The best loyalty programs

Hello,

 

Of these four ships, which ones have the best loyalty programs. Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and NCL.

Looking for more of free cruises/discounted, rather than on board perks.

I am not sure any of them give free or significantly discounted cruises.

Hello,

 

Of these four ships, which ones have the best loyalty programs. Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and NCL.

Looking for more of free cruises/discounted, rather than on board perks.

RC gives discounts on staterooms with a balcony, which range from $25 to $375 per stateroom, depending on loyalty level, length of cruise, and how far in advance the cruise is booked.

Oceania gives the 20th cruise free (with some conditions naturally)

I understand Azamara has free nights based on previous cruise history. I don't know if that is just as a promo or always as part of their loyalty program

I belong to all 4 cruise lines mentioned , and others.

IMO

 

RCI gives the best pre cruise perk with the Balcony Discount. Onboard Diamond nightly lounge drinks is nice , but the non stackability of OBC from all sources , is a big negative. Recognizing level between RCI and X is a +.

 

Princess the best onboard perks with the free internet minutes, Platinum/Elite nightly lounge drinks.

Not just for loyalty, allows OBC from many sources (promo, military, shareholder , group amenity and TA ) to be stacked .

Allowing TA's to discount Princess's best rates makes up for the lack of a Balcony Discount.

 

I would not miss the chance to experience all of the lines that I could , just to earn points toward loyalty on one cruise line.

Edited September 23, 2017 by MCC retired

Do you really want to stay with a line for a free cruise........I'd pick the line you enjoy the most and stay with that one---but from time to time change it up a bit and try another line.

I think RCI has the best loyalty program in terms of perks and benefits offered by tier level. Free cruises are only offered at very high point levels, one per level attained, withing the highest two tiers and would not be attainable with most cruisers unless they cruise multiple times per year over a number of years. However as mentioned they do offer a balcony discount which is attractive and varies by tier level. Celebrity runs a close second to RCI in terms of their loyalty program benefits.

 

To me the most attractive benefit is RCI, Celebrity, and Azamara's programs are reciprocal, which means once you reach a certain tier, you can enjoy the comparable level's benefits on each line based on your tier level with your primary line. The earned points remain with the line you are cruising on at the time, but you share the benefits on each.

Edited September 23, 2017 by leaveitallbehind

Thank you all so much for your knowledge and advice. The Azamara is unknown to me, I'll check it out.

Thank you all so much for your knowledge and advice. The Azamara is unknown to me, I'll check it out.

 

Azamara, along with RCI and Celebrity is part of the RCL family of cruise lines. It is a higher end cruise line. Here is a link to their website:

 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/

Azamara, along with RCI and Celebrity is part of the RCL family of cruise lines. It is a higher end cruise line. Here is a link to their website:

 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/

 

Thank you, going there now.

Impressive.

Having sailed with some of these lines and read the other programs they are all very similar.

 

What is best really comes down to what they offer that you would like.

 

My own view is that I would not choose to sail regularly with one of these lines because of the program. It would have to be because I like the cruise line/ship/itinerary.

 

Keith

Princess the best onboard perks with the free internet minutes, Platinum/Elite nightly lounge drinks.

Not just for loyalty, allows OBC from many sources (promo, military, shareholder , group amenity and TA ) to be stacked .

Allowing TA's to discount Princess's best rates makes up for the lack of a Balcony Discount.

Princess doesn't offer free lounge drinks like Royal Caribbean does. The Platinum/Elite/Suite lounge offers discounted drinks--but the price seems to keep going up. Princess offers discounts to past passengers. I can see the difference in prices by checking them before signing in and after. My favorite past-passenger perk on Princess is the free laundry for Elite level (more than 15 cruises or 150 days). It came in very handy on our 12-day cruise last month (which followed four nights beforehand in London and Southampton). Other cruise lines offer this perk. For instance, Holland America has it for 4-star Mariners (200 cruise day credits).

 

I'm happy we attained Elite on Princess--but primarily because we had great cruises. It worked out that Princess fits us. But we have sailed on several other lines since starting with Princess--Celebrity, Carnival, and Holland America. It all comes down to which one has a cruise we want at a price we like.

Depends on your preferences. We find the RCI/Celebrity programs the best because the honour each other's programs. HAL's is at the very bottom of the list for us. Princess in the middle.

 

Discounts on cruises, free cruises? Well our RCI program gets us $200 on a balcony. Same with Celebrity I think.

 

The very best program is one we made ourselves. We are not loyal to any one cruise line so it works for us. It essentially provides us with a free cruise for every 12 or so that we take. Far better than any cruise line loyalty program.

 

The program is simple. We book our cruises with an online TA who rebates 8-10 of the commissionable fare back to us in the form of OBC's. The savings on each cruise adds up.

We have to agree that the value of the various cruise line loyalty perks varies depending on your personal habits. For example, as 5 Star Mariners on HAL (this also applies to 4 Star Mariners) we get unlimited free laundry and 50% off of a couple of wine packages. Since we do buy the wine packages (for dinner) we actually save about $20 a day on our wine.

 

Princess also gives us (we are Elite) unlimited free laundry (service is not nearly as good as on HAL) and dry cleaning. They also give Elites a free stocked mini-bar which we trade-in (with a phone call to Room Service) for 2 Coffee Cards.

 

RCI does give us free daily drinks in the Diamond Lounge. And Celebrity (where we are Elite Plus) gives us 2 hours of free cocktails every day (except the embarkation day) or sometimes vouchers for 3 free drinks per day. Celebrity also gives Elites and Elite Plus folks coupons worth various things such as 30 pieces of free laundry.

 

MSC might be the most interesting. They are kind of the new guys on the block (in the US market) and offer a Match program where they will give you an equivalent status to nearly any other plan. So when we submitted proof of our HAL status....MSC immediately granted us "Black Status" (their highest category) even though we had never cruised with MSC. Black Status gets anyone a 5% discount on the cruise price and other onboard perks.

 

Hank

Having sailed with some of these lines and read the other programs they are all very similar.

 

What is best really comes down to what they offer that you would like.

 

My own view is that I would not choose to sail regularly with one of these lines because of the program. It would have to be because I like the cruise line/ship/itinerary.

 

Keith

 

Absolutely, I agree. I overheard a conversation from a couple that remains loyal to only one cruise line and was raving about the perks so I thought I would ask.

Princess doesn't offer free lounge drinks like Royal Caribbean does. The Platinum/Elite/Suite lounge offers discounted drinks--but the price seems to keep going up. Princess offers discounts to past passengers. I can see the difference in prices by checking them before signing in and after. My favorite past-passenger perk on Princess is the free laundry for Elite level (more than 15 cruises or 150 days). It came in very handy on our 12-day cruise last month (which followed four nights beforehand in London and Southampton). Other cruise lines offer this perk. For instance, Holland America has it for 4-star Mariners (200 cruise day credits).

 

I'm happy we attained Elite on Princess--but primarily because we had great cruises. It worked out that Princess fits us. But we have sailed on several other lines since starting with Princess--Celebrity, Carnival, and Holland America. It all comes down to which one has a cruise we want at a price we like.

 

Is there a time frame *years when your cruise time no longer applies? (more than 15 cruises or 150 days).

It is VERY common for internet based TA's to provide lower pricing/rebated OBC's in excess of those provide by the cruise line directly or by some of the bricks and mortar TA's.

 

We actually prefer online travel agencies. The keep much better hours than bricks and mortar agencies and they are certainly more independent than the cruise line agents. It is a win win for us....and for the on line TA.

Princess has a very good loyalty program. :)

Is there a time frame *years when your cruise time no longer applies? (more than 15 cruises or 150 days).

 

You asked this in conjunction with Princess and we are not aware of any time limit. In fact, our cruise days with Sitmar cruises are still recognized in the Princess program (they bought Sitmar) and shows in our Captain's Club listing that is available on their web site.

 

Hank

You asked this in conjunction with Princess and we are not aware of any time limit. In fact, our cruise days with Sitmar cruises are still recognized in the Princess program (they bought Sitmar) and shows in our Captain's Club listing that is available on their web site.

 

Hank

 

This good news, I will have to do some research on past cruises and see if they still apply.

Royal/Celebrity/Azamara has my vote. There program covers all three lines giving you lots options; ship sizes and itineraries.

Is there a time frame *years when your cruise time no longer applies? (more than 15 cruises or 150 days).

No expiration of points in the RC program.

Hello,

 

Of these four ships, which ones have the best loyalty programs. Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and NCL.

Looking for more of free cruises/discounted, rather than on board perks.

 

I'm a member of all 4's loyalty programs......and 2 more (HAL and Carnival). Of all those lines, I think Royal Caribbean has the best program, especially at the higher levels.

Cruising with a cruise line just because of its loyalty program is like gambling in a casino just to qualify for a free cruise, which is to say if you are going to gamble a lot anyway then getting a free cruise is great but gambling a lot just to qualify for a free cruise doesn't make much sense as one could buy several cruises for what one would have to gamble away in order to qualify for a free cruise. Cruising with a cruise line that has a great loyalty program is fine, if you actually like the line and all that it offers for the price they sell their cruises for. It must also be kept in mind that loyalty programs can and do change so the perks you are attempting to receive may no longer be available once you hit that particular level.