Luke Dawg Posted May 25, 2016 #1 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Let's make some noise about this. It is long over due. I am starting this thread in the hope Carnival Corp will consider combining the loyalty programs of all their cruise brands. I am a frequent Carnival cruiser. I am proud to say I have earned Platinum level with Carnival. Recently my small group booked a November cruise on Princess. This will be our first Princess cruise and we are all looking forward to a new cruise experience. When asked by my PVP why we chose Princess, my reply back was "I wanted to keep it in the family". I have been thinking about what I said "keeping it in the family" and with much thought have come to the conclusion that Carnival Corp. may not feel the same way. Carnival Corp. benefits from my loyalty in terms of market share and profits. So my question is "When will Carnival Corp. combine all their loyalty programs?" My wife and I enjoy priority check-in, boarding and debarkation, appreciation drink, dedicated line at Guest Services, complimentary wash and fold to mention a few. I believe these benefits could easily be recognized on all CCL brands. As you know combining loyalty programs are not uncommon. It is widely known the Airline industry has been very successful in combining frequent flyer programs. In fact creating one program is the first order of business when carriers merge or enter into a marketing relationship. Let's go Carnival Corp - one program for ALL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Je Souhaite Posted May 25, 2016 #2 Share Posted May 25, 2016 (edited) You would think that ever since they converted the Carnival line to a no frills generic brand, that they would extend their loyalty programs to step up to the real service lines within the organization. But no. Everything they do trades their customer over to their competition. Go figure. Oh what a field day I would have drawing up and implementing what you describe. Edited May 25, 2016 by Je Souhaite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnSpo Posted May 25, 2016 #3 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Hotels also combine their loyalty programs as well as some rent a car companies. It would be great if Carnival Corp would do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GROUCHPUSS Posted May 25, 2016 #4 Share Posted May 25, 2016 RCCL does it already. Also MSC will match any program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galatz Posted May 25, 2016 #5 Share Posted May 25, 2016 RCCL does it already. Also MSC will match any program. RCCL doesnt really. They will honor your current status, but you wont accumulate additional nights. Better than nothing. The Carnival and Princess ones are very different, but there are ways around it. They need to figure it out. I've used both lines and would love to be able to combine my nights at sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko4279 Posted May 25, 2016 #6 Share Posted May 25, 2016 As much as I would love to agree, and take advantage of something like this...for reasons unknown , I do not. It almost feels like cheating, and I think not having them combined helps the brands to maintain their separate identity. MSC's honoring of statuses has more to do with trying to gain a bigger share of the market I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANGELSwithANGLES Posted May 25, 2016 #7 Share Posted May 25, 2016 As much as I would love to agree, and take advantage of something like this...for reasons unknown , I do not. It almost feels like cheating, and I think not having them combined helps the brands to maintain their separate identity. MSC's honoring of statuses has more to do with trying to gain a bigger share of the market I believe. It would definitely entice me to try one of their other brands. Every time I venture out, it always is to one of their competing brands. I would like to HAL and Love Boat myself one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrounds Posted May 25, 2016 #8 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Let's make some noise about this. It is long over due. I am starting this thread in the hope Carnival Corp will consider combining the loyalty programs of all their cruise brands. I am a frequent Carnival cruiser. I am proud to say I have earned Platinum level with Carnival. Recently my small group booked a November cruise on Princess. This will be our first Princess cruise and we are all looking forward to a new cruise experience. When asked by my PVP why we chose Princess, my reply back was "I wanted to keep it in the family". I have been thinking about what I said "keeping it in the family" and with much thought have come to the conclusion that Carnival Corp. may not feel the same way. Carnival Corp. benefits from my loyalty in terms of market share and profits. So my question is "When will Carnival Corp. combine all their loyalty programs?" My wife and I enjoy priority check-in, boarding and debarkation, appreciation drink, dedicated line at Guest Services, complimentary wash and fold to mention a few. I believe these benefits could easily be recognized on all CCL brands. As you know combining loyalty programs are not uncommon. It is widely known the Airline industry has been very successful in combining frequent flyer programs. In fact creating one program is the first order of business when carriers merge or enter into a marketing relationship. Let's go Carnival Corp - one program for ALL! Excellent idea . . . Took a Princess cruise a couple of years ago and couldn't help thinking about this at the time. It would tend to keep those that wander to a higher-end cruise in the "family". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craycruzerlady Posted May 25, 2016 #9 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I think this is a great idea. Even from a marketing perspective, they could keep each line's respective branding for each program while still making them compatible. While we have seen this throughout other industries, it is a HUGE undertaking in the back office with $$$$ spent to make it all happen. Without a huge outcry or some other reason to prod Carnival into making a change, unfortunately it seems highly unlikely. If the programs were merged, I admit I would branch out to other Carnival family brands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare stevenr597 Posted May 25, 2016 #10 Share Posted May 25, 2016 We have sailed on RCCL lines including Celebrity, RCCL, and Azamara, and we love the perks that we get because the programs are shared between the lines. However, in spite of the fact that we are also Platinum Level on both Princess and Carnival, we do not think that the shared plan would work for the different lines owned by Carnival Corporation. To be blunt, Carnival is a much cheaper line than either Holland America, Princess, or Cunard, and I do feel that there would be much resentment in respect to individuals building up credits on Carnival, only to use them on the other lines. This may sound horrible, but is probably the reason why Carnival Corp. does not wish to make such programs fleet wide. Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Do-Over Posted May 25, 2016 #11 Share Posted May 25, 2016 My understanding is that the loyalty programs are/were kept separate to keep members from accumulating points on Carnival, and then 'using' them to get upgrades or discounts on Princess. This seemed to be a bigger issue when points were earned based on number of cruises, not number of nights - where guests 'could' take several weekend Carnival cruises to earn their way up the ladder. Now that both are on a per-night basis, I can't see any reason not to combine. The services/benefits offered by way of the loyalty program aren't substantially different in value -- laundry is laundry, strawberries are strawberries. Note that gift cards are separate, too... we got a load of Carnival gift cards through a bank reward program, but can't use them on Princess. Can't imagine why they'd care where the money came from... it all goes in the corporate pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evandbob Posted May 25, 2016 #12 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I've sailed Princess twice, once for the Med, the other was an Alaskan cruise tour. It would have been nice to have had some sort of comp for my previous Carnival cruises reflected while on Princess. Most Carnival cruisers would feel the same, I think. However, if you ask the same question on the Princess Board, you might get different answers. The more devoted Princess cruisers might want to keep a clear distinction between the brand they purchase and the class that Carnival represents and targets their marketing to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micahs Grandad Posted May 25, 2016 #13 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Would love to see it but doubt if it will happen. We are Diamond on Carnival and next year will be platinum on Princess. sorry now we didnt do more princess some years ago so we could get to Elite sooner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GROUCHPUSS Posted May 25, 2016 #14 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I personally like the way RCCL does it. I don't care about points just don't want to start over on a different line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidojohnny Posted May 25, 2016 #15 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Complained about this many times, even face to face with President Donald On a world cruise. Fagetabutit.....it ain't going. We have over 1,000 cruise Days on several of Carnival lines. We told him, that the money comes from Different lines, but ends up in the same Carnival pocket. I believe it becomes A matter of perks. If they do this, the quicker they would have to shell Out more perk money. I, and many others would like to see it. Well, maybe Down the road for the benefit of you young voyagers. Keep trying though;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les37b Posted May 25, 2016 #16 Share Posted May 25, 2016 To be blunt, Carnival is a much cheaper line than either Holland America, Princess, or Cunard, and I do feel that there would be much resentment in respect to individuals building up credits on Carnival, only to use them on the other lines. This may sound horrible, but is probably the reason why Carnival Corp. does not wish to make such programs fleet wide. Sorry It doesn't sound horrible at all. It's factual. You wouldn't be happy that someone could be collecting economy air miles and then think its ok to exchange them for a business class flight would you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryano Posted May 25, 2016 #17 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Royal Caribbean is cheaper than Celebrity and MUCH cheaper than Azamara though. While I certainly understand not giving Princess points for a Carnival cruise, it really doesnt make much sense that you arent recognized at all under another Carnival Corp cruise line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warm Breezes Posted May 25, 2016 #18 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I'm not any more loyal to a brand as I am loyal to a line...which is not at all. I don't believe in limiting my options for a handful of perks. If it happens and I earn enough points then I will enjoy the perks involved as a bonus...but I still won't let a loyalty program narrow down my search unnecessarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthGrady Posted May 25, 2016 #19 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I'm all for it! It would definitely make me consider one of their other lines if they did that. RCI does this with their brands, and getting Elite on Celebrity because of our level with Royal was a factor in our decision to cruise with them earlier this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasl8dy Posted May 25, 2016 #20 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I like the idea! . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseQueenB Posted May 25, 2016 #21 Share Posted May 25, 2016 My understanding is that the loyalty programs are/were kept separate to keep members from accumulating points on Carnival, and then 'using' them to get upgrades or discounts on Princess. This seemed to be a bigger issue when points were earned based on number of cruises, not number of nights - where guests 'could' take several weekend Carnival cruises to earn their way up the ladder. Now that both are on a per-night basis, I can't see any reason not to combine. The services/benefits offered by way of the loyalty program aren't substantially different in value -- laundry is laundry, strawberries are strawberries. Note that gift cards are separate, too... we got a load of Carnival gift cards through a bank reward program, but can't use them on Princess. Can't imagine why they'd care where the money came from... it all goes in the corporate pocket. Princess still uses cruise credits. You can go up on your status by either cruise credits OR cruise days. I imagine a lot of the resistance is from Princess since it would require them to change their system to be only cruise days, and I'm sure that would go over well :D. Now an alternative could be that if you match to Princess you can only match on cruise days, not cruise credits. It's more difficult to match on days unless you take cruises longer than ten days. (ex. Elite is 15+ cruise credits or 150+ cruise days). Food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieN Posted May 25, 2016 #22 Share Posted May 25, 2016 RCCL doesnt really. They will honor your current status, but you wont accumulate additional nights. Better than nothing. The Carnival and Princess ones are very different, but there are ways around it. They need to figure it out. I've used both lines and would love to be able to combine my nights at sea. Carnival VIFP, Princess Captain's Circle and HAL Mariners programs are vastly different. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micahs Grandad Posted May 25, 2016 #23 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Carnival VIFP, Princess Captain's Circle and HAL Mariners programs are vastly different. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app If they wanted to they could easily figure it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas1178 Posted May 25, 2016 #24 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I would love to see them combine, and would be encouragement to spend more money with the family of cruise lines. Of course, on the flip side - When the new VIFP was launched, and many VIFP's had their panties in a wad - I emailed the marketing & leadership of RCCL, NCL, and other suggesting they offer a one time grandfathering. It wouldn't even have to be full status...perhaps half credit? It would make one more willing to venture out if you weren't starting from square one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mammy Posted May 25, 2016 #25 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Let's make some noise about this. It is long over due. I am starting this thread in the hope Carnival Corp will consider combining the loyalty programs of all their cruise brands. I am a frequent Carnival cruiser. I am proud to say I have earned Platinum level with Carnival. Recently my small group booked a November cruise on Princess. This will be our first Princess cruise and we are all looking forward to a new cruise experience. When asked by my PVP why we chose Princess, my reply back was "I wanted to keep it in the family". I have been thinking about what I said "keeping it in the family" and with much thought have come to the conclusion that Carnival Corp. may not feel the same way. Carnival Corp. benefits from my loyalty in terms of market share and profits. So my question is "When will Carnival Corp. combine all their loyalty programs?" My wife and I enjoy priority check-in, boarding and debarkation, appreciation drink, dedicated line at Guest Services, complimentary wash and fold to mention a few. I believe these benefits could easily be recognized on all CCL brands. As you know combining loyalty programs are not uncommon. It is widely known the Airline industry has been very successful in combining frequent flyer programs. In fact creating one program is the first order of business when carriers merge or enter into a marketing relationship. Let's go Carnival Corp - one program for ALL! "Proud" Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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