Cruise line shareholder benefit programs have saved us over $5,000! We love our Carnival Corporation Shareholder Benefit and recently took advantage of our Norwegian Cruise Line Shareholder Benefit for the first time. But did you know, there’s a Royal Caribbean Shareholder Benefit available to RCL shareholders?

Earn Benefits Owning RCL Stock!

If you’re new to cruising, you might not realize you could be leaving money on the table. Many don’t realize that cruise lines offer a shareholder benefit (also known as a shareholder credit). Royal Caribbean Group offers up to $1,000 just for being a shareholder!

“What’s the catch?” For Royal Caribbean Group’s brands, you need 100 shares of RCL stock in order to cash in on the shareholder benefit. At the time of this writing, to buy 100 shares at the current price of $101.64 ($RCL live tracker), you would need to invest $10,164 for 100 shares.

Of course, that cost fluctuates with the market. Had you purchased your 100 shares at the stock’s 52-week low, you would have only paid $4,791 for the benefit!

What do I get for my investment?

In addition to possible gains (or losses*), you also qualify for the following:

The shareholder benefit provides a higher benefit for those sailing on longer cruises (with a World Cruise being the highest benefit).

At the 52-week low share price, you would have only needed to book 5 World Cruises to completely offset the cost of the share purchase price (and you’d still own the 100 shares).

While it’s nice to dream about booking that many exotic cruises with longer destinations, most cruisers don’t have that kind of budget – or vacation time! But $100-$250 is still a really nice perk on the shorter sailings.

Prior to the pandemic, Royal Caribbean Group paid a dividend which offset some of the “pain” buying into the stock as every quarter you received a check for $78. Sadly, all cruise lines suspended dividend payments during the pandemic.

Benefit Applies to Multiple Cruise Lines!

When people hear Royal Caribbean Group, they often think of namesake Royal Caribbean International. However, the cruise conglomerate is made up of multiple cruise brands, and each of these brands qualify for the shareholder benefit!

Requesting Your Shareholder Credit

Unlike other cruise lines where you fax or email your request in, Royal Caribbean Group has moved the Shareholder Credit request completely online:

• For Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises: Shareholder Request Survey
• For Silversea Cruises: Shareholder Request Survey

Before beginning your shareholder request survey, make sure you have the following information available:

• Sailing Date
• Name of the Ship
• Reservation Number
• Current Brokerage Statement that is less than 90 days old and includes your name and proof of ownership of at least 100 shares

All shareholder requests must be submitted at least 3 weeks prior to your sail date.

Tips for Shareholder Credit Submission

It’s bears repeating: All shareholder requests must be submitted at least 3 weeks prior to your sail date.

In order to qualify for the benefit, the name on the reservation must match the name on the Brokerage Statement. The shareholder must sail for this benefit to be applied.

Pay attention and make sure the Shareholder Benefit has been applied. When we realized ours still wasn’t applied a week prior to sailing, we had to contact Shareholder Benefits support to get it resolved – and had to email another copy of our Brokerage Statement.

This might have been related to the fact that the technology used for this survey is a bit particular! If you refresh, open multiple tabs, use the navigation buttons on your browser, or just breathe wrong, you may see this error. Don’t panic, just close out of your extra windows and start the process over.

Is it worth the cost and effort?

We’re shareholders in all of the major lines and have used the benefit on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Norwegian. Across 50+ cruises, the shareholder benefit has earned us over $5,000 in onboard credit. For Carnival Corporation, where today’s share price is $13.86, you’d have to spend just $1,386 to get the benefit. Based on that, my answer would be a resounding YES (as your break even is a whole lot less cruises)!

But Royal Caribbean is a “maybe” for me. We added $RCL to our portfolio during the pandemic, so it was an easy decision. But $10k is a chunk of change to drop into stock, especially if you’re only buying it to get $100 in OBC on a week-long sailing.

With that said, if you’re a frequent Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, or Silversea Cruises cruiser – or you have a World Cruise coming up – it’s likely an investment that is worthwhile.

Terms and Conditions Apply

Of course, any time there’s “free OBC,” there’s fine print and dislaimers:

• The benefit is non-transferable (e.g., you can’t gift it to your spouse if you are not sailing).
• Only the stateroom the traveler is staying in is eligible for the onboard credit.
• Only one shareholder credit can be used per stateroom.
• If you are requesting shareholder onboard credit for two or more separate staterooms, a minimum of 100 shares per stateroom booked must be held.
• Benefit is not available to employees of Royal Caribbean Group or its subsidiaries and affiliates.
• Benefit cannot be redeemed for chartered sailings, any Galapagos sailings, or complimentary sailings.
• Single guests paying 200% of applicable fare will receive full OBC value.
• Shareholder OBC may not be used for Service Charges or pre-purchased activities.
• World Cruise OBC may be used for shore excursions; if unused, the credit may be refunded to the shareholder’s original form of payment.
• Shareholder must own RCL shares at time of sailing.
• *As with any stock purchase or investment, there is market risk. You could lose money with the investment. Additionally, as you buy/sell stock, there could be tax implications. Nothing on this page should be used to make an investment or tax decision and I retain zero liability for any decisions you may make

What If I Need Help?

If you have any questions, Royal Caribbean Group provides a detailed FAQ on their website. Additionally, if you run into any issues getting the Shareholder Benefit Onboard Credit applied, you can reach out to the following contacts (depending on who you are sailing):

• Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises: shareholderbenefit@rccl.com
• Silversea Cruises: resadm@silversea.com

Summary

Royal Caribbean Group’s Shareholder Benefits can be quite lucrative, especially if you are a frequent cruiser or sail on a World Cruise! While there are some disclaimers and rules you have to follow, the cruise line makes it easy to submit your shareholder request online. And, of course, like any offer, read the fine print.

Have you used the Shareholder Benefit on a Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruise, or Silversea sailing? Did it go according to plan? Let us know in the comments below!