Hate Losing Shareholder and Next Cruise Benefits? MAKE SOME NOISE WITH RCCL NOW

[Ladylouwho]

Patti,

 

I thought a future cruise was exactly what your saying, but someone on the boards said it wasn't. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

RCCL is so crazy right now. All the reps are saying something different. I have friends who are Diamond + so I know they always booked onboard before next cruise things came out and she told me today that she always combined her OBC's as well. For now, my friend spoke to some bigwig today and they told her she will be able to combine them - her 2 cruises have been booked for quite a while. She voiced her dissatisfaction with the policy change and told them the reps told her that booking on board and shareholder OBC's were never allowed. I just don't know how they come up with these things. RCCL needs to state and write their policies more clearly so that they can be interpreted by us as well as the reps! :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for answering my question.

 

Patty

 

 

So the RCL Rep told her the OBC from Booking On board and the Shareholder OBC can not be combined and NEVER could be combined? Really? Then why, when we booked our Cruise to the Mediterranean for June, 2009 while on board the Freedom of the Seas this past June our Loyalty Ambassador handed us a sheet regarding the Shareholder benefit and told us we should consider purchasing stock as an ADDITIONAL OBC to our cruise? We already were getting the Diamond Balcony discount and obviously the on board booking OBC. If these two OBC's were NEVER able to be combined why would he do that?

 

We had never really known much about the RCL Stock OBC program and then did buy 100 shares each in RCL to get the additional discount as we had 4 future cruises booked including the one we booked on board the Freedom. We got a good price (so we thought at less than $24 per share) When the stock went down further the last several weeks, we purchased 100 shares in our daughters name. She is Diamond and usually travels with us in a separate balcony with her sister and their friends. We don't have a problem applying the Shareholder OBC to our other 3 future cruises as we did not book them on board or use a next cruise.

 

But ARE we going to have a problem applying the Shareholder OBC to our June 2009 Med. Cruise? On that cruise, (two balcony cabins) we plan on being able to use the following discounts/OBC's :

 

For Each Cabin we will use a Diamond Balcony discount of $200

a C&A Society Member Certificate discount of $150

a Booking On Board OBC of $100

a Shareholder Benefit OBC of $100

 

resulting in a discount/OBC of $550 per cabin or $1,100 total.

 

So if we apparently COULD NEVER be allowed to use the Shareholder OBC/Combined with our Booking On Board OBC we will be out $200. Not exactly breaking the Bank or making us cancel our booking, but why would the Loyalty Ambassador say that? My understanding was we could use all the discounts/OBC. Who or what are we supposed to believe? Where is the trust?

 

The Loyalty program with RCL is one reason why we keep booking over and over with RCL. Having reached Diamond status the rewards for doing so were there for us. We have only tried the Big Red Boat once,(years ago) and Carnival once, last year because some friends of ours had booked and wanted us to sail with them. Otherwise the many cruises we have sailed have been on RCL. Either a Royal Family Suite or two balcony cabins while with our kids, or the one time alone, the sought after JS 1100 on Serenade. The discounts and loyalty stuff is what has kept us from venturing out much further.

 

Start reigning that in and we will most likely starting venturing out.

 

I just wish RCL would keep it together and not be so erratic of late. If you want people to continue booking 2-3 times a year (or more), booking two or more cabins or suite per family, then lay out a Loyalty Plan and KEEP IT! This changing horses in midstream is breeding mistrust (pun intended). Yes RCL has the RIGHT to change any Loyalty Program they want whenever they want. But where is the Loyalty to the Customer?

[traveler/]

So the RCL Rep told her the OBC from Booking On board and the Shareholder OBC can not be combined and NEVER could be combined? Really? Then why, when we booked our Cruise to the Mediterranean for June, 2009 while on board the Freedom of the Seas this past June our Loyalty Ambassador handed us a sheet regarding the Shareholder benefit and told us we should consider purchasing stock as an ADDITIONAL OBC to our cruise? We already were getting the Diamond Balcony discount and obviously the on board booking OBC. If these two OBC's were NEVER able to be combined why would he do that?

 

We had never really known much about the RCL Stock OBC program and then did buy 100 shares each in RCL to get the additional discount as we had 4 future cruises booked including the one we booked on board the Freedom. We got a good price (so we thought at less than $24 per share) When the stock went down further the last several weeks, we purchased 100 shares in our daughters name. She is Diamond and usually travels with us in a separate balcony with her sister and their friends. We don't have a problem applying the Shareholder OBC to our other 3 future cruises as we did not book them on board or use a next cruise.

 

But ARE we going to have a problem applying the Shareholder OBC to our June 2009 Med. Cruise? On that cruise, (two balcony cabins) we plan on being able to use the following discounts/OBC's :

 

For Each Cabin we will use a Diamond Balcony discount of $200

a C&A Society Member Certificate discount of $150

a Booking On Board OBC of $100

a Shareholder Benefit OBC of $100

 

resulting in a discount/OBC of $550 per cabin or $1,100 total.

 

So if we apparently COULD NEVER be allowed to use the Shareholder OBC/Combined with our Booking On Board OBC we will be out $200. Not exactly breaking the Bank or making us cancel our booking, but why would the Loyalty Ambassador say that? My understanding was we could use all the discounts/OBC. Who or what are we supposed to believe? Where is the trust?

 

The Loyalty program with RCL is one reason why we keep booking over and over with RCL. Having reached Diamond status the rewards for doing so were there for us. We have only tried the Big Red Boat once,(years ago) and Carnival once, last year because some friends of ours had booked and wanted us to sail with them. Otherwise the many cruises we have sailed have been on RCL. Either a Royal Family Suite or two balcony cabins while with our kids, or the one time alone, the sought after JS 1100 on Serenade. The discounts and loyalty stuff is what has kept us from venturing out much further.

 

Start reigning that in and we will most likely starting venturing out.

 

I just wish RCL would keep it together and not be so erratic of late. If you want people to continue booking 2-3 times a year (or more), booking two or more cabins or suite per family, then lay out a Loyalty Plan and KEEP IT! This changing horses in midstream is breeding mistrust (pun intended). Yes RCL has the RIGHT to change any Loyalty Program they want whenever they want. But where is the Loyalty to the Customer?

The LA told you what was accurate as of your cruise. The new rules became effective 10/15/08. I don't think they are good because it restricts stockholders/ On board booking cruisers. However, I respect RCL's right to change the programs, and I will adjust my bookings accordingly. Hopefully, RCL will eventually realize that for a relatively small amount of $, they may be losing some business. I will Think positive, and losing 1 OBC will not deter me from cruising.

[beachbuddy]

LADYLOUWHO,

 

If you read the post above from Patti, booking on board was always combinable with the shareholder OBC. My friend who called RCCL over the last few days kept being told that it was never combinable and she spoke to a bunch of different reps. That's why today she called some bigwig, I don't know exactly who she spoke to but she is entitled to combine it because her cruises were booked quite some time ago. The policy change says that your cruise has to be booked prior to Oct 15th. You can go back and look at one of the confirmation letters that someone posted. It tells you what you can combine and what you can't combine as of today, Oct 15th. What cracks me up is the fact that if we were not on these boards reading about this, we'd have no idea that there wasn even a change until we went to apply our OBC's.:rolleyes:

[Ladylouwho]

LADYLOUWHO,

 

If you read the post above from Patti, booking on board was always combinable with the shareholder OBC. My friend who called RCCL over the last few days kept being told that it was never combinable and she spoke to a bunch of different reps. That's why today she called some bigwig, I don't know exactly who she spoke to but she is entitled to combine it because her cruises were booked quite some time ago. The policy change says that your cruise has to be booked prior to Oct 15th. You can go back and look at one of the confirmation letters that someone posted. It tells you what you can combine and what you can't combine as of today, Oct 15th. What cracks me up is the fact that if we were not on these boards reading about this, we'd have no idea that there wasn even a change until we went to apply our OBC's.:rolleyes:

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I could not figure out why the LA would say what he said to us if it was NEVER combinable. We booked back in June, so we beat the 10/15/08 deadline. Like I said in my prior post, why can't they just come up with a loyalty program and stick to it?????? And as you say they are not the best at communicating these changes to begin with! We all want to keep sailing RCL. RCL don't mess with a good product by trying to confuse or mess with your customers!!!!!

 

Thanks!

[Coralc]

:confused: I'm just going to bow out. I think I am misunderstanding something here.

[Nanannjen]

For the record, lat week I sent the following email to Shareholder Services (after receiving my credit for my March cruise):

 

Linda - I apologize for the question, but I wanted to clarify what I am reading below vs. what it says on the RCL website. If I book a future cruise while on board, will the onboard credit be combinable with my shareholder credit?

 

I ask this because in the past, I have booked two cruises while onboard. I will be Diamond after my next cruise, and I own over 850 shares of RCL. In my situation, you have had my $900.00 deposit for for my next cruise since August of 2007. If there is no benefit to me for booking so far in advance, then why would I give RCL the use of my money for so long?

 

Any action which discourages loyal customers/shareholders from booking in advance cannot be a good business decision for the company. I hope that I have misunderstood the verbiage and I will still be able to combine the onboard booking credit with the shareholder credit.

 

 

Today, I received the following response:

 

Good day,

 

You are correct, if you confirm a Next cruise booking the onboard credit will not be combinable with the shareholder onboard credit at this time. RCL management appreciates your taking time to send your comments and is taking all measures to safeguard your loyalty and investments. We thank you for your continued support.

 

 

As well as all of the usual verbiage about the changes.

 

So, I guess that when I go on my next cruise, my DH will be very relieved that I won't be booking another cruise! Also for the record, on our March cruise, we have a Platinum balcony discount and an RCL coupon reducing the price, as well as the on-board credit from the shareholder credit and the on-board booking credit. I have been loyal to RCL up to this point (I don't even look at other lines), but if I can't get the credits and discounts, I will certainly be evaluating my options on other lines.

[beachbuddy]

For the record, lat week I sent the following email to Shareholder Services (after receiving my credit for my March cruise):

 

Linda - I apologize for the question, but I wanted to clarify what I am reading below vs. what it says on the RCL website. If I book a future cruise while on board, will the onboard credit be combinable with my shareholder credit?

 

I ask this because in the past, I have booked two cruises while onboard. I will be Diamond after my next cruise, and I own over 850 shares of RCL. In my situation, you have had my $900.00 deposit for for my next cruise since August of 2007. If there is no benefit to me for booking so far in advance, then why would I give RCL the use of my money for so long?

 

Any action which discourages loyal customers/shareholders from booking in advance cannot be a good business decision for the company. I hope that I have misunderstood the verbiage and I will still be able to combine the onboard booking credit with the shareholder credit.

 

 

Today, I received the following response:

 

Good day,

 

You are correct, if you confirm a Next cruise booking the onboard credit will not be combinable with the shareholder onboard credit at this time. RCL management appreciates your taking time to send your comments and is taking all measures to safeguard your loyalty and investments. We thank you for your continued support.

 

 

As well as all of the usual verbiage about the changes.

 

So, I guess that when I go on my next cruise, my DH will be very relieved that I won't be booking another cruise! Also for the record, on our March cruise, we have a Platinum balcony discount and an RCL coupon reducing the price, as well as the on-board credit from the shareholder credit and the on-board booking credit. I have been loyal to RCL up to this point (I don't even look at other lines), but if I can't get the credits and discounts, I will certainly be evaluating my options on other lines.

 

I agree with you........we started out with RCCL and never looked at other lines. I feel this change penalizes shareholders because we can't take advantage of booking on board or next cruise OBC's as everyone else can. Well, sure they'll say we can take advantage of it, but then we lose our shareholder OBC's so why would we do that when we already have an OBC. So basically, as a shareholder we're really not getting anything extra. A new cruiser with RCCL can get the same OBC's as we do just by booking on board. So, those of us that invested in the company because we love cruising with RCCL and because of the benefits that were offered to us have lost the feeling that RCCL is loyal to us so I don't think I would hesitate to look at some other lines and cruise pricing. You never know, I might like other lines and a change of itinerary.

[jmraggs]

But ARE we going to have a problem applying the Shareholder OBC to our June 2009 Med. Cruise? On that cruise, (two balcony cabins) we plan on being able to use the following discounts/OBC's :

 

For Each Cabin we will use a Diamond Balcony discount of $200

a C&A Society Member Certificate discount of $150

a Booking On Board OBC of $100

a Shareholder Benefit OBC of $100

 

resulting in a discount/OBC of $550 per cabin or $1,100 total.

 

 

We have always combined the OBC for booking on board/NC with the OBC for the stock on all past cruises. In addition to that, I have also been able to use the savings certificates in order to get a further discount until August when they told us that it wasn't combinable anymore.

 

All of this has changed now, as of OCT 15th, the OBC for booking on board/NC is NOT combinable with the OBC for the stock, you have to choose one or the other. Also, I hear now that you can't combine the savings certificates with any OBC you are using whether it be from stock or on board/NC which would only give you the following:

 

1.

For Each Cabin we will use a Diamond Balcony discount of $200 (if the person in the other cabin is also Diamond this would be true)

 

Plus only ONE of the following for each cabin:

2.

a C&A Society Member Certificate discount of $150

or

a Booking On Board OBC of $100

or

a Shareholder Benefit OBC of $100

 

Resulting in a discount/OBC of $300-$350 per cabin depending on if you chose the OBC or the savings certificate.

 

Please keep in mind that this is the way I have understood and have been told how it has changed recently. If you do end up combining the savings certificate and OBC, let us know so I can try again!;)

[OPSoccermom]

"More often than not"

"Overall"

 

Means majority not all....

 

Fact:

Some of it is my observation and talking to people.

Some of it is the fact that RCI still has over 100% sold inventory but revenue went down.

Some of it is this very same forum we are posting on.

 

The combination of the three are enough facts for me.

 

I don't slam new cruisers or new generations I slam those who hurt this company through less spending and constant complaining. Unfortunately it is the majority of the new cruiser generation. The only ones who get all fuzzy about it are those who can identify themselves or those who are close to them with my comments.

 

So tell me what is your thinking behind still sailing full ships with less onboard revenue?

 

But after having just read another post of yours on a different thread I think I stop responding to you. Obviously there is a context problem (you nicely avoided my point I made about the stockholder part) after reading this other thread. Now before you accuse me of stalking you as you do with JC: I read the thread because it was about the Majesty and I will be sailing on her come Monday. But of course your one response stuck out and I had to grin.

 

Have a wonderful day.

Wow - so most new cruisers are cheap complainers. Glad I'm not one of them.

 

As far as the revenue issue you stated, maybe RCI should have had the forethought to have realized that when they made the move to appeal to mainline family cruisers, overall revenue would fall despite continued high booking rates. When you fill more cabins with kids, your revenue from liquor, the casino, the spa, bingo and higher end souvenirs is going to fall. There's just so much money a kid can spend in the arcade.

 

I don't generalize that new RCI cruisers all want cheap cruises and complain if they don't get what they think they are entitled to. They are the average family with kids - the very demographic that RCI has set out to capture. A lot of them are new cruisers who have not seen all the changes that have occurred over the past few years. On the average, there's no way that a family of 4 with 2 kids is going to spend as much per person as 4 adults would.

 

As for our family, we are pretty loyal to RCI, but I'm pretty sure that the amount we spend on board has fallen off. Its' not because we smuggle booze and are cheap. We now book a lot of our own shore excursions so we can have a more personalized excursion often for a lower cost. Now that there no longer are knowledgeable wine stewards, the amount of wine we purchase in the dining room has fallen off as we are not going to take a chance on a pricy bottle of wine recommended by a waiter who can recommend "red" or "white" but little beyond that. We often bought the after dinner cordials that were offered, but these were not available on our last 2 cruises. We no longer get drawn to all the "special sales" that are offered by the shops. We have even cut back on bingo because the cost has risen and the sessions on the whole don't seem to be as much fun as they used to be.

[RosieRoo]

"I have never heard of future cruise certificates being given to people that had a problem. They do send out Thank You Letters that have a $$$ off coupon for booking a new cruise within a given time frame."

 

 

I have received FFC's from RCCL before when there has been a particular problem on a sailing. I remember writing to them about some incident and that was the compensation that they gave us. I believe it was $100 off of a future cruise with RCCL, hence why they call them "future cruise certificates". I think this confused people in the beginning when they started disallowing the combining of discounts. They were confusing FCC's with Next Cruise. FCC's are for dollars off the price of a cruise and have nothing to do with shipboard credits.

 

Rosie

[beachbuddy]

"I have never heard of future cruise certificates being given to people that had a problem. They do send out Thank You Letters that have a $$$ off coupon for booking a new cruise within a given time frame."

 

 

I have received FFC's from RCCL before when there has been a particular problem on a sailing. I remember writing to them about some incident and that was the compensation that they gave us. I believe it was $100 off of a future cruise with RCCL, hence why they call them "future cruise certificates". I think this confused people in the beginning when they started disallowing the combining of discounts. They were confusing FCC's with Next Cruise. FCC's are for dollars off the price of a cruise and have nothing to do with shipboard credits.

 

Rosie

 

Okay, more confusion...........RCCL needs to make their wording more clear! There's been talk about what the FCC are and now I'm totally confused......LOL I'll never get this right or understand their policies.......LOL

[ChevyCruiser]

I couldn't resist. With all the sneaky changes I started wondering what's next? Double-secret probabtion?

 

 

Crown and Anchor Diamond is Now Cubic Zirconia

 

MIAMI, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has announced that the highest levels of the Crown and Anchor Loyalty program will be renamed. What were in the past Diamond and Diamond Plus will now be Cubic Zirconia and Cubic Zirconia Plus. "We feel that renaming our Loyalty program tiers more accurately reflects the direction RCI is taking for the future" said E. Scrooge, VP for Loyalty Programs, "and dovetails nicely with our recent cutbacks to the RCI shareholder benefits"

[beachbuddy]

I couldn't resist. With all the sneaky changes I started wondering what's next? Double-secret probabtion?

 

 

Crown and Anchor Diamond is Now Cubic Zirconia

 

MIAMI, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has announced that the highest levels of the Crown and Anchor Loyalty program will be renamed. What were in the past Diamond and Diamond Plus will now be Cubic Zirconia and Cubic Zirconia Plus. "We feel that renaming our Loyalty program tiers more accurately reflects the direction RCI is taking for the future" said E. Scrooge, VP for Loyalty Programs, "and dovetails nicely with our recent cutbacks to the RCI shareholder benefits"

 

This is a joke right?? Right?? Your pulling our leg........right?? Please tell me this is a joke and your just being funny. :D :D

[ChevyCruiser]

This is a joke right?? Right?? Your pulling our leg........right?? Please tell me this is a joke and your just being funny. :D :D

 

Consider your leg pulled. But who knows?

 

We've already changed how we look at RCI, so much so that we just booked a cruise on Princess, along with a couple of other Diamonds. That's at least 10K that we took to another cruise line - all because RCI seems so intent on screwing its most loyal customers.

[beachbuddy]

Consider your leg pulled. But who knows?

 

We've already changed how we look at RCI, so much so that we just booked a cruise on Princess, along with a couple of other Diamonds. That's at least 10K that we took to another cruise line - all because RCI seems so intent on screwing its most loyal customers.

 

LOL.......Thank Goodness! I can't take much more change! :eek: We just became Diamond and were all excited in anticipation of our next cruise. Now I'm afraid they'll take more away before our next cruise.........LOL I never thought of looking at another cruiseline, but now I will be looking because we all have to look for the best prices/perks/OBC's that we can get especially in this economy. I have friends that have been trying to convince me to try Princess and told me how nice it is so who knows........might be looking into other lines. RCCL needs to wake up!!! They are hurting themselves!!!

 

Thanks for the laugh!!! :D :D

[ChevyCruiser]

LOL.......Thank Goodness! I can't take much more change! :eek: We just became Diamond and were all excited in anticipation of our next cruise. Now I'm afraid they'll take more away before our next cruise.........LOL I never thought of looking at another cruiseline, but now I will be looking because we all have to look for the best prices/perks/OBC's that we can get especially in this economy. I have friends that have been trying to convince me to try Princess and told me how nice it is so who knows........might be looking into other lines. RCCL needs to wake up!!! They are hurting themselves!!!

 

Thanks for the laugh!!! :D :D

 

I'm laughing to help ease the pain. In fact, RCI is starting to look so much like the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight that I'm almost starting to feel sorry for them.

 

We asked some table mates on our last cruise how they would rank all the cruise lines that they've been on and they ranked Princess best of all. It was on this same cruise that RCI sent out two different invitations to a C&A reception - some listed formal dress and some listed formal. We got the formal version, our table mates got the casual version. How do you manage to screw up something like that? But heck, they can't even pull off a sneaky move correctly - today info on the investor's website lists two different cruise length requirements for shareholder benefits:

 

The shareholder benefits under the Shareholder Benefits tab on the toolbar on the investor relations website shows the benefits as:

 

$250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 14 or more nights.

$200 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 10 to 13 nights.

$100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 to 9 nights.

$50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 5 nights or less.

 

 

While the shareholder benefit letter found under the Overview tab on the toolbars shows:

 

$250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 14 or more nights.

$200 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 9 to 13 nights.

$100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 to 8 nights.

$50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 5 nights or less.

 

Which is it?

 

Call and ask, and the reps are clueless.

[cruisenfever]

"I have never heard of future cruise certificates being given to people that had a problem. They do send out Thank You Letters that have a $$$ off coupon for booking a new cruise within a given time frame."

 

 

I have received FFC's from RCCL before when there has been a particular problem on a sailing. I remember writing to them about some incident and that was the compensation that they gave us. I believe it was $100 off of a future cruise with RCCL, hence why they call them "future cruise certificates". I think this confused people in the beginning when they started disallowing the combining of discounts. They were confusing FCC's with Next Cruise. FCC's are for dollars off the price of a cruise and have nothing to do with shipboard credits.

 

Rosie

 

Okay, more confusion...........RCCL needs to make their wording more clear! There's been talk about what the FCC are and now I'm totally confused......LOL I'll never get this right or understand their policies.......LOL

Thanks Rosie for the clarification. Since we've never had problems, we have never received a FCC.

 

And beachbuddy.........you are so right...........their wording leaves a lot to be desired. Here, to confuse you more there's also Certificates for F&F!!:D

 

Any time you book a cruise on board it's always for the "future". So, just forget the word "future" when booking on board and remember either NextCruise or Specific cruise.

[beachbuddy]

I'm laughing to help ease the pain. In fact, RCI is starting to look so much like the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight that I'm almost starting to feel sorry for them.

 

We asked some table mates on our last cruise how they would rank all the cruise lines that they've been on and they ranked Princess best of all. It was on this same cruise that RCI sent out two different invitations to a C&A reception - some listed formal dress and some listed formal. We got the formal version, our table mates got the casual version. How do you manage to screw up something like that? But heck, they can't even pull off a sneaky move correctly - today info on the investor's website lists two different cruise length requirements for shareholder benefits:

 

The shareholder benefits under the Shareholder Benefits tab on the toolbar on the investor relations website shows the benefits as:

 

$250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 14 or more nights.

$200 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 10 to 13 nights.

$100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 to 9 nights.

$50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 5 nights or less.

 

 

While the shareholder benefit letter found under the Overview tab on the toolbars shows:

 

$250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 14 or more nights.

$200 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 9 to 13 nights.

$100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 to 8 nights.

$50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 5 nights or less.

 

Which is it?

 

Call and ask, and the reps are clueless.

 

LOL........I know the website shows 2 different amounts. I always just clicked on the link in the middle of the page but someone on the boards just told us that the top link shows something different. I can tell you that I used a next cruise certificate back in July and also had the shareholder OBC applied. They gave me $100 for the next cruise and $200 for the shareholder OBC for a 9 night cruise. Unfortunately I had to cancel the cruise and because of a foot surgery that is taking longer to heal than I thought I had them move the cruise to anytime next year figuring I'll just move it again to a cruise I want (cancelled cruise was for this December but didn't want to take a chance and make final payment just in case I have more foot issues so I cancelled it). I kept the same booking number so that I could get the OBC and they have my $500 deposit. So now I'm wondering if I moved that cruise to something we want to go on they may consider it a new booking even though they had my money all this time and I probably won't get the OBC and the shareholder OBC so I'll probably just cancel the darn thing and get my $500 refunded! There's no reason for me to let them hold on to my $500 at this point..

[ChevyCruiser]

We are rethinking our whole approach to RCI. We've routinely taken advantage of the Next Cruise benefits gained by booking a cruise in the future when on another cruise. RCI got to use our deposit for up to a year and a half and we gained an OBC of varying amounts that we were able to combine with our shareholder benefits.

 

To heck with that. IF and WHEN we ever book another cruise with RCI, it'll be a last minute deal. I'll hang onto my deposit money myself.

 

There's more than one ship in the sea......

[beachbuddy]

Thanks Rosie for the clarification. Since we've never had problems, we have never received a FCC.

 

And beachbuddy.........you are so right...........their wording leaves a lot to be desired. Here, to confuse you more there's also Certificates for F&F!!:D

 

 

Patti,

 

We never had any problems either so I had no idea about the Future Cruise certificate discounts or whatever they are.

 

But now please tell us what a Certificate for F&F is???:D

 

Patty

[Travel-Bum]

Now I feel foolish for booking a NextCruise with a $200 non-refundable deposit. As a shareholder, there is now zero benefit to me. And I have $200 locked-up--a liability.

 

I am asking RCI to refund my NextCruise deposit. Yes, it's non-refundable, but this was never explained to me when I signed-up for my NextCruise. A question should have been asked: "Are you an RCL shareholder?"

 

Why RCI would risk losing Loyals this way is completely and utterly beyond me. Must look good on paper to someone in a boardroom; an "atta boy" cut. Thing is, you mess with your passionate core of customers this way and they may look elsewhere. I know I'm now going to take a serious look at Carnival to see if the RCI "upcharge" in cabin fare is worth it compared with what Carnival provides.

 

econ is very bad, so they must change in order to adapt. this is the number one rule of capitalism. change is a must. as stock holders, you can threaten 'em by selling off the shares and move onto different brand. If you gt enough people to do this, then they will listen. Carnival has lifted the fuel charge fee. wish other cruielines would follow. currently, Carnval has better loyallty program than RCCL. Perhaps changing cruiseline isnt bad idea??

 

btw, 'tis official. they made decision YESTERDAY not to allow SH OBC combine with other OBC.

[traveler/]

I respect RCL's business decision to no longer allow stockholder benefit to be combinable with certain offers like nextcruise.

I still think that RCL's loyalty program is very good, and will continue to cruise with RCL, because we like the experience so much.

However, I am rethinking how I make my bookings. In particular, as a stockholder, I now see no added benefit to booking onboard. Nor do I see any added benefit to booking on a sale day like 10/16 because it states not combinable with stockholder OBC.

Perhaps I will book much later and hold onto my deposit money longer. Nothing personal, business is business.

[Ladylouwho]

We have always combined the OBC for booking on board/NC with the OBC for the stock on all past cruises. In addition to that, I have also been able to use the savings certificates in order to get a further discount until August when they told us that it wasn't combinable anymore.

 

All of this has changed now, as of OCT 15th, the OBC for booking on board/NC is NOT combinable with the OBC for the stock, you have to choose one or the other. Also, I hear now that you can't combine the savings certificates with any OBC you are using whether it be from stock or on board/NC which would only give you the following:

 

1.

For Each Cabin we will use a Diamond Balcony discount of $200 (if the person in the other cabin is also Diamond this would be true)

 

Plus only ONE of the following for each cabin:

2.

a C&A Society Member Certificate discount of $150

or

a Booking On Board OBC of $100

or

a Shareholder Benefit OBC of $100

 

Resulting in a discount/OBC of $300-$350 per cabin depending on if you chose the OBC or the savings certificate.

 

Please keep in mind that this is the way I have understood and have been told how it has changed recently. If you do end up combining the savings certificate and OBC, let us know so I can try again!;)

 

 

Well, I am thinking that the combining of the OBC's is going to be fine on that particular cruise for us because we booked in June, 2008 prior to the policy change date of 10/15/08. The C&A Member Savings certificate is a discount not an OBC so I THINK (not sure) that I can still use that offer. The Diamond discount applies to both cabins as my kids are also Diamond (and not just because we are Diamond, they have more than enough of their own sailings on RCL to qualify for Diamond). One of my daughters sailing in the other cabin owns 100 shares of RCL. She also received the C&A Member Savings Certificate (she is 19 yrs. old). So all of the discounts and OBC"s do apply to both cabins.

 

I did read on the C&A Society Member Savings Certificates sent to me, my husband and my daughter that it says, in part, "Offer may be withdrawn at any time." Hmmmmmmmmmmm............that is definitely a two way street.

 

You see, I can withdraw my offer to cruise on RCL on the Voyager of the Seas in June, 2009 paying for 2 D1 cabins at any time as well. I can call them right now and withdraw my offer and ask them to refund the money ($2,250.00) we currently have down on that sailing. I also have another cruise booked in July, 2009 on the Liberty, again two D1 Cabins and that offer to cruise with RCL may be withdrawn by me at any time. There is a deposit on that one also ($1,500.00) I could ask them to refund to me. Oh, and the Oasis booking I have deposits on for June, 2010, two Boardwalk balconies on that one with deposits ($1,500.00). Hmmmmmmmm..... so if all the sudden I decided to "Withdraw my offers at any time, then RCL would be refunding me $5,250.00.

 

Not to mention that on my upcoming December cruise (already paid for) I could go ahead and cancel the excursions I have already booked through RCL (and paid for) for that cruise. We paid for 8 passengers on that one. Hmmmm.....I could withdraw my offer to take those excursions through the ship at any time as well and ask for my refund of hundreds of dollars from RCL. I mean I can book those on my own with someone other than the cruise line.

 

Gee..... how much business sense does it REALLY make to start messing with your Loyalty Programs RCL? You think you are going to save a couple hundred bucks by rescinding Loyalty offers per cabin, but in reality this could backfire on you big time.

[beachbuddy]

We can all vent and talk about it here but unless there's action, RCCL isn't going to get it or do anything about it. I for one am cancelling my cruise for the end of 2009 so that's $500 they can refund to me.....LOL I will keep my cruise for March 09 but only because I'm cruising with about 7 other couples that we met last November on a 12 nighter - we all rebooked and I'm looking forward to seeing them all again. When their "unloyal loyalty" starts to affect their bookings and their pockets, then maybe they'll value their loyal customers again.

[French_Fry]

RCL stock was UP today 1.38 to 18.35. I don't see a bankruptcy for them anytime sooner or later.