Should Princess consider changing the way they calulate Captains Circle Status?

[dbeckett]

I love the idea of days rather than cruises booked - we have done some 7 day cruises (but always a B2B so we only have to get there once) but also some of the longer cruises (21 days). We have also done a land tour when we did the Alaskan and really don't think that the days ashore should count as it should be (in an ideal world) the number of days cruised.

 

No to the idea of rewarding those that spent the most - they probable wouldn't appreciate the perks that come with the different levels anyhow.

 

Dorothy

[asctony]

Took me 15 years and 16 cruises to get to elite status and some were 14 and 22 days. With Celebrity it took me 4 years and 7 cruises in CC class to get the same status.

BIG difference between Princess and Celebrity Elite benefits. Princess Elite provides many extras, whereas, Celebrity Elite has very few. Done a lot of research on this and Princess provides the most benefits for repeaters. Happy Cruising!

[bubbadog]

so basically instead of planning your cruises according to the way the rules are set up now,which u didnt do,you want princess to change all the rules to fit the cruise record you now have?,so you can get your platinum or elite status?for instance you could of planned 7 back to back 3 day cruises,which would give you your platinum card,but instead you chose to book a 21 day cruise that only gives you one cruise credit,so like i said instead of playing by the rules to get it(platinum),you want princess to change the rules to get it?,is that right? or maybe im not understanding what youre saying, well in any case i dont want to play cards with you guys lol:)))):cool:

[donna5]

I agree with Lynda and Brian. Another thing to consider is that in a lot of cases the "cost per day" for cruises of 7-10 days exceeds that of longer cruises. Mathematically that can calculate out so that those who have taken ten 7 day cruises (70 days) have provided Princess with far more revenue that someone who has taken three 22 day cruises (66 days).

 

That's a good point. They may be paying for princess ins., princess flights, princess pre-post cruises. So 7 cruises would cost more.

 

Now should they count cruises you gained being the 3/4th person in a cabin when they are not paying full cost?

 

I like the way Princess does it now. Your not going to make 100% of the people happy all the time, but their system is what keeps people coming back. They aren't dumb. Their ships aren't sailing empty.

[LARGIN]

 

I like the way Princess does it now.

 

Since I am now elite, I agree with Donna :D

[asctony]

Since I am now elite, I agree with Donna :D

I am Elite, too. However, I would like to see an additional level. The Most Traveled Passenger is determined by days and not the number of cruises. So, why not standardized the levels.

I have attended many Captain Luncheons and seen Platinum members attending due to 'Number of Days' not the 'Number of Cruises' and not Elite members even though the Elite passenger may have more cruises.

I hear Elite members say they should have been invited instead of Platinum since they have more cruises, Not Days. So, it is a catch 22. Happy Cruising!

[LARGIN]

We were invited to three Captain's Luncheons before we turned Elite...

[DanJ]

Why can't they have different criteria for attaining status, like the airlines do? Most airlines with a frequent flier plan offer status tiers based on flight segments or miles flown. So you can attain top-tier status by flying a whole bunch of short commuter flights, or by flying relatively few intercontinental flights. Most also offer a class of service bonus when paying for business or first class.

 

So, Princess could offer tiers based on either days or cruises. And they could offer a bonus credit for higher paying suite passengers, and if they wanted to get creative, a bonus half-credit for mini-suites.

 

And to go even further, they could creat a "Super-Elite" level (greater than 250-300 or however many days), as mentioned in previous posts, and they could offer upgrades, as the airlines do, to the top-tier passengers. We've all talked about how there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who gets a cabin upgrade. This way, there would be a tangible perk, other than some free drinks or internet access. But, like the airlines, I would make that passenger pay a certain fare class to get the bump. Example, as an SE, you couldn't buy the cheapest inside cabin, and get an upgrade to a mini-suite.

[asctony]

We were invited to three Captain's Luncheons before we turned Elite...

Exactly my point. So, why not use days instead of number of cruises for the different levels? Happy Cruising!

[Nancyquilts]

On Dawn Princess last month, we were not invited to the "most traveled" lunch, even tho' having over 350 days, as the Princess representative said that was only for "Elite" people. Maybe the rules differ from ship to ship? Nancy

[critterchick]

BIG difference between Princess and Celebrity Elite benefits. Princess Elite provides many extras, whereas, Celebrity Elite has very few. Done a lot of research on this and Princess provides the most benefits for repeaters. Happy Cruising!

 

But Celebrity's sister line RCI has very nice perks for its Diamond members - discounts of up to $300 on a balcony or better cabin, Concierge Club (on some ships, not all), a special event for Diamond (& Platinum) members, etc. I think RCI's top tier program is as good as Princess', just with different benefits.

[Oxo]

On Dawn Princess last month, we were not invited to the "most traveled" lunch, even tho' having over 350 days, as the Princess representative said that was only for "Elite" people. Maybe the rules differ from ship to ship? Nancy

Just got off of the Dawn 02/18/06 and attended the Most Traveled Luncheon that was based on Number of Days. Very sure that Roxy and Bianca (Captain Circle Hostesses) stated that Number of Days was the determining factor. Other CC Hostesses we have talked to stated the same. Normally, they only invite the top 25 to 30 passengers based on number of days. Thus, you may have had 350 days, but the other passengers had more. There were 94 Elite on our cruise. The top three that won were at 500, 600 and 700 days. It really depends on the passengers and the cruise. So, it is not based on being Elite or not. Some people think that it is an Elite Captain's Luncheon.

[teach223]

Would really like to see them use days instead of numbers of cruises. We just recently took a 14 day cruise, but only received credit for one cruise. The number of days would seem to be a much fairer system to all concerned.

[Richard Stein]

On our last Princess cruise the person who won the bottle of bubbly for the most days had 350 as they did two world cruises on P & O and were not even elite. I agree Princess has better perks than Celebrity, but I like Celebrity's complementary custom air.

[Nancyquilts]

Roxy was the one who told me it was by the number of voyages (at least on the trip of Jan. 29th). I had been surprised, because I ran into several people with less days. No biggie. Nancy

[Pam in CA]

I agree with the proposal to change the Captain's Circle status to the number of days.

 

As for basing it on how much you spent for your cruise, that's a can of worms with too many variables. When I go on longer cruises, I'm a single in a cabin and pay 180 - 200% of the per person cost. When I take 7-day cruises, they are over holidays and are usually at least 2x the per person cost of the same cruise only a week or two before. The least-expensive cruise I've ever taken (for a 7-day) was over $1,800 for just the cruise. Does that mean I should qualify faster for Elite? Just too many variables when you calculate the cost of a cruise towards Platinum or Elite status.

[vintner]

That is exactly what I'm saying. You spend more, you should get to Elite faster. It was just a suggestion. It sound like some people are upset that those can only afford the time for 7 day cruises get the same credit as those who can take off for longer periods. To me it's the same thing as saying that someone who books a cheap cabin should get less credit than someone in a suite.

[BigTimeCruiser]

Changing the Rules probably won't settle this. There will still be those who would prefer some other method of calculating how you attain Elite status.

 

I can see from our last cruise to Hawaii on the Island Princess that the Captain's Circle Club is growing. There were 68 Elite members on that cruise. :)