MisterBill

Actually, I found a 2022 review on TA from someone who said that they did a tour from Labadee. I emailed the provider to see if they still offer it. I know that Haiti isn't the safest place to visit.

Is this still possible? I never thought you could get out of Labadee. I have a cruise friend who's going to be there later this year, and his son really wanted to visit Haiti (they like to visit different countries).

Co-branded travel cards almost never get other travel offers. I'd say never, but then someone would correct me, so I'm covering myself. The only card of mine that has this offer is the Blue card. I would much prefer an offer that gives cash back instead of Membership Rewards points. The article says that they can be worth two cents each, but that is in very rare cases. Best case in general is a penny per point.

And how is that any different from any other credit card?

But they offer ways to spread it out over several months. No different from any other credit card.

They typically offer both the $ and MR versions of the offer at the same time. Which one you get on each card depends on whether it has MR or cash back. I had Celebrity and Oceania offers earlier this year in both versions on different cards on my account, an exception to the AMEX rule of only have an offer once across all cards. Also, when you redeem MR points for PayPal purchases (can't just get cash), you only get 7/10c per point, which is a poor redemption value, although the same as some gift cards (it makes that 25000 point offer only worth $175). It's not terrible, but it's not $250. Some gift cards are a penny per MR point. And if you use them to transfer to airline FF programs, they can be worth as much as 2c. That's why I haven't cashed out, analysis paralysis.

You have to make a $1,000 charge on the authorized user's card number (obvious to some, but not everyone). It's always good to add a bunch of offers, as many as you can, so you always see the new ones. On the website, if the list keeps moving, so you don't have to move the cursor to keep adding them. Adding in the app is also not that difficult. I have the MR offer on two of my cards, but sadly do not have the $250 version on my cards that don't have MR. Would much rather have the cash back, since I already have too many MR points that I haven't figured out what to do with.

Surprising that they gave you the cash so early in the cruise. I just change my card on file to my Fidelity debit card (the only time I'd ever use a debit card for this purpose), so it goes back there. Can't have a credit card on file because you'll lose points if a credit posts, and I don't feel like traveling with $$$ (although for my Anthem cruise, I will be driving home). And obviously, you don't want a credit going back to your AMEX! I was just on a Celebrity cruise and the excess OBC posted to the card two days after the cruise.

I had a $298 payment to make, so after doing that I ended up buying $705 in OBC over the phone to finish my second deal. Got the $250 credit today. I had hoped for the OBC to show up immediately for use online, but alas it did not (makes sense since this is a gifts thing and those don't show up until you are on the ship. I ended up buying the 3-night dining package, and it's possible that it would have counted towards the offer, or I could have tried to buy it through the phone as well, but I didn't think about it at the time, and I got 5.25% back from the dining package purchase, anyway. And I used $100 of shareholder OBC on the purchase, which I'm sure I also would not have been able to use on the phone, and I have free gratuities and free drinks for being Diamond, so no plans to spend any money other than the dining package.

Will online purchases of drink or dining packages (and excursions, of course, but not my interest) qualify for this offer? Or am I better off buying OBC, which hopefully will show up as available after I purchase it and not have to wait until I am on the ship, I was planning to buy either the 3 night dining package or the unlimited.

You need to get under 100 to see all available offers. It isn't that difficult to load a bunch of them quickly. If you're using a web browser, the list keeps moving, and you can keep clicking "Add to card". Start at the expiring first, since those won't stick around for long on the activated list. If you're under 100 available offers and do not see it, then you don't have it and aren't going to get it.

I did not see any way to purchase OBC online in the Cruise Planner on Royal, which is why I asked here. That was very nice of you to let your friend keep the offer from the money, although I personally think it's foolish. What benefit is there to doing the offer if you don't get the money back from AMEX? And you even miss out on whatever normal percentage you'd get back for the charge, which could be 1-5%. But I'm not that kind of person, I guess. I wish I had friends who let me charge their stuff to my credit cards and let me keep the rebates.

Your sister does not understand how the offer actually works, nor did she read all of the fine print (which I have posted below). You do not have to use their link. Any charge that comes from Royal Caribbean will work fine for the offer. And that includes paying online on their website or through a TA, so long as the agent doesn't process the payment themselves, which they shouldn't be doing. Also, what kind of AMEX do you have? Do have more than 100 available offers? Per the earlier comments, only 100 offers are shown, so you need to load some to your card to be able to see others. The app may show more than 100, I forgot if it does. OFFER TERMS Enrollment limited. Must first add offer to Card and then use same Card to redeem. Only U.S.-issued American Express® Cards are eligible. Limit 1 enrolled Card per Card Member across all American Express offer channels. Your enrollment of an eligible American Express Card for this offer extends only to that Card. Offer valid on cruise bookings made online at https://www.royalcaribbean.com, by calling 1-866-562-7625 or booked through your Travel Professional. Reservations must be booked on US website only.

Yes, gift certificates (even from other companies, Panera for example) are typically sold by a third party and do not qualify for offers that the merchant may have. Easy enough to test this, just add $50 and see if it posts under the same merchant as booking a cruise. If it does, then buy more to redeem the offer. And I think that it's minimal risk. It will definitely be refundable once you get on the ship, since it will be considered refundable on-board credit. You can either cash it out at guest services at the end of the cruise, or it will go back to your credit card on file at the end of the cruise (just don't use the same AMEX card that had the offer, or they may take back the $250). Or load money to your casino account and then cash out and get the money at the cashier.

Is there any way to purchase OBC for an upcoming sailing and have it qualify for this offer?

If you don't see it when you go under 100 available offers, it's not going to show up later. Which card do you have?

I know this is an old thread, but just wanted to mention that the barcode scan worked for me as well. I just booked a suite guarantee on Monday for a cruise a month from now. I did the check-in on Tuesday morning, and at night I noticed that my SetSail Pass showed me in Sea class and a muster station and a barcode without numbers. Later it showed deck 10, but still no cabin number I found my barcode scanner app, and when I scanned the SSP it came up with a number followed by -10232, which is a Junior Suite and obviously what I was given. I had been hoping for a Grand Suite, since several are available, but I'm sure that they have people bidding for those. I don't understand why they hide the actual cabin number from people, especially for long periods of time, as reported by others here. Update -- I had my cabin number show up two weeks prior to the cruise. After they tried to get me to bid on an upgrade, of course.

UDP now $175 for my 2020 Oasis cruise (7 nights). I think it was $199 when I looked a couple of weeks ago. Still not cheap enough t buy.

Yes, that is what the website says! Presumably it's just Royal's website incompetence at it again. Meanwhile, I had not realized that Sabor was going away! We really enjoyed that and were looking forward to using the free lunch there for booking a CP balcony! Given that it was one of two options for the free lunch, I wonder if they will substitute something else?

So can anyone figure out what cabin types the ones with the curves are? i guess they are not balconies. The Diamond Lounge there had such nice views. I still remember being on the ship after dry dock (and after Wonderland had been nixed) but the signs still said Wonderland!

Did you click on "May 3rd, 2020 - April 25th, 2021" on the top right???

Like what? A music venue that would annoy neighboring cabins?

I saw Cats on Oasis and thought it was very well done (we had also seen it 3 times previously). That said, i agree that it's disappointing that they are not replacing it. I know when I last sailed Oasis four years ago it wasn't a popular show and can't imagine that having changed. Maybe Royal will surprise us and change it for the transfer to NY (although they didn't switch out We Will Rock You on Anthem, so I have no faith in their doing the right thing). It shows that their either don't read the guest surveys or just don't care.

sorry for the dups

Sadly, if you check Royal's website it shows cabins there (click on "May 3rd, 2020 - April 25th, 2021", although I thought the DD was supposed to be done earlier). . I think we can all agree that is probably the least interesting thing they could have put there. Not sure what type as I can't figure out what purple is. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/oasis-of-the-seas/deck-plans/1995/12 Yes, having Wonderland on Oasis would have been Wonderful.