Pinnacle benefit - Free Cruise

[cublet]

Hello,

 

Notwithstanding the usual Royal's left hand not knowing what the right is doing, we appear to have (at least) two versions of the Pinnacle Cruise Certificate in circulation.

 

 

What we need to get (something approaching) certainty is to hear from someone that has used a PCC recently.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[molly361]

2 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

Notwithstanding the usual Royal's left hand not knowing what the right is doing, we appear to have (at least) two versions of the Pinnacle Cruise Certificate in circulation.

 

 

What we need to get (something approaching) certainty is to hear from someone that has used a PCC recently.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

Are you interested in booking something during one of the "maybe" blackout dates?  Have you tried it?

[little britain]

Taken from a face site: 

 

You have a year to book and no sail by date expiration. 

It is valid to cover the cruise fare completely for a Balcony on a 7 night Caribbean sailing. (Note: when cruise fare is completely covered, there are no Crown & Anchor points awarded for the sailing.)

Any other choice will get you a flat $2400.00 value to apply. When you do apply that flat rate, please note, that it does not combine with Crown & Anchor discounts, any “Dollars off” sales, and any promotional OBC will be removed.

 

There a are “black out’ dates. They are as follows:

o  Christmas/ New Year’s Sailings.

o  Thanksgiving Sailings.

o  Spring Break/Easter Sailings.

o   Peak Summer (June 15 thru August 15)

o  Not valid on any ship within its first 365 days of service 

[little britain]

Does a “30% saving NRD” count as a “dollars off sale”? 
 

Still trying to get an answer on how long spring break is? Or do they just mean the spring break dates that happen to coincide with Easter 🐣 which is April 9, 2023.

 

 

[bonsai3s]

13 hours ago, little britain said:

If you apply the $2400 to any ( non Caribbean) cruise, can that be a non balcony cabin and can that cruise be longer than 7n.? 

Yes. 

 

* Choose wisely...as you now know, that $2400 can be worth a lot less. 

Happy sailing.

[little britain]

10 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Yes. 

 

* Choose wisely...as you now know, that $2400 can be worth a lot less. 

Happy sailing.

I’m learning that! I’ve got a cruise with no obc and no balcony discount so I’ll apply it to that… 

[Anton]

20 hours ago, little britain said:

Does a “30% saving NRD” count as a “dollars off sale”? 
 

Still trying to get an answer on how long spring break is? Or do they just mean the spring break dates that happen to coincide with Easter 🐣 which is April 9, 2023.

 

 

Someone in a pinnacle group somewhere else posted this a couple weeks ago: "For the Pinnacle certificate cruise, the ambiguous blackout dates for summer are June 15-August 15 anywhere in the World (Winter in Australia, not their Summer), and Spring Break is March 11-27, 2023, also anywhere in the World."

 

Also, when I booked my free cruise I did get whatever the sale was at the time (the variation on the 30% being used last March) and nothing else.  In my case I had already booked an 8 night Odyssey and decided before I booked it that I was going to use the $2400 value.  So I made sure my price was more than $2400 before taxes in order to get the points.  Then I called and had them apply the certificate.  All they removed was my P balcony discount. 

[orville99]

On 10/30/2022 at 5:23 AM, cublet said:

What we need to get (something approaching) certainty is to hear from someone that has used a PCC recently.

As I said earlier, I just redeemed our latest one last week for a July 2023 cruise.

[villager70]

We were on the Harmony last week and got our 1050 milestone. Called pinnacle dept   Sunday gave them our info as had no letter or number they verified it and booked a 2C  on Wonder May21,2023

[little britain]

Email received from UK office - no mention of spring break etc:

 

Please note that your milestone-free cruise is valid for a 7-Night Caribbean cruise in up to an Ocean View Balcony, or a $2400 USD, discount towards the cruise fare in any other itinerary, which is converted into GBP at the time of application according to the daily conversion rate.

Pinnacle Cruise Certificates expire 13 months after they are issued. The expiration date is apply-by, not a sail-by date.

Combinability:

- Not combinable with CAS discounts

- Not combinable with the Onboard Booking Bonus (Savings & OBC)

- Not combinable with any OBC promotions, such as WOW Sale

- Not combinable with Dollars-Off offers

- Can be used with pricing program discounts, such as BOGO or 30% discount

Once applied, no further changes can be made to the booking.

Please let us know should you have any other questions.

Edited November 3, 2022 by little britain

[cublet]

Hello,

 

Hmm - I wonder.....

 

I wonder if all the exclusions (non-combinability) are intended to make you (and me) book ANOTHER cruise rather than one we have planned/already booked (with benefits) just to make us use the voucher. To my cynical eye it looks like it.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[cublet]

Hello,

 

Here is a copy of my email from the C&A Soc yesterday:

 

Pinnacle Cruise Certificates expire 13 months after they are issued. The expiration date is apply-by, not a sail-by date.

 

Blackout Dates:

 

- Christmas/ New Year’s Sailings.

 

- Thanksgiving Sailings.

 

- Spring Break/Easter Sailings.

 

- Peak Summer (June 15 thru August 15).

 

- Not valid on any ship within its first 365 days of service.

 

Combinability:

 

- Not combinable with CAS discounts

 

- Not combinable with the Onboard Booking Bonus (Savings & OBC)

 

- Not combinable with any OBC promotions, such as WOW Sale

 

- Not combinable with Dollars-Off offers

 

- Can be used with pricing program discounts, such as BOGO or 30% discount

 

Once applied, no further changes can be made to the booking.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[little britain]

@cublet my person replying obviously didn’t cut/paste the whole canned answer! 
Have we seen Thanksgiving as a blackout date before?

 

I’m going to apply to an already booked cruise for April next year where I have no obc and no balcony discount.  All my other cruises I lose too much to save $2400!

[Mikew0805]

They just told me that it was not combinable with the current program pricing of 30% off, and that this promotion ends Nov 6, and I should check back to see if it is combinable with the next program pricing on Nov 7. He did mention it was combinable with the 30% from last month, but so far not this month. This company never ceases to amaze me. 

[kccrzr]

1 hour ago, Mikew0805 said:

They just told me that it was not combinable with the current program pricing of 30% off, and that this promotion ends Nov 6, and I should check back to see if it is combinable with the next program pricing on Nov 7. He did mention it was combinable with the 30% from last month, but so far not this month. This company never ceases to amaze me. 

 

I just booked yesterday under the current discount offer using a PCC.  Maybe call back if you're eager to book now.

[Mikew0805]

56 minutes ago, kccrzr said:

 

I just booked yesterday under the current discount offer using a PCC.  Maybe call back if you're eager to book now.

Yeah, the C&A person that answers the phone, says yes it can be combined, and then when they book it and transfer me to resolutions to apply the $2400 credit, they then say the 30% does not apply. I am going to try again.

[Merion_Mom]

Also posted on another social media site was more information about what the "spring break blackout dates" are.

 

According to more than one source, they are concurrent with the "kids sale free" blackout dates for spring break.  In other words, unlike the June 15 - August 15 time frame, they are not a specific date, but DO run along with the Easter holiday for that calendar year.  So the dates for 2023 will not be the same dates in 2024, and so on.

 

Found it:  

 

[Mikew0805]

1 hour ago, kccrzr said:

 

I just booked yesterday under the current discount offer using a PCC.  Maybe call back if you're eager to book now.

Well.. I guess typical RCI strikes again... Different rep, different answer. I called back and was forthcoming about the previous interaction with resolutions, and the C&A agent again said that it is combinable. I get to resolutions to apply the cert, and explain again, and they said yes the 30% is combinable, but the $150 discount for "Extra savings NRD" is not. Well even though I think that is BS, I will take it. I booked for Jan 12, 2024.

 

They all were consistent though that it only has to be booked by the expiration date, and can be for any sailing that is published minus the holiday ones, the certain dates in summer, and not in first 365 days of new ship. I asked... "So I could book Icon in 2025?" and they said yes. I didn't, but I could have.  FYI my cert said the expiration date was April 2023, but they told me both times that they show the expiration date as Aug 4, 2023. LOL I will never understand them.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Mikew0805

[Merion_Mom]

6 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

Hmm - I wonder.....

 

I wonder if all the exclusions (non-combinability) are intended to make you (and me) book ANOTHER cruise rather than one we have planned/already booked (with benefits) just to make us use the voucher. To my cynical eye it looks like it.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

If you have reached Pinnacle and are "cynical" about booking another cruise, well, I am not sure I know what to say.

[WeExplore]

I often cruise without my husband so have many more points than he does. I will reach Pinnacle level later this year. Will he also be granted Pinnacle status with me?  If not, do we get 2 free cruises. 1 for me in 2023 and another when he reaches Pinnacle(700 points)? 

[EdandMary]

I get confused easily but hopefully someone can give us the correct answer.

Both my wife and I will become pinnacles with 700 points on the same cruise.

Some postings seem to read that each person, reaching 700 points to become pinnacle will get the free cruise option independently, while other entries seem to say that only one free cruise is awarded for the couple if they reach the 700 at the same time.

So, will we each get a free cruise option, or will we only get one free cruise option since we are in the same cabin at the 700-point mark?

[molly361]

2 minutes ago, EdandMary said:

I get confused easily but hopefully someone can give us the correct answer.

Both my wife and I will become pinnacles with 700 points on the same cruise.

Some postings seem to read that each person, reaching 700 points to become pinnacle will get the free cruise option independently, while other entries seem to say that only one free cruise is awarded for the couple if they reach the 700 at the same time.

So, will we each get a free cruise option, or will we only get one free cruise option since we are in the same cabin at the 700-point mark?

You will get one cruise not two 

[EdandMary]

15 minutes ago, molly361 said:

You will get one cruise not two 

Thank you.

[bonsai3s]

1 hour ago, EdandMary said:

I get confused easily but hopefully someone can give us the correct answer.

Both my wife and I will become pinnacles with 700 points on the same cruise.

Some postings seem to read that each person, reaching 700 points to become pinnacle will get the free cruise option independently, while other entries seem to say that only one free cruise is awarded for the couple if they reach the 700 at the same time.

So, will we each get a free cruise option, or will we only get one free cruise option since we are in the same cabin at the 700-point mark?

Yes, he will be granted Pinnacle status with you. It will be 1 cruise for the both of you...or $2400 to apply to any cruise.

 

* There are a few restrictions of when and how the certificate can be used. The ones I can think of are:

* The ship you want to apply it on must be at least a year old.

* The free cruise, if you follow the criteria: 7-nights, balcony cabin, in the Caribbean...can be worth more than the $2400 certificate...choose wisely.

* There are restricted dates.

* No C&A points earned...unless you pay "more" than the certificate value.

* Some OBC's are non-combinable.

* There is an expiration date.

**Best to call C&A for current information. Congratulations! 

Edited March 6, 2023 by bonsai3s