New booking through Costco shows as "courtesy hold"

[Christopher Chan]

I just booked through Costco a cruise in December and when I tried to add that booking to my RC account, the booking only shows up under the "Courtesy Hold" tab. I have already paid the deposit to Costco with the final payment due on September 11th.  But on the RC website, it says "courtesy hold expires in 7 days". 

Any idea why my reservation through Costco doesn't show up as a regular reservation in the RC website?   

UPDATE : It's all good now.  Reservation is now showing up properly on the RC website. 

[smokeybandit]

This would be a better question to ask Costco about

[Va4fam]

Speculation but it might take a few days for Costco to let Royal know about the reservation?   Contact Costco to clarify.

We have booked with Costco multiple times and had no issues.

[Gilley]

Call Royal to have it added.  That happened to me and they added mine right away.

[Christopher Chan]

Thanks everyone!  The booking finally showed up as a regular reservation on the RC website.  It looks like it needed a bit more time for the Costco information to be properly transmitted to RC.  

Whew!

[Traveling Mike]

I have booked 18 cruises with Costco and never has had much of an issue.  Their system is connected directly to the RCL system, but the website system has a delay.

One Note:  If you book your cruise on the RCL website and fill out the form to transfer it to Costco you will need to call Costco Travel to get it entered into their system.  It takes a day or so to be approved by RCL and then you just call Costco Travel and let them know and they will pull it into their system.  

[RCIfan1912]

I wonder why it's you book through Costco you aren't eligible to participate in Royal UP? Also if you want to make any type of change or tweak something are they hard to get a hold of? 

[Christopher Chan]

16 hours ago, Traveling Mike said:

I have booked 18 cruises with Costco and never has had much of an issue.  Their system is connected directly to the RCL system, but the website system has a delay.

One Note:  If you book your cruise on the RCL website and fill out the form to transfer it to Costco you will need to call Costco Travel to get it entered into their system.  It takes a day or so to be approved by RCL and then you just call Costco Travel and let them know and they will pull it into their system.  

Thanks Mike for sharing your experience! 

6 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I wonder why it's you book through Costco you aren't eligible to participate in Royal UP? Also if you want to make any type of change or tweak something are they hard to get a hold of? 

Yeah, I only learned this after I booked through Costco that they don't participate in RoyalUp, which is disappointing.  I was hoping to use that.  I haven't tried contacting Costco Travel yet to make any changes, so I don't know how hard is it to get through to someone. 

[JennCruise]

We've used Costco many times to book; both online and calling in to have an agent book for us. Hold times can vary but most of the time we get through in less than 10-15 minutes. Most of their agents are very helpful and will reach out to RC on your behalf to handle special requests, room changes, and even price adjustments. I have had better luck having Costco contact RC than when I've tried myself.  We recently booked a Celebrity cruise from Costco for next year and it too showed in the "courtesy hold" for a couple hours. 

[Traveling Mike]

On 8/19/2023 at 4:00 AM, RCIfan1912 said:

I wonder why it's you book through Costco you aren't eligible to participate in Royal UP? Also if you want to make any type of change or tweak something are they hard to get a hold of? 

How long has it been since you used Costco.  They are available 7 days a week and answer without an issue.  They are paid by the hour so once you get them on the phone they will work as long as you need to fix your issue.  They are not for everyone.  You need to know what you want but if you already know what you want, they give you great service and a nice rebate check.

[RCIfan1912]

11 minutes ago, Traveling Mike said:

How long has it been since you used Costco.  They are available 7 days a week and answer without an issue.  They are paid by the hour so once you get them on the phone they will work as long as you need to fix your issue.  They are not for everyone.  You need to know what you want but if you already know what you want, they give you great service and a nice rebate check.

I never used Costco but always was interested in how it works or how well it works. Just asking a few questions. 

[Traveling Mike]

12 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I never used Costco but always was interested in how it works or how well it works. Just asking a few questions. 

Like I was saying they are not the travel agent that you can call and ask them where to cruise and what ship to go on.  They will not watch your booking and let you know there is a price drop.  They also do not take part of the Royal Up programs.  But if you have cruised and know what you want and are the person that will watch your bookings they are "Costco" service.  They are always helpful and will take whatever time is needed to fix your issues.  Some of the people you get on the phone have years of experience in the travel industry and some are new.  They are all paid by the hour and are there to service you.  After your cruise you get a Costco Card based on the price you paid for your cruise.  The other nice thing is they have Costco Special cruises.  I booked a cruise as a Next Cruise and had it transferred to Costco.  When it got to Costco, I found out it was a Costco special cruise.  I got the cruise for a cheaper price, onboard spending, 1 spa experience, fee soda package and a free Speiclaty dining for one night.  Now with that said you need to understand I am the person that does all my research and know what I want, and I want full control over my vacation plans.