Shareholder Benefit Questions - and a concern!

[Selbourne]

I don’t have any Carnival U.K. shares, but as we are now commencing cruising in the post-Covid era and the share price is still low (£7 per share versus around £30-40 per share when we last cruised Pre Covid) I am thinking that it may be worthwhile. As I understand it, you need 100 shares, so an outlay of around £700?

 

We have 3 cruises booked with P&O this year (2 x 14 night and 1 x 7 night) and a 14 night cruise with Cunard in Spring 2024 so, if I understand the shareholder benefit correctly, we would get most of our investment back via OBC within just 12 months? 

 

Do you have to have had the shares for a minimum period (3 months?) before you can apply for the OBC benefit? I’m wondering if I’m too late for our July cruise? Are there any other qualifying conditions that mean that, if I buy now, may prevent me from getting OBC?

 

My biggest question / concern is over bookings that have received discounts, as this seems to be a disqualifying factor? All our bookings are via a big cruise specialist TA that many of us use, and all have a discount (albeit not a huge one). Having done a bit of Googling, it would appear that some Carnival brands have started refusing shareholder OBC unless the booking was made at the full advertised rate. Does this ring any bells with anyone? I don’t want to buy the shares and then find that we can only get the OBC by booking direct at full price. Thanks. 

[yorkshirephil]

20 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I don’t have any Carnival U.K. shares, but as we are now commencing cruising in the post-Covid era and the share price is still low (£7 per share versus around £30-40 per share when we last cruised Pre Covid) I am thinking that it may be worthwhile. As I understand it, you need 100 shares, so an outlay of around £700?

 

We have 3 cruises booked with P&O this year (2 x 14 night and 1 x 7 night) and a 14 night cruise with Cunard in Spring 2024 so, if I understand the shareholder benefit correctly, we would get most of our investment back via OBC within just 12 months? 

 

Do you have to have had the shares for a minimum period (3 months?) before you can apply for the OBC benefit? I’m wondering if I’m too late for our July cruise? Are there any other qualifying conditions that mean that, if I buy now, may prevent me from getting OBC?

 

My biggest question / concern is over bookings that have received discounts, as this seems to be a disqualifying factor? All our bookings are via a big cruise specialist TA that many of us use, and all have a discount (albeit not a huge one). Having done a bit of Googling, it would appear that some Carnival brands have started refusing shareholder OBC unless the booking was made at the full advertised rate. Does this ring any bells with anyone? I don’t want to buy the shares and then find that we can only get the OBC by booking direct at full price. Thanks. 

I have never heard of shareholder benefit being refused because of cruise prices. We have had some late deals on inside cabins and always got the OBC with P&O, Princess, HAL and Cunard whether we have booked direct or with a TA. 

You could buy the shares this week and have the OBC added to your July cruise, the cut off point is 3 weeks but we have had OBC added on last minute cruises when booking direct and insisting we got the OBC before we booked. There is currently a member now on Iona (I think) who booked last minute and still got the OBC,

[wowzz]

12 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

I have never heard of shareholder benefit being refused because of cruise prices.

Agreed. 

The only time I recall hearing about obc not being given, is on discounted fares given to TA employees.

[Cruise_Rookie_2010]

I'd echo that, we always book the most competitive rate, direct or otherwise, we've not had any problems claiming the shareholder benefit. There's nothing on the shareholder page which advises of any constraints as to the booking method, it does exclude travel agents travelling on an agent rate, or people travelling as guests of the crew (reduced rate) or the company (complimentary).

[Pink-belle]

P&O refused us Shareholders credit on our Baltic cruise last September. 
We had booked a number of months before the cruise (not last minute) using a Blue Light Card offer.

 

Having had shares for over 15 years, it was the first time OBC had been denied. 

 

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

P&O refused us Shareholders credit on our Baltic cruise last September. 
We had booked a number of months before the cruise (not last minute) using a Blue Light Card offer.

 

Having had shares for over 15 years, it was the first time OBC had been denied. 

 

Out of interest, was that a cruise offering special discounts for Blue Light Card holders, as opposed to the normal Blue Light Card discount? The reason I ask is that I asked the TA to apply Blue Light Discount to one of our daughters cabins and the discount was less than the shareholder OBC would be (not that she would have qualified for shareholder OBC as I realise that this will only be applied to my cabin)

[Pink-belle]

6 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Out of interest, was that a cruise offering special discounts for Blue Light Card holders, as opposed to the normal Blue Light Card discount? The reason I ask is that I asked the TA to apply Blue Light Discount to one of our daughters cabins and the discount was less than the shareholder OBC would be (not that she would have qualified for shareholder OBC as I realise that this will only be applied to my cabin)

It was special pricing  that was only on the listed Britannia Baltic sailings.  We booked directly with P&O. 
There were no other BLC offers running with P&O at the time, so no OBC.

 

That said the “special pricing” was the same as the saver rates for the May sailing this year.  So would be interested to know if anyone else has had shareholder OBC refused when booking “saver” rates. 

[BrianI]

I think you worry too much. You can buy the shares today and apply for the benefit tomorrow. 
The benefit you get for a 14 day cruise is £150 on P&O and slightly more $250 on Cunard. There is no upper limit on how many cruises you can claim for. 
 

Looking to the future it is likely that the share price will increase. Just my opinion-no guarantee. 

 

Before the pandemic a dividend of $200 per annum was being paid. The dividend is declared in dollars and for holders of Carnival PLC shares this is converted to sterling at the going rate

 

Brian

Edited April 19, 2023 by BrianI

[daiB]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I don’t have any Carnival U.K. shares, but as we are now commencing cruising in the post-Covid era and the share price is still low (£7 per share versus around £30-40 per share when we last cruised Pre Covid) I am thinking that it may be worthwhile. As I understand it, you need 100 shares, so an outlay of around £700?

 

We have 3 cruises booked with P&O this year (2 x 14 night and 1 x 7 night) and a 14 night cruise with Cunard in Spring 2024 so, if I understand the shareholder benefit correctly, we would get most of our investment back via OBC within just 12 months? 

 

Do you have to have had the shares for a minimum period (3 months?) before you can apply for the OBC benefit? I’m wondering if I’m too late for our July cruise? Are there any other qualifying conditions that mean that, if I buy now, may prevent me from getting OBC?

 

My biggest question / concern is over bookings that have received discounts, as this seems to be a disqualifying factor? All our bookings are via a big cruise specialist TA that many of us use, and all have a discount (albeit not a huge one). Having done a bit of Googling, it would appear that some Carnival brands have started refusing shareholder OBC unless the booking was made at the full advertised rate. Does this ring any bells with anyone? I don’t want to buy the shares and then find that we can only get the OBC by booking direct at full price. Thanks. 

Selbourne, it is not the regular discounts you get when booking which debar you it is the friends and family fares or the special fares for TA’s themselves.

 

Go for it.

[tring]

1 hour ago, Pink-belle said:

It was special pricing  that was only on the listed Britannia Baltic sailings.  We booked directly with P&O. 
There were no other BLC offers running with P&O at the time, so no OBC.

 

That said the “special pricing” was the same as the saver rates for the May sailing this year.  So would be interested to know if anyone else has had shareholder OBC refused when booking “saver” rates. 

 

The current P&O BLC offer is only for cruises during 2023 which get an extra OBC, rather than a discount.  I think it is £130 OBC for a cruise of at least two weeks in a balcony cabin (rate varies with cabin type and length of cruise).

 

We have booked a sixteen night Baltic on Aurora at a teeny bit under £100pppn, through a cruise agent a lot of people on here use.  The BLC offer for P&O only works if you book direct with them, but the agent was prepared to discount the cruise by the amount of OBC we would have received from P,&O on supply of my BLC number.  Hence we got £130 off the total bill, though that was in place of the agent's normal discount which would have been less than £130, not as well as it.  They give the better if those two discount rates.

 

Anyway, we booked about three weeks back and our share benefit was duly added soon after on our request.  Would be interesting to know if booking direct and getting a mere £130 extra OBC, would have been a problem though, regards share benefit.  BLC offer is not combinable with onboard cruise booking benefits, I do not know about saver fare booked direct though.

 

Generally, regards non BLC bookings, I agree with what others have said that the discounts which are not combinable with share benefit are the heavily discounted rates given to travel agents for themselves.  That can also affect the ability to collect loyalty points on some cruise lines, but no idea about P&O on that score.

 

 

[Selbourne]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I’m going to go for it. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy the shares where there is a low fee, no annual cost and it’s easy to get the OBC added for each cruise? I’d prefer having a share certificate, but it seems that many companies don’t issue them and just keep your shares in a nominee account?

[Harryjacobs]

31 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks for the helpful replies. I’m going to go for it. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy the shares where there is a low fee, no annual cost and it’s easy to get the OBC added for each cruise? I’d prefer having a share certificate, but it seems that many companies don’t issue them and just keep your shares in a nominee account?

Freeshare

 

[majortom10]

37 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks for the helpful replies. I’m going to go for it. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy the shares where there is a low fee, no annual cost and it’s easy to get the OBC added for each cruise? I’d prefer having a share certificate, but it seems that many companies don’t issue them and just keep your shares in a nominee account?

Equiniti supply you with a share certificate at a cost and are the ones associated with Carnival so makes it easier to claim shareholder benefit.

[happy v]

40 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks for the helpful replies. I’m going to go for it. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy the shares where there is a low fee, no annual cost and it’s easy to get the OBC added for each cruise? I’d prefer having a share certificate, but it seems that many companies don’t issue them and just keep your shares in a nominee account?

Mine are with Equiniti. No fee. I have a certificate. Email secures OBC

[CCFC]

Freetrade are very good, no transaction fees buying or selling.

Edited April 19, 2023 by CCFC

[terrierjohn]

15 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Equiniti supply you with a share certificate at a cost and are the ones associated with Carnival so makes it easier to claim shareholder benefit.

 

10 minutes ago, happy v said:

Mine are with Equiniti. No fee. I have a certificate. Email secures OBC

I thought ii, (interactive investor) part of the Aberdeen group, had taken over Equinities sharedealing business, and they do make charges.

[CCFC]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

 

I thought ii, (interactive investor) part of the Aberdeen group, had taken over Equinities sharedealing business, and they do make charges.

Thats interesting if true, I have other shares with Equiniti but not heard the ownership had changed.

[Selbourne]

24 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Equiniti supply you with a share certificate at a cost and are the ones associated with Carnival so makes it easier to claim shareholder benefit.

 

 

22 minutes ago, happy v said:

Mine are with Equiniti. No fee. I have a certificate. Email secures OBC

Thanks. Just looked them up. Purchase fees are £20 for a nominee account and £45 for a share certificate. Does it make it more complicated getting the shareholder OBC if you don’t have a share certificate?

[CCFC]

Go for a basic Freetrade account, they dont charge you a monthly fee or any transaction fees.

 

Stock trading (zero commission) & investment app | Freetrade

[Selbourne]

Just now, CCFC said:

Go for a basic Freetrade account, they dont charge you a monthly fee or any transaction fees.

 

Stock trading (zero commission) & investment app | Freetrade

That’s interesting. Thanks. How easy is it to get the OBC credited (assuming that you don’t get a share certificate)? 

[CCFC]

Just take a screenshot of the monthly statement and email it off, simples.

 

I have never had a share certificate, they only request proof.

Edited April 19, 2023 by CCFC

[happy v]

46 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

 

I thought ii, (interactive investor) part of the Aberdeen group, had taken over Equinities sharedealing business, and they do make charges.

No one has told me. I haven't paid anything so far.

[majortom10]

I have a share certificate for my shares through Equiniti and have not heard of anything about them being part of a takeover or ever been charged for share holding.

[BandBlady]

We are with Hargreaves’s Lansdown ,never had a certicate ,cruised with P&O mostly but no issue with Cunard ,Princess or Holland America in the last 15years of being shareholders .Best wishes 

 

[Al_W]

Mine are with Freetrade, not paid any fees, emailed my monthly statement showing my carnival shares and new booking confirmation with extra obc was sent back following day. On my third cruise with the additional obc. Bought mine when it was about £8 but still happy 😀