RCCL VISA Points Question

[VaCruzers]

Does anyone know how this situation works? We have enough points for free cruise for two for Carib or Mexican Riviera in lowest available oceanview cabin. If there is a resident rate which applies to my booking, is that the rate that is applied, or is it the regular rate for that cabin category? I am thinking of booking a higher category cabin & just trying to determine what amount of credit I will have available to be sure my out of pocket stays within my budget. Since I will book then request the certificate to apply, what if there is a rate change? Is is the rate at the time of my booking or on the date the certificate is applied? Thanks for any info from those who have had this experience.

[temple1]

Book your cabin and when you apply for your certificate they will subtract the value of the fare only from your total.

 

DH and I are thinking of taking the Enchantment 4 nighter. I can use 25,000 points for a companion fare on a 3/4 night cruise. The lowest O/V cabin for our sailing date is $349/person. So they will apply that to our total. They do not give you credit for taxes or port port charges. So with that and with our deposit when final payment is due we will owe about $290.

 

If we used 50,000 points we would owe nothing and have an on board credit because our deposit would be more than the taxes and port charges.

 

Does this help, or is your head spinning?

[2skikids]

I am in the process of doing this. I booked the Liberty in August. I upgraded to a JS as there are 3 of us and we like the extra room and balcony. I got the certificate and mailed it in. Surprisely, in 5 days there was a decrease in the payment due for the amount that a Cat I room for 2. That amounted to about $1500.00. So all I pay is the 3rd person and the balance of the upgrade. We were also able to use our Diamond discount and since we had next cruise certificate prior to Jan, they acccepted that. We were also able to apply the Crown and anchor coupons. Since my husband is over 55 and there is a Senior discount for that.

 

From what I understand, each certificate is worth what the Cat I room rate on that particular cruise- so it will be different on each cruise.

 

Now, to spin your head even more. I noticed a price drop (with the help of a friend:D). I called and was told that sometimes taking the price drop is not cost effective. It is only saving money if the Cat I doesn't change. That is what happened. The JS went down and I was able - after speaking to 3 different departments ( and they all lovely) get the decrease in rate. I saved another $360.00 for the cruise. I just have to wait a week and make sure the certificate is applied. They had to take the certificate off the one reservation and apply it to the revised one.

 

I hope this is not too confusing.:confused:

Kathy

[temple1]

I don't know about the OP, but my head is spinning and I'm out of breath!! :eek: Congratulations??

 

I was having trouble finding a cruise I wanted to take with DH in September - we have plans carved in stone for Labor Day so we have to work around that. For about 5 minutes I was thinking about booking with anther cruise line. The rates seemed cheap enough and the ports were similar - but the dates were working better. Then I realized - oh I can't use my points on Carnival.

[VaCruzers]

Thanks for your input, but it does not answer my question: Will the credit be for the category I rate or the Category I resident discount rate? Perhaps clarifying my question will help find an answer.

[elkdude]

Not sure if this helps; but we just redeemed points for an upcoming cruise on AOS. We are in a Superior Ocean View Balcony stateroom; which was originally booked back in May 2008; and paid in full by March 31 this year. We then hit the 125,000 point level in April this year (free 7-day Caribbean cruise for 2); and redeemed the certificate. I am not sure what the minimum oceanview cost was for this cruise at the time of redemption; but we were credited $2,300 - effectively making the cruise fare portion of the trip free for us. Since our original fare was $1,149/person, it appears we got credit for the origianal amount.

[April-in-NC]

Thanks for your input, but it does not answer my question: Will the credit be for the category I rate or the Category I resident discount rate? Perhaps clarifying my question will help find an answer.

 

It depends on when you send in the coupon. They will use the current booked rate for your free cruise. If you haven't had the residency rate applied yet the coupon will be for the amount originally booked.

 

Does that help any?

[karena1]

Thanks for your input, but it does not answer my question: Will the credit be for the category I rate or the Category I resident discount rate? Perhaps clarifying my question will help find an answer.

 

Hopefully I can help - we booked a OV on Monarch and used a buy one/get one from points. Originally, the value of the coupon was equal to the value of our cabin since Cat I was the "minimum avail OV".

 

Next - Senior Discount allowed us to move up to a SOV for less money. The Cat I (min avail OV $449) was still higher than a SOV ($374), so we were fine - no cost to us - in fact saved money since the SOV was less than the Cat I

 

Next - Another Senior Discount - Price on the SOV went down again by $55. However, this time there was also a senior discount on the "min Avail OV". So instead of saving $55, we only saved $6 since our "free" fare now had a balance due of $50. (SOV = $319, Min Avail OV = $269)

 

So try to make a long store short. Your coupon is the value of the Minimum Avail OV on the date you book. However, if you get a price break along the way, and the Min Avail OV has a price break also, the follows - in other words - any time you make a change to your reservation, whatever the MAOV is on that date is what you coupon is worth. Works the same for senior discounts or residency discounts

 

I hope that makes sense. Since we just went through this I tried to explain it the best I could.

[VaCruzers]

Thanks, I now know better what to expect. I appreciate everyone taking the time to reply :)

[pmshirl]

I used the 125K certificate several times!

 

I always book a Higher Cat. and pay the difference.

 

My last certificate when I applied it just a few months ago was used towards my Balcony cabin, since the Balcony rate was LOWER than the OV rate! I DID not get any type CREDIT since the OV rate was higher.

 

The certificate will be used for whatever lower rate of an OV is at the time the cert is applied! If you have a Senior discount, resident discount, whatever..the cert. will be worth the amount of your total at the time the cert. is APPLIED!

 

So if you are looking for the best bang for the worth of the Cert,. try to apply it to a High Priced OV on a Ship you would like to cruise on!

 

I used it on the Liberty in 2007...was worth $2500.00 ( before they changed the rules).

 

I used one for June 2009... was worth 1940.00.

 

Either way you get the 2 free in the lowest OV category! Whether you have any type of Discounts!

 

I received all my OBC's ( stockholder, T/A, Next cruise, etc.) along with using the Visa points!

 

Have A Great Cruise!:)