Princess and Holland America one cruise line

[juniper berries]

Hi just got an email from a cruise vaction planned at Holland America thanking me for my loyalty. Have never cruised with Holland Americ

Just wondering if they are going to merge the 2 cruise lines into one.

 Wondering if they are trying to get people who where not happy with there last princess cruise to try them instead to try to and keep the money under the carnival bnner.

 

Any one else getting emails.

 

[DallasGuy75219]

The Carnival Corp cruiselines routinely send advertisements to past passengers on other Carnival Corp cruiselines, regardless of whether they've actually sailed those lines.  I've been getting stuff from Seabourn for years even though I've never sailed with them and they're priced much higher than what I'm willing to pay for a cruise. 

[Guest ldtr]

In addition they they do share many back office systems and departments.  For example the same person is head of Culinary for both lines.  They are all part of the Holland America Group (Princess, HAL, P&O Australia, and Seabourn) sub group under CCL.

[Essiesmom]

If you have sailed any line in the Carnival family, you are considered a past guest on HAL.  If you were to make a dummy booking on HAL, and it asks for your Mariner number, you will find you already have one.  Another interesting thing about the Carnival family…my Cunard World Club number is the same as my Princess Captains Circle number.  EM

[PrincessBuffy]

And would it be so bad if Carnival further consolidated some of their overlapping operations to save on expenses that way they wouldn't need to raise prices so much.  Imagine if they saved some big money and eliminated a certain cruise line president (JP) and just allowed HA Group President Jan Swartz to take the helm of all 4 of the brands she already oversees.

 

As far as Captains Circle goes - if a certain new, upstart cruise line can match your loyalty level from competing cruise lines why can't  Carnival Corp embrace the entire family of brands and offer a cross-brand loyalty platform.  It seems like the next step in expanding their O·C·E·A·N — One Cruise Experience Access Network™ into something even more meaningful for their loyal guests.

Edited March 18, 2023 by PrincessBuffy

[mowogo]

7 hours ago, PrincessBuffy said:

And would it be so bad if Carnival further consolidated some of their overlapping operations to save on expenses that way they wouldn't need to raise prices so much.  Imagine if they saved some big money and eliminated a certain cruise line president (JP) and just allowed HA Group President Jan Swartz to take the helm of all 4 of the brands she already oversees.

 

As far as Captains Circle goes - if a certain new, upstart cruise line can match your loyalty level from competing cruise lines why can't  Carnival Corp embrace the entire family of brands and offer a cross-brand loyalty platform.  It seems like the next step in expanding their O·C·E·A·N — One Cruise Experience Access Network™ into something even more meaningful for their loyal guests.

Cross brand loyalty is certainly doable, but I think Princess cruisers would end up very unhappy in the end.  Full single program would probably end up as VIFP on Princess and HAL, with benefits and earning harmonized and reflecting the numbers of Carnival cruisers.  And I likely wouldn't be surprised if they added in a clause like MSC has added where you need to cruise once every 3 years to retain any status otherwise you are booted to just full member with credit to the first elite level.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, mowogo said:

Cross brand loyalty is certainly doable, but I think Princess cruisers would end up very unhappy in the end.  Full single program would probably end up as VIFP on Princess and HAL, with benefits and earning harmonized and reflecting the numbers of Carnival cruisers.  And I likely wouldn't be surprised if they added in a clause like MSC has added where you need to cruise once every 3 years to retain any status otherwise you are booted to just full member with credit to the first elite level.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a combined single program.  Royal Caribbean Group maintains separate programs for each of its lines but on each cruise gives you equivalent status to your highest status on any of their lines.

 

So for example I'm Diamond + (second highest status) on Royal Caribbean International but have only cruised on Celebrity once.  If I cruise Celebrity again, they will essentially honor my higher status on RCI on that Celebrity sailing.

[wowzz]

I would be happy if Princess UK and Princess US combined. 

Seems wrong that Brits can't participate in the upgrade bidding process,  can't have refundable deposits, and can't refare for free as many times as you like.

[mowogo]

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

It doesn't necessarily have to be a combined single program.  Royal Caribbean Group maintains separate programs for each of its lines but on each cruise gives you equivalent status to your highest status on any of their lines.

 

So for example I'm Diamond + (second highest status) on Royal Caribbean International but have only cruised on Celebrity once.  If I cruise Celebrity again, they will essentially honor my higher status on RCI on that Celebrity sailing.

It doesn't have to be, but I don't expect CCL to do something to benefit passengers.  Especially since it appears that Virgin is offering some component based on spend, time to start preparing for the worst possible changes, as Cruise lines are looking to airline loyalty programs to create something that can be a source of revenue.  Any partnerships would need to be for all customers, and that becomes a lot easier to manage in one program.  

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

So for example I'm Diamond + (second highest status) on Royal Caribbean International but have only cruised on Celebrity once.  If I cruise Celebrity again, they will essentially honor my higher status on RCI on that Celebrity sailing.

      They do not match level to level though past Diamond on RCI and Elite on Celebrity. D+ or Pinnacle on RCI Matches to Elite on Celebrity. Elite Plus and Zenith will only Match to Diamond on RCI (unless something has changed recently). And to advance on either line past those breakpoints you have to earn all the points. So it is nice of them to share loyalty, it is only up to a certain tier. And Celebrity VS RCI prices are relatively comparable.

      I can just see the uproar if HAL and Princess were to grant high loyalty club perks to carnival cruisers, given the disparity in pricing amongst those lines. If they matched up to midpoints like RCI and Celebrity (Azamara separate now if you haven't sailed on them?), it may not upset as many. I think the lines under Carnival Group have widely different sailing requirements to get to top tier though.

      I have been on one carnival, one HAL, and have a Princess in 2 months, so I have no personal reasons to advocate for or against any of their loyalty programs combinations. I do enjoy the reciprocal match from my RCI to Celebrity Elite. 

[cr8tiv1]

I often compare my elite status on Princess with Mariner star on Holland (not sure how many stars) with my sister.

 

I get way more perks than she does, even though her cruises cost a lot more.

 

I get:

ability to combine OBC *****

laundry *****

mini-bar (not sure if they get one too)

 

I can't persuade her to move over and she is unable to give me valid reasons for moving.