Woo Hoo... Pinnacle now equals Zenith on Celebrity

[Starry Eyes]

44 minutes ago, orville99 said:

If the status match doesn't have the desired effect of moving the cost-ineffective D+ and Pin folks over to Celebrity, then I could see that as a logical next step taken to keep from losing us all together to other lines. If, however, the status match meets their goals, the step you referenced may never be needed.

True, depending on the corporation’s goals, they might assess the impact of the enhanced status match, then decide whether or to proceed with further integration of the loyalty programs.  Pins got a nice boost as Zenith gets some nice benefits.  There are more D+ than Pins, and speaking as a D+, the boost from E benefits to E+ benefits isn’t so inspiring.  I’ll appreciate the little extras if we take a Celebrity cruise,but those extra benefits won’t inspire me to book with Celebrity.  Heck, the D+’s with aspirations of making P might be more inclined to stay only with Royal to reach P/Z, then branch out.

[RFerrington]

14 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Heck, the D+’s with aspirations of making P might be more inclined to stay only with Royal to reach P/Z, then branch out.

I was thinking the same thing !

[Another_Critic]

31 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Heck, the D+’s with aspirations of making P might be more inclined to stay only with Royal to reach P/Z, then branch out.

That's my plan.  😄

[ATG]

12 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

That's my plan.  😄

Mine too - I should be a pin in about a year. This will encourage me to do more Celebrity cruises.

[island lady]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

If the status match doesn't have the desired effect of moving the cost-ineffective D+ and Pin folks over to Celebrity, then I could see that as a logical next step taken to keep from losing us all together to other lines. If, however, the status match meets their goals, the step you referenced may never be needed.

 

Their nefarious plan worked on me!  😉  Instead of booking my next cruise with another line...which I would have again...I am booking the next one with Celeb, and looking at Silverseas.  😄 

[twincheryl]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

True, depending on the corporation’s goals, they might assess the impact of the enhanced status match, then decide whether or to proceed with further integration of the loyalty programs.  Pins got a nice boost as Zenith gets some nice benefits.  There are more D+ than Pins, and speaking as a D+, the boost from E benefits to E+ benefits isn’t so inspiring.  I’ll appreciate the little extras if we take a Celebrity cruise,but those extra benefits won’t inspire me to book with Celebrity.  Heck, the D+’s with aspirations of making P might be more inclined to stay only with Royal to reach P/Z, then branch out.

Got to D with RCI, switched to Celebrity several years ago and made E+... now with the ridiculous solo prices on Celebrity, I am going BACK to RCI with D+ status, even though it's not a huge benefit, I do appreciate the laundry.  Likely won't make P/Z on either line, but you never know... lol

[nelblu]

40 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

That's my plan.  😄

Ditto, but I would still be at a disadvantage as X has no solo supplement and no balcony discount, per se.

[island lady]

3 minutes ago, twincheryl said:

Got to D with RCI, switched to Celebrity several years ago and made E+... now with the ridiculous solo prices on Celebrity, I am going BACK to RCI with D+ status, even though it's not a huge benefit, I do appreciate the laundry.  Likely won't make P/Z on either line, but you never know... lol

 

Indeed...never say never.  😉 

[ILCTCRUISER]

6 hours ago, orville99 said:

DW came up with an interesting theory as to one other possible reason why the status match was created, and it makes the impact of the systemic cutbacks quite interesting. Those of us with long, loyal, and frequent cruise history on RCL not only remember what it was like "in the old days", but we tend to vocally reminisce about how much things have changed and lament how much they have gone downhill post shutdown. Her theory - they want us away from the newbies who don't know any better, so we don't cause them to think about looking elsewhere for their next cruise.👴😇

Could be, but I tend to think of RCL upper management as being reactive rather than proactive.

 

[orville99]

13 hours ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Could be, but I tend to think of RCL upper management as being reactive rather than proactive.

 

Totally agree, and IMHO, this is a classic reactive response to a shifting target demographic. Had they been proactive, the changes would have happened shortly after they had all of the fleet sailing at capacity. 

 

As Jack Welch suggested, ~20% of your customers cost you more to service than the revenue they produce, ~60% are roughly break even, and the rest are where all of your profit originates. Welch's approach: Fire the bottom 20% (encourage them to look elsewhere), nurture the middle 60% to try to move them up to being profitable; and set your strategy to lock in the top 20%.

 

I believe RCL finally responded to the reality that D+ and Pins fall in the bottom 20% in that scenario, and the status match is their "encouragement to look elsewhere" without all of us leaving the family entirely.

[ILCTCRUISER]

43 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Totally agree, and IMHO, this is a classic reactive response to a shifting target demographic. Had they been proactive, the changes would have happened shortly after they had all of the fleet sailing at capacity. 

 

As Jack Welch suggested, ~20% of your customers cost you more to service than the revenue they produce, ~60% are roughly break even, and the rest are where all of your profit originates. Welch's approach: Fire the bottom 20% (encourage them to look elsewhere), nurture the middle 60% to try to move them up to being profitable; and set your strategy to lock in the top 20%.

 

I believe RCL finally responded to the reality that D+ and Pins fall in the bottom 20% in that scenario, and the status match is their "encouragement to look elsewhere" without all of us leaving the family entirely.

Well thought out and stated.  It’s difficult to see it any other way.  We do know, however, that RCG chose to not “amp” up the Celebrity fleet.  It could have but didn’t. (Side note:  something being “amped” is the biggest turn off for us.  Do you really want that while on vacation, on a cruise?  Think back to the deck side techno-beat non-music.  It went away for a bit but it seems it’s creeping back.). I guess one could believe that RCG upper management deliberately chose to keep X  the way it was as part of a strategic plan, therefore proactive:  Let’s turn the RCL fleet into floating amusement parks with a certain targeted market and X will have its own specific target market.  In the end it gives corporate RCL at one end, X as its upscale offering and Silversea as its luxury offering.  If that’s the case, maybe some at RCG are capable of thinking proactively.  Hard to accept though given all of the laughable blunders it has foisted upon customers over the years.

Edited June 12 by ILCTCRUISER

[lovesthebeach2]

On 6/10/2024 at 10:59 AM, clochette said:

 

I think that you are both right, I do have a really old I-phone and need to update it, I did reinstall the App but that did not work, and I could not download the latest version of the App, thanks for your help.

It worked for me, I was the one that questioned…..if you have the app on an iPad maybe it will work there? here’s how I did it…

From the main menu for a cruise click the little person(upper right) then the next screen you should see a box on the left top of that page with your name and points, with an arrow next to ”More Details”. Click that, next screen choose “Loyalty Match” 

 

Does your app look like that?

[twangster]

I see the match mosty influencing Pinnacle but Pinnacle remains 1-2% of a typical cruise CAS count based on top tier numbers.  When you factor in that roughly half of a given ship typically has sailed Royal before, that small Pin percentage becomes even smaller as a percentage of all the passengers on board.

 

So somewhere around 0.5% to 1% of a typical cruise overall population is Pinnacle.  

 

Assuming this match program influences half of Pinnacles to shop beyond Royal sometimes (but not every cruise) the overall impact of this new program is likely negligible or maybe at best 0.1% to 0.25% of total guest count of a typical cruise.

 

I don't think this change was made in attempt to influence booking trends for the top of the loyalty programs.  Even if that is the outcome, sometimes.

 

Edited June 12 by twangster

[RFerrington]

51 minutes ago, orville99 said:

I believe RCL finally responded to the reality that D+ and Pins fall in the bottom 20% in that scenario, and the status match is their "encouragement to look elsewhere" without all of us leaving the family entirely.

If it's true that Royal is "encouraging" the non/low-profit folks to move over to Celebrity (and I think you're correct, BTW) how must that make the bean counters over at Celebrity feel ?  I'm sure they're not thrilled with the idea of the non-producers coming onto their balance sheets. Is Celebrity intended to be the sacrificial lamb ?

[orville99]

12 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

If it's true that Royal is "encouraging" the non/low-profit folks to move over to Celebrity (and I think you're correct, BTW) how must that make the bean counters over at Celebrity feel ?  I'm sure they're not thrilled with the idea of the non-producers coming onto their balance sheets. Is Celebrity intended to be the sacrificial lamb ?

I can only speak from our personal experience with X, but the four cruises we currently have booked with them collectively have eight ports we have never visited, and will undoubtedly pull us into booking shore excursions on most if not all of them, thus generating incremental revenue for X. We haven't done a shore excursion on an RCL ship since February 2023 (and that one happened only because it was the first time we had been to the Panama Canal and were certain that we would never be back that way again).

 

We also always book suites, and suites on X are pricier (and much nicer) than RCL's offerings

 

We are also much more likely to partake in their specialty restaurants - which put RCL's mostly stale offerings to shame - more $$$ to X.

 

The real bottom line, however, is had RCG not taken this step, they would have effectively "fired" us, and all of our future cruise business would have gone to their competitors - a 100% loss of our business.

[island lady]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

I see the match mosty influencing Pinnacle but Pinnacle remains 1-2% of a typical cruise CAS count based on top tier numbers.  When you factor in that roughly half of a given ship typically has sailed Royal before, that small Pin percentage becomes even smaller as a percentage of all the passengers on board.

 

So somewhere around 0.5% to 1% of a typical cruise overall population is Pinnacle.  

 

Assuming this match program influences half of Pinnacles to shop beyond Royal sometimes (but not every cruise) the overall impact of this new program is likely negligible or maybe at best 0.1% to 0.25% of total guest count of a typical cruise.

 

I don't think this change was made in attempt to influence booking trends for the top of the loyalty programs.  Even if that is the outcome, sometimes.

 

 

 

True enough, though the typical Pinnacle cruises how many times a year versus the "once a year or less" family, that granted, most will spend big bucks on the short cruises?   

 

The point many of us were making, is Royal was starting to move away from it's older loyal subjects, who in the past, continued to cruise with them...filling the ships even during down times, and were the ones that started cruising heavily when restart after Covid began. 

 

This extension of a reward to their most Loyal Royal cruisers to transfer to a more quiet sister line...IMHO...was a very good move.  I know I appreciate it...and it worked for me.   Will it make a big difference for RCI?  Time will tell.  But I don't think I am the only Pinnacle who is now moving towards some X cruises....versus totally going away to other competing lines.    

[cruise wizard]

Royal has made the conscious decision to build mega-ships (always the biggest), floating "Six Flags of the Seas", high technology and multi entertainment venues geared to the younger families and adventuresome clientele where the ship (and their private islands) are the destination..........not traditional "cruise ships" - a place to relax and get away from it all. They have found out that the mega ships are are now giant cash cows for the 3 & 4 night "weekends". Great for them but this product I'm not interested in (too old). May they make tons of $$$$ and be super profitable (I am a shareholder) - just keep Celebrity as a true cruising alternative!!

[twangster]

The last time I sailed Edge there was one Zenith on board.  I met him.  

 

I suspect he won't be so lonely any more.

[island lady]

55 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

Royal has made the conscious decision to build mega-ships (always the biggest), floating "Six Flags of the Seas", high technology and multi entertainment venues geared to the younger families and adventuresome clientele where the ship (and their private islands) are the destination..........not traditional "cruise ships" - a place to relax and get away from it all. They have found out that the mega ships are are now giant cash cows for the 3 & 4 night "weekends". Great for them but this product I'm not interested in (too old). May they make tons of $$$$ and be super profitable (I am a shareholder) - just keep Celebrity as a true cruising alternative!!

 

True dat my friend!!   I am with you all the way there...  🥰

[island lady]

41 minutes ago, twangster said:

The last time I sailed Edge there was one Zenith on board.  I met him.  

 

I suspect he won't be so lonely any more.

 

OH no....here comes those Pesky Pinnacles!!!  😵

[verizon]

9 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

OH no....here comes those Pesky Pinnacles!!!  😵

I am just thinking if he or she(Zenith ) never show up during the Welcoming party.will the captain honor Pinnacle as top cruiser or the honor will goes to Top Elite+ ?

Edited June 12 by verizon

[orville99]

4 hours ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

We do know, however, that RCG chose to not “amp” up the Celebrity fleet

They did however go through what they called ”The Celebrity Revolution” to update their non-edge ships to give them similar venues and ambiance. To me, that’s good “amping”😇

[orville99]

9 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

OH no....here comes those Pesky Pinnacles!!!  😵

And there goes the neighborhood!😱

[wallyj]

40 minutes ago, verizon said:

I am just thinking if he or she(Zenith ) never show up during the Welcoming party.will the captain honor Pinnacle as top cruiser or the honor will goes to Top Elite+ ?

Only if that Pinnacle has the ‘Celebrity’ points to qualify. If a Pinnacle sails Celebrity, they are matched to Zenith, but if they have never sailed on Celebrity, they would have zero Celebrity ‘points’. Same when Zenith sail on Royal, amenities based on ‘points’ such as DP340 and goodies like wine, truffles will only be awarded ‘if’ that Zenith member has ‘earned’ the required C&A points.

[cruiselvr04]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

 

True enough, though the typical Pinnacle cruises how many times a year versus the "once a year or less" family, that granted, most will spend big bucks on the short cruises?   

 

The point many of us were making, is Royal was starting to move away from it's older loyal subjects, who in the past, continued to cruise with them...filling the ships even during down times, and were the ones that started cruising heavily when restart after Covid began. 

 

This extension of a reward to their most Loyal Royal cruisers to transfer to a more quiet sister line...IMHO...was a very good move.  I know I appreciate it...and it worked for me.   Will it make a big difference for RCI?  Time will tell.  But I don't think I am the only Pinnacle who is now moving towards some X cruises....versus totally going away to other competing lines.    

The once a year cruisers spend way more than we do on a cruise.  But they don’t cruise 80-100 nights a years either.  Royal shouldn’t forget about the bread and butter as you stated so well.  We too appreciate the new perks on sister lines and are now more anxious to get to the big P so we can get better perks on Celebrity too.  And who knows?  Silverseas over Viking will be on our radar now.