OK. But can you just do the two years for free, or are you commited to the whole 5 years (including the two free and 3 at $499)?
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Royal Resorts Signature Club?
- Thread starter moonlightgraham
- Start date
OK. But can you just do the two years for free, or are you commited to the whole 5 years (including the two free and 3 at $499)?
Phydeaux
TUG Member
It fascinates me that there are people actually interested in this..
Well, I'm interested in knowing what the options are. If I could get the two years of Silver level for free with no further obligation, then I might be interested.
If I would have to commit to 5 years for $500 ( or more) then I'm not interested in joining at all.
Signature Club
I don't think we should be critical of those that want to take advantage of the program to see if it works for them. The first 2 years are free with no other commitment. That's why I decided to give it a try. You have an expiration date 2 years from when you sign.
I don't think we should be critical of those that want to take advantage of the program to see if it works for them. The first 2 years are free with no other commitment. That's why I decided to give it a try. You have an expiration date 2 years from when you sign.
Bullfrog14
TUG Member
Royal resorts Signature program
So, to be clear on this, there is no upfront cost of $499 before proceeding with the 2 years free? I thought they (Royal Resorts) was looking for $$$ to finance their other programs? If that is the case, then why all the secrecy. To me, that is the best way to see if it actually is a good program.
So, to be clear on this, there is no upfront cost of $499 before proceeding with the 2 years free? I thought they (Royal Resorts) was looking for $$$ to finance their other programs? If that is the case, then why all the secrecy. To me, that is the best way to see if it actually is a good program.
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I don't own at the Royals but have experience with resorts that change affiliation.
There are definitely some questions that need to be asked but I wouldn't necessarily trust the answers from a "Signature Club Specialist" that you are required to meet with.
1. If you don't voluntarily join the Signature Club at least at the minimum silver level are you eligible to join RCI on your own and exchange through the weeks program?
2. If you voluntarily join the Signature Club but want to exchange through II one year, are you able to or would II only be available for non Signature Club members.
3. Do you have to confirm your deeded week by a certain date or risk losing your week or is does your week remain guaranteed to you unless you do something (deposit, etc)?
4. Who is the third party vendor providing the lifestyle benefits? My guess it it somehow is going to be linked to I.C.E. and it really doesn't matter but it is nice to know.
I though this was interesting info from http://www.rrsignatureclub.com/
And I also thought this youtube clip from Royal resorts was kind of funny because I am sure this is what you have all been asking for.
There are definitely some questions that need to be asked but I wouldn't necessarily trust the answers from a "Signature Club Specialist" that you are required to meet with.
1. If you don't voluntarily join the Signature Club at least at the minimum silver level are you eligible to join RCI on your own and exchange through the weeks program?
2. If you voluntarily join the Signature Club but want to exchange through II one year, are you able to or would II only be available for non Signature Club members.
3. Do you have to confirm your deeded week by a certain date or risk losing your week or is does your week remain guaranteed to you unless you do something (deposit, etc)?
4. Who is the third party vendor providing the lifestyle benefits? My guess it it somehow is going to be linked to I.C.E. and it really doesn't matter but it is nice to know.
I though this was interesting info from http://www.rrsignatureclub.com/
And I also thought this youtube clip from Royal resorts was kind of funny because I am sure this is what you have all been asking for.
Vacation Mike
newbie
Signature club details - joke...
Ok so my wife and I wasted an hour listening to the presentation for the signature club. Essentially here is how it works.
You get the first two years for free but they hold your credit card information so you can be charged to be in the club later. Hoping that you forget that you signed up is probably the play here. Not sure how hard it would be to cancel a year later...
After the 2 free years Silver is 1499 for the remaining 3 years (2499 for 5 years after that) and you get access to their group purchase website (that they won't show you) to buy things you "normally buy anyway" at a discount. Supposed profits are credited back to you. They gave us an example calculation where we would purchase normal things like wine, plane tickets, hotel rooms, and some household items. We agreed to way more than we would normally buy and we "saved" $508 for the year. Minus the 500 yearly fee, it's a joke $8???
Gold membership costs more ( don't remember the actual number - 1500 per year for 5 years). Platinum was something like 2500 per year for 5 years. As part of the platinum membership you get to use RCI hotels for free - no fees.
You have to buy a lot of online stuff to get your cover charge back!
Since this is an opportunity to push you to buy another week as well, (apparently nobody wants to purchase at the Haciendas as they were pushing this over and over) you get a free 5 year platinum membership with any timeshare purchase.
Sorry for the light amount of detail - we were pretty ticked about the whole thing as our first question was "how much does it cost" and it took them an hour to get to that. They pulled the typical "please talk to my boss about pricing" thing and we chewed them out and walked out. No free breakfast that was promised either.
My suggestion - don't show any interest in this program. I get it that the resort management is trying to grow income but really - us folks who actually purchased a timeshare there shouldn't be the ones carrying the brunt of the mismanaged costs. A better solution is to give rebates to owners for use of the restaurants and purchases. Non members who stay wouldn't get the benefit - another perk for people who own there.
We all need to be more vocal about our displeasure of these programs.
Ok so my wife and I wasted an hour listening to the presentation for the signature club. Essentially here is how it works.
You get the first two years for free but they hold your credit card information so you can be charged to be in the club later. Hoping that you forget that you signed up is probably the play here. Not sure how hard it would be to cancel a year later...
After the 2 free years Silver is 1499 for the remaining 3 years (2499 for 5 years after that) and you get access to their group purchase website (that they won't show you) to buy things you "normally buy anyway" at a discount. Supposed profits are credited back to you. They gave us an example calculation where we would purchase normal things like wine, plane tickets, hotel rooms, and some household items. We agreed to way more than we would normally buy and we "saved" $508 for the year. Minus the 500 yearly fee, it's a joke $8???
Gold membership costs more ( don't remember the actual number - 1500 per year for 5 years). Platinum was something like 2500 per year for 5 years. As part of the platinum membership you get to use RCI hotels for free - no fees.
You have to buy a lot of online stuff to get your cover charge back!
Since this is an opportunity to push you to buy another week as well, (apparently nobody wants to purchase at the Haciendas as they were pushing this over and over) you get a free 5 year platinum membership with any timeshare purchase.
Sorry for the light amount of detail - we were pretty ticked about the whole thing as our first question was "how much does it cost" and it took them an hour to get to that. They pulled the typical "please talk to my boss about pricing" thing and we chewed them out and walked out. No free breakfast that was promised either.
My suggestion - don't show any interest in this program. I get it that the resort management is trying to grow income but really - us folks who actually purchased a timeshare there shouldn't be the ones carrying the brunt of the mismanaged costs. A better solution is to give rebates to owners for use of the restaurants and purchases. Non members who stay wouldn't get the benefit - another perk for people who own there.
We all need to be more vocal about our displeasure of these programs.
Last edited:
We also went to the presentation
Since the Signature club means trading in RCI, we didn't think it would work for us because we don't like RCI. But we decided to attend the presentation to get more information. We're still confused over the whole thing.
We own 1 week at the Sands. We were told we had to buy another week to join the Signature club. Since we like our week at the Sands, this second week is the week we would "deposit" to ??? for points that we could use for airfare, cruises, hotel stays, etc. To redeem these points, we would call an 1-800 number, but they couldn't tell us the name of the organization we would be calling, just that it was an exclusive number for Royal owners.
Then, if we shop online we'd get cash back for our purchases. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell us the percentage of the cash back. We explained we do shop online a lot but we needed to know the % to figure out if this program would work for us.
For the 2nd week we needed to join - they wanted us to purchase (2) 1-bedroom weeks at the Haciendas for $67k, which would give us over 9,000 points. We both started laughing at that offer, we'd never pay that amount. But they couldn't tell us how much airfare, cruises, hotel stays, etc cost in points. What does 9,000 points buy?
We're still very happy Royal owners, we love the resorts and will continue going for many years to come. We just don't understand this program.
Since the Signature club means trading in RCI, we didn't think it would work for us because we don't like RCI. But we decided to attend the presentation to get more information. We're still confused over the whole thing.
We own 1 week at the Sands. We were told we had to buy another week to join the Signature club. Since we like our week at the Sands, this second week is the week we would "deposit" to ??? for points that we could use for airfare, cruises, hotel stays, etc. To redeem these points, we would call an 1-800 number, but they couldn't tell us the name of the organization we would be calling, just that it was an exclusive number for Royal owners.
Then, if we shop online we'd get cash back for our purchases. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell us the percentage of the cash back. We explained we do shop online a lot but we needed to know the % to figure out if this program would work for us.
For the 2nd week we needed to join - they wanted us to purchase (2) 1-bedroom weeks at the Haciendas for $67k, which would give us over 9,000 points. We both started laughing at that offer, we'd never pay that amount. But they couldn't tell us how much airfare, cruises, hotel stays, etc cost in points. What does 9,000 points buy?
We're still very happy Royal owners, we love the resorts and will continue going for many years to come. We just don't understand this program.
Bullfrog14
TUG Member
Royal resorts owners group
Just signed up for this on line-maybe more information-we'll see....
Just signed up for this on line-maybe more information-we'll see....
disappointed
newbie
Save your time and $$$
Once again, I'm very disappointed in RR. We purchased a "Gold" membership to the "Club" on 5/15 ($1,500) after being told we could easily earn enough cash to pay for our maintenance fees. Now, six weeks later there is still no shopping for general merchandise available, airline tickets are not cheaper unless you take flights with several stops, etc. Golf is not cheaper unless you want to golf at midnight and so on. It appears to be yet another RR scam. I have placed several calls to the 800 number on the web site and have received no valid information and no returned calls. I have even tried to cancel the membership to no avail. Please don't waste your money!
Once again, I'm very disappointed in RR. We purchased a "Gold" membership to the "Club" on 5/15 ($1,500) after being told we could easily earn enough cash to pay for our maintenance fees. Now, six weeks later there is still no shopping for general merchandise available, airline tickets are not cheaper unless you take flights with several stops, etc. Golf is not cheaper unless you want to golf at midnight and so on. It appears to be yet another RR scam. I have placed several calls to the 800 number on the web site and have received no valid information and no returned calls. I have even tried to cancel the membership to no avail. Please don't waste your money!
cadamson
TUG Member
Any Signature Club updates?
I'm so confused and don't want to sign the contract!!!
I'm so confused and don't want to sign the contract!!!
If you are confused about it, don't sign it.
Webhoncho
newbie
Early Royal Carribean owner
These kind of income-producing deals put out by RR management are sad. My wife and I are early Royal Caribbean owners, buying prior to completion of construction back in 1988. It was a VERY good deal for a Week 16 stay. But now with the increasing travel costs, programs like required "All Inclusive" for non-members hurting exchange opportunities, the move away from II to RCI, and general negative feelings (even if misplaced) about Mexico, I'm seriously considering defaulting on my annual expensive maintenance fee and just bagging it.
We've had a reasonably good time and relationship, particularly exchanging via II for other countries and resorts. But it's getting old, and I'm not referring to the age of the Royal resorts! RR needs to do much more to KEEP me paying maintenance fees. I'm an automatic source of income just via the annual maintenance bill. If RR doesn't care and wants to take on or sell a "foreclosed" timeshare week, good luck to them.
I still have a few months to decide, but if I stop paying maintenance now, I'd save over $10,000 over the next 8-9 years just in fees. Pretty good return on a timeshare week! All in my pocket.
These kind of income-producing deals put out by RR management are sad. My wife and I are early Royal Caribbean owners, buying prior to completion of construction back in 1988. It was a VERY good deal for a Week 16 stay. But now with the increasing travel costs, programs like required "All Inclusive" for non-members hurting exchange opportunities, the move away from II to RCI, and general negative feelings (even if misplaced) about Mexico, I'm seriously considering defaulting on my annual expensive maintenance fee and just bagging it.
We've had a reasonably good time and relationship, particularly exchanging via II for other countries and resorts. But it's getting old, and I'm not referring to the age of the Royal resorts! RR needs to do much more to KEEP me paying maintenance fees. I'm an automatic source of income just via the annual maintenance bill. If RR doesn't care and wants to take on or sell a "foreclosed" timeshare week, good luck to them.
I still have a few months to decide, but if I stop paying maintenance now, I'd save over $10,000 over the next 8-9 years just in fees. Pretty good return on a timeshare week! All in my pocket.
These kind of income-producing deals put out by RR management are sad. My wife and I are early Royal Caribbean owners, buying prior to completion of construction back in 1988. It was a VERY good deal for a Week 16 stay. But now with the increasing travel costs, programs like required "All Inclusive" for non-members hurting exchange opportunities, the move away from II to RCI, and general negative feelings (even if misplaced) about Mexico, I'm seriously considering defaulting on my annual expensive maintenance fee and just bagging it.
We've had a reasonably good time and relationship, particularly exchanging via II for other countries and resorts. But it's getting old, and I'm not referring to the age of the Royal resorts! RR needs to do much more to KEEP me paying maintenance fees. I'm an automatic source of income just via the annual maintenance bill. If RR doesn't care and wants to take on or sell a "foreclosed" timeshare week, good luck to them.
I still have a few months to decide, but if I stop paying maintenance now, I'd save over $10,000 over the next 8-9 years just in fees. Pretty good return on a timeshare week! All in my pocket.
The RC ends in 2018, less than 9-10 years. If you don't want it anymore, I'm sure you can find a new home for it on TUG. And if I'm wrong, you can turn it back in to RR without defaulting, just call ISCO.
disappointed
newbie
Signature Club Update
After spending $1,500 on the Gold membership to get 4 times the points of the Silver membership and after waiting months to see the offerings on the site that could help us reduce our maintenance fees; the site is active and the vast majority of items are NOT what we would purchase normally, so we would need to spend a lot of money on items we would not normally buy in order to reduce our maintenance fees. (Sorry, This run-on(and on) sentence is intended to allow you to feel our pain over the last several months...) Still smells like a RR money making scam to me. How is this a "Member Benefit"? The silver membership expires in two years and then it's no longer "free." Still don't see any member benefit in the RR Signature Club.
After spending $1,500 on the Gold membership to get 4 times the points of the Silver membership and after waiting months to see the offerings on the site that could help us reduce our maintenance fees; the site is active and the vast majority of items are NOT what we would purchase normally, so we would need to spend a lot of money on items we would not normally buy in order to reduce our maintenance fees. (Sorry, This run-on(and on) sentence is intended to allow you to feel our pain over the last several months...) Still smells like a RR money making scam to me. How is this a "Member Benefit"? The silver membership expires in two years and then it's no longer "free." Still don't see any member benefit in the RR Signature Club.
ilene13
TUG Member
How could you sign up for it on line? The RR have been adamant that you must attend a presentation to sign up. We own 3 weeks and they would not talk to me over the phone-- I must do it in person. So we will find out week 15, as I traded away my week 45!
I read "this/it" as the royal resort owners (.ning) site, not the Sig Club.
ilene13
TUG Member
You are correct Glenn. I am often on that site, there does not seem to be any more info on the signature program. We are not joining it!
Disappointed - More info please?
Can you share the offerings with us? And how many dollars (translatable into maintenance fee reduction) does each point earn you? How much stuff would you have to buy to pay a $9xx MF?
I hope you can cancel. Please keep us updated!
Can you share the offerings with us? And how many dollars (translatable into maintenance fee reduction) does each point earn you? How much stuff would you have to buy to pay a $9xx MF?
I hope you can cancel. Please keep us updated!
urban5
TUG Member
Week 16 Royal Caribbean
If you are considering giving up your unit I would be willing to accept it from you, and I could put it to better use than the Royals would. I sent you a PM with my contact details if you have any interest in pursuing.
These kind of income-producing deals put out by RR management are sad. My wife and I are early Royal Caribbean owners, buying prior to completion of construction back in 1988. It was a VERY good deal for a Week 16 stay. But now with the increasing travel costs, programs like required "All Inclusive" for non-members hurting exchange opportunities, the move away from II to RCI, and general negative feelings (even if misplaced) about Mexico, I'm seriously considering defaulting on my annual expensive maintenance fee and just bagging it.
We've had a reasonably good time and relationship, particularly exchanging via II for other countries and resorts. But it's getting old, and I'm not referring to the age of the Royal resorts! RR needs to do much more to KEEP me paying maintenance fees. I'm an automatic source of income just via the annual maintenance bill. If RR doesn't care and wants to take on or sell a "foreclosed" timeshare week, good luck to them.
I still have a few months to decide, but if I stop paying maintenance now, I'd save over $10,000 over the next 8-9 years just in fees. Pretty good return on a timeshare week! All in my pocket.
If you are considering giving up your unit I would be willing to accept it from you, and I could put it to better use than the Royals would. I sent you a PM with my contact details if you have any interest in pursuing.