Can someone please explain to me the benefits of booking another cruise while onboard and are you able to change the booking to a different date or even a different place without penatly? thanks...

I don't think you should ever be without an onboard booking "in the bank". What I have done is ALWAYS book something while onboard even if I have no idea or plans for a future cruise. If you don't have a specific cruise, just pick a cruise that is a long ways away (hopefully a cheap one with maybe even 2 for 1 pricing). A 10% deposit is necessary.

This booking is turned over to your TA. The reason for booking a cruise a long ways out is you have plenty of time before a penalty sets in where you could lose $$. As time passes you may find a specific cruise you want (or you may have already had one at the time you booked on board). The worst that happens if no particular cruise comes around that you want, you cancel BEFORE the penalty phase and get your $$ back. Ngaire has taught me well and this has always worked great for us. We always have an onboard booking "in the bank".

I'm still confused! How does this benefit you if it turns out you have to change the cruise to something else? You keep the pricing because you booked early and the one you changed to goes by the prior rules!? I always hear o fpeople doing this but don't get why if it's not THE cruise you might want to take.

Sue, No you pay for whatever cruise you ultimately take but you're able to transfer the 5% onboard booking discount, you don't lose that.

You are essentially "parking" the onboard booking deposit on any cruise until you determine the actual cruise/itinerary you are firmly interested in taking. Your TA can then move that onboard deposit to the cruise you have chosen to sail on. The onboard booking credit gives you an additional percentage off (I believe 5%) the cruise you firmly book and sail on.

Sorry if I am making this more confusing than it really needs to be

Aha! I see it now. Thanks for taking the time to clarify it. I may just take advantage of that this summer! 5% can be a lot of money saved.

We used to be able to have an open booking- just deposit $100 and you could have a future booking. No more.

Now, you book and deposit for a future cruise, which you can change as long as it's more than the 90 days out.

Make sure your docs state ON BOARD Booking. I had one for 2006 that I re-arranged to a 2007 and they said that I did not deposit onboard because there is no cruise consultant on the PG. You get a letter to give to your TA, which I sent to Ngaire. Anyway, she fixed the whole thing, but RSSC forgot that the PG on board is really within 10 days of the cruise.

Hi, again, Sue.

Glad I didn't totally confuse! Sometimes I know what I mean, but others don't ;)

Yes, that additional percentage can give you some nice added savings!

Denise,

You are always so eloquent and say it like it is. Well, at least I always understand what you mean.

Thanks, Kathy! I'm glad someone understands me! I know what I mean and I think everyone else should know what I mean, too! You know what I mean? ;)

I was wondering about on-board booking discounts too! Specifically aboard the PG, but for perhaps another Regent ship. So it sounds like we should take advantage of this, even if we are unsure of what cruise (and ship) we will be taking in the future? As long as the docs say "ON BOARD booking" ? And would we get an additional (5%?) B&K savings when we transfer the booking?

In a word, Kristin - YES :)

As of last year, the PG did not have a cruise consultant on board the ship so you could not make an on board booking while actually on board!

Make sure you get the letter that allows you to book using the onboard discount when you get home.
You have either a week or 10 days to make the reservation, deposit and book when you get home. There is a reference number on the letter.

Better yet, email Ngaire from the ship and you can have a REAL OnBoard Booking!

Just remember, if you don't have any cruise in mind make sure the booking is as far out as possible. On our 007 cruise in October '05, I booked a cruise for December '06!! (14 months away). Give yourself as much time as possible (and look for discounted cruises). Ngaire/B&K has always reminded me as penalty dates are approaching and I've never lost a dime.

One Caveat: If you book onboard for a cruise on the PG, and you transfer or cancel the booking, you'll be subject to a $100 penalty.

While on Voyager "PARTY" 12/27/05 to 01/10/06 cruise we booked The 1st segment of Mariner South America
01/09/07 to 01/20/07
1. The onboard 5% sure helps
2. It was as far out as we could book
3. It looked really interesting
Now it looks like we are going to keep it and not switch to something else.

I have always booked my cruises myself but am really beginning to see that having a travel agent is the way to go. If I wanted to use B&K as my travel agent while I was onboard knowing that I do want to "bank" another cruise would I need to contact B&K beforehand? Do they need info from me...????

I will answer that cruisinclare.

There is no need to contact B&K or any other agency prior to booking a cruise and designating them as the agency unless you wish to do so to check out the firm and who you will be working with before making that choice.

As long as you are booking yourself and not naming a travel agent you can move your booking over to an agent at any time you wish. So you can book on board "direct" (meaning with no travel agent involved) and then give that booking to an agent at anytime up to final payment. You simply call RSSC and ask them to assign the booking to your travel agent of choice.

If you are booked by a travel agent on a cruise and then you make an onboard booking it will automatically go back to the agent that booked you unless you tell the Regent cruise consultant you wish to change agents.

If you want to designate a travel agent for a booking you make on board simply tell the cruise consultant and she will apply the booking to the cruise agency you select and that agency will get a copy and then contact you. It takes about two weeks for the agency to be notified. Also I suggest you let the agency know you made the booking because a few times bookings have not come through from RSSC and then the agency has no way of knowing.

If you have always booked yourself you may want to keep your options open and check around to see which agency you wish to use. You can get a better rate from a travel agency as many agents do discount, some virtuoso agencies offer no discount but a free shore excursion on certain sailings. Honestly booking direct is usually paying the highest price without the benefits of an agencies expertise.

Not sure what cruise you are going on but if it is not a 2 for 1 cruise be SURE you get a gold points number before you sail and have that entered in the records for the cruise. Many who book direct do not know about the gold points program.

Good point Ngaire (re: Goldpoints) No cruise consultant onboard any cruise I've been on even mentioned this (luckily because of you I have it all in place) but otherwise, without you and LCT board I wouldn't have known about this. It saved us $400 on our SA trip!! Reason number ?? (I've lost track) to thank you for all you've done for us.

Yeesh! Remind me never to be confused again on LCT! :mecry: ;)

Sue, worry not, some of us (like me) stay in a constant state of confusion a lot of the time as we learn the ins and outs of different programs. That onboard booking thing has changed so many times since I started with RSSC, always have to learn the new rules over and over again. e.g. I didn't know the policy on PG was different from the rest of the ships. Since I always have a cruise in the future, like Marcie I get an onboard booking every cruise. My problem is that I should get more than one some of the time.

Sue, LCT friends are always at the ready to answer any questions about any subject imagineable. We have resident experts for everything - Ngaire being THE DEFINITIVE RSSC expert! :D

LOL....I know what you mean Olivia. we have 2 "in the bank" right now JUST IN CASE! I have a magnet someone gave me that says "You can never be too rich or too thin". I should add to it "or have too many on-board bookings"

We are not on a 2 for 1 and this will be our second cruise on RSSC. Because I have been on a previous cruise do I already have a gold number? You all are truly invaluable....thanks...Ngaire, thank you so very much for the info..I appreciate that you are honest and upfront about having a choice but I am definately thinking that there is a reason that so many utlize you...and your expertise...by the way we are on the May 27th Venice to Monte Carlo Cruise,,,,

Re: Goldpoints. I made a mistake when I said the Gold Points saved us $400. I should have said $400 per person for a total of $800. :app:

No you wont have a gold points number unless you applied for one. There is nothing automatic about the program. I can assure you that Radisson would not have applied for one for you. The information is available about the gold points program but it is up to the passenger to secure the number and get it into the records.

Dont feel bad I have seen passengers who have done two world cruisers and did not have gold points numbers. That is like leaving about $2000 sitting on the table.

Go to www.goldpoints.com and sign up there. If you are married you need to get both of you an individual gold points number. Once you have both got a number then you need to ask them to "household" your account. This allows you to pool your numbers to reach award levels faster. If you only get one number you only earn half the points. The rules changed fairly recently. It does not matter what anyone at gold points tells you do it this way or you wont get maximum advantage from the program.

Once you have the gold points numbers you call them both into Regent and have them put on your records - and on your guest information forms for a permanent record. If you dont make this call you to RSSC you wont earn points it must be called in to the cruise booking it does not automatically apply.

If you get stuck you can call my office and ask for Debbie she is the resident gold point expert.

See? I can still get confused. I thought $400 was the most you could redeem at one time, otherwise, law of diminishing returns sets in. Marcie says $800. Guess I am throwing out even more confusion.

Like Ngaire said, anyone not signed up, just do it. If you don't turn in those points for cruising, you can turn them in for other rewards. Plus, you can get them from the vendors when you order on-line, and if you eat at Fridays!. Some flower company gives a vast amount for each dollar spent.

Copied from the Goldpoints website:

Earn Gold Points at Radisson Seven Seas Cruises:

Seven Seas Society members earn 10 Gold Points for every cruise fare dollar spent.
First-time RSSC cruisers receive 5 Gold Points for every cruise fare dollar spent.
Redeem Gold Points at Radisson Seven Seas Cruises:


Please note: Limit one redemption per person per booking
$200 off cruise fare - 50,000 Gold Points
$400 off cruise fare - 100,000 Gold Points
$600 off cruise fare - 200,000 Gold Points
$800 off cruise fare - 300,000 Gold Points
$1000 off cruise fare - 400,000 Gold Points
$5000 off cruise fare - 2,400,000 Gold Points
Contact your travel professional and let them know that you would like to use Gold Points for a discount on your cruise.

I think FTD gives you 100 pts for each dollar spent

Yeah, we actually had a Gold Points card from Fridays before ever going on a Regent cruise. (We eat there like twice a year.) So then we go on a Regent cruise, our fabulous TA gets us both a Gold Points number and... well, we have to combine the Friday points into my new number and then do the household thing to combine both new Gold Points cruise number points.

Do I know how many Gold Points we have? No. Do I know what we can ever do with them? No.

But, points is points. So, GET THEM!

Not that I was confused or anything, no, definitely not that :rolleyes: but here I thought Gold points was the Regent's loyalty program. I have been enlightened! Wow. So I signed up and have a number. I'll call Regent in the morning. But I already made my final payment for the cruise. Is there anyway I can redeem some points? Three of us in a B cabin, it's A LOT. Or can they carry over to next time?

Sue: Ask "wonder woman" Ngaire -

Yes, you can redeem points after the final payment and Regent will simply credit your credit card for the difference.

The BEST VALUE is 100,000 points at a time per person, then you get $400 per person. Note that with 200,000 points you only get $600 a loss of $200.00 So best choice is to redeem at 100,000 at a time per person if you can.

Thanks for printing that chart Kathy.

But you don't receive the points until after you've sailed, though, right? So for our first RSSC cruise on the PG, I gave Susan our Goldpoints numbers, and we will each receive 5 points per cruise fare dollar upon completion of the cruise...then we can use that credit toward a reward (whether it be another cruise, food at Friday's, etc.)...correct?

After reading the above posts, I enrolled in Gold Card for myself and my husband. We are booked on the Navigator for the 12/18 holiday cruise (with our entire family) - and we booked it while on the Navigator in April '05. Is my next step to notify Regent of our Gold Card numbers and then they keep them on file? I'd never heard of this until today, so these boards are really helpful. Thank you all.

Yes, this is what we do to get the most bang for our buck. The nice thing is that while you're getting $credit, you're also replenishing the points as you cruise.

Oliverab, as long as your TA has your gold points #, he/she will take care of this for you (that or you'd better find a new TA!)

I called Regent and had them add my points this morning. Easy peasy, nothing I needed an agent to do.

As for redemption, Kristin, I'll be curious as to the answer to your question. I know once you're a Seven Seas member, which we will be after our cruise is over, we'll get 10 points per dollar, but this one like you said is calculated at 5.