Royal Caribbean Removes "Book By Deadline" for Future Cruise Credits (FCC)

[therealbigredrules]

 

Can't find anything official on the RCCL Site.  If true pushes me form Mid-April 2022 book/redeem by date to end of 2022.  Apologize if old new, but the article seems to be dated today.... good new if true.

https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-removes-book-by-deadline-for-future-cruise-credits/65409

 

Quote

Royal Caribbean has removed its “book redeem/by” deadline date for future cruise credits. This change of policy eliminates the need for guests to decide on booking a cruise well before the expiration of their FCC. This will be incredibly convenient for guests who had received FCC’s for canceled cruises, but who have so far not been able or willing to rebook. 

Thousands of quests that would lose their Future Cruise Credit if they did not book on time now can redeem their credit for any voyage sailing or departing on or before the same day. 

 

[RWDW1204]

An article here by @Matthttps://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/02/03/royal-caribbean-removes-deadline-redeem-future-cruise-credits

[Baked Alaska]

Maybe it's just me, BUT! There is STILL A DEADLINE! 

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Maybe it's just me, BUT! There is STILL A DEADLINE! 

Ha! That was my first thought too when the news came out about this a few days ago!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Right with you!  When I read the title my heart jumped because I thought all my worries were over!  Then I read the story and sure enough all of my family’s FCC’s STILL expire on Dec 31, 2022.  Just no way to get around this!  Very and discouraging.

[Dreams of Cruisin]

We've cancelled our March 2022 cruise (a re-take from the originally planned March 2020 cruise) as we're not confident that our PCR results from tests taken at the New Jersey terminal will be received in time for our flight back to Vancouver.

Looks like we must find another Royal Carribean cruise and sail somewhere before December 31st or risk losing $5,000.

 

[Katiemay0101]

The wording is confusing to me so I'm asking for clarification. We just cancelled a April 2022 cruise (due to the whole fam-damily having Covid). Does this mean we have until December 31, 2022 to use our FCC or do we have until April 2023 to use it. It seems the only difference here is you don't have to book by a certain date anymore but you still have to sail by a certain date. Am I missing something with this? Not enough coffee in my veins yet? Thanks,

Kate

[WannaCruise]

13 hours ago, Dreams of Cruisin said:

We've cancelled our March 2022 cruise (a re-take from the originally planned March 2020 cruise) as we're not confident that our PCR results from tests taken at the New Jersey terminal will be received in time for our flight back to Vancouver.

Looks like we must find another Royal Carribean cruise and sail somewhere before December 31st or risk losing $5,000.

 

Book a refundable cruise for this year....apply FCC and then cancel the cruise before final payment.  The FCC will be re-issued with new expiry date.

We have a backup cruise in December if our March cruise doesn't work.  If March works out, then I plan on applying any FCC to the Dec one before cancelling.  (If March doesn't work, then we have the cruise booked already to try again)

[cruiserccl]

4 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Book a refundable cruise for this year....apply FCC and then cancel the cruise before final payment.  The FCC will be re-issued with new expiry date.

We have a backup cruise in December if our March cruise doesn't work.  If March works out, then I plan on applying any FCC to the Dec one before cancelling.  (If March doesn't work, then we have the cruise booked already to try again)

So, let me see if I understand this correctly.

If I cancel a cruise in July 2022 for which I get FCC for the non-refundable deposit, and then use the FCC for a cruise for May 2023. Technically, my FCC would expire July 2023 so I'm still good with May booking. 

But what happens if I cancel the May 2023 booking, will the FCC expiration still be the July 2023? Or will it be reissued to expire May 2024?

 

 

[WannaCruise]

1 hour ago, cruiserccl said:

So, let me see if I understand this correctly.

If I cancel a cruise in July 2022 for which I get FCC for the non-refundable deposit, and then use the FCC for a cruise for May 2023. Technically, my FCC would expire July 2023 so I'm still good with May booking. 

But what happens if I cancel the May 2023 booking, will the FCC expiration still be the July 2023? Or will it be reissued to expire May 2024?

 

 

I would confirm first, but my understanding is the new FCC will be issued with an expiry of 1 year from when you cancelled. Not sure if cruises under CWC work differently (as I have a couple that expire same date on Dec 31, 2022)

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

6 hours ago, Katiemay said:

The wording is confusing to me so I'm asking for clarification. We just cancelled a April 2022 cruise (due to the whole fam-damily having Covid). Does this mean we have until December 31, 2022 to use our FCC or do we have until April 2023 to use it. It seems the only difference here is you don't have to book by a certain date anymore but you still have to sail by a certain date. Am I missing something with this? Not enough coffee in my veins yet? Thanks,

Kate

If you paid for the April 2022 cruise with previous FCC then once cancelled those FCCs get reissued and you would only have until December 31, 2022 to use them.  If you paid with cash then you will receive newly issued FCC which you can use up to one year from the original cruise.  

[Dreams of Cruisin]

I think there is a distinction between "cruise with confidence" vs "future cruise credit". 

 

If you use your Cruise with Confidence credit from 2020 for a 2022 booking/sailing and then cancel, may still be subject to the original Cruise with Confidence rule -- book by April 30 and cruise by Dec 31.  So hard to keep track.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

10 hours ago, Dreams of Cruisin said:

I think there is a distinction between "cruise with confidence" vs "future cruise credit". 

 

If you use your Cruise with Confidence credit from 2020 for a 2022 booking/sailing and then cancel, may still be subject to the original Cruise with Confidence rule -- book by April 30 and cruise by Dec 31.  So hard to keep track.

I don’t think you have to book by April or May anymore (that’s the extension) but you do have to use it by December 31, 2022.

[twangster]

FCC have an expiration date.  That hasn't changed.

All that has changed is the requirement to apply the FCC to a booking before April or May of 2022.   

Expiration for older FCC was the end of 2022.  With new FCC being created in 2022 the expiration date for new FCC tends to be one year from sail date.  If a January 15, 2022 cruise became new FCC, the expiration should be something around January 15, 2023.  If you CWC a cruise next week in February 2022 the resulting FCC should have an expiration date in February 2023. 

Older FCC from 2020 or 2021 should expire at the end of December 2022.   

[cruiserccl]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

FCC have an expiration date.  That hasn't changed.

All that has changed is the requirement to apply the FCC to a booking before April or May of 2022.   

Expiration for older FCC was the end of 2022.  With new FCC being created in 2022 the expiration date for new FCC tends to be one year from sail date.  If a January 15, 2022 cruise became new FCC, the expiration should be something around January 15, 2023.  If you CWC a cruise next week in February 2022 the resulting FCC should have an expiration date in February 2023. 

Older FCC from 2020 or 2021 should expire at the end of December 2022.   

So, if I cancel the Feb 2022 cruise under CWC and rebook for Oct 2022, I can use the FCC for the Oct 2022. But what if I cancel the Oct 2022, will my FCC  still have an expiration of Feb 2023 or will I be issued a new FCC that will expire Oct 2023?

Sorry for the convoluted question. I just want to understand and know my options. 

[twangster]

2 hours ago, cruiserccl said:

So, if I cancel the Feb 2022 cruise under CWC and rebook for Oct 2022, I can use the FCC for the Oct 2022. But what if I cancel the Oct 2022, will my FCC  still have an expiration of Feb 2023 or will I be issued a new FCC that will expire Oct 2023?

Sorry for the convoluted question. I just want to understand and know my options. 

If you cancel a Feb. 2022 cruise the resulting FCC can be applied to an Oct. 2022 cruise.

CWC currently applies to cruises booked by Mar. 31 that sail by Sept. 2022.  If you cancel an Oct. 2022 booking it will be subject to the normal pre-COVID cancellation policy.  

[cruiserccl]

19 minutes ago, twangster said:

If you cancel a Feb. 2022 cruise the resulting FCC can be applied to an Oct. 2022 cruise.

CWC currently applies to cruises booked by Mar. 31 that sail by Sept. 2022.  If you cancel an Oct. 2022 booking it will be subject to the normal pre-COVID cancellation policy.  

Thank you.

So, am I correct in assuming that the FCCs that was applied to the Oct 2022 will be forfeited if I cancel Oct 2022 (if CWC doesn't get extended)?

This would mean that if I receive FCCs from CWC cancellation, I only have one chance to use it for rebooking using non-refundable deposit if Royal doesn't extend CWC?

sorry...I'm still confused as to how the FCCs work...it sounds like I shouldn't use it for non-refundable deposit until I know I won't cancel it...otherwise, I lose it with the normal pre-covid cancellation policy.

 

 

 

[twangster]

59 minutes ago, cruiserccl said:

Thank you.

So, am I correct in assuming that the FCCs that was applied to the Oct 2022 will be forfeited if I cancel Oct 2022 (if CWC doesn't get extended)?

This would mean that if I receive FCCs from CWC cancellation, I only have one chance to use it for rebooking using non-refundable deposit if Royal doesn't extend CWC?

sorry...I'm still confused as to how the FCCs work...it sounds like I shouldn't use it for non-refundable deposit until I know I won't cancel it...otherwise, I lose it with the normal pre-covid cancellation policy.

No worries, FCC are confusing and the rules change over time so it's hard to keep it all clear.

My advice would be to hold off applying FCC until you are confident you will cruise.  There are situations where you will forfeit FCC if you cancel a cruise that has FCC applied to it.  Applying FCC to a refundable deposit cruise doesn't help, the FCC amount will often be noted as subject to a cancellation penalty in the amount of the FCC. 

[cruiserccl]

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

No worries, FCC are confusing and the rules change over time so it's hard to keep it all clear.

My advice would be to hold off applying FCC until you are confident you will cruise.  There are situations where you will forfeit FCC if you cancel a cruise that has FCC applied to it.  Applying FCC to a refundable deposit cruise doesn't help, the FCC amount will often be noted as subject to a cancellation penalty in the amount of the FCC. 

Thank you. This is great advice. For some reason, I thought the only way to lose the FCC is for it to expire. If rebook for after sep 2022 and CWC isn't extended, I will try to wait to add until I'm sure.

[twangster]

10 minutes ago, cruiserccl said:

Thank you. This is great advice. For some reason, I thought the only way to lose the FCC is for it to expire. If rebook for after sep 2022 and CWC isn't extended, I will try to wait to add until I'm sure.

Your FCC should have arrived in an email.  Note the expiration date.  There are generalizations but sometimes there are differences depending on the how the FCC was acquired.  Don't blindly assume your FCC is good until Dec. 31, 2022.  If in doubt call your TA or Royal direct.  

[Solofun]

I have a question related to fcc. I have an fcc from a June 20 cruise that was applied to a sept 22 cruise. I always thought they did something wrong in applying it as it’s such an old fcc. Now I want to apply those cruise credits to a different cruise but I worry about losing that cruise credit. It’s also a sept 22 cruise. Am I worrying over nothing? I just don’t want to lose that cruise credit.

[gatorskin76]

Royal Caribbean has been back to sailing for less than a year.  The fact that they have FCC’s that cancel 12/31/2022 is absurd, imo.  I get FCC expirations in a typical situation, but to put expirations on them when they haven’t returned to cruising under any semblance of how they did when most people booked….they have been holding onto that money and now they are going to say “poof” it’s gone.  They may not be alone in the industry, but I think there is going to be a big mess at the end of this year if the explanations in this thread are accurate.

Matt….this would make a great item for clarification for all your followers that don’t meet current criteria for sailing.  Is it one year from the rebooked cruise or all expire 12/31/22, no matter what.  Some general clarification would be much appreciated.