Royal Caribbean has extended the expiry of its Future Cruise Credits, allowing passengers to rebook cruises sailing up to 30 April 2023.
Passengers will now have a greater choice when rebooking their cruises with RCL as they can choose an additional 61 itineraries in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific sailing in 2022 and 2023.
This means that families can sail with the line’s most high-tech ship, Quantum of the Seas from Brisbane, her sister ship, Ovation of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas from Sydney.
All FCC must be redeemed and booked before 30 April 2022. Previously, they had to redeem by 31 December 2021 for sailings up to 30 April 2022.
When the pandemic hit in March last year, cruise lines including RCL were forced to cancel scheduled cruises. Ten of thousands of passengers were issued with FCC vouchers to book future travel worth millions of dollars.
This year, some lines report they are getting new bookings – but not from FCC holders, who appear to be waiting for more certainty before committing their FCCs.
That means other lines are almost certain to follow and extend their deadlines for use.
A Royal Caribbean financial report recently estimated FCC’s were valued at just under US$1 billion.
Carnival Australia which has brands such as Carnival, P&O, Princess, Cunard and HAL said their lines have “taken a generous and flexible approach to the offer and application of Future Cruise Credits and have on occasions made adjustments to their approach, which is constantly under review reflecting the commercial environment as the pause in cruise operations continues.
“In the event of a change in the FCC approach, our individual cruise lines will make this known to guests via customary communication channels including on their website,” said a Carnival Australia spokesman.
Cruise lines have varying redemption dates for their FCC with several expiring by 31 December this year.
