Crown and Anchor Level Question

[jensplace]

I currently have 27 points and my next booked cruise is June 2023 on Explorer doing the Greek Isles. I have an ocean view balcony already booked on this one.

 

Is it worth the minimum $600 I would pay to do a brief cruise out of Galveston at a time I can get off work to get to Platinum? Are there significant benefits to bumping this level prior to my "big" cruise?

 

(I've looked at tons of Galveston itineraries and this is about the cheapest I can get an inside room for my son and I that works with my job. We live in North Texas so Galveston is the only port I can affordably get to without taking extra days off work.)

 

[Biker19]

Just now, jensplace said:

Is it worth the minimum $600 I would pay to do a brief cruise out of Galveston at a time I can get off work to get to Platinum? Are there significant benefits to bumping this level prior to my "big" cruise?

No.

[blackshirt]

Agree with the above. It’s not worth it purely for the Platinum benefits. It’s only worth it if you want to cruise.

[subtchr]

Nope. We are Emerald. A few discounts on board, but that is it. 

The big jump in benefits is Diamond, when you get four free drinks every day. We will be Diamond after we finish the cruise we are on now (disembark on Thursday -- so sad!), so we are looking forward to the next one!

[rudeney]

Platinum also gets discounts when booking balcony/suite cabins, but it's  very small - like $100.

[firefly333]

19 minutes ago, jensplace said:

I currently have 27 points and my next booked cruise is June 2023 on Explorer doing the Greek Isles. I have an ocean view balcony already booked on this one.

 

Is it worth the minimum $600 I would pay to do a brief cruise out of Galveston at a time I can get off work to get to Platinum? Are there significant benefits to bumping this level prior to my "big" cruise?

 

(I've looked at tons of Galveston itineraries and this is about the cheapest I can get an inside room for my son and I that works with my job. We live in North Texas so Galveston is the only port I can affordably get to without taking extra days off work.)

 

Imo diamond is worth a little push. The 4 vouchers a day after that have a value to me, and I enjoy the free wifi though only 1 day at diamond. 

 

I pushed pts so I can reach 340 to lock in solo discount. We will see if it's worth it. 2 cruises and then wait for pts to post so I cant use them until jan cruise. Cant apply to already booked cruise so cant apply to b2b allure in dec if I earn it in sept. 

 

I wouldnt be first or last to push, but imo diamond is where it matters. Now if I'm comparing carnival jubilee or ncl prima or rcl harmony ... rcl wins a edge because of the included drinks and I dont even hardly use them but I like having them even if I use them for fresh squeezed oj. Jubilee and harmony price are very close so the perks matter to decide. 

[taglovestocruise]

Any worthwhile perks start at Diamond.  We did take a short cruise many years ago to put us into diamond level for a 15 night transatlantic a few months later.  Balcony discount and free drinks were worth over $1200. We have a side by side coming up in Sep. 17 nights at D+ adds up to 170 free drinks.

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Any worthwhile perks start at Diamond.  We did take a short cruise many years ago to put us into diamond level for a 15 night transatlantic a few months later.  Balcony discount and free drinks were worth over $1200. We have a side by side coming up in Sep. 17 nights at D+ adds up to 170 free drinks.

Better push for Pinnacle to get 204 free drinks + free Voom.  😄

[Another_Critic]

D, D+ (340 points for solo), and Pinnacle are the best tiers to push for.

[taglovestocruise]

3 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Better push for Pinnacle to get 204 free drinks + free Voom.  😄

No matter how hard I push Pinnacle is just a dream. Took 19 years to hit D+, and that was with a lot of Transatlantics. 

[Another_Critic]

2 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

No matter how hard I push Pinnacle is just a dream. Took 19 years to hit D+, and that was with a lot of Transatlantics. 

Started Royal in Sept. 1987, earned D+ Oct. 2021.  Hope to get to 340+ by EOY.

 

Did take a long break from Royal (was Platinum).  Earned Elite on Celebrity before going back to Royal. 

[deliver42]

Unfortunately, Platinum means nothing, as does Emerald which comes next.

[reallyitsmema]

1 hour ago, jensplace said:

I currently have 27 points and my next booked cruise is June 2023 on Explorer doing the Greek Isles. I have an ocean view balcony already booked on this one.

 

Is it worth the minimum $600 I would pay to do a brief cruise out of Galveston at a time I can get off work to get to Platinum? Are there significant benefits to bumping this level prior to my "big" cruise?

 

(I've looked at tons of Galveston itineraries and this is about the cheapest I can get an inside room for my son and I that works with my job. We live in North Texas so Galveston is the only port I can affordably get to without taking extra days off work.)

 

 

It really isn't worth trying to bump up.  Here is a link that will detail some of the benefits.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf

[loman]

Nothing meaningful until you get to diamond as others have posted.

4 free drinks per day and free expresso in the diamond lounge when

you get to the diamond level .

[billslowsky]

2 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Unfortunately, Platinum means nothing, as does Emerald which comes next.

On our last cruise (Emerald) we did have some useful drink discount vouchers and a BOGO photo deal.  But nothing compared to Diamond.

[OCVTSGIRL]

I agree with everyone that there is no benefit to Platinum, however, making Platinum puts you closer to Diamond!  😊

[neverbeenhere]

I would still consider the short cruise, but I would wait until the last possible minute to see if I got a blowout deal. If not, then I wouldn’t go.  Next level up you get a few things and you need points at some point to move further up, if that is a long term goal. 

[Ashland]

It's booking suites that seems to give us the biggest benefit now. Most of our 5 vouchers pp each day go unused.

[Jam0610]

Better off saving the money. Like most posts have said, no real benefits until you reach Diamond.

We did take Allure 8 day cruise in May to reach 73 points. Alaska in August will give us 7 more. Hitting the 80 point mark and Diamond.

[Tatka]

14 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

No matter how hard I push Pinnacle is just a dream. Took 19 years to hit D+, and that was with a lot of Transatlantics. 

We cruised with 8 lines for a long time starting from 2003. Only had 5 cruises with Royal (platinum) by 2016. Started cruising more with Royal (although still had some cruises with Celebrity, Princess, Holland, NCL and Cunard) and reached Diamond in 2018, D+ this year. 2 cruises since. But I agree Pinnacle is a pipe dream…

[mandyleighflies]

We are Platinum and will be Emerald after our next cruise and aside from what other's have said above (discounts on staterooms, closer to D/D+) there are no major perks to speak of that would be worth the push. We are in our push for Diamond, my goal is to be Diamond by 40 and after our next cruise I'll be at 57 points so that only leaves 23 points in 2 years! 😆 Enjoy your cruises!! Book another one if you want to but not just for the status, book it for the memories and fun. 

[Rogueperson]

17 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

No matter how hard I push Pinnacle is just a dream. Took 19 years to hit D+, and that was with a lot of Transatlantics. 

 

Yeah, it took me 10 years to get from zip to Diamond.  However, thanks to the double points, it technically took me 4 years to get from diamond to diamond plus, but the last 80 points, i've earned (or will earn) between October 2021 and October 2022.  I did 2 nine nights solo to get fast track to diamond.  My wife appreciates it now 😛

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, Ashland said:

Most of our 5 vouchers pp each day go unused.

Pick up a drink for someone with your unused vouchers.😃

We met a nice solo cruiser who was traveling on a tight budget so we offered him a couple beers or cocktails with our vouchers when we would see him.  He really appreciated 😃

[Mum2Mercury]

19 hours ago, jensplace said:

I currently have 27 points and my next booked cruise is June 2023 on Explorer doing the Greek Isles. I have an ocean view balcony already booked on this one.

 

Is it worth the minimum $600 I would pay to do a brief cruise out of Galveston at a time I can get off work to get to Platinum? Are there significant benefits to bumping this level prior to my "big" cruise?

 

(I've looked at tons of Galveston itineraries and this is about the cheapest I can get an inside room for my son and I that works with my job. We live in North Texas so Galveston is the only port I can affordably get to without taking extra days off work.)

 

No, if you're not Diamond, it's not worth much.

 

What I would consider instead of this ... could you pick up a shorty cruise and do it as a "back to back" with your "big cruise"?  That would eliminate the cost of travel and some other little obstacles.  

[jensplace]

Thanks everyone! You all confirmed my thoughts, I cannot do a B2B on my next scheduled cruise because it is out of Venice and I live in Texas. 🙂 Also, we do almost all of our cruises with Autism on the Seas as my son has autism, but this shorter one would have been an exception.