Can't Apply New C&A Savings Cert To Existing Reservation?

[frisbeewife]

I was just told by RCL that I can not apply one of the C&A Savings Certificates that just came out on July 1 to a cruise coming up in January that I booked back in March. She said this was a clarification they received a couple of days ago of a policy that was enacted in 2010. I have not made final payment yet so I would have to cancel my reservation (losing the great cabin I have booked) and make a new one (and possibly not get that great cabin).

 

Has anybody else run into this? I called the C&A number, if that matters.

[DonnaK]

That doesn't sound right.

 

Call back tomorrow (or later) and speak with someone else!

 

(Do you have a balcony cabin to which you have applied your C&A balcony discount? Maybe the coupon is not combinable?)

[Trekker954]

No way, I called the day the new certificates came out and applied it to my already booked Adventure OTS sailing in April that I booked a few months back. And I combined it with my next cruise cert for OBC. Granted its an inside cabin, so I could do it.

 

If you had a balcony discount with C&A or next cruise, you can't combine them. Is that what she meant?

[molly361]

There were some people on here the other day posting that they were told the same thing. Like Donna says try again tomorrow.

 

I just applied one to a reservation that I have had since 2012.

[ShipRiders]

This is not right unless they did make a change a few days ago. We would have heard a lot more about it here. I would call back and speak with someone else.

 

Let us know how it turns out.

[Tam Tam]

I booked a cruise on June 26 for December 8, 2013 and was able to apply a C & A certificate toward it when I called July 2. I do not have a balcony discount.

[orville99]

If that is a policy, it shows up nowhere in the terms and conditions statement on the certificate:

 

"Terms and Conditions: Savings are in U.S. dollars, are not redeemable for cash and not transferable. When reserving, applicable option code and loyalty number must be referenced. Offer may be withdrawn at any time. Discount offer will not be replaced if certificate is lost, stolen or otherwise destroyed. The offer cannot be used with certain restricted fares. This certificate cannot be combined with another certificate on the same reservation. Applies to all categories, unless otherwise noted. Offer is not combinable with any other promotion or offer unless expressly stated therein. Royal Caribbean International will deduct the applicable offer value from final payment upon review. Discount applies on a per-stateroom basis; double occupancy. Singles paying 200% are entitled to full face value. Prices vary by ship and sailing date and space is subject to availability at time of reservation. When reserving through a travel agency, the certificate must be presented to the travel agent at time of reservation. Certificate must be submitted to Royal Caribbean PRIOR TO FINAL PAYMENT or before 30-September-2013, whichever is earlier. To redeem the certificate, fax to (866) 222-5150 (if you are in the US or Canada) or +1(954) 628-9621 (if you are outside the US or Canada), or mail to Royal Caribbean, 1050 Caribbean Way, Certificate Redemption, 5th Floor, Miami, FL 33132. To apply your Crown & Anchor Savings Certificate while reserving your cruise directly on http://www.royalcaribbean.com, go through the reservation process and once on the Billing and Documentation Information page, enter the required information under the Coupon Information section. Please note: We reserve the right to inspect and examine any original coupon for verification. We reserve the right to disallow any credit for inappropriately duplicative submissions and those submissions that are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the coupon.

 

Note to Agent: Travel agent commission is based on discounted price. Access CruisingPower.com, Trip Details/Coupon Redemption, and submit your certificate online. Reservation number, option code and loyalty number must be provided when submitting certificate online. We reserve the right to inspect and examine any original certificate for verification. We reserve the right to disallow any credit for inappropriately duplicative submissions, or those that are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the certificate. "

 

I'd call again and ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

The only gotcha would be if your original booking was during one of RCL's Tuesday or WOW sales, or was a group or restricted fare booking.

[Ocean Boy]

I am not sure that a C&A coupon can be applied by a customer service rep anyway. Either fax it to the number on the certificate, mail it in to the address, or e-mail the coupon department. You most certainly can have it applied to an existing reservation.

[Clarea]

If that is a policy, it shows up nowhere in the terms and conditions statement on the certificate:

 

"Terms and Conditions: Savings are in U.S. dollars, are not redeemable for cash and not transferable. When reserving, applicable option code and loyalty number must be referenced. Offer may be withdrawn at any time. Discount offer will not be replaced if certificate is lost, stolen or otherwise destroyed. The offer cannot be used with certain restricted fares. This certificate cannot be combined with another certificate on the same reservation. Applies to all categories, unless otherwise noted. Offer is not combinable with any other promotion or offer unless expressly stated therein. Royal Caribbean International will deduct the applicable offer value from final payment upon review. Discount applies on a per-stateroom basis; double occupancy. Singles paying 200% are entitled to full face value. Prices vary by ship and sailing date and space is subject to availability at time of reservation. When reserving through a travel agency, the certificate must be presented to the travel agent at time of reservation. Certificate must be submitted to Royal Caribbean PRIOR TO FINAL PAYMENT or before 30-September-2013, whichever is earlier. To redeem the certificate, fax to (866) 222-5150 (if you are in the US or Canada) or +1(954) 628-9621 (if you are outside the US or Canada), or mail to Royal Caribbean, 1050 Caribbean Way, Certificate Redemption, 5th Floor, Miami, FL 33132. To apply your Crown & Anchor Savings Certificate while reserving your cruise directly on www.royalcaribbean.com, go through the reservation process and once on the Billing and Documentation Information page, enter the required information under the Coupon Information section. Please note: We reserve the right to inspect and examine any original coupon for verification. We reserve the right to disallow any credit for inappropriately duplicative submissions and those submissions that are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the coupon.

 

Note to Agent: Travel agent commission is based on discounted price. Access CruisingPower.com, Trip Details/Coupon Redemption, and submit your certificate online. Reservation number, option code and loyalty number must be provided when submitting certificate online. We reserve the right to inspect and examine any original certificate for verification. We reserve the right to disallow any credit for inappropriately duplicative submissions, or those that are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the certificate. "

 

I'd call again and ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

The only gotcha would be if your original booking was during one of RCL's Tuesday or WOW sales, or was a group or restricted fare booking.

The highlighted sentence is the part that the poster in the other thread was referring to. Something about booking with with a travel agent vs. booking direct.

[orville99]

I am not sure that a C&A coupon can be applied by a customer service rep anyway. Either fax it to the number on the certificate, mail it in to the address, or e-mail the coupon department. You most certainly can have it applied to an existing reservation.

 

 

Or just avoid the human element altogether, and do it yourself online:

 

"To apply your Crown & Anchor Savings Certificate while reserving your cruise directly on www.royalcaribbean.com, go through the reservation process and once on the Billing and Documentation Information page, enter the required information under the Coupon Information section.":)

[frisbeewife]

More info.... I called again to see if I'd get a different answer but no, I got the same answer. At first, anyway.

 

What I was told was the cruise has to be booked within the period of time the certificate is good for. For example, this latest batch is good from July 1 to September 30 so you have to book the cruise within that time period to use the certificate. Apparently that was always the policy (since 2010, anyway) and the agents have just recently been "reminded" about it.

 

BUT, a few minutes after I got off the phone with the 2nd agent she called me back and said she talked to her supervisor about it and was told they had a meeting with Marketing about this policy and it has now been changed. So she WAS able to apply the certificate to my cruise after all.

 

So if anybody gets pushback when trying to use one of these certificates, keep at it until you are told otherwise. There seems to be some confusion. Both of the agents I talked to were great, though, and it was a very pleasant experience.

[Ocean Boy]

There was a period of time when they changed the certificates to have a start and end date. During that time, supposedly, you had to book the cruise between the start and end dated on the coupon. They then went back to the old way where the coupons only have an expiration date. As long as the cruise was booked before the expiration date it can be applied. Apparently the OP got it applied as it should be.

[frisbeewife]

Or just avoid the human element altogether, and do it yourself online:

 

"To apply your Crown & Anchor Savings Certificate while reserving your cruise directly on www.royalcaribbean.com, go through the reservation process and once on the Billing and Documentation Information page, enter the required information under the Coupon Information section.":)

 

The problem with this is when the cruise is already booked you can't seem to get to a "Billing and Documentation Information" page. At least, I couldn't find it. The C&A agent was able to apply it, though, and they are easy to talk to.

 

And while I am getting a balcony room for the cruise in question, I won't be Platinum until after my August cruise so I didn't have the balcony discount to even worry about. If I was not allowed to use the C&A Certificate then I would have called after the points from my August cruise showed up and gotten the balcony discount at that time. That would have been $100, vs the $125 for the certificate, but I would have taken it.

 

Now I'm just hoping for a price drop...... :)

[Ocean Boy]

Or just avoid the human element altogether, and do it yourself online:

 

"To apply your Crown & Anchor Savings Certificate while reserving your cruise directly on www.royalcaribbean.com, go through the reservation process and once on the Billing and Documentation Information page, enter the required information under the Coupon Information section.":)

 

I didn't know that you could do that retroactively after you had already booked. Thanks.

[orville99]

The problem with this is when the cruise is already booked you can't seem to get to a "Billing and Documentation Information" page. At least, I couldn't find it. The C&A agent was able to apply it, though, and they are easy to talk to.

 

And while I am getting a balcony room for the cruise in question, I won't be Platinum until after my August cruise so I didn't have the balcony discount to even worry about. If I was not allowed to use the C&A Certificate then I would have called after the points from my August cruise showed up and gotten the balcony discount at that time. That would have been $100, vs the $125 for the certificate, but I would have taken it.

 

Now I'm just hoping for a price drop...... :)

 

I didn't know that you could do that retroactively after you had already booked. Thanks.

 

 

Our daughter booked a 3-nighter on Enchantment about a month ago, and a Certificate popped up for that cruise on 7/1. She pulled up her reservation, clicked on the "make a payment" button, scrolled down to the bottom of the page where the certificates/coupons dropdown menu is located, selected C&A Certificate, entered the 4 letter code, and it was applied immediately. As long as you own the reservation, and it is before final payment (and final payment date) that process works. If you've already paid off the cruise, that screen no longer exists, and you have to use the "oh c**p, I have to call RCL and hope" approach:)

[orville99]

The highlighted sentence is the part that the poster in the other thread was referring to. Something about booking with with a travel agent vs. booking direct.

 

Just another of the 100+ reasons I will never use a TA to book a cruise;)

[Ocean Boy]

Just another of the 100+ reasons I will never use a TA to book a cruise;)

 

Nor do I.:)

[Virtopia]

Our daughter booked a 3-nighter on Enchantment about a month ago, and a Certificate popped up for that cruise on 7/1. She pulled up her reservation, clicked on the "make a payment" button, scrolled down to the bottom of the page where the certificates/coupons dropdown menu is located, selected C&A Certificate, entered the 4 letter code, and it was applied immediately. As long as you own the reservation, and it is before final payment (and final payment date) that process works. If you've already paid off the cruise, that screen no longer exists, and you have to use the "oh c**p, I have to call RCL and hope" approach:)

 

I tried that method one day last week, but that drop down menu never showed up, so I just emailed C&A. It was applied within 48 hours.

 

Last time I talked to an agent, she stated it could be because my booking is in Canadian funds. Either way, I saved $150 :D

[OnlineMom]

I'm a TA and have never had a problem adding a C&A certificate to an existing reservation when/if one comes out. In fact - I called C&A today to have my Platinum balcony discount applied to my own booking for next spring break on the Allure and he even volunteered to check for me to see if there were any applicable savings certificates for that voyage. I usually do things through the TA booking portal but believe the certificate can be printed out and faxed in as well.

 

Instead of trying the main Royal Caribbean phone number, have you tried the C&A folks? 888-437-1953 Good luck!

[Ocean Boy]

I'm a TA and have never had a problem adding a C&A certificate to an existing reservation when/if one comes out. In fact - I called C&A today to have my Diamond balcony discount applied to my own booking for next spring break on the Allure and he even volunteered to check for me to see if there were any applicable savings certificates for that voyage! I usually do things through the TA booking portal but believe the certificate can be printed out and faxed in as well.

 

Instead of trying the main Royal Caribbean phone number, have you tried the C&A folks? 888-437-1953 Good luck!

 

Why? It can't be combined with a balcony discount anyway.

[shippmates]

Having a saving certificate applied has nothing to do with using a travel agent to book your cruise. All the agent would have to do is call the crown and anchor department to have the certificate applied. The certificates are very easy to use during the valid time frame.

[Ashland]

I called RCI on Monday when the savings certificates became available..After being told no I nicely stated that the "Terms and Conditions" say otherwise..and they applied them to 3 inside cabins I had booked using NCC's a month ago for Alaska 2014...Before I barely got off the phone with them I was e-mailed 3 new booking invoices.

 

Pays to be better versed in policy than the RCI reps.

[Ocean Boy]

I called RCI on Monday when the savings certificates became available..After being told no I nicely stated that the "Terms and Conditions" say otherwise..and they applied them to 3 inside cabins I had booked using NCC's a month ago for Alaska 2014...Before I barely got off the phone with them I was e-mailed 3 new booking invoices.

 

Pays to be better versed in policy than the RCI reps.

 

You made me laugh!:D

[OnlineMom]

Why? It can't be combined with a balcony discount anyway.

 

Is that one of the things that changed in 2009? No more stacking... I know I've combined group OBC's with Next Cruise reduced deposits/OBC's and haven't had a problem. My C&A guy must've been off of his game this morning!

[Ashland]

You made me laugh!:D

Always glad when I can do that :D