Limitations in using FCC?

[Brandis]

We had 3 cruises cancelled by RCL because of Covid and rebooked each time using the FCCs we got from the cancelled cruise. After we ran out of options last year, we moved our cruise to this years westbound TA end of October on Wonder. FCCs were applied and we didn't have to pay a deposit, as it seems FCC takes care of that. As this cruise is quite a bit more expensive than the one we planned to do last year, our invoices still showed a fair amount to be paid on the final due date.

 

Today, our travel agents finances department contacted me and let me know that we still had a couple of hundred dollars in FCC left and we should get in touch with our agent to book another cruise to use them as the credits would expire by end of the year.

 

I now wrote my agent that she just should apply it to our remaining amount due for the Transatlantic. Haven't heard back from her yet.

 

Just wondering if anyone knows about rules on how much FCC can be used on any one cruise. I was always under the impression we could just use it all on the upcoming cruise.

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, Brandis said:

 

Just wondering if anyone knows about rules on how much FCC can be used on any one cruise. I was always under the impression we could just use it all on the upcoming cruise.

FCC stacking was starting to be allowed some time last year - you can apply as many FCC as you want to one booking. 

[Ashland]

6 hours ago, Biker19 said:

FCC stacking was starting to be allowed some time last year - you can apply as many FCC as you want to one booking. 

Agree...and any left over amount a new FCC will be issued.

[twangster]

FCC cannot be used for port fees and taxes, insurance or prepaid gratuity.   
 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by twangster

[Brandis]

13 hours ago, twangster said:

FCC cannot be used for port fees and taxes, insurance or prepaid gratuity.   
 

 

I'm aware of that, but we are talking roughly $1400 still due. Out of that, only $300 are taxes and fees. So they still should be able to apply the remaining FCCs, only about $110 per person left, but still.

[twangster]

21 minutes ago, Brandis said:

I'm aware of that, but we are talking roughly $1400 still due. Out of that, only $300 are taxes and fees. So they still should be able to apply the remaining FCCs, only about $110 per person left, but still.

 

Sorry, I'm not a mind reader.

 

Some FCC don't apply cleanly.  I've had some that only apply at ~ 80% and you have to call to get the residual value issued as a new FCC.  No reason why it happens, the FCC process is very broken at Royal. 

 

Regardless since you can now stack FCC if you have any unused FCC your TA should be able to apply them towards the amounts you know are eligible for FCC application.

[read2learn]

I have not had any FCC to use but may cancel an April cruise and receive it. When they issue the FCC does it include the $ you paid for taxes and port fees on the original cruise or is that portion refunded? 

[Biker19]

43 minutes ago, read2learn said:

When they issue the FCC does it include the $ you paid for taxes and port fees on the original cruise or is that portion refunded? 

Taxes are refunded, not part of the FCC. 

[read2learn]

Thanks! 

[Ken at the beach]

6 hours ago, twangster said:

Some FCC don't apply cleanly.  I've had some that only apply at ~ 80% and you have to call to get the residual value issued as a new FCC.  No reason why it happens, the FCC process is very broken at Royal. 

From what I've experienced it is because the system did nit recognize that there should be no penalties on the booking.  It assesses any penalties associated with the booking being cancelled and withholds those funds.  The FCC is issued in the correct amount but the money behind it us not there.  If the money is not tied to the FCC when you go to redeem the FCC it will only apply whatever there amount there is that has money associated with it.  They then need to release that money, tie it back to the FCC and get the residual reissued.

 

Definitely a broken system.

[twangster]

6 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

From what I've experienced it is because the system did nit recognize that there should be no penalties on the booking.  It assesses any penalties associated with the booking being cancelled and withholds those funds.  The FCC is issued in the correct amount but the money behind it us not there.  If the money is not tied to the FCC when you go to redeem the FCC it will only apply whatever there amount there is that has money associated with it.  They then need to release that money, tie it back to the FCC and get the residual reissued.

 

Definitely a broken system.

 

Recently I applied a $250 CWC FCC to a booking that had only had a $450 deposit as a payment on that new booking.  The new booking was clean, made from scratch with a $450 deposit due to the length.  The $250 FCC came from a CWC cancelation and was for the full deposit amount from the CWC cancelled booking.

 

$222 applied and $28 was held by the system.  It would have been easy to miss if I wasn't paying attention.  

 

When I called they said the system just does that sometimes.  There were no penalties in play for either booking, for $28 or any other amount.  It was just a "yeah we have no idea why the system does crap" moment.  

 

Took a month and three additional phone calls to get my $28 in the form on another FCC.

[What We Found Travelling]

RC FCC is a monumental disaster.  I’m certain they make it such a convoluted procedure hoping people just forget or give up.

I’m still trying to get my FCC’s reallocated after RC cancelled my cruise back in September.  It’s been escalated four times????

[red919]

I am considering booking with friends who are using their Canadian travel agent's group rate.  Will I be able to apply my FCC's (in USD US dollars) to pay for the cruise which will be in CAD Canadian dollars?

Edited February 3, 2022 by red919
Assuming an exchange rate fee would be involved

[smwg]

Just yesterday I spend over 2 hours on the phone (wait time and talking) to get the full FCC on my son's portion of our new cruise.  He had a $409 FCC and they only applied $122.  The C&A lady had to talk to the "Resolutions" department and they finally gave the remaining balance toward the cost of the cruise.  In the end, all is well, but they should've done this automatically without me wasting over two hours of my time.  🙄

 

[maranelloboy05]

Also note that the 25% additional FCC sometimes gets applied as a discount to the cruise unlike regular FCC. I had an issue where things werent adding up with the amount of FCC and turned out $350 was applied as a discount and I didn't realize that was actually FCC.

[Ken at the beach]

2 hours ago, red919 said:

I am considering booking with friends who are using their Canadian travel agent's group rate.  Will I be able to apply my FCC's (in USD US dollars) to pay for the cruise which will be in CAD Canadian dollars?

No, unfortunately you would have to book in US$ to use FCC's issued in US$

[Ken at the beach]

47 minutes ago, maranelloboy05 said:

Also note that the 25% additional FCC sometimes gets applied as a discount to the cruise unlike regular FCC. I had an issue where things werent adding up with the amount of FCC and turned out $350 was applied as a discount and I didn't realize that was actually FCC.

That is the TBZ5 line on your invoice.

 

The full amount applied shows below the invoice where it lists FCC's applied.  The amount of the TBZ5 line plus the payment line ( minus any cash you have paid on the booking) should equal your FCC 

[red919]

9 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

No, unfortunately you would have to book in US$ to use FCC's issued in US$

Unfortunate, indeed.... but thanks for letting me know.

[maranelloboy05]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That is the TBZ5 line on your invoice.

 

The full amount applied shows below the invoice where it lists FCC's applied.  The amount of the TBZ5 line plus the payment line ( minus any cash you have paid on the booking) should equal your FCC 

Yup! I had a weird situation where we had about $2700 applied to a cruise that had a port change so we changed to what was a cheaper sailing and under that $2700. I had to get the CEO's team involved to fix it but part of my confusion was not realizing some of that $2700 was actually applied to lower the price of sailing.

[bluemoon]

On 2/3/2022 at 10:36 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

That is the TBZ5 line on your invoice.

 

The full amount applied shows below the invoice where it lists FCC's applied.  The amount of the TBZ5 line plus the payment line ( minus any cash you have paid on the booking) should equal your FCC 

Thank you for this explanation. I now understand how everything was applied to my booking.

[Mooreland1999]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:39 AM, twangster said:

When I called they said the system just does that sometimes.  There were no penalties in play for either booking, for $28 or any other amount.  It was just a "yeah we have no idea why the system does crap" moment.  

I've had this happen multiple times when making changes (fare adjustment, fcc application, etc..)  I would recommend anyone dealing directly with Royal always check and double check the numbers they give you.  I've never had an issue getting things resolved but it does take time and effort.

[publicpersona]

Just received our FCC from RCL-cancelled Jewel sailing 1/15/2022. And of course, there are issues.

 

First, the FCC is about 120% of the cruise fare, not 125%. And yes, I'm calculating this only on the cruise fare as shown in the invoice, and not taxes/port, gratuities, airfare, pre-paid excursions. What scenarios could account for the difference, other than Royal's IT systems and processes. 

 

Second, the entire FCC for two pax is in one name. I had expected each of us to get an FCC. Isn't it the case that FCC can only be applied to the name that is on the FCC? So if we chose a comparably priced cruise, only one or the two of us can use the FCC?