Military rate Plus discounts?

[levib2]

I forgot to tell my TA that hubby is a vet, 3 years service.

Really hard to get in touch with her....Is it worth the wait on the phone?  Not sure if they would give extra discount or tell me we already received a 30% off promotional discount.

 

[twangster]

It depends.  Not all discounts are combinable so it varies by state, age and C&A status.  TA’s shouldn’t be hard to get in touch with.  Consider your options for your next cruise.  

[_Quinn_]

You could always run a search on the Royal Caribbean website to see if checking the military box gets you any additional discounts before you decide to call. In my experience, though, it's unusual for the military discount to get you anything more than the other promotions and discounts they run.

Take care,

Quinn

[AlohaLivin]

29 minutes ago, levib2 said:

I forgot to tell my TA that hubby is a vet, 3 years service.

Really hard to get in touch with her....Is it worth the wait on the phone?  Not sure if they would give extra discount or tell me we already received a 30% off promotional discount.

 

I know that there are discounts for retired military (10-30 years) and active duty. I did not think that there were discounts for all veterans. I could be wrong on that, but many organizations divide the line there. Even for us, with Eric serving 30 years, the discount on a cruise (when it is offered, which is 25% of the time at best, is typically only $200 or so.

[teddy]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/qualifications-special-pricing
 

/snip

To qualify for a military rate, an individual must be classified as one of the following

3. Veterans with an Honorable Discharge serving a minimum of 2 years, or 6-months in an active war zone, in any of the United States service divisions listed above. Proper identification in the form of a DD 214, plus a current photo must be presented at time of check-in.

 

I interpret this to mean my 5 years active duty and honorable discharge qualifies me.  
 

We booked our January 2022 cruise from Barbados with a military discount. I plan on showing up with a copy of my DD 214.  

[AlohaLivin]

19 minutes ago, teddy said:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/qualifications-special-pricing
 

/snip

To qualify for a military rate, an individual must be classified as one of the following

3. Veterans with an Honorable Discharge serving a minimum of 2 years, or 6-months in an active war zone, in any of the United States service divisions listed above. Proper identification in the form of a DD 214, plus a current photo must be presented at time of check-in.

 

I interpret this to mean my 5 years active duty and honorable discharge qualifies me.  
 

We booked our January 2022 cruise from Barbados with a military discount. I plan on showing up with a copy of my DD 214.  

Great! It can definitely vary with different lines. Some (most?) also allow for military/veterans from all of North America. It is a small discount, as I had noted, but even if it’s $100 that is $100 in your pocket.

[teddy]

21 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

Great! It can definitely vary with different lines. Some (most?) also allow for military/veterans from all of North America. It is a small discount, as I had noted, but even if it’s $100 that is $100 in your pocket.

I certainly didn’t enlist for discounts 30 years later….hell, I won’t even use veteran parking spots….but I figured I’d check it out for Royal and was surprised.  

[cruisellama]

1 hour ago, levib2 said:

I forgot to tell my TA that hubby is a vet, 3 years service.

Really hard to get in touch with her....Is it worth the wait on the phone?  Not sure if they would give extra discount or tell me we already received a 30% off promotional discount.

 

I'm on the email list for a TAs, and will get notices for "vet" or first responder discounts through their agencies.  The TA I use, knows my status so usually tells us about it as we're looking to book.  Its not much, but it will buy you a few drinks...  But as twangster noted, often not combinable with other offers (and some of those are better than the vet discount).

[Pooch]

The military discount is, IMHO, pretty elusive .  BUT I have found it for each of my currently booked cruises.  It’s not always there at first but shows up randomly so I check for it OFTEN.  I snagged a $620 (!!!!) military discount on our October ABC cruise on Explorer.  Since then it’s remained  available but now it’s down to only $200 or so. And it is on top of whatever the current promotion is.  So when my TA repriced to add it, I lost $50 in instant savings but still gained a $570 price drop.  My husband served in the Navy from 1973 to 1977.  You bet I’m taking advantage of it!

edited to add my Harmony sailing in March had a military discount of $504. Guess I have been very lucky!

[The Fox]

1 hour ago, teddy said:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/qualifications-special-pricing

To qualify for a military rate, an individual must be classified as one of the following

3. Veterans with an Honorable Discharge serving a minimum of 2 years, or 6-months in an active war zone, in any of the United States service divisions listed above. Proper identification in the form of a DD 214, plus a current photo must be presented at time of check-in.

I'm confused about showing the DD 214. I have seen where you can get the military discount when doing a booking, and it has shown up on our booking receipt, but I was not aware that you actually had to show the DD 214 to get it. I have never seen a price increase due to not showing it. I would be interested in more information. My husband served 8 years in the military.

[levib2]

Just called about my reservation...Was told my cost was better than that with a military discount...Oh well

[teddy]

13 minutes ago, The Fox said:

I'm confused about showing the DD 214. I have seen where you can get the military discount when doing a booking, and it has shown up on our booking receipt, but I was not aware that you actually had to show the DD 214 to get it. I have never seen a price increase due to not showing it. I would be interested in more information. My husband served 8 years in the military.

We haven’t gone on the cruise yet  

Our travel agent booked our Barbados cruise with the military rate and told me I would need to bring it with me to show at check-in. 
 

Also, on Royal’s website they state that proper id in the form of a DD 214 and current photo id must be presented at check-in. 
 

The link in my first reply up there goes to Royal Caribbean’s FAQ section for special pricing, which includes military. 

[teddy]

8 minutes ago, levib2 said:

Just called about my reservation...Was told my cost was better than that with a military discount...Oh well

Out of all the online mock bookings I’ve done, I’ve only seen it show up a few times.  

[Pooch]

I’m bringing his discharge papers with me but from what I’ve heard, it is hit or miss whether they ask to see it or not.  Just one more paper in my documents folder, not a big deal.

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

The military discount is, IMHO, pretty illusive.

^^This^^

BUT, as @Poochmentioned, there have been times when the military discount was very good AND stackable, so you just have to trust your TA to evaluate every option.  The same thing applies to resident discounts (which I have found to be even MORE elusive than the military discount).  The military discounts during the pause in cruising was coming up fairly regularly and I used it a number of times.  Now that cruising has resumed I find it less often.

To answer your question, @levib2, definitely YES you should advise your TA of your eligibility.  It can only help...it cannot hurt.

[Pooch]

Dang, I knew “illusive” didn’t look right!!!!

[Psycho and Barb]

Sometimes we get the military discount and sometimes we don't.  Our our TA knows we are retired Military and will check each cruise we book to see if he can apply it but most of the time, he can't and we get better deals with other promotions.  Psycho served 28 years and keeps a copy of his DD Form 214 in his passport.

[WAAAYTOOO]

8 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Dang, I knew “illusive” didn’t look right!!!!

It was close enough !  LOL

[Pooch]

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenadines (and atom bombs!)

Roger only has a DD-215??  I sent a request to the military records dept for the DD-214 and they sent another copy of the DD-215.  So I have that and a copy of his military record showing his dates of service.

[teddy]

3 minutes ago, Psycho and Barb said:

Psycho served 28 years and keeps a copy of his DD Form 214 in his passport.

Good idea…I’m going to start doing that. 

[Psycho and Barb]

11 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Roger only has a DD-215??  

DD Form 215 is just corrected copies of the DD Form-214.  It should still have the important information on it like years served and discharge status.

[Pooch]

It has discharge status, the correction added “under honorable conditions “ and his discharge date but does not list enlistment date which is why I have his records showing that date.

And I  have a DD-257N?

[fa-li]

This is one of the things I like when we occasionally cheat on Royal with Princess.  They asked for proof once, and now every booking we automatically get an onboard credit for military service.  It's not a ton of $ so those who have been able to apply a good discount on Royal are doing better, but it is nice to just have the credit every cruise with no effort.

[WAAAYTOOO]

21 minutes ago, fa-li said:

This is one of the things I like when we occasionally cheat on Royal with Princess.  They asked for proof once, and now every booking we automatically get an onboard credit for military service.  It's not a ton of $ so those who have been able to apply a good discount on Royal are doing better, but it is nice to just have the credit every cruise with no effort.

This is the way it should be, IMO.  Good for Princess.

[Hagar]

The only time I was asked for my DD-214 at the pier, I swear I could have just as easily have handed the rep an old "E-ticket" from Disneyland 

 

[wozswoman]

My dad is a disabled vet and neither of the cruises my parents have booked offered any type of discount.  Every agent I've spoke with at Royal said it is only special promotions and they don't happen all the time. I have found looking at vacationstogo.com will show which cruises offer a discount, now whether that is through vacations to go or the cruise line directly I can not be sure. 

[Pooch]

I just do a mock booking on line entering military under exclusive discounts.  No need to call.

[AlohaLivin]

11 hours ago, teddy said:

I certainly didn’t enlist for discounts 30 years later….hell, I won’t even use veteran parking spots….but I figured I’d check it out for Royal and was surprised.  

You didn’t?!I I am shocked. Can’t say we have seen any of the veteran parking spots, but today when Delta called for any active duty military or retirees to board early we were up there quick as a flash for a nice leisurely stroll onto the plane. Nice, small perk after 30 years even if it wasn’t in our thoughts so long ago.

[Hoppy2cruise]

I check resident, military, senior, etc every booking and have been pleasantly surprised a few times - including this week when I checked prices on cruises we booked last month and scored $721 military discount on our September 11 Mariner cruise!  He never carries his DD-214 though.  He just shows his retired Navy ID card.

Lori

[Pooch]

Somehow I suspect any military document with the right name on it will work.  I don’t think the check in folks are all that well versed on this and probably don’t question it.  Like my local grocery store, if I say I am entitled to the senior discount, they give it to me.  

[_Quinn_]

For veterans who don't otherwise have an ID card, you can get a "Veterans ID Card" from the VA here: https://www.va.gov/records/get-veteran-id-cards/vic/

It might be more convenient than carrying around a DD214. It's not on Royal Caribbean's list of approved documents, but I can't imagine anybody saying it wasn't enough proof. As others have said, though, I can't imagine anybody at the port having any idea what to do with a DD214, either.

[14Terry]

I've been able to use the military discount on a few cruises. I’ve never been asked for my DD-214 though. I do carry my retired veterans card though.

Thank you, to all who have served!