Will you ever be Zenith ?

[Orator]

You have to feed the addiction if you are a dedicated Celebrity cruiser: we might visit that plateau again in three or four years. We are as far away as most people from the nearest port and we don't mind cruising around in circles in a warm sea when the next Polar Vortex visits.

 

I posted this chart a little while ago:

 

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Zeniths come from Canada, Scotland, Belgium, Texas. Many are in Florida, but many of those fly around the globe to get to a Celebrity cruise. Some of the Zeniths are solo cruisers, most are married. Some are 70+, some are under 40. Some are retired teaches, some retired military and one involved in tennis. Really a mixed group. You never know if and when the addiction will appear. Certain that you can add to the demographic description.

[maggie.1008]

This is a little off of my original post. Do you think top cruiser should be offered access into Michaels Club for that cruise only ? I do.

[neverbeenhere]

no... Start with one exception, then why not my cousin? It's an interesting marketing idea, but I am for earn or buy the right to the lounge.

[hcat]

We also will never make Zenith...originally we switched back and forth from Celeb to Royal which divided our points...we mostly favored X and are Elite but never hit Diamond on Royal. (although we are close) we get that from being Elite so no issue there.

 

We will get to E+ after our next cruise,,,..but after that it seems the math will never work out, Taking two cruises per yr in AQ..one long and one short will never give us enough for Zenith status. Once we hit E+ we will go back to Royal sometimes and may try some other lines

 

E+ us fine so there is no urge to rack up more pts..

[Cruise Junky]

That is an awesome chart..thank you for sharing

[Texed]

To those who will make it to Zenith:

Please let us know what cruise will be your first cruise as a Zenith. You'll find out why and will want the same information from others.

 

I think you have gotten some folks curiosity up. Would you like to explain? :)

Edited August 22, 2014 by Texed
I messed up!

[Orator]

I think you have gotten some folks curiosity up. Would you like to explain? :)

 

They'll prepare special waffles. Don't want to reveal the conclusion before the movie begins.some might also be disappointed if some things are changed.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Orator

[NLH Arizona]

This is a little off of my original post. Do you think top cruiser should be offered access into Michaels Club for that cruise only ? I do.

No, not unless they are in a top end suite or a Zenith tier.

[Texed]

They'll prepare special waffles.

 

Well, that is a pretty good incentive to make folks work toward Zenith. :D

[elena7seas]

We're at 1600 points now. We possibly could see Zenith, but we may change our travel plans in the future. We'd like to do some River Cruises in Europe and see regions that large ships can't navigate.

 

That's what Celebrity needs, Karynanne...a River Cruise ship!!!

 

I didn't realize that having the next goal post be so far away as to be unattainable would have an affect on our planning, but it has. The next two cruises I booked after the points conversion were on Princess and Royal Caribbean. I rarely used to look at other cruiselines, and now I do frequently.

 

I do think it would a good idea to have another level before Zenith, just for people that are goal-oriented.

 

It's not that I really want anything that's going to cost Celebrity any money. The ability to get the on-board booking credits (OBC and 123Go perks) for booking at any time would be a great perk for me. I hate having to wait until I am on my next cruise to book :).

[Ma Bell]

As much as I'm sure I'll enjoy the Zenith tier it has never been my motivation for booking a cruise. I'm only interested in Celebrity remaining the cruise line that attracted me in the first place.

[Andy]

Well, that is a pretty good incentive to make folks work toward Zenith. :D

 

Hi Ed,

 

When you make Zenith, I hope Celebrity will make you the best waffle you've ever tasted... it couldn't happen to a nicer person !

 

I hope we'll sail with you again, in the near future.

[need2bespoiled]

We made Elite+ in 2 years, well, we will make it in a bit less than 2 this Novemeber. I am not sure if we would have made it faster if the new system was in place for every cruise, I'm not really going to go back and figure it out, what's the point? .

 

In 3.5 years we'll be more than halfway Zenith, so if we keep cruising at the rate we are, we'd make it in something like 2020 but I doubt that will happen as we'll probably run out of cruises we're interested in taking, and I am going to push to try some other lines. That doesn't mean we wouldn't make it eventually.

 

But so what? We're already sailing in suites, so what's the benefit? Kind of Ironic as someone else posted. I guess it would be nice to have the benefits on the occasional shorter cruise when she doesn't think we need as much space if could convince her to book an AQ or Balcony Cabin when she didn't insist on at least a SS. (No one can tell her I wrote this!).

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Project_gal]

That is amazing, to be honest... but as others have said, the redesign of the Captain's Club program is about rewarding your "spending" habits and not about rewarding your frequency of cruising.

 

That is only partially true. It only rewards number of days on board x level of accommodation. It does not take into account [and, I am guessing, Celebrity's computer systems are not capable of taking into account] actual profitable spend with Celebrity.

 

Two people in the same accommodation for the same length of cruise can have very different on board spends. Different items purchased on board may be more or less profitable. Items pre-purchased improve cashflow and are, presumably, more profitable. Captain's Club points take no account of flights or pre- and post-cruise hotels booked through Celebrity.

 

There is a long way Celebrity could go to recognise true profitability but they probably have gone as far as they can at the moment. Rather than adding another level, I would expect that Celebrity will work towards being able to identify, and then recognise, true profitability. This is may be why we have seen the minor changes that we have: double points for solo cruisers and occasional early booking bonuses.

[Project_gal]

Isn't it odd though that whiles suites are the fastest way (and for many of us the only way) to get to Z level, if you travel RS or above, getting to Z means little or nothing in terms of added perks. Not sure what the incentive is in this instance.

 

Too true! I was thinking that when I made my previous posts. I think the only real benefit for RS and PH guests is the occasional complimentary cruise and we would be unlikely to take up the offer because the additional costs around such a cruise [for us in the UK - and it is NOT the cost of flights, insurance is the truly major cost for us] are far too great to justify it. The new suite perks are what keep us cruising now and not the Zenith target.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Project_gal

[eileen & jay]

"Zeniths come from Canada, Scotland, Belgium, Texas. Many are in Florida, but many of those fly around the globe to get to a Celebrity cruise. Some of the Zeniths are solo cruisers, most are married. Some are 70+, some are under 40. Some are retired teaches, some retired military and one involved in tennis. Really a mixed group. You never know if and when the addiction will appear. Certain that you can add to the demographic description.

 

 

Southern Californians

Retired Educators

Married 40 years

Early 70s and Mid 60s

[Lois R]

Well, after my next cruise I will have just over 1300 points....to reach

3000? Even getting double points?:eek:.....1600+ points away.....If

I am still around in 15 years? Maybe:rolleyes:

 

1500 points for another level would be my vote.:cool:

Edited August 22, 2014 by Lois R

[Texed]

Hi Ed,

When you make Zenith, I hope Celebrity will make you the best waffle you've ever tasted... it couldn't happen to a nicer person !

I hope we'll sail with you again, in the near future.

 

Thanks Andy, that is very kind of you. We would love to sail with you and yours again also. :)

[cruising teacher]

"Zeniths come from Canada, Scotland, Belgium, Texas. Many are in Florida, but many of those fly around the globe to get to a Celebrity cruise. Some of the Zeniths are solo cruisers, most are married. Some are 70+, some are under 40. Some are retired teaches, some retired military and one involved in tennis. Really a mixed group. You never know if and when the addiction will appear. Certain that you can add to the demographic description.

 

 

Southern Californians

Retired Educators

Married 40 years

Early 70s and Mid 60s

Hi Eileen and Jay

We are Chet and Carol from Chicago. We are also fortunate to be Zenith.

Coincidently we are on the Transatlantic on the Eclipse this November and the Top end and Bottom end cruises in Australia. Leaving for the Century tomorrow. Look forward to meeting you in Michael's Club. (I am also a retired educator)

[C 2 C]

 

Southern Californians

Retired Educators

Married 40 years

Early 70s and Mid 60s

 

If you are interested (and if it does not contravene cruise critic rules) email me (in my signature) for a connection to a list of other Zenith members.

[hulamoon]

This is a little off of my original post. Do you think top cruiser should be offered access into Michaels Club for that cruise only ? I do.

 

Don't they already? Top suites and zeniths?

[hulamoon]

i see the benefits of Zenith as wonderful. Especially in the event of less income in later years. I agree those who will sail in RS and above will benefit mostly from the recognition and not the benefits.

 

Sort of like a retirement plan for cruising. lol

[Mary El]

We will be Zen (half way to Zenith) after our TA this coming October. Since I am 66 and my husband is 78, I don't think we will ever make Zenith. We always book AQ or CC (well when they started having AQ and CC). Before that we always booked an outside (remember that Horizon and Zenith ships did not have balconies).

 

We go way back to the Meridian and had to pay to become Captain's Club. Over the last 15 years we've been booking 10+ cruise days.

 

We are very happy with Elite+, but don't see another tier between E+ and Zenith ever happening.

[hulamoon]

We will be Zen (half way to Zenith) after our TA this coming October.

 

I love this! :)

[Orator]

If you are interested (and if it does not contravene cruise critic rules) email me (in my signature) for a connection to a list of other Zenith members.

 

Check your Zenith email for contact information for a new Zenith.