Shareholder benefits

[mk-ultra]

LOL.  I emailed my signed shareholder OBC request, along with a screen shot of my 100+ RCL shares from my portfolio to shareholderbenefit@rccl.com.  First time I've tried this.

 

It was denied with the following reply which I've redacted some information from:

 

-----

Dear Mr. XXXXX:

 

Thank you for your email.

 

As offers are not combinable, the requested shareholder’s onboard credit cannot be applied to reservation ####### because there is another discount or onboard credit offer already applied. If you wish to take advantage of the shareholder’s offer instead of the other offer, please contact your travel agent to have that offer removed. Once the other offer is removed, please resubmit your complete request.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Coupon Redemption Team

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

------

 

Here's where the fun starts.  "Dear Mr. XXXXX" isn't my last name.  It's someone else.  The ####### is someone else's reservation number.  I'm not booked through a TA.  To top off replying to the wrong person and giving me their last name and reservation number, they've denied the request in contradiction to their own policy:

 

Directly from https://www.rclinvestor.com/faqs/shareholder-benefit/  under "6. Can this benefit be combined with other offers, onboard credits and coupons?" the text excluding certain combinations says, "Benefit is non-transferable and not available to employees, agents of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. or its subsidiaries and affiliates, travel agents and tour operators. Benefit is not combinable with interline rates, travel agent rates, and employee friends and family rates. Benefit cannot be redeemed for chartered sailings, any Galapagos sailings or complimentary sailings."

 

I tend to be a bit (politely) persistent when I run up against this level of BS, so we'll see where this goes as I move upstream in the management chain.  It bugs me a little that they don't know what their own policy is.  It bugs me a LOT that they're so sloppy they not on get their policy wrong -- they reply to the wrong person and also leak their name and reservation number when they do it.  I could have a field day with that info if I was malicious.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by mk-ultra

[Clarea]

54 minutes ago, mk-ultra said:

 ....

 

Directly from https://www.rclinvestor.com/faqs/shareholder-benefit/  under "6. Can this benefit be combined with other offers, onboard credits and coupons?" the text excluding certain combinations says, "Benefit is non-transferable and not available to employees, agents of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. or its subsidiaries and affiliates, travel agents and tour operators. Benefit is not combinable with interline rates, travel agent rates, and employee friends and family rates. Benefit cannot be redeemed for chartered sailings, any Galapagos sailings or complimentary sailings." ....

 

 

The terms regarding combinations with other perks changed recently, and I believe those current terms on that website you linked are only good for cruises booked after June 1, 2019.  If your cruise was booked before that date, then they are going by the old, much more restrictive, combination limits.

[mk-ultra]

7 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

The terms regarding combinations with other perks changed recently, and I believe those current terms on that website you linked are only good for cruises booekd after June 1, 2019.  If your cruise was booked before that date, then they are going by the old, much more restrictive, combination limits.

 

Yeppers.  I think (just like with any recent policy change) it's taking a while for all their CSRs to get up to speed.  The weird part was getting a denial that was meant for someone else.

 

My usual tactic for dealing with CSRs who don't know policy is to "dial for yes."  I just call back and try another one, or a different avenue like the Casino Royale number for an onshore CSR.

Edited August 16, 2019 by mk-ultra

[xpcdoojk]

Thanks to a thread here recently, where people said they were getting the Shareholder benefit even with C&A benefits like Diamond Plus Balcony discounts, my TA applied and we received the $100 OBC for our 7 night Allure sailing. I was stunned.  It has been over a decade since I got that.

 

Woohoo.

 

jc

[Clarea]

8 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Thanks to a thread here recently, where people said they were getting the Shareholder benefit even with C&A benefits like Diamond Plus Balcony discounts, my TA applied and we received the $100 OBC for our 7 night Allure sailing. I was stunned.  It has been over a decade since I got that.

 

Woohoo.

 

jc

 

Good to hear!  When did you initially book that cruise?

[Wine-O]

I booked a 15-night TA well over a year and a half ago and got a special group rate from my TA.  Didn't think anything of it, but when RCCL reinstated the shareholder OBC as of this past June, I thought, what the heck and sent in my request for the TA that I booked.  RCCL came back and gave me the $250 shareholder -- I guess since I didn't book with the C&A balcony discount.  It doesn't hurt to go in and ask for all your forthcoming cruises.  All they can say is NO.  🍷

[xpcdoojk]

4 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Good to hear!  When did you initially book that cruise?

 

Bob, we booked in June.  Then our cruise went from a good itinerary to a CocoCay is what we have.  We lost St Kitts / Nevis

 

This trip really is about the ship for us.  Taking friends to an Oasis ship, which they have never done.  Then a week in Key West.

 

jc

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

Bob, we booked in June.  ...

 

I think June 1 was the start date for the new shareholder benefit combination rules.

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, Wine-O said:

I booked a 15-night TA well over a year and a half ago and got a special group rate from my TA.  Didn't think anything of it, but when RCCL reinstated the shareholder OBC as of this past June, I thought, what the heck and sent in my request for the TA that I booked.  RCCL came back and gave me the $250 shareholder -- I guess since I didn't book with the C&A balcony discount.  It doesn't hurt to go in and ask for all your forthcoming cruises.  All they can say is NO.  🍷

Just curious as to why you didn’t you use your C&A discount when you booked.  The C&A discount is combinable with group rates. 

[mitz18]

To get the OBC, do you have to file a request with proof of shares every time or does RCL note ownership in your profile?

TIA

[Clarea]

8 minutes ago, mitz18 said:

To get the OBC, do you have to file a request with proof of shares every time or does RCL note ownership in your profile?

TIA

 

You have to send the proof with every request.

[xpcdoojk]

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

You have to send the proof with every request.

 

I didn’t send my TA a copy of my brokerage statement.  If she did it was many years old.  

 

JC

[Merion_Mom]

9 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

I didn’t send my TA a copy of my brokerage statement.  If she did it was many years old.  

 

JC

 

That is very odd.  They always want to verify that you actually hold the shares.

[xpcdoojk]

I thought so too.  Maybe they got an old brokerage statement from my TA, but that is all they could have gotten.  The extra $100 is showing on the cruise planner.  

 

JC

[cgncruiser]

Proof of ownership may be not more than 60 days old

[Clarea]

3 hours ago, cgncruiser said:

Proof of ownership may be not more than 60 days old

 

Interesting, maybe that rule has changed.  Back when all combinations were allowed, we were able to prove ownership by including a scan of our proxy statement, which could be up to a year old.

[Wine-O]

3 hours ago, cgncruiser said:

Proof of ownership may be not more than 60 days old

 

I sent in a copy of my latest proof of ownership last month for cruises in April & May of 2021.  I guess I could sell the shares between now and then, so how would they know?  🍷

[cgncruiser]

It all depends which bureaucrat at RCCL works your request. I sent two different requests this week with each a shareholder proof that was 80something days old. One came back as approved , the other one came back with ".... The requested shareholder’s onboard credit cannot be applied to reservation #xyz as the proof of ownership we received is not current (no more than 60-days old)......

[Clarea]

2 hours ago, Wine-O said:

 

I sent in a copy of my latest proof of ownership last month for cruises in April & May of 2021.  I guess I could sell the shares between now and then, so how would they know?  🍷

 

They would not know.

[xpcdoojk]

All of this makes my recent experience seem surreal.

 

jc

[biomedbob]

We canceled a cruise booked before the June date and booked a new one for the $18 deal and the now acceptable Share Holder.  Thanks RCCI!

 

[HOBE SOUND CRUISER]

 

    Shareholders Benefits have changed

 

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

 

$100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 to 13 nights.

(Used to be $100 for 6 to 9 nights and $200 for 10 to 13 nights)

 

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

 

Applicable on any eligible Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises

or Azamara sailings. (excludes any charter or Galapagos sailings)

 

     https://www.rclinvestor.com/faqs/shareholder-benefit/

[xpcdoojk]

Thanks for sharing.   Would be interesting to see combinability in writing.

 

jc

Edited October 23, 2019 by xpcdoojk

[Another_Critic]

On 9/18/2019 at 3:23 AM, cgncruiser said:

Proof of ownership may be not more than 60 days old

 

I submitted a 6/30 statement on 9/24.

[truffles2]

We recently applied for some cruises and the statement sent was over 60 days old.  They replied that we must send a more up to date certificate--which we did and all were approved