RCI current cruise and stay deal, is it a deal????

I got a call from RCI last week about a deal they are offering. For about $2400.00 you get a cruise for 2 and a weeks stay for 2. You pay up front, then you get a listing of available cruises and properties. You have 18 months to book the cruise and 3 years for the other stay. Suppposedly you can book up to a 2 bedroom and the cruises are on all the major lines. There are a few upgrades that cost extra but the person I spoke with said most upgrades on the cruise are not extra.

Has any one done this? Is it really a good deal or are your choices few and slim? It sounds pretty good but I would hate to pay the money and then be dissapointed.

I would be skeptical. I assume the cruise is for a week. And, I would also assume tht unless you purchased upgrades, you will get the cheapest cabin on the ship. Also, not being able to see the options prior to paying an upfront fee would bother me. My feeling is that you could probably do better or at least as well booking the vacation and cruise you want on your own.

Bizarre that they don't let you see what's available so you can pick what works for you.

pat150 said:

I got a call from RCI last week about a deal they are offering. For about $2400.00 you get a cruise for 2 and a weeks stay for 2. You pay up front, then you get a listing of available cruises and properties. You have 18 months to book the cruise and 3 years for the other stay. Suppposedly you can book up to a 2 bedroom and the cruises are on all the major lines. There are a few upgrades that cost extra but the person I spoke with said most upgrades on the cruise are not extra.

Has any one done this? Is it really a good deal or are your choices few and slim? It sounds pretty good but I would hate to pay the money and then be dissapointed.

Click to expand...

I received the same proposal and even went as far as "purchasing the package". First, the "weeks stay for two" is the opportunity book at a weeks resort, so the availabilities are limited to what's been deposited (I imagine I would not have gotten the top resorts). So when I asked about booking a summer week in Ireland in addition to the cruise I was told it wasn't available (surprise, surprise).

After you purchased the package you go to the RCI Cruise website and search for your desired cruise. You will quickly notice the cruise package price is based on inside cabin rates. I did comparison searches on the RCI cruise site (and others) and found that the package cost works out to a prepaid cruise with a "bonus" TS week thrown in. If you were looking to take an expensive cruise to Alaska or the Mediterranean and wanted to buy an upgrade to one of the higher cost cabins you would probably save a couple hundred dollars. If you were looking to cruise to the Caribbean or stay in inside cabins, then it would be cheaper to skip the package.

IMHO, is that you can book a cruise with RCI (or any other company) and purchase a vacation from RCI for about the same amount (or less) than the offered deal with more flexibility to plan your vacation.

Oh, one last thing...After receiving the materials and doing the cruise searches, I promptly rescinded.

Thanks for your input!

Thanks so much for your input, I figured it was not going to be worth it but when you talk to them on the phone they make it sound like such a deal. I think the pressure of booking under their conditions would have driven me crazy, I'm glad I asked around first. Thanks again! Pat

I just figured I'd post my experience with the RCI cruises. Hopefully others found it better. They called(Note the past tense as wishful thinking) us relentlessly and so we listened to their offer. When all was said and done it would have cost us about $900 on top of giving them our week. When I checked cruises.com for the same trip, place, and time it would have cost about $700 including tax.