Stock Obc Not Combinable Anymore

[UB & AS]

Hello Bill and Sandy

Hope you are BOTH feeling better... sorry we did not see you anywhere the last few days.

FYI we also just booked a X cruise - 9 day Pacific and were told we would also get ALL OBC and Stock Benefit credits. I will wait and see for confirmation. I see that some have been CASHING in the OBC's - never had that option as our account was always much higher! Hope all is well!

Terry

Nice to hear from your. We did not see enough of you on Millie. Our next X cruise is 11 night Mercury Wine Cruise, Vancouver to San Diego, sailing on October 12, 2009, with two nights in San Francisco. Easy cruise for us and the itinerary looks great. We will stay on-board in Nanaimo, visit with our daughter in Victoria and see Sandy's sister in Astoria. Santa Catalina will be a new port of call for us. Pleased that we get all the benefits we are entitled to. Our next cruise is Oceania around Cape Horn sailing on February 17. Warm Regards, Bill and Sandy

[Gonzo70]

Pardon me, what OBC comes from TA? When I book on board, doesn't it come from RCL?

 

Some TA's offer OBC as an incentive to book a cruise (or transfer an exisiting booking prior to final payment) with them. They give you a portion of their commission as an OBC or other perk (i.e. pre-paid gratuitties). Generally the larger TA's, especially online TA's are more apt to this as they focus more on volume than personal attention to their clients.

[negc]

At the same level - Diamond for RCL and Elite for Princess - Princess has better benefits- Price reductions, free laundry and dry cleaning, almost free internet, one fill of the minibar, plus other stuff.

Does Princess offer a concierge lounge with free drinks every evening and how much laundry is free, a whole week's worth or only a limited amount? Does Princess offer balcony discounts? and when you say "almost free internet" just what does that actually encompass?

[NCMtnBoys]

To be correct it is 16 cruises or 150 Cruise Days. If you take longer cruises you get there faster.

 

 

 

Remember the effective date of this change is July 1, 2008. That means that any Booking, OBC or discount after that date could be retroactively removed with the enforcement of this change. Poof.. it is all gone.

 

Because I have attained Elite status with Princess, it will be very easy for me to leave Royal Caribbean. With the cuts being made by RCI in all the past passenger perks it is becoming more attractive to cruise with Princess, and it makes their past passenger benefits more attractive.

 

Just to set the record straight Princess will honor a price reduction after final payment as long as it is not "for new bookings only", the same rule RCI uses.

 

Their past passenger perks may have become more attractive, but RCIs ships are more attractive. I don't necessarily cruise for the perks, although I haven't earned as many as other people. If I were D or D+ I may feel differently...actually, after my cruise next week I'll be one away from D. But at this point, and even after I reach the D level, I won't choose a cruiseline just for the perks.

 

A cruise is a cruise is a cruise, according to how some people may think. Easy to jump ship and place your loyalties elsewhere. I guess I may be in the minority then. I consider myself truly loyal to Royal (haven't cruised anyone else) and have NO intention of looking elsewhere, ragardless of the changes they make. I realize, though, that although I'm loyal to Royal, their loyalty to me is much less. They are mass market, with sort of the "take our product or leave it" attitude. I'll take it.

 

I would venture to say that eventually the other lines will change policies regarding various things and drive people's "former-loyal-to-royal-now-loyal-to-princess" loyalty away. Will they be back to RCI? At some point you may have to christen your own cruise ship and make the policies juuuuust the way you like them so that your sailing is guaranteed to be juuuuust the way you want it. :D :D :D Never going to find perfection with any of them.

[critterchick]

I am curious; do the people speaking about leaving Royal Caribbean for Princess not think that Carnival Corporation will implement similar changes in the near future? CCL has less debt per equity than RCL and is a much larger company, but they too have been hurting financially of late and are dealing with much higher costs. CCL also announced recently that bookings are somewhat down from last year's pace. IMHO CCL will also be putting similar changes into affect as RCL has recently begun to do. The choice likely will not end up be leaving Royal Caribbean for another mass market cruise line, but dealing with the cut backs, finding an entriely different type of vacation, or paying up for a luxury cruise line.

 

Actually, this year Princess enhanced their program, allowing passengers to combine OBC with the shareholder credit, something they had not allowed in the past. And, for a limited booking period, past passengers get a discount on the cruises they book. I'm not sure of the details on that, though.:)

 

Does Princess offer a concierge lounge with free drinks every evening and how much laundry is free, a whole week's worth or only a limited amount? Does Princess offer balcony discounts? and when you say "almost free internet" just what does that actually encompass?

 

Princess does not have a concierge lounge, just the initial drink setup for Elite passengers. All laundry is free, so you can go home with clean clothes if you like. You get a credit toward Internet usage (it used to be unlimited free Internet at Platinum, but apparently too many people allowed friends to use their cards and ruined it for everybody). On a 7-night cruise, it's $75 per passenger who qualifies. It's not enough for you to spend all night every night in the Internet cafe, but we found that we didn't use it all, even checking email daily.

[Ray in NH]

It is also interesting that Princess is apparently the beneficiary of another RCL policy change... changing itineraries to save fuel, especially Panama Canal. I am amazed at all the changes RCL in making. They are not stupid people(RCL upper management), so they must have calculated the cost/lost of customers/revenues and decided it still made economic sense.

 

I like RCL/Celebrity and sail them for the cruise experience. I just hope they do not dumb it down too much or price it where it begins to lose its competitive advantage over lots of land based vacations.

 

I do have to admit that I now am taking more land based trips for two reasons: variety and convience. The airlines for me have not helped cruising as I fly to most ports for our cruises.

 

Actually, Princess has not allowed combining of OBCs for some time now, at least since 2005. Yet strangely enough parent corporation Carnival does allow combining, or at least did until a year ago -- haven't cruised with Carnival recently.

Ray in NH

[Demongear]

I have to ring in here about not combining OBC. I just returned from a 7 night cruise and yes I did stack OBC. These came from 4 different places.

1) Travel Agent(assuming it came out of her commission so RCL did get their money for it).

2) WOW event (Royal ENTICED me to book by offering a OBC).

3)Stockholder Benefit(enough said,although I did buy more than the minimum required)

4) RCL visa points.

 

My point is, 2 of the places Royal had their money before the cruise and 1 of the remaining was an Enticement to book by Royal themselves.

 

Why should people be penalized when RCL is being paid for over 1/2 of the OBC that I recieved?

 

We are paying the fuel supplements.(no commision paid on that)so money directly to RCL.

 

Lastly, They (RCL) made the rules of combining Shareholder benefits with other benefits/offers to get us to cruise with them. We just took advantage of the perks that are being offfered. I see it much like a Best Buy or Circuit City offering you 3 years at 0% interest on their CC so that you buy your big screen TV from them.

[Noreen411]

Hi

 

I've just read through this post and am disappointed to hear that the ability to stack the stock ownership OBC with other OBC/discount offers will not be allowed in the future.

 

Here is my question...

When do you normally fax/email your statement to shareholder services to receive the OBC?

I've historically faxed it in close to the sail date assuming they wanted a current statement.

Can I fax them in earlier? I'm not trying to get around a policy change but just trying to take care of all the paperwork as soon as possible so I don't have to worry about doing it closer to sailing.

Ex. I have a March 2009 cruise on the Mariner booked. The closest quarterly statement I will receive will be my 12/31/08 statement that I'll probably receive late January. Normally, that is the one I would fax over. Can I send an earlier one?

 

Thank you in advance for your responses.

Noreen

[Demongear]

Hi

 

I've just read through this post and am disappointed to hear that the ability to stack the stock ownership OBC with other OBC/discount offers will not be allowed in the future.

 

Here is my question...

When do you normally fax/email your statement to shareholder services to receive the OBC?

I've historically faxed it in close to the sail date assuming they wanted a current statement.

Can I fax them in earlier? I'm not trying to get around a policy change but just trying to take care of all the paperwork as soon as possible so I don't have to worry about doing it closer to sailing.

Ex. I have a March 2009 cruise on the Mariner booked. The closest quarterly statement I will receive will be my 12/31/08 statement that I'll probably receive late January. Normally, that is the one I would fax over. Can I send an earlier one?

 

Thank you in advance for your responses.

Noreen

 

I have sent one for a Jan. 2010 cruise. The rules are you must own the stock when you sail.

[shipshape sam]

Actually, Princess has not allowed combining of OBCs for some time now, at least since 2005. Yet strangely enough parent corporation Carnival does allow combining, or at least did until a year ago -- haven't cruised with Carnival recently.

 

Ray in NH

 

Guess a number of people who are indicating they will sail Princess will get a surprise!

 

Princess though is getting, based on comments on CC, an uptick of business due to RCL's decision to modify itineraries to save fuel.

 

Hope RCL stays competitive and maintains a quality product offering!

[jmraggs]

Pardon me, what OBC comes from TA? When I book on board, doesn't it come from RCL?

 

Yes you are correct. The OBC I was talking about was someone saying they get an OBC from their Travel Agent, not RCL. RCL gives you another one if you book on board or use the next cruise option.

[TheMiz]

Hi

 

I've just read through this post and am disappointed to hear that the ability to stack the stock ownership OBC with other OBC/discount offers will not be allowed in the future.

 

Here is my question...

When do you normally fax/email your statement to shareholder services to receive the OBC?

I've historically faxed it in close to the sail date assuming they wanted a current statement.

Can I fax them in earlier? I'm not trying to get around a policy change but just trying to take care of all the paperwork as soon as possible so I don't have to worry about doing it closer to sailing.

Ex. I have a March 2009 cruise on the Mariner booked. The closest quarterly statement I will receive will be my 12/31/08 statement that I'll probably receive late January. Normally, that is the one I would fax over. Can I send an earlier one?

 

Thank you in advance for your responses.

Noreen

 

I sent one in about 2 weeks ago for my Feb. 2nd sailing , never heard anything back from them until this week, that was strange as it has in the past been just a matter of about 48 hours.

[TheMiz]

Yes you are correct. The OBC I was talking about was someone saying they get an OBC from their Travel Agent, not RCL. RCL gives you another one if you book on board or use the next cruise option.

 

I have received OBC from my TA as a thank you for booking with him etc.

 

On an up coming cruise, a 3 legged cruise, I was asked to move my cabin since I am only doing the 3rd leg to help out a TA's client who is doing all 3 legs but has to move on the 3rd , so I agreed and I was received a balcony and the their TA is giving me a obc as a thank you for trading cabins

[critterchick]

Actually, Princess has not allowed combining of OBCs for some time now, at least since 2005. Yet strangely enough parent corporation Carnival does allow combining, or at least did until a year ago -- haven't cruised with Carnival recently.

 

Ray in NH

 

We booked a cruise on the Sapphire Princess over the summer using a future cruise credit and DH told me that he has confirmation that the shareholder credit was also applied. As I said, they changed the policy some time this year.:)

[FIRELT5]

We booked a cruise on the Sapphire Princess over the summer using a future cruise credit and DH told me that he has confirmation that the shareholder credit was also applied. As I said, they changed the policy some time this year.:)

 

PCL & Cunard changed the policy in March.

[Jeka]

Some TA's offer OBC as an incentive to book a cruise (or transfer an exisiting booking prior to final payment) with them. They give you a portion of their commission as an OBC or other perk (i.e. pre-paid gratuitties). Generally the larger TA's, especially online TA's are more apt to this as they focus more on volume than personal attention to their clients.

 

A totally unfair generalization of online TAs.:mad: We use one, have received excellent service and great obcs. No complaints here!!

 

One fear I have about this thread and topic: Right now RCI is allowing SH obcs to be used in conjunction with balcony discounts, let's hope we haven't awaken the money savings gods who will put an end to this sooner rather than later.

[Gonzo70]

A totally unfair generalization of online TAs.:mad: We use one, have received excellent service and great obcs. No complaints here!!

 

One fear I have about this thread and topic: Right now RCI is allowing SH obcs to be used in conjunction with balcony discounts, let's hope we haven't awaken the money savings gods who will put an end to this sooner rather than later.

 

There certainly are exceptions. I was talking about the general rule; normally the TA's passing out large OBC's are extremely large travel agencies that are not known for providing a lot of 1 on 1 attention. That does not mean that there are not some good TA's who work for them.

 

I don't think this thread is so powerful that it will cause RCL to implement the changes any faster than they are planning to do. The new language was just noticed two days ago regarding the Shareholder OBC no longer being combinable. Over the next few weeks to months we will likely see it being enforced only very sporadically, then more frequently and in several months time it likely will be fully enforced. These things often take time, but I think the writing is on the wall (sadly for those of us who have enjoyed the perks, but in the long run it may be a good thing as it likely will help keep RCL remain a viable company in tough economic times). :)

[Rancher Dave]

This went into effect July 1, 2008.

I'd guess it is not tightly enforced...in Aug on a cruise we booked in Aug (9 days ahead of the cruise) we got Platnium discount and OBC for shareholder...if I had more shares I was to get OBC for each cabin per the Shareholder folks.

[tootsieh]

Who wants to sail with Princess or Carnival----not us!! We want to continue sailing with RCCL but not with these changes. Someone new comes into the company and thinks they are going to make all of these profitable changes and guess what usually happens to the company-----------their profit goes down, down, down!!!! This doesn't sound like the RCCL we all love!!!!

[Jeka]

There certainly are exceptions. I was talking about the general rule; normally the TA's passing out large OBC's are extremely large travel agencies that are not known for providing a lot of 1 on 1 attention. That does not mean that there are not some good TA's who work for them.

 

I don't think this thread is so powerful that it will cause RCL to implement the changes any faster than they are planning to do. The new language was just noticed two days ago regarding the Shareholder OBC no longer being combinable. Over the next few weeks to months we will likely see it being enforced only very sporadically, then more frequently and in several months time it likely will be fully enforced. These things often take time, but I think the writing is on the wall (sadly for those of us who have enjoyed the perks, but in the long run it may be a good thing as it likely will help keep RCL remain a viable company in tough economic times). :)

 

Again, we work with a large travel agency, and when out personal TA isn't in, someone else works with us.

 

I'd like to agree with you on a CC thread not being powerful, but there is already a news story about the infamous steak and CC's members response to it so..............................

[Jeka]

I'd guess it is not tightly enforced...in Aug on a cruise we booked in Aug (9 days ahead of the cruise) we got Platnium discount and OBC for shareholder...if I had more shares I was to get OBC for each cabin per the Shareholder folks.

 

There is no arguement from me that the shareholder benefit is currently being given, we've benefited in the last week or so. There was a big to do months ago about offers not being combined effective July 1. As this thread has clearly pointed out, definitions have changed so not sure why you highlighted this date.

[Gonzo70]

Again, we work with a large travel agency, and when out personal TA isn't in, someone else works with us.

 

 

You are missing the point. Your personal experience does not mean that that is what is most common. You are simply one person. In general the massive online TA's do not provide the same level as personal service as small mortar based TA's, but on average they do provide better incentives. Your personal good experience with a large online TA does not change this fact.

[critterchick]

I'd guess it is not tightly enforced...in Aug on a cruise we booked in Aug (9 days ahead of the cruise) we got Platnium discount and OBC for shareholder...if I had more shares I was to get OBC for each cabin per the Shareholder folks.

 

It didn't go into effect on July 1. The original language was in place at least in August. I was having a fuzz-buzz with them over an Azamara booking mid-month. So they've changed it since then.

 

RCI has a habit of not immediately enforcing their new policies. Let's see how long this one takes to be put into effect...

[mamacat3]

I have read most but not all the pages of this thread. From what I've read no one has touched on the fact that some people buy the stock for the cruise they are doing now and get the OBC and then sell it! As always it is those greedy people who ruin it for the rest of the honest folks!

[winncove]

Sent for my OBC & didn't get denied but...they want another copy of the purchase. Used the one on file in March so I'm not sure what's going on. Tried to fax it but the phone service was down all evening. ???