Royal Caribbean 15 Punch Coffee Cards ARE transferable between ships

[thrifty99]

We just finished a great cruise on Odyssey. Only hiccup was the use of our 15-punch coffee card from an earlier cruise this year. In case you are told by someone on your cruise that the 15 punch coffee card cannot be used on your next sailing / different ship, that is incorrect information. 
 

We purchased a couple cards on our February 2022 Navigator cruise as we had some extra OBC remaining to spend. We used those cards with no issues on Ovation and Voyager this year.
 

I had heard Odyssey staff had caused some issues for people using them so I did my homework before our cruise this week  In October I reached out to the executive office staff to be sure there were no changes to the coffee card being used across the fleet. They responded that the cards were always able to be used on multiple sailings and nothing had changed. 
 

Well, sure enough on the first morning I tried to use my card. A supervisor (Fernando) ran over and started “interrogating” me. Where did I get this card? What ship is it from?  When did I purchase it?  I answered his questions and he said it can’t be used on any ship except where you buy it. I explained that was not true and showed him the e:mail from Executive Offices saying they have always been allowed on multiple sailings. He then said “Oh, that e:mail was in October and there was a call last month (November) stating the cards are no longer transferable.”  He then used the analogy that it was the same as buying the beverage package on one cruise and peeling the sticker off your card and applying it to your next cruise card to get a free beverage package. He said this was stealing. I explained that was a ridiculous analogy as this is a 15-punch card and I didn’t appreciate being accused of trying to steal anything. He said he would honor the card this one time. I saw him doing the same thing to another passenger trying to use their 15-punch card. 
 

I followed up with an e:mail to my contact in the Executive Offices. He replied that the information from Fernando was incorrect and apologized for Fernando’s aggressive way of handling this. He was going to make sure a fleet wide communication was sent to all beverage managers that the coffee card can continue to be used on all sailings. 
 

The beverage manager (Vivian) on Odyssey reached out to me and apologized for the confusion. She said the policy was changed and they had stopped accepting them from other ships after re-opening from Covid last year and had not seen any message about them changing it back again. I mentioned that was a totally different story than Fernando’s as he said they just changed it last month to not honor them. That tells me Odyssey was just not following the rules and making up stories to passengers. 
 

Bottom line is they should be able to be used across any ship still. Hopefully the message has been delivered fleet wide and is followed. 

[firefly333]

My friend used a coffee card from a previous cruise on liberty and no issues. 

 

I have heard crew make up answers when they dont know. First I heard of a issue. Lol if told no ask someone else.

[Mapleleafforever]

Fernando is now cleaning bathrooms. 

[doublej]

5 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Fernando is now cleaning bathrooms. 

Thanks!! Best, and only,   good chuckle i've had today!!  LOL!!!

[HicksRA]

7 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Fernando is now cleaning bathrooms. 

On Carnival…. 🤣

[LinRon3]

Thank you Thrifty99.  I'd like to copy your post here and carry it onboard, as we also have run into this problem [on the Allure I believe].  I think at least 3 other RCL ships honored the old cards without reluctance, smiling and appreciative.  But we too felt we were being incriminated somehow when we asked on the Allure [I hope my memory is correct on the ship].  We assumed it was a 'ship by ship' policy and we have to ASK each different ship [with the risk of that incrimination like one is trying to get away with something].  Cudos to you for getting to the bottom of this issue and calling RCL executive offices for clarity.  

And I tell you, the importance RCL puts on employee attitudes being totally committed to service...this Fernando fella...well, I sort of hope he really is cleaning bathrooms or maybe the bilge tanks.  The rest of RCL crews work so hard to provide service with a smile, I'd say Fernando is not a good fit for RCL  But then this Vivian gave you 'another' story altogether...which looks like they were just BSing you to 'handle you'...but you showed them up in, well...someone was lying [actually both since you went to the executive horses mouth].  Thank you so much.  We all now have AMMO to fire back if ever rejected for unused punches on these coffee cards.  I too do not like retort that implies I've done something wrong for 'just asking' [my experience on the Allure, though my memory is a bit rusty on particular ship].