expect a response (i.e., "please contact me today" or "please contact me by the end of the week" etc.). Push it up a level or higher at the agency if that is possible, to a manager or the owner.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[AquaDame]

That is weird. It has never been an issue for me to just re-shop it and everything is done there.

I had the same experience as the other poster... they did not cancel my other reservation for me, I had to do so when I got home. I also didn't question or press them at all about it. FWIW I also couldn't swap rooms until I canceled the other reservation. I spoke with DCL because I thought it was weird I couldn't move and they said it was due to the two reservations on the same sailing. Once they canceled the one I didn't need then I was able to swap rooms.

 

[jstewartgt]

When I've done it in the past they have just modified the existing reservation even when it was under another TA and kept the same room. They basically just repriced the cruise and I just had to call my TA when I got home to get them to pull everything over. It might have been a different Reservation #, but I definitely didn't end up with two bookings

 

[Ralph&Pam]

That is weird. It has never been an issue for me to just re-shop it and everything is done there.

That had always been our experience as well. However, on the Fantasy in November, we rebooked an existing reservation and the cast member told us they could no longer manage it to keep the same stateroom. We had to contact “shoreside” support after booking a new reservation, even though I “owned” the reservation since there was no TA involved. Apparently the on-ship cast members had sometimes been messing things up. Fortunately, she used her phone to call shoreside while I was at the desk and I was able to talk to the shoreside cast member and get everything taken care of right there rather than waiting until I returned home. I think I was fortunate to be at the future cruise planning desk when it first opened and there was no one else waiting. Otherwise, I suspect that she would not have taken the extra time and effort on our behalf, since the new booking was handled very quickly.

 

[lklgoodman]

Thanks everyone for all the info. The cabin we have booked for 2020 is about 5 cabins away from the one we have for this Saturday's cruise. I figure I will see how we like the location and then decide if I want to change for 2020. There's a ton of cabins in the category we booked so not too worried about not getting one. I forgot about getting the booking discount, so that's good to hear about also.