# Royal Resorts join RCI



## Tfish (Dec 21, 2012)

http://www.royalresorts.com/membersarea/news-05.asp

Royal Resorts begins affiliation with RCI but we can still use II.

Mike


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## heathpack (Dec 21, 2012)

Tfish said:


> http://www.royalresorts.com/membersarea/news-05.asp
> 
> Royal Resorts begins affiliation with RCI but we can still use II.
> 
> Mike



Can you give us the gist, for those of us who are not members and cannot sign in at the link provided?

H


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## MuranoJo (Dec 21, 2012)

Also, I'm curious which Royals will join RCI--all of them or just the two (?) AI mandatory ones?

(BTW, I've seen a Royal Mayan before in RCI, probably about 5 years ago--not sure what that was about, but I thought at one time there were a few that ended up in RCI.)


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## radmoo (Dec 22, 2012)

I have no idea how to access my member login, would have to go digging.  But does this mean we could trade our Hacienda for a Disney week?


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## radmoo (Dec 22, 2012)

Royal Resorts Selects RCI to Welcome in a New Era

PARSIPPANY, NJ--(Marketwire - Dec 21, 2012) - RCI, the global leader in vacation exchange and part of the Wyndham Worldwide ( NYSE : WYN ) family of brands, announced today that it welcomed Royal Resorts® to its world's largest exchange network of more than 4,000 affiliated properties in approximately 100 countries.

Through this multi-year affiliation agreement, RCI members seeking to travel to Cancun and Riviera Maya will now have access to Royal Resorts' six magnificent resorts which include The Royal Cancun®, The Royal Mayan®, The Royal Islander®, The Royal Caribbean®, The Royal Sands® and The Royal Haciendas®. In addition, Royal Resorts members who join RCI will have access to RCI's vacation exchange and travel services, offering them more choice and flexibility than ever before.

"Our members are our most precious asset and will always be our top priority as we plan for the future. Joining the RCI family ensures that we now have an exchange provider that matches our strategic needs moving forward and enriches the vacation experiences we can offer our members," said Kemil Rizk, CEO of Royal Resorts.

"It is symbolic that we announce this affiliation on Dec. 21, 2012 because as the Mayans prophesied it's the beginning of a new era. Working with RCI will provide valuable business support allowing us to pursue our aggressive growth plans," added Mark Carney OBE, vice president of sales and marketing for the Royal Resorts.

"It is a great honor to welcome Royal Resorts, their beautiful properties and their members to the RCI network. Their corporate values of integrity, trust, responsibility and respect will no doubt form the foundation for a long and mutually beneficial relationship for both companies in this very important and thriving tourism and vacation ownership industry," declared Ricardo Montaudon, president and managing director of RCI Latin America.

For more than 35 years, Royal Resorts has provided outstanding vacation experiences to members and guests. As one of the leading companies in global vacation ownership and the Mexican tourism industry, Royal Resorts has built a reputation for offering superior quality family resorts and superb service. Royal Resort guests can enjoy spacious accommodations, ocean-view villas, gourmet restaurants, world-class spas, activities and entertainment and access to spectacular golf courses designed by world-renowned golfers such as Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus.


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## GrayFal (Dec 22, 2012)

It will be interesting to see how many TPUs royal owners will receive for their deposits. Other AI Mexican Resorts do not cost much to trade into. 
I imagine though in order to attract RR RCI must have promised some inflated numbers for deposits 
Time will tell. 
Yes you will have the ability to trade into DVC but you might have to combine deposits to do so.


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## ilene13 (Dec 22, 2012)

I own 3 weeks at the RR.  I will not join RCI as my friends who are RCI members do not like it.  Also I have an II membership, so I will continue to use II as it always has worked for me.
Also, for those of you who do belong to RCI, how does their TPU process work?  When we exchanged into the Grand Luxxe they gave us a lecture about TPU's telling us our Marriott's and RR properties had very low TPU's and the GL had much better trading power.  Well our Marriott and RR properties were not part of RCI therefore the salesperson was lying. So we were never told how it works.


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## Tfish (Dec 22, 2012)

The Royal Resorts are now dual affiliated, Members may continue to exchange with II or buy a RCI Membership and go that route.


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## sdbrier (Dec 22, 2012)

radmoo said:


> I have no idea how to access my member login, would have to go digging.  But does this mean we could trade our Hacienda for a Disney week?



That's exactly what it means!  So excited. :whoopie:


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## urban5 (Dec 22, 2012)

*Here the announcment from the Royals Member Area*

Royal Resorts signs affiliation contract with RCI

Royal Resorts would like to inform members that it has signed an affiliation agreement with RCI and as of December 21, 2012, all six resorts in the Mexican Caribbean will now be part of the world’s largest vacation exchange network.

This exciting new partnership has been forged with the best interests of our members at heart. It will give members who decide to join RCI access to more than 4,000 resorts and hotels in approximately 100 countries – and a variety of other travel services and benefits, offering them more choice and greater flexibility than ever before.

We understand that some members may have concerns about their Interval International membership and weeks that they have deposited, or plan to use, with I.I.; however, we would like to assure you that such fears are unfounded. The new affiliation with RCI will not affect members who have an Interval International membership. Their reservations will be respected and they may continue to deposit their Royal Resorts weeks in the Interval International system and use I.I. travel services for as long as they wish, provided that they pay the annual Interval International subscription and exchange fees.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about Royal Resorts and RCI.


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## ilene13 (Dec 22, 2012)

sdbrier said:


> That's exactly what it means!  So excited. :whoopie:



It all depends on the number of TPU's that you get.  You may have to give up more than one year to exchange in!


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## sdbrier (Dec 22, 2012)

ilene13 said:


> It all depends on the number of TPU's that you get.  You may have to give up more than one year to exchange in!



Yes, but we own multiple weeks and it would be better than buying at Disney.
I was considering a resale, but this will work much better.


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## tschwa2 (Dec 22, 2012)

GrayFal said:


> It will be interesting to see how many TPUs royal owners will receive for their deposits. Other AI Mexican Resorts do not cost much to trade into.
> I imagine though in order to attract RR RCI must have promised some inflated numbers for deposits
> Time will tell.
> Yes you will have the ability to trade into DVC but you might have to combine deposits to do so.



When I checked RCI I can see that they have added The Royal Mayan, The Royal Haciendas, and The Royal Cancun-club intl de cun.  What is interesting is they have all been added under ID's that start with R and won't let you check the tpu's.  R ID's are typical of developer deposit rentals.  The deal may be just to use RCI/Wyndham's rental arm and it may not mean any bonus to owners who deposit.

Even worse they may try to convert owners to RCI points and only allow RCI for points deposits.  The Royals seem to be trying anything for a quick buck these days.


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## tonyg (Dec 22, 2012)

The Royal Mayan was dual affiliated as was the old VCI. Are the Royals embarking on a campaign to alienate as many people as possible. First they add an unwanted AI and now they hook up with Rental Condominiums Inc.. I wonder if they will have a few off season weeks on endless vacations soon for $ 199 or less. Am I glad I sold all my Royals. I expect resale values will never come back now.


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## buceo (Dec 22, 2012)

tonyg said:


> ...Am I glad I sold all my Royals. I expect resale values will never come back now.



I don't own timeshares in Williamsburg, I was there once. I live on the east coast but I don't hang out on the eastern US board & if I did I certainly wouldn't just dump on the place.  
Curious those that don't like MX timeshares hang out here? 
Personally we (& countless others) look forward all year to our Royals vacations, yes even the Sands, yes in MX. Last check this is the MX timeshare board.  
Personally I think the Royals are making some interesting if not good decisions.  So far I can have AI or not, I can rent our units to people that want AI or not, (yes well above the MFs which this board says does not happen) and I can now trade through both II and RCI, life is very good.


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## pjrose (Dec 23, 2012)

buceo said:


> ? . .
> Personally we (& countless others) look forward all year to our Royals vacations, yes even the Sands, yes in MX. Last check this is the MX timeshare board.
> Personally I think the Royals are making some interesting if not good decisions.  So far I can have AI or not, I can rent our units to people that want AI or not, (yes well above the MFs which this board says does not happen) and I can now trade through both II and RCI, life is very good.



I may not agree with all their decisions, but I too look forward to vacationing there.  I can't see how joining RCI will negatively affect people's enjoyment of the resorts.  Am I missing something  here?


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## pianodinosaur (Dec 23, 2012)

pjrose said:


> I may not agree with all their decisions, but I too look forward to vacationing there.  I can't see how joining RCI will negatively affect people's enjoyment of the resorts.  Am I missing something  here?



I purchased MMVL specifically to have access to both RCI and II.  Our first II exchange was to The Royal Islander. We have an AC next year to The Royal Cancun and a regular exchange to MMC.  We have had a pretty good experience with RCI since we first started timesharing in 2001.  RCI is easy to use and your success will also be a function of wher yo want to go and when you want to go and how early you begin your search.  We usually get our first or second choice.  

The Royals will remain a fabulous exchange.


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## Twinkstarr (Dec 26, 2012)

pjrose said:


> I may not agree with all their decisions, but I too look forward to vacationing there.  I can't see how joining RCI will negatively affect people's enjoyment of the resorts.  Am I missing something  here?



Heard the same thing when Disney moved over to RCI. Even when DVC was over in II it just costs too much too be used as a trader.


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## dbrayden (Jan 13, 2013)

*Royal Haciendas goes all inclusive....Beware*

A year ago I traded a Marriott lock off for a lock off at the the Royal Haciendas.  When I arrived I found that two months ago the Royal Haciendas went to an all inclusive venue for all non-owners.  This means if you trade a week through II or RCI or buy a week from an owner through redweek.com you will be required to pay an additional $105 per person per day for meals and drinks.  This was a big surprise when I checked in.  I was told by a sales representative that this new policy was to highlight how it would be a benefit to purchase a timeshare since an owner does not have to pay the daily all inclusive fee.  Strangely the all inclusive daily fee comes with additional surcharges on popular items like hamburgers.  The Royal Haciendas is a lovely resort and I enjoyed my stay at the property.  But if I had known it had gone all inclusive for non owners I would have stayed at the RIU since the RIU has more first class restaurants than the Royal Haciendas and no surcharges.


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## ilene13 (Jan 13, 2013)

dbrayden said:


> A year ago I traded a Marriott lock off for a lock off at the the Royal Haciendas.  When I arrived I found that two months ago the Royal Haciendas went to an all inclusive venue for all non-owners.  This means if you trade a week through II or RCI or buy a week from an owner through redweek.com you will be required to pay an additional $105 per person per day for meals and drinks.  This was a big surprise when I checked in.  I was told by a sales representative that this new policy was to highlight how it would be a benefit to purchase a timeshare since an owner does not have to pay the daily all inclusive fee.  Strangely the all inclusive daily fee comes with additional surcharges on popular items like hamburgers.  The Royal Haciendas is a lovely resort and I enjoyed my stay at the property.  But if I had known it had gone all inclusive for non owners I would have stayed at the RIU since the RIU has more first class restaurants than the Royal Haciendas and no surcharges.



If you had exchanged prior to July, 2012 you should not have had to do the AI.  Also, if you rent a week from an owner the AI IS NOT MANDATORY.  This information has been on this site and it is on the RR website.  Someone gave you incorrect information.


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## pjrose (Jan 13, 2013)

The info is all here, 

http://www.royalresorts.com/packages/default.asp

as well as under the FAQs tab on that page.

I suggest emailing the Royal Resorts packages@royalresorts.com and saying that according to #12 on that page, you should NOT have been charged the AI as you made your reservation prior to the announcement.  

I believe you should be due at least a partial refund and/or some other compensation.


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## Carolyn (Jan 14, 2013)

I also made a trade to The Royal Haciendas (with a Marriott) over a year ago for May 2013 (before the AI). We can't make it but my son's family wants to go. Problem is the Guest Certificate will be dated after the RH went AI. I still haven't gotten a straight answer from The Royals whether they will be charged the AI. Has anyone else had experience with this? They don't want to go if they have to pay the AI. Not sure what to do at this point.


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## burg1121 (Jan 15, 2013)

We just returned from RCVCI and had a great time. Wonderful resort and fantastic staff. While talking to someone at the pool he seemed really upset at II. He felt they were letting people who paid less in maintenance fees 
trade into his resort where he paid much higher fees. The spin on RCI was they would not let this happen. This was also told to me by one of the personal concierge. The concierge  also spoke of Marriott buying the Mayan don't know how true that is.


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## pjrose (Jan 15, 2013)

Carolyn said:


> I also made a trade to The Royal Haciendas (with a Marriott) over a year ago for May 2013 (before the AI). We can't make it but my son's family wants to go. Problem is the Guest Certificate will be dated after the RH went AI. I still haven't gotten a straight answer from The Royals whether they will be charged the AI. Has anyone else had experience with this? They don't want to go if they have to pay the AI. Not sure what to do at this point.



It seems to me that if the original exchange was made before the AI announcement it should still be non-AI.  I would print a PDF and paper copy of the original confirmation that you got via email, showing the original exchange date.  Then forward the PDF with the original exchange date to the front desk manager (recepcionrh@royalresorts.com I think) and say that your family will be checking in first, and you want to ensure that there will be no issues.  Save and print his/her reply for your son to show.  I did something similar when our son had to check in first, and there were no issues at all, they already had his name listed and were expecting him.  (Our issue wasn't AI related, but the correspondence helped prevent any hassles.)


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## bccash63 (Jan 16, 2013)

I have traded into the Royal Mayan for the past 2 yrs with RCI.  Tried to exchange for nov 2013 and got a message about 1/4 rule and could not exchange.  This is new.  Wonder if all of the Royals will be 1/4 in RCI?,dawn


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## ilene13 (Jan 16, 2013)

bccash63 said:


> I have traded into the Royal Mayan for the past 2 yrs with RCI.  Tried to exchange for nov 2013 and got a message about 1/4 rule and could not exchange.  This is new.  Wonder if all of the Royals will be 1/4 in RCI?,dawn



It is amazing to me when I hear the 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 rule.  If you exchanged through II there is no such rule--that is an RCI thing.  I will probably NEVER use RCI for my weeks.


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## radmoo (Jan 16, 2013)

Can someone please explain the aforementioned rule?


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## ilene13 (Jan 16, 2013)

radmoo said:


> Can someone please explain the aforementioned rule?



I never heard of it until we exchanged into the Grand Luxxe from a lock off at the Royal Sands.  We went through this ridiculous sales presentation where they kept talking about the 1/5 rule -since we exchanged in last February we could not exchange in for 5 more years.  Guess what --we have an exchange into the Grand Luxxe for November, 2013.  I asked II about it and they said that it was not their rule and we should enjoy the exchange!!!


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## pjrose (Jan 16, 2013)

Don't know about RCI, but I've never had that kind of issue with II  .


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## ilene13 (Jan 16, 2013)

pjrose said:


> Don't know about RCI, but I've never had that kind of issue with II  .



As I said in the 2 posts before yours it is an RCI rule NOT II.


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## mjgoryl (Jan 24, 2013)

Your a genius!  thanks for the info, i am renting my week and the guests don't want AI but the Royals have been less than accommodating!


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## scootr5 (Jan 26, 2013)

Last night I grabbed an exchange for a two bedroom at Royal Cancun for June 2014 in II.


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## pjrose (Jan 26, 2013)

mjgoryl said:


> Your a genius!  thanks for the info, i am renting my week and the guests don't want AI but the Royals have been less than accommodating!



What's the problem?  As an owner rental, no AI should be a no-brainer.  Have you checked all the rules on the Royals site?
http://www.royalresorts.com/packages/default.asp

*7. If a Member loans or rents their units privately will the person they rent or loan to have to purchase the REFINE All-Inclusive Package?
No. The REFINE All-Inclusive Package will be optional for all guests staying in a members’ unit with or without the member being present, i.e. staying as an Owner Loan.*


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