ngrund

Make the water show reservation your priority and book the earliest day-there is always a chance it gets cancelled/rescheduled  due to weather

So glad it worked out!!

You can also buy restricted cruise cash (i.e. Bar, Photo), Keep in mind that cruise cash is non-refundable, so I would just apply gift cards as needed onboard.

Although some folks have mentioned having issues, I have never had a problem adding cards at the kiosks.

8 hours ago, EuroDate20 said:

From what she described, she has e-gift cards purchased from RCCL as I have.  My e-gift cards are not AARP. 

do your certificates say to e-mail them to a "sharedservices...email?

RCL has gift certificates that get redeemed (https://www.royalcaribbeancertificates.com/) on their website and also gift cards (that can also be also e-mailed) that would be used in lieu of a credit card to make a payment towards your cruise or to make cruise planner purchases.

Since your cruise is paid in full, you have to wait until you are on board to use yours. Since most sailings in the world use $US as the onboard currency, you should be fine.

10 minutes ago, EuroDate20 said:

I'm in the same situation.  My family gifted me with 3 e-giftcards for Christmas and my birthday.  I wanted to redeem them for OBC for an upcoming cruise in August 2024.  My cruise fare has been paid in full. I tried the website, but they were rejected due to "invalid authorization code ".

 

I spent 3 hours today on the phone with 3 different RCCL offices, and one call to CashStar.  The e-gift cards were confirmed valid by CashStar, but they couldn't apply them as it's up to RCCL to apply.  The folks at RCCL claim I can redeem them for OBC at Guest Services on the ship.  But I'm having so much trouble redeeming them now, I have no confidence in that.  Moreover, the e-gift cards are in US dollars and we will be sailing out of Southampton, UK.

 

Please get back to us on your outcome kdnurs.  I hope for the best for you. 

kdnurs has different gift certificates not issued by RCL through CashStar.

7 minutes ago, Sayuil said:

Since you have used MyVegas with RCL. Do they have extra fees when booking these offers

Just the same fees as direct with cruise line (taxes, port fees..etc) The RCL offer I did was 10% off. Booked direct with RCL then called and cruise was repriced. All  payments after the deposit (I did it on board) were made on RCL's website

15 minutes ago, Sayuil said:

Yeah since I have never used MyVegas, I was not sure if remaining cruise charges showed up as NCL reservation to trigger the charge. Hoping someone can confirm 

it did for RCL

I haven't done MY Vegas for NCL yet, but have for RCL.

You should still be making a payment to NCL cruise lines, so then the AMEX offer should be no problem.

I had already paid my NCL cruise in full when this offer hit my AMEX-I pre payed my grats and bought OBC to get the the $1000

Keep checking Pan Pacific's website. I'm staying next month and booked last year, had two price changes, last one was same price but a package that gave us C$50 day food and beverage credit.

wow that's pricey. We had a Casita on Oasis last year, I think I paid $189 for a sea day.

Our sailing was filled to capacity and it was worth not having to worry about finding seating and we had shade.

The wait service was beyond excellent-you have a call button that we never had to use,

Say what? 5AM..but I'm on vacation...LOL!

Maybe I should reconsider coming on Sun so I might still be on East Coast time -:)

9 hours ago, goofygame said:

NGrund,

Thanks for this.  I am doing the same tour in late August.  When you get back could you let me know when you were finished with the planned activities in Denali.  We want to rent bikes in the afternoon and are trying to figure out if that is a viable option.  

You mean after the Denali tour on Thurs?,

I believe right after then we bus back to Talkeenta for the the night:

COACH TRANSFER
Denali to Talkeetna
Trip Length: approximately 3 hours
Following the Denali Natural History Tour, you will board
a coach for a drive to the quaint town of Talkeetna and
spectacular views of Mt. Denali, weather permitting. The rest
of the day is free to take an optional land excursion, relax
in the hotel or shop and explore this tiny town that serves
as the starting point for Denali climbers. Then retire to your
accommodations at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge.

You may want to think about the bike rental on Wed when you get to Denali-
 

10 minutes ago, ngrund said:

I received an e-mail from RCL with an attachment, you should get one soon.

 

From what it says, the additional tags will be for luggage that would be stored on the bus and not delivered to our rooms each night-

 

I am still going to print and bring the cruise tags

 

You should also be able to see your cruise documents/luggage tags on the RCL website (not the app)

3 minutes ago, ngrund said:

I received an e-mail from RCL with an attachment, you should get one soon.

 

From what it says, the additional tags will be for luggage that would be stored on the bus and not delivered to our rooms each night-

 

I am still going to print and bring the cruise tags

 

tour.pdf

12 minutes ago, Brandis said:

How did you get this info? By mail or in the RCL app? Our cruise tour starts in 27 days, the cruise in 30 days. As of now, I can only see the boarding passes, no luggage tags or anything else.

I received an e-mail from RCL with an attachment, you should get one soon.

From what it says, the additional tags will be for luggage that would be stored on the bus and not delivered to our rooms each night-

I am still going to print and bring the cruise tags

6 minutes ago, Brandis said:

We‘re doing a 3 nights pre-Cruise tour in Alaska. Do we just attach the ship luggage tags or will we get separate tags for the train and coach part?

I just received info for the cruise tour-we are supposed to get additional tags

2 hours ago, newNCLcruiser2010 said:

Okay so I just just charge all the onboard expense to my credit card and then when I return and everything is posted use the points to request a statement credit?

I just transfer the points balance to my bank account

10 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

Agree that's one of the factors, that is why I waited till about 5 months before cruise to purchase and start submitting them.

 

I will say even 5 years ago I had been reading warnings about not using AARP RCCL gift certificates.

 

I will also confirm how easy and fexible it is to use the Carnival version, and recommend them.

Yes, I agree. My problem is that I have to be prepared to cancel at anytime, so I have been purchasing 3rd party insurance at time of booking.

And to maximize my credit card cash back for travel, I need to make strategic payments before final payment date

14 hours ago, cruisegus said:

Absolutely can NOT use the AARP ones at guest services for OBC.

 

I used the AARP rccl discounted certs once around 5 years ago to save $500 off my first Grand Suite (5k), but what PITA.  I never tried again, just not worth it, at least to me

I hate not saving the 10%, but the deal breaker for me has not been the slight hassle of e-mailing them, but more the possible issues if I have to cancel the cruise.

1 hour ago, Joan18 said:

wow. i didn't know that. So if you don't spend all the money, you don't get it back?

Yes, I gave back about $11 on my last cruise

wife and I took her nephew with us so there were 3 of us in the suite but the shareholder OBC was split between wife and myself, and by mistake we used his card in NYC for a few drinks. If it was wife or me, the taxes would have come off our non-refundable OBC.

I also bought refundable OBC and they gave us each $25, so I didn't realize that I had some leftover until it was almost time to leave.

1 minute ago, Russiamomm said:

Just a technical note.  I agree with all you’ve said, but want to note that you don’t need to cash in the points for OBC.  They can also be cashed in for a direct statement credit.  Much easier and more flexible than taking OBC. The way I look at it is that I get an automatic additional 3% off any cruise by using the card for NCL charges.  I have used it for upgrades before, but we’ve kind of gotten hooked on the Haven and the points don’t really help if you want to be in the Haven.  But you do get 3 points for every dollar spent, which can be used to take a statement credit.  Works for us.

Look into transferring some funds/investments to Merrill Lynch and your 3 points can go up to 5.25.

https://www.merrilledge.com/preferred-rewards

When you do the point upgrade to balcony, are there any limitations for cabin choice? I would want to have my choice of floor and location.

29 minutes ago, kdnurs said:

 

Yes, we are booked for August 9, 2025

I sent my 2 certificates about a month before final payment date.

6 minutes ago, kdnurs said:

 

This is exactly what is printed on my certificates!!!....Plus they don't take phone calls, just email only

I used mine several years ago and had no issues, hope you get this resolved. You are still well before final payment date, correct?

5 hours ago, wardwhitty said:

This is probably a silly question but If we buy the cards from AARP do they show up on a credit card as a charge from AARP? I have a cash back offer on a card for AARP but it says must be from AARP.

is it from Chase: if so it is just for the membership cost