Why Book Your Next Cruise on Board?

Many of you may not be aware that on board the majority of cruise ships is their own in-house sales team that will sell you your next cruise holiday whilst on board. Normally known as the Future Cruise Desk. They are normally open all day on sea days, evenings when at sea and closed when in port.

These agents are actually employed by the cruise line and are there to offer assistance and booking of your next cruise or make a down payment to use towards a cruise in the future if you cannot quite decide which sailing to take next.

We here at cruise.co.uk will encourage our guests to take advantage of the future cruise desk on board a ship and in our Bon Voyage calls we will always advise you to pop in and visit them to see what they will offer you. The booking (unless you advise otherwise) will always be passed back to your previous cruise agent, for example, me here at cruise.co.uk so I can continue to look after your next booking.

The prices that are sold on board are normally always the same fare that you will get by going to the cruise line direct once you get home, but there are certain advantages to book on board and here are a few of them:

Lower deposits – many cruise lines have a fixed deposit and some on a percentage basis, however, if you take advantage of booking your next cruise on board you will pay a much lower deposit. With certain cruise lines, it can be as low as £75 per person.  If you are not quite sure which cruise to take next, you can still pay a low deposit to go towards your next cruise once decided and this is known as a Future Cruise Deposit.

On Board Booking Benefits – when you take advantage of booking on board or paying for a Future Cruise Deposit, the cruise line will normally reward you for your loyalty. With The exception of maybe P&O or Cunard, most will give you additional onboard spend for the cabin. P&O and Cunard will give you the same amount as per the standard selling fare, but the likes of Celebrity Cruises, Princess or Royal Caribbean will normally give you extra on top of the standard promotion.

Additional benefits – Some cruise lines, such as Celebrity Cruises will also combine offers such as drinks packages, WiFi or free gratuities with onboard spend. It is always a good idea to check onboard to see what ‘extras’ they will offer before you make a final commitment to getting the best deals.

Future Cruise Deposit (FCD) – If you cannot decide whilst on board your plans for the next cruise, the advantage of this idea is that when you have decided you only have to apply the FCD once you are ready to book, these can normally be valid for several years and if you cannot find a cruise to suit you with that cruise line before they expire, the cruise line will reimburse you back the value you have paid. The onboard spend will still be applied if part of the deal and on previous promotions, Norwegian cruise line has increased the FCD value by double the amount you have paid!

If you do a booking on board, as mentioned earlier it will normally be passed back to your agent of preference. I have many guests who are interested in a particular sailing before they go on their next cruise. Some will even email from the ship, asking for a quote on a particular sailing to compare. I will offer them a quote which is normally inclusive of a discount and subject to the promotions/fares not changing, my guests will book on board for the standard fare but with the extra benefits and low deposit and when I receive the booking back, I then apply the price I quoted them previously with the discount. A win win situation for both my guest for the discount price and me for retaining the guest and new booking.

So when you are next onboard and have enjoyed your cruise so much your ready to book again, take advantage of the services available to you and get booked on board.

Dawn

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