? Elite Status

[Lois R]

I didn't get Elite perks either on my first X cruise but I am not going to begrudge the OP for having them! I hope they have a fantastic time and it encourages them to sail more with Celebrity:)

 

I'm not begruding anyone.....I was saying most of us were not given

elite perks upon sailing our first cruises.

[Jenna109]

I'm not begruding anyone.....I was saying most of us were not given

elite perks upon sailing our first cruises.

 

I must agree with you. Congrats to those who have been given it BUT think of all those who have taken many cruises to get to Elite. We are Elite and our friends on a recent cruise would have reached it at the end of that cruise. However, they were not allowed the privileges as they had 'not yet attained it'

Bending rules makes a few happy but often leaves a nasty taste for others. Celebrity have an excellent product and don't need this sort of marketing strategy which is only attainable for a very select few and not advertised to many.

[hcat]

It's apparently what the lines do to attract new customers. Too many rooms to fill, looking for new blood. .Not sure how they pick the recipients.

 

On one of our Royal cruises, out next door neighbor was a long standing HAL suite customer on her first Royal cruise. At the time of booking, she was upgraded to a suite and given Diamond perks and lots of special attention....she enjoyed the cruise but not sure she was going to switch over permanently to Royal.

 

I imagine a certain percentage do cross over to a new line but somepetimes folks get attached to their usual line of choice, esp if they know how it functions, have friends among staff and other customers.

 

one thing we we did not appreciate was a a few yrs back on Summit to Bermuda. The Cap Club rep and rep of hotel director pretty much ignored their Celeb Elite pax in favor of Royal Diamonds who were first time Celeb cruisers. They were given lots of extra attention, invites to Cap Tbl, focus groups. Obviously the strategy was to woo them over. No problem with that effort but ignoring loyal cruisers at events was fairly rude ...They much have had instructions to focus on the others but may have carried it a bit too far.

 

The drink package seems to have attracted may new pax as well. Wonder how long they will stick with X if the perk ceases or if other lines begin to offer similar deals.

Edited August 11, 2014 by hcat

[hulamoon]

I sailed with someone once, on their first cruise who got this perk. It wasn't a completely new concept to me. It does seem unevenly offered however, like other marketing programs. No, I do not begrudge it, we didn't use our elite benefits the first time we were eligible because we were in AQ with a drink package. Used a few minutes however.

 

Celebrity has always seemed a little convoluted and surprising with their marketing programs. We were told last April the 123 program would only be offered onboard from then on and the program of getting Obc on current cruise would not be offered again. Never again turned out to be pretty short. :rolleyes:

 

Being that it is marketing and we are using Terms like lounge and they are linked to suite perks, I am hoping the OP knows the square footage of her cabin and that it is smaller than most verandas on HAL. For a true comparison to suites in HAL an upgrade would be needed.

 

HAL remains one of the few lines to allow balcony smoking. Time will tell who that will attract and repel for future customers. Many Celebrity passengers were attracted to the line because of the restrictive policy, seems other lines are moving in the same direction.

[gold1953]

I was just speaking to Celebrity Captains Club and mentioned this. She said that it is her job to process these and basically they give 2 a year to select TA's who are to give them to select cruisers who are new to Celebrity but have status with Hal or Princess. It is in hopes of getting them to switch over , She said that they ask the TA's to tell the cruiser's not to 'talk about it" I told her that it was on cruise critic and she was not pleased. Just a marketing tool

[hulamoon]

I was just speaking to Celebrity Captains Club and mentioned this. She said that it is her job to process these and basically they give 2 a year to select TA's who are to give them to select cruisers who are new to Celebrity but have status with Hal or Princess. It is in hopes of getting them to switch over , She said that they ask the TA's to tell the cruiser's not to 'talk about it" I told her that it was on cruise critic and she was not pleased. Just a marketing tool

 

I read this reasonable explanation but when I got to the part that said they weren't suppose to talk about, it creeped me out. Why not? Makes the entire thing feel dirty. The OP certainly has the right to discuss her agreement.

Edited August 13, 2014 by hulamoon

[Lois R]

I read this reasonable explanation but when I got to the part that said they weren't suppose to talk about, it creeped me out. Why not? Makes the entire thing feel dirty. The OP certainly has the right to discuss her agreement.

 

Hi, I don't think it makes it feel dirty but rather stupid:rolleyes:.....the rep

said they tell the travel agents to tell their clients not to talk about

it?:eek: Give me a break....so it is all "on the QT".....in my opinion, that

is being treated like a child. If the new crusier wants to discuss it?

I agree with you, why not?:confused:

[hulamoon]

I have more respect for businesses that are open. In this day and age there are few secrets.

[Big_G]

Wow! It took a whole 20 comments before someone lost it. My guess was way under. :D

[thepoint]

Thank you all for your comments. We are really looking forward to our cruise. I will write a review when we get home. Neither our TA or the Celebrity Rep told us to keep the Elite status perk a secret. I am sorry, but that just doesn't make sense. It is a one time thing and it will probably work to make us full time Celebrity travelers, since we lost interest in HAL. Thanks again.