March Promotion - Extra Cruise Points Question

So I booked a cruise that fell under this promotion on Saturday March 31. We applied a future cruise to the booking that we purchased on our last cruise. I double checked with my TA who then called RCI to confirm with them that I would be eligible for the bonus cruise points. He got back to me and told me that they confirmed I indeed would be.

Now today my TA calls me and tells me that he was informed by RCI that my booking is not eligible for the bonus cruise points. The reason is because I purchased the future cruise in October 2011 and thus it wasn't a new cruise booking between March 1-31.

Just curious what other people thoughts are on this, do I have a right to be mad about that ruling or is that a legitimate policy?

I'd say "both." You have every right to be mad about it if you want, particularly since it sounds like the RCI rep gave your TA bad information. On the other hand, it sounds to me like a legitimate policy on RCI's, since a cruise booked with a future cruise certificate is not, at least as I understand it, considered a brand-new booking.

I'd say "both." You have every right to be mad about it if you want, particularly since it sounds like the RCI rep gave your TA bad information. On the other hand, it sounds to me like a legitimate policy on RCI's, since a cruise booked with a future cruise certificate is not, at least as I understand it, considered a brand-new booking.

That's pretty much how I am viewing it right now. Pretty much buck it up and accept it.

Although this is pure speculation, but if I booked a future cruise on board a cruise during the month of March I have a hard time believing that they would honor the promotion had I booked this cruise in June.

Another thing that irks me is that if you are a Diamond member or higher it doesn't matter when you booked this cruise you will be eligible for the bonus cruise points. So as long as you booked prior to March 31.

So I booked a cruise that fell under this promotion on Saturday March 31. We applied a future cruise to the booking that we purchased on our last cruise. I double checked with my TA who then called RCI to confirm with them that I would be eligible for the bonus cruise points. He got back to me and told me that they confirmed I indeed would be.

 

Now today my TA calls me and tells me that he was informed by RCI that my booking is not eligible for the bonus cruise points. The reason is because I purchased the future cruise in October 2011 and thus it wasn't a new cruise booking between March 1-31.

 

Just curious what other people thoughts are on this, do I have a right to be mad about that ruling or is that a legitimate policy?

I had that same exact question when I used an NC certificate for one of the cruises listed in the March promo. My TA called someone in C&A and the regular booking people and both assured her that a booking made with the NC would get the extra points. My cruise is in November, so we shall see what happens.

Was this "any" cruise booked during March or just certain sailings :confused: I booked March 15th for Alaska May 17, 2013..

Was this "any" cruise booked during March or just certain sailings :confused: I booked March 15th for Alaska May 17, 2013..

Specific cruises:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/cas_sailmore_getmore.pdf

Competely missed this promo :( How can I sign up somewhere to get there announcements?

So I booked a cruise that fell under this promotion on Saturday March 31. We applied a future cruise to the booking that we purchased on our last cruise. I double checked with my TA who then called RCI to confirm with them that I would be eligible for the bonus cruise points. He got back to me and told me that they confirmed I indeed would be.

 

Now today my TA calls me and tells me that he was informed by RCI that my booking is not eligible for the bonus cruise points. The reason is because I purchased the future cruise in October 2011 and thus it wasn't a new cruise booking between March 1-31.

 

Just curious what other people thoughts are on this, do I have a right to be mad about that ruling or is that a legitimate policy?

I booked a cruise in March, directly with RCL, for a sailing that qualifies for bonus points. I too used a future cruise toward the booking and was told that I would get the bonus points. My future cruise was also purchased in Oct. 2011. Did you have a specific sailing date attached to that future cruise? I didn't, it was an open future cruise, therefore, they considered it booked when I finally applied it to this sailing.

I actually called back 2 other times to confirm, and even had the CSR's double check with their supervisors and I was assured that I would get the bonus points. I explained that I needed to be certain because the bonus points would get us to Diamond and if this wasn't going to work, there were other dates that would have worked better for us. I was repeatedly assured that because I never had a particular date attached to the original future cruise booking, it was considered a new booking in March.

I know that reps have been known to give out conflicting information, but I have faith in the info I was given, because so many different reps and supervisors said the same thing.

I purchased a FCC on the Mariner in March , came home , decided to go ahead and use it , and booked the same ship for next April. Then RCCL comes out with a savings certificate for my cruise for $125 OBC , but since I already booked, it does not qualify. So I call RCCL , and the young lady was nice , but said sorry, I can't help you. So I say you are penalizing me for being so loyal as to book right away, and the people you tempt after me, with a promotion , reap the rewards ? So I asked to speak to a supervisor, as I was not satisfied with this, and after a long wait on hold, she came back on and said she would try to apply the credit to my booking...Loyal customers are many times left out of the specials, and I do not understand this .:mad::confused:

I purchased a FCC on the Mariner in March , came home , decided to go ahead and use it , and booked the same ship for next April. Then RCCL comes out with a savings certificate for my cruise for $125 OBC , but since I already booked, it does not qualify. So I call RCCL , and the young lady was nice , but said sorry, I can't help you. So I say you are penalizing me for being so loyal as to book right away, and the people you tempt after me, with a promotion , reap the rewards ? So I asked to speak to a supervisor, as I was not satisfied with this, and after a long wait on hold, she came back on and said she would try to apply the credit to my booking...Loyal customers are many times left out of the specials, and I do not understand this .:mad::confused:

Did you book a specific cruise which would be classified as a Future Cruise or did you create a NextCruise with just a booking number?

I booked a cruise in March, directly with RCL, for a sailing that qualifies for bonus points. I too used a future cruise toward the booking and was told that I would get the bonus points. My future cruise was also purchased in Oct. 2011. Did you have a specific sailing date attached to that future cruise? I didn't, it was an open future cruise, therefore, they considered it booked when I finally applied it to this sailing.

 

I actually called back 2 other times to confirm, and even had the CSR's double check with their supervisors and I was assured that I would get the bonus points. I explained that I needed to be certain because the bonus points would get us to Diamond and if this wasn't going to work, there were other dates that would have worked better for us. I was repeatedly assured that because I never had a particular date attached to the original future cruise booking, it was considered a new booking in March.

 

I know that reps have been known to give out conflicting information, but I have faith in the info I was given, because so many different reps and supervisors said the same thing.

This is pretty much the same story my TA gave me when I asked her to confirm that we would get the bonus points when using an NC. Hopefully, by the time we take the cruise in question in September, Royal remembers what they promised.

Bob

... at least ours did. We also booked last day of month for a 10 night JS in December and our TA commented that we would get 26 points (which was what I had figured we would get from the promotion)... funny part was we did not even have time to tell her about the promo before she commented on the points!

I figure if they do not do Diamonds in December this year at least we have a back up plan...

I booked a cruise in March, directly with RCL, for a sailing that qualifies for bonus points. I too used a future cruise toward the booking and was told that I would get the bonus points. My future cruise was also purchased in Oct. 2011. Did you have a specific sailing date attached to that future cruise? I didn't, it was an open future cruise, therefore, they considered it booked when I finally applied it to this sailing.

 

I actually called back 2 other times to confirm, and even had the CSR's double check with their supervisors and I was assured that I would get the bonus points. I explained that I needed to be certain because the bonus points would get us to Diamond and if this wasn't going to work, there were other dates that would have worked better for us. I was repeatedly assured that because I never had a particular date attached to the original future cruise booking, it was considered a new booking in March.

 

I know that reps have been known to give out conflicting information, but I have faith in the info I was given, because so many different reps and supervisors said the same thing.

SAME happened to us. Our Fcc was purchased in January 2012. So much conflicting info was given by RCI reps and Crown and Anchor reps on this.

Alright I have an update on this matter and I am starting to become a believer of just booking straight through RCI.

Anyhow I took it upon myself to call RCI and see if the information my TA gave me was accurate. Hate having to double guess my TA but sometimes its necessary to see if they really are doing their best job. The information U got directly from an RCI rep is exactly what everyone else here is saying is that it doesn't matter when you purchase the future cruise the booking date goes by when you apply it so doing what I did should have been fine. Then she also informs me that my booking wasn't made on the 31st but rather on the 2nd.

So I called my TA agent back to inform him that the "rules" aren't as he tried telling me and that the reason that they said I wasn't eligible for the promotion is because he didn't do the paperwork on the 31st but rather the 2nd. Then he goes on to try and blame me saying that he didn't realize how the RCI future cruise certificates work and that he actually opened a booking on the 31st but then when he got the future cruise information and realized that it was an actual booking he transferred the one he made on the 31st to the future cruise on the 2nd and thus making me ineligible.

I told him that since the extra cruise credits was a make or break for booking the cruise due to achieving the next level I told him that he had two options. First option was for him to contact RCI and explain his mistake and get me the extra cruise credits as the original booking was made on the 31st or the second option was that I would cancel the booking.

He ended up calling me back about 45 minutes later and said that RCI did honor the original booking and made my sailing eligible for the bonus cruise points. So being a nice person as I did appreciate him doing the leg work to make things right I was going to foot some of the blame for not stressing that the promotion ended that day. But before I could finish my sentence he cuts me off and starts scolding me about how I should have told him that the promotion ended the 31st. So needless to say this will be the last time I use him to book a cruise.

Also since I don't know what he says as being true or not but there was a savings certificate for this cruise that initially got applied. But then all this went down and he ended up telling me that since their company was already giving me an OBC for making an early booking with them I wasn't eligible to receive both the OBC and the savings certificate. Does anyone know if that is the truth and is possibly the TA's policy or was he just trying to cover up another mistake since the savings certificate expired on the 31st as well?

Since the savings certificate was of better value than the OBC he did end up giving me extra OBC to match the amount of the savings certificate.

Also since I don't know what he says as being true or not but there was a savings certificate for this cruise that initially got applied. But then all this went down and he ended up telling me that since their company was already giving me an OBC for making an early booking with them I wasn't eligible to receive both the OBC and the savings certificate. Does anyone know if that is the truth and is possibly the TA's policy or was he just trying to cover up another mistake since the savings certificate expired on the 31st as well?

 

Since the savings certificate was of better value than the OBC he did end up giving me extra OBC to match the amount of the savings certificate.

The savings certificate could reduce the agent's commission, and therefore reduce the amount they have to give you their OBC. It's not unusual for an agent to reduce their perks if the price of the cruise (and therefore their commission) goes down.

I appreciate you taking the time to post your experience. It helps us all to know that we must remind the agent when there's a time limit to completing a booking.

The savings certificate could reduce the agent's commission, and therefore reduce the amount they have to give you their OBC. It's not unusual for an agent to reduce their perks if the price of the cruise (and therefore their commission) goes down.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to post your experience. It helps us all to know that we must remind the agent when there's a time limit to completing a booking.

Oh for sure it definitely sounds like a learning experience for both sides. That's why I was perfectly happy with what he was able to accomplish and was going to take some blame. But it really irked me when he cut me off to essentially just throw all the blame on me, especially after he lied to cover up his mistake.

I'm really glad it worked out well for you. And I'm glad to now know the correct information about future cruise certificates!

I purchased a FCC on the Mariner in March , came home , decided to go ahead and use it , and booked the same ship for next April. Then RCCL comes out with a savings certificate for my cruise for $125 OBC , but since I already booked, it does not qualify. .:mad::confused:

I have often added a C&A savings certificate to an existing cruise reservation. I would double check this one again if you don't get the answer you're looking for. Is it possible that that C&A certificate is no longer available this month?

Oh for sure it definitely sounds like a learning experience for both sides. That's why I was perfectly happy with what he was able to accomplish and was going to take some blame. But it really irked me when he cut me off to essentially just throw all the blame on me, especially after he lied to cover up his mistake.

Yeah, I'd definitely scrap that TA. Have a great cruise though!

I'm really glad it worked out well for you. And I'm glad to now know the correct information about future cruise certificates!

Yeah, I'd definitely scrap that TA. Have a great cruise though!

Thank you. That's what I love about these message boards. Even though there are different answers from different people you can always generally find what you;re looking for or how to go about achieving your desired goal.