Loyalty Club points transfer under RCCL

[mysty]

Not disputing any of the points brought forward.   Just to say that the members of the Cruise Critic forum are not in a position to change anything.   The real discussion should be happening with "the brand ".  Maybe the focus should be on lobbying RCCL.  You don't need any approval to take that route! 😁

[markham]

Azamara is/was a luxury wannabe brand. Royal Caribbean isn’t/wasn’t/will never be a luxury brand.

 

A corporate structure such as RCCL is not a brand. Period. Most of their business is mass market stuff. Simple as that.
 

My take is you diminish the Silversea brand by pretending its loyal passengers somehow find the brand enhanced by degrading the status they earned by adding into the brand loyalty program people who literally did not earn status levels with Silversea. Surely this point is fundamental to the fundamental value of/managing the Silversea brand.

 

If you want to earn status at Silversea earn it. The old fashioned way. No dilution of the brand’s program makes sense. No dumbing down on these principles, please.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

 

[tfred]

I think that once you get to the upper end of Celebrity (suites) and enjoy it, it is only natural to look at other options. Suites on X are not cheap and are in range of SS fares.  That also means that you are in range of Crystal, Regent and Seaborn 

 

X promotes suites as a ship within a ship.  Enjoy personal service in a big ship atmosphere. 

 

I could see X suite pax moving between X and SS depending on the itinerary and date.  Why would RCCL Inc want loyal (and high profit) suite customers wander off to Crystal or Seabourn?  

 

SS can't really offer anything to X pax who want to move to them its all included and they dont have to .  What they can do is throw X pax a few points to keep them in the running in X Captains Club

[cruiseej]

On 11/20/2021 at 4:15 PM, markham said:

Azamara is/was a luxury wannabe brand. Royal Caribbean isn’t/wasn’t/will never be a luxury brand.

 

A corporate structure such as RCCL is not a brand. Period. Most of their business is mass market stuff. Simple as that.
 

My take is you diminish the Silversea brand by pretending its loyal passengers somehow find the brand enhanced by degrading the status they earned by adding into the brand loyalty program people who literally did not earn status levels with Silversea. Surely this point is fundamental to the fundamental value of/managing the Silversea brand.

 

If you want to earn status at Silversea earn it. The old fashioned way. No dilution of the brand’s program makes sense. No dumbing down on these principles, please.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

 

 

@markham I don't think you read the post from @lexmiller very closely. The suggestion was that if they cruised on Silversea, they could earn points in their existing Celebrity Captain's Club loyalty program. It was not a suggestion to be able to redeem Celebrity loyalty benefits on a Silversea cruise; it was a suggestion to earn Celebrity points when cruising on Silversea. I don't see how that could "diminish the Silversea brand" at all.

[A Tucson Guy]

On 11/22/2021 at 1:01 AM, cruiseej said:

 

@markham I don't think you read the post from @lexmiller very closely. The suggestion was that if they cruised on Silversea, they could earn points in their existing Celebrity Captain's Club loyalty program. It was not a suggestion to be able to redeem Celebrity loyalty benefits on a Silversea cruise; it was a suggestion to earn Celebrity points when cruising on Silversea. I don't see how that could "diminish the Silversea brand" at all.

But doesn't that knife cut both ways??

[cruiseej]

On 11/23/2021 at 7:33 PM, A Tucson Guy said:

But doesn't that knife cut both ways??

 

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying that cruising on Celebrity should earn points in Silversea's loyalty program. No, I don't think it needs to work that way. It could, but it doesn't need to when the two brands are at significantly different price points. Using the higher-priced brand could earn you points in the lower-priced brand, but not necessarily vice versa. That's what I was suggesting.

 

The other issue with doing this across brands is whether the customer needs to specify which program to earn points in, so they don't earn points in both. For instance, they could decide that when cruising on Silversea, a member of the Celebrity loyalty program could opt to not receive Silversea credit, and instead earn credit in the Celebrity program (at whatever equivalence they determine). The problem here is that if after a cruise or two on Silversea, that customer decided they really live Silversea and plan to continue cruising on that line, they would be starting with 0 nights credit in the Silversea program, because they previously chose to have those credits accrue in the Celebrity program. This is where having one unified program would solve the problem. But as discussed previously in this thread, that would require a much more complex program, with different earning and redemption equivalences for each brand, and would likely frustrate longtime Silversea customers who wouldn't want to see longtime Celebrity customers able to transfer their points to sail on Silversea.

[A Tucson Guy]

9 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying that cruising on Celebrity should earn points in Silversea's loyalty program. No, I don't think it needs to work that way. It could, but it doesn't need to when the two brands are at significantly different price points. Using the higher-priced brand could earn you points in the lower-priced brand, but not necessarily vice versa. That's what I was suggesting.

 

The other issue with doing this across brands is whether the customer needs to specify which program to earn points in, so they don't earn points in both. For instance, they could decide that when cruising on Silversea, a member of the Celebrity loyalty program could opt to not receive Silversea credit, and instead earn credit in the Celebrity program (at whatever equivalence they determine). The problem here is that if after a cruise or two on Silversea, that customer decided they really live Silversea and plan to continue cruising on that line, they would be starting with 0 nights credit in the Silversea program, because they previously chose to have those credits accrue in the Celebrity program. This is where having one unified program would solve the problem. But as discussed previously in this thread, that would require a much more complex program, with different earning and redemption equivalences for each brand, and would likely frustrate longtime Silversea customers who wouldn't want to see longtime Celebrity customers able to transfer their points to sail on Silversea.

I think you answered your question. If SS cruisers can take the days over to the Celebrity program, then Celebrity cruisers should be able to post their days on SS. The other algorithm is Celebrity days can cost far less than SS days so then it would need to be based on money spent and not the number of days. Not an easy solution IMHO.

[DCPIV]

Allow C&A and CC members of a certain level to get a VS number. The only benefit that conveys would be 5% off the first cruise, but that's a more than decent "little something" that could both reward and encourage good RC and Celebrity customers to give SS whirl when they are ready. Have that apply to Diamond and Elite members, or even to D+ and E+. Everyone cruises happily, and no one dies to make it happen.

 

On the flip side, give SS customers with a certain number of nights Elite and Diamond status. I haven't the slightest idea how many nights make sense, and I'll be damned before I sit here and try to work it out. Chances are it's not something that would be utilized or even needed all that often, but it might come in handy sometime. Again, it's "a little something."

 

I agree that C&A and Captain's Club don't really translate to VS at all. It's apples and oranges. We're D+ on RC and soon to be E+ on Celebrity with almost 30 nights on SS. I've played around with ideas in my head of how to equate points, and I've not been able to make more sense than the little that has been put forth in this thread. 

 

If I were to drive up to the Lexus dealership in a Toyota, they wouldn't care any more than if I were to drive up to the Toyota dealership in a Lexus. 

 

However, there is some sense in some modicum of reciprocity for the benefit of all the fleet. 

[Capt.F]

The Silversea Venetian Societies loyalty program will remain a standalone loyalty program. There will however be some upcoming tweaks to the program to better reflect not only days sailed because Silversea has been listening attentively to its loyal Venetian Society members. 

 

[Lois R]

39 minutes ago, Capt.F said:

The Silversea Venetian Societies loyalty program will remain a standalone loyalty program. There will however be some upcoming tweaks to the program to better reflect not only days sailed because Silversea has been listening attentively to its loyal Venetian Society members. 

 

Well, with a statement like that.........you need to tell us what tweaks you are referring to...........

[Capt.F]

20 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Well, with a statement like that.........you need to tell us what tweaks you are referring to...........

I’m saying that it’s my understanding that they are improving the program. It’s up to Silversea to determine when the have it all nailed down to announce. It is no secret that many VS members have long felt that there are some inequities in the program with respect to the class of suite’s value when applied to a longer cruise for a milestone award. 

 

[Aussieflyer]

On 11/13/2021 at 12:54 PM, Gourmet Gal said:

I don’t usually stay in hotels that have a point system but I do accrue points with some airlines and find that the points are so devalued the programs don’t instill much loyalty anymore.  They also make it harder to even use the points.  Is it same with the hotel chains?

Not sure about all but the ones I have points with allow part payment with points on basically all bookings as well as full reward night bookings. Easier to use that airline points.

[spinnaker2]

I heard thru the grapevine that one will earn more points/rewards/whatever the currency depending on the category of suite booked. This is upcoming in the near future.

I don't think it's to be retrospectively applied.

 

[canderson]

3 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

I heard thru the grapevine that one will earn more points/rewards/whatever the currency depending on the category of suite booked. This is upcoming in the near future.

I don't think it's to be retrospectively applied.

 

That would be in line with the way RCG deals with it on their other brands using number of nights sailed and cabin class.  On X, they split it at suite/non-suite.  More points earned for the former.  Wouldn't surprise me that, if SS goes that route, they make the split at ~Silver Suite and up.  I'd note that Seabourn has a similarly stepped program based upon cabin class booked.

[canderson]

Also, when the X plan was overhauled to the current points system, there was a reasonably equitable retroactive conversion of nights to points made based upon all prior sailings with them.