Celebrity Rewards, how do they work?

[rucruisn2]

I know that for every 5,000 points on my Celebrity Visa card I can get an OBC for $50.00. But how does it work for higher rewards? I have read about some of you getting free cruises. How many points are needed for that? What are the restrictions? Can you pick any ship, any itineary? What category cabin? What about rewards in between? I currently have 25,000 points and am thinking maybe we should save our points instead of cashing them in for $250. OBC. Lately the airline points aren't so good anymore and we have a ton of points on AE. Thanks.

[Peregrina651]

I don't have the =x= visa but you piqued my curiosity.

 

Have you seen this link? https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/us/rafi-facbxe/points.html

[rucruisn2]

No, I hadn't seen that link, but I had some idea of the steps. I can't imaging why someone would want to use 50K pts. for a stateroom upgrade when most times they are only a few dollars difference. I thought it was 100K pts for a free cruise, but times might have changed.

[hcat]

We just got the Celebrity card but have used the Royal Point card many times-- for us the best value is the $500 off final payment or shipboard credits--depending on what we have to use!

 

We got the Celeb card because we really cruise more often on that line so in the long run hopeit'll be more "rewarding"

[jer_l]

I know that for every 5,000 points on my Celebrity Visa card I can get an OBC for $50.00. But how does it work for higher rewards? I have read about some of you getting free cruises. How many points are needed for that? What are the restrictions? Can you pick any ship, any itineary? What category cabin? What about rewards in between? I currently have 25,000 points and am thinking maybe we should save our points instead of cashing them in for $250. OBC. Lately the airline points aren't so good anymore and we have a ton of points on AE. Thanks.

We are using Celebrity Rewards for a free cruise in January. It takes 125,000 points and I believe that points expire after 5 years. I charge almost everything on my card (electric bill, groceries, even a new roof) so I was able to get to the 125,000 within five years. It is good for the price of the lowest category outside cabin (up to $1250 per person) on a 7-10 day Caribbean cruise. On our cruise the lowest was $1099 so we will get a credit of $2198 on our bill. You can book the cruise before you have the points as long as you get the voucher before final payment.

[scottbee]

I know that for every 5,000 points on my Celebrity Visa card I can get an OBC for $50.00. But how does it work for higher rewards? I have read about some of you getting free cruises. How many points are needed for that? What are the restrictions? Can you pick any ship, any itineary? What category cabin? What about rewards in between? I currently have 25,000 points and am thinking maybe we should save our points instead of cashing them in for $250. OBC. Lately the airline points aren't so good anymore and we have a ton of points on AE. Thanks.

 

You can get a $50, $100 or $250 OBC (every time) just by owning 100 shares of RCCL Corp, which in my mind is a much better deal .

 

In terms of credit cards for cruising, the Alaska Air one is a great deal as they serve almost every cruise port from here in the NW, and you get a $50 companion cert (buy one ticket any offered fare and get a 2nd for 50+taxes, about 80 right now). Needless to say DW is flying for $68/return to San Diego for our next cruise...

[rucruisn2]

Thanks for the info. I guess we should save our points for a cruise. We also charge everything, gas, groceries, insurance payments etc. in 3 months we rack up 25k pts so it probably won't take long to get 125,000. Can you get insurance on the cruise? What happens if you use your points for a cruise and at the last minute have to cancell for illness or something, do you loose everything?

[darrencantwait]

If you do the math, saving up for the free cruise for two (at 125,000 points) is the best value. I just cashed mine in after using my card for about 3 years. We had a concierge class cabin booked on Solstice for next March. They credited my balance with 2x the current price for the lowest Ocean View cabin. Our cruise will now only cost us about $250 each including taxes and surcharges. Such a pleasure in these tough economic times.

 

And the process was far easier than I expected with little hassle.

 

I'm not sure what happens if you need to cancel the cruise. I would assume they keep a credit for the original amount of the voucher for you (as long as you are not past final payment date).

 

Let's hope that doesn't happen.

[jt58203]

Can you use both the shareholder benefit and the Celebrity Rewards certificate?

[jer_l]

Can you use both the shareholder benefit and the Celebrity Rewards certificate?

I'm going to try. I'll let you know if it works.

[flparalegal]

jt58203, yes you can use both a shareholder credit and a credit card OBC. I got both for our cruise last November and will do the same for our cruise this November. I believe I got a $200 shareholder credit and a $150 credit card OBC.