Transferring of FCC from parents or other options to not lose FCC?

[sambao21]

Going to cancel my parents cruise coming in December, and they will be able to get FCC for the NRD but it has to be used by December 2022, and they reside in another country that frankly I wouldn't hold my breath that between US and China that they will be able to come to US and cruise by then. Does anyone know what options there are such that we don't lose the FCC? Can those be transferred to me for my bookings? Or any other option?

 

I called RC and the rep I spoke to suggested that wait for the policy for our sailing in December to be posted and if we don't agree, to call and ask for full refund, but that policy won't be posted till after our final payment date. It just doesn't feel right to pay final payment for a cruise we know they won't go on so that we can wait for a policy to be published and we can say we "disagree" with in order to get a full refund. Seems a bit shady and not legit. Has anyone heard of this practice?

Edited August 25, 2021 by sambao21

[mauraoel]

This has been the policy for Royal since restart.  A lot of cruisers have made use of it.  But you do have to wait until the protocols are released meaning you do need to make final payment.

[Ashland]

I believe policy to transfer FCC they must be either under 12 or over 70 years of age. We have done this with an under age 12.

[molly361]

49 minutes ago, Ashland said:

I believe policy to transfer FCC they must be either under 12 or over 70 years of age. We have done this with an under age 12.

And I did this with an adult over 70

[Sunshine3601]

Yes, if they are over 70 years old you can transfer the FCC from their name to your name and use for own booking. 

 

Although Royal just cancelled a bunch of cruises in August up thru next March or so which was nice for them to do that early. 

 

[sambao21]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Yes, if they are over 70 years old you can transfer the FCC from their name to your name and use for own booking. 

 

Although Royal just cancelled a bunch of cruises in August up thru next March or so which was nice for them to do that early. 

Darn unfortunately, only one of my parents is over 70, but at least it's something. Do you know what process to transfer entails?

 

3 hours ago, mauraoel said:

This has been the policy for Royal since restart.  A lot of cruisers have made use of it.  But you do have to wait until the protocols are released meaning you do need to make final payment.

That's interesting. The rep I spoke with told me the exact opposite. She was adament that she couldnt issue refund because the policy isn't out yet for my sailing and said that each ship and port is different and she doesn't know what the policy is. She said it should be out in November for a December sailing. I could cancel and get FCC, but then that's back to my problem of having my parents use it by December 2022, which I've no confidence that travel will be possible by then. Anyways, is there some magic phrase I gotta say to make the rep understand what I'm wanting to accomplish? (Fwiw, the rep did seem irritated with me that I was questioning her about cancelling and she just kept reiterating that the policy isn't out yet and she can't do or say much about the sailing)

[sambao21]

Ignore my last response. I completely misunderstood mauraoel response. Anyways, thanks for at least confirm it's a legit practice to pay final payment in order to later cancel for full refund

[Sunshine3601]

15 minutes ago, sambao21 said:

Darn unfortunately, only one of my parents is over 70, but at least it's something. Do you know what process to transfer entails?

 

That's interesting. The rep I spoke with told me the exact opposite. She was adament that she couldnt issue refund because the policy isn't out yet for my sailing and said that each ship and port is different and she doesn't know what the policy is. She said it should be out in November for a December sailing. I could cancel and get FCC, but then that's back to my problem of having my parents use it by December 2022, which I've no confidence that travel will be possible by then. Anyways, is there some magic phrase I gotta say to make the rep understand what I'm wanting to accomplish? (Fwiw, the rep did seem irritated with me that I was questioning her about cancelling and she just kept reiterating that the policy isn't out yet and she can't do or say much about the sailing)

You cannot get a cash refund of your deposit monies paid if you cancel now unless the protocols for your December sailing have been released.      

which those won't be released until November.     Just like the rep on the phone explained. 

 

So as of right now, if you cancel before final payment or before protocols are released your parents are only eligible to a receive a FCC for monies they paid to date. 

 

Re:    will your Father be 70 anytime soon?  If a FCC is issued for each of them and in 2022 they both are 70 or older they can transfer both FCCs to you.    I don't think they both have to be 70 at the time the FCC was issued, I think it is they have to be 70 when it is transferred to another person.   

To do that, you would have to call royal caribbean when ready to transfer  

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, sambao21 said:

Ignore my last response. I completely misunderstood mauraoel response. Anyways, thanks for at least confirm it's a legit practice to pay final payment in order to later cancel for full refund

if they want to get full cash refund and you know for sure they are going to cancel the trip.      What type of cabin are they booked in?     

You can change their cabin to the cheapest available interior cabin, that way if you go the route to make final payment to get a full cash refund when the protocols are released you won't have as much cash paid out of pocket.    Now this is still risky as no one knows for sure what their policies will be in November.

 

[Jimbo]

Call again until you get a rep to agree with you..., you know you can call 10 times and get 10 different answers, just  keep calling until you get an answer you are happy  with.

[Biker19]

17 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

  Now this is still risky as no one knows for sure what their policies will be in November.

It’s a pretty sure bet that vaccinations will be required- anyone can claim they are not vaccinated and should be able to get a refund. 

[Sunshine3601]

18 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

It’s a pretty sure bet that vaccinations will be required- anyone can claim they are not vaccinated and should be able to get a refund. 

that may be hard to claim as her parents are in China.   I think it is mandatory for everyone to get vaccinated in China, at least I read that somewhere. 

[Biker19]

Just now, Sunshine3601 said:

that may be hard to claim as her parents are in China.   I think it is mandatory for everyone to get vaccinated in China, at least I read that somewhere. 

K, then claim they got the unapproved Sinovac vaccine or the unapproved Canadian version of two different vaccines. 

[Sunshine3601]

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

K, then claim they got the unapproved Sinovac vaccine or the unapproved Canadian version of two different vaccines. 

That could work.   

[pcur]

You might want to move the entire booking to another cruise in the future, and thereby have a much later final payment date, and see how the travel restrictions are then.  RCCL has cruises all the way out to April 2023.

 

It's a pretty straightforward process:  just have the new cruise date and ship picked out.  I usually have the cabin(s) already priced, too.  The booking number stays the same and the money follows it to the new ship, date, and cabin.  You could even see if you can get the same itinerary, only for a later date.

[Sunshine3601]

24 minutes ago, pcur said:

You might want to move the entire booking to another cruise in the future, and thereby have a much later final payment date, and see how the travel restrictions are then.  RCCL has cruises all the way out to April 2023.

 

It's a pretty straightforward process:  just have the new cruise date and ship picked out.  I usually have the cabin(s) already priced, too.  The booking number stays the same and the money follows it to the new ship, date, and cabin.  You could even see if you can get the same itinerary, only for a later date.

Yes, that's a great suggestion!

[sambao21]

1 hour ago, pcur said:

You might want to move the entire booking to another cruise in the future, and thereby have a much later final payment date, and see how the travel restrictions are then.  RCCL has cruises all the way out to April 2023.

 

It's a pretty straightforward process:  just have the new cruise date and ship picked out.  I usually have the cabin(s) already priced, too.  The booking number stays the same and the money follows it to the new ship, date, and cabin.  You could even see if you can get the same itinerary, only for a later date.

Yeah, that's actually what I'm leaning towards. The only risk with this is that if they still can't travel to US by then, and RC starts charging a change fee then we risk losing some monies if we had to change again.

[sambao21]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

that may be hard to claim as her parents are in China.   I think it is mandatory for everyone to get vaccinated in China, at least I read that somewhere. 

My parents are vaccinated with whatever they offer there (not the ones offered in US, and supposedly not as effective) they just can't get over to the US without complicated travel procedure that effectively prevents them from coming to US and returning home to China.

[sambao21]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

if they want to get full cash refund and you know for sure they are going to cancel the trip.      What type of cabin are they booked in?     

You can change their cabin to the cheapest available interior cabin, that way if you go the route to make final payment to get a full cash refund when the protocols are released you won't have as much cash paid out of pocket.    Now this is still risky as no one knows for sure what their policies will be in November.

 

They are already on the cheapest interior room, but it's still risky. I would like to just cancel and then book fully knowing when my parents could come, but who knows when that'll be a reality.

[sambao21]

5 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

You cannot get a cash refund of your deposit monies paid if you cancel now unless the protocols for your December sailing have been released.      

which those won't be released until November.     Just like the rep on the phone explained. 

 

So as of right now, if you cancel before final payment or before protocols are released your parents are only eligible to a receive a FCC for monies they paid to date. 

 

Re:    will your Father be 70 anytime soon?  If a FCC is issued for each of them and in 2022 they both are 70 or older they can transfer both FCCs to you.    I don't think they both have to be 70 at the time the FCC was issued, I think it is they have to be 70 when it is transferred to another person.   

To do that, you would have to call royal caribbean when ready to transfer  

Unfortunately my mom won't turn 70 for several more years. 

[pcur]

11 hours ago, sambao21 said:

Yeah, that's actually what I'm leaning towards. The only risk with this is that if they still can't travel to US by then, and RC starts charging a change fee then we risk losing some monies if we had to change again.

As long as you do this before 9/30 you are covered by the "book by date" of the Cruise With Confidence" policy.

 

I've done this several times over the past year.

Edited August 26, 2021 by pcur

[sambao21]

8 hours ago, pcur said:

As long as you do this before 9/30 you are covered by the "book by date" of the Cruise With Confidence" policy.

 

I've done this several times over the past year.

Yeah we did one rebook already, and so I'm aware. I'm more referring to if come December next year and they still can't travel and we wanted to move bookings again, unless RC updates the CWC to be extended that far next year, then if say we rebook to late 2023 or 2024, we may have to pay change fee.