Shareholder's OBC on Celebrity - denied. Help to know why.

[Mytravellove]

Hi, I am looking for an explanation as to what is the best way to find out why I was denied the Shareholder's OBC on my next cruise on Celebrity Eclipse. My cruise was booked via a travel agent, but I paid the same price as I would have if I booked on the Celebrity site. It is an inside cabin, so no perks. The travel agent has put my booking with a group, now giving me a $50 OBC, but I am losing out on $100 OBC for being a Shareholder. Does anyone know what I should do next? Should I call my TA and have me taken out from the 'group' booking & lose their $50 OBC and then call Celebrity to get the $100 SH OBC? The Shareholder's department on Celebrity is useless...they will not give me any information or advice on what I need to change to get this. I have on other cruises been able to get the SH OBC from Celebrity when I booked through the Big Box Store C...co. C...co sent me a cheque equal to what they would have given me as an OBC. I shop there often enough anywhere, so a cheque after the sailing v/s OBC was great.

Any recommendations?

[dcyonce]

I've never had one accepted. They have always been denied.

So far, for us … the shareholders benefit has been worthless.

 

-- Don

[verizon]

12 minutes ago, Mytravellove said:

Hi, I am looking for an explanation as to what is the best way to find out why I was denied the Shareholder's OBC on my next cruise on Celebrity Eclipse. My cruise was booked via a travel agent, but I paid the same price as I would have if I booked on the Celebrity site. It is an inside cabin, so no perks. The travel agent has put my booking with a group, now giving me a $50 OBC, but I am losing out on $100 OBC for being a Shareholder. Does anyone know what I should do next? Should I call my TA and have me taken out from the 'group' booking & lose their $50 OBC and then call Celebrity to get the $100 SH OBC? The Shareholder's department on Celebrity is useless...they will not give me any information or advice on what I need to change to get this. I have on other cruises been able to get the SH OBC from Celebrity when I booked through the Big Box Store C...co. C...co sent me a cheque equal to what they would have given me as an OBC. I shop there often enough anywhere, so a cheque after the sailing v/s OBC was great.

Any recommendations?

Hope you get a good fare from your TA since its a group booking.

Your OBC is not very appealing.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Assuming that your proof of stock ownership was not the problem, then it has to be that there is a conflicting discount that caused the disallowance. It appears that the TA got a lower group rate, but charged you the higher standard rate and gave you part of  the difference in OBC.  If there is sufficient time, I would ask your TA to change your fare to the non-group fare and then reapply for the shareholder discount.

[Jim_Iain]

I recently got one booking a State Rate with no additional benefits or OBC's.   I would call your TA and see what they can do.   Sounds like you should get one if you don't have any perks.   Possibly the $50 is being applied by Celebrity. 

[Mirage]

We have been Stockholders for 15 years. We send in documentation for every cruise to RCCL. Received only one shareholder credit on Celebrity in last 5 years. Fortunately the stock has appreciated, making it worth more than the OBC. I have three Celebrity Cruises booked in over next 5 months, none have received Shareholder OBC. 

[Gonzo70]

If your TA has a lower fare for the group, that is likely the reason it was denied. I do not think it is the $50 OBC that is the conflict (assuming that comes from the TA's commission), but likely a group fare. Assuming the fare is at least $100 below the non-group rate, you'd be better off keeping things as-is than taking the $100 Shareholder OBC and re-pricing the fare. As others have stated, Shareholder OBC is very infrequently awarded on Celebrity.

[Northern Aurora]

We had a similar situation happen to us when we were on a trans-Pacific last fall.  We had no extra perks on that cruise.  We are Zenith Captain's Club members, so I called one of the shoreside concierges to ask why we were denied.  She looked at our booking reservation number, and also didn't know why.  But she corrected the situation and we received the shareholder OBC.  I would suggest calling the Captain's Club to ask why you were denied, and who to contact next.

[NantahalaCruiser]

4 hours ago, Gonzo70 said:

If your TA has a lower fare for the group, that is likely the reason it was denied. I do not think it is the $50 OBC that is the conflict (assuming that comes from the TA's commission), but likely a group fare. Assuming the fare is at least $100 below the non-group rate, you'd be better off keeping things as-is than taking the $100 Shareholder OBC and re-pricing the fare. As others have stated, Shareholder OBC is very infrequently awarded on Celebrity.

OP said they paid the same amount to the TA as they would have if they had booked directly with Celebrity - so they are only saving the $50 OBC from the TA. Leads me to believe their TA is not playing very fair with them.

[Gonzo70]

31 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

OP said they paid the same amount to the TA as they would have if they had booked directly with Celebrity - so they are only saving the $50 OBC from the TA. Leads me to believe their TA is not playing very fair with them.

 

Yeah, it could be the TA is pocketing the difference between going rate and group rate as profit (less the $50 OBC). 

[TeaBag]

I would reapply.  You'll probably get a different person and maybe a different answer.

[AroundTheWorld1]

I’ve run across this scenario before...maybe the issue with your benefit. I’ve only been able to use it 2 times, well on the plus side the stock itself has been good to me.

[alcpa1]

From past experience I agree.....it is the group fare.

[M&Dcruisers]

I believe it was because of the group booking.  The same thing happened to me and I was told that was the reason. 

[ipeeinthepool]

Maybe you should have stayed with the Big Box TA.

Edited February 26, 2019 by ipeeinthepool

[WatchHill]

The multiple restrictions have prevented me from picking up shares. I do have CCL and often cruise with Princess. At least I can always count on multiple OBC's - shareholder can be combined/stacked with military/veteran, group rates, TA OBC's, and other perks. 

 

Darcy

[Solution]

Based on what the OP said, it does not seem like a Group Rate. It is likely a prevailing rate and the sailing is eligible for the group amenity (in this case, US$50 per cabin on board credit).

 

Canadian agencies tend to have smaller perks than the US counterpart. In most cases, the Group Amenity is about US$50 on board credit.

[Swordfish1949]

I agree with Dcyonce ...never had one accepted yet...glad that I didn't buy the stock only for that purpose.

[ICUQT]

On 2/25/2019 at 3:20 PM, Mirage said:

We have been Stockholders for 15 years. We send in documentation for every cruise to RCCL. Received only one shareholder credit on Celebrity in last 5 years. Fortunately the stock has appreciated, making it worth more than the OBC. I have three Celebrity Cruises booked in over next 5 months, none have received Shareholder OBC. 

This thread has been bothering me for a couple of days since I read it. I have only one (1) cruise on Celebrity with three booked over the next year. I am a long time Holland America and Princess cruiser with 30+ cruises. I own Carnival stock and therefore get the stockholder OBC benefit. Not once in my many years of sailing have I been denied that benefit when sailing. Always combined with any other offer. After reading through this thread I am wondering if RCCL passes this benefit along to Celebrity folks or is the RCCL benefit non-combinable with Celebrity promotions. I have a Celebrity cruise on  Equinox at the end of March was planning on buying 100 shares in part because of the benefit and in part because the stock is performing well. But if the OBC is not there I am still thinking about buying based on stock performance. I was hoping someone could explain the OBC policy (fine print) a little better for me.

[Jim_Iain]

Here ya go -  but better explanation in message 12 from FAQ

 

Benefit is non-transferable and not available to employees, or agents of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. or its subsidiaries and affiliates, travel agents and tour
operators. Benefit is not combinable with other onboard credit offers, general loyalty offers, “dollars off” promotions and savings certificates. Guests have the option
to choose between the shareholder benefit or the other offer. The shareholder must own the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. stock at time of sailing. Onboard credit is
calculated in US dollars except on sailings where the onboard currency used is a foreign currency (in which case the onboard credit will be converted at a currency
exchange rate determined by the cruise line) and is not redeemable for cash. Certificate value credited to onboard account at time of sailing. Any unused credit shall
be forfeited. Credit is applied on a per stateroom basis; double occupancy. Single guests paying 200% of applicable fare shall receive full value of certificate. Only
one shareholder credit per stateroom. Only one credit per shareholder on any one sailing. If shares are held jointly, 100 shares are required for each onboard credit
requested on any one sailing. Other terms and conditions may apply.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[Gonzo70]

With Celebrity Shareholder OBC very, very rarely can be used; any type of discounted price or any perks passed on by the cruise line (i.e. OBC, drink package, pre-paid grats etc. negates the ability to use the Shareholder OBC). Unless you are booking a cruise that has no perks with no OBC from the cruise line you would generally be out-of-luck. Some transatlantics/transpacific/repositioning cruises do not come with any perks/discounts and hence the Shareholder OBC can be applied and on some regular itineraries inside staterooms do not come with perks/discounts and can use the Shareholder OBC.

[Orator]

1 hour ago, ICUQT said:

This thread has been bothering me for a couple of days since I read it. I have only one (1) cruise on Celebrity with three booked over the next year. I am a long time Holland America and Princess cruiser with 30+ cruises. I own Carnival stock and therefore get the stockholder OBC benefit. Not once in my many years of sailing have I been denied that benefit when sailing. Always combined with any other offer. After reading through this thread I am wondering if RCCL passes this benefit along to Celebrity folks or is the RCCL benefit non-combinable with Celebrity promotions. I have a Celebrity cruise on  Equinox at the end of March was planning on buying 100 shares in part because of the benefit and in part because the stock is performing well. But if the OBC is not there I am still thinking about buying based on stock performance. I was hoping someone could explain the OBC policy (fine print) a little better for me.

CCL and RCL are different companies with different program rules. RCL is not combinable with promotions except in some rare cases. At one time it was combinable, but that ended many tears ago.

[Jim_Iain]

The one I got recently was really strange.   I booked an Aqua Room to try out for a short 4 day cruise to try out aqua.   Wasn't wanting any perks since we get most as Zenith.  

 

I booked a state rate and submitted to Shareholder Benefits.   About a week later I received a response and they applied a $50 credit.   After final payment the rates dropped on a SkySuite Guarantee without any benefits using a Senior Rate.   I upgraded for a total cost of $250 pp.  

 

When checking my reservation it now shows that I have a $150 credit.   I asked the agent and she said Celebrity gave me a $100 OBC and the $50 Stockholders Bonus was still there.  The agent also gave us an OBC that doesn't show for use before cruising.  

[Jim_Iain]

Duplicate post

 

Edited February 27, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[Orator]

3 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

The one I got recently was really strange.   I booked an Aqua Room to try out for a short 4 day cruise to try out aqua.   Wasn't wanting any perks since we get most as Zenith.  

 

I booked a state rate and submitted to Shareholder Benefits.   About a week later I received a response and they applied a $50 credit.   After final payment the rates dropped on a SkySuite Guarantee without any benefits using a Senior Rate.   I upgraded for a total cost of $250 pp.  

 

When checking my reservation it now shows that I have a $150 credit.   I asked the agent and she said Celebrity gave me a $100 OBC and the $50 Stockholders Bonus was still there.  The agent also gave us an OBC that doesn't show for use before cruising.  

They have been doing that for the last year. At one time they just rejected your request if you received anything. Now they give you the difference. That's an improvement since you no longer need to choose.