President’s Cruise as a RCCL Visa Cardmember

[SailorMarg]

We are booked on the 2023 President’s Cruise aboard Allure.  We will be Diamond+ by then.  My question is for those that have sailed on a President’s Cruise as a RCCL Visa cardmember.  Were there functions/perks that were made available to Visa cardmembers that were not open to Diamond+ passengers?  We will probably only do this one President’s Cruise, unless it really blows us away, so I’d like to have the option of as many events as possible.  Applying for a RCCL Visa and using it to pay for the cruise would take little to no effort so it would be worth it if doing so opened up some event that being Diamond+ did not.  We currently use a credit card that pays 3.5 points for travel so I wouldn't use anything but that card with regularity.  Extra points for any images of President’s Cruise daily planners with events listed or flyers for Visa or Diamond+ events.

[robmtx]

There was a huge party for cardholders on Symphony in 2019.. it was unique to have an event like that in the Solarium in the evening. Was it worth it? Well the card has a $0 fee so...

 

Not sure if they had an event on this year's cruise

 

 

 

 

 

[firefly333]

I've never heard of any events because of what credit card you hold. I've been following it and know it will mostly br about pinnacles. The rest of us  might or might not get invited.

 

I see above in 2019 there was such a event. How about last month?  I'm just amazed it could matter. Yes I've had a rcl card, never heard before now it mattered. And I'm on the roll call and it's not mentioned  ... news to me.

Edited July 30, 2022 by firefly333

[ssb]

We are on cruise , and asked around for same reasons.

I've heard mixed comments ! 

Best to have for something (?) and next to nothing for benefit on board . 

But no detail other than "maybe" an hour champagne  party.

No biggie .

And I'm aware of the $100 OBC for a booking .    

Edited July 30, 2022 by ssb

[2chiefs]

28 minutes ago, ssb said:

We are on cruise , and asked around for same reasons.

I've heard mixed comments ! 

Best to have for something (?) and next to nothing for benefit on board . 

But no detail other than "maybe" an hour champagne  party.

No biggie .

And I'm aware of the $100 OBC for a booking .    

There's an OBC for $100 for having the card? First I've heard.

 

[iuki]

We got the RCCL VISA card thinking there would be special perks for travel and cruising, but we found our Chase Sapphire Preferred Client VISA offers free travel insurance and no foreign transaction fees.  We also have a United Airlines Chase VISA card which we use for air miles and other United Airline special travel benefits.  Therefore, we don’t use the RCCL VISA because it doesn’t have any special worthwhile benefits IMHO.

[John&LaLa]

2018 had several Visa parties, 2019 had one, 2022 had a couple. Well worth having

 

You don't have to book the cruise with the card to get the invites or swag.

[vjmatty]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

2018 had several Visa parties, 2019 had one, 2022 had a couple. Well worth having

 

You don't have to book the cruise with the card to get the invites or swag.

 

Where do you find out which sailings have the Visa parties? This is the first I've heard of them.

[iuki]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

2018 had several Visa parties, 2019 had one, 2022 had a couple. Well worth having

 

You don't have to book the cruise with the card to get the invites or swag.

We still have the card, but we have never sailed on a President Cruise yet.  😁

[vjmatty]

59 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

There's an OBC for $100 for having the card? First I've heard.

 

 

Well, there is a 10,000 point signing bonus, which is worth $100 OBC... or two RC bathrobes, or a $100 cruise credit. Depending on how you choose to spend it.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, vjmatty said:

 

Where do you find out which sailings have the Visa parties? This is the first I've heard of them.

They are only on President’s cruises. 
One specific sailing per year. 

[vjmatty]

3 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

They are only on President’s cruises. 
One specific sailing per year. 

 

Ok I looked it up and I see the next one is out of Galveston.... too far for me but a bit more local for you!

[not-enough-cruising]

4 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 

Ok I looked it up and I see the next one is out of Galveston.... too far for me but a bit more local for you!

Yes, I have never been on one, but we are considering it. Galveston is an easy drive for us, however I do not have the Royal Visa card. 

[vjmatty]

2 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Yes, I have never been on one, but we are considering it. Galveston is an easy drive for us, however I do not have the Royal Visa card. 

 

Might be time to get one! No annual fee and decent signing bonus.... but, it is BOA which kind of stinks.

[SailorMarg]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

2018 had several Visa parties, 2019 had one, 2022 had a couple. Well worth having

 

You don't have to book the cruise with the card to get the invites or swag.

Great information.  This is what I was looking for. Thank you. How do they know who has a RCCL Visa if it’s not used to pay for the cruise or as your onboard account credit card?

[Ret MP]

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

 

Well, there is a 10,000 point signing bonus, which is worth $100 OBC... or two RC bathrobes, or a $100 cruise credit. Depending on how you choose to spend it.

That's what we got!  My wife and I both got one.

[Ret MP]

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

 

Might be time to get one! No annual fee and decent signing bonus.... but, it is BOA which kind of stinks.

Yes it does.  But, between my wife an I, we now have over $600.00 in OBC or to use towards the cost of a cruise.  And all we used it on was things we were going to buy from RCCL anyway.   I'm a whore for a reward.

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, SailorMarg said:

Great information.  This is what I was looking for. Thank you. How do they know who has a RCCL Visa if it’s not used to pay for the cruise or as your onboard account credit card?

 

They just know. Easy search, I guess

[Ret MP]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

They just know. Easy search, I guess

Yes, I'd be willing to bet a dollar to a donut that BOA provides RCCL with the information of every approved application for the card and RCCL enters the info into their customer database.  

[2chiefs]

13 hours ago, iuki said:

We got the RCCL VISA card thinking there would be special perks for travel and cruising, but we found our Chase Sapphire Preferred Client VISA offers free travel insurance and no foreign transaction fees.  We also have a United Airlines Chase VISA card which we use for air miles and other United Airline special travel benefits.  Therefore, we don’t use the RCCL VISA because it doesn’t have any special worthwhile benefits IMHO.

Thanks for the tip on the Chase Saphire Preferred Client Visa. I'll have to check into that since travel insurance is so high.

 

We have the RCL visa but don't use it for anything but paying for our cruises and purchases on board. Otherwise, it's "on ice" while we use other cards with better benefits. We used to have a Delta Amex card when I was working and travelling all the time for work. I don't fly so much anymore so we gave that one up for a Hilton Amex card since we still use hotels a lot. (I'm a permanent Diamond member with Hilton due extensive travelling).

[not-enough-cruising]

4 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Thanks for the tip on the Chase Saphire Preferred Client Visa. I'll have to check into that since travel insurance is so high.

 

We have the RCL visa but don't use it for anything but paying for our cruises and purchases on board. Otherwise, it's "on ice" while we use other cards with better benefits. We used to have a Delta Amex card when I was working and travelling all the time for work. I don't fly so much anymore so we gave that one up for a Hilton Amex card since we still use hotels a lot. (I'm a permanent Diamond member with Hilton due extensive travelling).

I am a big fan of the AMEX Hilton card as well

[SailorMarg]

16 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Yes, I'd be willing to bet a dollar to a donut that BOA provides RCCL with the information of every approved application for the card and RCCL enters the info into their customer database.  

That would make sense for an unusual name, but what about John Smith?  Don’t think I’ve supplied Royal Caribbean with social security number or any other defining information.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, SailorMarg said:

That would make sense for an unusual name, but what about John Smith?  Don’t think I’ve supplied Royal Caribbean with social security number or any other defining information.

They have your birthdate and billing zip-code. 
 

that should be enough 

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, SailorMarg said:

That would make sense for an unusual name, but what about John Smith?  Don’t think I’ve supplied Royal Caribbean with social security number or any other defining information.

While I'm not totally sure about this but, I believe that the only way you can get a BOA/RCCL C.C. is by applying for it from RCCL entities, like the Next Cruise desk.  They take all your credit history, including your SSAN, information through their (Royal's) system.  So, it is my guess, they have all the information they need, even before BOA does.  It would be interesting to find out for sure.  I've never seen an option for applying for a RCCL C.C. on BOA's website.  But, to be honest, I haven't really looked, either.

[Seville2Cabo]

17 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

While I'm not totally sure about this but, I believe that the only way you can get a BOA/RCCL C.C. is by applying for it from RCCL entities, like the Next Cruise desk.  They take all your credit history, including your SSAN, information through their (Royal's) system.  So, it is my guess, they have all the information they need, even before BOA does.  It would be interesting to find out for sure.  I've never seen an option for applying for a RCCL C.C. on BOA's website.  But, to be honest, I haven't really looked, either.

No.  You can apply online thru the BoA website.