Offers received from Club Royale (Royal Caribbean)

[BEENSAILING]

I never received an email but I knew what my level was because I had cruised in April and received the on board benefits. l. Good thing I read this thread re tier comp offers available. I called yesterday re my comp offer and we were able to book the Symphony in January for time period we had available on our calendar.

[RFerrington]

combine them for a holiday cruise

That’s very interesting. First confirmation I’ve had that the free cruises could be combined. I wonder if they will “waive” the 8 day max if they’re willing to “waive” the holiday exclusion.

[psumother]

That’s very interesting. First confirmation I’ve had that the free cruises could be combined. I wonder if they will “waive” the 8 day max if they’re willing to “waive” the holiday exclusion.

 

OK. I am going to go out on a limb here. I read their explanation as meaning that to receive a comp'd cruise, it could not be over a holiday and 8 nights or less; however, you can choose to use the money value of the 'certificate' on a cruise longer than 8 nights or over a holiday.

 

In the past, if both a husband and wife each had their own certificate, they could combine the money value of both certificates for one cruise. We could not combine multiple certificates for the same person.

[gerig]

Going to call this weekend. I was rated as prime and I already have an inside cabin booked for a September 2018 5 night cruise and I'm hoping to be able to use my free cruise for this already paid for cruise. Of course it would not have been paid for if Casino Royale really came out with the new program when they were suppose to.

[gaylemh]

Does anyone know if you book a cruise with the free offer, if you would be allowed to change it to a different date if needed?

[BEENSAILING]

Does anyone know if you book a cruise with the free offer, if you would be allowed to change it to a different date if needed?

Yes. Call them. U just need verification the same stateroom type is available on cruise you are wanting to switch to. Must be on a cruise by March 31. No holidays. 8 nights or less. Other option is to use the value of dollrs off amount.

[peymas]

I can tell you they did not for me. I called today and asked about my email since my husband got his and mine didn’t get here. I received a free cruise. I had one at end of March next year scheduled. I had to pay about 500 for it to upgrade and he was ready to give me money back until he noticed it was a 9 day. He was really nice and checked some other things for me, but the certificates I had were the best at this point.

 

I guess we will not get to use the free cruise this time because I have already booked 4 (2 being royal) up to the March deadline. The other one was already just port fees and taxes. I just thought I should have asked about an upgrade to the October cruise. Don’t know if they would do that since it would be an upgrade to a suite.

 

That’s very interesting. First confirmation I’ve had that the free cruises could be combined. I wonder if they will “waive” the 8 day max if they’re willing to “waive” the holiday exclusion.

[rt1092]

When I talked to them (booked a cruise) yesterday. They told me about the restrictions being, up to 8 days, and not over Holidays. C&A says you can't book their free cruise over Christmas or New Years but was good any other time. CR says Holidays meaning July 4, Thanksgiving, Labor day, and all the rest. The agent quoted a list of holidays that you can't book on. But the summer season is fine we just booked one of ours on the Harmony July 7, 2018

[Bronx12]

I did not receive an email but I thought I would call and see if I could book our complimentary cruise. I was told I was Prime but I could not book a cruise because he didn't have certificate to know what my offers are. He indicated that there are cruises I need to pick from, and if I didn't like any of them that I could use the value of the certificate towards another cruise. He indicated that the offers are not the same for everyone in the same tier, sounds like different levels within the tiers now, not just a blanket set of rules, the cruise has to be 8 days or less, no holidays, etc. I don't think he understood what I was wanting to do.

[cvp]

I did not receive an email but I thought I would call and see if I could book our complimentary cruise. I was told I was Prime but I could not book a cruise because he didn't have certificate to know what my offers are. He indicated that there are cruises I need to pick from, and if I didn't like any of them that I could use the value of the certificate towards another cruise. He indicated that the offers are not the same for everyone in the same tier, sounds like different levels within the tiers now, not just a blanket set of rules, the cruise has to be 8 days or less, no holidays, etc. I don't think he understood what I was wanting to do.

 

The guy you talked to didn't understand it was a 'tier annual reward' The rules are the same for all within a tier!

[Bronx12]

The guy you talked to didn't understand it was a 'tier annual reward' The rules are the same for all within a tier!

 

My second phone call a couple hours later cleared everything up, cruise is booked :cool:

[rt1092]

My second phone call a couple hours later cleared everything up, cruise is booked :cool:

That's the way you have to work with Royal in general. If you get an answer that's wrong call back till they get it right.

We had the same problem. Had the tier but not on their "list" The person I talked to booked the cruise for us then checked it out with "the powers that be". We got a call the next morning everything was a go.

[Daghis]

I called Royal Caribbean this morning to see about using my "free" cruise for being a Signature tier member. It wasn't the positive experience I'd hoped it would be, but I learned some things to share here (some of which have already been mentioned):

• The cruise must sail by March 31, 2019.
  
• The cruise must be booked by March 31, 2019.
  
• The cruise may not be longer than 8 nights.
  
• The cruise may not sail over a major holiday.
  
• The cabin category that one is eligible for is the cheapest category within that category group. For example, on an Oasis-class ship, a free balcony cabin is going to be a neighborhood balcony, such as a Central Park balcony. If you want an ocean view balcony, you'll have to pay the difference to upgrade.
  

It was this last point that surprised me. Perhaps mistakenly, I assumed that a "free cruise in a balcony cabin" would have meant an ocean view balcony.

 

In my case, I was investigating applying my free cruise to a cruise I have booked on Symphony of the Seas in March 2019. The complications I ran into were that I had booked an "Ocean View with Large Balcony" cabin (so an additional upgrade on top of getting to an ocean view balcony in the first place) and that I had previously used an earned free cruise certificate for a balcony cabin to apply $1,000 credit to that booking.

 

Currently, my booking is about $1,700 total after the certificate credit was applied. If I replace the free cruise certificate with my free cruise for being a Signature tier member, the price for the "free cruise" would be about $1,000 total, a net savings of only $700.

 

Given that, I might be better off keeping this booking the way it is and seeing whether I can squeeze in another cruise on which I could get more value by using the tier-level free cruise offer.

[gaylemh]

I called Royal Caribbean this morning to see about using my "free" cruise for being a Signature tier member. It wasn't the positive experience I'd hoped it would be, but I learned some things to share here (some of which have already been mentioned):

• The cruise must sail by March 31, 2019.
  
• The cruise must be booked by March 31, 2019.
  
• The cruise may not be longer than 8 nights.
  
• The cruise may not sail over a major holiday.
  
• The cabin category that one is eligible for is the cheapest category within that category group. For example, on an Oasis-class ship, a free balcony cabin is going to be a neighborhood balcony, such as a Central Park balcony. If you want an ocean view balcony, you'll have to pay the difference to upgrade.
  

It was this last point that surprised me. Perhaps mistakenly, I assumed that a "free cruise in a balcony cabin" would have meant an ocean view balcony.

 

In my case, I was investigating applying my free cruise to a cruise I have booked on Symphony of the Seas in March 2019. The complications I ran into were that I had booked an "Ocean View with Large Balcony" cabin (so an additional upgrade on top of getting to an ocean view balcony in the first place) and that I had previously used an earned free cruise certificate for a balcony cabin to apply $1,000 credit to that booking.

 

Currently, my booking is about $1,700 total after the certificate credit was applied. If I replace the free cruise certificate with my free cruise for being a Signature tier member, the price for the "free cruise" would be about $1,000 total, a net savings of only $700.

 

Given that, I might be better off keeping this booking the way it is and seeing whether I can squeeze in another cruise on which I could get more value by using the tier-level free cruise offer.

 

I going through the same. I have 8 cruises booked between now and 3/31/2019. All of them already have certificates. I would save a couple of hundred extra if I used the free balcony certificate or the $1000 off the 12 night cruises, most of the certificates are for $500 off, and the price of the cruises have gone up. It's a better value to use it for a free cruise.

[nav88]

Can someone clarify this for me......on utilizing previous certificates, the practice had been I had to book the cruise within 30 days of certificate award if I was selecting from the list of available cruises. However, if I was choosing to use the cash ($1000 or $750 value) I was not restrained by the 30 day restriction as long as I used it inside the calendar year.

 

I was on the phone with Club Royale yesterday, and she told me I had to use the $1000 certificate within 30 days of certificate reward.

 

Thoughts?

 

I going through the same. I have 8 cruises booked between now and 3/31/2019. All of them already have certificates. I would save a couple of hundred extra if I used the free balcony certificate or the $1000 off the 12 night cruises, most of the certificates are for $500 off, and the price of the cruises have gone up. It's a better value to use it for a free cruise.

[gaylemh]

Can someone clarify this for me......on utilizing previous certificates, the practice had been I had to book the cruise within 30 days of certificate award if I was selecting from the list of available cruises. However, if I was choosing to use the cash ($1000 or $750 value) I was not restrained by the 30 day restriction as long as I used it inside the calendar year.

 

I was on the phone with Club Royale yesterday, and she told me I had to use the $1000 certificate within 30 days of certificate reward.

 

Thoughts?

 

It's 30 days from the time you receive any certificate. You must also book a cruise that's within a year.

[psumother]

Can someone clarify this for me......on utilizing previous certificates, the practice had been I had to book the cruise within 30 days of certificate award if I was selecting from the list of available cruises. However, if I was choosing to use the cash ($1000 or $750 value) I was not restrained by the 30 day restriction as long as I used it inside the calendar year.

 

I was on the phone with Club Royale yesterday, and she told me I had to use the $1000 certificate within 30 days of certificate reward.

 

Thoughts?

 

It has always been that the certificates had to be used within 30 days whether selecting from the list or using the cash value. They just were not enforcing the latter. As of the middle of May, that all changed and they are now enforcing the 30 day rule for either option.

[nav88]

That makes sense because I know previously I had used $1000 credit after 30 days. Thanks

[TVLady3]

I received a email last month for a comped inside cabin on the Adventure of the seas for this August. So the port is only 20 minutes away so I booked it for port charges only. It's a Canada, New England sailing.

Today I called them cause of the new tier program I received, it said I was Prime. I was shocked, my last RC cruise was a 4 nighter last year and I only got 1400 points.

Well I asked about the free tier cruise and low and behold they told me I can book now if I want to. I did, Anthem 8 night Bahamas next March! $150pp. What a deal!

I didn't think I could book another comp because of the emailed one last month. But there ya go, it's doable.

 

 

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[gaylemh]

I received a email last month for a comped inside cabin on the Adventure of the seas for this August. So the port is only 20 minutes away so I booked it for port charges only. It's a Canada, New England sailing.

Today I called them cause of the new tier program I received, it said I was Prime. I was shocked, my last RC cruise was a 4 nighter last year and I only got 1400 points.

Well I asked about the free tier cruise and low and behold they told me I can book now if I want to. I did, Anthem 8 night Bahamas next March! $150pp. What a deal!

I didn't think I could book another comp because of the emailed one last month. But there ya go, it's doable.

 

 

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In your signature you were on Anthem twice in 2017. That's how you had the extra points to get the Prime free cruise. You must have had 1100+ points on the first sailing.

[TVLady3]

In your signature you were on Anthem twice in 2017. That's how you had the extra points to get the Prime free cruise. You must have had 1100+ points on the first sailing.

 

 

 

Oh, I though it had to do only from the last cruise you were on. I see now they combined all of 2017. Thank you for clearing that up.

 

 

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[OTownNick]

Marc- that’s the issue that sucks for those of us that have too many cruises booked. I’m canceling one sailing altogether to book my comp GS on a better ship. However, i also have a comp balcony cruise for turning Pinnacle and it’s onky good for 7 night Caribbean in a balcony. Otherwise we get $2,400 trade in value. The big issue is, similar to the CR comp, is they have to reprice the sailing at current rates. It makes it not worth applying to existing bookings. I have a 9 night sailing on Navigator I booked a long time ago. No certificate but Casino rate . It’s a JS. The current price is now over $1,000 higher. If I apply the $2,400 value my price only drops by $1,000. It was still cost me $1,800. Not a bad price for 9 nights in a JS, but compared to Oasis for FREE in a reg Balcony , it’s easy to make a decision here

[John&LaLa]

Nick, when did you turn PC? We take our free cruise this Sunday on Oasis

 

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[svillager]

Nick,

I was able to use my free Pinnacle cruise on an Ovation Alaska cruise - and it didn't have to be done within a year of receiving it. I did mine almost 2 years out from the date I turned Pinnacle.

 

Tami

[Daghis]

I just learned another tidbit from Club Royale. Given the brouhaha regarding earning double Crown & Anchor points when upgrading to a suite from a Club Royale booking that happened earlier this year, I wondered what the situation was regarding earning points on a free cruise. I was told that I would still earn points even on a comped cruise. :D

 

So, after pulling out my cruise points spreadsheet, I see that if I add a 5-night cruise this summer, I'll be Diamond Plus by the end of this year! Hmm....