I’ve posted a bit on the partnership between Royal Caribbean and MGM M Life. The majority of those have been about Royal elites getting M Life status, but I’ve certainly posted about going the other way as well – M Life to Royal Caribbean.

A reader wrote today to ask if I’d tried getting M Life benefits applied to a Royal Caribbean cruise lately? I haven’t because I earned my M Life via my Royal Caribbean status. Early on some readers reported difficulty getting benefits applied to their cruise if they received their M Life status via a matching program like Hyatt’s match to M Life. However, when I checked into it, the terms restricting benefits applied to the free cruise offered to M Life big spenders. After some fits and starts, some readers were able to obtain the onboard benefits like drink chits, and a specialty restaurant dinner for cruises they were paying for.

The reader checked in with Royal Caribbean and they pointed him to the terms and conditions of the offer which have unfortunately been updated to specifically exclude any benefits for those who obtained their M Life status via a status match program. Specifically, the terms and conditions now state “Guests that earned tier through 3rd party relationships are not eligible to receive onboard benefits.” You can review the terms and conditions here. I’m glad some were able to take advantage of this while it was available. Of course, if you’re an M Life spender anyway….and I know some of you are, don’t forget to take advantage of this offer.

-MJ, April 9, 2014