If loyalty programs were discontinued...

[GUT2407]

Doubt if any survey here will see anything change anyway.

[ilikeanswers]

7 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Small sample size?  Miniscule, compared to the universe of cruisers.  And heavily skewed by the natural self selection of people who come on cc.  Certainly nothing to warrant even the most tentative conclusion.  And the fatal weakness of hypotheticals is that people's answers give very little guide to what they ACTUALLY would do IF faced with the hypothesized situation.  

 

I did say hypotheticals are a thinking tool rather than a strategising tool though with something so trivial the answers probably do reflect reality😋. At the end of the day loyalty programs aren't exactly life or death. It is all just a bit of fun 😁. Though you are right there is probably a bias in CC members compared to the average cruising public.

 

I did watch an interview with man who worked as a market research analyst for a cruise line company and he said that most valuable thing about loyalty programs is the data you can collect on consumer behaviour. I guess it is just the reality of the world we live in. Nothing is really free and those perks have to be paid for somehow. 

[ilikeanswers]

A question to the people who have cruise loyalty programs are your freebies and perks personalised to what you want? Or is there just a standard set every cruise? 

[GUT2407]

33 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

A question to the people who have cruise loyalty programs are your freebies and perks personalised to what you want? Or is there just a standard set every cruise? 

Standard on every line I’ve sailed with

[geoherb]

It's a standard bunch of perks, but Princess does allow us to customize our minibar. We can trade the beer and liquor for the ones we like that they offer or for soft drinks or water. We can trade the nonalcoholic beverages for other nonalcoholic beverages. Another option is to trade the whole minibar in for a bottle of wine or for two coffee packages or for an all-water setup. (The latter seems like a waste to me: eight 1.5 liter bottles of water. We use the 0.5 liter bottles that come with the minibar and refill them from the tap.)

 

The best perks we get are free internet minutes (the amount varies depending on the length of the cruise) and free laundry. The latter is especially great on longer cruises.

[MicCanberra]

Fairly standard but then some lines have better perks than others even when they are the same thing.

Internet for example, several line give so many free minutes as a perk but one line has it so you have to use it consecutively (e.g 24 hours but once started it will expire 24 hours later) while the other has that it can be used in minute by minute installments if you wish, so it can be spread over the whole cruise.

[ducklite]

On 9/7/2019 at 4:25 AM, ReneeFLL said:

 

Ugh! Just because some people like to dress up definitely doesn't mean they are missing something. Maybe it's you that might be missing something??? We dress up on formal nights because we LIKE to. We don't dress to impress others. We also don't like looking like slobs in the MDR so we will wear a nice pair of pants or a dress.

 

We have mostly cruised on Royal because they have had decent prices and itineraries. Also because they're comfortable since we are familiar with the ships. We will be diamond plus at the end of November.  We are now looking at other cruise lines because we want to see what other fish are in the sea. If Royal ends up being the best fit (price/itineraries/perks) then we will sail on her, but definitely not exclusively so I don't think perks will keep us with them. The perks can be nice, but the more Royal takes away the more likely others will appeal to us. 

Yeah, OK.  

[ducklite]

On 9/8/2019 at 12:01 AM, MicCanberra said:

I know plenty of cruisers where it is the be all and end all, they will never cruise another line due to the perks they would have to give up if choosing another line, and that includes lines that offer reciprocal benefits.

There are hundreds of them on these boards who will continue to cruise on a line that they often complain about because switching would mean they lose out on the opportunity to wear their super special pin so everyone knows they are "so important" and won't have a three dollar bottle of "wine" in their stateroom.  I can't see any justification for it, but fortunately I see past the end of my nose.

[DarrenM]

On 9/4/2019 at 7:29 PM, JennyB1977 said:

Reading the various cruise line forums, it appears some folks take their "status" very seriously. So, I was thinking...If a cruise line sent a note that beginning in January 2020 there would no longer be "status". Meaning, it would no longer matter (from their perspective) if it was your first cruise or 300th. Premium cabins would still have benefits/perks. However, no Diamond Lounges or Platinum Free Drinks or Free Laundry or Balcony Discounts....

 

**For the sake of argument...There are no loyalty programs on ANY line**

It wouldnt even be a consideration for me. Those who wander round the ship with their special badges detailing their special status do amuse me though, but not in a friendly way.

 

People with proper status dont, or shouldnt flaunt it. Those that do have no class.

 

So, its the Captains club for me every time on Celebrity.

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, ducklite said:

There are hundreds of them on these boards who will continue to cruise on a line that they often complain about because switching would mean they lose out on the opportunity to wear their super special pin so everyone knows they are "so important" and won't have a three dollar bottle of "wine" in their stateroom.  I can't see any justification for it, but fortunately I see past the end of my nose.

I suppose there are those you speak of, the ones I was speaking of, know what they like on their chosen line but are too scared they will miss out and have to start again with no perks elsewhere if they try another line.

[Milwaukee Eight]

On 9/7/2019 at 4:25 AM, ReneeFLL said:

 

Ugh! Just because some people like to dress up definitely doesn't mean they are missing something. Maybe it's you that might be missing something??? We dress up on formal nights because we LIKE to. We don't dress to impress others. We also don't like looking like slobs in the MDR so we will wear a nice pair of pants or a dress.

 

We have mostly cruised on Royal because they have had decent prices and itineraries. Also because they're comfortable since we are familiar with the ships. We will be diamond plus at the end of November.  We are now looking at other cruise lines because we want to see what other fish are in the sea. If Royal ends up being the best fit (price/itineraries/perks) then we will sail on her, but definitely not exclusively so I don't think perks will keep us with them. The perks can be nice, but the more Royal takes away the more likely others will appeal to us. 

I feel you should dress up if you want. What exactly are “slobs” in your opinion?

[ducklite]

18 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I suppose there are those you speak of, the ones I was speaking of, know what they like on their chosen line but are too scared they will miss out and have to start again with no perks elsewhere if they try another line.

I have yet to see any perks that would be so valuable that they would keep me bound to any particular line.  

[ducklite]

On 9/7/2019 at 4:25 AM, ReneeFLL said:

 

Ugh! Just because some people like to dress up definitely doesn't mean they are missing something. Maybe it's you that might be missing something??? We dress up on formal nights because we LIKE to. We don't dress to impress others. We also don't like looking like slobs in the MDR so we will wear a nice pair of pants or a dress.

 

We have mostly cruised on Royal because they have had decent prices and itineraries. Also because they're comfortable since we are familiar with the ships. We will be diamond plus at the end of November.  We are now looking at other cruise lines because we want to see what other fish are in the sea. If Royal ends up being the best fit (price/itineraries/perks) then we will sail on her, but definitely not exclusively so I don't think perks will keep us with them. The perks can be nice, but the more Royal takes away the more likely others will appeal to us. 

I prefer lines that have a dress code that requires country club casual at dinner and generally has no need to enforce them, because their clientele wouldn't think of showing up looking like they just mowed the lawn.

[gymbomb]

I would mostly continue to sail on my usual line because I usually choose it for quite a few reasons. But I might be ever so slightly more likely to choose one or two specific other lines. My Mom does factor it into her decision more heavily, based primarily on the priority boarding.

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, ducklite said:

I have yet to see any perks that would be so valuable that they would keep me bound to any particular line.  

Likewise but then some people are not as flexible.

[DarrenM]

Country club casual?

 

I dont know what that is but it makes me think of bushwood country club depicted in Caddyshack and the snobby members.

[DarrenM]

And those pesky gophers.

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

Country club casual?

 

I dont know what that is but it makes me think of bushwood country club depicted in Caddyshack and the snobby members.

 

You would refer to it as "smart casual."

[DarrenM]

Ah, then I agree with you.😁

[Zach1213]

Life's too short and loyalty isn't that important. It's not, but it isn't important. I don't cruise much, but I do travel for a living and have huge loyalty perks with a major airline/alliance, a major hotel chain, and a major rental car companies. Those perks are really, really nice. BUT, if one of them tick me off (as others have), I'll move on to another one that better suits my needs. As I get older and spend more time away from home, I realize how important it is for me to get out and back quicker, so for example I'll find the best flight for my schedule, whether I have loyalty to that airline or not.

 

TL;DR - life is too short to be loyal to a company who doesn't really care about you.

[ldubs]

On 9/5/2019 at 1:10 PM, ducklite said:

 

I just never understood the people who thought they were all that because they made "whatever level" after sailing 10 three day mass market cruises that cost them next to nothing.  Ironically they are often the ones who are all about "dress-up night."  It makes me wonder what's missing in their lives to be so wrapped up in trying to impress people.

 

Who cares.  Does it make a difference if they spent a ton of money on the 10 cruises.   Just not following this.   

[ldubs]

Perks are nice but if they disappeared tomorrow I doubt our cruise selection process would change at all.  Not that I'm too much of a part of that.  It is usually handled by others.   

 

I also could care less if someone wears a status pin or displays their special status pass card.  I don't get why is this on so many people's radars.  

Edited September 20, 2019 by ldubs

[Zach1213]

11 minutes ago, ldubs said:

I also could care less if someone wears a status pin or displays their special status pass card. 

 

The only people who care are that person and the people paid to artificially care

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Who cares.  Does it make a difference if they spent a ton of money on the 10 cruises.   Just not following this.   

I just find it amusing that people would be so proud of wearing a pin around a ship to prove how many cruises they've been on, as if anyone cares.  It's no different than the ones who put an image of that pin in their signature on these boards.  Frankly I'm far more impressed by the people who have cruised all seven continents than someone who took 20 cruises to the Bahamas.  I think most people would be.

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, Zach1213 said:

 

The only people who care are that person and the people paid to artificially care

However for some reason many of them seem to belong to the DYKWIA club as if we should all be in awe of them.