Is a New Top Level in The Voyager's Club in the Offing?

On my recent cruise I spoke to the MSC voyager's club/Future cruise consultant who said a new top level is being considered.

She went on to say that members of staff, mainly MSC future cruise consultants, had been asked to submit possible names for the new level and she told me her suggestion. I thought her idea was pretty good but won't post it as she may have a good chance of winning. Suffice it to say it wasn't Diamond or Platinum or Rhodium or any other exotic precious metal.

She didn't have any idea at what number of points the new level would start.

Another bit of information that I think I heard correctly, but can't be sure I did, was that the status match scheme was valid for only one cruise and after that the points were reset to zero and then the points applicable to that cruise added to their account, leaving many who thought they were BLACK members at CLASSIC or SILVER .

IF I heard correctly then there may well very many disgruntled new MSC cruisers to join the disgruntled real BLACK CARD HOLDERS who earned the level the hard way.

I reiterate that this second piece of information is my interpretation of what I think she said and it may well be completely wrong.

Pete

Thanks. If that is indeed a promotion and not a legitimate level my B2B may be their only chance at keeping me as a customer. I would be very bummed out to find I am at classic at that point. Along with the B1G1F on balconies, it was a deciding factor on trying them out.

Pete ... How long before any new level is given away for free? and how long before all those who were given the current matches desert MSC if what you say is in fact correct.

We just booked our first MSC cruise--lured in by the status match.

I am wondering if what she meant was that you get the level of point match, but that your actual point accumulation is starting from zero--as if it were your first cruise (which it is) so then moving up to higher levels would take a looooong time? That would make more sense to me than granting status and then taking it away again.

We just booked our first MSC cruise--lured in by the status match.

 

I am wondering if what she meant was that you get the level of point match, but that your actual point accumulation is starting from zero--as if it were your first cruise (which it is) so then moving up to higher levels would take a looooong time? That would make more sense to me than granting status and then taking it away again.

I like that interpretation and it makes a lot of sense to me.

I took blinkered view of the idea, from the view point of a Black card status match, but, for matches at Silver and Gold it would mean that earn Black in the same way as before but have the benefits of Gold or Silver as they progress upwards from zero points.

Pete ... Many people have spent thousands with MSC in order to get to Black or even Gold level, giving those levels away for free to those who have never travelled with them let alone heard of MSC will never be right.

Sadly it has driven away loyal customers many of whom used to pass on their knowledge here.

Pete ... Many people have spent thousands with MSC in order to get to Black or even Gold level, giving those levels away for free to those who have never travelled with them let alone heard of MSC will never be right.

Sadly it has driven away loyal customers many of whom used to pass on their knowledge here.

I agree entirely and count myself as one who has spent many thousands to get to Black and will always believe we were kicked in the b***s ( "lower chest" )by MSC when they introduced the Voyager' club and the Status Match.

Pete

I agree entirely and count myself as one who has spent many thousands to get to Black and will always believe we were kicked in the b***s ( "lower chest" )by MSC when they introduced the Voyager' club and the Status Match.

From the cruiselines point of view the loyalty programs are not meant as a reward for loyalty or having spent many thousands (which in fact the "status matched" members did too, to another cruiseline) but as a stimulus to pay even more thousands.

Real downside of the Voyagers Club is you get only 5% discount regardless of status.

All well and good but those other cruise lines do not count in this issue because the deal is not reciprocal! Black card holders ie those who have spent thousands with MSC used to get 20% as a loyalty discount on future cruises. It was given for reaching that level and for showing loyalty to the brand.

There have been rumors for a couple years now regarding a club category beyond Black, which might require 25,000 or 30,000 points. We'll see.

I agree totally regarding the shady treatment of us old Black card members who attained that level after many many cruises. The new Voyagers Club and all its "benefits" (including the status match program) I'd like to send back to MSC headquarters in a stinking trash bag.

And in speaking occasionally with MSC staff at the officer level, they KNOW it's not working.

I am one of those that just received the status match Black level. The MSC web site shows that I have 10000 points. As I have been loyal to one brand it was becoming hard to leave that and try something different. MSC is trying to increase passengers to there brand and this program appears to be working.

I have booked 2 cruises that both show my level as Black and convinced my sister in law and husband to book one with us that we would not have, if not for 1. the status match & 2. the price. If we like what MSC has to offer they will have won over a couple new future cruisers.:)

I booked my first cruise with MSC in 2014 and joined the Voyager's Club at that time. When the match came out, I was "promoted" to Black. I've now done my second cruise as Black, and am leaving in 2 weeks for another as Black, so, no, they are not taking away status after only one cruise. As I travel solo, I wish the 20% discount was still in place. Do we still get credit for money spent onboard?

I can imagine that it stings a bit to have "earned" status and now feel like MSC is just giving it away to those of us from other lines.

That said, I agree with the PP that this is marketing genius. We spend about 30 nights per year on ships, and it will only become more as we age and get closer to retirement. We are already top tier on two lines (and one of those has reciprocity with 2 sister lines) so it took this extra incentive to get us to try a brand new line--but if we like it, well MSC will probably get a lot of our cruising dollars in the future.

Marketing specifically to proven frequent travelers/cruisers seems like a better return on investment than marketing to those new to cruising who may find it is not for them and never return.

I booked my first cruise with MSC in 2014 and joined the Voyager's Club at that time. When the match came out, I was "promoted" to Black. I've now done my second cruise as Black, and am leaving in 2 weeks for another as Black, so, no, they are not taking away status after only one cruise. As I travel solo, I wish the 20% discount was still in place. Do we still get credit for money spent onboard?

Interesting. I was on the same cruise as Pete. I was at the Black Card lunch. My table only had Black card members who'd gained their status via past MSC cruises. The topic of the Voyagers club and the status match came up. The officer at our table (Guest Services Manager) actually categorically stated to is that he understood our viewpoint but that the status match was just for the first cruise and thereafter they would be classic and have to earn points the same way as we had had to. It was just intended to get cruisers loyal to other lines, to try MSC. Seems he has either misunderstood or just told us what we may have wanted to hear!

I do understand the rationale for the introduction of the Boyagers club. All companies want to attract new customers and will make better offers to them than what existing customers can get. There needs to be a balance however, in not attracting new customers only to lose a large percentage of existing ones. I've gone from 3-4 cruises a year with them to only 1 in the last 2 years. The Voyagers club was a big factor in not using them at all last year. Another factor was a lot of anti solo policies that were introduced in the UK office during Biles Hawke's Reign (thankfully now departed). It used to be that they were my first choice and I rarely considered another company. There were may like me. Now we shop around since the incentives to only choose them have gone.

So I've read (or at least skimmed) this entire thread.

The general consensus for Status Match here is that it is only for the first cruise on MSC after the match, or perhaps not, and it continues.

Have there been discussions elsewhere that I haven't come across that can answer the question definitively?

I've earned Platinum on both NCL and Carnival (and the hard way) and am very attempted to try MSC, but to start over at the bottom seems a challenge.

gary

We just booked our first MSC cruise--lured in by the status match.

 

I am wondering if what she meant was that you get the level of point match, but that your actual point accumulation is starting from zero--as if it were your first cruise (which it is) so then moving up to higher levels would take a looooong time? That would make more sense to me than granting status and then taking it away again.

This would work well to keep all parties happy. Good marketing ploy to attract new passengers, but keeping those who earned it the hard way with their elite status.

At no point should anyone be able to obtain Black card status with points to match after only 1 cruise to be able to quickly progress to what ever next level MSC introduce. Had i have been a Black card member i would have been livid. Sadly at the time i was only classic and wallowing at the bottom of the pile. lol

Always good to attract new customers...... never forget those who remained loyal to you in the leaner times! Bad bad move!

The other side of the coin is that if you want to attract customers from another line they are not going to want to start at the bottom again. The status match is how it works with hotel chains. As I have said before - and this is going to be very controversial ! Both my husband and I got MSC black status via our Platinum Le Club Accor account which we got via our platinum Amex cards! For us to have a first cruise ever immediately at top status was an amazing bonus. We have already got our second Divina cruise booked, and I am loathe to try another line based on this! Also we are showing as having black status till 2019 and my points show the 10k we immediately got allocated plus the points for the cruise already taken.

The real shame is that other cruise lines are not giving a reciprocal status to MSC card holders.

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I, for one, do not care about the status match (although I greatly appreciate it and the perks that go along with it). If I cared about "status", I would stay with one cruise line.

There was a thread on the Royal Caribbean page about MSC. With interest, I began reading it. This lead me to the MSC threads and began reading here and doing quite a bit of research and asking questions. After all of my research, seeing the Seaside, the MSC private Island, I was hooked.

Sooooo, my point is, I did not book because of the "status match", but because of it, I am a new customer and hopefully a long time customer. I do however have a question. Does one keep booking a particular cruise line just for the perks and status? To me, this is silly. I cruise for the ship, price, and itinerary. :eek: Variety is the spice of life and if I am going to spend thousands of dollars for a one week vacation, it is not going to be because I will have a lapel pin sitting on my bed. :eek: It will because I am happy with the product. :):):)

I did actually book the original cruise first then saw the status match.

Also I will say that for us the price is what attracted us in the first place especially as we are from the UK and we got a good deal with the flights added and hotels at either side of the trip.

We did look after we got back at NCL but for the same itinerary and including drink package etc MSC is a no brainer! I am hoping they add an Alaska itinerary and a west coast also at some point.

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We sailed on the Divina in May largely due to the Black card status match and the great price. Our account shows that our points increased after that cruise. We are sailing on the Divina again tomorrow and still have the Black card. We know that we have to sail every three years in order to keep this status.

I understand the frustration of the MSC cruisers who obtained Black status through sailing on MSC. It would upset me too if that were done on Carnival since there are too many Diamonds now. On our May cruise almost everyone we talked with was there because of the Black level status match. It did give us the impetus to finally try MSC because I am hesitant to try other lines because I don't want to start at the bottom again.

Looking forward to another great Divina cruise tomorrow.

I am probably going to be even more controversial... And say (and it has been said by others also), a lot of the regulars off the other cruise lines who got the status will probably not go on MSC again because even with the status match they are not getting the same "experience" that they are used to. Hence the bad reviews that are getting posted.

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Interesting thread...

...people complaining about the Status Match program kind of feels like the people in Heaven who followed Christ from an early age complaining about the folks that got into Heaven with death bed conversions...

...at the end of the day, we all get to experience the amazingness of an MSC Cruise, right!?

If someone getting a few free cocktails and a lapel pin an "easier" way than you puts you off...I feel a bit sad for ya...

...life really is far too short to worry about such things...isn't it?

I didn't get a lapel pin! We did get 2 chocolate ships though....

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I didn't get a lapel pin! We did get 2 chocolate ships though....

 

 

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Wish there was a LIKE button on here!

I, for one, do not care about the status match (although I greatly appreciate it and the perks that go along with it). If I cared about "status", I would stay with one cruise line.

 

There was a thread on the Royal Caribbean page about MSC. With interest, I began reading it. This lead me to the MSC threads and began reading here and doing quite a bit of research and asking questions. After all of my research, seeing the Seaside, the MSC private Island, I was hooked.

 

Sooooo, my point is, I did not book because of the "status match", but because of it, I am a new customer and hopefully a long time customer. I do however have a question. Does one keep booking a particular cruise line just for the perks and status? To me, this is silly. I cruise for the ship, price, and itinerary. :eek: Variety is the spice of life and if I am going to spend thousands of dollars for a one week vacation, it is not going to be because I will have a lapel pin sitting on my bed. :eek: It will because I am happy with the product. :):):)

no ,I don't book cruise line for status .BUT if I have Black card and before only 10-20 pas. would have it on one cruise ,now it's 200-300 and my priority embarkation and other perks become useless. Plus its really piss me off as a loyal customer .