Interesting the update here on Celebrity Status match. Its a good thing Silversea included and levels changed

[Team Stag]

46 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Not on Celebrity M and S class ships….no card reader at the door

Just returned from the Reflection. Retreat host ask for and scanned both our cards when we entered. Not sure if that’s new or not; but i don’t remember it in the past. 

[C-Dragons]

30 minutes ago, abbydancer2003 said:

I was respite the question about Edge class. On M and S they usually know who you are.  The question was how’d they’d know on the edge class 

On the Edge class all Retreat guests' photos are in the computer that the Retreat Hosts use at their desk. They are required to memorize the names of all Retreat guests and their images. It is interesting to watch them doing this on embarkation day. 😊

Edited May 30 by C-Dragons

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, Cruising89143 said:

Jason Liberty stated in the article linked below that this is just step one and that there might be more changes to come. With the high number of D+, ElitePlus, Zenith and the huge numbers of Pinnacles I suspect we will see perks change and not for the better. Would not be surprised to see Celebrity move to the voucher program for drinks based upon status level like Royal currently has. Pinnacles receiving the Premium drink package will be reason enough to move over to X. Right now they receive six daily drink vouchers and they have to use them in the suite lounge if the access. Guess time will tell but I personally do not view this change as a positive. 
 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/royal-caribbean-silversea-status-match/

 

Thanks for sharing the article...The way I read it, they are NOT interested in the drink voucher program.  X's elite happy hour is easy to market to make it look more attractive than it really is "Unlimited drinks on us from 5-7***   ***98% of drinks excluded, not valid on embarkation day

 

"In some ways Marriott put Bonvoy in front of the brands," Liberty said, suggesting that stays at Marriott hotels had become all about earning points in the Bonvoy program and not the allures of the individual hotel brands and hotels. That's something Liberty suggested Royal Caribbean Group doesn't want to do.

[C-Dragons]

2 minutes ago, Team Stag said:

Just returned from the Reflection. Retreat host ask for and scanned both our cards when we entered. Not sure if that’s new or not; but i don’t remember it in the past. 

Not new, they did the same on our Edge cruises on the first day of the cruise.

[Team Stag]

2 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Not new, they did the same on our Edge cruises on the first day of the cruise.

I’ve never experienced that at any point on an E-Class ship. Maybe I just look trustworthy LOL. 

[cruising teacher]

1 hour ago, billc23 said:

Zenith members who want to try Silversea will be happy.

I looked at Silversea benefits. Not impressed. Everything is already included and the price reflects this

[Northern Aurora]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

We haven't been on a Royal ship in about 8-9 years so I just looked at the Pinnacles benefits - really 6 drink coupons, 40% off a beverage package, $10 off a $35 bag of wash and fold laundry, $5off $25 dry cleaning . Pinnicales will flock to X the Zenith benefits are so much better.   

 

I agree with you I think the Zeniths perks will get downgraded. Sad day for Celebrity cruisers.

 

We have never even considered Royal.  And I also suspect that the Zenith perks will be downgraded.

 

Have any of the "traditional" Zeniths (meaning those who earned their Zenith status by receiving over 3000 Celebrity loyalty points) received an e-mail from the Captain's Club clarifying access to the Retreat/Michael's Club?  Since the resumption of cruising all of our bookings have been in Suites, so we will have access, but I am curious.  

 

Also, does any one have insight into how many Pinnacles there are?  How large of a pool of Zeniths have they now created?

[bethtex]

I am excited by this.  Elite on Celebrity.  Have cruised SSea twice (Antarctica and Baltics/Norwegian Fjords)  and two more (Arctic/Svalbard & Antarctica again) booked.  With the additional 10% discount, may be booking more, especially if stackable with on board booking discount.  It is stackable with the 5% discount on certain cruises for VS members.

I think this will attract a lot of single cruiser from Celebrity to SSea.  SSea has many cruises with only a 25% single supplement, and sometimes runs a special with no single supplement on some cruises.  With Celebrity charting 200%, will make them more price competitive.  

We prefer Celebrity entertainment, have found food very good on both (we don't pay extra for specialty restaurants), and base our cruise decisions on price and itinerary.  

This benefits RC and Celebrity cruisers the most, don't see much upside for regular SSea cruisers.  A good business move to keep us cruising "in the family".  Especially as more 50-60 yr olds looking to upgrade their experiences.

[billc23]

14 minutes ago, cruising teacher said:

I looked at Silversea benefits. Not impressed. Everything is already included and the price reflects this

Have you sailed Silversea? It's all about the free laundry that is not included in 80+% of the cabins on Silversea and getting an automatic 10% to 14.5% off the cost of the cruise. To me, that looks to be a substantial benefit.

 

I do agree that much is already included in the price - at a similar cost to the retreat pricing - with more included on Silversea.

[Bosjoe]

6 hours ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

We are Elite on X and Diamond Plus on Royal.  I wonder if we will move up to Elite Plus now.  Guess we will see what happens on June 5th!!

Yes, my app has been saying I am Elite plus while I am on my current cruise. I thought it was a bug.

[Pennstatedj]

I would guess around 300 zenith and :3000 pins. 
just off beyond where you use a card for access. But when card dies not work u just walk thru with others. 
I the last two months I see tgg he at there are pictures of all Zenith people that are boarding a d in lounge. So there are several ways to check. 

[billc23]

6 hours ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

Has anyone done Silversea and if so how did you like it?  

I love it! When I completed my first Silversea sailing I had 14 cruises booked on Celebrity - most longer than a week and all in upper suites. I did not cancel any of those but booked many more on Silversea. Currently no X cruises booked and about 100 days coming up on Silversea... putting  my money where my mouth is. 

[billc23]

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

I love them but since this is the Celebrity forum I am sure some folks don't want to hear about them.

I found that out... Heading to the Moon in Jan/Feb...

[billc23]

4 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

I'll accumulate points on Silversea, but now I'll get free laundry.  Works for me.

And a 10% or more discount on future bookings. 

[goofysmom99]

Just now, billc23 said:

And a 10% or more discount on future bookings. 

I'll wait until after the official implementation date before I bug my TA re the 10% discount on my three existing SS bookings.

[billc23]

15 minutes ago, Pennstatedj said:

I would guess around 300 zenith and :3000 pins. 
just off beyond where you use a card for access. But when card dies not work u just walk thru with others. 
I the last two months I see tgg he at there are pictures of all Zenith people that are boarding a d in lounge. So there are several ways to check. 

More than 300 Z's, not sure about P's. 

[billc23]

4 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

I have been looking at Silversea. Friends have asked us to join them in Jan on Silver Moon.

Great ship! I sailed on the Moon in Iceland last July and returned fo a 32 day sailing Mumbai to Hong Kong  Feb/March of this year. Many of the staff remembered me and were so welcoming. I'll be on the Moon Jan/Feb of 2025.

[billc23]

3 hours ago, JustCruzin77 said:

But I can do the match now, and if I move up a level in any of them it will apply to all of them?

Unlike MSC the match is automatic and ongoing.

[Jeremiah1212]

10 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I'll wait until after the official implementation date before I bug my TA re the 10% discount on my three existing SS bookings.

 

The VS discount only applies to new booking made after 5/30.

[Northern Aurora]

30 minutes ago, Pennstatedj said:

I would guess around 300 zenith and :3000 pins. 
just off beyond where you use a card for access. But when card dies not work u just walk thru with others. 
I the last two months I see tgg he at there are pictures of all Zenith people that are boarding a d in lounge. So there are several ways to check. 

 

When we were on the Edge on a B2B2B last fall Capt. Matt publicly stated twice at Zenith lunches that the number of Zeniths was nearly 900.  I am aware of at least ten folks who have turned Zenith since then.  And there are a surprising number of double Zeniths.

 

I am curious as to how much the Zenith pool has grown with this announcement.

[billc23]

15 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I'll wait until after the official implementation date before I bug my TA re the 10% discount on my three existing SS bookings.

I believe it has to be a new booking after the end of May. The cruises I booked with Silversea in March 2024 have all gone up in price, so it may actually be more expensive to get the discount if they say they need to do a repricing. When I asked to adjust my Celebrity cruises regarding the new Zenith benefit, with respect to internet and beverage pricing, they wanted to charge me more because of "repricing". 

[billc23]

3 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

I know we can book Royal on X. Can we book Silversea on X. I did do a google search.

Unless there has been a recent change, you can book on you own, but not with the 5% booking on board discount. For that discount you need to be on a Silversea sailing as far as I know.

[NRWPA]

Just an FYI: There is some incorrect information here regarding Pinnacle benefits. One post indicated you only get your 6 free drinks in the Suite lounge. When they went to 6 free drinks instead of unlimited happy hour, they made them available at any bar except Starbucks, Bionic Bar and Desserted. Wi-Fi for one device is not limited to certain types of ships, it's available on all ships. Laundry is available for one free bag, after that, $$ off. 

[tfred]

it would be nice to cross earn points but not to be.  

 

Next up will be to weed out long term, but low profit members that really dont cruise often but clamor for "benefits" that crowd out pax who are paying top dollar for it now.  Every airline and hotel have requirements for maintaining status - cruises don't. I would expect that will change 

[critterchick]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Zenith benefits are definitely better than Pinnacle benefits. On RCL, the internet is only comp’d on Oasis class. Quantum class, and Icon class ships. Laundry perk is the same on both lines, and the drink package is a big plus on X.

The free WiFi is on all Royal Caribbean ships. Laundry perk is better for Zenith - Pinnacles only get one wash & fold bag for cruises of 5+ nights no matter the length of the cruise.  Heck, Elite + has a better benefit than that with 2 bags.

1 hour ago, C-Dragons said:

Not new, they did the same on our Edge cruises on the first day of the cruise.

We were on Edge in April and nobody looked at our Seapasses. But they definity knew who we were right off the bat.

 

1 hour ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

We have never even considered Royal.  And I also suspect that the Zenith perks will be downgraded.

 

Have any of the "traditional" Zeniths (meaning those who earned their Zenith status by receiving over 3000 Celebrity loyalty points) received an e-mail from the Captain's Club clarifying access to the Retreat/Michael's Club?  Since the resumption of cruising all of our bookings have been in Suites, so we will have access, but I am curious.  

 

Also, does any one have insight into how many Pinnacles there are?  How large of a pool of Zeniths have they now created?

I read the link in the email to say that "real" Zenith (I like the ring of faux Zenith better than matched, lol) still have access to the retreat. 

Only a chosen few seem to have access to the number of Pinnacles in the world. Many, if not most, of the the original 150 are still alive (one of my very few claims to "fame"), kicking and cruising but there has been exponential growth, especially since Covid struck. My guess, and it's entirely pulled out of the air, is 4000 or so.

We were Elite + on X and in every post-cruise survey I've implored Celebrity not to match Zenith and Pinnacle. On a recent webcast, the company president commented that they would be "very protective" of the Captain's Club in any program merger or match. I think banning the faux Zenith from the Retreat is one positive proof of that. But I do think that benefits eventually will be equalized and that Zenith are far more likely to be downgraded to 6 daily beverage vouchers than Pinnacles are to be elevated to a premium drink package. We can drink a ship dry the way the tomato worms eat my backyard crop.