Will Royal extend their expiration date for FCC's?

[JillK]

Does anyone think there's a possibility that Royal could extend their sail by/expiration date for those of us who are holding FCC's with a "sail by" date of December 31, 2021?

 

In order to qualify for reimbursement for our cruise in March, we had to cancel 72 hours prior to sail day. We did so as we were concerned about the border closing and having to quarantine, cancelling on Wednesday (03/11) a cruise that Royal cancelled on Friday (03/13) when they suspended operations. If we only had a crystal ball, we wouldn't have cancelled so that we would have been able to get a full refund. As it stands, we are left holding FCC that expire end of next year.

 

At the time we were issued our FCC, Royal was anticipating a return to service on April 11th. We all know that date has now been pushed to the fall, and possibly to the end of the year.  Meanwhile, the US/Canada border has been closed with that closure extended several times (currently late Aug but there are media reports that it too will be pushed further, possibly to the end of the year). 

 

The opportunity to use my FCC has shrunk from a 20 month window to (as of today) a 14 month window and possibly smaller depending on how things develop in the fall with the cruise industry and the border situation. 

 

I would like to use the FCC to book a similar cruise as the one we missed this year for March 2022 - school break cruise with our four kids (last chance as that year is our eldest's last year in high school). Would not entertain March 2021 at this point, too much uncertainty. 

 

Any thoughts? 

[drsel]

I don't think they will extend the expiry date of the FCC

[orville99]

I just did a Lift & Shift on a January 2021 cruise that had an FCC on it to a February 2022 cruise, and they re-applied the original FCCs to that cruise. There's been a long-standing debate on CC whether the expiry date on FCCs is "sail by" or "book by". Since you can now use FCCs to book new cruises, I'd call them and see if they will allow you to use the ones you have for the cruise you want.

[molly361]

Or make a refundable reservation for late 2021 and apply the FCC to that.  Then later next year cancel that one and you will get a new FCC with a year to use that one

[LMaxwell]

I'm in exactly same situation as OP is with 2 cruises.  When Royal offered the Cruise with Confidence Cancellation and then paused operations that same week they originally anticipated a 2 week shutdown.  While they might not have envisioned it going through all of 2020 and beyond; they were trying to sell me cruises for April, May, June, etc...

 

I think it is poor practice not to extend the use by date on these.  And while there may be steps one can take to kick the can down the road that requires another deposit and I don't think it is a wise use of my money to give these companies more money when they have no date they can realistically expect to sail. Hopefully Royal does the right thing and extends the use by date for these certificates.  

[JillK]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

I just did a Lift & Shift on a January 2021 cruise that had an FCC on it to a February 2022 cruise, and they re-applied the original FCCs to that cruise. There's been a long-standing debate on CC whether the expiry date on FCCs is "sail by" or "book by". Since you can now use FCCs to book new cruises, I'd call them and see if they will allow you to use the ones you have for the cruise you want.

 

Here is the wording in the email I received with my FCC amounts... It's definitely sail by. I would just want to be sure that I can roll over to another cruise as molly361 suggests without risk of losing the value. 

 

- Any booking made using the Cruise with Confidence FCC must be used for a sailing that commences on or before December 31, 2021.

- If the Cruise With Confidence FCC is not redeemed and sailed on or before December 31, 2021, the certificate will automatically expire and have no value.

[livylotte]

It's sail by date on my Cruise with Confidence FCC too.

Edited July 22, 2020 by livylotte

[Ourusualbeach]

For cruises cancelled by a Royal it’s an ally by Dec 31, 2022, sail by April 30, 2022

 

For cruises that guests cancel it’s an apply by AND sail by date of Dec 31, 2021

 

 

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

7 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

And while there may be steps one can take to kick the can down the road that requires another deposit and I don't think it is a wise use of my money

FCC’s can now be used to cover the deposit amount. This was changed about a month ago. 

[LMaxwell]

On 7/22/2020 at 8:36 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

FCC’s can now be used to cover the deposit amount. This was changed about a month ago. 

Thanks for the updates; I haven't been on the board much.  Have they extended the sail by date of 12/21? 

[Ourusualbeach]

4 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Thanks for the updates; I haven't been on the board much.  Have they extended the sail by date of 12/21? 

If you cancelled under the CWC then it is still 12/21

 

if the cruise line cancelled then it is 04/22 but must be applied by 12/21

[Mary Louise]

Hi,

 

  Sorry I have not been on this board for quite some time. I cancelled my cruise back in April for a June cruise before final payment. It was a NRD, so I would not get a refund, but a FCC. Did everyone get a FCC certificate, if so did it go to your TA or directly to you? I did not receive any certificate, can someone tell me how you obtained it?   

 

Thank you

 

ML

[Biker19]

10 minutes ago, Mary Louise said:

I did not receive any certificate, can someone tell me how you obtained it? 

Call RCI.

[Mary Louise]

Thank you 

 

Will do

[Iamcruzin]

These FCCs have been an ordeal since they were first issued.  So many changes to the rules. A restart isn't happening anytime soon given the recent events on smaller cruise ships in Europe. The real question is how long can the cruise lines stay a float (pun intended) without a source of income before they have to restructure and possibly have to renege on all of the issued FCCs.

 

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Iamcruzin

[wolfcathorse]

I would use the FCC for a March 2021 cruise then when that one is cancelled by RCI you'll get another FCC, unless you opt for a refund. Just don't cancel your cruise, let RCI cancel.

[bigrednole]

I doubt they would do it. They are cash strapped already. I think they have been fair in their policy. I am sure their creditors would not look favorably on them extending.

 

Anything and everything is possible with the cruise lines at the moment. They could file for bankruptcy protection in 6 months leaving all unused FCCs worthless. Deposits for cruises only go so far. They need to start getting to the point of sailing to start making real money. That is at least 6-9 months away for the US. The CDC is not their friend and nothing will happen until they have a plan in place for every bullet point. The main ones are the facilities and doctors port side for quarantine of all passengers for 14-days. I don't see the cruise lines funding that any time soon, they would have to find an insurance carrier to cover it, and then charge all passengers for that policy. The two are not even in the same ballpark at the moment and it will take months of negotiating once they do. 

[LuCruise]

7 minutes ago, wolfcathorse said:

I would use the FCC for a March 2021 cruise then when that one is cancelled by RCI you'll get another FCC, unless you opt for a refund. Just don't cancel your cruise, let RCI cancel.

But if you cancel, Royal will still re-issue the original FCC with a new expiry...even if the original FCC would have been expired, right?  That was my understanding from another thread.

[BrianB]

Hi all we must be an exception ... I cancelled our July 2020 Baltic in March 3 weeks later booked B2B on Empress for Jan. of next year .... a month later did the L&S for 2 Cruises for Feb. 2022 .... after many phone calls I finally received the FCC's for the original Cruise and applied them to Feb. 2022 Cruise 🙂

 

I'm thinking the only reason they did that is they know I would have put the FCC's on the Jan. 2021 Cruises.

 

  I'm a Happy Cruiser now ! .... now if we can all get back to Cruising again 🙂

 

    Brian

[Ourusualbeach]

9 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

These FCCs have been an ordeal since they were first issued.  So many changes to the rules. A restart isn't happening anytime soon given the recent events on smaller cruise ships in Europe. The real question is how long can the cruise lines stay a float (pun intended) without a source of income before they have to restructure and possibly have to renege on all of the issued FCCs.

 

 

So what are these changes to the riles that you refer to?

 

The change that I recall is that the FCC can now be used to cover the deposit which is a positive change. 

[JillK]

It's a frustrating situation all round.  I continue to wish we hadn't been tempted by the CWC offer and just hung in there. We'd now have a refund and wouldn't have to wonder what will happen down the road.

 

I agree with most here that it's a difficult situation for the cruise lines and do wonder how long they can remain viable with no ships sailing. 

 

On the other hand, although we cancelled our cruise a few days before sailing because (as Canadians) we were concerned about crossing the border, Royal did ultimately cancel the cruise themselves. At the time they thought the pause would only be a month. Now our time frame to use our FCC is reduced from a 20 month window to 14 month window and that doesn't even address the added wrinkle of the border not being open to non-essential travel (who knows when that will be lifted?)

 

We have tentatively booked something for December 2021 but would prefer if we could cruise in 2022 (which would have been our natural next cruise had the one this past March gone on successfully).

 

I feel that we are being forced to vacation when we don't want to in order not to loose the value of the FCCs. I'm also avoiding cruises that offer KSF as I don't know if I can shift my kids credit fully to myself (they sure didn't pay for their fare so I wonder if I could make a case?) 

 

That being said, in the grand scheme of things these are very small quibbles given the state of the world right now and I'm trying to remain hopeful that by a year's time things will be more settled and life will be closer to normal. My immediate concern is sending my four kids back to school in September!! 

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, JillK said:

I'm also avoiding cruises that offer KSF as I don't know if I can shift my kids credit fully to myself (they sure didn't pay for their fare so I wonder if I could make a case?) 

Unfortunately with FCC’s if they were issued because you cancelled they must be used by the guests named and amounts can’t be transferred.  If Royal had cancelled Royal will move money around to use them up.

[JillK]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Unfortunately with FCC’s if they were issued because you cancelled they must be used by the guests named and amounts can’t be transferred.  If Royal had cancelled Royal will move money around to use them up.

Yeah that's what I figured. Really silly policy when it comes to guests under 18. They certainly didn't pay their fare themselves and can't cruise on their own! 

[Ourusualbeach]

24 minutes ago, JillK said:

Yeah that's what I figured. Really silly policy when it comes to guests under 18. They certainly didn't pay their fare themselves and can't cruise on their own! 

If the kids are 12 and under you can call guest relations 800.256.6649 and they should be able to put a note on the FCC’s that will allow them to be used by another person.  Not sure if they will allow them to be stacked or not .  Over 12 and they must be used by the individual.

[JillK]

50 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If the kids are 12 and under you can call guest relations 800.256.6649 and they should be able to put a note on the FCC’s that will allow them to be used by another person.  Not sure if they will allow them to be stacked or not .  Over 12 and they must be used by the individual.

 

Thanks! 

 

Two are under 12 (and will still be at the expiration of the FCC) so maybe it's possible to look at cruise where they would be "free" if I can get Royal to move their funds to the rest of us.