Did Celebrity get it right - Captain's Club

[Cruising89143]

No, I don't have any stock in RCCL. I have very little tolerance for people that complain about things that are offered as gratitude. It's kinda like complaining I gave you a $100 bill and not five $20's.

 

 

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We'll see how many of these so called disgruntled cruisers take their bag of marbles and leave. The grass is not always greener. Of course they will post another 10 million times that they're leaving. They want to be sure that we all know it.......LOL......;)

[CTLeeA]

I'm surprised there has not been much comment at all from Elites that it appears that our 'priority tender embarkation' benefit has apparently been taken away from us...I don't find it listed for the Elite + or Zenith either....I'm wondering if it's just an oversight???

[Stevie Lawson]

I noticed that there was no mention of the priority tenders for Elites too. Was hoping someone can enlighten us on a future sailing. That benefit is of interest as we have 2 tenders on our Adriatic cruise in May.

 

It is one of those benefits that enhances your cruise experience but doesnt cost Celebrity anything.

[Cruising89143]

I noticed that there was no mention of the priority tenders for Elites too. Was hoping someone can enlighten us on a future sailing. That benefit is of interest as we have 2 tenders on our Adriatic cruise in May.

 

It is one of those benefits that enhances your cruise experience but doesnt cost Celebrity anything.

 

It was posted on Celebrity's Facebook page that Elites still have priority tendering.

[NLH Arizona]

It varies. And as I implied it hasn't been a factor at all for us yet and likely won't be a big deal going forward: free internet doesn't make up for bad food.

 

The one that had an immediate "loyalty" impact was AMA - we got 5% off our second cruise (on top of any other discounts, like 5% early booking and 5% pay in full). Perks are fine, but money is even better! There was no downside, because we loved everything about our AMA cruise - especially the food - but this insured that we didn't even cross-shop other lines.

 

That's my point - if Celebrity is using this program to ensure loyalty, they are shooting themselves in the foot by decreasing its appeal to the majority of their customers. This may help sell a few more suites, but how many suites does each ship hold? Wouldn't it be better to sell dozens more OV cabins?

Not sure why you said that they are shooting themselves in the foot by decreasing its appeal to the majority of their customers. There seems to be just as many that are pleased with it as there are displeased with it.

[Hlitner]

No, I don't have any stock in RCCL. I have very little tolerance for people that complain about things that are offered as gratitude. It's kinda like complaining I gave you a $100 bill and not five $20's.

 

 

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We appreciate the perks given to us by Celebrity and have long enjoyed the cocktail hours and breakfasts available to Elite members. So now we will soon be Elite Plus (in about 3 weeks after our next cruise) and just took a look at the new benefits. It is totally underwhelming and really not much of an improvement of the already wonderful Elite level. Thought it might be fun to analyze the additional benefits:

 

200 min or internet - Probably the best perk as its more then double what you get as Elite

 

15% off of Alternative Dining Venues---Now this is a big nothing. We have normally been able to get 30-50% off by just asking on many of our cruises. When the restaurants are not doing well, they will often bargain. One can also do quite well by simply booking a specialty restaurant package that gives discounts of up to 31%.....so this 15% off is not much of a deal.

 

10% off beverage packages ---It is what it is :)

1 additional free bag of laundry - mighty generous of them

 

And that is about it. Bottom line is that getting to the Elite Level is a very nice thing and gets you a lot of benefits. But Elite Plus is really not much of an improvement....and seems miniscule when one considers it takes 500 more points after reaching Elite.

 

As to the Zenith Level......guess we will eat our heart out because this is not a level we shall achieve in this lifetime.

 

Hank

[NLH Arizona]

Have you ever heard of Perfect Cruise Lines? Their ships are based in Utopia. All the free cabins are Presidential Suites. It's an all free cruise. Even the casino! Everyone is a BIG winner! They ask each passenger what their specific likes and desires are prior to sailing.......:rolleyes: Get a grip folks! Yes, you can "vote" with your wallet and go elsewhere. I won't mind!:D

 

 

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I'll be voting with my wallet as well, I'll be booking additional cruises.

[20pluscruises]

I noticed that there was no mention of the priority tenders for Elites too. Was hoping someone can enlighten us on a future sailing. That benefit is of interest as we have 2 tenders on our Adriatic cruise in May.

 

It is one of those benefits that enhances your cruise experience but doesnt cost Celebrity anything.

 

Well, if there are 1000 Elites on your cruise as was on our last cruise you'll only be stuck in line with 1000 other people....could be more as they really don't monitor the tender process.

[NLH Arizona]

Anyone else get the feeling some have a horse in this race?

I've got no horse in the race. I worked over 30 years in the music industry and I've been retired for a few years. I have no stock in RCCL or any company that has anything to do with cruises. I just think Celebrity did a good job. I think they were fair, without giving the store away. They had to cut it off at a certain level; many are happy and some are not so happy.

 

We could say the same for those that are so adamant that this is a bad program, do they have a horse in a competing company???????

[BrendaJ]

Well, there has certainly been a lot of drama concerning the new captain's club information. I must admit, after all the rumours, I was quite interested to see what they would come up with, mainly because, in my opinion, the previous Elite perks were already so good, I couldn't imagine much they could offer up on top of those.

 

My impressions on the changes are:

 

1. The 30 points per old point was very generous. I did a re-calculation on my own cruising history, and if the new system had been applied to my previous cruises, I would have ended up with only 579 points, rather than the 840 they gave me for my 28 old points. Of course, in the future, it is going to be a lot harder to move up the ladder - I'm glad I had enough cruises to get to Elite+ before the change. Of course, I will be very, very old before I get to Zenith. I thought I was a rather frequent cruiser, having accumulated 160 days with Celebrity/Azamara since 2001, but it's going to take me another 432 days in Concierge/Aqua Class to make it to Zenith. It would take me 120 days in the Penthouse. Probably never going to happen but it's nice to dream. If I ever do reach Zenith, I'll be so old and on so much medication that the only thing the free Premium Drink package will do for me is allow me to wash down my pills with Perrier.
    
   
2. I got credit for my Azamara cruises, which I did not expect. Nice bonus.
    
   
3. The Elite+ benefits, in combination with the existing Elite benefits, are probably what I would make the most use of. We generally take longer cruises and the added internet minutes and laundry are certainly a great perk for us. If they throw in a few coupons for free gelato, I'll be even happier.
   

 

All that being said, I have to wonder why people are getting so worked up about the changes to the plan, one way or the other. I certainly would not be booking higher cabin categories that I was comfortable with, just to acquire a higher level in the Captain's Club. The price different between cabin categories is generally enough that you'd be better off just spending the difference on board for the perks you want.

 

The biggest source of anguish on this board seems to be the Elite lounge. I personally don't understand the big deal. We've been Elite quite a while, and honestly, most nights I just can't be bothered to go, although the time works out fine for our dining habits. Just how many drinks is someone going to drink in two hours that not having this benefit affects their cruise that much? I know some talk about the "camaraderie" in the lounge, but you can get that at any bar on the ship - friendly, interesting people are everywhere. I'd rather have a drink outside than be cooped up in the Sky lounge myself. With the advent of drink packages, I would think the popularity of the lounge would have diminished for the big drinkers but some people obviously place a high value on it. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

All in all, I'm very happy with the enhancements to the Captain's Club - it gives us something to strive for while enjoying our favourite cruise line.

[Bollinge]

We are "Goldenballs" status on many lines, and it was obvious that on X, "Elite" status was anything but!

 

Now we have the points system, we are miles from Elite +, and never likely to attain that level because we travel on many different lines. As someone else said, to become Z class you would have to start young and rich and book a suite each trip. If you are that well off you could go on Crystal or on your own yacht!

 

It would be great if someone could sit down and workout the actual monetary value of these perks and coupon booklets for each tier level.

 

Not best pleased with the change!

Edited November 26, 2013 by Bollinge

[teecee60]

Have you ever heard of Perfect Cruise Lines? Their ships are based in Utopia. All the free cabins are Presidential Suites. It's an all free cruise. Even the casino! Everyone is a BIG winner! They ask each passenger what their specific likes and desires are prior to sailing.......:rolleyes: Get a grip folks! Yes, you can "vote" with your wallet and go elsewhere. I won't mind!:D

 

 

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Hi guy!!! Sure enjoyed our time on Reflection and your stories about our mutual experiences! Did you notice it's happening again right here and now?

 

After Flex got into Miami, I got to see the Mars Maven launch at KSC thanks to a guy I met on Silhouette in April.

 

I can't wait for Diane to meet you guys next time! Any idea how I can get a hold of Burke?

Edited November 26, 2013 by teecee60

[Host Jazzbeau]

Not sure why you said that they are shooting themselves in the foot by decreasing its appeal to the majority of their customers. There seems to be just as many that are pleased with it as there are displeased with it.

 

I'm not going to waste time checking your statistics -- because Cruise Critic is a small portion of Celebrity's passenger base, and an even smaller portion of the world they are trying to get to sail Celebrity.

 

The new system only works well for suites. While the conversion was designed to preserve everyone's previous benefits, going forward it penalizes all cabins below the suite level.

 

Even at the Elite level, folks who can do math are figured it out:

"As to the Zenith Level......guess we will eat our heart out because this is not a level we shall achieve in this lifetime."

 

 

It's billed as a "loyalty" program, so that means it should be part of a marketing plan to attract new customers and entice existing customers to favor Celebrity over their other choices -- but by moving the goalposts further away, it has the opposite effect.

Edited November 26, 2013 by jazzbeau

[Cruising89143]

I'm not going to waste time checking your statistics -- because Cruise Critic is a small portion of Celebrity's passenger base, and an even smaller portion of the world they are trying to get to sail Celebrity.

 

The new system only works well for suites. While the conversion was designed to preserve everyone's previous benefits, going forward it penalizes all cabins below the suite level.

 

Even at the Elite level, folks who can do math are figured it out:

"As to the Zenith Level......guess we will eat our heart out because this is not a level we shall achieve in this lifetime."

 

 

It's billed as a "loyalty" program, so that means it should be part of a marketing plan to attract new customers and entice existing customers to favor Celebrity over their other choices -- but by moving the goalposts further away, it has the opposite effect.

 

Looking at your sig line you're not to loyal to X so I'm trying to figure out why you're so unhappy with the program.

 

Also suite guests should receive higher rewards. They are paying a heck if a lot more than someone in a standard inside or outside stateroom.

[CruisingChick]

The new system only works well for suites. While the conversion was designed to preserve everyone's previous benefits, going forward it penalizes all cabins below the suite level.

 

It's billed as a "loyalty" program, so that means it should be part of a marketing plan to attract new customers and entice existing customers to favor Celebrity over their other choices -- but by moving the goalposts further away, it has the opposite effect.

 

I agree with you.

 

It really hit me when I converted my old Celebrity cruises using the new method. We would be Elite with 469 points not Elite Plus with 870.

 

So while I think Celebrity was very generous with the conversion and multiplying the points by 30, if we were just starting to cruise Celebrity we would never make it to Elite Plus. We have been cruising them exclusively for the past 12 years.

 

Obviously we will never make Zenith.

[grandgeezer]

I'm shocked at all the people complaining about the Loyalty program, especially the people who haven't reached "Elite" yet. We were Elite after four cruises and have enjoyed all the perks on our last eight cruises. Look at what the other lines give you after so few cruises.

I've done 11 cruises on Holland America, for 101 days at seas. That makes me a 3Star Mariner. You know what I get for free? Nada, nil O. Some discounts on things but nothing free. I'm Ruby on Princes with 38 days with them, again 0 free perks. We don't book cruises based purely on perks, we go with itinerary, price, and ship. In the last three years, we have done 3 HAL and 2 Princess even though we are Elite on X and Diamond on RCL.

I totally endorse the practice of giving more to the people who spend more money. For example, we each go on 10 cruises, you in an inside cabin at $600 p.p. and me in a Aqua balcony at $1250 p.p. After 10 cruises, you have paid $12,000, double occupancy. I've spent $25,000. Their cost to maintain the Aqua isn't double the cost of the inside cabin. More money in their pocket. Who would you want to come back more if you were them?

It doesn't do any good to complain about it, as someone else mentioned, vote with your wallet and move on.

[ccruisequeen]

I am offered a gelato but not on Century? I hope they offer a substitution, like a milkshake.

 

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[kitty9]

I'm at 1100 points and I honestly think they needed to add another tier between Elite + and Zenith. Plus, I would like to know how many years they went back to decide on their points. I looked at my list of cruises and noticed they didn't go back for all the years we've been cruising X. There are at least 4 or 5 of my early cruises missing from the list.

[CruisingChick]

I'm at 1100 points and I honestly think they needed to add another tier between Elite + and Zenith. Plus, I would like to know how many years they went back to decide on their points. I looked at my list of cruises and noticed they didn't go back for all the years we've been cruising X. There are at least 4 or 5 of my early cruises missing from the list.

 

Were they under your sailing history before the conversion?

 

I would call the Captain's Club and find out why.

[shipshape sam]

I would have liked to seen another level between Elite+ and zenith, but elite + looks to be a nice list of perks.

 

I am elite and 30 days at 5 points/day to reach elite +. Won't reach it soon either as we sail Royal often too. I am actually closer to Diamond + level, so we all have our stories. Mine would be combining points on both lines. :rolleyes:

 

Hard to come up with a program to fit all people's needs or wants.

 

My perspective is that they are perks/extra's given to us when we sail and NOT why we sail (at least for me).

 

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with Elite perks!? I kinda like them if I choose to use them on a particular cruise. Not sure I need the continual motivation of more perks to sail although it is nice of Celebrity to offer them.

[Cruising89143]

I would have liked to seen another level between Elite+ and zenith, but elite + looks to be a nice list of perks.

 

I am elite and 30 days at 5 points/day to reach elite +. Won't reach it soon either as we sail Royal often too. I am actually closer to Diamond + level, so we all have our stories. Mine would be combining points on both lines. :rolleyes:

 

Hard to come up with a program to fit all people's needs or wants.

 

My perspective is that they are perks/extra's given to us when we sail and NOT why we sail (at least for me).

 

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with Elite perks!? I kinda like them if I choose to use them on a particular cruise. Not sure I need the continual motivation of more perks to sail although it is nice of Celebrity to offer them.

 

Even though Celebrity used a different formula to figure out the cruise perks it looks like they are following RCI's lead on the tiers. There is a huge gap between D+ and Pinnacle.

[NLH Arizona]

I'm not going to waste time checking your statistics -- because Cruise Critic is a small portion of Celebrity's passenger base, and an even smaller portion of the world they are trying to get to sail Celebrity.

 

The new system only works well for suites. While the conversion was designed to preserve everyone's previous benefits, going forward it penalizes all cabins below the suite level.

 

Even at the Elite level, folks who can do math are figured it out:

"As to the Zenith Level......guess we will eat our heart out because this is not a level we shall achieve in this lifetime."

 

 

It's billed as a "loyalty" program, so that means it should be part of a marketing plan to attract new customers and entice existing customers to favor Celebrity over their other choices -- but by moving the goalposts further away, it has the opposite effect.

Hey, I'm 64, there isn't a chance in this world that I'll every hit the Zenith level and maybe not Elite+, but as long as I'm healthy and can cruise, I'll be happy.

 

The airline I use, gives out 50% more miles for those that fly in first class. Some hotel loyalty programs gives you more points if you stay in a suite and points based on how much money you spend at the hotel, my grocery stores gives points based on how much you purchase; I guess I'm just use to loyalty programs that compensate those a little better if they pay or spend more.

 

But you have to remember that they moved the goalposts further away, because of requests from many of their customers who said it was TOO EASY to become Elite , that there were too many in the Elite cocktail party, etc. So, they revamped the whole program, so that every tier was harder to get, which if you think about it, is fair to everyone. I have to say, I believe that someone in a suite should get more points than someone in Concierge and someone in Concierge should get more than someone in a balcony, etc., because you pay more for your cabin. I also wish they had plans to give us alternative ways to earn points by purchasing things on the ship, spending money in the casino, etc., but I don't think that is in the plans.

[chamima]

Hey, I'm 64, there isn't a chance in this world that I'll every hit the Zenith level and maybe not Elite+, but as long as I'm healthy and can cruise, I'll be happy.

 

The airline I use, gives out 50% more miles for those that fly in first class. Some hotel loyalty programs gives you more points if you stay in a suite and points based on how much money you spend at the hotel, my grocery stores gives points based on how much you purchase; I guess I'm just use to loyalty programs that compensate those a little better if they pay or spend more.

 

But you have to remember that they moved the goalposts further away, because of requests from many of their customers who said it was TOO EASY to become Elite , that there were too many in the Elite cocktail party, etc. So, they revamped the whole program, so that every tier was harder to get, which if you think about it, is fair to everyone. I have to say, I believe that someone in a suite should get more points than someone in Concierge and someone in Concierge should get more than someone in a balcony, etc., because you pay more for your cabin. I also wish they had plans to give us alternative ways to earn points by purchasing things on the ship, spending money in the casino, etc., but I don't think that is in the plans.

 

I agreed with everything you said until the last sentence.

I DO think it's in the plans.

Celebrity as much as said so yesterday on FB in response to that exact question. The answer was "Stay tuned"

Look at the wording for the new 1, 2, 3 program that is rolling out on Friday.

"25 club points for Captain's Club members."

I don't want to get into arguments with everyone that thinks they were cheated by being just short of the next level on their next cruise but I would take a bet that there will be some way to "earn" those points (only when it's under 25) on their next cruise.

Edited November 26, 2013 by chamima

[NLH Arizona]

I agreed with everything you said until the last sentence.

I DO think it's in the plans.

Celebrity as much as said so yesterday on FB in response to that exact question. The answer was "Stay tuned"

Look at the wording for the new 1, 2, 3 program that is rolling out on Friday.

"25 club points for Captain's Club members."

I don't want to get into arguments with everyone that thinks they were cheated by being just short of the next level on their next cruise but I would take a bet that there will be some way to "earn" those points (only when it's under 25) on their next cruise.

Thanks, I'm glad to hear that, it is just that I was told the opposite. I like your news much better than mine.

[mferranti]

I certainly hope that "points for onboard spending" is in the plans. I might make Zenith yet! (I'll never live long enough otherwise lol.)