RCCL Shareholder benefit does it work?

[gerryl12]

We took a Celebrity cruise last month and were denied the RCCL shareholder OBC. The response from RCCL was quote:

" it is not combinable with the discount offer, Opaque Rate 60, listed on your reservation."

I am now going to sell my shares and will not be using RCCL companies again. I have never had this problem with Carnival companies or NCL companies.

Are there any others out there having the same experience?

[WestLakeGirl]

The royal caribbean stockholder benefit has never been combinable with special rates.  It says that right on the form you submitted

[keesar]

I used to get it all the time with Senior and Residency rates.  It has been many cruises sailed since those times.  Don't buy the shares expecting to get OBC.  Buy them for their investment appeal.

[Turtles06]

9 minutes ago, WestLakeGirl said:

The royal caribbean stockholder benefit has never been combinable with special rates.  It says that right on the form you submitted

 

That's true, but the problem now is Celebrity's business model (newer than the stockholder benefit policy) -- bundling "free" perks (beverage packages, etc.) with the cruise fare.  The stockholder benefit is now being denied on the basis that guests have gotten these promos.  But unless you want to book with a non-refundable deposit, you really have no choice any longer.

 

I agree that people shouldn't buy cruise line stocks hoping to get OBCs.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Years ago when we started sailing RCL would give the Shareholder Credit in addition to any other promotions.   They did away with that about 10 years ago.   I recently booked a Senior/State rate as we are Zenith and already get most of the benefits.   I applied for a Shareholder Credit and it was granted withing 3 days.  It showed up immediately and was available for onboard purchases.

[ghstudio]

Until the latest swizzle, you could get the stockholder's credit on transatlantic and repositioning cruises because they offered no perks.  Now....your guess is as good as mine.  I guess one could assume that if you buy the lowest rate which is non-refundable, you can still get the stockholder credit...but one never knows.

 

Our rule of thumb is to request the stockholder credit on every cruise...let them decide.

[IrvSp]

I think it is the Crown and Anchor credit that is the problem, not promotions. You can have the C&A cabin credit, or the stockholder credit, NOT both. You'll get the one that is worth more. Same would go for CC level too I guess?

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, IrvSp said:

I think it is the Crown and Anchor credit that is the problem, not promotions. You can have the C&A cabin credit, or the stockholder credit, NOT both. You'll get the one that is worth more. Same would go for CC level too I guess?

 

No, on Celebrity the issue is the promotions.  There’s no Captain’s Club credit. 

[Covepointcruiser]

We have never gotten the stockholders benefit on transatlantic sailings.   We have received it on Azamara sailings.

[CRUZBUDS]

It has been a very long time since we had been able to take advantage of the shareholder credit on Celebrity.  We usually booked future cruises on aboard and years ago they raised that credit to be higher than shareholder.  This was before the drink package options erased the shareholder credit for us, once and for all.

 

Once on the Century ( a long time ago)  we were enjoying drinks at the Elite Event on our way to Hawaii.  For some reason, it dawned on us that we we hadn't booked this cruise aboard and we should have applied for the shareholder credit.  It had been so long since we'd been able to use it, we had gotten out of the habit of even applying for it.  

 

The Century had a lot of out-going officers and Joe, the controller often stopped by the tables at the event.  I think controller was his title, in the old days he would have been the purser. 

 

We explained our mistake and he was sympathetic.  He told us to contact our broker and have them email a statement showing that we held Royal Caribbean stock. When we had, come see him.   It was a little bit of a hassle, our broker required secure email, not a bad thing.   We finally had it and went the next morning to see Joe as directed.

 

The people at the guest relations desk were skeptical that we knew Joe and he had told us to come see him. After a couple of levels of clerks, they agreed to get Joe.  Even then, we got one more direct look and the question "do you really know Joe?"  We assured them that we did.  Minutes later we were ushered into his office and he did what we needed to do to get us the credit, on a 15 day, it was $250.  We were grateful and  appreciated him going above and beyond for us.

 

I think we got very lucky, we didn't really expect to be able to apply for the shareholder, while on the cruise.     

 

With stocks, we are buy and hold people, so we'll keep our Royal Caribbean,  we get much more use out of our Carnival stock.  Since Celebrity mostly abandoned the west coast, we've gotten a couple of thousand dollars of OBC, from Princess, Holland and Carnival.         

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IrvSp]

On 5/18/2019 at 5:34 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

No, on Celebrity the issue is the promotions.  There’s no Captain’s Club credit. 

 

Great, put it in and got it! I missed doing that on the Feb. cruise, but it was a group and I don't recall if the TA tried or not, but those are not usually allowed. I have the NO PERKS fare, so maybe that was why? Did have a Senior discount though?

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, IrvSp said:

I have the NO PERKS fare, so maybe that was why? Did have a Senior discount though?

 

Yes, you got it because you had a no perks fare.   I did not have a senior discount, I had a refundable deposit fare with perks bundled in, and that's the problem.  Glad you got the OBC!

[Germancruiser]

Is there a difference of benefits if you get more or less stocks?

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, Germancruiser said:

Is there a difference of benefits if you get more or less stocks?

 

You have to own at least 100 shares to be eligible for the shareholder benefit. Owning any more than 100 does not get you anything more in shareholder benefits.   The amount of the benefit (OBC) is based on the length of the cruise.   But as discussed above, it’s become very difficult to get the shareholder benefit any longer on Celebrity because of the “free” perks bundled with the cruise fare. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

5 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

You have to own at least 100 shares to be eligible for the shareholder benefit. Owning any more than 100 does not get you anything more in shareholder benefits.  . 

I wish I would have bought 1,000 shares when it was $35 a share instead of just 100 😭

[bikerunner]

Never have gotten the shareholders benefit on any cruise.  Not complaining since I bought the shares very low back in 2009 area.  If your just buying the shares because of the shareholder benefit you really should not be investing since it is pointless I think.  I never have paid the strict cruiseline flat fare.  Always looking for good deals and usually find a TA that can get a group rate etc. 

[Xport]

While results will vary depending upon when one purchased stock in Royal Caribbean [as parent of Celebrity Cruises] or Carnival Corporation or Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the following is true in my case.

• I purchased 100 shares of Royal Caribbean stock on 15 June 2009 at a cost of $13.1886/share for a total investment of ~ $1,319.  As of last Friday--17 May--that investment was valued at $12,488 for a market gain [exclusive of dividends I have received along the way] of $11, 169.
• Had I instead purchased 100 shares of Carnival Corporation stock on 15 June 2009, my cost--based upon an average share price of $23.16 that day--would've equated to an investment of $2,316.   As of last Friday--17 May--that investment would have been valued at $5,368 for a market gain [exclusive of dividends I'd have received along the way] of $3,052.
• Had I instead purchased 100 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings on 19 January 2013--the first day the company went public/stock was issued after having previously been privately held--my cost--based upon an average share price of $24.16 that day--would have equated to an investment of $2,416.   As of last Friday--17 May--that investment would have been valued at $5,,692 for a market gain [NCLH stock does not pay a dividend] of $3,276.

While there is no doubt that I have qualified for far fewer Shareowner Onboard Credit Benefits in recent years--especially since Celebrity has embraced the practice of bundled cruise fare/perk pricing [like Jim, I get most perks based on loyalty status--including a Premium Alcohol Package, Unlimited Internet and more] on every cruise and--when I cruise with bundled pricing-- always select the included Onboard Credit/Prepaid Gratuities options without duplication. That said, I did receive a $250 Shareowner OBC on the Edge Transatlantic [Celebrity does not bundle cruise price with perks on repositioning cruises] that ended in Southampton last Monday.

 

Loyalty benefits aside, the run-up in Royal Caribbean's stock price over the past ten years sure could fund a whole lot of OBC despite Royal's practice of not stacking Onboard Credit from multiple corporate sources.  I too wish that I'd bought more Royal Caribbean stock back in June 2009.

Edited May 20, 2019 by Xport

[Germancruiser]

Thank you all- very interessting!

[Jim_Iain]

I applied for one on Sunday and received a reject today -   I sent them my Stock Brokerage Statement but they only issue quarterly.   The said they needed a document within the last 60 days, and said they need it to show my name the stock and number of shares.   

 

I resent them again today circling in yellow that the date 1/1/2019 - 3/30/2019 was within the last 60 days and also circled in yellow my name, the RCL in the account and the quantity of shares.  Will see what happens.  I have a no perk cruise booked.

 

BTW the Staatement I sent was the exact same brokerage statement I sent in about a month ago and it was approved.   Maybe it was just a Monday and the agent wasn't awake yet.