Non US Resident booking on US site?

[darrencolne]

As we have been on cruising for three years this is news to me!!

Can anyone point me in the direction of the TA or the toll free number or name?

 

Thanks

[BARNET]

As we have been on cruising for three years this is news to me!!

Can anyone point me in the direction of the TA or the toll free number or name?

 

Thanks

Try this 0800-021-1739

[little britain]

Except those rare times when the UK pricing is better than US.:cool:

 

 

 

But at least when the USA prices drop you know you can get that price drop.

And if you want to cancel you know you can get your deposit back.

And if you have been allocated a gty room you know you can change it....

[Wellard]

Cruise Planners. Works for me.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Biker19]

Officially the travel agents are not allowed to sell outside of their set areas. RCL can punish from this behaviour in various ways

 

I wonder how RCI would punish itself when they sell it to a non-resident.:cool:

[abo]

Officially the travel agents are not allowed to sell outside of their set areas. RCL can punish from this behaviour in various ways, see the travel agent documentation at http://www.cruisingpower.com/public/global/taguideNoLogin.do#section_21

 

Additionally, the US rates are only for US residents. I've discussed this with non-US people of RCL and there is no way around it. Similarly any other discount programs are usually area specific (think BOGOHO etc) and cannot be applied to persons from not that specific area. When you select the state you are resident of, you are also binding to provide documentation that you are a legal resident of that state, i.e. you have to have a drivers license, state identification card or other similar public document). Whilst boarding this may be checked and whilst denying boarding doesn't seem to have happened to anybody, you might be asked to pay the difference in the published fare vs your discounted fare.

 

 

This just doesn't happen and I don't think RCI would have a leg to stand on if they tried (and to be clear - they don't try). We've been doing this for years and when the TA places the booking with RCI they put all our legitimate details into the booking system, non-US address, C&A number etc. I can then immediately go on the UK RCI 'My cruises' web site and see our booking with these details. RCI know exactly who we are and where we are at the point of placing the booking, when they take our money and when they issue the booking confirmation.

 

They may have agreements between themselves and the TA, but the booking confirmation (which is the agreement between RCI and the cruiser, not the TA) accepts the cruiser on those T&Cs as soon as they issue it.

[kopelo]

I wonder how RCI would punish itself when they sell it to a non-resident.:cool:

 

At least in the online channel they have blocked using non-US payment methods. I mean I can get a VPN, go to the US site and make a booking but I can't pay for it since the site will not accept my non-US American Express.

[broberts]

Just curious, does booking through UK provide consumer protections not available when booking in US?

[kopelo]

This just doesn't happen and I don't think RCI would have a leg to stand on if they tried (and to be clear - they don't try). We've been doing this for years and when the TA places the booking with RCI they put all our legitimate details into the booking system, non-US address, C&A number etc. I can then immediately go on the UK RCI 'My cruises' web site and see our booking with these details. RCI know exactly who we are and where we are at the point of placing the booking, when they take our money and when they issue the booking confirmation.

 

Good if it works for you - but personally I still would not count on this. In addition to it being lost revenue (in the time when one olive is dropped from a Martini to save on costs), there are also very complex tax repercussions and differing T&C in various countries depending on what's being sold and where - cruises are usually tax free in this sense, but auxiliary services (transfers etc) might not be. Wildly depends on the country and sometimes the itinerary. EU laws for example dictate that when your consumer sales go above some preset amount, you must charge and reminisce the correct VAT i.e. sales tax to the rate of the country the buyer is receiving goods or services to.

[abo]

Just curious, does booking through UK provide consumer protections not available when booking in US?

 

It depends. If you book flights, cruise, any pre-cruise hotels, etc through RCL UK then that would become a package holiday and benefit from ABTA codes of conduct benefits. The flight portion benefits from ATOL protection (if the airline goes bust, Volcanoes, etc.)

 

However, for someone booking flights etc. separately from the cruise, there is no discernible additional protections from those booking in the US. The most important bit -ATOL protection - is provided by the airline. In addition, UK credit card companies are on the hook if the cruise line fails to provide the holiday, whether booked as a package or as cruise only (and most are obviously booked using a credit card).

 

Add to that, that it is very much the standard for UK travelers to have their own travel insurance policies in addition (it used to be compulsory, but not anymore, but the vast majority of UK travelers still take it), and there are no practical additional protections provided by booking in the UK.

 

So my summary would be that there are no additional market protections provided by RCI that justify a price differential or significantly worse T&Cs, it's just that the market norm has been established that allows the cruise company (and others to be fair) to operate in that way in this market.

[abo]

Good if it works for you - but personally I still would not count on this. In addition to it being lost revenue (in the time when one olive is dropped from a Martini to save on costs), there are also very complex tax repercussions and differing T&C in various countries depending on what's being sold and where - cruises are usually tax free in this sense, but auxiliary services (transfers etc) might not be. Wildly depends on the country and sometimes the itinerary. EU laws for example dictate that when your consumer sales go above some preset amount, you must charge and reminisce the correct VAT i.e. sales tax to the rate of the country the buyer is receiving goods or services to.

 

True, but none of this is the concern of the cruiser standing on the pier about to board - that is for the very well paid tax accountants of RCI to deal with and would not be a reason for additional charging on an existing contract.

[newxmascruiser]

It depends. If you book flights, cruise, any pre-cruise hotels, etc through RCL UK then that would become a package holiday and benefit from ABTA codes of conduct benefits. The flight portion benefits from ATOL protection (if the airline goes bust, Volcanoes, etc.)

 

However, for someone booking flights etc. separately from the cruise, there is no discernible additional protections from those booking in the US. The most important bit -ATOL protection - is provided by the airline. In addition, UK credit card companies are on the hook if the cruise line fails to provide the holiday, whether booked as a package or as cruise only (and most are obviously booked using a credit card).

 

Add to that, that it is very much the standard for UK travelers to have their own travel insurance policies in addition (it used to be compulsory, but not anymore, but the vast majority of UK travelers still take it), and there are no practical additional protections provided by booking in the UK.

 

So my summary would be that there are no additional market protections provided by RCI that justify a price differential or significantly worse T&Cs, it's just that the market norm has been established that allows the cruise company (and others to be fair) to operate in that way in this market.

 

I think the best protection in any travel booking is to pay by credit card, even if you don't want the credit. Pretty much covers anything that goes wrong with the company your purchase was with / contract is with. Outside of that good travel insurance would cover pretty much anything else. The ABTA thing in the UK is an overarching ombudsman type association to keep the industry regulated and in check.

[icsys]

Except those rare times when the UK pricing is better than US.:cool:

 

That is also a win-win.

 

We booked a cruise via a US agent. When the price dropped dramatically in the UK and our US agent could not match it, they suggested we cancel without penalty and book it over here.

 

You wont see any UK agent do that!

 

Try this 0800-021-1739

Save that number before it gets deleted :eek:

Edited April 22, 2016 by icsys

[abo]

I think the best protection in any travel booking is to pay by credit card, even if you don't want the credit. Pretty much covers anything that goes wrong with the company your purchase was with / contract is with. Outside of that good travel insurance would cover pretty much anything else. The ABTA thing in the UK is an overarching ombudsman type association to keep the industry regulated and in check.

 

I agree, with Credit card cover, ATOL and a reasonable travel insurance policy (none of which are covered by the RCI cruise fare) I can't identify any protections provided by RCI that justify a price differential.

[YORKI1]

Officially the travel agents are not allowed to sell outside of their set areas. RCL can punish from this behaviour in various ways, see the travel agent documentation at http://www.cruisingpower.com/public/global/taguideNoLogin.do#section_21

 

Additionally, the US rates are only for US residents. I've discussed this with non-US people of RCL and there is no way around it. Similarly any other discount programs are usually area specific (think BOGOHO etc) and cannot be applied to persons from not that specific area. When you select the state you are resident of, you are also binding to provide documentation that you are a legal resident of that state, i.e. you have to have a drivers license, state identification card or other similar public document). Whilst boarding this may be checked and whilst denying boarding doesn't seem to have happened to anybody, you might be asked to pay the difference in the published fare vs your discounted fare.

 

The above statement is not correct. I am from the UK and have booked many cruises with Royal Caribbean Cruise companies, including Celebrity, though US travel agents.

 

Royal Caribbean will often give additional discounts to US residents who, for example, live in Florida. If anyone attempted to book one of these rates and were not resident in Florida I imagine they would have a problem when they board the ship.

[Biker19]

At least in the online channel they have blocked using non-US payment methods. I mean I can get a VPN, go to the US site and make a booking but I can't pay for it since the site will not accept my non-US American Express.

 

That's interesting because their other sites don't have a problem accepting a credit card not from that country.:confused:

[newxmascruiser]

This whole thread has been interesting and thanks for everyone who's shared their experiences I'm really reassured that out of all replies only 1 person feels there could be any issue