Do you like the new changes to the C&A Points System?

[cruisenfever]

HEY, Sorry Patti, I meant to quote a complainer when I read their post. I mistakenly posted yours....:):):) Reading your posts I know you are reasonable and love RCI as much as I do.

OK, you're forgiven!;)

[DarthGrady]

I have no problem jumping on RCI (with both feet) when I see an injustice by them. Not here....they seemed to have adjusted people's points fairly and adjusted up when a person was within one cruise of the next level. I still believe RCI should have made it harder to get to D and D+. The perks at this level are generous to say the very least.....It should be a real goal to attain a level that has perks that include free concierge and the other great perks....RCI still makes it too easy.....That said.......Its still the best game in town!!! STOP CRYING!!!:eek:

 

 

I think they made it quite a bit harder for the new folks coming into the system to get to Diamond. They won't have old points to convert and will have to do 80 nights, or at least 40 in suites. 80 nights cruising is a lot for someone who only cruises once a year. Especially considering you could get it in 30 the old way.

 

After 21 cruises with various lines I only have 96 days at sea. :eek: So D+ is many moons away for me.

[Mrs Cigar King]

I have read all 23 pages to see if my question has been answered already. I am looking for a bit more detail. We are one of those that are not happy with the change retroactivly. Going forward is fine but we feel like we lost out points. We have 32 nights and four points. The conversion gave us 29 points. I understand this is a sweet perk, but we kind of feel cheated out of the three nights for taking longer cruises. We talked to some customer service representatives today and they were very nice but could not give us back the three nights. Does anyone have an email that goes up the food chain or a phone number for someone that has the authority do look into this. I like RC, but my husband is not happy and is talking about jumping cruise lines.

Thanks.

[klingoncruiser]

As a diamond+ I am a happy camper. Nothing to grumble about. Indeed, my current level looks pretty good as opposed the old one.

[bigeagle12]

I have read all 23 pages to see if my question has been answered already. I am looking for a bit more detail. We are one of those that are not happy with the change retroactivly. Going forward is fine but we feel like we lost out points. We have 32 nights and four points. The conversion gave us 29 points. I understand this is a sweet perk, but we kind of feel cheated out of the three nights for taking longer cruises. We talked to some customer service representatives today and they were very nice but could not give us back the three nights. Does anyone have an email that goes up the food chain or a phone number for someone that has the authority do look into this. I like RC, but my husband is not happy and is talking about jumping cruise lines.

Thanks.

 

Sounds fair to me .. you were one cruise away from Platinum and you are still one cruise away.

[Merion_Mom]

I have read all 23 pages to see if my question has been answered already. I am looking for a bit more detail. We are one of those that are not happy with the change retroactivly. Going forward is fine but we feel like we lost out points. We have 32 nights and four points. The conversion gave us 29 points. I understand this is a sweet perk, but we kind of feel cheated out of the three nights for taking longer cruises. We talked to some customer service representatives today and they were very nice but could not give us back the three nights. Does anyone have an email that goes up the food chain or a phone number for someone that has the authority do look into this. I like RC, but my husband is not happy and is talking about jumping cruise lines.

Thanks.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is their system, and they have the right to structure it in any way they wish.

 

You were one cruise away from Platinum.

 

You are still one cruise away from Platinum.

 

I hope that you can see this and understand that you haven't lost anything.

[Merion_Mom]

I think they made it quite a bit harder for the new folks coming into the system to get to Diamond. They won't have old points to convert and will have to do 80 nights, or at least 40 in suites. 80 nights cruising is a lot for someone who only cruises once a year. Especially considering you could get it in 30 the old way.

 

After 21 cruises with various lines I only have 96 days at sea. :eek: So D+ is many moons away for me.

 

That is their aim - to make it a longer "voyage" to get to the upper levels. It really shouldn't shock you.

 

As for the "Samantha" remark, I thought that you had seen this thread:

 

I took a 5 night on the NOS last week, I had 7 credits before that cruise and 8 after. The cruise hasn't shown up on MyCruises account yet, but I assumed that since I took the cruise BEFORE the system was in place, that it would be factored in with my other previous cruises. I called C&A with a different question and while I had the agent on the line asked about this. She spoke to her supervisor and said even though I took the cruise before the change was made, since their system has a delay I would only be given 5 points as opposed to the 17 their calculator would have given me. Someone tell me if I'm being unreasonable. I just don't feel that I should be shorted 12 credits because their system has a delay. I took the cruise before the change, with no information about the change, it should be treated in the same way as my other old cruises. If it helps I'm fairly new to cruising and 6 out of those 8 cruises have been taken within the past year and a half. I was hoping to work my way up the scale pretty fast, but if they're going to short me 12 points just because of a delay in their system, I might just try out another line. Thanks for listening to the rant. :rolleyes:

 

So, Samantha from C&A just called. Possibly the rudest person I've ever encountered with RCL. She told me that I was wrong and their calculator does not show 69 credits even though many of you have confirmed that it does. Instead, she told me that under the new system I have more credits than I would have and I should just be happy. I insisted that the online calculator showed this, and she just said that every cruise taken prior was multiplied by 7 and that's how they got their points. I'm angrier now than I was before. If they had said that they would use the new system because that's when the points came in, I would be upset but eventually calmed down. She basically called me a liar and told me I was lucky for what I had.

 

Okay, Samantha called back, a bit nicer this time, I'll assume she had a rough day and I was the one thing keeping her from going home ;) Anyway, I firmly believe that RCL reads this board because shortly after writing that I get the return call. She gave me my 69 points and asked if I had any family who's points need to be adjusted aswell. I'm very glad she was able to help me, I was trying to find a spring break cruise, there was a 5 night on the Radiance for $650 and a 7 night on HAL for $450. I was 2 seconds away from going with HAL but I'll stick with the Radiance. I'm glad RCL came to reason on this issue.

[Rockfordcruiser]

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is their system, and they have the right to structure it in any way they wish.

 

You were one cruise away from Platinum.

 

You are still one cruise away from Platinum.

 

I hope that you can see this and understand that you haven't lost anything.

Actually they gained more. They get to a level that wasn't available to me. Emrald.:rolleyes:

[Coralc]

As a diamond+ I am a happy camper. Nothing to grumble about. Indeed, my current level looks pretty good as opposed the old one.

 

We are too. It took us 17 years to get to diamond+. We are not frequent or short trip cruisers. To us, this accounting system seems much fairer going forward. Our previous 7 day and longer cruises yielded the same single credit as those taken by folks that lived closer and were able to sail more often.

 

This seems much more equitable. But there had to be a starting point and a conversion in order to do that. Hopefully, you will continue cruising with Royal Caribbean and accumulating cruise points, as long as you continue to enjoy their vacation product. :)

[negc]

I think they made it quite a bit harder for the new folks coming into the system to get to Diamond. They won't have old points to convert and will have to do 80 nights, or at least 40 in suites. 80 nights cruising is a lot for someone who only cruises once a year. Especially considering you could get it in 30 the old way.

 

After 21 cruises with various lines I only have 96 days at sea. :eek: So D+ is many moons away for me.

If your only reason to cruise was to gain enough points to become Diamond or Diamond Plus, the old system was probably better for you since a relatively low number of 3 or 4 night cruises made it possible. However, many felt that it was unfair to have 3 and 4 night cruises earn the same number of cruise credits as 11 night cruises and RCI apparently agreed. The new system addresses that perceived inequity, but no system can be devised that will be fair to everyone. Judging to the positive reaction to this new system by an apparent majority of RCI cruisers, the new system seems closer to a fair system than the old. I also think that you misunderstand RCI's thinking if you believe that their purpose was to make it easy for people to reach the higher C&A levels. I believe that the purpose of the Crown and Anchor Society was to recognize their most loyal guests and frequent cruisers, not "someone who can only cruise once a year". After all, if everyone could quickly and easily reach Diamond or Diamond Plus level, just how much of an achievement would that be?

[Merion_Mom]

Actually they gained more. They get to a level that wasn't available to me. Emrald.:rolleyes:

 

Here you go:

 

 

Wear it with pride! ;)

[Coralc]

Yes, but it did reward once or twice a year cruisers who have been loyal for 19 years. :)

[DarthGrady]

That is their aim - to make it a longer "voyage" to get to the upper levels. It really shouldn't shock you.

 

As for the "Samantha" remark, I thought that you had seen this thread:

 

:D I must have missed that one. Apparently I didn't have Samantha. My lady was very nice! I always like getting good news while at work.

[tallcva3344]

Let me understand.

 

You are currently Gold.

 

And you are bemoaning the fact that you can't be Diamond by year's end?

 

Wow.

 

You are NOT losing anything on that 12 nighter.

 

Hereafter, everyone's cruises are counted by nights.

 

You are getting four times more credits that someone on a weekender on the Monarch, instead of twice as many.

 

It is NOW finally fair!

 

That is correct the 12 nighter is 12 points, the old way it would have been 2 cruise credits or 14 points in the conversion. You lost 2 points.

 

But lets say you were taking an 11 night cruise. Under the new way it is 11 points. Under the other way it was one cruise credit or converted to 7 points. you gain 4 points.

 

Very fair system, but is being judged by everyone as to how it effects "me". I heard of someone that has 6 three and four night cruises scheduled that would make them diamond. Now they will get about 21 points for the 21 nights they are cruising not 42. Now they are mad. Oh well;

Harry

[The_Big_M]

Judging to the positive reaction to this new system by an apparent majority of RCI cruisers, the new system seems closer to a fair system than the old.

 

That's because of two things:

- the majority of people discussing this here are established cruisers, so are often already higher levels, so it's more about existing benefits. This is a different perspective to those starting out.

- many existing cruisers here, particularly the more active ones who would typically take more cruises, were not significantly disadvantaged. i.e. any benefits people got under the old system were carried across to the old system. The only ones disadvantaged were those who took longer than 'average' cruises, but again on average if you took a large number of cruises it's unlikely that you would only have them in the range of 8-11 days. Basically, the majority of existing cruisers were not disadvantaged - this is a key point.

 

That doesn't mean the new system a fairer one, as those already on the gravy train as it were retain their benefits, and those who were more average don't lose out, so both are already higher up the tree, and the change is not such an impost.

 

In my view, this is just a changed program, not so much fairer as just different. However, as mentioned the existing members were in the majority not disadvantaged; hence the reaction is not negative as this audience is by far and away established and existing members.

 

I also think that you misunderstand RCI's thinking if you believe that their purpose was to make it easy for people to reach the higher C&A levels. I believe that the purpose of the Crown and Anchor Society was to recognize their most loyal guests and frequent cruisers, not "someone who can only cruise once a year".

 

Perhaps, but that is not supported by the fact there is no expiry on points earnt, and they put a significant weighting in there to support cruisers who had done exactly that. Rather than converting based on days where records were available, and only using earnings from the last x years, they used the existing points system, thus entrenching the existing approach.

 

After all, if everyone could quickly and easily reach Diamond or Diamond Plus level, just how much of an achievement would that be?

 

It's never been the case that /everyone/ could, but certainly has been the case to date that /some/ could achieve it relatively quickly.

[Tagsalong]

I have read all 23 pages to see if my question has been answered already. I am looking for a bit more detail. We are one of those that are not happy with the change retroactivly. Going forward is fine but we feel like we lost out points. We have 32 nights and four points. The conversion gave us 29 points. I understand this is a sweet perk, but we kind of feel cheated out of the three nights for taking longer cruises. We talked to some customer service representatives today and they were very nice but could not give us back the three nights. Does anyone have an email that goes up the food chain or a phone number for someone that has the authority do look into this. I like RC, but my husband is not happy and is talking about jumping cruise lines.

Thanks.

 

 

Have you read Merion-Mom's post re. Cody's experience. Call C&A with your complaint and they will probably make an adjustment of your points from 29 to 32. Just walk through your cruise history with them.

[yj2cute]

Have you read Merion-Mom's post re. Cody's experience. Call C&A with your complaint and they will probably make an adjustment of your points from 29 to 32. Just walk through your cruise history with them.

 

I don't think that's what Merion Mom's post was saying at all. In this case, this poster was 1 cruise away from Platinum. They still are. There is nothing to adjust. C&A will not make an adjustment in this case.

 

From what I've read, the only adjustments being made are to folks who either recently cruised or are about to cruise and whose cruises would have taken them to the next level, and the new system dropped them, making it further away to achieve the next level, like in DarthGrady's case. I believe he had a valid complaint. This one however, is not.

[marymarie]

You were not on our cruise so you don't know who got what. Yes the JS did have CL priviledges, heard it, saw it. You need to do better math, we are more than one cruise removed from Diamond NOW under the new system. As for emerald, you don't get any credit unless you ask for it. Our loyalty embassador indicated that we were receiving it. The paperwork doesn't show it and we had to do battle to have it added. We should have gotten OBC credit for booking on board and Platinum/balcony credit but had to bird dog it ourselves. So much for the perks. Just like other "perks" you have to figure it out and then demand it. We view this as an invite to reconsider our "loyalty" and will do so. Your posts seem to indicate you are an authority on the new program. You apparently have not talked to the customer service or C & A folks I have. I even have in writing from the online chat that we are far from 1 cruise away from diamond after the change. Not a good idea to assume you know the details for everyone. Maybe this works well for you, that's good it is working out for some however that is not the case for many if you read the posts. You and others are entitled to an opinion as to whether or not you think it is good or bad but so am I.

[Mrs Cigar King]

This is a very interesting thread. It does appear most people are happy, especially the ones that were given points that were not earned based on the conversion.

It is the ones like us that regarded C&A as a loyalty program and feel that RC is not treating us with fairness that are not pleased. Our goal has been to reach a level with nicer suite discounts. It seems farther away now. We feel that is RC would like to keep our loyalty, they need to do better then MerionMoms suck it up attitude.

We understand the customer service representatives that are on the front have limited authority to make the customer happy. What we are looking for is a contact that does have the authority.

At this point we will not be cancelling the short cruise next month but we certainly will not book any more on this line.

Anyone ever sail on Holland America, how was it.

[yj2cute]

You were not on our cruise so you don't know who got what. Yes the JS did have CL priviledges, heard it, saw it. You need to do better math, we are more than one cruise removed from Diamond NOW under the new system. As for emerald, you don't get any credit unless you ask for it. Our loyalty embassador indicated that we were receiving it. The paperwork doesn't show it and we had to do battle to have it added. We should have gotten OBC credit for booking on board and Platinum/balcony credit but had to bird dog it ourselves. So much for the perks. Just like other "perks" you have to figure it out and then demand it. We view this as an invite to reconsider our "loyalty" and will do so. Your posts seem to indicate you are an authority on the new program. You apparently have not talked to the customer service or C & A folks I have. I even have in writing from the online chat that we are far from 1 cruise away from diamond after the change. Not a good idea to assume you know the details for everyone. Maybe this works well for you, that's good it is working out for some however that is not the case for many if you read the posts. You and others are entitled to an opinion as to whether or not you think it is good or bad but so am I.

 

It would help if you would quote which post you are responding to. As it is, I have no idea to whom you are directing your post.

[island lady]

This is a very interesting thread. It does appear most people are happy, especially the ones that were given points that were not earned based on the conversion.

At this point we will not be cancelling the short cruise next month but we certainly will not book any more on this line.

Anyone ever sail on Holland America, how was it.

 

 

Yes, have sailed HAL. Did not like it as much as RCI, except that we did like the fact that you could bring your own wine aboard. We happily paid the corkage at night in the dining room for wine that we knew we would like.

Service, food and ship was not as nice as RCI IMHO.

 

Count me in also as a happy sailer with the new points, as I did not lose status.

[JIMDSB2]

The calculation worked out exactly for me.

[kimberley]

Yes, have sailed HAL. Did not like it as much as RCI, except that we did like the fact that you could bring your own wine aboard. We happily paid the corkage at night in the dining room for wine that we knew we would like.

Service, food and ship was not as nice as RCI IMHO.

 

Count me in also as a happy sailer with the new points, as I did not lose status.

 

Hi Pat did last weeks cruise make you diamond then? Kimberley

[wittsatseas]

Very happy with the fact that cruisers that take a 3-4 night cruise are now not getting the same "credits" that us 7+ nighters get. It was always bogus... Now if we can get those levels down to where some of us can actually reach them :)

[storm1of4]

I think they made it quite a bit harder for the new folks coming into the system to get to Diamond. They won't have old points to convert and will have to do 80 nights, or at least 40 in suites. 80 nights cruising is a lot for someone who only cruises once a year. Especially considering you could get it in 30 the old way.

 

After 21 cruises with various lines I only have 96 days at sea. :eek: So D+ is many moons away for me.

 

 

YEs I see your point...

But if getting to D+ was a priority for you.. I am sure youd be there.

I appears it is not an issue for you. That is cool too.

I am glad RCI is at least making an effort to ensure D+ remains a special level. I still feel 175 sea days is a lot, but it should be more for D+

We just got off the ship on Sunday....on this cruise, in a small ocean view rm, we had a bottle of wine, choc strawberry plate, a fruit plate and a cheese tray, oh also a cookie and petite for plate. Along with the lounge benefits and coupon book. This to me is significant.....Great perks at D+ It should be hard to get there! RCI really makes an effort to reward at this level!!