Shareholder Benefit - Not

[cublet]

Hello,

 

It's exactly for the reasons debated on this thread that I decided not to buy Royal Caribbean shares but Carnival PLC instead - there are no restrictive T&Cs.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[TickledBlue]

We have been successful getting the shareholder benefit on resident discount rates for an inside cabin. Not so with the perks for ocean view or higher.

 

While it would be nice to get the shareholder benefit with added perks, it's not really a deal breaker for us.

[RDC1]

The funny thing in all of this is if you were sailing Celebrity when they made the change to including the perks, they added of perks and raised prices to pretty much the same level as if you had purchased without the perks and then bought them, so no real savings. Pretty much a forced buy situation. Then because you had the perks, you lost the shareholder OBC. Certainly a win/win for Celebrity. Now enough time has gone buy since the movement to the higher fares with perks that everyone thinks that the perks are free.

[TickledBlue]

The funny thing in all of this is if you were sailing Celebrity when they made the change to including the perks, they added of perks and raised prices to pretty much the same level as if you had purchased without the perks and then bought them, so no real savings. Pretty much a forced buy situation. Then because you had the perks, you lost the shareholder OBC. Certainly a win/win for Celebrity. Now enough time has gone buy since the movement to the higher fares with perks that everyone thinks that the perks are free.

Good point but this is partially why the stock has performed so well and as others have pointed out, the gains on stock has been far greater than the OBC given in the stockholder benefit.

 

The 'forced buy' situation is for ocean view or higher only unless you get a 'resident special' rate that appears after final payment for some sailings. If you are OK with an inside, you can get the shareholder benefit virtually all of the time.

[HaraldOslo]

Considering buying shares now, at $113 (it went up 5% yesterday!) but does it mean that if my cruise was discounted in any way I will not get shareholder benefits? There is always a sale, but we didn't get any OBC. Only gratuities is always included here, not sure if that will disqualify. Might as well go ahead and try and see what they say. With the dividend I don't have much to lose. :-)

[CruisingChick]

Considering buying shares now, at $113 (it went up 5% yesterday!) but does it mean that if my cruise was discounted in any way I will not get shareholder benefits? There is always a sale, but we didn't get any OBC. Only gratuities is always included here, not sure if that will disqualify. Might as well go ahead and try and see what they say. With the dividend I don't have much to lose. :-)

 

Any perk from Celebrity, OBC, Drink Package, gratuities, etc. and you will not be able to get your shareholder credit.

 

We book a lot of our cruises without any perks (inside guarantee cabins) so we have been able to use the shareholder OBC many times, that and the fact we purchased it when it was only $5.50 a share makes it a good investment for us. I just wish I had bought 2,000 shares and not just 100.

[ghstudio]

If you hold 100 shares, the very strong suggestion is that you always request the credit......let stockholder relations decide if you get it or not. We have had it applied to some cruises where we have the good package...and it's been denied on other very similar cruises.

[TeaBag]

You can get the shareholder credit with the senior rate also. I wouldn't know about the resident rate which others say works also, because Celebrity does not include the Canadian provinces in the pull down menu titled States/Provinces! Another web site wonder.

[vkb2751]

Have always received the credit on Transatlantic cruises because there are no perks on TAs but not this time. Did not receive a response and called Celebrity and they said we are not eligible and the lady could not tell us why. Asked her why we didn’t receive response to email requesting OBC and she couldn’t answer. She said she would request email response be sent. That was 10 days ago, no response yet!

 

Maybe, they won’t give the credit anymore and not even respond to the email sent requesting the credit.

[wrk2cruise]

Have always received the credit on Transatlantic cruises because there are no perks on TAs but not this time. Did not receive a response and called Celebrity and they said we are not eligible and the lady could not tell us why. Asked her why we didn’t receive response to email requesting OBC and she couldn’t answer. She said she would request email response be sent. That was 10 days ago, no response yet!

 

Maybe, they won’t give the credit anymore and not even respond to the email sent requesting the credit.

 

It's not just perks that disqualify the benefit. Any special rates will as well, like Xciting Deals etc. I know someone said Senior Discount is allowed and I have used it with Resident Discount multiple times. I believe I have heard people say that using the Captains Club 1 category upgrade has caused it to be denied.

 

I tried using it in combination with another promotion which specifically said it could be combined with 1 other Celebrity promotion however they denied it as from their end it's not able to be combined with any promotion.

 

 

I had actually used these same 2 promos in combination 1 year ago:mad:

 

 

I agree with others that you should always submit and let them decline it.

[vkb2751]

It's not just perks that disqualify the benefit. Any special rates will as well, like Xciting Deals etc. I know someone said Senior Discount is allowed and I have used it with Resident Discount multiple times. I believe I have heard people say that using the Captains Club 1 category upgrade has caused it to be denied.

 

I tried using it in combination with another promotion which specifically said it could be combined with 1 other Celebrity promotion however they denied it as from their end it's not able to be combined with any promotion.

 

 

I had actually used these same 2 promos in combination 1 year ago:mad:

 

 

I agree with others that you should always submit and let them decline it.

 

It is not Xciting deal or any other discount. It will be nice if they respond with an explanation.

[Jason26]

Perhaps I’m not getting the best deal, but I’ve had no issues getting the OBC. Sailed the Silouette last year and received the standard drink package as part of my booking. We evaluated the go-best package and for us, it worked out financially, so we paid that up charge. Requested the OBC and received it without any issues. Like others, I purchased my stock when it was $18 a share. Not sure if I would purchase at $105+ a share for the OBC today.

[Sam.Seattle]

Cruise ship stocks are the worst performers in S&P 500 after Morgan Stanley predicts weak demand

 

• Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line all dropped more than 4 percent and were among the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500.
  
• "Our channel checks show solid booking volumes but at flat prices, and agents cite concerns about the Caribbean and general Q4 demand," Morgan Stanley analyst Jamie Rollo said in a note.
  
• Rollo added that a stronger dollar, coupled with rising fuel costs, led him to cut his earnings per share estimates for fiscal 2019.
  

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/05/cruise-ship-stocks-are-the-worst-performers-in-sp-500.html

 

While I have enjoyed the perks with owning cruise ship stocks, I would also be mindful of the investment quality and when it might be time to sell

[Mytravellove]

Transatlantic, transpacific and repositioning sailings generally don't have any perks so the shareholder benefit works for those cruises.

 

On my last Transatlantic in April 2018, I applied for the Shareholders OBC which would have given me $250US (being 15 days) but was declined because I was told I had a received a large discounted 'group' rate. I had no idea my agent had put me in with a group....it didn't feel like I had received any discount, but I couldn't argue my case. Oh well, lesson learnt.

So to answer your question, they seem to decline requests far more often than they approve them.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

For a number of years we have only been able to use the shareholder benefit when on re-positoning cruises.

 

Since we lean towards reposition cruises on Celebrity, might not be a bad option. Do you have to submit proof of ownership at the time of booking?

[ghstudio]

You submit proof of ownership about 4-6 weeks before your cruise...not when you book the cruise.

[TickledBlue]

Since we lean towards reposition cruises on Celebrity, might not be a bad option. Do you have to submit proof of ownership at the time of booking?

 

No, you do it after booking. Follow the directions from this website: http://www.rclcorporate.com/investors/shareholder-benefit/