BruinSteve
Environmental Compliance Officer
Okay...
Since this "oldie but goodie" is making a comeback, allow me to say a few things...
We've had this card for a few years and have now cashed in for TWO free cruises...
We took the Liberty of the Seas ...one of the first few cruises when it came ut in June of 2007...
And now, we're cruising this January 2 on the Allure of the Seas--the fifth full week cruise of that ship...
Both absolutely free--except for port fees/taxes...
I have analyzed the awards backwards and forwards and there is only one category of award that makes way more sense than the others--the 125,000 point "free" 7 night Caribbean cruise...
Here's why: Most of the awards get you one dollar of value for every 1,000 points...but the 125,000 point certificate can get you up to $2 in value for each $1,000 points...
What the award is worth is a free 7 night Caribbean cruise for two in the minimum priced ocean view cabin--up to a maximum value of $2,500...But, here's the kicker: They don't publish it anywhere, but they WILL let you upgrade to a higher priced cabin if you pay the difference between the value of the ocean view and the cabin you choose...
Now, it's a waste to use the certificate on a cruise that goes for, say, $699 per person fo an oceanview...
What one needs to do to optimize the value is what I've done twice now...
Find a cruise where the oceanviews are selling to as close to the $1250 per person as possible and where the upgrade differential from the oceanview to the balcony is very small...
This uually occurs on the brand new, high demand ships...
For example, when I booked my Allure cruise, the minimum price oceanview was $1179 per person...the price of a D8 balcony was only $1279...
So, since the $1179 doubled is $2358--under the $2500--that portion of the fare was covered by the certificate...
Now, here is where it gets even better...As a Diamond Crown & Anchor member, I get $100 off per person on a balcony cabin...So my $1279 balcony price is lowered to $1179 and my "upgrade" differential that I had to pay is *ZERO*...So, all I had to pay was the $202 in port fees/taxes...
Assessing all of the other available awards, none of the others comes close to this sort of value...
We happen to use our Visa cards for practically everything...and we tend to cruise a lot...I will also use this card when charging cruises I pay for and for charges on the ship, shore excursions, tips, bar bill, etc. Those give me double points...
For us, these awards seem to amass rapidly...We actually are already halfway to our third free cruise and we've only had the card for less than 7 years...
I really wish they would change the award system so the points would make sense for Europe or Alaska cruises...What is the difference to Royal Caribbean if you cash points in fo a 7 night Caribbean cruise up to $2500 or if you cash them in for a 7 night Alaska cruise up to $2,500? The former is only 125,000 points, the latter is 250,000 points!
Since this "oldie but goodie" is making a comeback, allow me to say a few things...
We've had this card for a few years and have now cashed in for TWO free cruises...
We took the Liberty of the Seas ...one of the first few cruises when it came ut in June of 2007...
And now, we're cruising this January 2 on the Allure of the Seas--the fifth full week cruise of that ship...
Both absolutely free--except for port fees/taxes...
I have analyzed the awards backwards and forwards and there is only one category of award that makes way more sense than the others--the 125,000 point "free" 7 night Caribbean cruise...
Here's why: Most of the awards get you one dollar of value for every 1,000 points...but the 125,000 point certificate can get you up to $2 in value for each $1,000 points...
What the award is worth is a free 7 night Caribbean cruise for two in the minimum priced ocean view cabin--up to a maximum value of $2,500...But, here's the kicker: They don't publish it anywhere, but they WILL let you upgrade to a higher priced cabin if you pay the difference between the value of the ocean view and the cabin you choose...
Now, it's a waste to use the certificate on a cruise that goes for, say, $699 per person fo an oceanview...
What one needs to do to optimize the value is what I've done twice now...
Find a cruise where the oceanviews are selling to as close to the $1250 per person as possible and where the upgrade differential from the oceanview to the balcony is very small...
This uually occurs on the brand new, high demand ships...
For example, when I booked my Allure cruise, the minimum price oceanview was $1179 per person...the price of a D8 balcony was only $1279...
So, since the $1179 doubled is $2358--under the $2500--that portion of the fare was covered by the certificate...
Now, here is where it gets even better...As a Diamond Crown & Anchor member, I get $100 off per person on a balcony cabin...So my $1279 balcony price is lowered to $1179 and my "upgrade" differential that I had to pay is *ZERO*...So, all I had to pay was the $202 in port fees/taxes...
Assessing all of the other available awards, none of the others comes close to this sort of value...
We happen to use our Visa cards for practically everything...and we tend to cruise a lot...I will also use this card when charging cruises I pay for and for charges on the ship, shore excursions, tips, bar bill, etc. Those give me double points...
For us, these awards seem to amass rapidly...We actually are already halfway to our third free cruise and we've only had the card for less than 7 years...
I really wish they would change the award system so the points would make sense for Europe or Alaska cruises...What is the difference to Royal Caribbean if you cash points in fo a 7 night Caribbean cruise up to $2500 or if you cash them in for a 7 night Alaska cruise up to $2,500? The former is only 125,000 points, the latter is 250,000 points!