This is from item 4 in the article I referenced in my earlier post (the MSC info is later in the post): "In short, you are granted a status match that remains with you until you cruise enough to have points to move up to the next level. Points are only earned on the cruise line being sailed. You only earn points in each respective program when you sail with that cruise line. Points can not be added or moved between programs. This means even though you get a status with Celebrity, your point total will still be zero. So you'll need to cruise enough to move up to the next tier. There is no time limit of when you can status match. "