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.