C&A program outdated?

[John&LaLa]

Not a Heineken person. I’m with John, they could improve the beers.

 

 

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Heineken ruined my favorite beer.

 

Corona was a choice for a while. Replaced with nasty apple juice. They may have done it because of the limes. Something about hard to recycle glass with limes stuck in the bottle.

 

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[Milwaukee Eight]

You can get better vodka in several of the bars is my experience.

 

Caymus is a rarity for us. Beringer is the table wine

 

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Actually, only two CL’s/SL was I unable to get either my Vodka (Tito’s) or my beer (Blue Moon or Bud Light). Those ships are Enchantment and Freedom. Tito’s flowed on Brilliance and Serenade as with all the SL so far.

 

Majesty even had Tito’s available for the Diamond event. (We get the DP).

 

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[Blizzard54]

The Concierge actually allows this BS?

 

 

 

Same here!

 

Some Concierges seem to be very reluctant to say no to Pinnacles.

[xpcdoojk]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like most cruise loyalty programs are a bit outdated for the current cruise experience and ships. Who cares about a crowded Diamond Lounge and non-premium drinks, particularly when I have a premium package and can go anywhere and get what I want already?

 

I get some people might not be buying the package, but a great deal do.

 

And even the nicest Diamond and Concierge lounges on board kind of remind me of an airport lounge. I have to spend enough time in those, I certainly don't want to do so on my vacation.

 

What if instead, they actually really amped up the customer service angle? I'm top tier with a couple airlines, and the biggest perks are upgrades and immediate access to customer service.

 

I think the top levels of a cruise loyalty program should look more like this:

- REAL dedicated phone line with immediate access to an agent

- Automatic upgrade (i.e. just shift the price point by a category or two)

- Decreased or no deposit

- Delayed final payment

- More favorable cancellation/refund terms

- Category guarantees up to a certain point before sailing

- Perks such as complimentary specialty dining services or excursions

 

I know some of this is already done, but I think a lot of it could be done better. I just think the focus on some very dated on board amenities isn't quite cutting it.

 

Thoughts?

 

When I fly, I go to the Centurion Lounge whenever it exists. I will fly longer to go to them. I think the airline lounges are mostly shabby, the Centurion lounge is very nice. I think the diamond lounge and the concierge lounge are nicer than most airport lounges, and when I get tired of the concierge lounge I can go to other wonderful places on a cruise, at an airport I go to terminal HE double HOckey sticks.:evilsmile:

 

So, I don’t think the two are comparable.

 

Now if you had said, how does the cruiseline program compare to hotel programs, I would think that would be a more interesting conversation. I can get a free night or a free week a lot easier than I can with the cruise line, aka, Pinnacle. But then hotel competition is a lot more than cruiseline competition. I go to a city and there are hundreds of options I show up in Miami and I have a dozen, and only limited days.

 

So, basically, not a very interesting post.:halo:

 

JC

[xpcdoojk]

I´m with the majority here. I don´t think C&A is outdated one bit and while added perks are always nice, nothing on your list would interest me, aside from some rather unrealistic ones.

 

 

 

 

 

I don´t quite get what´s the deal with CS on the phone:confused:. This would be my last idea, if it even came up at all. In over 25 years of cruising and more than 35 years of travelling around the world, I´ve never called a cruiseline or an airline respectively.:confused: I certainly have no need at all for some dedicated phone line.

 

I have called airlines a lot, because the POS change my carefully selected flights to something completely unacceptable. That almost always requires a phone call to fix. I do not believe i have ever booked a flight that didn’t change when booked 6 months out. RCI is a super hero compared to any airline I have ever booked.

 

JC

[xpcdoojk]

We used to stop by on night one and introduce ourselves and let them know we had other plans. Dont do that now th as t we usually get MyTime. Especially on Oasis ships

 

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I am confused. Why would you introduce yourselves to table mates. Why not just book a table for two? I haven’t agreed to a joint table without my group for 12 years. I book a table MTD for our group, whether it is DW and I or 5 or 10 people.

 

JC

[Clarea]

Some Concierges seem to be very reluctant to say no to Pinnacles.

Some, but we had Mr. No on our Oasis cruise last summer.

[xpcdoojk]

They don't seem to have a problem demoting D+ from the new Suite Lounges on Harmony, Independence,Liberty etc when previously we could share the Concierge Lounges with Suite passengers.

 

Seriously, give a thought to being a one trick pony, as OB said, they didn’t demote, they changed the lounge to a different name and a different program. There are still ships with CL, cruise them. No Demotion!

 

JC

[Milwaukee Eight]

Some, but we had Mr. No on our Oasis cruise last summer.

 

 

 

Did they take away your sign. Lol

 

 

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[xpcdoojk]

I guess the combination of ship and ports is in vogue now.

 

Biker, who was on a very similar itinerary on Legend and was his cheapest per day cruise ever.

 

I think it is ship specific. The hot ships are stupid expensive as in my upcoming Symphony TA. The old basic ships are still super cheap. The economy is hot right now. The cruise line doesn’t give a cr$p about giving us perks right now in this economy.

 

It is amazing in the last two stupidest presidents gave us the two hottest economies..... socialism sucks.

 

JC

[Clarea]

Did they take away your sign. Lol

Sign?:confused:

[xpcdoojk]

No SL, or plans for one that I am aware of, on Radiance class. Status Quo remains.

 

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I hope so, I sail on the Radiance in 32 days. My friends are in a suite, I am in a big aft balcony. I was shocked that those balconies were still available at a discount after final payment. Do not the people who post at CC actually cruise?:halo:

 

JC

[Milwaukee Eight]

Sign?:confused:

 

 

 

It was supposed to be a joke regarding someone putting a reserved sign in the CL to hold “their” table. I thought maybe the Oasis Concierge took it away. Lol

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

Actually, only two CL’s/SL was I unable to get either my Vodka (Tito’s) or my beer (Blue Moon or Bud Light). Those ships are Enchantment and Freedom. Tito’s flowed on Brilliance and Serenade as with all the SL so far.

 

Majesty even had Tito’s available for the Diamond event. (We get the DP).

 

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But you paid via the pkg. Mute point.

 

And like MJ, you can get your poison of choice in SL of Harmony. Why, because it's also a full service bar.

 

See ya in the SL.

 

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[Clarea]

It was supposed to be a joke regarding someone putting a reserved sign in the CL to hold “their” table. I thought maybe the Oasis Concierge took it away. Lol

I must have missed that one. The concierge we had on Oasis pretty much said no to anything we asked.

[John&LaLa]

I am confused. Why would you introduce yourselves to table mates. Why not just book a table for two? I haven’t agreed to a joint table without my group for 12 years. I book a table MTD for our group, whether it is DW and I or 5 or 10 people.

 

JC

Back in the day we were still clinging to First Seating. Once we started doing CK a lot we switched to two tops. That's all we did on Rhapsody TA and the Mariner repo.

 

I guess we're MTD folks now

 

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[John&LaLa]

I hope so, I sail on the Radiance in 32 days. My friends are in a suite, I am in a big aft balcony. I was shocked that those balconies were still available at a discount after final payment. Do not the people who post at CC actually cruise?:halo:

 

JC

I've seen plenty as well. Slightly higher than std balcony prior to final. But not much

 

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[xpcdoojk]

Back in the day we were still clinging to First Seating. Once we started doing CK a lot we switched to two tops. That's all we did on Rhapsody TA and the Mariner repo.

 

I guess we're MTD folks now

 

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Welcome to the club, I wanted late she wanted early we usually settle for MTD for 7 to 8.

 

In 2007, we booked our first two top in late, and there was a fun group of 10 next to us. We sort of stayed separate, but we were sort of like the 11the and 12th at their table. They had the langostinos in a giant bowl and we shared. It was actually fun, being at a two top next to a giant fun group.

 

We could be on our own, preferred option, or be socially out there for 15 minutes which was about right when you are cruising with the love of your life.

 

JC

[Milwaukee Eight]

I must have missed that one. The concierge we had on Oasis pretty much said no to anything we asked.

 

 

 

That doesn’t sound like much fun. I think John has them trained now.

 

 

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Edited July 31, 2018 by Milwaukee Eight

[John&LaLa]

That doesn’t sound like much fun. I think John has then trained now.

 

 

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Oasis Class concierges are an odd bunch.

 

Much prefer the DL concierge on Oasis

 

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[rt1092]

Oasis Class concierges are an odd bunch.

 

Much prefer the DL concierge on Oasis

 

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They moved Beatrice up to the Suite Lounge/Coastal Kitchen last week. Didn't catch who was replacing her.

She is as good as they come. We have know her for years.

Oh NO I hope no one says I'm name dropping LOL.

[John&LaLa]

They moved Beatrice up to the Suite Lounge/Coastal Kitchen last week. Didn't catch who was replacing her.

She is as good as they come. We have know her for years.

Oh NO I hope no one says I'm name dropping LOL.

Nice, pity we don't have any Oasis booked.

 

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[Don Pedro]

It was or he was hoping it was?

 

I'm not sure that they have any better information than our speculations but the claim was that the suite lounge concept would soon go fleet wide. The hold up supposedly was IT updating the website. Truth or rumor? I don't know.

[grapau27]

You hang out in bars, you are going to see people drinking. There are actually other people who aren't hanging out in the bars and are doing other activities that do not involve drinking. Try it sometime.

I don't but we do walk past plenty at night time on holiday that are heaving with people drinking.

We usually just go to restaurants and have a drink with our meals.

[grapau27]

Then make it 35. [emoji16]

 

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Good luck John I hope Laura and yourself make it 35.