Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    I saw it but if I remember correctly it was $1000 off brochure
    rates. In some cases a $1000 off brochure rates may cost you $1000
    more than booking same cruise with discounts that many travel agents
    get. Last year I booked a RCCL cruise through an agent and the
    total price was almost $2000 off brochure rate. If I used MCI's
    great offer I would have spent $1000 more for the same cruise.
    
    This is typical of many offers like this, it really is a legitimate
    offer but typically it will save you little or nothing or may even
    cost you money. Since the offer does not apply to discounted rates
    it probably will not do you much good. But there are cases where
    it may be very helpful, say you want to book on a more popular 
    itinerary on a popular date which does not normally offer much
    in way of discounts then it might be a good deal.
    
    This type of offer is legimate but you have to shop around. I believe
    for most people who shop around a little they will find that
    this offer will save them very little in reality.
    
    				Harold C.
    

    Well......Looking through the RCCL brochure over the weekend, an inside
    cabin on one of the 'middle' decks (don't remember exactly which one)
    was $1339 per person/double occupancy. $1339 - $1000 = $339 per person.
    That dosen't sound too expensive to me. This rate was on the Soverign
    of the Seas during 'economy season'. There was even a mention (in small
    print) about an additional 5% off if a cheaper rate was found and
    verified by the service that MCI is using for the promotion. I also
    talked to an MCI rep. as I was skeptical about the whole deal and they
    imformed me that they were getting alot of calls inquiring about the
    legitimacy of the whole deal and wondering if there was a 'catch'.
    There is no 'catch' that I could find. I went over all of the
    literature I was sent with a fine tooth comb and there were no
    surprises. The only restrictions were that you had to book by August of
    this year and you had to sail by June 30th of next year.
    
    
    

    
    
    Do you have to commit to how long you will stay with MCI?
    I mean it would be worth switching for a few months and then
    going back.
    
    Just wondering.
    
    MikeR
    

    By coincidence, in today's mail was a coupon book from those
    fine folks at ThomasCook.

    One of the coupons was for Carnival.  $1200 off on 10/11 day
    panama canal cruises; $1000 off on 7 day Caribbean; and $400
    off on 3 & 4 day cruises.   

    The fine print says: Excludes Sensation, Fascination and
    Imagination;  and available in categories 4-7 only.

    I guess changing to MCI would be optional in this case.

    I pulled this off rec.cruises, as it seemed related.

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From: yuen@java.llnl.gov (Brian Yuen)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.cruises
Subject: Re: Royal Caribbean Cruises thru Rogal Associates, Inc.
Date: 24 Jun 1994 22:00:34 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lines: 18
Message-ID: <2ufl22$c4e@lll-winken.llnl.gov>
References: <TLF.1.000FC484@BOARD.TEC.WI.US>
NNTP-Posting-Host: java.llnl.gov
 
In article <TLF.1.000FC484@BOARD.TEC.WI.US> TLF@BOARD.TEC.WI.US writes:
>Would appreciate any comments on experience with bookings thru Rogal 
>Assoc...reliability, service, etc.  Thanks.
 
Well, I haven't booked anything thru them, but I had the mastercard
coupon for $500 off per person on the RCCL 7 night cruises and so called
them up to check.  Apparently, the final price is the brochure price
minus the $500, with 2 cat. upgrades.  While checking around, I've found
that most discount places will do better and have the same upgrades on
some RCCL cruises.  I checked with Costa Travel (1-800-788-3071) and they
had the same standard prices as everyone else ($799[inside] or
$899[outside] + port charges + airfare[$399 west coast, $279 east coast])
except that if you mention the internet, you get 5% off.  This worked out
better than using the coupon.
 
YMMV,
Brian Yuen