After a recent change, I was considering the Royal Caribbean card from Bank of America. My daughter is getting to the age of running around and the idea of giving her hours of running around, swimming and food sounds to me like lots of naps for her and I can finish that novel I have been working on…
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My Cruise Rewards
It looks pretty interesting, I mean, 10,000 points – WOW – that’s a lot isn’t it?
This should be pretty easy right, I mean, I am pretty good at the internet, how hard could this be? Let me try a search for “My Cruise Rewards” the name of their loyalty program.
Hmm, three of those results are just the credit card offer. Let’s try going down this list a little.
Okay, well what about heading back to the Royal Caribbean page and navigating from there. Let’s see what we can find. Ah, there is a link for My Cruise Rewards. Here we go, it says 10,000 points are awarded with approval, fine, enough for a $100 onboard credit. That seems a little low but I am confused as to whether or not the points can only be used for on-board credit. I thought part of the advantage of a cruise was that meals were included. I know sometimes alcoholic drinks are extra, but we just really aren’t big drinkers and I am sure my wife would like to use the spa. Outside of a massage I am not sure what we would use an onboard credit to purchase, and why that would be enough to sway someone to obtain and earn on the card.
After 20 minutes, I still can’t find an award chart, which seems like an essential component to a point-based reward system, then again, Delta doesn’t think so. I the scroll to the bottom of the page and find:
“Reward Options”
That seems like the exact place to find what I need. It should have how much the points are worth if I redeem for onboard credit, or instead if I want to redeem for the purchase of a cruise. Even the worst programs allow you to cash out their points at a severe discount for an iTunes gift card, maybe some of those options are there. I click the link, and here is what I find.
You have got to be kidding me. Their own website doesn’t even work? (I wrote this post March 31st, 2015, and flagged the issue with the company, it still has not been resolved as of October 14th, 2017). Now I am a little curious, how big is Royal Caribbean – to be fair I have only been on one cruise many years ago with a person for whom we don’t mention their name. I guess it’s possible that Royal Caribbean is a much smaller outfit than I thought.
Nope. That’s a $17bn publicly traded company. How is it possible that it can be this bad? How is it that I can’t find what these points are worth, surely onboard credit cant be the only thing you earn. I know people who cruise all the time, they can’t just be getting a couple of free cocktails and some high fives for the thousands of dollars they spend every year with the company.
Seeking Help
I thought I would try my hand at speaking with a human. I dial the number: 1-866-562-7625. I list the number because it’s worth calling in just to see what I am talking about. Feel free to kill five minutes dialing it up.
None of the automated options work for me (of course), I have to try something else. I just hit the button for “New Cruise Reservation” because nothing else fits the bill. The very nice representative – unbelievably nice in fact – tries a few work arounds because she doesn’t know either. She instructs me to go to the same website, she tells me to pick the reward options for which I reply,
“You should click that and tell me what you see”
“File not found” She replied.
Then she took a little more initiative to try and find a solution. Somehow she got a rep on the phone that stated that the onboard credit was available. I understood that was an option, the rest of the conversation went like this.
“What about other redemption opportunities?” I asked.
“You can redeem for merchandise.” She said. Most programs offer this but typically at terrible values in relation to what the points are worth if spent on travel with that company.
“What about redeeming to pay for a cruise, I don’t know what I have here, do I have one cruise, five cruises, half a cruise, what are my points worth when paying for cruises?” My frustration with finding a straight answer was beginning to set in.
“You can redeem 5,000 points for a $50 discount on a cruise, 10,000 points for $100 discount or 15,000 points for a $150 off a cruise.” She said.
It seemed like she was dodging this info and rightly she should. The value of their points are just $.01/point which is not better than many bank cards which are not cruise line affiliated. Membership Rewards points from American Express offer the same rate for redemption, but the earning on travel expenses is between 2-3x giving an actual rate of return of 2-3%, significantly better than the branded card. Don’t ever do that by the way, contact Matthew first. It should never be that way. A branded card should always have a greater benefit than a general purchase card.
I have a few frustrations with this card and the reward system, but most go back to people within the travel industry and even those that are involved with the loyalty program either not knowing what the points are worth, or not knowing what would be a reasonable amount to receive. It could be a lack of knowledge about what other travel companies are rewarding, or maybe this is cruise industry standard. For me though, why wouldn’t I just get a rewards card the Barclay Arrival card that gives me $.02/point back, or (any others for that matter)? I could cruise for free in half the time, plus they give you 40,000 to start instead of 10,000 points and you aren’t locked into Royal Caribbean like you are with their points of course because you spend the points as cash.
Cruising could provide a good experience to a family, lots of activities, sunshine, manageable cost structures. I’m just not convinced of any reason to place my loyalty or any value in their program – but certainly not their credit card.
Have you found any value in cruise loyalty programs? Is there a program that you have found that’s better than My Cruise Rewards?
I tried to track down info on the RCCL and Princess credit cards for my loyalty program post back in April, but came up largely empty and gave up. Bottom line is, you are absolutely correct that credit cards are a lousy way to earn perks for cruises. You can get some freebies from status in the loyalty programs. RCCL’s aren’t bad, with the opportunity to earn free 7-night cruises, but that doesn’t kick in until 700 cruise nights. Most cruise perks, though, are picked up the old fashioned way – through preferred contracts with travel agents. That’s where you’ll get your goodies like stateroom upgrades and cruise line funny money, a.k.a onboard credits.
Page 7 of this document lists the redemptions. It’s pretty terrible!
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/visa/visaroyal-web-program-rules-10-01-2014.pdf
@Meanmeosh – 700 cruise nights sounds like an awful lot, but then again we don’t really cruise. With a decent card offer we were hoping to give it a try, but this is pathetic.
@Richard – Nice find! I am still annoyed that they just aren’t trying. There are lots of loyalty customers out there that might be loyal to just one brand with the right incentive. Let’s see what RCCL says about it.
My take on this credit card is that there is no annual fee and they’re basically giving you $100 onboard credit to on a future cruise. There is also an option to redeem the points for $100 off a cruise. Most people I know sign up for the card for the free money since theres no annual fees to have the card. The best way to use this card is to use it toward any Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, or Azamara purchase (Booking a reservation and buying stuff on the ship) and than redeem it for a free cruise such as the free 3-4 nights cruise in an Ocean View for 2 for 75,000 points since most often a 3-4 nights cruise is worth a lot more than $750. If you’re a big spender, you could go for the free 7 nights cruise for two. But if you don’t sail much, you’ll have to spend twice as much to get that free cruise. The worst part is the points expire 60 months after you earn them.
You can easily blow through $100 onboard credit on a cruise, even a short 3 to 4 nighter. You could buy something at the gift shop or photo. You can use it towards a camera if you are in a market for one. There are specialty restaurants onboard the ship. Plus you can also use it on shore excursions or private lessons on the Flowrider or iFly. There are plenty of way to spend $100 on a cruise.
I’ve been on several different cruises and a majority of them are on Royal Caribbean and I feel in the end the credit card is only good for that first 10,000 points for the free $100. You are better off going with another credit card with a better reward redemption rate and redeem those points on more stuff. What Royal Caribbean is good at is their loyalty program, which is not tied into the credit card in any way. You can earn cruise points (different from the MyCruise Rewards points) towards VIP status. The higher up you are, the better perks plus balcony and suite discounts. I’ve been able to score balconies for a lower price than a ocean view stateroom on a few sailings with the Diamond Plus balcony discounts. The Crown and Anchor perks at my level includes BOGO offers for specialty restaurants, free laundry, free photo, Diamond lounge access, and free drinks just to name a few. In just a couple more cruise, I’d earn even more discounts such as single supplements reduce from 200% down to 150% if I decide to get my own room on the ship. Even being a shareholders, provided you own 100 shares, will score you free onboard credit… but it isn’t combinable with most promotions. Theres way to earn free money with Royal Caribbean, just I don’t think the credit card is the best way unless you can earn all the points you need for what you want out of it within 5 years.
@Jasp – Thanks for your comment and for reading the blog. I guess, for me, even for a free $100 I wouldn’t bother. I already have too many cards for which I need to keep track, and I don’t usually add a new one to the stable unless I get at least $400 in value. That being said, if you are a frequent cruiser (is that even the right term?) then this is truly free money you would otherwise spend and from that perspective it makes sense.
I am really surprised that they don’t come out with something more innovative. Consider this offer: a card that allows you to book (the now restricted) last minute inventory that would otherwise go unsold. If this card allowed me to secure a cheap cruise for a weekend I would otherwise sit at home, even if I still had to pay money for the cruise and couldn’t apply my points, that might be worth it.
I have the card. I have about 175,000 points For 125,000 I can book a 7 night cruise for 2. UNFORTUNATELY….,it is for a lower class ROOM. We only book Owner’s Suite, or at the least a Grand Suite. I’m going to have my Travel Agent find out if I can use those points AND pay the difference for the room I want.
We have had this card for seven years, and we have booked our second FREE cruise in that time for November (balcony rooms, which are lovely. How much time do you really spend in your cabin? ). We have also cashed in points for onboard spending several times (50,000 = $500 onboard). The largest onboard expense that everyone has is gratuities; we do have a couple of drinks a day, and usually buy a couple of photis. We cruise RCCL once or twice a year, and you do get double points for all RCCL purchases. We just end up putting everything on this card, though we are careful to pay it off monthly. We have been very pleased with the return of points. Also, if you want to use your points for a cruise, call during a RCCL sale. They take sale prices into account; we had enough points this time for an inside cabin on the Anthem, but they gave us a large balcony room for the same number of points due to their special promotion. Love this card!
Jane, it’s certainly important to find the right card for you, one that works for your specific needs. Having said that (we don’t sell credit cards here at Live and Let’s Fly so my advice is unbiased) your best bet is probably to switch to a Venture card from Capital One. Let me tell you how I achieved that recommendation. You are currently earning 1 point per $1 spent, which is worth $.01 when redeemed. Pretty easy across the board math there. The Venture card is still going to earn you points on cruises when charged by the cruise company or a booking agency, but those charges are going to earn twice as much. You can still offset the costs of your cruises, tips and upgrades but for the $50,000 in spend you would earn no less than $500 back as you are now, but any travel purchase will double your points and it could be a lot higher. The Chase Sapphire Preferred might be a better choice because you will earn multiples on points at restaurants in addition to travel purchases, but I haven’t booked a cruise through them so it may not be as easy to use your points to offset the costs.
I am glad to hear you love the card, keep cruising and seeing the world, and thanks for contributing to the post.
With the COVID-19 I’ve decided not to cruise. I’m 73 and don’t want sick. I called 6 times and NO WOULD HELP ME. I requested points put toward bill and my only answer was no. This is a rip-off. Under the cirsumstances I should be ordered another option. I am going to report to BBB. People that answer phone are from other countries and can’t speak English. What a rip-off. I’m going to fight this!!!! I’m older and don’t want sick. Too many red flags. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!’
With the COVID-19 I’ve decided not to cruise. I’m 73 and don’t want sick. I called 6 times and NO WOULD HELP ME. I requested points put toward bill and my only answer was no. This is a rip-off. Under the cirsumstances I should be ordered another option. I am going to report to BBB. People that answer phone are from other countries and can’t speak English. What a rip-off. I’m going to fight this!!!! I’m older and don’t want sick. Too many red flags. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!’ Says duplicate submission. No true. What’s up RC.