Getting To Elite On A World Cruise

[SargassoPirate]

If one books a world cruise that is also sold in segments and one qualifies for elite after the first segment or two, will he/she be able to reap the benefits of laundry and mini-bar setup for the remaining segments?   

 

Asking for a friend who is not on Cruise Critic and is considering whether to book the WC as one booking or to book it in segments even if he has to change cabins.  

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by SargassoPirate

[cr8tiv1]

I looked into the World Cruise on the Island.  It was only being sold as 3 segments; each about +/- 30 days long.  
 

Example:  if your friend booked a world cruise, they would earn 3 cruise credits (unless in a suite and/or solo) with or without booking each independently.  
 

I don’t know if any other ship is doing the WC.  
 

I hope a more experienced poster will have a better answer.

[DCThunder]

FWIW, I was talking to someone on a recent cruise who hit their 150 days of total cruising in the middle of the first leg of a B2B cruise and they were given a new Elite medallion at that point and got the mini-bar set-up at the start of the next leg.  So I'd think your friend should book a WC as 3 segments.

[tcdcruiser]

I was on the last Pacific Princess WC in 2019.  Each segment was considered its own voyage.  Everything reset as if it were a new voyage.  

[skynight]

Yes. After each segment if the person has enough days or cruise credits then they become elite. To make certain they receive laundry and other benefits they should speak with the Captain's Circle rep on board. 

[SargassoPirate]

Thanks to all of the responses.  I will pass the info along to my buddy and also try to get him to sign up for CC. 

[cr8tiv1]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Yes. After each segment if the person has enough days or cruise credits then they become elite. To make certain they receive laundry and other benefits they should speak with the Captain's Circle rep on board. 

oops, stand corrected….I didn’t take in to account that Elite status could be counted by days.  See, I knew someone else would have the right answer.   (Now, I remember that)

[boone2]

My husband reached elite on the first segment  of our 28 days transpacific last month   His status didn’t change during the cruise 

[mjmalino]

I was under the impression that it is how it is booked.  If it is booked as 3 separate segments,  then loyalty status can change as the segments change. If it was booked as 1 cruise, then loyalty remains the same throughout.

[PescadoAmarillo]

7 minutes ago, mjmalino said:

I was under the impression that it is how it is booked.  If it is booked as 3 separate segments,  then loyalty status can change as the segments change. If it was booked as 1 cruise, then loyalty remains the same throughout.

It used to be that way, but it think that now, regardless of how it is booked, if it is also sold as segments, Princess automatically treats it as separate segments. 

[mjmalino]

6 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

It used to be that way, but it think that now, regardless of how it is booked, if it is also sold as segments, Princess automatically treats it as separate segments. 

Thank you for the update!

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, boone2 said:

My husband reached elite on the first segment  of our 28 days transpacific last month   His status didn’t change during the cruise 

If it wasn't sold that way, then you needed to be proactive as mentioned above and speak to the CC Host in order to make sure the update gets done.

[SargassoPirate]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

It used to be that way, but it think that now, regardless of how it is booked, if it is also sold as segments, Princess automatically treats it as separate segments. 

Seems logical, especially if Princess closes out your shipboard account after each segment, which is what happens if I understand it correctly.

 

However, logic and common sense are oft in short supply so it's worth checking out.

[skynight]

2 hours ago, boone2 said:

My husband reached elite on the first segment  of our 28 days transpacific last month   His status didn’t change during the cruise 

That is correct. No matter if you are counting days or cruise credits status does not change until you have completed the qualifying voyage.

2 hours ago, mjmalino said:

I was under the impression that it is how it is booked.  If it is booked as 3 separate segments,  then loyalty status can change as the segments change. If it was booked as 1 cruise, then loyalty remains the same throughout.

It is not how booked. It is credited by voyage. A single 28 day RT South Pacific voyage counts as a single cruise credit*, and it also counts as 28 days. A 14 day b2b booked as two 7 day cruises or a single 14 day cruise counts as 2 cruise credits* either way and 14 days.

* 2 credits if in a full suite, 3 credits if in a full suite as a solo

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Seems logical, especially if Princess closes out your shipboard account after each segment, which is what happens if I understand it correctly.

 

However, logic and common sense are oft in short supply so it's worth checking out.

Shipboard accounts are not closed out after each segment - unless a guest requests it for some reason.  It all carries forward until you leave the ship.

 

[boone2]

32 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

If it wasn't sold that way, then you needed to be proactive as mentioned above and speak to the CC Host in order to make sure the update gets done.

It was sold as a 28 day cruise and at the end of the first week we had  a bill for the “coastal cruise”.  It really didn’t make a difference as I’m elite anyway so his laundry was done and we had discounts 

Terry 

[boone2]

17 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Shipboard accounts are not closed out after each segment - unless a guest requests it for some reason.  It all carries forward until you leave the ship.

 

Our account as closed out after the first week but not charged. Funnily enough we have been home over a week. We haven’t had a bill or our CC charged yet 

Terry

[skynight]

2 hours ago, boone2 said:

Our account as closed out after the first week but not charged. Funnily enough we have been home over a week. We haven’t had a bill or our CC charged yet 

Terry

The accounts are "closed" after each voyage. But, if you stay on board for the next voyage then the full net debit or credit balance including any refundable and non refundable OBC is carried forward and is shown as the first entries on the next voyage. Your credit card does not get charged until your final disembarkation. 

[boone2]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

The accounts are "closed" after each voyage. But, if you stay on board for the next voyage then the full net debit or credit balance including any refundable and non refundable OBC is carried forward and is shown as the first entries on the next voyage. Your credit card does not get charged until your final disembarkation. 

We disembarked on 28 October.  No final bill or charge to our credit card yet. Wondering if they are waiting till the end of the next segment. Which is weird as it should be this week sometime. I thought it was 2nd november but it could be wrong as I wasn’t interested.  I’ll await and see. I’m sure it will come this week sometime 

Terry 

[Thrak]

I agree about having to visit the Captain's Circle Host to insure the change from Platinum to Elite but you may well need to visit Customer Services as well. We sailed 12 days on Sapphire Princess. At the end of that cruise we qualified for Elite. We then flew to Barcelona and spent a few days there before boarding for a 14 day TA back to the US. When we boarded were still listed as Platinum because, when we booked the cruise, that was our status at the time. We got a Platinum cruise card and weren't allowed to go to the Elite lounge to wait for boarding. We ended up boarding much later than the Elite folks. Once on the ship I went to the Captain's Circle Host to checked my status and told me I would have to go through the Customer Service Desk to get things fixed and get my black card. When we met our Steward I asked about the mini-bar and he was surprised because his info had us listed as Platinum. It was eventually straightened out but it wasn't a seamless transition by any means.

[cr8tiv1]

This was so very long ago that my memory does not recall all the details.  What is clear is that I made Elite while on a back to back.  I “knew” the Captain Circle rep (aka Loyalty and Events Planner). He gave me my card and pin before the end of the cruise.  
 

Of course I wanted to immediately try it out for the fabulous 10% off shopping.  The cashier in the MDR sales room politely told me I had to wait until my next cruise.  😂 😊 🙃
 

Of course, I paraded around proudly displaying my pin.  Silly me!  Now, my medallion is tuck away, out of sight.  
 

Young and Foolish

[skynight]

13 hours ago, boone2 said:

We disembarked on 28 October.  No final bill or charge to our credit card yet. Wondering if they are waiting till the end of the next segment. Which is weird as it should be this week sometime. I thought it was 2nd november but it could be wrong as I wasn’t interested.  I’ll await and see. I’m sure it will come this week sometime 

Terry 

My thought is that the accounting staff is also short handed. They just did not get around to completing all final billings as quickly as they did in the past.  

[bjkTX]

On 11/3/2022 at 2:50 PM, skynight said:

 A 14 day b2b booked as two 7 day cruises or a single 14 day cruise counts as 2 cruise credits* either way and 14 days.

* 2 credits if in a full suite, 3 credits if in a full suite as a solo

Not sure if I'm reading this right or if I am missing something.  We have been on several 14  day cruises and did not receive 2 cruise credits???

[VibeGuy]

36 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

Not sure if I'm reading this right or if I am missing something.  We have been on several 14  day cruises and did not receive 2 cruise credits???

It depends how it was sold, not how you booked.  If anyone was allowed to buy it in smaller increments than you did, you get a credit for each incremental sailing, to the total of matching days. 
 

So if your 14 was really two 7s back to back, you get two.  If it was a 3, 4 and 7 run together, you’d get three.  But if the only way to get on the ship the same days you were on was to

buy the whole 14, you get 1. 
 

This is an improvement over the pre-2010ish policy, where it was how you bought that mattered, not how it was possibly sold. 

[cr8tiv1]

I think (dangerous) that one of the criteria is:  Does the ship return to the same port as embarkation?  Were you considered an in-transit passenger?  This is a broad generalization to determine if you got one or two credits.

 

This will not be applicable to World Cruises since they don't return to the same port of embarkation until after they go around the world.

Edited November 5, 2022 by cr8tiv1