Would you trade your 100% FCC for 80% cash back?

[Bookish Angel]

Oh, Mike, that is a hard thing.   Please know you are both in my thoughts. 

 

Sorry, I thought your wife was speaking in my first post. 
 

 

 

 

 

[Iamcruzin]

29 minutes ago, Bookish Angel said:

Oh, Mike, that is a hard thing.   Please know you are both in my thoughts. 

 

Sorry, I thought your wife was speaking in my first post. 
 

 

 

 

 

No worries and thank you so much.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Iamcruzin

[drsel]

On 3/22/2020 at 8:33 PM, karena1 said:

no, I have 18 cruises booked and plan to take every one of them.  will wait for my 125% FCC and apply it to one of my cruises already booked and move on.

Wow 18 Cruises booked, you must be a multi millionaire

[drsel]

Mike I hope you find a new job soon

[elephant98]

On 3/22/2020 at 11:13 AM, Judyrem said:

Anyone have  any idea when Royal will announce the canceling of the April 11-12 cruises that were to sail then?

 

I am playing "chicken" with Royal 😉 because I want a refund.

 

Me too. I'm scheduled to sail on the Symphony on April 11th.  Royal could really push the issue if it waits to cancel the April 11th sailing until the the cruise is within the 48 hour window period for canceling and taking advantage of the 100% FCC.  That would give people like me -- whose kids' school has already announced that school won't be starting back up until April 20, at the earliest -- something to contemplate if it is Tuesday, April 7th and no announcement has been made.   I don't think that is likely to happen, especially if the airlines are still restricting travel.  Then again, Royal waited until practically the last minute to suspend its current operations.  I read posts on this board from people saying they were on an airplane to the port city when they learned their cruise was canceled.

 

edit -- I should note that I contacted Royal previously and was informed by 2 different customer service agents that my April 11th sailing was going to be canceled and I was given the option to select a refund, which I did.   But, I am very skeptical that this is actually true.  I plan on following up again at some point.

Edited March 23, 2020 by elephant98

[Big_G]

Our cruise was cancelled so with my Dad's health  not the greatest we took the cash. We've already had to cancel to previous cruises because of my parents health so using the FCC comes with a little risk. If I cancel I don't believe I get the FCC back and I'm not sure if insurance would cover it.

[ashley321121]

Has anyone been successful getting their $500 deposit back in cash opposed to FCC?

 

Final payment is due this week for my July sailing. It’s a non refundable fare so I can get $500 FCC but would rather a full refund. 

[Biker19]

24 minutes ago, ashley321121 said:

Final payment is due this week for my July sailing. It’s a non refundable fare so I can get $500 FCC but would rather a full refund. 

Even if that sailing is a no go, RCI will likely not cancel it till less than a month out, so you'd have to make final payment and wait till late June to get a full refund. The only way you can a refund for the deposit is if some CSR makes a mistake. So which do you think is more likely?

[Judyrem]

2 hours ago, elephant98 said:

 

Me too. I'm scheduled to sail on the Symphony on April 11th.  Royal could really push the issue if it waits to cancel the April 11th sailing until the the cruise is within the 48 hour window period for canceling and taking advantage of the 100% FCC.  That would give people like me -- whose kids' school has already announced that school won't be starting back up until April 20, at the earliest -- something to contemplate if it is Tuesday, April 7th and no announcement has been made.   I don't think that is likely to happen, especially if the airlines are still restricting travel.  Then again, Royal waited until practically the last minute to suspend its current operations.  I read posts on this board from people saying they were on an airplane to the port city when they learned their cruise was canceled.

 

edit -- I should note that I contacted Royal previously and was informed by 2 different customer service agents that my April 11th sailing was going to be canceled and I was given the option to select a refund, which I did.   But, I am very skeptical that this is actually true.  I plan on following up again at some point.

Really, should I call them and ask about April 12?

 

I think it will do it after making dinner. thanks for info!

[elephant98]

19 minutes ago, Judyrem said:

Really, should I call them and ask about April 12?

 

I think it will do it after making dinner. thanks for info!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if you get told something different than I did.  I called a day or two after Royal made the announcement, through a press release, that they were suspending operations for 30 days.  However, Royal's website posted a shorter time line of March 15 through April 10, with a goal of resuming operations on April 11.  I'm not sure that the customer service agents really knew what was going on when I called.  Though I was told, by two different people, that my request for a refund was pending and would be processed (by hand) in up to 30 days.

[Midwestgal]

I’d take 80% over the FCC

[Houndfish]

On 3/21/2020 at 8:34 PM, LMaxwell said:

I canceled under the cruise with confidence offer before refunds were being offered. When they canceled and offered 100% refund or 125% FCC that was a better deal for most people.  

 

But I am looking at this from the flip side; without knowing how long this crisis continues, when cruises will resume or what pricing will look like, if my or my spouses job will be secure, or if the company survives even, I'm looking at the FCC at best as just a coupon discount on a future cruise and at worst it turns to a value of $0 (which given the nearness of my sail date would have been the refund due for cancellation unless I had used my trip insurance). 

 

That said though instead of wanting the additional credit on the FCC others got (that's great for them, I'm not jealous and don't want to take anything from them) if I had the option to forego the FCC and get 80% cash refund I would.  

 

Anyone else? 

are you offering to buy fcc?

[Houndfish]

1 hour ago, Judyrem said:

Really, should I call them and ask about April 12?

 

I think it will do it after making dinner. thanks for info!

Don't roast a turkey. 4 hrs may cost you

[Judyrem]

Well I called my TA,  as of now Oasis is sailing April 12, so he said to call back in a week.  I think  it is bad form of Royal to keep us guessing.  They know they won't cruise, even Disney world is contemplating staying closed for a longer period of time.

 

This whole situation is really  making me think twice about taking another cruise, with any cruise line.

[vistapat]

Would I take 80% cash refund versus 100% FCC?  In a New York minute - and I live in California!

 

Pat

[drsel]

Would you take a 100% refund of your deposit, instead of a 150% fcc

[LMaxwell]

15 hours ago, Houndfish said:

are you offering to buy fcc?

 

No. 

 

Can we sell FCC's?  I'd do that if allowed 

[LMaxwell]

24 minutes ago, drsel said:

Would you take a 100% refund of your deposit, instead of a 150% fcc

Absolutely.  I'd take 100% refund over a 200% FCC at this point.  

[drsel]

Absolutely.  I'd take 100% refund over a 200% FCC at this point.  

Why?
do you think that Cruise lines will close down permanently

[LMaxwell]

5 minutes ago, drsel said:

Why?
do you think that Cruise lines will close down permanently

 

I think there is a possibility that they file bankruptcy. 

 

But I also think there is no way to know when cruising is really feasible again. For now my wife and I are still working. That could change.  We are healthy.  That could change.  Money refunded to me increases my options of how to use the money.  And there's no guarantee the FCC would cover a future cruise; prices may be inflated and require significant additional outlay of funds. 

 

I've never spent money booking a cruise that was critical, meaning it was never a choice between normal family obligations and going on vacation, but at this time I believe cash conservation to be critical. 

[drsel]

Sounds like a big recession is looming

[drsel]

 

 

 

 Can we sell FCC's?  I'd do that if allowed 

No, its not transferable

 

 

 

[Joebucks]

On 3/22/2020 at 3:05 AM, drsel said:

On 3/22/2020 at 2:57 AM, Norwich Cruiser said:

I’d stick with the FCC

Do you realise that in order to use your fcc you have to pay much more for your future Cruise (compared to the price you paid) for the exact same cabin same Cruise

 

To some that is a concern. To some it is not. If my choice is no cruising for the foreseeable future, or a few hundred dollars more, I'm choosing the cruise. I get that there's a lot of other things up in the air. I probably also wouldn't book anything for the next few months. Maybe I'm taking a risk that this will be all fine come summer/fall. I just don't see any possible scenario where this goes on like this for that long.

[Norwich Cruiser]

On 3/22/2020 at 7:25 AM, drsel said:

What about the air fare for the new dates.
is it much more

At the moment the air fare is about £25 more pp with the cheap no frills airlines they change weekly even daily.

 

Maybe they would drop though who knows.

 

Just like the cruise prices maybe they’ll also drop as by reading these boards it seems many folks aren’t going to be cruising in the next 12 months or more.

[Norwich Cruiser]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

On 3/22/2020 at 6:57 AM, Norwich Cruiser said:

I’d stick with the FCC

Do you realise that in order to use your fcc you have to pay much more for your future Cruise (compared to the price you paid) for the exact

That’s not strictly true.

 

Maybe on some cruises but definitely not all.