Musing about cruise loyalty programs vs airline and hotel programs

[jenib]

We've reached high (but not highest) status on our cruise line of current choice and there are automatic and lifetime reciprocal benefits with the sister companies (Royal Caribbean -> Celebrity, Azamara) which offer different experiences. MSC also offers a status match and there are also arrangements with other programs (haven't investigated these yet).

We get lots of benefits and once status is reached it is kept for life - it isn't reassessed each year (it is a bit like QF LTG). Partners and children also get automatic status matching to the family member with the highest status. Children get to keep the highest status attained before they turn 18 for life and partners as well (not sure what happens if a partner leaves the home but the children keep it regardless).

I think it is starting to cause a problem for the cruise lines as there are so many people (particularly in the US) with high status. Some of the lounges on board serving the free drinks on US based cruises are so full that they need overflow areas at happy hour time and have initiated 3 free drinks per person per night in almost any bar on the ship. But on cruises in other areas (other than those that originate in the US and end in another continent) the lounges are not usually too overcrowded.

I thought that this might be worth mentioning for people considering a cruise or 10 or looking for a new status chasing adventure as it might be worthwhile chasing the status before they change the system for new members.

 

[Pushka]

It seems easy to get status where they are based on number of trips versus number of days. Eg Princess offers multiple 2-4 day cruises in Australia.

I have status on a couple of cruise lines being Celebrity and Cunard but trouble is now I’m diversifying by trying out Viking. I don’t think there’s a program for them. Also itinerary will win every time.

 

[Kolo]

We are one Suite cruise away from the 4th of 5 status rungs with HAL. That will bring real tangible benefits that will enable us to cruise in cheaper cabins in the future and still enjoy benefits provided to the top cabins. The benefits are things like substantial discounts and priority services that I don't think will cause a problem like the overcrowding you have mentioned. Love the fact that it's Lifetime!

 

[jenib]

Pushka

It's also not too hard with RCI - 80 nights at sea gets you to the first useful level (Diamond) for life so 6 or 7 12-14 night cruises.

Diamond gets you quite a lot of benefits - priority boarding, a 24 hour lounge with a coffee machine and free drinks every evening, 3 drink vouchers for most bars on the ship, discounts on further bookings etc.

Or if you cruise as a single or in a suite, you get double and something triple status points so even fewer nights needed.

We are now Diamond plus but it doesn't give a lot more so time to look at other lines If you have status with Celebrity, have you tried Azamara?

I definitely agree that itinerary wins!

 

[odysseus]

I thought that this might be worth mentioning for people considering a cruise or 10 or looking for a new status chasing adventure as it might be worthwhile chasing the status before they change the system for new members.

If they do change the system, it would most likely apply to all, not just new members.

This is what happened in the past, e.g. when RCL changed to a day vs cruise credit count, and all existing members were converted.

Similarly when Celebrity did a similar conversion a few years back, the change applied to all existing members.

If they change to a 'currency' factor, I'm sure it would apply to all members as well.

 

[jenib]

The bit I would be worried about is the 'lifetime' status. I can't see them removing this from existing members but I can see them making it much harder to attain.

 

[straitman]

A good discussion IMHO. There is so much information out there that it gets confusing or if you soak up all the information there is no time for AFF or even a cruise.

We have cruised mainly on Princess and are now Elite. The free laundry option on long cruises seems like an awesome extra though not so important on short cruises. Our next cruise is on Ovation of the Seas where there are not even self operated laundries so that's major downer from our perspective. The other thing we will miss is the free delivered breakfast each morning. (We use this as a wakeup and to keep us out of the restaurant of buffet)

If anyone wants extra info on Princess Cruises I'm about to post three links in the Inaugural AFF Cruise 25 - 29 Jan 2018 thread.

 

[Tazza_0712]

That's an interesting point about the cruise lines potentially changing the rules of their loyalty programs as time goes on. It stands to reason that this will have to happen, based purely on the numbers.

We've achieved mid-high status with Princess (Platinum) and Royal Caribbean (Diamond), which wasn't too difficult as we choose suites for cruises over 7 nights in length. The Platinum status with Princess comes in handy for the short cruises around Australia where we choose balcony rooms. They're great little cruises of 2-3 nights in length which we try to do at least once per year. Platinum status affords us priority boarding and I'm not sure what else, in terms of tangible benefits on board.

Either way, it's another thing to chase status with, as was noted by OP!

 

[straitman]

Platinum status affords us priority boarding and I'm not sure what else, in terms of tangible benefits on board.

The other significant benefit of Platinum is 'Free Wifi' This varies with cruise length and is calculated per person who qualifies and not per cabin.

• Voyages 7 days or less, 150 minutes
• Voyages 8-20 days, 250 minutes
• Voyages 21+ days, 500 minutes

 

[Tazza_0712]

The other significant benefit of Platinum is 'Free Wifi' This varies with cruise length and is calculated per person who qualifies and not per cabin.

• Voyages 7 days or less, 150 minutes
• Voyages 8-20 days, 250 minutes
• Voyages 21+ days, 500 minutes

Oh yes. I always use that perk, can’t believe I forgot about it. 150 minutes works out really well on the coastal repositioning cruises where phone reception is usually enjoyed on the upper (outer) decks or the landward side of the ship.

Both sporadic phone service and the free wifi minutes really work well to keep me connected without having to pay anything extra, over a couple of days anyway.

 

[Dougo]

Lots of interesting info here about various lines.

Our loyalty points and benefits are with Princess tho' we did cruise a few times with P&O in between but not now. We enjoy the perks of Elite status but they vary in different regions. Eg on the "Sun" class ships (Sun / Sea Princess), there is no Elite lounge with reduced price drink of the day and canapés from 5-7pm. Instead they generally have "happy hour" where you buy one drink and get the second for $1-2.

On the longer cruises, particularly a World Cruise (WC), there are so many elites it sometimes takes 4-5 days to get your laundry back. Also, preferential boarding on tender boats went out the window and we had to get a tender ticket.

There have been reductions in the perks for Elite passengers over the years, eg, less in the mini bar set up now compared to several years ago.

Princess recently announced changes to how the "Top Passengers" are awarded - only sea days on Princess will count so those who have done lots of P&O and previously may have enjoyed a Top 40 most travelled passenger lunch may not make it to that lunch when P&O days at sea are deducted.

Once or twice we've been given a complimentary voucher for a speciality restaurant and we always tend to extra OBC due to the number of times we've sailed. However our best buy has been the shares which gives us extra OBC on all cruises over 2-3 days.

Having said all that, there have been some changes I'm not 100% on board with, such as paying for shore excursions months in advance - on the segments of the WC we did this year, I met a couple who spent $7K + on Princess shore excursions ... imagine having to front up an extra $7K on top of your WC fare ?

I know there have been some cut backs across the board on Princess which does have a small impact on passengers, be it menu items no longer available or less crew, however cruise lines in general are making $$$ and its popularity is increasing as a holiday style so why the need to make cut backs is a little beyond me.

Talking to the Captain's Circle host in August on board a Princess ship left me a little concerned to find that most of the longer voyages from Australia have been cut such as the Circle Pacific which is now out of the US, not Sydney. Nothing in the Horizon for other longer voyages that were offered a couple of years ago, other than the WC. The 2019 WC looks quite similar to the 2016 WC ... are we going to have repeats of two or three itineraries on a regular basis? He told us (four of us) if Aussies wanted the longer cruises, they "have to fly". I told him some may vote with their feet if Princess does not offer the itineraries that we like ... he could not have cared less ... that was not the response I was hoping to get.

Our local TA sent me an invite for a ship's tour and lunch on board the Celebrity Solstice so we'e going to check her out and see what she has to offer ... you never know, we may just decide to switch allegiance.

 

[tm.smile]

I'm a Princess Elite and have benefited from the program over the past 10 years or so. It has definitely swayed my cruise line decisions over time as the internet and laundry have been very convincing. As is the minibar set up, free wine tasting and the discount at the boutiques. Priority tender benefits are also fantastic in the mornings when heading to shore. Skipping purser lines are also fantastic (despite the dirty looks I get from everyone due to the assumption of my age).

I am surprised to see that there haven't been many devaluations. The only one that I can really think of is P&O UK's change a number of years ago from Portunus to Peninsular Club. I went from near top tier to a nobody. The biggest thing about Carnival Corp's lines is their programs aren't reciprical in benefits, whereas RCL's are.

 

[onemore]

Like hotels, one would think that wifi should be complimentary for their guests.

 

[tm.smile]

Like hotels, one would think that wifi should be complimentary for their guests.

It's somewhat different as they are using satellite connections which are much more expensive and somewhat slower.

 

[drron]

As most of you know we cruise with Silverseas.Their loyalty program is different as the only onboard perk is free laundry after 100 days.However we have nearly always been in cabins that give you free laundry,internet and quaranteed dining with an officer if you wish to do that.After your first cruise everyone is a member of the Venetian society and can attend a coughtail party on each cruise plus get 5% of Venetian society sailings.
Then it depends on the number of days.At 250 days your discount goes to 10%.
At 350 days a free 7 day cruise.
At 500 days a free 14 day cruise.
Every 150 days thereafter a free 7 day cruise.
So after our next back to back cruises we pass 250 days.At the end of our cruise in Feb 2019 we are at 300 days so an incentive for another 50 days of cruising.

 

[love_the_life]

Not all lines include the family/partner if they have not achieved the same status. RCI for example do not allow a lower status cabin mate to have the same perks but Celebrity and Princess do. That means that on X and Princess cabin mates are able to join me for drinks etc but not on RCI. But the upshot for RCI is that there are often too many high status passengers on board so instead they load 3 free drinks per day on your cruise card and there seems to be no problem sharing this with you lower status mate, just order 2 drinks.

 

[Pushka]

Not all lines include the family/partner if they have not achieved the same status. RCI for example do not allow a lower status cabin mate to have the same perks but Celebrity and Princess do. That means that on X and Princess cabin mates are able to join me for drinks etc but not on RCI. But the upshot for RCI is that there are often too many high status passengers on board so instead they load 3 free drinks per day on your cruise card and there seems to be no problem sharing this with you lower status mate, just order 2 drinks.

Ah. Something to look forward to Dame.

 

[jenib]

Not all lines include the family/partner if they have not achieved the same status. RCI for example do not allow a lower status cabin mate to have the same perks but Celebrity and Princess do.

My understanding is that RCI will give a partner and children under 18 who live at the same address equal status - for life. So if one partner is a diamond member their partner and any children under 18 at the same address can become diamond - you may have to call them though.

Here is a section from their site:"A Crown & Anchor Society member can be added into a relationship with other family members in the same household and receive an equivalent tier status; however Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system described above. Pinnacle Club member tier status will not be awarded to dependents if earned by their parent and/or guardian. Pinnacle Club member tier status can only be earned by an individual, spouse or significant other by one of them accumulating 700 Cruise Points or more in the CAS program."

 

[Mystic]

We have sailed many times. Very close to elite with princess.
Our real favourite is Holland America. Not sure how they will perform now Owens's by carnival.Roomy cabins great food many extras but no e xtra cost.

 

[love_the_life]

My understanding is that RCI will give a partner and children under 18 who live at the same address equal status - for life. So if one partner is a diamond member their partner and any children under 18 at the same address can become diamond - you may have to call them though.

Here is a section from their site:"A Crown & Anchor Society member can be added into a relationship with other family members in the same household and receive an equivalent tier status; however Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system described above. Pinnacle Club member tier status will not be awarded to dependents if earned by their parent and/or guardian. Pinnacle Club member tier status can only be earned by an individual, spouse or significant other by one of them accumulating 700 Cruise Points or more in the CAS program."

Ah yes, sorry. I actually meant a non relative/different address but I wrote partner - obviously too much wine. You are correct about family members at the same address.