Cruise booked refundable --- paid mostly with FCC

[Dad2Cue]

I'm approaching my final payment date on August 4th.    However, my cruise is paid in full thanks to a $2000 FCC.  My cruise was originally booked with a $900 refundable deposit.  After the FCC was applied,  My receipt shows the following:

Cruise Fare   $310      Taxes and Fees  $265      Gratuities     $406      Total Charge   $981

There is also a $200 OBC but I can't remember why I received that because there isn't any promotion listed.    It might have been a next cruise OBC.

I believe I could lift and shift my Allure TA to the Harmony TA next year at the same time.  I'm not wild about the itinerary of the Harmony TA because of 1 port day and 13 sea days.

My question is --- Can I keep the same reservation number and change to  ANY cruise, ANY time and ANY ship and still retain the OBC?   Would I either pay the difference or perhaps even get a refund depending on the price of the new cruise?  

I still would like to do the Allure TA but I just don't see it happening anymore.  Even if the cruise happens, I don't think I need the hassle of going to Barcelona and I doubt the new normal will appeal to me.

[Dad2Cue]

18 minutes ago, crisgold52 said:

I've also discovered that its generally easier to get a new booking # as if you call RCL as often as I do to check and modify things the internal notes on one booking can get super confusing so my rule of thumb is to always get a new booking number when switching ship and sail date. Then just transfer any deposits over to the new reservation.

It would seem like a new reservation # is what I need to avoid because that effectively cancels the existing reservation # ... or maybe not.  I mostly want to reschedule my existing cruise to a totally different cruise -- maybe in 2022.   I think that is allowed with a refundable deposit if it is before the final payment date.  I'm just not sure what happens to the FCC but I'm hoping that it stays with the existing reservation # even though the cruise ship, time, etc changes.   I'm hoping the OBC stays too because I repriced the cruise once and the OBC didn't go away.  I booked this cruise a long time ago.

[Ampurp85]

Unless you L&S,the OBC will go away. The reservation number is tied to the ships so if you change ships you will get a new number. It is pretty much illegal for any business like this to keep the same reservation number when things like a ship change. The FCC will be reissued and the deposit will be returned but your OBC was tied to a preexisting offer and only stays in the case of L&S because it is price protected.

[FionaMG]

25 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

It would seem like a new reservation # is what I need to avoid because that effectively cancels the existing reservation # ... or maybe not.  I mostly want to reschedule my existing cruise to a totally different cruise -- maybe in 2022.   I think that is allowed with a refundable deposit if it is before the final payment date.

Yes, you can move it to any other cruise on any date precisely because it is a refundable rate. I checked this exact point with our TA before lifting and switching.

If you want to protect the price, and all applicable stars align (date one year ahead plus or minus four weeks, same itinerary type, same length, same cabin category) then L&S is the way to go. If you do L&S you still keep the refundable status.

Outside of L&S you pay the going rate for the new cruise and again will retain the refundable status. In this case, any promotions tied to the original booking will normally be lost but you would be entitled to promotions tied to the new cruise. I believe that Next Cruise OBC obtained from booking on board an earlier cruise is the exception to this rule and should move across to the new cruise.

[CGTLH]

Reread what I had posted, made no sense.

-Deleted

[Dad2Cue]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

Yes, you can move it to any other cruise on any date precisely because it is a refundable rate. I checked this exact point with our TA before lifting and switching.

So the only reason to L&S is to price protect.

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

If you want to protect the price, and all applicable stars align (date one year ahead plus or minus four weeks, same itinerary type, same length, same cabin category) then L&S is the way to go. If you do L&S you still keep the refundable status.

I would have one possible L&S option on a trans Atlantic next fall.  I don't want that option.

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

Outside of L&S you pay the going rate 

I'm willing to pay the going rate on a new cruise using the existing reservation # as long as I can use my FCC and my $900 cash deposit.  Do they stay with the existing reservation if  the cruise ship, itinerary, and date all change??  Staying on Allure at a future date might be okay.  If the going rate is less than what combined FCC + $900 cash, will that result in a refund or should I book something where the going rate is more.

I mostly would like to avoid refunds and having to reissue the FCC because who knows when they might materialize.

[CGTLH]

12 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

I'm willing to pay the going rate on a new cruise using the existing reservation # as long as I can use my FCC and my $900 cash deposit.  Do they stay with the existing reservation if  the cruise ship, itinerary, and date all change??  Staying on Allure at a future date might be okay.  If the going rate is less than what combined FCC + $900 cash, will that result in a refund or should I book something where the going rate is more.

I mostly would like to avoid refunds and having to reissue the FCC because who knows when they might materialize.

Don't think that would be an issue at all making a standard sailing change. Key thing is needing to know if the booking is nonrefundable deposit. If it is NRD you might get hit with the $100 per person change fee. Other thing is needing to determine where the OBC came from. If it was issued as part of a sale/going offer when booked, it would be go away when the sailing is changed. OBC from NextCruise will stick if sailings are changed.

[FionaMG]

13 hours ago, Dad2Cue said:

So the only reason to L&S is to price protect.

I would have one possible L&S option on a trans Atlantic next fall.  I don't want that option.

I'm willing to pay the going rate on a new cruise using the existing reservation # as long as I can use my FCC and my $900 cash deposit.  Do they stay with the existing reservation if  the cruise ship, itinerary, and date all change??  Staying on Allure at a future date might be okay.  If the going rate is less than what combined FCC + $900 cash, will that result in a refund or should I book something where the going rate is more.

I mostly would like to avoid refunds and having to reissue the FCC because who knows when they might materialize.

@Dad2Cue,

Yes, for people with refundable deposits, L&S is primarily about price protection. We had an amazing rate on Allure for September that we were really loathe to lose and since next year on Harmony worked fine for us that was what we chose to do. If we had had a "normal" rate, I think we would probably have opted instead just to cancel and get our deposit back. In the case of L&S you keep the same booking number but I don't know if that's the case when you move a refundable booking over to a different sailing as I have never done this.

It's obviously and unfortunately way more complicated for you because the corresponding cruise next year doesn't work for you and because of the FCC. I wish I had some advice to offer you but I'm afraid I don't have any experience at all with FCCs. If you booked with a TA you should be asking them to look into it for you in the first instance. If you didn't, I suspect you're going to have to bite the bullet and call Royal.  Unless you are D or above C&A, in which case you might be able to get some help by calling them in the first instance.

Hope you manage to get it all sorted out as painlessly as possible.

[Hagar]

"Who's on first?"

What? No he's on second ..................