Anyone else hearing that starting 7/1 C&A Sav Certs will no longer be allowed w/NC

[cruizinmimi]

Is it me, or is this thread a rumor mill run amuck? Kewlguy last fall assured us all that C&A levels were changing in days or weeks, not months because he heard from someone in the know aboard a ship. Now we have someone suggesting the B&A coupons won't be available and stock OBCs are going away effective July 1. Not sure why RCCL would stop the B&A credits, they're not coming off their buttom line. Is there anyone posting here that has any facts?

 

If one would read the OP's statement at the beginning and then the entire thread, one would see that this is not a rumor mill run amuck. There are some responses from poster's who were told firsthand and have experienced problems with getting their savings certificates applied to their bottom line cruise price.

 

Again, though, we will all just have to wait and see what rcl decides to do. the BofA certificates were never mentioned to me.

 

Have a Terrific Thursday!

[CL-JW]

If this does become their policy...........they might be losing a lot of shareholders!

 

So true Patti - the only reason we own their stock is for the OBC benefit. :)

[Oville]

If one would read the OP's statement at the beginning and then the entire thread, one would see that this is not a rumor mill run amuck. There are some responses from poster's who were told firsthand and have experienced problems with getting their savings certificates applied to their bottom line cruise price.

 

Again, though, we will all just have to wait and see what rcl decides to do. the BofA certificates were never mentioned to me.

 

Have a Terrific Thursday!

 

This one has read the entire thread and read about not being able to us NC and C&A certs on the same cruise, which is/should be the topic at hand. However, if one had read the entire thread, one would have also read about changes to stock OBCs, Visa OBCs, balcony discounts, and reaching diamond status.

[BillOh]

Since it seems the revenue department has been running the show for a while, the odds are good those are true statements.

 

 

Hmm, when did my company's finance division take over for RCI? Perhaps they went to the same "How to kill business" seminar.

[Jeka]

I'm not sure this is anything different from their current C&A certificate policy. Maybe they have not inforced it regularly but it's right on the cert. and has been for at least a year:

 

" 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."

 

We were told we could not combine our NC with a C&A certificate a year ago when we bought our first NC.

 

Nothing new here.

[mediator]

I'm not sure this is anything different from their current C&A certificate policy. Maybe they have not inforced it regularly but it's right on the cert. and has been for at least a year:

 

" 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."

 

We were told we could not combine our NC with a C&A certificate a year ago when we bought our first NC.

 

Nothing new here.

 

No consistency.... I have a NC and used $150 C&A coupon off cruise price, for August sailing, not a problem.

 

Then I got a $50 savings certificate as a thank you for cruising. I tried to have it applied for my Jan. cruise and was told could not be used with NC.

 

It seems like you are at the mercy of the coupon dept and who's deciding that day or doing the interpreting.

[cruizinmimi]

No consistency.... I have a NC and used $150 C&A coupon off cruise price, for August sailing, not a problem.

 

Then I got a $50 savings certificate as a thank you for cruising. I tried to have it applied for my Jan. cruise and was told could not be used with NC.

 

It seems like you are at the mercy of the coupon dept and who's deciding that day or doing the interpreting.

Bingo!! This is exactly what happened to me. But if you will read on your NextCruise invoice...nowhere does it say it is a "promotion" or that it is not combinable with any other "discount".:eek:

This too will pass soon:D

[buffmeister]

This is not a rumor, it is fact. I got a "thank you" gift coupon & letter from the President of RCI, Adam Goldstein, for our cruise on the Liberty of the Seas last Oct. The coupon could be used if a cruise was booked by April 30th of this year. While on our Explorer of the seas cruise in April, I booked a cruise for October. I got the traditional OBC discount. I did not have the gift coupon with me at the time but I called it into my TA when I got home. He got a confirmation for the coupon being applied to my future cruise in Oct. He sent out my cruise confirmation with the gift coupon notation on it. RCCL faxed him a note stating that they were taking the credit back for the coupon because as of May lst. combination discounts would not be allowed. He notified me that my coupon would not be honored. This was not a C&A coupon, it was a "thank you" gift coupon. He called RCI and said that he had received confirmation of the coupon being accepted and that he had already confirmed it with me (his client). They didn't care! I personally wrote a letter to the president Adam Goldstein, and sent his "gift" back to him stating that I was not allowed to use it - even though it was used in compliance with the terms stated. I sent the letter and coupon by certified mail to make sure he got it. I got the return receipt back from the post office that confirmed that he had received it.

I asked him to e-mail me just to let me know that the letter was not thrown away by someone in the office. He has not responded to my letter to this date.

 

I told him in my letter that I have promoted RCCL to many people over the years which has resulted in a lot of sales to RCCL. A coupon for $50.00 costs RCCL less than $5.00 because everything on board costs 10 times more to the passenger than RCCL pays for it. A bottle of beer costs them about .15 because of the volume that they buy and the passenger pays almost $5.00 for it. For my loyalty and my free promotion of RCCL, he could at least honor the "gift". I've worked many hours with people answering questions and putting together group cruises. They could at least spare $5.00 for my time and work. I called C&A and they told me that as of May lst. coupons would not be honored with OBC's. New policy. RCI is changing policies every day. They are getting to a point of bizarre. I also told Mr. Goldstein that since RCI is touting their product as a "vacation experience" rather than just a "cruise", that Carnival offers the same experience, same dates and same itenarary for $300 less per person. In this economy that means about $1,200 less for a family of 4. People (especially families) are going to be looking for better pricing and $1,200 is a whopping savings for the same thing. That savings is right off the top - not including loyalty discounts - coupons etc. that other cruise lines offer. Plus RCCI has their cheapest prices the further out that you book. Other lines discount more the closer it gets to cruise dates. I will look around and wait before I book from now on. From what I am reading on this site (which is a great one) there are a lot better deals available.

Loyalty cruisers mean nothing to RCI. They're eliminating loyalty perks one by one.

 

I also stated to Mr. Goldstein that I saw his interview on CNBC with one of the financial analysts back in Feb. He announced to the world that RCI was going to absorb the cost of the fuel and was not going to charge it's passengers an additional fuel charge, even though all the other cruise lines were doing it. About two weeks later, everyone that had booked with RCI received a fuel surcharge notice. Apparently there was a class action suit filed against RCI and RCI lost and had to return the charge to the passengers that had booked prior to the notice. Again, for the $35.00 per passenger paid in surcharge - it cost RCI about $3.50 refund in the form of onboard credit. They did not return the $35.00 off the fare.

 

RCI is slick. They've cut their onboard staff, the quality of food has diminished, and there are a lot of small issues that we have noticed over the many years of cruising with them. Their ships are beautiful, but they subscribe to the short term greed philosophy and they will pay for it in the end.

[cruizinmimi]

This is not a rumor, it is fact. I got a "thank you" gift coupon & letter from the President of RCI, Adam Goldstein, for our cruise on the Liberty of the Seas last Oct. The coupon could be used if a cruise was booked by April 30th of this year. While on our Explorer of the seas cruise in April, I booked a cruise for October. I got the traditional OBC discount. I did not have the gift coupon with me at the time but I called it into my TA when I got home. He got a confirmation for the coupon being applied to my future cruise in Oct. He sent out my cruise confirmation with the gift coupon notation on it. RCCL faxed him a note stating that they were taking the credit back for the coupon because as of May lst. combination discounts would not be allowed. He notified me that my coupon would not be honored. This was not a C&A coupon, it was a "thank you" gift coupon. He called RCI and said that he had received confirmation of the coupon being accepted and that he had already confirmed it with me (his client). They didn't care! I personally wrote a letter to the president Adam Goldstein, and sent his "gift" back to him stating that I was not allowed to use it - even though it was used in compliance with the terms stated. I sent the letter and coupon by certified mail to make sure he got it. I got the return receipt back from the post office that confirmed that he had received it.

I asked him to e-mail me just to let me know that the letter was not thrown away by someone in the office. He has not responded to my letter to this date.

 

I told him in my letter that I have promoted RCCL to many people over the years which has resulted in a lot of sales to RCCL. A coupon for $50.00 costs RCCL less than $5.00 because everything on board costs 10 times more to the passenger than RCCL pays for it. A bottle of beer costs them about .15 because of the volume that they buy and the passenger pays almost $5.00 for it. For my loyalty and my free promotion of RCCL, he could at least honor the "gift". I've worked many hours with people answering questions and putting together group cruises. They could at least spare $5.00 for my time and work. I called C&A and they told me that as of May lst. coupons would not be honored with OBC's. New policy. RCI is changing policies every day. They are getting to a point of bizarre. I also told Mr. Goldstein that since RCI is touting their product as a "vacation experience" rather than just a "cruise", that Carnival offers the same experience, same dates and same itenarary for $300 less per person. In this economy that means about $1,200 less for a family of 4. People (especially families) are going to be looking for better pricing and $1,200 is a whopping savings for the same thing. That savings is right off the top - not including loyalty discounts - coupons etc. that other cruise lines offer. Plus RCCI has their cheapest prices the further out that you book. Other lines discount more the closer it gets to cruise dates. I will look around and wait before I book from now on. From what I am reading on this site (which is a great one) there are a lot better deals available.

Loyalty cruisers mean nothing to RCI. They're eliminating loyalty perks one by one.

 

I also stated to Mr. Goldstein that I saw his interview on CNBC with one of the financial analysts back in Feb. He announced to the world that RCI was going to absorb the cost of the fuel and was not going to charge it's passengers an additional fuel charge, even though all the other cruise lines were doing it. About two weeks later, everyone that had booked with RCI received a fuel surcharge notice. Apparently there was a class action suit filed against RCI and RCI lost and had to return the charge to the passengers that had booked prior to the notice. Again, for the $35.00 per passenger paid in surcharge - it cost RCI about $3.50 refund in the form of onboard credit. They did not return the $35.00 off the fare.

 

RCI is slick. They've cut their onboard staff, the quality of food has diminished, and there are a lot of small issues that we have noticed over the many years of cruising with them. Their ships are beautiful, but they subscribe to the short term greed philosophy and they will pay for it in the end.

 

This is the very same experience I had with the very same savings certificate from Adam Goldstein. You said it all right here. ( thank you for such a detailed report) I still have not gotten a reply back from Adam Goldstein or the coupon dept. I probably will not, but I did get my $50 "thank you for your loyalty" coupon applied finally. I just kept calling and calling!

[Oville]

This is the very same experience I had with the very same savings certificate from Adam Goldstein. You said it all right here. ( thank you for such a detailed report) I still have not gotten a reply back from Adam Goldstein or the coupon dept. I probably will not, but I did get my $50 "thank you for your loyalty" coupon applied finally. I just kept calling and calling!

 

We had the same issue with one of these thank you certs awhile back and couldn't use it. Unfortuanately I don't remember if it was because of Next Cruise or C&A cert., but my gut tells me it was a C&A cert.

[buffmeister]

Sorry for the double posting, I didn't log in the first time and it posted twice.

[Oville]

Just checked, the Thank You Cert. does have the wording "Offer is not combinable with any other promotion or offer.........."

[PH8]

Just got an email from the coupon dept...............emailed them my "Thank you" coupon yesterday and asked to have them applied to 2 of my cruises(which had been booked with NCs)..heres what they said..:mad:

 

 

 

Dear Guest,

 

Thank you for using our online Coupon Redemption Center!

 

We have received your Royal Caribbean International coupon as submitted.

 

We were unable to apply the coupon to this reservation for the following reason:

 

Coupon is not combinable with other coupons and /or onboard credit offers. We reflect that a coupon and / or an onboard

Credit has already been added to this reservation.

 

Please refer to the terms and conditions listed on the coupon for further information.

 

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 which are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the coupon.

 

Thank you and best regards,

Royal Caribbean International

[isujim]

Just got an email from the coupon dept...............emailed them my "Thank you" coupon yesterday and asked to have them applied to 2 of my cruises(which had been booked with NCs)..heres what they said..:mad:

 

 

 

Dear Guest,

 

Thank you for using our online Coupon Redemption Center!

 

We have received your Royal Caribbean International coupon as submitted.

 

We were unable to apply the coupon to this reservation for the following reason:

 

Coupon is not combinable with other coupons and /or onboard credit offers. We reflect that a coupon and / or an onboard

Credit has already been added to this reservation.

 

Please refer to the terms and conditions listed on the coupon for further information.

 

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 which are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the coupon.

 

Thank you and best regards,

Royal Caribbean International

 

So much for a "Thank You" huh ...........sometimes I just don't understand why they don't get it.........I assume Kathy you will follow up and keep us posted.:)

[Oville]

So much for a "Thank You" huh ...........sometimes I just don't understand why they don't get it.........I assume Kathy you will follow up and keep us posted.:)

 

I really don't think this is anything new. As I said earlier, this happen to us quite some time ago.

[concour]

Recently I tried to apply the military discounts to my C&A balcony discounts. They stated I had to chose which one I would use since they could not be combined. After talking to people here on CC that had used both before I e-mailed as well as called three times and each time was told they are no longer combinable.

 

We are diamond status and have enjoyed the cruising with RCL in the past but if this trend continues we can only imagine what will be next. Perhaps it is time to look around at other cruise lines. I really hate being nickel and dimed to death. Just because I might look like a fool I am not. Just raise the price of the cruise. They would still be a great value if prices went up.

 

Bill

[PH8]

I really don't think this is anything new. As I said earlier, this happen to us quite some time ago.

Oh,Im sorry............a one time informative tidbit..........repeats on CC?? What was I thinking?:eek:

 

I'll keep you posted Jim.........I'll email you so not to offend anyone..:p

[gadaboutgal]

I am becoming one unhappy Diamond member with all their recent little money making schemes. They are hardly worth losing customers over.

I, too, tried to apply a coupon earlier this year to one of our cruises and was rejected as there was already an on-board credit. I think I will just forget about even checking for C & A coupons in the future as they are such a little amount, I wouldn't want to use them and lose my other possible credits.

[cruizinmimi]

Just got an email from the coupon dept...............emailed them my "Thank you" coupon yesterday and asked to have them applied to 2 of my cruises(which had been booked with NCs)..heres what they said..:mad:

 

 

 

Dear Guest,

 

Thank you for using our online Coupon Redemption Center!

 

We have received your Royal Caribbean International coupon as submitted.

 

We were unable to apply the coupon to this reservation for the following reason:

 

Coupon is not combinable with other coupons and /or onboard credit offers. We reflect that a coupon and / or an onboard

Credit has already been added to this reservation.

 

Please refer to the terms and conditions listed on the coupon for further information.

 

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 which are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the coupon.

 

Thank you and best regards,

Royal Caribbean International

 

O.K., so now it is becoming more consistent. BUT here is what gets me...

 

C&A encourages you to join and sign up and become a loyalty member so as you can start saving money on your next cruise and so as you can get savings certificates off of selected upcoming cruises and so on and so on!

 

They start the NextCruise program so as to get your money while you are on a cruise. Ok, I liked this concept...geez, I can put up $200 dep., still get an OBC, but can decide what cruise I want to book when I get home. We were told on every NextCruise that we've rec'd that we could still get our balcony discount when we book and if there is a savings certificate for the particular cruise that we will be booking (in the future with our NextCruise), we could use that also.

 

NOW..all of sudden, coupon dept. has started denying everything. C&A dept. still stands behind what they have brainwashed "loyalty/repeat cruisers" into believing what was truth. It's is why we have cruised so many times with rcl. We bought into the system.

 

Obviously, Adam Goldstein does not even know the new rules and what is being done. All this is just too much for me to comprehend:eek:

 

My point is.....where will be the incentive to be a repeat customer with rcl???? if they really continue to do this.

 

I do not think they will ever take away the stockholder benefit nor the BofA Visa rewards, but I'm not sure where this whole thing is going:mad:

[waf125]

Kathy- Please keep me posted, also. :)

[PH8]

Kathy- Please keep me posted, also. :)

I sure will,Martha......

[isujim]

Ok.........somebody help me out here.......I've read the entire thread.......

 

Is there anything YOU CAN COMBINE right now?:confused:

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Just got an email from the coupon dept...............emailed them my "Thank you" coupon yesterday and asked to have them applied to 2 of my cruises(which had been booked with NCs)..heres what they said..:mad:

 

 

 

Dear Guest,

 

Thank you for using our online Coupon Redemption Center!

 

We have received your Royal Caribbean International coupon as submitted.

 

We were unable to apply the coupon to this reservation for the following reason:

 

Coupon is not combinable with other coupons and /or onboard credit offers. We reflect that a coupon and / or an onboard

Credit has already been added to this reservation.

 

Please refer to the terms and conditions listed on the coupon for further information.

 

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 which are inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the coupon.

 

Thank you and best regards,

Royal Caribbean International

 

I appreciate you posting your experience and response from the RCI coupons department and hope you'll continue to update us on this thread. :)

[isujim]

O.K., so now it is becoming more consistent. BUT here is what gets me...

 

C&A encourages you to join and sign up and become a loyalty member so as you can start saving money on your next cruise and so as you can get savings certificates off of selected upcoming cruises and so on and so on!

 

They start the NextCruise program so as to get your money while you are on a cruise. Ok, I liked this concept...geez, I can put up $200 dep., still get an OBC, but can decide what cruise I want to book when I get home. We were told on every NextCruise that we've rec'd that we could still get our balcony discount when we book and if there is a savings certificate for the particular cruise that we will be booking (in the future with our NextCruise), we could use that also.

 

NOW..all of sudden, coupon dept. has started denying everything. C&A dept. still stands behind what they have brainwashed "loyalty/repeat cruisers" into believing what was truth. It's is why we have cruised so many times with rcl. We bought into the system.

 

Obviously, Adam Goldstein does not even know the new rules and what is being done. All this is just too much for me to comprehend:eek:

 

My point is.....where will be the incentive to be a repeat customer with rcl???? if they really continue to do this.

 

I do not think they will ever take away the stockholder benefit nor the BofA Visa rewards, but I'm not sure where this whole thing is going:mad:

 

Linda I'm not sure where it is going either..........and I don't understand WHY.....(not that they asked me:) ) Let's just say they have made some interesting decisions lately with a lot of things........I'm all for the free enterprise system and making profit........but I've shaken my head on a few things lately.........if they are true of course.:D

[cruizinmimi]

Ok.........somebody help me out here.......I've read the entire thread.......

 

Is there anything YOU CAN COMBINE right now?:confused:

 

You can still use your stockholder credit and your rcl Visa reward certificates for OBC:) as of right now any ways:D