New process for claiming shareholder OBC

[Perthlings]

3 hours ago, XLCAPRIES said:

even one(Perthlings) advising contact the Australian contact, that being probably the old process.

 

Yes I'm pretty sure the new process is not available to Aussies.  Which is unfortunate because the old process is slow and inefficient.

 

I emailed the Carnival Australia address on Monday and the only response I've had so far is the automatic "We aim to respond within 2 - 3 working days of receiving your email."

[LittleFish1976]

Try using shareholderbenefit@carnivalaustralia.com. Cunard are not using the stockperks app in Australia apparently so it's not surprising you had no joy from them there.

 

They're also suddenly fussy about only applying for shareholder benefit a maximum of 3 months prior to commencement of your journey. They were previously much more flexible.

[Pushpit]

10 hours ago, XLCAPRIES said:

A few days later, another advice from SP, again rejected by Cunard , with same detail..."not Cunard" . Tried again, same result. I had been in contact with SP during this time, but they said all was good from what I had done and detail they sent was consistent with Cunard booking but could not understand why rejected each time and   "If you believe there has been a mistake, please contact shareholderbenefits@carnivalukgroup.com"

You used that address correctly - the one I use regularly - only on the 15 January. I think you need to wait a little longer, it's not unusual to wait a week or two for a reply. They prioritise by date of sailing and usually it's best to resolve this about a month before departure, you then get  a fairly swift set of responses. I use one of the UK's largest investment companies, with my shares held inside a SIPP (a personal pension) for tax reasons, so it's slightly tricky to extract the proof of ownership given the external wrapper. They often find problems with dates and layouts, so there's usually a bit of to-and-fro. If I leave it one month to departure it usually gets resolved within about 10 days. If your sailing is further off then you're at the bottom of the pile. 

 

That said, it would seem odd if the UK is looking at shareholders in Australia, there again it wouldn't be odd if I held Australian shares in my SIPP (and I do). The auto-reply is also normal.

[Colin_Cameron]

Hi Folks,

 

I should have come back to say that although installing the app was a nightmare, using it was straightforward (for me at least).

 

My holding was verified quickly and the benefit applied to my booking. A couple of days later I got an updated Booking Confirmation. Probably worth mentioning for those not familiar with the process is that the Shareholder OBC is not specifically mentioned on the confirmation, but the total OBC increased by the expected amount.

[XLCAPRIES]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

Try using shareholderbenefit@carnivalaustralia.com. Cunard are not using the stockperks app in Australia apparently so it's not surprising you had no joy from them there.

 

They're also suddenly fussy about only applying for shareholder benefit a maximum of 3 months prior to commencement of your journey. They were previously much more flexible.

I know the old process well and had to be patient, then 3-4 weeks was the norm, with StockPerks there was a communication put out without qualification. After my persistent problem(only 3 attempts) Stockperks referred me to the UK contact, knowing that I was an Australian booking. I did ring the Cunard  Call Centre..........but they were of no help. The Cunard website we connect to in Australia, in their FAQ's, also pointed to the UK.

 

I'll give the UK contact a few more days, then try Carnival Australia........who are just a stones throw from where I live......pity they don't allow walk-ins anymore to their Chatswood Office..........I found out the hard way when I was following up my delayed last claim(Princess)......I wanted to expediate a claim, that I had to resubmit(old  process) that was "apparently lost".......and only was let in by a sympathetic "Carnival" employee, who I by chance met in their foyer, and allowed me to travel with her to their floor(code protected). No problem with staff in office, who were a bit surprised at my entrance, but under the circumstances,  i.e. lost application requiring re-application and delivery of paperwork, with only 2 weeks to cruise....I was thankful of their consideration....OBC benefit processed within 2 days.

[Perthlings]

1 hour ago, Pushpit said:

it would seem odd if the UK is looking at shareholders in Australia,

All shareholders have to purchase from either the NYSE or the London stock exchange, and all bookings go via the same website (cunard.com) so I'm not sure why people in each region need to go via their specific team.

 

For HAL shareholder benefits requests I've only ever used their global email address, and not had a problem.

 

World_Cruise_Reservations AT hollandamerica.com as listed under their "NORTH AMERICA BRANDS" on the shareholder PDF.

 

But when I emailed the UK address for my first Cunard cruise last year (because I made the assumption Cunard is a "UNITED KINGDOM BRAND") I got a reply telling me I had to talk to the Aussie crew instead.

 

If I hadn't had that experience I would have been doubly confused about the "Your recent OBC claim was rejected by Cunard as the reservation details are for a different cruise line." I got when I tried stockperks.

 

They seem to be running them as separate companies, depending on which country you've booked in, and even though it all goes to the same database they can't or won't help you.

 

And instead of the useful response I got last year telling me to talk to Cunard Australia, I assume via stockperks they can only select from a set number of choices when rejecting it, so they respond with the ever helpful "a different cruise line" when they really mean "a different regional office for the same cruise line"

 

On the plus side I still got USD$250 OBC, not the AUD$250 I was expecting after being told to deal with the Australia brand.

[LittleFish1976]

22 minutes ago, XLCAPRIES said:

I know the old process well and had to be patient, then 3-4 weeks was the norm, with StockPerks there was a communication put out without qualification. After my persistent problem(only 3 attempts) Stockperks referred me to the UK contact, knowing that I was an Australian booking. I did ring the Cunard  Call Centre..........but they were of no help. The Cunard website we connect to in Australia, in their FAQ's, also pointed to the UK.

 

I'll give the UK contact a few more days, then try Carnival Australia........who are just a stones throw from where I live......pity they don't allow walk-ins anymore to their Chatswood Office..........I found out the hard way when I was following up my delayed last claim(Princess)......I wanted to expediate a claim, that I had to resubmit(old  process) that was "apparently lost".......and only was let in by a sympathetic "Carnival" employee, who I by chance met in their foyer, and allowed me to travel with her to their floor(code protected). No problem with staff in office, who were a bit surprised at my entrance, but under the circumstances,  i.e. lost application requiring re-application and delivery of paperwork, with only 2 weeks to cruise....I was thankful of their consideration....OBC benefit processed within 2 days.

 

What a frustration. I've been quite lucky with that part of the process I have to say. I do also copy in the address which I understand is the Cunard office in Sydney which is cunard.aspac@carnivalaustralia.com and it usually gets processed promptly.

 

Not sure if I'm game to try the app given I've had plenty of other 'Call Centre/admin' headaches regarding my back-to-back voyages coming up soon so I might stick with emailing which I"ll be allowed to do in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it goes although hopefully by then you'll already have yours organised.

 

At least we no longer have to fax the information and request!

[XLCAPRIES]

Thanks to all for responses to my question.

 

It so happens, overnight I received an email from Carnival UK

"Thank you for your email.                                   
I was sorry to hear of the issues you had experienced in trying to apply for your shareholder benefits, and for any inconvenience this has caused.   I can confirm that I have passed your request to our Cunard team to process.  Should you require any further assistance, they can be contacted directly by email to shareholderbenefit@carnivalaustralia.com                                                

Kind regards
Christian
Guest Support Representative
Shareholder Benefits
Fax: 02380 657 360
Email: shareholderbenefits@carnivalukgroup.com
Web: pocruises.com | cunard.co.uk
Carnival House, 100 Harbour Parade, Southampton SO15 1ST"
So, Shareholder Carnival UK have requested, the Shareholder Benefit Team at the Carnival Australia Group, (just around the corner from me in Chatswood) to process my claim, so if you booked Cunard in Australia, it's implied that you go to your local Cunard shareholder group rather than StockPerks or Carnival UK as "Perthlings" has advised(thanks).

 

I might wait and see if I get a positive response, then clarify this last point , which I will post.        



 

Edited January 19 by XLCAPRIES
add omitted word

[LDVinNC]

On 1/5/2024 at 5:17 PM, BabsinTX said:

Somewhere I found an email address for this purpose, and received OBC for our two Cunard cruises this summer.  The email I used was sb@cunard.com.  I included the cruise info:

 

 

Reservation #1:  xxxxxxx, QE2, 6/xx/2024

 

Reservation #2:  yyyyyyy, QE2 7/xx/2024

 

and attached scans of the stock broker's latest report.

  

Thanks so much for posting this.  I did this and got the credit in about 24 hours!

[MattAlexisStAndrews]

Indeed, For USA based Cunard persons, I was informed to continue using the E-mail on Carnival Corp Website as above.  Stockperks Not currently used for USA Cunard.   

Edited January 23 by MattAlexisStAndrews

[Perthlings]

On 1/20/2024 at 7:24 AM, XLCAPRIES said:

So, Shareholder Carnival UK have requested, the Shareholder Benefit Team at the Carnival Australia Group, (just around the corner from me in Chatswood) to process my claim, so if you booked Cunard in Australia, it's implied that you go to your local Cunard shareholder group rather than StockPerks or Carnival UK as "Perthlings" has advised(thanks).

 

I got a reply from Carnival Australia 10 days after submitting my request through them

 

Unfortunately it was a copy/paste response telling me to use StockPerks!

 

So we've got:

 

• StockPerks (apparently) submitting our info to Carnival UK - who decline the request with "the reservation details are for a different cruise line"
• Carnival UK's email address telling us to talk to Carnival Australia
• And Carnival Australia telling us to use Stockperks. 😵

 

How hard can it be?

[Colin_Cameron]

Left Hand, meet Right Hand.

[XLCAPRIES]

I still have not heard from Carnival Aust, on referral by UK Carnival Shareholder Group, I did send a request to Carnival Australia to acknowledge UK referral, but it was a 2-3 day response...3 days is Monday next week.  Meanwhile , I have resubmitted successfully request with StockPerks to redeem.....they should respond in a few days ..........then it will be back to UK Carnival Shareholder Group.........

 

Also some might already note that the Cunard Aust website  FAQ's when search for Shareholder  etc is not updated , as still refers to claiming benefit "Please note that Shareholder Benefit is available for cruise departures up to and including 31 July 2022 when booked by 28 February 2022."  and  contact "Who should I contact for shareholder queries and/or to apply my benefits to my booking?                    Please see details below for all shareholder enquiries.                                      Shareholder Benefits Team Carnival UK 100 Harbour Parade Southampton Hampshire SO15 1ST .

 

Attached is the current Carnival advice re shareholder benefit, which still  implies show Cunard UK handles....as no exception for Australia

 

If all else fails, might have to go knocking on Carnival's  door here in Chatswood NSW.

 

20240127 ShareholderBenefit 23-24.pdf

Edited January 27 by XLCAPRIES
add file and comment

[XLCAPRIES]

20240127 ShareholderBenefit 23-24.pdf

[XLCAPRIES]

Just got my response from shareholder benefit group, Carnival Australia. Same as Perthlings, except it was after only 4 business days. A "positive improvement" but with the same response, "lodge through Stockperks". Now I anticipated this and lodged my claim again, last Saturday, on reading Perthings post and virtually on the same day, received confirmation of holdings and to redeem through app. I redeemed through the process, with confirmation that it was successfully forwarded to Cunard.......and they "will be in contact within 5 business days", which should be by 2 February2024 (US time) to confirm.

 

I also responded to Carnival Aust that this is not acceptable and that Carnival/Cunard should investigate and resolve the breakdown within this process,  as I am not the only Australian Cunard CCL shareholder encountering the same problem.

 

Hopefully this time, it will be accepted by Cunard

Edited January 31 by XLCAPRIES
highlight

[cruiseluvva]

All seemed to work extremely smoothly. What I am not sure of though, is to I need my share holding verified each and every time I apply? I have quite a few booked and would like to apply for all.

[Victoria2]

23 minutes ago, cruiseluvva said:

All seemed to work extremely smoothly. What I am not sure of though, is to I need my share holding verified each and every time I apply? I have quite a few booked and would like to apply for all.

Depending on the time line of course, but I was answered 'yes' to that question as you could have sold the shares in between cruises [as if 😃].

[Perthlings]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:17 AM, Perthlings said:

So we've got:

 

• StockPerks (apparently) submitting our info to Carnival UK - who decline the request with "the reservation details are for a different cruise line"
• Carnival UK's email address telling us to talk to Carnival Australia
• And Carnival Australia telling us to use Stockperks. 😵

 

While waiting for Carnival Australia to respond I figured I'd try the StockPerks method a third time - and to my huge surprise it worked this time 😯

 

 

 

So @XLCAPRIES it looks like Stockperks and/or Carnival UK have quietly fixed things in the background and haven't clearly communicated this to anyone.

 

I do note that it says "onboard credit of AUD 250.0" when on my previous Cunard cruise I got USD 250.0 which is AUD 380. 

 

Hopefully that's just a problem with the message template, I guess I'll find out soon when I get my updated invoice.

[XLCAPRIES]

Good news for Perthlings............hope I'm as lucky with my 3rd attempt........yes, they might have been working on fixing the problem...but still have not heard from Stockperks.......about my latest attempt...fingers crossed🧐

[XLCAPRIES]

13 hours ago, cruiseluvva said:

All seemed to work extremely smoothly. What I am not sure of though, is to I need my share holding verified each and every time I apply? I have quite a few booked and would like to apply for all.

My assumption would be that you would have to submit stock holding proof, for every claim as you can only claim one cruise booking/departure date per claim

[Jim_Iain]

Quick question.     How far in advance can you apply for the Credit -   I have a booking for November.

 

 

[XLCAPRIES]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Quick question.     How far in advance can you apply for the Credit -   I have a booking for November.

 

 

The benefit is applicable on sailings through July 31, 2024 aboard the Carnival brands. Certain restrictions apply. Applications to receive these benefits should be made at least three weeks prior to cruise departure date. Reservations must be made by February 28, 2024.                                                                                                                   

So it looks like you could apply for cruises starting through to July 31, 2024, but not after.

 

Now, the shareholder benefit program is reviewed each year by the board.                                                                                                                                                                                     At present, the above applies, but in years gone by it has been extended for another year……….but nothing in definite these days but you might imagine the outcry if it wasn’t.

 

As to when the decision is made public, you might check past corporate media releases, i.e. if such was made public,  to gauge the possible timing.

Edited February 1 by XLCAPRIES
spacing

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, XLCAPRIES said:

The benefit is applicable on sailings through July 31, 2024 aboard the Carnival brands. Certain restrictions apply. Applications to receive these benefits should be made at least three weeks prior to cruise departure date. Reservations must be made by February 28, 2024.                                                                                                                   

So it looks like you could apply for cruises starting through to July 31, 2024, but not after.

 

Now, the shareholder benefit program is reviewed each year by the board.                                                                                                                                                                                     At present, the above applies, but in years gone by it has been extended for another year……….but nothing in definite these days but you might imagine the outcry if it wasn’t.

 

As to when the decision is made public, you might check past corporate media releases, i.e. if such was made public,  to gauge the possible timing.

I'll keep an eye on it.    Just bought my shares on the Jan 26 slump at 15.75.  

 

I've sailed Celebrity Exclusively for 23 years and the credits had removed any risk of stock price fluctuations.    I didn't realize how well RCL had been doing until I went into my account to sell off some of my Celebrity to buy these shares.    I bought 200 shares of RCCL at about $13 over 20 years ago.     Last week I sold 16 share at $130 giving me enough to get my 100 shares of Carnival. 

[XLCAPRIES]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'll keep an eye on it.    Just bought my shares on the Jan 26 slump at 15.75.  

 

I've sailed Celebrity Exclusively for 23 years and the credits had removed any risk of stock price fluctuations.    I didn't realize how well RCL had been doing until I went into my account to sell off some of my Celebrity to buy these shares.    I bought 200 shares of RCCL at about $13 over 20 years ago.     Last week I sold 16 share at $130 giving me enough to get my 100 shares of Carnival. 

It's alright for some.....and probably a good decision....hopefully CCL can only go up from here. Don't know when they will pay a dividend again...on hold since covid but the the Shareholder Benefit helps ..........but for those who bought pre-covid...like us............what else can you do than to go on more Carnival Corp cruises ....support the company and get something back, each time you cruise with them , just to ease the pain..........🙁🙂

[Cruise2End]

I truly am not impressed with their new method.   I submitted mine via fax per the old method on 12/23/23 and it has never shown up, so I called.   I spent much time on the phone and they called back saying I need to allow a “few weeks” for them to add it to my account.   My cruise is on 3/18.    I also do not want to give my income information nor link my brokerage account to their app.   This is obviously going to be used to solicit to invest in other products.   I will mail the info certified registered mail so I have documentation of submission… so frustrating.