Is six months enough to plan a RCCL cruise?

[mevelandry]

Hi guys,

In April we brought my FIL and MIL on their first cruise which was a Disney Cruise. Then in October, DH and I went on our 2nd Carnival cruise. We loved it so much that we decided to invite FIL and MIL to join us on our April 2018 Carnival cruise so I have been very busy organizing that cruise.

BUT we have our first RCCL cruise booked for October 2018 as well (Bermuda, Anthem of the Seas)... At first I thought that I would start planning the RCCL cruise when I come back in April... But the truth is, I am not familiar with how RCCL works and I don't know when to book what. Nor what I have to pay in advance and when.

Could you please walk me through your planning so I won't miss any important step?

FYI. We want to try most activities and try many specialty restaurants. When can I start booking Specialty Dining, Soft Drinks packages, etc?

Thanks in advance!

 

[richmo]

I would say if you're sure of your dates, go ahead and book it. The cost usually stays about the same. You will see that Royal Caribbean has all kinds of sales, but they tend to be almost identical.

On the other hand, we booked our RCCL cruise last summer about 75 days in advance of cruising. I think there may have been some kind of rate reduction since the cruise was getting close. We did have to book a guarantee balcony room instead of picking our own, but it was assigned a day after booking and was fine.

 

[Laz]

The RCCL website has a cruise calendar to help guide you. Just go to the My Cruises section and use your booking number to sign in. I don't think you will find much difference between the cruise lines, except that if you are on one of the bigger ships (Allure, Oasis, ETC.), you need to make reservations for the shows 90 days in advance.

 

[Muskrat191]

It seems to be random when items show up on the Cruise Planner for booking. I'm taking my first cruise in March 2018, so I was checking the Cruise Planner every couple days to see if anything new had been released. I think everything is there now, but it is still worth checking regularly for price drops. (I've cancelled and rebooked a few things and saved a few hundred dollars.)

 

[mevelandry]

I would say if you're sure of your dates, go ahead and book it. The cost usually stays about the same. You will see that Royal Caribbean has all kinds of sales, but they tend to be almost identical.

On the other hand, we booked our RCCL cruise last summer about 75 days in advance of cruising. I think there may have been some kind of rate reduction since the cruise was getting close. We did have to book a guarantee balcony room instead of picking our own, but it was assigned a day after booking and was fine.

It's been booked for months because I got a great price.

 

[mevelandry]

The RCCL website has a cruise calendar to help guide you. Just go to the My Cruises section and use your booking number to sign in. I don't think you will find much difference between the cruise lines, except that if you are on one of the bigger ships (Allure, Oasis, ETC.), you need to make reservations for the shows 90 days in advance.

That's the kind of details I am looking for!

Thank you so much!

 

[mevelandry]

It seems to be random when items show up on the Cruise Planner for booking. I'm taking my first cruise in March 2018, so I was checking the Cruise Planner every couple days to see if anything new had been released. I think everything is there now, but it is still worth checking regularly for price drops. (I've cancelled and rebooked a few things and saved a few hundred dollars.)

What happens when the price drops? Can you get OBC or an upgrade?

 

[Muskrat191]

What happens when the price drops? Can you get OBC or an upgrade?

It is things like excursions or beverage packages that have had price changes (sales, etc.). You have to cancel the original booking (which gets refunded to the original method of payment) and then book again at the new price.

 

[bumbershoot]

Check the cruise planner every so often. Check for the things you want to plan. If it lets you plan those things, do it. If it doesn’t, wait.

If you see a good price on a drinks package, do it. They change at will. If you see a better price on it later, cancel and get the new one.

Royal has one big nasty glitch. Sometimes just by logging in their system will pretend that your cruise been repriced and now owe more. Don’t even let this hit your emotions. Call them and they’ll put it right. It can happen more than once. Stay calm and call again.

Check out your sailing’s roll call on cruisecritic. Even if you don’t want to join in, read. And read up on your ship over there as well.

 

[Mrsjvb]

What happens when the price drops? Can you get OBC or an upgrade?

as general rule, no. no adjustments are made after final payment is due, period. prior to that, the fine print usually requires you to cancel the current booking and re book, but that also means any current perks you had are now lost. very rarely will you end up being better off. you have to look at bottom line costs. most sales are for 'new bookings only'

for things like dining packages and drinks packages.., if you see they are on sale, grab it. you won't get a better price on board.

when things open up to book( shows, dining times, etc) that is random. mine just opened up last week for a 17 December cruise. you just have to check in periodically. you may or may not get the automated email saying stuff is ready to book.

 

[mevelandry]

as general rule, no. no adjustments are made after final payment is due, period. prior to that, the fine print usually requires you to cancel the current booking and re book, but that also means any current perks you had are now lost. very rarely will you end up being better off. you have to look at bottom line costs. most sales are for 'new bookings only'

for things like dining packages and drinks packages.., if you see they are on sale, grab it. you won't get a better price on board.

when things open up to book( shows, dining times, etc) that is random. mine just opened up last week for a 17 December cruise. you just have to check in periodically. you may or may not get the automated email saying stuff is ready to book.

Thanks!

The rate we got for the cruise was among the lowest I have seen for a Bermuda cruise (the lowest I've seen during the months I was checking to book were between 600 and 800$ CAD /pp + taxes). In the end, we decided that 750$ CAD pp before taxes -- 590$ USD before taxes-- was reasonable. The PIF date is not until July.

I will try to look for dining and drinks packages sales.

 

[SteveMP]

We don't really plan much for cruises except for excursions. So we just hop on when those open up and book whatever excursions we feel like doing within a day or 2. Thats kind of the beauty of cruises, you can plan as much or as little as you want. On vacation I like just showing up and not having to do anything else if possible.

 

[mevelandry]

We don't really plan much for cruises except for excursions. So we just hop on when those open up and book whatever excursions we feel like doing within a day or 2. Thats kind of the beauty of cruises, you can plan as much or as little as you want. On vacation I like just showing up and not having to do anything else if possible.

I'm an overplanner. Lol

We do countdowns at home. Itineraries. Make lists of activities we want to try and when is the best time to do it....