Royal Champions Vereses the rest of us

[alexkrn46]

I am very close to achieving Diamond Plus. I feel the criteria for achieving is posted. I have felt the Royal Champion Program is rewarding people on internet usage not dollars or number of cruises.

There has secrecy according to RCCL we were quoted by a loyalty specialist via email. This response was after the person told my husband via phone that selection was random.

"Royal Champions are selected based on a proprietary methodology to recognize influential online contributors, however, not all online posters will be named Royal Champions. The Royal Champions program is completely separate from the Crown & Anchor Society. Perks received by Royal Champions do not duplicate or replace benefits received by Crown & Anchor Society members. Membership tier and/or number of cruises in Crown & Anchor are not selection factors for Royal Champions. We continue to provide exclusive invitations and benefits to our most loyal Crown & Anchor Society members. "

I find this disturbing, since I found this online today

http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/loyaltyblog/

"Royal Carribean Case Study
Identifying Brand Advocates: Royal Caribbean worked with Nielsen Buzz Metrics to identify enthusiastic online supporters of Royal Caribbean. Using a combination of automated and manual techniques, they identified online communities that discuss Royal Caribbean Cruises. Relying on data mining software and human expertise in word-of-mouth analysis, they measured awareness, identifying emergent qualitative themes of discussion on blogs, travel forums, usernets to gain a better understanding of how consumers discuss Royal Caribbean cruises. Fifty Royal Caribbean Champions were chosen for both quality and quantity of posts with many having over 10,000 message board posts on various Royal Caribbean topics. While Champions were primarily found on Cruise Critic, they also posted on travel communities, usenet groups, travel blogs and personal journals."


This marketing champaign has negative impact on my family.
The program rewards people who have hours to spend on the internet, I have to work during the day. Our last cruise was on NCL and was great, my kids shocked when I told them we were going on another cruise line. I now tell everyone not to be loyal to one cruise line since the dollars I have spent don't seem to matter.

My issues are:

One what is the secret about the "Royal Champion " program why was I told one thing in an email and another posted on the internet.

Why is Royal rewarding people for postings not dollars spent?

One is one cruiser more important than another?

I know I will get flack from the Royal Champions, but my interest is how other RCCL cruisers feel about not being a champion.

[DEBCAT65]

I believe that the Royal Champions is a rewards program to reward those giving posative info about Royal Caribbean. The amount of money you spend does not do much to influence others to cruise. This is why the Royal Champions is different from their Crown and Anchor Society, which does reward those who spend more on the JS and above cabins or by taking longer cruises. The Royal Champions is a totally different program.

[Schplinky]

All programs include some and exclude others, based on the point of the program. It is easy to reach C&A PLatinum or Diamond by viirtue of a string of cheap weekend cruises out of Florida. We simply cannot justify a monthly weekend cruise because of the cost of airfare. Should those people really be rewarded ahead of others who spend more on a single cruise by virtue of its length or through buying an expensive suite? On the other hand , should someone in that expensive suite be treated better via suite perks than a person on an inside who has sailed on RCL for years and years faithfully, in more meagre accommodation?

All of these programs have their goals. The C&A program engenders brand loyalty, the suite perks program encourages folks to buy a more expensive week and the Champions program is a marketing program to encourage those who already saying nice things about the line to continue sampling and talking about all the line has to offer.

I am a Champion but I certainly do not begrudge others the perks they have received via other programs. When you reach Diamond Plus, I'm sure you'll be pleased but the real difference is that we'll be pleased for you.

[g_rock]

Originally Posted by Schplinky

All of these programs have their goals. The C&A program engenders brand loyalty, the suite perks program encourages folks to buy a more expensive week and the Champions program is a marketing program to encourage those who already saying nice things about the line to continue sampling and talking about all the line has to offer.

Exactly. They are different marketing strategies. They have different aims and goals. Just like other corporations, not all advertisements and marketing ideas follow the same path. Branching out is key, especially in a travel industry that is struggling to stay afloat!

[sea-cruise]

Originally Posted by alexkrn46

The program rewards people who have hours to spend on the internet, I have to work during the day.. I now tell everyone not to be loyal to one cruise line since the dollars I have spent don't seem to matter.

One is one cruiser more important than another?

Please don't be upset; none of us is more important than you. We're all equal.
As you said, some of us have more hours to spend on the internet, and Royal Caribbean is just looking for input in the way of suggestions or ideas, plus feedback, via surveys.

[fpcruiser]

I remember when I first found CC, there was one very popular cc'er getting close to their 5000 post. There were many times when this person had the last post on every thread and most posts said nothing but "congratulations" or "I'm sorry" or other such nothings. Then the next line would say I am almost there. These Royal Champions are very helpful on alot of things, but many said nothing at all alot of times just to get their posts up.

[CanTex]

It seems like a very clever program -- give some nice perks to those willing to be your otherwise unpaid champion on your behalf. We (the non-Champions) to however need to be cautious about the objectivity of postings by the Champions. People aren't too likely to "bite the hand that feeds them."

[booze brothers]

My post count isn't huge and I'm a Royal Champion. Don't know why either. I wish I had more time to get involved but right now work has to come first.

Please don't let this bother you OP. It's just a name and doesn't make us any different than anyone else.

[Schplinky]

Originally Posted by CanTex

It seems like a very clever program -- give some nice perks to those willing to be your otherwise unpaid champion on your behalf. We (the non-Champions) to however need to be cautious about the objectivity of postings by the Champions. People aren't too likely to "bite the hand that feeds them."

I disagree. If you've actually read reviews by RCs, you'd see that most are very objective. It's not a group that is likely to say everything was perfect or everything was awful.

[Ocean Boy]

Originally Posted by CanTex

It seems like a very clever program -- give some nice perks to those willing to be your otherwise unpaid champion on your behalf. We (the non-Champions) to however need to be cautious about the objectivity of postings by the Champions. People aren't too likely to "bite the hand that feeds them."

I think you are way off the mark there. I am one of the Champions. To tell you the truth I really don't even think about it until something comes along to remind me. And it is about the furthest thing from my mind when I post something to these boards.

[emmy]

Originally Posted by alexkrn46

http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/loyaltyblog/

"Royal Carribean Case Study
Identifying Brand Advocates: Royal Caribbean worked with Nielsen Buzz Metrics to identify enthusiastic online supporters of Royal Caribbean. Using a combination of automated and manual techniques, they identified online communities that discuss Royal Caribbean Cruises. Relying on data mining software and human expertise in word-of-mouth analysis, they measured awareness, identifying emergent qualitative themes of discussion on blogs, travel forums, usernets to gain a better understanding of how consumers discuss Royal Caribbean cruises. Fifty Royal Caribbean Champions were chosen for both quality and quantity of posts with many having over 10,000 message board posts on various Royal Caribbean topics. While Champions were primarily found on Cruise Critic, they also posted on travel communities, usenet groups, travel blogs and personal journals."


This marketing champaign has negative impact on my family.
The program rewards people who have hours to spend on the internet, I have to work during the day. Our last cruise was on NCL and was great, my kids shocked when I told them we were going on another cruise line. I now tell everyone not to be loyal to one cruise line since the dollars I have spent don't seem to matter.

My issues are:

One what is the secret about the "Royal Champion " program why was I told one thing in an email and another posted on the internet.

Why is Royal rewarding people for postings not dollars spent?

One is one cruiser more important than another?

I know I will get flack from the Royal Champions, but my interest is how other RCCL cruisers feel about not being a champion.

Thank you for the link to the RCI case study. We had been told that it was a marketing tool they used but to see this info in print was interesting.

[Atty]

It seems to me that the idea behind the Champions was just that....that they are "champions" of RCI meaning they promote and champion the cause to many others. Just having a lot of cruises under your belt is not as valuable to the company as someone who may have only 3 or 4 but encourages hundreds of others to share the experience. In other words, say you have 25 cruises on RCI and say I have 5. But lets say that I have talked up the line and basically marketed for them through this and other sites. There is a benefit there that meets if not exceeds the value of your 25 cruises. If, because of my postings over the years I've encouraged or nudged 50 people to at least try RCI then my value is much greater than yours at 25 cruises. If, because of those 50 cruises, those people have encouraged their friends to try I am even more valuable.

I will say at this point, that I am not a Champion and my use of the term "I" was simply to make it easier to articulate.

The underlying premise of the OP is incorrect. the Champions program, as I understand it, is not to necessarily "reward" loyalty. It is more a tool to "get the message" out beyond traditional media.

[Elizanessie]

Originally Posted by CanTex

It seems like a very clever program -- give some nice perks to those willing to be your otherwise unpaid champion on your behalf. We (the non-Champions) to however need to be cautious about the objectivity of postings by the Champions. People aren't too likely to "bite the hand that feeds them."

I dont always say nice things about RCCL ...I speak my mind and RCCL knows that.
For example when the new Ad "Why Not" was released I wasnt slow at telling RCCL just what I thought of it...it stinks.

Just because I am a Royal Champion doesnt mean I will change how or what I post.

[sea-cruise]

Originally Posted by emmy

Thank you for the link to the RCI case study. We had been told that it was a marketing tool they used but to see this info in print was interesting.

I agree Emmy. I was just invited to be a royal champion a couple of months ago, and I wondered what it was all about.
I know that I try to be nice to people when posting, and not insult them, but other than that, I wondered why they would send me this invitation, as I've posted my true feelings (both positive and negative) about RC cruises.
My thanks goes out to the OP for posting this link as well.
P.S. OP....Please come back and tell us if we've answered your question.

[Ocean Boy]

Originally Posted by Elizanessie

I dont always say nice things about RCCL ...I speak my mind and RCCL knows that.
For example when the new Ad "Why Not" was released I wasnt slow at telling RCCL just what I thought of it...it stinks.

Just because I am a Royal Champion doesnt mean I will change how or what I post.

LOL, I think that I was lined up right behind you!

[sea-cruise]

Originally Posted by Ocean Boy

LOL, I think that I was lined up right behind you!

Me too. I had posted that the "why not" ads reminded me of Monty Python in the seventies.
I see that the OP's green light has gone out and he/she has shut the door on us. Hope they come back to post again.

[crusinmama06]

Originally Posted by alexkrn46

My issues are:
Why is Royal rewarding people for postings not dollars spent?

One is one cruiser more important than another?

I know I will get flack from the Royal Champions, but my interest is how other RCCL cruisers feel about not being a champion.

Well to answer the first, they are suppose to be rewarding your loyalty with the C&A program. So that would be your "dollars spent"

As far as the rest of it...I wish I had ANY idea of how they were actually selected. It doesn't make sense to those of us who eat/sleep/breathe Royal Caribbean and post about it on Cruise Crititc yet were denied the priviledge of being a RC.

It doesn't make sense to see some new RCs come out of the wordwork with invitations and frankly, I didn't even notice the people before they announced their invites.

So is there a method to the madness? At this point, I could care less.

For some reason some people at this site who are consistently helpful (Robyn and Wrona to name two), were not rewarded with this high honor. There is no reason for it. Well no logical one that I can figure out.

So I continue to talk about Royal Caribbean because it's the best cruise line for MY family. I don't need a designation to make myself royal.

[sea-cruise]

I agree Michelle, I hope that you, Robyn, and Wrona are chosen. All of you deserve to be.

[alwalaska]

Originally Posted by booze brothers

My post count isn't huge and I'm a Royal Champion. Don't know why either. I wish I had more time to get involved but right now work has to come first.

Please don't let this bother you OP. It's just a name and doesn't make us any different than anyone else.

You are also honest sometimes instead of always being totally positive no matter what - how did you get in there? I work with data mining programs - I'll have to see if there was a glitch.

Just teasing - I know you usually take teasing well.

[Cruiserccl]

I'm 14 years old only have like 1,600 posts and im a Royal Champion. I haven't changed the way i've posted since i got the invite.