Loyalty Program - Time for a Change

[Wehwalt]

Unfortunately all the West Coast 3/4 cruise go to - ugh- Ensenada.

 

Couldn't Princess do at least a 4 dayer that would do Santa Barbara or Catalina, and include a day at Cabo? That (in my opinion) would be a much better stop then Ensenada. Heck, why not just stop in Tijuana?

 

Oh, and to keep on topic, I don't think loyalty should carry over from one cruise line to the other.

 

I imagine they load a lot of stuff onboard in Ensenada that is cheaper to obtain than in LA. Isn't Cabo a tender port?

 

And as for Tijuana, there may not be a suitable pier there, nor a suitable port agent.

[Thrak]

Unfortunately they stop at Ensenada because of the PVSA. My last two times stopping at Ensenada (on the Hawaiian cruises)' date=' we stayed on board as probably 90 percent of the other passengers. And the time before those, we only got off the ship long enough so that hubby can buy a trinket at the marketplace at the pier for his mother.[/quote']

 

We got off in Ensenada because we are geocachers and wanted to add a geocache find in Mexico. :D The port itself was not at all impressive and we were warned by our steward (a Mexican national) not to wander around much in port and she also asked us to please not judge all Mexicans or Mexican cities by Ensenada. Wow. (We're from California so we are quite familiar with people from Mexico or of Mexican extraction. Not much chance of our judging anybody by our experience of Ensenada...)

 

The next time we hit that port I doubt we will even get off the ship but one can never predict the future...

[ggprincess2004]

Ginger, lost your e-mail and address. Please e-mail me at drainvi264 @ aol dot com.

Done - miss you!!!

[ggprincess2004]

No one is going to booze cruise their way to Elite and then start doing other sorts of cruises. Maybe they would booze cruise more, but you won't see them on the 49-day South America, in front of you for the tenders.

 

I have pointed this out in the past. No one gets to Elite for no purpose. There are no advantages to being Elite when you are not on the ship. So to enjoy the perks, you must cruise, and pay the fare in full.

 

What this is about, for all intents and purposes, is fear that Elite benefits would be diluted through overpopulation. This seems based on emotional reasons, and a couple of cruises where Elite benefits were a problem. As I understand it, one voyage on the Royal with bad laundry, and one on the Grand with ticketed tendering. Plus some accounts of overcrowded cocktail parties.

 

Yes, Princess could act here. They could double days for solo passengers, which I would like. They could go solely by cruise days, which I would not. They could find a compromise, like say half a credit for 1-3 day cruises.

 

The fact that they do not act suggests to me they do not see this as a problem. I am generally impressed by Princess's ability to manage cruise ship passengers ("herding cats"). I suspect they have acted when there have been problems with too many Elites in ways we did not notice, to keep us content.

 

 

On our most recent b2b on the Ruby, they handled this quite well. They had one evening of Captain's Circle parties for the Gold and Ruby members, and another evening for the Platinum and Elite members. Our cocktail party was delightful and not crowded.

Princess keeps figuring out ways to handle the ever increasing number of loyal passengers.

[swedish weave]

We have one thng to be VERY thankful for ------- Some of you are not in charge of the loyalty program !!!!! Just kidding !!!!

[RetiredNTraveling]

I can see it now... Folks who have taken a bunch of 3 and 4 day booze-cruise trips on Carnival will suddenly be Elite on Princess and want to give it a try. Masses of "young adults" boozing it up and taking over the ship.

 

I'll pass. I like Princess the way it is.

 

I like this also! :D

[Pam in CA]

Couldn't Princess do at least a 4 dayer that would do Santa Barbara or Catalina, and include a day at Cabo? That (in my opinion) would be a much better stop then Ensenada. Heck, why not just stop in Tijuana?

Too far. It takes two sea days to sail to Cabo and another two days to return to LA. It takes at least a 5-6 day cruise to go to Cabo. As has been said, the ship (and passengers) must go to a "near" foreign port to satisfy the PVSA requirements.

[fairsky1984]

Where is the "Like" button when I need it.

 

I thought the same thing! "Like"!!!

[grnyel05]

I can see it now... Folks who have taken a bunch of 3 and 4 day booze-cruise trips on Carnival will suddenly be Elite on Princess and want to give it a try. Masses of "young adults" boozing it up and taking over the ship.

 

I'll pass. I like Princess the way it is.

 

This seems really unrealistic to me. This scenario assumes that (1) there's a large group of people who just take 3-4 night Carnival cruises that are at the highest levels of Carnival's loyalty program and (2) that these same people are "young adults" who like to booze it up and take over the ship.

 

More specifically, you have to have sailed 75 days or have cruised 10 times prior to the end of last year to be considered platinum on Carnival. Most of the people on short Carnival cruises are not repeat cruisers, let alone people who have sailed 10 times or 75 days. Of that small group of people that do take those short cruises enough to be platinum, I'm skeptical that there are really that many who are young, drink more than average passengers on a Princess cruise, or would somehow take over the ship.

[Sonoran_cruiser]

I imagine they load a lot of stuff onboard in Ensenada that is cheaper to obtain than in LA. Isn't Cabo a tender port?

 

And as for Tijuana, there may not be a suitable pier there, nor a suitable port agent.

 

Oops, forgot about the logistics of having to tender in Cabo. And, yes, they probably do cheaper restocking in Ensenada. Then again, can the ships easily get from San Pedro/LBC to Cabo and back to make a 4 day trip even feasible.

 

And I was only kidding about Tijuana.;)

 

Guess I'll have to fly to the East or Gulf Coast for short cruise variety.

[Sillyjilly]

I think it is time for the new Holland America Group executives (that oversee Princess and Holland America) to wake up and finally combine loyalty privileges for the two cruise lines. As a long time Princess elite member, it would be nice to sail on some of the Holland ships and itineraries without having to start at the "bottom" so to speak. Since I don't have any standing with Holland, I am inclined to go on other cruise lines. Does Carnival really want to alienate the loyal following we give?

 

Royal Caribbean has done this with great success (i.e. your highest loyalty status on any line applies to all lines).

 

Do any of you agree? I assume the executives read these forums, so if thousands of you would agree they might see the light.

 

Celebrity and RCI combining their perks has been a hot mess. They ended up cutting back on their perks and making new levels. I think they should have left it alone. IMHO.

[Christine Frances]

Celebrity and RCI combining their perks has been a hot mess. They ended up cutting back on their perks and making new levels. I think they should have left it alone. IMHO.

 

 

My bold - there were absolutely no cutting back on the perks on any level - they just added more perks to the new levels. I am very happy with the result:D

[Luvmyrotti]

Finally! Both you and Pam have said what I have been suggesting - that the program should be based upon days at sea as a credit number so that those traveling as singles would get 2X for each day. This would make it more of a financially based loyalty program.

 

By this logic, single cruisers and those booking suites should both get double days towards the loyalty program. For instance, a single booking a balcony on a Hawaii sailing, March 2015, Vancouver - Hawaii - Vancouver would pay a total fare of $4998. A couple sailing in a vista suite would pay $4699 per person for a total of $9398. From my perspective both singles and those sailing in suites should get 2x days.

Edited March 1, 2014 by Luvmyrotti

[Sillyjilly]

My bold - there were absolutely no cutting back on the perks on any level - they just added more perks to the new levels. I am very happy with the result:D

 

I respectfully disagree.:)

[Christine Frances]

I respectfully disagree.:)

 

 

 

Could you please give an example? :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Pam in CA]

By this logic, single cruisers and those booking suites should both get double days towards the loyalty program. For instance, a single booking a balcony on a Hawaii sailing, March 2015, Vancouver - Hawaii - Vancouver would pay a total fare of $4998. A couple sailing in a vista suite would pay $4699 per person for a total of $9398. From my perspective both singles and those sailing in suites should get 2x days.

Be thankful it's not the original # of cruises only.

 

From my perspective, booking a full suite is a choice. Singles have no choice but to pay 180-200% or else not sail. There's no absolutely fair way but IMHO, number of days per passenger keeps it simple.

[swedish weave]

Could you please give an example? :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

How does this impact the Princess loyalty program ?

[sfo2008]

Change I would like to see: a tier between Platinum and Elite, around 10 cruises. It seems like Ruby status should have been positioned here maybe they can still find another status to slip in Platinum+?

 

That said, we will have 7 cruise points after Panama Canal trip in Sep (5 cruises, 2x in suites; and 47 days) So I've semi-seriously thought about 4 short solo cruises inside or 3 in a suite to get elite. But that's just me being a status whore...

 

On the topic of this thread: CCL (parent corp) benefits when a high loyalty status member of one of the mass market lines, e.g. Princess, picks another of CCL's mass market lines (Carnival/Holland) vs. picking competitor mass market line such as RCL/NCL line.

 

Perhaps the way Holland does it, you get the first tier free, is the way to go, perhaps there is some middle ground level of recognition that could help folks stay loyal to CCL as a whole.

 

As for the status levels/perks changing, change is the only constant.

[satxdiver]

Carnival Corp is a holding company that owns a number of cruise lines to include Princess, HAL, Carnival, Cunard, etc. They let each individual cruise line act as totally separate companies to the point of even having competition between the various lines. The idea of a loyalty program is to entice one to predominately use their product over the competition. I doubt that Princess would do anything to entice their clients to go to HAL.

[Steelers36]

Change I would like to see: a tier between Platinum and Elite, around 10 cruises. It seems like Ruby status should have been positioned here maybe they can still find another status to slip in Platinum+?

 

And what do you think or what would you expect to get as perqs in that teir above Platinum but not as much as the Elites?

 

Ruby status is basically nothing. I think it was more of a marketing ploy to give the folks something to entice them to keep coming back for more.

[sfo2008]

And what do you think or what would you expect to get as perqs in that teir above Platinum but not as much as the Elites?

 

Ruby status is basically nothing. I think it was more of a marketing ploy to give the folks something to entice them to keep coming back for more.

 

Perhaps re Ruby, though if they thought people needed to feel good for cruises 4-5 to fill the gap, then the gap from Platinum to Elite is even bigger...

 

In terms of benefits, aping Ruby level they could perhaps move a perk like the Elite "10% Boutique Discount" down to the 10 cruise level. Or create a "10% of all photography" discount to go with the useless 10% off the reflections DVD ruby level. Other more revenue producing items could be here.

[pris993]

The loyalty programs are just that: Loyalty to a cruise line.

 

Currently, while there are many opinions, a large number of us believe Princess has the best loyalty program of all the lines.

 

Lets keep it that way and not dilute it.

 

Mark me down as a no vote.

 

Agree. We are elite on Princess, elite on Celebrity, 2 star soon to be 3 star on HAL, have 2 cruises with Cunard, 3 cruises with NCL, plus other lines.

 

The perks are better on Princess... that is why we have 23 cruises on Princess, all 7 days or more, most generally 10 days +

 

I don't mind earning my benefits on lines... the benefits we have - have been earned the old fashion way over the past 30 years.

 

It may have worked fro RCCL/Celebrity... we stopped cruising RCCL many years ago. Inspite of what a lot of folks think, we don't feel Celebrity is better as a cruise line (in terms food, service, cabins, entertainment and perks) then Princess. We have only 11 Celebrity cruises to 23 Princess. We still cruise X, if they have an itinerary we like but Princess comes first all things being equal.

[By The Bay]

Carnival Corp is a holding company that owns a number of cruise lines to include Princess, HAL, Carnival, Cunard, etc. They let each individual cruise line act as totally separate companies to the point of even having competition between the various lines. The idea of a loyalty program is to entice one to predominately use their product over the competition. I doubt that Princess would do anything to entice their clients to go to HAL.

Here in Australia things are a little different. We are able to obtain Princess Captain's Circle cruise credits when sailing with Princess Cruises, P&O Australia, or P&O UK.:D

[AE_Collector]

Inspite of what a lot of folks think, we don't feel Celebrity is better as a cruise line (in terms food, service, cabins, entertainment and perks) then Princess. We have only 11 Celebrity cruises to 23 Princess. We still cruise X, if they have an itinerary we like but Princess comes first all things being equal.

 

I will second that. We have 4 on Celebrity and 13 soon to be 16 on Princess. If a deal that we couldn't pass up came along on Celebrity we would do it but with the non combinable OBCs on Celebrity it has to be a very good deal and now even more so since they slowed the progression to Elite down considerably.

 

For the person who couldn't figure out the logic to now having 30 points for one celebrity cruise: you got one old credit for an 11 day or less cruise in any cabin below Concierge level. All old credits were turned into club points at 30 to 1. Used to be 10 credits to hit Elite, now 300 club points to hit Elite. However, points are a lot harder to come by now on Celebrity cruises.

 

I agree with someone else here that NO perks were eliminated on Celebrity but for most people it now takes potentially twice as long to get to the next level compared to the old system.

 

If Princess were starting over laying out the number of cruises and levels they might have done something like this:

 

First = Blue

2 & 3 = Ruby

4 - 7 = Gold

8 - 15 = Platinum

16 and up = Elite

 

This adds the Ruby level to get people "locked in" and staying with Princess sooner, stretches out Gold a bit further like the 4 sailings it used to take to move through the Gold range, slightly shortens the long Platinum range from 10 down to 8 cruises and keeps Elite at 15 to avoid flooding the Elite levels any sooner.

 

It also has a nice 1, 2, 4, 8 progression through the levels. BUT, they didn't set it up like this initially, they just shoe horned Ruby in and if they tried now to stretch out Gold to 7 cruises there would be complaints that just aren't worth their while to do battle over so it is good as is.

 

I suspect they will add a higher level eventually. They already have the $25/$50/$75/$100 credits at 21, 32, 42 & 52 cruises that could be worked into or swapped out for a new higher Loyalty level.

 

Terry

Edited March 1, 2014 by AE_Collector

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I can see it now... Folks who have taken a bunch of 3 and 4 day booze-cruise trips on Carnival will suddenly be Elite on Princess and want to give it a try. Masses of "young adults" boozing it up and taking over the ship.

 

I'll pass. I like Princess the way it is.

 

I've been on several of the Carnival three and four day cruises. I doubt that anyone who knows me would consider me a partier. My drink of choice is a diet soda.

 

The people I know that go on short cruises do so because they work. I really like the princess product but if they stop doing the short cruises I will be back on Carnival.

 

I once booked a group cruise on Carnival with over 100 women. A fun time was had by all. They want to do it again.