Lesson 2 of 5

Read the offer card

Five lines decide what you really pay. Read them before you get excited.

Video, 7 min: I Read 13 Club Royale Offers. Here's the Catch. Free, on our YouTube channel.

Line one: the offer code

Every offer has a short code, such as 2607C09. It is the only part that identifies your offer. Three of the 13 offers we read had the same friendly name and different terms, so track the code, not the name. You can look one up on our offer code page.

Line two: comped or discounted

Comped means the cruise fare and nothing else. None of the 13 covered taxes or gratuities, and twelve of them went no higher than an inside cabin. A card that says "$200 off" is a discount, not a free cruise.

Line three: the book-by date

This is the last day to book, not the last day to sail. An offer with a book-by date of the ninth can still be used for a sailing months later, as long as you book before the ninth. The last sailing an offer covered was a median of 204 days after its book-by date.

Line four: the sailings

The card says "select sailings" and does not list them. The real list is on the offer's own page: ship, port, date and cabin. The offers we read had a median of 43 sailings each. Look at the list first and pick a date second. If the week you want is not on it, the offer does not apply, and no one can change that.

Line five: the guests

Many offers cover the first guest and treat the second differently. Nine of the 13 gave the second guest a discount without saying how much, and only two covered both guests. Lesson four goes through it.

A short test

1. Which code is this, and does it cover my cabin?
2. Is the sailing I want on its list?
3. Can I still book before the book-by date?

When you add an offer to legtolegcruises.com, it reads the sailing list for you and only shows sailings the offer can be used on, so it never suggests a trip that falls apart at checkout. If we cannot read an offer's list, we do not apply the offer. The guide how to read a Club Royale offer has every field. Next lesson: spending offers across legs.

In short: Read the code, comped or discounted, the book-by date, the list of sailings and the guest terms. An offer is worth only what it covers.

The legtolegcruises.com lessons are independent and not affiliated with Royal Caribbean International or Club Royale. Fares, offers and rules change often, so confirm every detail with Royal Caribbean before you book.