One of my favorite things Royal Caribbean offers to its guests is the NextCruise Certificate option for booking your next Royal Caribbean cruise onboard your cruise. What exactly is a NextCruise Certificate and what does it get you? Let's answer all your questions!
What is a NextCruise Certificate
A NextCruise certificate is either an open booking or a specific booking for a future Royal Caribbean cruise that can only be purchased onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise.
Guests onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise can go to the Loyalty Ambassador office and schedule an appointment to book either a specific upcoming sailing or purchase an open booking certificate.
The advantage of a NextCruise is you receive certain benefits, such as a lower deposit minimum and onboard credit.
How much is a NextCruise Certificate?
For guests that purchase a specific sailing, guests simply pay a deposit for either NextCruise option and can receive an onboard booking bonus of up to $500 per stateroom.
Royal Caribbean gives guests the option of using that onboard credit on their current sailing or they can defer it to the sailing they booked.
For guests that opt for the open booking certificate, you pay a reduced deposit of $100 per person (Suite staterooms require a full deposit) and receive an onboard booking bonus of up to $200 per stateroom to spend on their next sailing with Royal Caribbean.
The deposit amount per person is non-refundable. The NextCruise open booking Certificate does not expire.
What is the booking incentive I get with a NextCruise Certificate?
The amount of onboard credit you get from Royal Caribbean with a NextCruise Certificate depends on the length of cruise you select. Here's the breakdown for open bookings .
- 3-5 Nights $25
- 6-9 Nights $100
- 10-14 Nights $150
- 15 + Nights $200
For a specific NextCruise sailing, here are the breakdown for the onboard booking bonus
- 5-7 nights
- Interior/Oceanview: $50
- Balcony/Junior Suite: $100
- Grand Suite & Above: $200
- 8-10 nights
- Interior/Oceanview: $100
- Balcony/Junior Suite: $150
- Grand Suite & Above: $300
- 11-14 nights
- Interior/Oceanview: $150
- Balcony/Junior Suite: $200
- Grand Suite & Above: $400
- 15+ nights
- Interior/Oceanview: $200
- Balcony/Junior Suite: $250
- Grand Suite & Above: $500
How do I use my NextCruise open booking Certificate?
After booking a NextCruise open booking, you will get via email a booking reservation number.
When you are ready to book your next Royal Caribbean cruise, give your travel agent or Royal Caribbean your NextCruise number and they will turn it into an active reservation that reflects the deposit amount you made plus booking incentives your certificate has.
The deposit you made when purchasing the NextCruise Certificate of $100 is all you need to put down and no more money is required until final payment (suite deposits do require full deposit amount).
Can I use NextCruise with a travel agent?
NextCruise bookings allows passengers to still work with their travel agents automatically.
If you buy your NextCruise Certificate, you can opt to have a travel agent attached to it at that time or leave it open and let a travel agent use the certificate when you are ready to book.
Can I combine my NextCruise Certificate with other discounts/deals?
Crown & Anchor Society members can combine the onboard booking bonus that they earned through a NextCruise Certificate with their Crown & Anchor Society Savings Certificate or the Platinum-tier and above Balcony and Suite discount.
Other deals Royal Caribbean offers may or may not be combinable and you will need to read the terms and conditions of those deals specifically.
So what's the downside/catch of booking a NextCruise Certificate?
The deposit you make is non-refundable so if you end up never taking another Royal Caribbean cruise, you're out that deposit amount.
Technically speaking, a NextCruise Certificate is a reservation in Royal Caribbean's eyes, so if there's a deal that comes out that is for only new reservations you may not be able to combine it with a NextCruise Certificate.
