Sorry to ask again but still confused

[sadiwest]

Please help me understand what I can and cannot do with AARP gift cards.  I keep avoiding purchasing them because I don't want to be stuck. 

 

 

It states they can only be used toward fare on a newly booked cruise, but I know people have spoken about using them to pay ob accounts. 

 

So are they useable on board but not through their site for pre cruise purchases?  Is that accurate?  Is it really based on the person you're dealing with in all cases (like if I wanted to pre pay gratuities on the phone)?

 

Cruise is fully paid so all that's left in onboard expenses and POSSIBLY drink packages if we cave in. 

[sadiwest]

😞 anyone?

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, sadiwest said:

😞 anyone?

From 3 months ago, not me but what I found. 

 

Royal Caribbean Discounted Gift Cards **Long Post**

 

 

I had a hard time finding useful information about the AARP discounted gift certificates (GC) for Royal Caribbean (RCL) so I’m sharing here. This post is specifically in reference to the gift certificates available from AARP for a 10%. There are also GCs available directly from RCL with totally different terms. The AARP gift certificates are VERY difficult to use but several hundred dollars in savings is worth it to me!

Timing is EXTREMELY important if you’d like to use a travel agent. So make sure you know what cruise you’d like to book, total cost of the cruise (minus your deposit!!) and, if you’d like to use a travel agent, know which agent you’re using BEFORE you purchase the discounted gift certificates. You ONLY have 30 days to transfer your booking to your TA after making your new RCL booking.

In order to use the AARP gift certificates, you have to first book the cruise direct with RCL (online or on the phone). The GC cannot be used for the initial deposit! You make the deposit with your credit card, just like always. After the deposit, you can use the gift certificates to pay on your cruise. There are no partial redemptions so use the whole certificate or lose the leftover value!! I added gratuities to my cruise invoice so the discounted GC would apply to the gratuity as well.

GCs cannot be redeemed online. You must email a copy of the GC to RCL at SharedservicesGiftCertificateRedemption@rccl.com. To redeem my GCs, I took a screenshot of the gift certificate (which included the GC balance, GC ID number and PIN). Because I was using multiple GCs, I sent a separate email for each gift certificate I applied to my balance. I gave each GC a number and made a note in the subject line of the email to correspond with my GC numbering system (just to keep track of each GC applied). I also put the booking number in the subject line of the email. In the body of the email, I included the GC number, PIN, booking reservation number, sailing date, ship, passenger names and a screenshot of the GC.

You will receive an email once the GC have been applied to your booking. AFTER the gift certificate has been applied to your NEW RCL reservation, the reservation can be transferred to your travel agent. You have only 30 TOTAL from the time your reservation is made to transfer your booking to a travel agent so make your you watch your timeline closely! I transferred my reservation to Costco as they give back 7-8% back in Costco Cash PLUS 2% cash back with the executive membership! But of course, you can always use the TA of your choice.

Your final balance must be paid for with your credit card before the final payment date. The cards can NOT be used on ship. 

TIMELINE: My AARP E-Gift Certificates were emailed to me almost instantly. I emailed my GCs to RCL the same day and received a generic email response to each email within a few hours (numbering the GCs helped me confirm that they were all received by RCL. It took 8 days for RCL to reply that the GCs had been submitted for processing. It took 7 additional days to reflect GC payment on my RCL account. I transferred my booking to my TA that same day on the RCL site (here: https://rccl.secure.force.com/directtransfers/DTTRoyal ) and received an email within a few hours from RCL confirming my booking was transferred. I immediately followed up with my TA who confirmed the transfer as well.

Here’s the direct link to the terms regarding the AARP discounted gift verifications linked above.

I hope this helps!!

[sadiwest]

1 hour ago, taglovestocruise said:

From 3 months ago, not me but what I found. 

 

Royal Caribbean Discounted Gift Cards **Long Post**

 

 

I had a hard time finding useful information about the AARP discounted gift certificates (GC) for Royal Caribbean (RCL) so I’m sharing here. This post is specifically in reference to the gift certificates available from AARP for a 10%. 

The confusion I'm having is because I believe I've seen people discussing using them onboard towards the ob account. 

 

I know the rule is the cruise fare....but that's why im asking people for their experience. 

[c-leg5]

On 5/8/2024 at 3:39 PM, sadiwest said:

The confusion I'm having is because I believe I've seen people discussing using them onboard towards the ob account. 

 

I know the rule is the cruise fare....but that's why im asking people for their experience. 

I think you are getting confused between the different types of gift cards and where they are issued from.

 

 

They all have different terms and conditions in the small print- hence the confusion.

[Coralc]

How about, just don't buy them? If they are too complicated to use, then it is probably not worth buying them. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 5/8/2024 at 10:00 AM, sadiwest said:

Please help me understand what I can and cannot do with AARP gift cards.  I keep avoiding purchasing them because I don't want to be stuck

 

We've used them often for many cruise lines. Here's how Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Gift Cards work. 

 

You have to pay the deposit for your stateroom(s) via normal payment methods like a credit card.

 

You can use the AARP Royal Caribbean Gift Cards to pay for the rest of the balance of the cruise fare. Each Card can only be applied towards ONE reservation. So you can't take a $500 Gift Card and split it $250 each to two reservations. When you get down to those last dollars and cents, you pay the balance with your credit card or other payment method.

 

There is no limit to how many you can use for your cruise fare. We've had friends use up to 16 of them for multiple staterooms in the Med for example. The only limit is that you can purchase 5 per month, per account from AARP. So if you need more than 5 in a single month, you'll have to purchase them from two different accounts.

 

They must be redeemed via an email account (this is the stupid part) rather than simply being applied to your booking. It can take up to 10 business days for those cards to be applied so make sure you send in your final cards at least 14 business days before final payment.  Princess, Carnival, Holland allow the agents or TAs to apply the gift cards instantly to your booking. You must now provide a picture of each card when you email them in. You used to be able to just supply the numbers, but now they are requested the image of the card that has been issued.

 

AARP Royal Caribbean Gift Cards cannot be used onboard the ships. You cannot convert them to OBC, nor can you use them to settle onboard account. They can only be used towards the cruise fare, other than the Deposit. 

 

When you go to AARP Rewards, simply click on the Royal Caribbean Gift Cards. The Terms and Conditions are actually pretty straightforward. It's that last rule that catches folks on both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. They don't realize the cards are not available for use on the ships. 

 

 

Edited May 26 by CruisingWalter

[orville99]

On 5/8/2024 at 10:00 AM, sadiwest said:

It states they can only be used toward fare on a newly booked cruise, but I know people have spoken about using them to pay ob accounts. 

They can only be used to reduce the cruise cost when initially booking the cruise - they cannot be used for on board expenses.

 

If you want to purchase a gift card that can be used on board for expenses, you need to purchase it directly from Royal Caribbean.

Edited May 26 by orville99