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Royal introduces non refundable booking option.

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SA71

SA71

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For those of us past the wedding and baby making years and are secure in our jobs, booking with the nrd is easier. My cruise is a 4 night that is literally in my backyard and the deposit was only $105 Cdn pp. No airfare. The chances of something preventing us from going is very very small so it was worth getting a several category upgrade for leas money and usd 50 obc.

 

Now if I was booking a longer caribbean cruise....I would have to weigh the options as the deposit would be 250 pp.

 

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Clarea

Clarea

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Let's see if I can muck this up a bit......Considering booking a TA though my travel agent. I get an additional $200 OBC booking as a NRD cruise. I saved $34 on the price of this TA from the last time I checked (about a month ago). And with the OBC increase the travel agent is paying my gratuities ($432 on a 16 day TA). Question. Is my OBC refundable (unused to be credited to my card after the cruise) or non-refundable (use or lose)?

OBC you get from Royal is generally not refundable.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Figures. I assume the non-refundable OBC is used up first before the refundable OBC?

That's the way it's supposed to work.

 

By the way, some get 95% of their non-refundable OBC by getting a cash advance from the casino. The casino charges a 5% fee for cash advances.

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ColoradoGurl

ColoradoGurl

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While the FCC lessens the blow, a credit isn't the same as a refund, obviously. That being the way the rest of the world operates doesn't make it more palatable to me. Anyway, as I said, if things actually go this way, it'll change the way I look at booking.

 

It is what it is. We'll all survive the ordeal. [emoji57]

 

 

Same here. I will book more last minute, or maybe even switch cruise lines.

 

 

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seeyakids

seeyakids

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That's the way it's supposed to work.

 

By the way, some get 95% of their non-refundable OBC by getting a cash advance from the casino. The casino charges a 5% fee for cash advances.

 

Yes, I have done that before;). However, on my last Celebrity cruise, they stopped the cashing in at the casino trick for NR OBCs. Fortunately I stepped up my consumption of liquids and eventually used it up. Just hoping RCI doesn't attempt the same thing....or maybe they do?

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molly361

molly361

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Yes, I have done that before;). However, on my last Celebrity cruise, they stopped the cashing in at the casino trick for NR OBCs. Fortunately I stepped up my consumption of liquids and eventually used it up. Just hoping RCI doesn't attempt the same thing....or maybe they do?

 

How did they know that you were cashing in OBC? And not just taking out money to gamble with?

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seeyakids

seeyakids

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How did they know that you were cashing in OBC? And not just taking out money to gamble with?

 

If I remember right, they absolutely would not give you cash/chips if it showed "NR". Only if it was refundable OBC (minus their 5% cut). I tried cashing out at different times with different cashiers and got the same results. Another scam shut down by da man:cool:........

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Aggiebuttercup

Aggiebuttercup

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I switched from refundable to non-refundable yesterday for a March 2019. For my two cabins, we saved a grand total of $100 on the fare, plus got $150 in OBC. I wavered on whether to change it, but my husband asked me what would realistically keep me off the ship.

 

All I could come up with are death, dismemberment, or total poverty. So I bought a travel insurance policy for the 5 of us that costs $117 and lets me cancel for illness and layoffs. (I was going to buy insurance anyway to cover medical costs.) My family and his parents are all booked on the same cruise, so it is highly unlikely that the date will change, and we're driving, so the ship definitely won't change. If the school schedules spring break a different week, then we'll just take the kids out of school.

 

The first person I talked to at RCCL told me you get charged a fee for taking advantage of price drops. I complained, hung up, and did more research. The second person told me the first guy was an idiot, but then tried to talk me out of switching ("because that's a long way away and lots of things could happen"). I'm comfortable with the risk and the savings.

 

We usually get the non-refundable rate when we sail Carnival. Only once has this been a problem - I wanted to switch to a longer cruise, but the penalty didn't make that price as appealing. So we'll stay with our 5-day.

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

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For those of us past the wedding and baby making years and are secure in our jobs, booking with the nrd is easier. My cruise is a 4 night that is literally in my backyard and the deposit was only $105 Cdn pp. No airfare. The chances of something preventing us from going is very very small so it was worth getting a several category upgrade for leas money and usd 50 obc.

 

Now if I was booking a longer caribbean cruise....I would have to weigh the options as the deposit would be 250 pp.

 

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Forums mobile app

 

Does the cruise line lease your garage to use as the terminal on the days the ship is in your backyard?

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

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The first person I talked to at RCCL told me you get charged a fee for taking advantage of price drops. I complained, hung up, and did more research. The second person told me the first guy was an idiot,

 

I agree with the 2nd guy, the first guy is an idiot. That is why I like using a TA. I don't have to deal with idiots.

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The_Big_M

The_Big_M

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If I remember right, they absolutely would not give you cash/chips if it showed "NR". Only if it was refundable OBC (minus their 5% cut). I tried cashing out at different times with different cashiers and got the same results. Another scam shut down by da man:cool:........

 

What they do now is issue 'play' only chips - or credit to your account that must be played.

 

Any wins you can take as cash, but those chips and credit you are issued with can't be redeemed for cash. They have to be spent in the casino.

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molly361

molly361

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What they do now is issue 'play' only chips - or credit to your account that must be played.

 

Any wins you can take as cash, but those chips and credit you are issued with can't be redeemed for cash. They have to be spent in the casino.

 

What if you were to get cash from the casino on the first night before any OBC's have been posted? Or are they doing this for everyone that wants cash at the casino?

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Milwaukee Eight

Milwaukee Eight

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If I remember right, they absolutely would not give you cash/chips if it showed "NR". Only if it was refundable OBC (minus their 5% cut). I tried cashing out at different times with different cashiers and got the same results. Another scam shut down by da man:cool:........

 

 

If one is player with Club Royale or the Casino Hosts approves, the 5% may be waved.

 

 

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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What they do now is issue 'play' only chips - or credit to your account that must be played.

 

Any wins you can take as cash, but those chips and credit you are issued with can't be redeemed for cash. They have to be spent in the casino.

 

Maybe things have changed recently but you used to be able to get a voucher for the slots as well. Insert it into a slot machine and then hit cash out and you now have a voucher redeemable for cash.

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nelblu

nelblu

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If I remember right, they absolutely would not give you cash/chips if it showed "NR". Only if it was refundable OBC (minus their 5% cut). I tried cashing out at different times with different cashiers and got the same results. Another scam shut down by da man:cool:........

 

 

If refundable, instead of the casino at 5% reduction, just go to GS and get the ref. OBC in cash. I've done this many times.

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hapster85

hapster85

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If refundable, instead of the casino at 5% reduction, just go to GS and get the ref. OBC in cash. I've done this many times.

I think people were talking about a way of getting the non-refundable portion as cash, which seems to have been shutdown now.

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sbussert

sbussert

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It's interesting... I've never missed or had an issue of Not making a cruise, but I have changed them a bunch of times, so for me the non-refund isn't worth it. The OBC and the few dollars doesn't make sense to risk when the cruise is $6/k.

 

 

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

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It's interesting... I've never missed or had an issue of Not making a cruise, but I have changed them a bunch of times, so for me the non-refund isn't worth it. The OBC and the few dollars doesn't make sense to risk when the cruise is $6/k.

 

 

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You are "only" risking your deposit, not the entire cruise fare.

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sbussert

sbussert

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You are "only" risking your deposit, not the entire cruise fare.

 

 

 

True, and admittedly I haven't looked at the details, but if by switching dates means I'd lose the deposit, not for me. I always seem to move up or back due to scheduling conflicts.

 

 

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