April Promo is 60% off second guest

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, Maverick61 said:

 

Thanks for this info Ken.  Do you any guess of how long Royal may do pricing this way.  I have always just booked online with one of a couple online agencies - and I don't think they are the best option for me to do this through. It be much better if I had been working with someone like yourself (although I see you are in Canada so not even sure if you handle the US market) as I will have 2 FCCs, one of which I am not worried about rebooking now, but the other will be a reinstated one which will expire 10/31/20.  So being able to book something tentatively now with no deposit until May 31 would be great

Most agents in North America can book in both US and Canadian $ as Royal treats this as one market.   I read a post here last night that someone was able to book directly with Royal and Was able to get the no deposit until May 31. 

[MoniMommy]

On 3/26/2020 at 10:14 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

I had a friend that spent hours on the phone with different reps and supervisors trying that exact same thing....Royal would not budge. 

On Mar 20, I called because I had been given FCC of 100%  dividend equally by 4 people when only 2 had paid. I asked for 50% FCC divided among 1st 2 guests and 50% refund. This is what was promised when I made my 1st call on the Mar 10th. On Mar 20th after 2.5 hours I was promised the 50% refund and 50% FCC in names of 1st 2 guests. I have received the refund. Now I am waiting on the FCC. I wonder if I will get it and get it CV correctly applied to only 1st 2 guests and not the 2and two who paid no fare under kids sail free.

[MoniMommy]

On 3/27/2020 at 9:21 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

It will exclude summer, thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years March break and Easter.  

I was wondering if they might possibly lift blackout dates for KSF to get people back once cruises resume. Carnival is offering free drink packages. I wonder what Royal will offer?

[MoniMommy]

On 3/27/2020 at 5:07 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

It was really great a few years ago when they had 3’rd and 4’th guest sail free with no restriction on age. 

Maybe they will bring that back if cruising starts again. I remember, though, you mentioned that Royal could fill shops with TAs and unadvertised friends and family sale. So maybe they wont offer anything to the general public.

[Ourusualbeach]

12 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

On Mar 20, I called because I had been given FCC of 100%  dividend equally by 4 people when only 2 had paid. I asked for 50% FCC divided among 1st 2 guests and 50% refund. This is what was promised when I made my 1st call on the Mar 10th. On Mar 20th after 2.5 hours I was promised the 50% refund and 50% FCC in names of 1st 2 guests. I have received the refund. Now I am waiting on the FCC. I wonder if I will get it and get it CV correctly applied to only 1st 2 guests and not the 2and two who paid no fare under kids sail free.

Yours was a different situation.  March 10 was a key date as during the day they changed their policy from allowing a partial refund and a FCC to only FCC under the cruise with confidence policy

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

I was wondering if they might possibly lift blackout dates for KSF to get people back once cruises resume. Carnival is offering free drink packages. I wonder what Royal will offer?

My guess is nothing.  They are giving away cruises to casino members and great rates, including comps to TA's

[MoniMommy]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

Yours was a different situation.  March 10 was a key date as during the day they changed their policy from allowing a partial refund and a FCC to only FCC under the cruise with confidence policy

Was that also the date they changed from awarding FCC proportionality to equally? Also fo you think it's weird that I got my refund before the FCC? Hope my FCC doesn't get lost. But I'm not going to call again right now. Last time I was on phone 2.5 hours. 

[MoniMommy]

3 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

My guess is nothing.  They are giving away cruises to casino members and great rates, including comps to TA's

I guess when they start cruising again they need gamblers and drinkers and not families. Do you think TAs are heavy spenders once they get onboard? I guess so. Since the cruise was free they can spend alot. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by MoniMommy

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

Was that also the date they changed from awarding FCC proportionality to equally? Also fo you think it's weird that I got my refund before the FCC? Hope my FCC doesn't get lost. But I'm not going to call again right now. Last time I was on phone 2.5 hours. 

I don't think they ever changed how the FCC was divided.  I thought it was always split equally among all the guests for the cruise with confidence policy.

[MoniMommy]

Royal must feel pretty confident with their situation. They seem poised to alienate customers with policies as well as perhaps not offering attractive fares.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, MoniMommy said:

Royal must feel pretty confident with their situation. They seem poised to alienate customers with policies as well as perhaps not offering attractive fares.

That depends.  Close in I think that you'll see some great rates.  No need to drastically drop rates that are 9 months or more out yet.  Eventually supply and demand will take over but the key is to not do a knee jerk reaction.

 

Every line is pissing off customers in one way or another.  Take NCL, under their optional cancellation plan everything is given back as FCC including shore excursions, taxes, prepaid gratuities.  If they cancel and you want a refund it's 90 days. 

 

Cruise lines are balancing what they can do to please as many customers as they can while still trying to save their business so there is something to come back to.

[Maverick61]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Most agents in North America can book in both US and Canadian $ as Royal treats this as one market.   I read a post here last night that someone was able to book directly with Royal and Was able to get the no deposit until May 31. 

 

Thanks Ken - appreciate the info.  I would consider reaching out to you but alas I am not sure how to reach you.  I guess worse case, I can try calling and see if Royal would do the no deposit til May 31.  I am basically looking for a way to protect the reissued FCC I will eventually get that expires on 10/31/20 - but given the uncertainty really don't want to shell out any more money at this time.  So the no deposit til May 31 seems like a good way to do that - reserve a space and wait and see how things progress before fully committing on May 31

[mac_tlc]

1 minute ago, Maverick61 said:

 

Thanks Ken - appreciate the info.  I would consider reaching out to you but alas I am not sure how to reach you.  I guess worse case, I can try calling and see if Royal would do the no deposit til May 31.  I am basically looking for a way to protect the reissued FCC I will eventually get that expires on 10/31/20 - but given the uncertainty really don't want to shell out any more money at this time.  So the no deposit til May 31 seems like a good way to do that - reserve a space and wait and see how things progress before fully committing on May 31

Check his signature😉.

[Maverick61]

3 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Check his signature😉.

 

OOOF.  Guess it would help if I had that feature turned on.  Thanks

[MoniMommy]

28 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I don't think they ever changed how the FCC was divided.  I thought it was always split equally among all the guests for the cruise with confidence policy.

I see. If the FCC is not related to the Cruise with Confidence policy, it is proportional. If it's under the the confidence policy its evenly split?

[Evilgrin72]

So I understand.. 

 

I originally paid $400pp for a cruise that got canceled. I won't get a $1,000 FCC if I opt for that route, I'll get two $500 FCCs? 

 

If I book a cruise now that shows $500pp, I'll be able to use all my FCCs to cover the fare. But if I wait until April, it will list the same cruise as $700 for guest 1 and $300 for guest 2, so I'll need to go out of pocket $200 to cover the fare for guest 1 and have an unused $200 on guest 2 that will just sit out there? And I'll need to book yet another cruise by EOY 2021 or I lose that? Do I have this right? 

 

(I know the numbers above aren't exactly right, just trying to keep it simple for ease of use.) 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Evilgrin72

[Ourusualbeach]

6 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

I see. If the FCC is not related to the Cruise with Confidence policy, it is proportional. If it's under the the confidence policy its evenly split?

Yes it is evenly split under both cruise with confidence and the sailings that Royal cancelled.  It was before all this mess started that FCC's were issued based on what the person actually paid

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, Evilgrin72 said:

So I understand.. 

 

I originally paid $500pp for a cruise that got canceled. I won't get a $1,000 FCC if I opt for that route, I'll get two $500 FCCs? 

 

If I book a cruise now that shows $500pp, I'll be able to use all my FCCs to cover the fare. But if I wait until April, it will list the same cruise as $700 for guest 1 and $300 for guest 2, so I'll need to go out of pocket $200 to cover the fare for guest 1 and have an unused $200 on guest 2 that will just sit out there? And I'll need to book yet another cruise by EOY 2021 or I lose that? Do I have this right? 

 

(I know the numbers above aren't exactly right, just trying to keep it simple for ease of use.) 

correct

Edited March 29, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[Evilgrin72]

Thanks. That about settles it then. Taking the cash back and I'll book something else on another line. Appreciate the heads up on this. 

[rtazz17]

37 minutes ago, Evilgrin72 said:

Thanks. That about settles it then. Taking the cash back and I'll book something else on another line. Appreciate the heads up on this. 

They are all the same. Wont matter much.

[MoniMommy]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yes it is evenly split under both cruise with confidence and the sailings that Royal cancelled.  It was before all this mess started that FCC's were issued based on what the person actually paid

So I wonder if I should have any confidence that mine will be proportional. The 1st rep said yes (Mar 10). The 2nd rep (Mar 20) said yes. He even gave me the numbers of 600 for one and 300 for the other. He also said that he left detailed notes in my account in case I had to call again. How much confidence should I have that I will two 2 FCC instead of 4 for $225. While I don't like the policy, my problem is not the policy but just being told one thing by the person on the phone and then being given something different. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by MoniMommy

[MoniMommy]

32 minutes ago, rtazz17 said:

They are all the same. Wont matter much.

Yes, the lines are the same but cash is King. I seems like the lines should make FCC as friendly as possible to encourage people to take it rather than just getting a cash refund. With cash you can go to a different line or take a non cruise vacation.  But I am sure the number crunchers have decided that their restrictive FCC  rules will be more profitable than being flexible. If they didn't think it would be profitable, they would be more flexible. 

[Evilgrin72]

41 minutes ago, rtazz17 said:

They are all the same. Wont matter much.

 

Exactly. But if I book on another line, it won't matter how the fares are proportioned, I'll just have my cash back and can book whatever. Even if I sacrifice $200 in FCC by taking the cash back, it won't much matter if I'd have to go out of pocket $200 to use the extra $200 FCC. All I'd be accomplishing is tying up $200 more of my own money with RCCL. 

[Ourusualbeach]

27 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

So I wonder if I should have any confidence that mine will be proportional. The 1st rep said yes (Mar 10). The 2nd rep (Mar 20) said yes. He even gave me the numbers of 600 for one and 300 for the other. He also said that he left detailed notes in my account in case I had to call again. How much confidence should I have that I will two 2 FCC instead of 4 for $225. While I don't like the policy, my problem is not the policy but just being told one thing by the person on the phone and then being given something different. 

Perhaps the way they allocate the FCC did change on May 10.  There was a lot of confusion on that day. 

[MoniMommy]

13 minutes ago, Evilgrin72 said:

 

Exactly. But if I book on another line, it won't matter how the fares are proportioned, I'll just have my cash back and can book whatever. Even if I sacrifice $200 in FCC by taking the cash back, it won't much matter if I'd have to go out of pocket $200 to use the extra $200 FCC. All I'd be accomplishing is tying up $200 more of my own money with RCCL. 

If I had the choice of all cash of FCC. There is no way I would take FCC. Who is to stay the company won't go bankrupt and make FCC worthless or raise prices to compensate for the FCC.  Just better to have cash to do with what you want. What should RCL decide who gets what FCC allocation. Take the cash and run!