Crown&Anchor Revamp

[PompeySailor]

Up here in Canada Black Diamond is a cheese brand. By chance, did you get sent a block of old cheddar, for the cheese of the month? What a great club you are in and what a membership to have. :D

 

I can't wait to see what snacks you provide for our March cabin crawl. :p

 

Andrew

We will be having from the OLD, new MDR menu;)

 

Tandoori Chicken” (Julienne cucumber, fried pappadums, cilantro, yogurt dressing)

 

“Fish, Seafood and Chips” (battered cod fillet, sea scallops, shrimp, peas,mashed potatoes, remoulade sauce)

 

And of course some well aged English Cheddar:)

 

Come hungry.

If the new menu gets posted before then, I might have to change the offerings:eek:

[A&L_Ont]

Andrew

We will be having from the OLD, new MDR menu;)

 

Tandoori Chicken” (Julienne cucumber, fried pappadums, cilantro, yogurt dressing)

 

“Fish, Seafood and Chips” (battered cod fillet, sea scallops, shrimp, peas,mashed potatoes, remoulade sauce)

 

And of course some well aged English Cheddar:)

 

Come hungry.

If the new menu gets posted before then, I might have to change the offerings:eek:

 

OK, we start at our cabin and work down to yours for the end. :D

[Paulette3028]

So even if you spent $900 you'd still only get 1 extra point? Instead of 3?

 

The wording from the Holland America page that was in the previous post says:

"There is a limit of one bonus day for each sailed, and third and fourth guests on the same booking do not earn the onboard spending bonus."

 

The way I read it is that the first and second person in the cabin can each earn one extra point maximum. So if $600 is spent, then each person gets an extra point. But if only $300 is spent, and there were two people in the cabin (on one seapass credit card) only one of them will be credited with the point.

 

Since 3rd and 4th guests are not eligible, therefore it tops out at $600.

 

But perhaps I am reading it incorrectly.

[airbusdrvr]

The loyalty perks eat too much into the profits so either the perks have to be cut back, the perk levels must be made harder to attain or a combination of both. It's not a matter of if, but when and what the details will be.

 

I tend to agree. I think the next C&A points system will be based more on revenue generated. They did away with the double points for December cruises a couple of years ago. As of now a Z interior gets the same points as a D1 balcony , but the D1 balcony is paying on average 2.5 times more money . I've also noticed a lot more Diamonds and actually more Pinnacles over the past 2-3 years. On our last cruise there were 23 Pinnacles onboard .

[dani negreanu]

Then I looked at the benefits garnered by reaching each level.....I can find no level that has any discounts....as an example anything like the Balcony discount with C&A.

 

We have only 2 X cruises under our belt. When I was trying to decide on our Canaries cruise between X Eclipse and Anthem, we got "past passenger" discount of 750$ for the 2 of us (375$ X 2) !!! Beats the C&A balcony discount anytime, even if u have only one cruise under your belt.

There is also the free one upgrade category, and for European cruises you can chose 2 out of 3 benefits: free grats, free drinking pack or XX$ OBC (depending on your cabin category, insides not included).

I personally think that X loyalty program is much better, but in the end - the itinerary won :D

[A&L_Ont]

In regards to this discussion, which is just hypothetical, what about prepaid items such as drink packages, specialty dinning and shore excursions. Would they be factored in? You might not have bought them on your "onboard ship account", but if you hadn't bought them in advance they would have been there.

 

Since we are talking hypothetical here, why not include cabin price into the points as well? If it is about revenue earned per sailing they could prorate the points to reflect the cabins that create higher revenue. Yes there are double points for suite guests, but to be honest some suites cost up to 5 times or more than a normal balcony cabin depending on the class of ship. This would be a factor for the all the loyal cruisers, not the preverbal one time cruiser. The more revenue your cabin makes the more points you earn. Just an idea to think about.

 

What about casino losses for guests and profit for ship. Should this be factored in? We might only donate $40-$80 per cruise but some cruisers will leave a lot more on the table. It would be fair IMO as this is a great profit stream.

 

One last item to ask about, what about cruisers who don't go to the welcome back parties, loyalty lounges etc... They aren't usung the freebies that take up profit, should they be rewarded extra points too.;) That is a joke, in case you didn't catch it.

 

I just thought I'd mention those few points as we are just talking hypothetical.

[Biker19]

I don't think RCI would jump directly to a direct revenue loyalty program like the airlines (where miles don't matter anymore - it's strictly how much you spend). I think they'll take the indirect route already at Celebrity. The point allocation could be more problematic since there's fewer categories on RCI (no Concierge/Aqua class). The bigger issue is where to draw the line for the levels and what the existing members get at the time of conversion. That was the biggest topic on the Celebrity boards for months.

 

If you think tipping, fashion and other tropics du jour get many posts/threads wait till RCI announces changes to the C&A program - CC will melt down that day.:cool:

Edited March 29, 2015 by Biker19

[Big_G]

On any given day on any given cruise, there are dozens of people "who really are in the know" who report something like that. It's been that way for many years. Once in a great while, by coincidence more than likely, it turns out to be true.

 

yes almost like going to the racetrack, everyones got a tip on a horse.. hahaha

 

...and sometimes it's just wishful thinking too preserve their own perks.

[Paulette3028]

We have only 2 X cruises under our belt. When I was trying to decide on our Canaries cruise between X Eclipse and Anthem, we got "past passenger" discount of 750$ for the 2 of us (375$ X 2) !!! Beats the C&A balcony discount anytime, even if u have only one cruise under your belt.

There is also the free one upgrade category, and for European cruises you can chose 2 out of 3 benefits: free grats, free drinking pack or XX$ OBC (depending on your cabin category, insides not included).

I personally think that X loyalty program is much better, but in the end - the itinerary won :D

 

Thank you for sharing this example....because I could find nothing mentioning something like you have shared.

[Spurschick]

. I think they'll take the indirect route already at Celebrity. The point allocation could be more problematic since there's fewer categories on RCI (no Concierge/Aqua class). The bigger issue is where to draw the line for the levels and what the existing members get at the time of conversion. That was the biggest topic on the Celebrity boards for months.

 

 

From memory when X changed their program, I was told the number of points I was converted to was based on the cabins I had previously sailed in, and applied as per the new rules. It didn't affect my level as I already had a higher level due to RC status. I would be interested to know if you kept the same tier levels and then just moved up again once you caught up.

 

If RC do go back and recalculate points based on cabins sailed in, I guess there will always be those that will be against it, but could work out well for us;)

Edited March 29, 2015 by Spurschick

[Paulette3028]

From memory when X changed their program, I was told the number of points I was converted to was based on the cabins I had previously sailed in, and applied as per the new rules. It didn't affect my level as I already had a higher level due to RC status. I would be interested to know if you kept the same tier levels and then just moved up again once you caught up.

 

If RC do go back and recalculate points based on cabins sailed in, I guess there will always be those that will be against it, but could work out well for us;)

 

Several years ago, Royal changed its tabulation system for accrual of points. It caused a lot of havoc for some folks....but it wasn't as if anyone had any choice over it -- the only choice you had, was choose another cruise line.

 

Since it wasn't that many years ago that they did make the change, I would hope that IF the company makes changes, they make small ones and do it over a period of time, to eventually reach whatever 'big changeover' they feel is necessary.

 

Since I have no control over it, I won't stress over it either, though.

[Ourusualbeach]

From memory when X changed their program, I was told the number of points I was converted to was based on the cabins I had previously sailed in, and applied as per the new rules. It didn't affect my level as I already had a higher level due to RC status. I would be interested to know if you kept the same tier levels and then just moved up again once you caught up.

 

If RC do go back and recalculate points based on cabins sailed in, I guess there will always be those that will be against it, but could work out well for us;)

 

I doubt that IF they did change to a new points system that they would go back and re calculate people's points.

 

When they changed from the cruise credits still the current points they did not look at everyone's individual cruises but ample up with a mathematical equation to do the conversion. I don't think that their past records are good enough to be able to look back and accurately redo everyone's points. Most likely if they did change you would be grandfathered in at the level you are at even taking into account how close you are to the next level.

[Spurschick]

I doubt that IF they did change to a new points system that they would go back and re calculate people's points.

 

When they changed from the cruise credits still the current points they did not look at everyone's individual cruises but ample up with a mathematical equation to do the conversion. I don't think that their past records are good enough to be able to look back and accurately redo everyone's points. Most likely if they did change you would be grandfathered in at the level you are at even taking into account how close you are to the next level.

 

Morning Ken,

 

I agree that is how RC did it the last time. I just found it interesting that X took a completely different approach and did go over with me all my previous cruises and calculated each one at the new rate based on the cabin I had sailed in. RC just used a formula based on points accrued.

 

Given the new CEO was at X at the time of the switch over, it will be interesting to see if RC use the same approach now he is there. Just speculating;)!!!!!

Edited March 29, 2015 by Spurschick

[Spurschick]

Several years ago, Royal changed its tabulation system for accrual of points. It caused a lot of havoc for some folks....but it wasn't as if anyone had any choice over it -- the only choice you had, was choose another cruise line.

 

Since it wasn't that many years ago that they did make the change, I would hope that IF the company makes changes, they make small ones and do it over a period of time, to eventually reach whatever 'big changeover' they feel is necessary.

 

Since I have no control over it, I won't stress over it either, though.

 

I'm not stressing. ;) the formula was the formula. I don't recall it working out too bad for us, but points based on cabin sailed would work out better:D

[Cigar King]

I know of at least one cruise line that even adds loyalty 'credit' based on on board spending....http://www.hollandamerica.com/marinerSociety/Main.action

 

I they are going to make a change like this, I would hope it would be the total amount spent (cabin cost included) and not just the onboard spending. If it's just on board, and you book an excursion early, you would not get credit for that.

 

Personally I don't like the option. It seems wrong that somebody could come on board. Buy an expensive piece of jewelry, and shoot to the top of the loyalty program.

[cruzsnooze]

I sure hope they raise the minimums for diamond and plus. There's nothing special when the venues are so packed you can't enjoy them. D+ should be at least 250 credits not the current 175 and then they won't be over crowded in the CL.

Edited March 29, 2015 by cruzsnooze

[Ourusualbeach]

Morning Ken,

 

I agree that is how RC did it the last time. I just found it interesting that X took a completely different approach and did go over with me all my previous cruises and calculated each one at the new rate based on the cabin I had sailed in. RC just used a formula based on points accrued.

 

Given the new CEO was at X at the time of the switch over, it will be interesting to see if RC use the same approach now he is there. Just speculating;)!!!!!

 

Morning Nikki,

 

I wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that Celebrity is about 20 years younger than RCI and quite possibly could have better records on file. I know that for ourselves they had "lost" records of some of our earlier cruises that we had to provide documentation for in order to get the points. Either way there will always be some that most likely get shortchanged or have to jump through hoops to get it corrected.

[Spurschick]

Morning Nikki,

 

I wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that Celebrity is about 20 years younger than RCI and quite possibly could have better records on file. I know that for ourselves they had "lost" records of some of our earlier cruises that we had to provide documentation for in order to get the points. Either way there will always be some that most likely get shortchanged or have to jump through hoops to get it corrected.

 

Quite possible. I must be lucky, looking at my online cruise history I have nothing missing for the last 20 years, we thoroughly checked when they did the last change, although looking that far back does make me feel old:eek:

[George C]

I sure hope they raise the minimums for diamond and plus. There's nothing special when the venues are so packed you can't enjoy them. D+ should be at least 250 credits not the current 175 and then they won't be over crowded in the CL.

 

Some people think that CL should just be for suite people

[LMaxwell]

I sure hope they raise the minimums for diamond and plus. There's nothing special when the venues are so packed you can't enjoy them. D+ should be at least 250 credits not the current 175 and then they won't be over crowded in the CL.

 

If they do raise the point level to to 250 from 175, what would you suggest happen to current D+ who are in the 175 to 250 range? Be demoted back down and lose all of their perks (which is more than just access to a second lounge that they will all be kicked out of soon enough anyways)?

[Cigar King]

Some people think that CL should just be for suite people

 

Personally I think that on ships with a diamond lounge they should do this. What would be lost? It appears the same benefits are basically available in both lounges. Maybe I am missing something?

[PompeySailor]

If they do raise the point level to to 250 from 175, what would you suggest happen to current D+ who are in the 175 to 250 range? Be demoted back down and lose all of their perks (which is more than just access to a second lounge that they will all be kicked out of soon enough anyways)?

 

1:

Keep as is, 175 D+

Just put in 2 new levels between D+ and PC

250 - 340 D++

341 - 699 Black Diamond

 

2:

You could also make all members who are above 175, automatically 250 and keep at D+

A harder milestone then for Diamonds to get to D+ once implemented.

 

Grandfather in all at current levels, keeps the masses happy

And just tier the perks accordingly to newer levels

All D D+ D++ and BD use Diamond Lounge or Diamond Club

Numbers would not increase, just 4 levels of diamond instead of 2.

 

Just an idea, before anyone bashes me with their Pom poms:p

 

Guess we will find out by end of Spring.

[pcur]

Personally I think that on ships with a diamond lounge they should do this. What would be lost? It appears the same benefits are basically available in both lounges. Maybe I am missing something?

 

I don't think you're missing anything. Some people just like being allowed in the Concierge Lounge and really enjoy it. We are D+ and almost always use the Diamond Lounge, with the one exception so far of the Radiance. That CL almost identical to most DL's, and the DL is like mostg CL's. Go figure.

[pcur]

1:

Keep as is, 175 D+

Just put in 2 new levels between D+ and PC

250 - 340 D++

341 - 699 Black Diamond

 

2:

You could also make all members who are above 175, automatically 250 and keep at D+

A harder milestone then for Diamonds to get to D+ once implemented.

 

Grandfather in all at current levels, keeps the masses happy

And just tier the perks accordingly to newer levels

All D D+ D++ and BD use Diamond Lounge or Diamond Club

Numbers would not increase, just 4 levels of diamond instead of 2.

 

Just an idea, before anyone bashes me with their Pom poms:p

 

Guess we will find out by end of Spring.

 

I'm doubting anything will be done about the current levels, because the crowding has been reduced significantly by the introduction of the drink vouchers loaded into seapass cards. I've been on 4 cruises since they started, and the CL and DL on each ship was busy with a small overflow between 5 - 6, but otherwise not. If there isn't any overcrowding problem on most cruises, then there is no reason to change the points required to reach D+, or add another level between D+ and P.

 

The TAs and repositioning are a different story, but they are a small number of cruises. It's not like they have to put out money for large overflows on a lot of cruises.

[George C]

Personally I think that on ships with a diamond lounge they should do this. What would be lost? It appears the same benefits are basically available in both lounges. Maybe I am missing something?

 

I agree on my last cruise, DL was nicer than CL, and not all suite people can use DL