Royal Caribbean gift certificates

floridaboy44

Level 2 Member
I am going on a cruise in April that is paid for already. I would like to cash in my citi thankyou points for a couple RC gift certificates. The thankyou portal has $100 for 10,000 points. Does anyone know if I can use these gift certificates for onboard credit? Some sites say yes some say no.
 

thehustla

Level 2 Member
I am going on a cruise in April that is paid for already. I would like to cash in my citi thankyou points for a couple RC gift certificates. The thankyou portal has $100 for 10,000 points. Does anyone know if I can use these gift certificates for onboard credit? Some sites say yes some say no.
Hi @floridaboy44
I believe this thread will be better located outside of L2.
I don't have an answer to your question.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
I saw on a cruise forum dated 2013 that they can be used as OBC if added to your account prior to sailing. I would call in about it.
 

plane2port

Level 2 Member
I've heard that they only can be used to purchase cruises, unlike Carnival gift cards that can be used for anything.
 

gmenrule

Level 2 Member
Raise has 10% off Gc's for Celebrity...not sure if their use voids other benefits such as OBC from your TA or ppd grat....

Buying CCL or Rc stock yields OBC as well
 

JJAviator

Level 2 Member
I sold my RCL stock. If your travel agent was giving you On Board Credit and/or you were using Citi RCL CC points for OBC, your stock's OBC couldn't be added. Not sure if it is still that way, but that was the rules a few years ago.

I was going to buy a $200 Royal Caribbean GC but read their T&Cs, and as noted by plane2port they are only good for bookings and cannot be used towards cruise portfolio payments.
 

gmenrule

Level 2 Member
I sold my RCL stock. If your travel agent was giving you On Board Credit and/or you were using Citi RCL CC points for OBC, your stock's OBC couldn't be added. Not sure if it is still that way, but that was the rules a few years ago.

I was going to buy a $200 Royal Caribbean GC but read their T&Cs, and as noted by plane2port they are only good for bookings and cannot be used towards cruise portfolio payments.
Did not know that...Cunard gives your OBC in british pounds even with the TA...if you own Carnival stock
 

Xingu Bob

New Member
Celebrity will allow you to use up to $1,000 in gift cards toward the purchase of a cruise. Not for OBCredits. If you have an Ink card, you can 5x it at Staples.com for egift cards.
 

goofypluto

Level 2 Member
Has anyone bought and/or used the Royal Caribbean/Celebrity gift cards from Newegg or the Celebrity gift cards from Staples to pay for a cruise? It says it's for new bookings only. I wonder what they consider as a new booking? I usually book with a TA to get the extra perks and I wonder if I can reserve with my TA, but pay with the gift cards after I reserve so my TA can get credit.
 

plane2port

Level 2 Member
Another option is to make the booking with RCI and then transfer the booking to a travel agent. I believe that you have to do this within 60 days of making the booking, and it has to be before final payment. Also, the cruise cannot be paid in full before the transfer.

However, I'm sure that your TA can apply the gift card. Just make sure they know how to do it before you book. I imagine you might have problems if you are making a booking online with one of the OTAs.
 

goofypluto

Level 2 Member
Good point about the transferring to the travel agent. I forgot about that part. So it looks like the TA route might be fine.

Something else that I'm unsure of. I know for RCCL and Celebrity, you can buy future cruise certificates that come with on board credit. I have a few of those and those are attached to a reservation number, but not attached to an actual booking (specific cruise date). I wonder how that would work with the gift cards and if gift cards would work for partial payment and if this would be considered a new booking since there is an existing reservation number already.
 

goofypluto

Level 2 Member
Not sure if I'm allowed to post the link, but here is the link to the language for Celebrity:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/plan-and-book/before-you-go-future-cruises?tab=before_you_go_future_cruises/plan-and-book/before-you-go-future-cruises?subtab=true

The language for the rccl certificate -

"NextCruise Confirmed Booking:
Select your ship and sail date at the time of booking. A $50 to $500 non-refundable deposit per person is required to partake in the Next Cruise program when booking 5+ night voyages. The deposit schedule is the same as the Onboard Credit Schedule and is determined by category of stateroom and length of voyage. Reservations may be cancelled but deposit would be forfeited as it is non-refundable. Reservations may be changed to another ship or sail date up to 90 days prior to Holiday sailings and 75 days for all other sailings. Changes to reservations are applicable primarily to US, Canadian, United Kingdom, Ireland, European & Australian guests. Not all countries follow this cancellation/change policy. Onboard credit has no cash value, is not redeemable for cash and will expire if not used by 10:00PM on the final night of the cruise. Next Cruise offers are not combinable with the following rates: Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, weekly Sales Events, Net Rates or Shareholder Benefits. They are combinable with Crown & Anchor Balcony and Suite discounts and Savings Certificates. We value our relationships with our Travel Partners and unless we are advised ahead of time, your Decide Now confirmed booking will be attributed to the Travel Partner associated with your current cruise booking. However if you wish to have your booking reflect an alternative arrangement, please advise at the time of booking and a form will be provided for you to sign as authorization. Amount of Instant Onboard Credit ranges from $50 - $500 per stateroom and is determined based on category of stateroom and length of voyage (minimum 5 night sailing). Maximum one Instant Onboard Credit per stateroom is to be applied to the current cruise. Once deposit/Instant Onboard Credit is locked in, that will fulfill the Deposit / Instant Onboard Credit for the current cruise. Once the deposit / Instant Onboard Credit is applied, the only remaining benefit is the limited time combinable North American offer at the time of booking (excluding China product). You may change your ship or sail date, but your onboard credit is subject to repayment out of your onboard deposit if you book a lower category or shorter sailing. Program applicable to new individual Royal Caribbean bookings made after March 6, 2015. Bookings may be transferred into non-contracted groups and full deposit may be required. Individual enrollment may be converted and applied to a group booking. International deposits and requirements may vary. Please see your Cruise Sales Team for details and deposit policies. For those guests that choose to have their Onboard Credit on their future voyage, if the original ship and sail date selected while onboard is changed in the future, we reserve the right to adjust the onboard credit amount to the Open Booking model between $25 - $100 per stateroom based on length of cruise. After the Offer Period for any North American Offer that is combinable with your Next Cruise Booking has expired, the Offer will be removed from the booking if the guest cancels and reinstates the booking, applies a fare change, or changes the ship or sail date of the booking; certain other changes to the booking may also result in removal of the Offer. Additional deposits may be required for Grand Suites and above. At least one name must remain the same on the booking. Offer is subject to change without notice, capacity controlled, and may be withdrawn at any time. Royal Caribbean International reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice. © 2015 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Ships registry: The Bahamas."
 

plane2port

Level 2 Member
Well that was as clear as mud to me whether or not you could use both the certs and the gift card for making the same reservation. I think you are going to have to call rccl and ask. I hope they let you do it but I'm not hopeful. Royal hates stacking discounts even though using a gift card is not a discount (as far as they know,he he!)
 

goofypluto

Level 2 Member
Yea, I will have to give them a call and see what they say. It sounds like the RCCL terms are less restrictive than the Celebrity terms. The Celebrity terms says the future certs can't be combined with "cruise certificates". No idea if gift cards are considered cruise certificates.

Too bad it's not easy like Disney where you can just call up with the gc and pay.
 

plane2port

Level 2 Member
I will be really interested in how it turns out. Please don't forget to come back on here and let us know the resolution. Good luck!
 

CoreyH

Level 2 Member
I had booked a cruise through my TA and had purchased two RCL gift certs on ebay when PPDG had them on sale. Tried to submit them and got the standard response that they could not be used for cruises booked through a travel agent, although they did grant a one time exception and applied them.
 
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