We had already booked two weeks at Royal Islander through RCI for next July/August. First week at La Plage 2 BR Sleep 6, second week at La Terasse 3 BR Penthouse. We did this far in advance (while we were still on the island in August) because we book as soon as it becomes available on RCI due to the need to accommodate our family of 6.
We just found out this week that RCI cancelled those two reservations and deposited our points back into our account.
We are concerned about this as (1) we had paid maintenance fees for 2017 but we also stayed there in 2017 on borrowed points, so our next maintenance fee would be 2018 which is not due yet, and (2) the points we used were paid to a third party (purchased) so that we would have enough points and are back into our account so there is no reason for the rooms to have been cancelled unless RI will be closed in July/Aug 2018. We had paid sizeable transaction fees for confirming both weeks, which have not been refunded. And now we are out that money, had already paid for the points to a 3rd party so we are out those funds for vacation if we cant use points to get our rooms. And we shouldn't have to pay transaction fees again!
I wrote to Nina but have had no response yet. But we don't understand why our rooms have been unilaterally cancelled (especially as RI owners) if the resort has not made the decision to be closed in July/Aug 2018 and has not told RCI to cancel rooms, and it seems to me that it is wrong for RCI to take peoples transaction fees and then cancel their reservations, leaving people without rooms AND out the transaction fees and RCI membership costs etc. This is a big problem, especially if it is happening to a lot of people! We were prepared for the possibility that Royal Islander might not be ready to have people come next summer. But it is not ok if they want people to come and are able to have people come, but peoples reservations were wrongly canceled (or prematurely canceled) by RCI! That is not right!

Hoping I get answers....we want to go back to SXM if it is ready and able to have us next summer. But right now we have a lot of spent funds, cancelled reservations, and a lot of questions. If RCI is cancelling reservations for next summer without the authority of Royal Islander, that is a huge problem as it hurts RI reputation as well as its ability to get tourists, and it hurts the tourists!! And given the size of our family it is not easy to find timeshare accomodations that accommodate all of us comfortably during the two weeks that we have for vacation (our kids are now all pretty much teenagers and not as easy to squeeze in like we used to! They are all 5'7" or taller and need beds!
And I am sure it will be even harder now due to the damage to the island.