No more commemorative gifts after July 1st

[pscruzinboyz]

Don't forget they took out the free Photo Coupon for Diamond members last summer. Funny though, They still take the same amount of pictures and print them so all of the guest can still throw them in the recycle......................Go Figure......This one makes no sence to me :confused:

 

Mike

[stanford's girl]

Got this e-mail from C&A:

"Thank you for your e-mail. After July 01, 2009 the commemorative

gift will no longer be a benefit for Crown and Anchor members. However, we have added additional discounts to the Ultimate Value booklet. Additional discounts included photo and laundry discounts. "

 

I'll really miss all those photo frames, caps and tote bags. Perhaps one day they will all be worth a fortune on e-bay.

 

andrew

Thanks for the update, Andrew! :D

[tocanada]

Andrew, You better look after the Baseball Caps you are going to get on the Indy TA then;):D

 

John.

 

I'm bringing bubble wrap specially for it.

andrew

[petel]

Blech.

 

DW & I got a big kick out of your location and signature ! :cool: Too true and too funny! Maybe we'll cruise together sometime and have some real laughs.

[petel]

I found a great beach resort in Qatar with a Safari to the desert and sand dune surfing etc... Still hopeful I can make the air components work out for the Maldives where we will get a 1400foot room out over the water...window in front of toilet (no not to watch the flush) but to watch the fish while at the toilet. Snorkel from your back deck...

 

 

I missed the coupon on this one. ;) Could you scan it and email me a copy please. I didn't get a fax machine for a gift yet. :rolleyes: Maybe we'll have "faceing" windows..... :eek:

Sail in circles in the bath tub; I'll bring my own sheets. I just want a cruise at a price my job can afford to pay for......... The best vacation value on the planet and we are discussing ball caps and picture frames. :rolleyes:

Please, someone tell me why theme parks and sports events, and movies do so well without giving anything away........

[MrPete]

By the time all is said is done, all you're gonna end up with is a cruise. :confused:

[trfccruiser]

It's not the gift that matters here as I have endured numerous dodgy gifts but also appreciated some nice ones over the years.It's like getting a gift you haven't asked for as a present,sometimes you like them,sometimes you don't.Why people complained about them I'll never know. Usually when a company wants to cut back they will dig out some customer feedback that proves they are right to do this.

My complaint is the timing really,on top of other cutbacks and in the middle of the most popular part of the season.Why not December 31st?

This is the first time my kids have cruised with RCCL since they extended C&A to them and they were looking forward to receiving a gift.

Most of the gifts are also free advertising for the brand so it seems little shortsighted.

On its own ,it doesn't seem like that big a deal but with the reduction of other C&A benefits it does seem that being loyal doesn't have much reward.I guess people need to complain.An example of that is that P&O's loyalty scheme is based on points not number of cruises and if you didn't cruise for a couple of years they halved the points and downgraded you.Lots of people complained so they changed the policy and now you keep your points.

It will be interesting to see what "extra" benefits are in the coupon booklet.My money is on the fact it's less than the cost of the missing gift...

[Janice M]

I wonder if they will eliminate all the nice treats on member cruises too.

 

Annieeee

 

I have been wondering the same thing. We have one coming up next month. Last year on the Splendor we got a lot of nice gifts. Also did some beading and stamping classes. The final gift was a heavy beach towel with the map of South America and all the ports we stopped at. What a wonderful memory.

 

Jan

[mommabean]

Yes I agree, I'm leaving also!!!! Everyone write to every person at RCI and demand this back or threaten to pull your reservation!!!!

Dang, I can't get drunk for free, They won't give me a hat to keep the sun off my face, I won't be able to make friends on my cruise now without my free gift or a room to meet everyone in!!!

I won't be able to put my nose up and say 'I'm going to the CL' and make sure everyone knows I'm more important then they are.

 

GOOD-BYE RCI

 

 

Now, everyone do as I said above and I'll be able to get on my RCCL cruises' and have the ships to myself:D:cool::D

 

But.....we will have MUCH more room at the morning stretching class without all those pesky people there "earning" their vitality token. We might not trip over all those dawdlers who are "walking" a mile for their vitality token. I might actually WIN the ping pong tournament without anyone to play against since they won't show up for their token.

 

Oh well....maybe we'll just meet some new friends at the muster drill since they won't be taking that social hour away from us. :rolleyes: ;)

[terri23]

But.....we will have MUCH more room at the morning stretching class without all those pesky people there "earning" their vitality token. We might not trip over all those dawdlers who are "walking" a mile for their vitality token. I might actually WIN the ping pong tournament without anyone to play against since they won't show up for their token.

 

Oh well....maybe we'll just meet some new friends at the muster drill since they won't be taking that social hour away from us. :rolleyes: ;)

 

just wait for the muster drill service charge :rolleyes:;)

[aloha43]

Should this really surprise anyone? All people did was come on here and complain about the gifts. So why give them if they're not wanted?

 

That was exactly what I was thinking.

 

A previous post had people complaining that they had too many hats, and were leaving them aboard the ship, and certainly didn't want them.

 

Now they are complaining that they won't get them.

[mommabean]

just wait for the muster drill service charge :rolleyes:;)

 

 

Some of us might get a discount coupon for that. ;) Or we'll just skip it. :D

 

One thing I can say is that RCI has way better muster drills than any I've been to on CCL (3). And no.....I'm not kidding about that. CCL drills are torture.

 

Gina

[terri23]

Frankly, I enjoy coming back to the cabin for a token gift, invitation to the next day's party, towel animal, whatever. To me, that made the experience more "special" and made RC stand out among the mass market lines. I enjoyed the CL for coffee, cocktails and friends. We never found the diamond lounge to be over-crowded during cocktail hour. We thought combining the stockholder benefit with the diamond discount (rewards for two entirely different things that should be combinable) helped to offset the generally higher RC pricing. We still spent plenty on board as well.

 

We will probably continue to sail the Radiance class and Voyager class ships - at least these gorgeous ships remain unique to RC - but I think "the little things" that made RC more special are gone forever. So, we'll be looking at other options as well. :(

[terri23]

btw we got nice totes on Mariner last week - the large ones from the gifts & gear catalog (not the small ones with the clip-on handles). we thought that a really nice treat!! not knowing they were our last!!

[mommabean]

That was exactly what I was thinking.

 

A previous post had people complaining that they had too many hats, and were leaving them aboard the ship, and certainly didn't want them.

 

Now they are complaining that they won't get them.

 

I really liked it when I first started cruising and I got somethng different on each cruise. The hats have dragged out for a while. At least the various bags and frames had a ship's name on them. The baseball caps were/are a little too manly for me. I never wear them. But I appreciated the gesture. I like finding a little something on the bed as a treat. chocolate, hat, towel animal....just not those luggage tags... that means it's time to go home. :(

 

Gina

[1 HappyCruiser]

But.....we will have MUCH more room at the morning stretching class without all those pesky people there "earning" their vitality token. We might not trip over all those dawdlers who are "walking" a mile for their vitality token. I might actually WIN the ping pong tournament without anyone to play against since they won't show up for their token.

 

Oh well....maybe we'll just meet some new friends at the muster drill since they won't be taking that social hour away from us. :rolleyes: ;)

 

When Princess eliminated their similar program a number of years ago the number of people participating in the events shrank to almost nothing. We were among the people who went for the gifts but it did provide an incentive to participate. My belief in why they eliminated the program is that it took people away from the pay events & not the actual cost of the trivial gifts. While we still walk & play ping pong occasionally, it's not the same as in the past.

[mommabean]

When Princess eliminated their similar program a number of years ago the number of people participating in the events shrank to almost nothing. We were among the people who went for the gifts but it did provide an incentive to participate. My belief in why they eliminated the program is that it took people away from the pay events & not the actual cost of the trivial gifts. While we still walk & play ping pong occasionally, it's not the same as in the past.

 

We'll still stretch. And we'll walk at the time of our own choosing. But.....we always did the paid spinning classes. $10 a class, maybe it's $12 now. If we have the same instructor this upcoming cruise on Radiance, I might still do it. But since most of RCI's instructors aren't so great, I don't think I'll do any paid classes if I can't get a good workout AND a token.

 

On our last 2 week cruise, between my husband and myself we paid at leat $160 for classes - that's the equivalent of 5 months of our Gold's Gym membership. And the little backpack we got for our tokens was definitely not worth nearly that much. Too bad we saved most of our tokens to trade in on the upcoming cruise in 2 weeks. :mad:

 

But..........the dance classes will probably be a lot more fun now, too, since most of the token collectors won't be there. :D

 

Gina

[decemberroses]

We just became Diamond members and we have NEVER gotten any of those "gifts" mentioned. Guess C&A forgot about us. :( We have always booked a balcony or higher, too, not that it makes any difference. Oh well, we'll never know what we missed.

 

:D We have never received a gift. Guess we won't miss it either then.

[IBookHePays]

Here's a solution:

 

When packing for your cruise, bring your old totes, caps and frames and when we're old and senile, they'll seem new again!:D

[Tucker in Texas]

Here's a solution:

 

When packing for your cruise, bring your old totes, caps and frames and when we're old and senile, they'll seem new again!:D

 

You laugh, I was ready to go buy a toiletry bag for husband when his had seen its better days. Then, when cleaning out my closet, I came across two we had gotten as loyalty gifts. Had an heir and a spare.

 

I'm fixing to leave on a trans-Atlantic next week. After Valentine's day, our local dollar store had bags of chocolate Valentine hearts on sale for a dime a bag--90% off. There are about 20 per bag and they are pretty good, better than the ones we used to get on our pillow. So I'm taking a bag and before I go to dinner every night, I plan to put one on my pillow. Husband likes Milky Ways so I have a bag for him. Hopefully, it will give the room steward a good laugh and a story to share with his crew mates. I enjoyed my chocolate fix when reading in bed before turning out the light.

 

Holland American used to give out a nice tote bag and a decorative tile--made a nice coaster. Wonder if they still do. I haven't cruised them in quite awhile.

 

Tucker in Texas

[coxswain]

I bet the boardroom perks haven't been cut - bubbly all the way

 

 

 

 

 

jj.......

[cassieroll]

I liked those gifts! That's a bummer. :(

[marci22]

I have mixed feelings about the gifts because although it is always fun to get a 'gift', it was kind of disappointing to get a hat 3 times in a row.

 

That I really won't wear. That was a man gift.

[jules815]

I have mixed feelings about the gifts because although it is always fun to get a 'gift', it was kind of disappointing to get a hat 3 times in a row.

 

That I really won't wear. That was a man gift.

 

I agree. I always enjoyed getting the gift, regardless of what it was. It's fun to get a gift. I even enjoy all the envelopes we get with our invitations to different cocktail parties, meet and mingles, Chops reservations, etc. It's a nice touch.

[B&C-Cruisers]

They might be able to handle it, if they make getting to D+ upto 40 credits:rolleyes::eek:, you never know with RCCL at the moment!!!!

 

 

They will just bump it up to D++