RC and Celebrity loyalty programs possibly merging?

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, Mick B said:

Hi,

That would be interesting. That could be one way around it.

 

Would they cancel all your points or simply reduce them?

 

If they removed them totally, then that may create no incentive to cruise with them again anytime soon.

But, if you reduced their points, say 12 points for each year missed, then that may entice a passenger to book another cruise with them in order to keep their D and above status in tact as the drinks perk would be a massive incentive given the cost of the UDP.

 

Mick.

 

 

12 is as good a number as any. For example you’re a diamond with 94 pts. 
4 years after your last sailing you’re still a diamond with 82 pts. After 5 years you’re down to 70 and no longer have diamond benefits when you sail again. 

[island lady]

21 minutes ago, nelblu said:

The place is mainly empty since the introduction of the new drink(s) policy.  I use the DL simply for my need to use the coffee machine and the printer.

 

We do as well.   The SL/CL/DL are simply morning coffee pick ups for us now.   We love the "happy hour is any hour...at any lounge" set up now.  😉 

[island lady]

12 minutes ago, Mick B said:

Strangely enough, we now use the DL for the nice coffee, if and when the machine is in working order and not out of order for days/cruises on end. Sadly, as D+ we can no longer go into the CL and use theirs when our is broke, and I would not be surprised if when the CL machine is broke, they pinch the parts from the DL machine putting that out of order.

I have been in the DL for a drink during happy hour recently, and yes the numbers are now low in there, and this is possibly because you can use your vouchers at most any bar at any time and on some ships the DL is out of the way of everything else, like on 14th floor and waiting for a lift can take time as sometimes as you will know, only 1 or 2 lifts access that floor on one side of the ship, although you can take the stairs for the last floor or 2.

 

I wonder if the DL was to close completely, if RCI would put a voucher on your sea pass for a free coffee drink at the cafe or make you use a drinks voucher?

 

Mick.

 

 

 

 

Not just D+...we as Pinnacle (unless we are in a suite) are kicked out when the ship's maximum numbers are reached (varies from ship to ship).   

[nelblu]

28 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

12 is as good a number as any. For example you’re a diamond with 94 pts. 
4 years after your last sailing you’re still a diamond with 82 pts. After 5 years you’re down to 70 and no longer have diamond benefits when you sail again. 

Always reinventing the wheel. 🤣

[Mick B]

Hi,

Yes, thinking about it, the removal of points for several years of no showing would probably be the fairest way to implement a cut back.

I am just afraid that cruising is going to return to the age where you had to fairly well off to afford to do it. And I don't like that idea at all.

Also, RCI should remember the amount of money in the past I have spent with them including all the cruises I have done in the past few years after the restart helping towards their recovery.

However, with more and more ships adding suites of some kind to their ships and more and more different class status's being added, it would seem that the cruise lines expect richer people to travel otherwise they would not be doing this.

Sadly we are not all rock/film stars or football players or bi*coin millionaires, some of us are just ordinary folk trying to enjoy life and choose cruising as a nice holiday and are always thankful of the nice extra things given to us for our continued loyalty.

 

Mick.

 

 

[nelblu]

30 minutes ago, Mick B said:

Hi,

Yes, thinking about it, the removal of points for several years of no showing would probably be the fairest way to implement a cut back.

I am just afraid that cruising is going to return to the age where you had to fairly well off to afford to do it. And I don't like that idea at all.

Also, RCI should remember the amount of money in the past I have spent with them including all the cruises I have done in the past few years after the restart helping towards their recovery.

However, with more and more ships adding suites of some kind to their ships and more and more different class status's being added, it would seem that the cruise lines expect richer people to travel otherwise they would not be doing this.

Sadly we are not all rock/film stars or football players or bi*coin millionaires, some of us are just ordinary folk trying to enjoy life and choose cruising as a nice holiday and are always thankful of the nice extra things given to us for our continued loyalty.

 

Mick.

 

 

Don't know about rock stars or football players, but sails from Bayonne are full of families and with lots of kids especially with the "Kids sail free promos."  On recent August 20 Oasis the ship was filled to the gills and sail on sea days, the 3 pools were filled to capacity with adults and kids alike. I believe the capacity listed is somewhere in the 20s, but the pools must have had more that 50 in the water and many more surrounding the pools.  They were hot days. 

 

Remember, the suite population is minor to the overall ship's capacity.

[Mick B]

Hi,

Well I can't blame the families in the USA if they take advantage of the kids go free. I would imagine this is a great choice if you live near or close enough to drive to one of those US ports as cruises from the USA are normally far cheaper than those from the UK which is why we have been out of the USA on so many in the past..

Sadly, for anyone living in the UK, there are not many promo's like that and the ones I have seen are from places like Barcelona so unless you live there, then travelling from the UK by air and staying overnight or for a few days in a hotel now costs about the same as the cruise fare as the kids go free only applies to the cruise leg IIRC.

 

One of the reasons there are so many young Diamond members is because back in 2014 when I was on the Enchantment going out of Port Canaveral for 4 days around the Bahamas, the ship was full of spring breakers and other kids and after speaking with many of them, I found out that their parents paid something like $200 for the cruise to get rid of them for a few days and on a fairly regular basis too and they wisely joined the C&A program, and although they were under age to drink on the ship at the time, they new that if they did enough cruises then they would soon become Diamond members and by the time they would turn 21 they would have done their 80 nights and then could then enjoy the drinks perk.

 

I cannot blame anyone for taking advantage of any promo offer, especially one like the kids go free offer! 

Right now, money is tight and choices have to be made. It's not just the cruise lines that are cutting back, we all have to too. Anything we can get for nothing or next to nothing will be snapped up. 

Let's wait and see in November when the 2025 season comes out, how quickly the ships sell out of interior and balcony cabins.

 

Mick.

[nelblu]

26 minutes ago, Mick B said:

they new that if they did enough cruises then they would soon become Diamond members and by the time they would turn 21 they would have done their 80 nights and then could then enjoy the drinks perk.

 

Keep on mind that the C&A program allows for the parent's tier level to pass on to their children.

[Mick B]

Yes, that's true too, about the parent's tier passing on to them. No wonder there are so many Diamond members when it is made this easy.

 

Also, I think I suspect why the kids liked going to the Bahamas so often too, its because they would all go to a place in Nassau called Senor Frogs as they served anyone there aged 18 and over instead of 21 like in the USA.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, Mick B said:

Yes, that's true too, about the parent's tier passing on to them. No wonder there are so many Diamond members when it is made this easy.

 

Also, I think I suspect why the kids liked going to the Bahamas so often too, its because they would all go to a place in Nassau called Senor Frogs as they served anyone there aged 18 and over instead of 21 like in the USA.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

Until age 18.  Item 45 under "Youth Memberships" in C&A" PDF Brochure. They only get credit for the actual days they cruised between 0 and 18 after the age of 18.

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Until age 18.  Item 45 under "Youth Memberships" in C&A" PDF Brochure. They only get credit for the actual days they cruised between 0 and 18 after the age of 18.

 

One could interpret the language that after 18, the children's account starts at zero as it does not specifically state that any cruise points are accumulated as children. They just enjoy the status of their parents up to the Diamond Plus level until they turn 18.

[Mick B]

 

 

I am awaiting to see if any new tier is brought in at the 340 mark. Maybe you'll be Diamond Extra instead of Plus.

Maybe any Diamond member losing their points in any future revamp could be known as Diamond Minus.

 

Mick.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Mick B

[Engineroom Snipe]

4 minutes ago, Mick B said:

 

 

I am awaiting to see if any new tier is brought in at the 340 mark. Maybe you'll be Diamond Extra instead of Plus.

Maybe any Diamond member losing their points in any future revamp could be known as Diamond Minus.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

We will start getting into the Bond Rating Systems:

 

AAA+ to DIRT one letter at at time.

 

😁

[Charles4515]

It is simple math that as the ships have gotten larger and larger over the years that the C&A membership would grow. There will have to be changes either making it more difficult and/or less benefits. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

8 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

It is simple math that as the ships have gotten larger and larger over the years that the C&A membership would grow. There will have to be changes either making it more difficult and/or less benefits. 

 

Or they offer an "Exclusive Life Boat Experience Tour" for all Pins onboard.

 

I think the Pins will get suspicious the minute they start lowering the boat without any crew members in the life boat.

 

I can hear it now, "But I am a Suite Guest! Not a Pin!"

 

🤣

[RobInMN]

We also have done a few river cruises (3 with AmaWaterways, 2 with others), and plan on doing more.

For those interested in river cruises, there is a reasonably active sub-forum on this site:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/115-river-cruising/

People are always happy to answer questions from people about ships, itineraries, ports, etc.

[nelblu]

59 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

One could interpret the language that after 18, the children's account starts at zero as it does not specifically state that any cruise points are accumulated as children. They just enjoy the status of their parents up to the Diamond Plus level until they turn 18.

The children retain any points earned as children.   They need to earn their next tier on their own.

[Ocean Boy]

On 9/27/2023 at 3:47 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Just curious as to why merging would be a benefit.  You already get reciprocal status.  Most have nothing to gain by a merge.

I think the advantage would be that you would receive points for cruising either line.

 

As to source, for those of you asking, there was a recent Captain's Club webinar where the question was brought up and the CEO of Celebrity said something may occur in the future... paraphrasing as I don't remember her exact words.

[Engineroom Snipe]

3 minutes ago, nelblu said:

The children retain any points earned as children.   They need to earn their next tier on their own.

Yes, I was not sure on that one. I was wondering if when "Kids sail free" that RCI would add a caveat that they would not get points.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

[nelblu]

13 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Yes, I was not sure on that one. I was wondering if when "Kids sail free" that RCI would add a caveat that they would not get points.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

Royal is pretty loyal and generous to its customers.  For instance, I would equate Kids sail free with the Casino free comped cruises.  Points are earned on comped cruises.

 

I'm not educated enough on Celebrity, but someone had posted some time ago when there was a huge discussion on this topic that Celebrity doesn't allow children to accumulate points.  Maybe someone can confirm or educate me.

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

IMO the fairest way to tackle this is through reducing the status of people who don’t sail within a set time, perhaps 3 or 4 years. 
It’s called a loyalty program. If people haven’t sailed in that time they are not loyal and.therefore don’t deserve the benefits. I’m a member of other programs which reset your status after 12 months of no custom. 

If someone sails the same line whenever they sail, regardless of interval between those sailings, I would consider that loyalty. What do you consider someone who sails once a year on RCI but their other 4 sailings of the year are on different lines?

[suzyluvs2cruise]

29 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I think the advantage would be that you would receive points for cruising either line.

 

As to source, for those of you asking, there was a recent Captain's Club webinar where the question was brought up and the CEO of Celebrity said something may occur in the future... paraphrasing as I don't remember her exact words.

Link to webinar is in post #84

[Harrisonkid]

Not sure it would benefit many...buy the Free bag of laundry on Celebrity is very nice (if you use it ) 😉

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, Mick B said:

Hi,

Yes, thinking about it, the removal of points for several years of no showing would probably be the fairest way to implement a cut back.

I am just afraid that cruising is going to return to the age where you had to fairly well off to afford to do it. And I don't like that idea at all.

Also, RCI should remember the amount of money in the past I have spent with them including all the cruises I have done in the past few years after the restart helping towards their recovery.

However, with more and more ships adding suites of some kind to their ships and more and more different class status's being added, it would seem that the cruise lines expect richer people to travel otherwise they would not be doing this.

Sadly we are not all rock/film stars or football players or bi*coin millionaires, some of us are just ordinary folk trying to enjoy life and choose cruising as a nice holiday and are always thankful of the nice extra things given to us for our continued loyalty.

 

Mick.

 

 

When the next pandemic rears it's head and cruise ships get hit RCI will be courting its C&A members again.

[Ocean Boy]

8 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

Link to webinar is in post #84

Yes, I saw that post after I posted.