Elites and above: do the perks keep you enticed?

Celebrity has changed a lot over the years, but ever since they’ve rolled out the present perks almost a decade we have a hard thinking the grass is greener on other lines, especially with for what you get.

Specifically we really enjoy the Elite breakfast and 5-7 happy hour. We find them good ways to relax comfortably, meet new people, and enjoy our cruise.

I know many go on other comparable lines (not RCI), have you found yourself missing the perks or do they seem to lose their lust?

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The 2 perks you mentioned are the 2 we never use. In 20 cruises we have been to the Elite breakfast once and the 5-7 cocktail hour 2x. We had Elite status from cruise 1 via Royal. For us the Elite+ 2bags of laundry and internet minutes are the most useful.

We have a cruise booked on another line and I already know we will regret not having the 240 internet minutes each and the laundry. The cruise line we are booked on has self serve laundry but the last thing I want to do on vacation is laundry:p. We are doing a itinerary that X doesn’t offer but I have no doubt we will miss our CC benefits.

The perks do not keep us exclusively sailing X. DH and I agree the better food, service, entertainment, and itineraries draw us to HAL more than the elite perks do to x on Caribbean, Alaska, or The Med.

We try x every couple years hoping they are equal but come away preferring to give up the perks for a better experience on HAL.

I miss the internet minutes the most.

The perks do not keep us exclusively sailing X. DH and I agree the better food, service, entertainment, and itineraries draw us to HAL more than the elite perks do to x on Caribbean, Alaska, or The Med.

We try x every couple years hoping they are equal but come away preferring to give up the perks for a better experience on HAL.

I miss the internet minutes the most.

I love collecting points in general, and I really looked forward to climbing the ranks of celebrity's Captain's Club.

Once I achieved Elite, Elite+ seems so far off, and Zenith is unachievable for me. So, I wish celebrity would put more levels between Elite and zenith, with more measurable and significant benefits.

With the go big/go better offers which are regularly available, the unlimited drink package removed the perceived benefits of the elite cocktail hour or breakfast.

So after thinking more about this, I realized I'm loyal to celebrity because of the product and the quality, and their loyalty program really isn't what brings me back Cruise after Cruise. All this to say, I wish the captain's club benefits were in fact more significant.

I do find the laundry benefit(s) the most significant and useful!

The laundry and Internet are nice. We have had drink packages for many years and besides do not care for the CC cocktail choices anyway. We cruise with Celebrity for the many benefits all passengers get, great food, beautiful ships, great crew, etc.

We cruise suites with drinks package, laundry, internet all included....We are E+ so ‘on paper’ the perks have no value to us.

We do, however, really enjoy the Elite breakfast once or twice a cruise, Tuscan on S class is a lovely venue for a sea day breakfast. We also still enjoy visiting the cocktail hour sometimes...It has always been about mixing with like minded fellow cruisers for us not the drinks...

After several years of cruising almost exclusively X we returned to RC for a cruise last year....whilst ‘on paper’ the perks were of greater value as D+ as we didn’t have a drinks package we found the Diamond lounge quite unpleasant....far too full and lots of guests clearly trying to drink as much as they could whilst it was open. We could have drinks elsewhere and chose to do so...

Gaining more points for us now is of little value as we are another of those couples who will never get to Zenith!

At the end of the day our points have cost us nothing to achieve. If in the future we cruise suite less and drinks package less they will return to having more value....

We cruise X at the moment because we like the product and it has fitted into our price range, not out of ‘loyalty’ or to gather points. If we do swap lines it will be at the point where we no longer feel X is value for money or that the product offered no longer meets our cruising needs.

We’re cruising on another line this year where we won’t have any recognition points so we’ll know if we miss the perks shortly. However, they do have self-service laundry onboard which I will use; I don’t mind doing some washing as I will be able to control the temperature etc., so I will do a few of my own items where usually on X I only send the items belonging to the males in our family (never my clothes :D). Basically, the only perks we may miss are the internet minutes and the priority tendering - definitely not the breakfast or happy hour.

We’re going for the itinerary (X don’t offer) and a change of ship to see if other lines pique our interest ;).

We’re cruising on another line this year where we won’t have any recognition points so we’ll know if we miss the perks shortly. However, they do have self-service laundry onboard which I will use; I don’t mind doing some washing as I will be able to control the temperature etc., so I will do a few of my own items where usually on X I only send the items belonging to the males in our family (never my clothes :D). Basically, the only perks we may miss are the internet minutes and the priority tendering - definitely not the breakfast or happy hour.

 

We’re going for the itinerary (X don’t offer) and a change of ship to see if other lines pique our interest ;).

We will be interested in reading your opinions!

For me the perks mean very little, because as someone already said the go best offer duplicates the main perks we use (we are elite plus).

I've been thinking about this a long time and comment on it during the post cruise survey. But I cannot offer any suggestions of new perks they could offer. Any ideas we should suggest to celebrity?

The lack of another "attainable in our lifetime" level after elite + actually is costing celebrity some $'s. We are ambivalent to the differences between concierge and a 1A cabin, so we find little reason to move from 3 pts a day to 5 pts a day. For the most part, we now book regular balcony cabins on S Class ships...generally 1A's with the larger balconies. If we were working towards another level, we might consider (and pay the $'s) for concierge cabins.

The first time Lockie and I went to the happy hour we were not impressed. Too crowded and cliquish. We left before we'd finished our first drink. Tried a second time. Not so crowded but same cliques. The Captain's Club hostess seemed to be simply going through the motions. Our last cruise was the first in a suite. Michael's Club was great, with interesting conversation and attentive bar staff and concierge. Out of curiosity we went to the Elite happy hour one night. Same story as our visits on previous cruises. We'll never go again. Of course we understand that we're comparing an apple to an orange, but the differences were too glaring to ignore.

All this being said, we don't cruise for the perks. We love the overall Celebrity product.

Because we’ll achieve Elite level this summer, I find this thread very interesting. Though we’re happily anticipating the Elite benefits, the laundry and internet minutes are the most valuable to us. We do not routinely book suites, so we’ll certainly be interested in the cocktail hour on our Edge TA (on which there is no included beverage package). Ironically, we’ll finally have access to Elite benefits at a time when we’re considering other lines for some of the itineraries Celebrity doesn’t have. That said, as long as we remain pleased with our overall experience on Celebrity, we’ll continue to book with them, regardless of Elite benefits.

I find it an interesting observation that once some loyalty members get to either Celebrity Elite+ or RCCL Diamond+ they feel they will not likely achieve the next level Zenith or Pinnacle. Too many points to the next level. We are in the same situation now on both lines too. Do you enjoy the hard earned perks at these levels or try other cruise lines? If another level is added between E+ and Zenith would the challenge of getting to that new level keep you with Celebrity? Or does it depend on the new perks (perhaps minimal) offered at the new level? Does Celebrity want to lose E+ members to other lines because they make more money selling cabins to cruisers without those extra perks? This does not apply to E+ suite customers of course since they pay a lot and don't get much value from E+ perks due to the suite perks offered. Your thoughts?

We love the Elite+ extra perks. Since we travel lite and usually do several B2Bs when we cruise, the laundry is a terrific service and yes, we been sticking to Celebrity because that alone weighs in on our vacation choices.

We enjoy all our perks...esp internet, laundry, priority boarding etc but I think there is now less of an incentive for folks to accrue points to get to higher levels, Suite guests, Blue Chip cruisers and others get perks as part of their booking packages and once we got to E + there's not anything else ahead for us, Zenith too far out of reach but we are happy with what we have...

Celeb still okay for us We liked Cunard and sometimes still enjoy Royal C on other than mega ships..Crossover perks a plus,,,. but we are cruising less these days..not many new itins

I find it an interesting observation that once some loyalty members get to either Celebrity Elite+ or RCCL Diamond+ they feel they will not likely achieve the next level Zenith or Pinnacle. Too many points to the next level. We are in the same situation now on both lines too. Do you enjoy the hard earned perks at these levels or try other cruise lines? If another level is added between E+ and Zenith would the challenge of getting to that new level keep you with Celebrity? Or does it depend on the new perks (perhaps minimal) offered at the new level? Does Celebrity want to lose E+ members to other lines because they make more money selling cabins to cruisers without those extra perks? This does not apply to E+ suite customers of course since they pay a lot and don't get much value from E+ perks due to the suite perks offered. Your thoughts?

I was just having the discussion last night with my DH about how the Elite+ perks are really not that much more than Elite perks and why would anyone even bother to try to get to Elite+. A lot of money for not much extra.

We will never become Zenith unless we win the lottery, but if we win the lottery we will most likely branch out and try other lines like Crystal, Seabourn, etc.

As far as perks go yes they do influence us a bit. But I would still like to try other lines such as Princess and Azamara (which we have one booked next April).

I find it an interesting observation that once some loyalty members get to either Celebrity Elite+ or RCCL Diamond+ they feel they will not likely achieve the next level Zenith or Pinnacle. Too many points to the next level. We are in the same situation now on both lines too. Do you enjoy the hard earned perks at these levels or try other cruise lines? If another level is added between E+ and Zenith would the challenge of getting to that new level keep you with Celebrity? Or does it depend on the new perks (perhaps minimal) offered at the new level? Does Celebrity want to lose E+ members to other lines because they make more money selling cabins to cruisers without those extra perks? This does not apply to E+ suite customers of course since they pay a lot and don't get much value from E+ perks due to the suite perks offered. Your thoughts?

We are close to making Diamond + and Elite + if we would choose to sail more. For us, the cost of cruising has risen enough that we have chosen to do more land based trips like Yellowstone National Park, snow skiing in CO and UT, trips to our beach house on the FL Gulf Coast.

Secondly, we have 4 grandkids that we like to spend time with and for us, that is a priority vs trying to reach a higher affinity level to get some nominal additional benefit. We have found that after 30+ cruises, we are laid back, low maintenance cruisers that NOW use few of the listed benefits of Elite and Diamond levels anyway. For sure, early on we did try to use everything benefit. Our last cruise on Celebrity we had the drinks package and hate to say it, but did not attend the evening Captains Club once on our 12 day cruise. Did not use the casino gimmicks benefit, did not use the boarding or disembarkation benefit, etc. I think we did use the laundry bag benefit. Thus, for us, makes no sense to try to get to a higher level, especially at a higher cost unless the higher category itself is worth the cost to us.

I am sure there are many that sail multiple times a year and Celebrity knows this and might want to be at a higher level AND then use those benefits. I think Celebrity's push is to a new demographic of younger people and their push towards suites and higher margins. Not sure how well the benefits of Elite + and above compliment each other if cruising in a suite. That would be interesting to know, but not a motivation for us.

We like the internet, laundry, priority tendering (where applicable), top tier gatherings and the evening gatherings. Now if Celebrity would give balcony discounts like RC...

We like the internet, laundry, priority tendering (where applicable), top tier gatherings and the evening gatherings. Now if Celebrity would give balcony discounts like RC...

If they gave balcony discounts, they will have to raise their prices to compensate for the lost revenue. :rolleyes:

As a long-time Celebrity cruiser, I thought I would never look elsewhere. I'm Elite+ with no possibility of reaching Zenith, and Celebrity shows no sign of changing that situation, so points don't make much difference to me. Suite prices are really getting out of hand. Recently accepted an offer from MSC that was a no brainer--they match my status on Celebrity, so I end up in their highest tier, and I was able to book a balcony suite in the Yacht Club with NO single supplement. $2,000 vs. the $8,000 for the next sky suite I have booked on Celebrity. Think the sky suite is going to go bye bye. Why should I pay $6,000 more on a ship that doesn't even have the ship within a ship concept with a private pool, etc.? The Yacht Club suite comes with free drinks, a specialty restaurant dinner, and internet I believe. Haven't checked on the internet yet, but my sister is currently sailing on the same ship in the Yacht Club and she will report back Saturday.

So, no, the current loyalty tier system is not keeping me loyal to Celebrity.

At the Celebrity price level, the perks do keep us pretty loyal. We are E and E+ is within reach now. Especially like the internet and laundry perks.

Been to the breakfast a few times and it's pretty nice, nothing special. Never been to Happy Hour....too early for us!

But yes, the perks do keep us pretty loyal.

We enjoy cruising on X, and the points and perks they give are a nice gift. We don't cruise for Elite and up status, but because we want a particular itinerary, cruise line, cabin category, price. If we get a gift because we've cruised enough for the cruise line to reward us, we say thanks and use the gift or not. The bags of laundry, internet minutes, cappuccino, pre-boarding, tender priority, cocktails or breakfast are nice, but are not what makes or breaks our trip. So I guess I appreciate the perks, but they are the smallest part of the decision to cruise with a particular line. If all things were equal when deciding on a cruise vacation and cruise line (which they never are), only then would the perks make us choose X over another line.

We're Elite Plus and always book with the beverage package so the Happy Hour doesn't interest us per se, except that one of my favorite venues to watch sail away is in the Sky Lounge so we often end up there anyway. Never cared for the breakfast. Tuscan is a beautiful venue too but the service was extremely slow and spotty. A perk I didn't see mention on this thread is the free specialty coffees with Elite Plus. We do utilize that perk!!! Love the coffees at Cafe al Bacio! We like the internet and the laundry.

Do these perks really keep us "loyal?" No. If another line looks interesting I'll happily book it and pay for my laundry and internet.

We're Elite Plus and always book with the beverage package so the Happy Hour doesn't interest us per se, except that one of my favorite venues to watch sail away is in the Sky Lounge so we often end up there anyway. Never cared for the breakfast. Tuscan is a beautiful venue too but the service was extremely slow and spotty. A perk I didn't see mention on this thread is the free specialty coffees with Elite Plus. We do utilize that perk!!! Love the coffees at Cafe al Bacio! We like the internet and the laundry.

But if you always book with the Beverage Package the Cafe Al Bacio coffees are included with that so no need for the Elite+ perk.

As a long-time Celebrity cruiser, I thought I would never look elsewhere. I'm Elite+ with no possibility of reaching Zenith, and Celebrity shows no sign of changing that situation, so points don't make much difference to me. Suite prices are really getting out of hand. Recently accepted an offer from MSC that was a no brainer--they match my status on Celebrity, so I end up in their highest tier, and I was able to book a balcony suite in the Yacht Club with NO single supplement. $2,000 vs. the $8,000 for the next sky suite I have booked on Celebrity. Think the sky suite is going to go bye bye. Why should I pay $6,000 more on a ship that doesn't even have the ship within a ship concept with a private pool, etc.? The Yacht Club suite comes with free drinks, a specialty restaurant dinner, and internet I believe. Haven't checked on the internet yet, but my sister is currently sailing on the same ship in the Yacht Club and she will report back Saturday.

So, no, the current loyalty tier system is not keeping me loyal to Celebrity.

I hope you post your sister’s assessment, and I’d look forward to seeing yours as well. I’ve read mixed reviews about MSC (though the same can be said for any line) so your comparison of the two lines would be of great interest.