RCI Visa Points for OnBoard Credit - Applying and spending before cruise

Hi fellow Royal Caribbean cruisers.....

Has anyone redeemed their RCI (Bank of America) Visa points for onboard credit, and have had it applied to your booking to use, and have you actually spent it - BEFORE your cruise?

I'm looking to redeem points, and have it on my account - so I can book excursions BEFORE I board the ship. For years I have done the redemptions and have had the money available after I have boarded. This is the first time I want to spend the money before I get on board.

Just wondering if anyone has done it, and did it work well?

Thanks!

I've not done that personally, but have read reports from people that have.

The problem you might have is that the OBC from Visa points is applied in order of sailing date, so you may not have the Visa points OBC available until a few weeks before the cruise.

I would suggest that instead of an onboard credit, you redeem your points for a credit against the cruise fare cost. Your OBC only applies to purchases while onboard. All your pre-cruise reservations have to paid up front. At least that was our experience last May.

I bought a beverage package and the one excursion we took last month with OBC I'd redeemed from the card several weeks before sailing. It showed up in the Cruise Planner a few days after redemption.

I would suggest that instead of an onboard credit, you redeem your points for a credit against the cruise fare cost. Your OBC only applies to purchases while onboard. All your pre-cruise reservations have to paid up front. At least that was our experience last May.

RCI's policy has changed. If you have OBC on your account pre-cruise, you can use it to for purchases pre-cruise.

I would suggest that instead of an onboard credit, you redeem your points for a credit against the cruise fare cost. Your OBC only applies to purchases while onboard. All your pre-cruise reservations have to paid up front. At least that was our experience last May.

I believe that you have to have at least 15,000 points in order to do that. You can get OBC for 5,000 or 10,000 points

I redeemed points for OBC in January for November cruise. I recently received an offer for 20% off shore excursions & wanted to use the OBC, which isn't usually available until a week or two before sailing. I called & explained & the agent spoke with "resolutions". The OBC was available to me for use later that afternoon! Try calling :)

I redeemed points for OBC on Monday. When I logged into my cruise account today it is showing as available to spend now.

I redeemed points for OBC on Monday. When I logged into my cruise account today it is showing as available to spend now.

Is this for your Anthem cruise this month?

Is this for your Anthem cruise this month?

I was just coming to ask that same question- my guess is yes

I redeemed points for an OBC in May for a September cruise. Finally called because it hadn't shown up on my reservation, they said it won't be posted until a week before cruise. I wish I had known I would applied the points to the cruise payment, I thought I would be able to use them to purchase excursions beforehand.

Thanks everyone!

I think I will redeem some of the points, and see if they show up in my reservation. If they do not, I will give them a call, and see if they can be "pushed" to be available.

It's for a cruise in October, so I have lots of time - but now that the final payment has been made, I'm eager to book an excursion that I suspect may sell out.

And! If they offer another sale on excursions or beverage packages, I want that sale price too!

Appreciate the responses! Always amazing how someone's experience can be completely different from someone else's - with the same cruise line.

We've done it and it worked out fine.

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I redeemed points for OBC in January for November cruise. I recently received an offer for 20% off shore excursions & wanted to use the OBC, which isn't usually available until a week or two before sailing. I called & explained & the agent spoke with "resolutions". The OBC was available to me for use later that afternoon! Try calling :)

If you don't mind my asking, what number did you call? Did you call RCl or Visa ? I called Visa and Crown and Anchor last week and neither could help me get my points added to my reservation. (regular res won't talk to me because I booked my cruise with a travel agency)

I redeemed my points 3 weeks ago for a September cruise and have missed the shore excursion pre-cruise sails because I can't get my OBC added to my res.

Any help you can provide is certainly appreciated.

If you don't mind my asking, what number did you call? Did you call RCl or Visa ? I called Visa and Crown and Anchor last week and neither could help me get my points added to my reservation. (regular res won't talk to me because I booked my cruise with a travel agency)

 

I redeemed my points 3 weeks ago for a September cruise and have missed the shore excursion pre-cruise sails because I can't get my OBC added to my res.

 

Any help you can provide is certainly appreciated.

The phone number for the RC Visa points redemption people: 888-305-4626.

We just did the Radiance in Australia back in March. We had $150 in Visa money. It showed up in our cruise planner as spendable before the cruise. We used it for "First Night Done Right" (BOGO) at Chops.

One of the few things that Royal has actually done to make things easier.

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I had the Celebrity card, not the RC card, but they are both Bank of America. I redeemed 15,000 points in March for a December cruise and they are already available for use online. I wanted to redeem them so I could cancel the card before the annual fee hit.

Bridedoll1026....... no need to reply, my points were finally posted today. Waiting now to see if RCL is going to offer another "sale" for shore excursions.

The credit that I redeemed last week is showing in the cruise planner today. My cruise isn't till Sept 30. so should be plenty of time to make purchases:)