Just curious about make up of repeat cruisers

[temple1]

Someone made the point on another topic that there are many people who go on one cruise or one Royal Caribbean cruise and never set foot on a ship again.

 

I know that at the Captain's reception he or the CD will ask who has cruised 100 times or some huge number and then take it down and finally ask who is on their first cruise. So, does Royal release what percentage of passengers on average are first timers?

[dacsmom]

I have found that they do announce it on most ships. It is funny, to pass the time waiting for my next cruise I lurk on these boards. So many people are repeat cruisers here that I always find it surprising how many people are first time cruisers on the ships.

[leaveitallbehind]

Someone made the point on another topic that there are many people who go on one cruise or one Royal Caribbean cruise and never set foot on a ship again.

 

I know that at the Captain's reception he or the CD will ask who has cruised 100 times or some huge number and then take it down and finally ask who is on their first cruise. So, does Royal release what percentage of passengers on average are first timers?

 

I believe that this year RCI marked 50 Million passengers since its inception as a company and there are approximately 7 Million Crown & Anchor members (registered repeat cruisers) so maybe that means about 85% are first timers per cruise?? Just a guess.

 

I do know that the repeat cruisers receptions are represented by a very small number of passengers compared to the total on board.

Edited August 5, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[Mystaken]

Seems to me the number of first timers depends on the ship, itinerary, departure port, and length of the cruise. For instance, there will be less first timers on longer cruises, like transatlantics and canal transits, than on 3 nighters out of Florida.

[bouhunter]

I believe that this year RCI marked 50 Million passengers since its inception as a company and there are approximately 7 Million Crown & Anchor members (registered repeat cruisers) so maybe that means about 85% are first timers per cruise?? Just a guess.

 

I do know that the repeat cruisers receptions are represented by a very small number of passengers compared to the total on board.

 

I'm not sure, but I think that 50,000,000 is probably the number of cruise vacations sold, not individual and separate persons. Sort of like McDonalds saying 9 billion sold - that's burgers, not individual customers;):D

Edited August 5, 2014 by bouhunter

[Life is Good Cruising]

On our last cruise, 9 nights, I met a young couple in their late 20's, it was their first cruise and they just came back from Bingo where they won a 7 night cruise. They were just elated.

[Ourusualbeach]

I have been on several cruises where the LA would announce at the C&A party how many of each level were on board. These totaled about 25% of the passengers so 75% were new to RCI.

 

As others have stated this will vary based on time of year travelled, ship, itinerary and length of sailing.

[tillydog]

Hubby and I have only done 3 cruises so far, but those 3 have all been on RCI ships. Have a 4th cruise booked and again, it's an RCI ship.

[robandana]

I would say the 50 Million is including repeat customers....just like McDs

 

They have sold 50 million cruises....

 

We cruise quite a bit and generally cruise longer itineraries and not many short ones. We find there to be like a 40/60 split with Royal Caribbean, 40% repeat and 60% first timers. This is a very general observation and from info given at the welcome back parties that we have attended.

 

I think Royal Caribbean has the most repeat customers from any other cruise company. Again just an observation having traveled on many different cruise ship lines.

 

I believe that the loyalty program has a lot to do with this phenomena.

[judatt]

There are 11 in our group and 3 are first time cruisers and 9 of us are on our first RCI cruise.

[rhuntington3]

Our upcoming cruise on Allure in October is the 2nd one on Royal for the wife and I; the first being on Freedom. We have sailed previously on Celebrity Eclipse and Carnival Conquest. I also sailed previously on Celebrity Mercury to Alaska; that since has since been sold to a German based cruise line.

[jstraw20]

I believe that the loyalty program has a lot to do with this phenomena.

 

I think you're right on the money here. I don't think my DW or myself felt a particular loyalty to RCCL until we had by coincidence racked up enough points for it to make a clear economic difference. That said, we absolutely wouldn't be sticking with them if we weren't satisfied. For all the complaining on this board they must be doing something right.

[setsail]

There are a number of rci cruisers who cruise just because they like cruising, not c&a or cc members.

[leaveitallbehind]

I would say the 50 Million is including repeat customers....just like McDs

 

Agree and I didn't intend for that to be interpreted otherwise. Within that total is 7 Million registered C & A repeat cruisers.

[reedl]

I believe that this year RCI marked 50 Million passengers since its inception as a company and there are approximately 7 Million Crown & Anchor members (registered repeat cruisers) so maybe that means about 85% are first timers per cruise?? Just a guess.

 

I do know that the repeat cruisers receptions are represented by a very small number of passengers compared to the total on board.

 

That is not logical math. What they said is that they have transported 50 million passengers. Nowhere does it say 50 million unique passengers.

[leaveitallbehind]

That is not logical math. What they said is that they have transported 50 million passengers. Nowhere does it say 50 million unique passengers.

 

Logical or not, that's why I said it was a guess with double question marks - never intended to be the definitive answer. And as also said, the 7 Million (+/-) repeat cruisers is part of that total.

 

All just in the spirit of the conversation as only RCI knows the answer for sure and as far as I know, they aren't saying....:D

[Mystaken]

I would say the 50 Million is including repeat customers....just like McDs

 

They have sold 50 million cruises....

 

We cruise quite a bit and generally cruise longer itineraries and not many short ones. We find there to be like a 40/60 split with Royal Caribbean, 40% repeat and 60% first timers. This is a very general observation and from info given at the welcome back parties that we have attended.

 

I think Royal Caribbean has the most repeat customers from any other cruise company. Again just an observation having traveled on many different cruise ship lines.

 

I believe that the loyalty program has a lot to do with this phenomena.

I wouldn't judge by the welcome back party. People who cruise RCCL a lot don't always go to those parties. It gets same old, same old, they are all alike. Usually mostly a pitch for new bookings.

[fishywood]

We cruise quite a bit and generally cruise longer itineraries and not many short ones. We find there to be like a 40/60 split with Royal Caribbean, 40% repeat and 60% first timers. This is a very general observation and from info given at the welcome back parties that we have attended.

 

I think Royal Caribbean has the most repeat customers from any other cruise company. Again just an observation having traveled on many different cruise ship lines.

 

How can RC have the most repeat customers with 60% first timers per cruise on average? Maybe if one takes the size of the fleet into consideration, but only then. A "longer" cruise (which I take to be 10 days or more) with said 60% newbies would be extremely, extremely unusual based on my experience--most Princess cruises I have been on (generally longer than 7 days) have at least 80% return passengers, requiring at least three welcome back receptions to accommodate them all. Though if you are closer to the truth than I, it would mean that RC is doing an exceptional job of recruiting new customers.

 

As to the general question of who's who on board, I am still trying to get the feel of things on this board in preparation for my first RC cruise in 20 years. I can't yet determine if having a tremendous number of D/D+/PC members would be a good thing--they would be occupied with their secret-handshake activities while I have the rest of the ship at my disposal; the 'peon' line for breakfast and lunch in the MDR would be shorter--or a bad thing, as multiple lounges would be off limits from 4:30 to 8:00 as overflow from the Diamond and Concierge lounges.

Edited August 6, 2014 by fishywood

[OCruisers]

I wouldn't judge by the welcome back party. People who cruise RCCL a lot don't always go to those parties. It gets same old, same old, they are all alike. .....

 

So true! Many don't care to attend these parties. ;)

LuLu

[Mystaken]

So true! Many don't care to attend these parties. ;)

LuLu

 

I love sailing with first timers, though! It allows an experienced cruiser to see things in a whole different light and appreciate their newfound joy!

[heyabbott]

HAL, Celebrity, Crystal, Carnival all have loyalty programs, is Royal's appreciably better?

 

 

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[racerxspeedy]

This is the most accurate response to your question regarding the "make up" of returning C&A guests - Allure June 29.

 

Out of 6300+ total guests:

 

1515 Gold

357 Platinum

115 Emerald

216 Diamond

59 Dia+

2 Pinnacle

 

2264 C&A members = 35 percent

 

Kids =1628 = lots of kids

[Paulette3028]

Now being a serious repeat cruiser, soon to go on our 16th cruise all on Royal.....I can say, it started unexpectedly.

 

We went on our first cruise 11 years ago. It was a cruise with friends that we had not seen in almost a year. The two other couples we were cruising with had cruised many times before, but we where the novices.

 

Other people made all the arrangements....choice of ship, choice of cabin even choice of time of dinner seating. We just packed and headed to the cruise. We did discuss shore excursions before hand, and booked them when we got on board the ship.

 

We sailed on Navigator, and it was WOW. I can't remember much about the ship itself, so if/when Navigator comes to S. Florida again -- I hope to book another cruise on her.

 

I believe there are always plenty of new cruisers on ships, simply because it is a highly promoted product. When we want to cruise, we just look at the Royal

It was as relaxing as it could be except....it was tough to get accustomed to walking while I could feel the ships movement; but it was a lot of fun. I personally was glad I did not bring high heeled shoes, because I probably would not have been able to walk in them onboard.

 

Now I love the gentle movement of the ship. It actually was something that I missed when we were on Allure this past June.

 

We were not sure we liked cruising, so we booked a weekend on Her Majesty the following November, over Thanksgiving Weekend. After that cruise we were hooked.

 

We had a great time on Navigator, from what we can remember; we had a terrific time on Her Majesty, and we do remember it well.

 

There are plenty of first time cruisers on all ships. I don't think all of the repeat cruisers come to the C&A events; but usually they tell you the statistics. I believe the smaller the ship, the greater the percentage of repeat cruisers you will find. Simply because the promotions and hype of the larger ships, may attract more newcomers to cruising.

 

The one exception may be Her Majesty. The weekend cruise always has a lot of first timers, simply because they test the waters on her...to see if they like cruising. Most repeat cruisers find a 3 day cruise too short for them.

 

For us, Her Majesty is a great short get away -- since we live in S. Florida.

 

Hopefully we will cruise her again over Thanksgiving Weekend.

[dancinman66]

Someone made the point on another topic that there are many people who go on one cruise or one Royal Caribbean cruise and never set foot on a ship again.

 

 

 

I know that at the Captain's reception he or the CD will ask who has cruised 100 times or some huge number and then take it down and finally ask who is on their first cruise. So, does Royal release what percentage of passengers on average are first timers?

 

 

What is announced is first time cruisers with royal

They don't list who is actually on their first cruise ever as they don't usually have that information except on my cruises which is rarely accurate

 

 

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[dancinman66]

HAL, Celebrity, Crystal, Carnival all have loyalty programs, is Royal's appreciably better?

 

 

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Yes I feel it is but depends on some things you may prefer

Like Cunard give best internet at 8 hours per sector

Royal and celebrity have the lounges plus lots of in cabin gifts the higher you go

Princess have free mini bar and free laundry

 

All is personal really

Go for a line that best fits you

Grfg

 

 

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