Brand Loyalty Versus Changing Cruise Lines

[Pale Gail Sails]

I am interested in knowing how and why people decided to try different cruise lines.  I sailed on one line and then ended up on a different line because of an excellent sale. My third cruise was on a third line because of a specific itinerary. Before I knew it, I had completed five cruises on four different lines. Not the quickest way to accumulate status with any line. What made you decide to try, or switch to a different cruise line?

[cruizergal70]

Most loyalty programs aren't worth the thousands of dollars needed to achieve "top level" status.

 

Choose whatever line meets your itinerary and budget needs. If you accumulate status days/points, great. However,  intentionally pursuing "status" doesn't make much financial sense in most cases.

[Shmoo here]

15 minutes ago, Pale Gail Sails said:

I am interested in knowing how and why people decided to try different cruise lines.  I sailed on one line and then ended up on a different line because of an excellent sale. My third cruise was on a third line because of a specific itinerary. Before I knew it, I had completed five cruises on four different lines. Not the quickest way to accumulate status with any line. What made you decide to try, or switch to a different cruise line?

Well our first and second cruises were about a year apart.  On two different cruise lines.  We book primarily by itinerary, and that's what prompted booking the second cruise on a different line, as that itinerary wasn't an option on the cruise line we started on.

 

That said, half our cruises are on the same line.  The other half are split between three other cruise lines.    With a couple of once and done cruises.

 

 

[leaveitallbehind]

In our case our first cruise was on RCCL 28 years ago and we liked the experience and what that brand offered.  So the next, and the next, etc., got booked with them as each was on a different ship and itinerary.  We never felt the need to change brands or try something different as we liked what they offered and it fit well with our family. 

 

By then we were pretty well involved with their loyalty program (which comparatively IMO is one of the best in the industry, if that is important to a cruiser) so we stayed with them and now are at a high tier level and enjoy the benefits that are provided.  That, however, has never been a primary driver in our choice - just a nice side benefit.

 

Eventually our family grew older and our cruising style changed so we started cruising with Celebrity, and continue to like that brand quite well also.  And having a reciprocal loyalty program - which is the only one in the industry - was icing on the cake in terms of the benefits we enjoy from that. 

 

We will likely try other brands now as we will have more time for extended cruising and more remote or exotic itineraries.  But Celebrity (followed by RCCL) remains our favorite.

 

But that's just our story.

Edited March 3, 2020 by leaveitallbehind

[leaveitallbehind]

9 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

Most loyalty programs aren't worth the thousands of dollars needed to achieve "top level" status.

 

Choose whatever line meets your itinerary and budget needs. If you accumulate status days/points, great. However,  intentionally pursuing "status" doesn't make much financial sense in most cases.

Agree in that it does make much sense to choose a line to then chase a loyalty status.  But the thousands you are spending on cruising over the years is essentially the same no matter with whom you cruise.  The loyalty program is part of any given cruise line's offerings and doesn't cost extra to be a part of.  So if you like the brand you choose to cruise with and you also attain a loyalty tier that provides benefits you enjoy, seems like a win / win.

 

But variety is the spice of life and I would not choose to stay with a given line simply based on their loyalty program.  I would cruise with those whose itinerary appeals to me at the time or service meets my expectations. But that being said, I see no reason to not remain with a given line if you like their brand and what it offers to you.

[VennDiagram]

50 minutes ago, Pale Gail Sails said:

What made you decide to try, or switch to a different cruise line?

 

I've tried a couple of lines because I needed to travel on specific dates.  I had a specific destination, and approved vacation days, so I took cruises that were going where I wanted to go, when I could go.

[KnowTheScore]

1 hour ago, Pale Gail Sails said:

I am interested in knowing how and why people decided to try different cruise lines.  . . .. What made you decide to try, or switch to a different cruise line?

 

For me it was the take-over of a long standing and great cruise line by a huge American cruise company which promptly set about making endless cuts and drastically changed the nature of the brand turning it from a semi-formal cruise line to a very informal cruise line.   Stuck it for some years but finally had enough of the cuts.  Now booked on a different cruise line (for 2021) for the first time in 15 years.

[cruisemom42]

Loyalty programs don't offer that much in the scheme of things. I book cruises mainly for the itinerary but am also picky about wanting smaller ships and a few other things. 

 

I have been cruising for nearly 50 years (started as a kid) and have not yet obtained a top loyalty level on any line -- that should tell you something about my cruising patterns and preferences! Of course, a couple of lines I've cruised along the way no longer exist...

 

 

[TNcruising02]

I definitely did not stick with one cruise line for the loyalty perks.  My first cruise was on Disney and then Carnival.  I have also cruised on Royal and Norwegian a couple of times each.  I will be cruising on Royal again in a few days and Carnival in April.  I am very happy that I chose to mix it up because each line is a different experience.  

My husband and I found that Carnival meets our needs for a cruise and we will reach their Platinum level on our next cruise. But that won't stop me from cruising on other lines based on what other family members prefer when we cruise with them.  I'm really looking forward to taking my teen grandson on Harmony of the Seas this weekend and think he will be amazed at all of the things he can do.  When it's just my husband and me, we are fine seeing comedy shows and relaxing.  We will enjoy the loyalty perks with Carnival, but it definitely isn't the reason we cruise with that line more often.

[crystalspin]

We like HAL. Incidentally we will attain 4 of 5 stars over our next long cruise. It will include free laundry and 50% off wine packages, so that's nice. 

 

We tried NCL, with negative experiences, and RCCL's Rhapsody OTS that we liked quite well. Now we are booked on HAL and Princess, each x2 -- if all sailings are a go. Trying Princess based on their sailing from our home port so no flights.

 

The point is, we are loyal to HAL because HAL continues to meet our wants and needs. Not for the loyalty program, which up to now has given us nothing of usefulness.

[getting older slowly]

We cruise for cruising,  it just happens, due the other half not flying, we are basically restricted to a couple of ports..

 

So this led to our first cruise with Princess... we love it, and joyed the ship and the vibe...

 

So we have stayed with princess, because we were happy ''

 

It just happens they give us loyalty thingos....and at the end of year, we get another different colored card..

 

It doesn't make any different to us.....  but i will take it.

 

Cheers Don

 

[ldubs]

Like a lot of others, we would look for a cruise in a certain region and then look for attractive pricing (there are  a few lines we avoid regardless of pricing).  

 

Seems like in the early days it was primarily Princess in Europe.  Now days it seems like it is either RCI or Celebrity regardless of the location.   It is kind of surprising we have yet to cruise on HAL.  I guess it is probably just that the timing hasn't lined up in HAL's  favor yet.     

 

PS: The perks are always nice, but not a deciding factor unless of course all other things are equal.  

Edited March 4, 2020 by ldubs

[Aquahound]

4 hours ago, Pale Gail Sails said:

I am interested in knowing how and why people decided to try different cruise lines.  I sailed on one line and then ended up on a different line because of an excellent sale. My third cruise was on a third line because of a specific itinerary. Before I knew it, I had completed five cruises on four different lines. Not the quickest way to accumulate status with any line. What made you decide to try, or switch to a different cruise line?

 

I used to be very loyal to Royal Caribbean.  I kept going back because I loved their ships, service, entertainment, etc.  Once I reached Diamond +, the perks were just the icing on the cake.  Then, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity created a reciprocity program with perks and I was automatically Elite on Celebrity.  So, we tried Celebrity and absolutely loved it.  

 

Long story short, it made us realize that new experiences were more enjoyable to us than great perks on familiar ships.  So we've since sailed NCL, Princess, Carnival, and Holland America.  Some were great, some not so much.  Nowadays, status plays no part in our booking decisions unless we can't decide between 2 or more cruises and it's the tipping point.

[hawk/hornfan]

I am not or never have been brand loyal. I choose our cruises based on where I want to go (itinerary), when I want to go (time of year), with a cabin choice I prefer(mid ship balcony), at a price that is acceptable to me. All things that my T/A knows. I have cruised CCL 4 times, RCI once, Princess once, HAL once, NCL one and done, and X once with 1 coming in November, I love the X brand. And once on the defunct Premier. I have never had a bad cruise, some were better than others. Would cruise all but NCL again. I would rather cruise CCL than NCL. For some reason CCL gets a bad rap, always had a great time on CCL.

[iancal]

We select based on ship, itinerary, and price.

 

We have some preferred cruise lines but even in that group there are ships we would not consider.

 

The loyalty benefits are minor to us.  We look for the best overall value on every cruise.

[donaldsc]

I pick my cruises based on itinerary, itinerary and then price.  I have no brand loyalty although I prefer smaller ships.  For this reason we have been cruising on Azamara recently because we like the smaller more intimate ships.  However, I would jump ship immediately if I got a better deal on an itinerary I like at a date I like and as long as the ship was smaller than around 1000 - 1500 passengers.  For me, all other things being approximately equal, the smaller the better.  One of the best cruises we ever took was on a Maine windjammer that held 22 people.  My best AK cruise was on a ship that held about 50 passengers.

 

I do understand the different strokes for different folks concept however.  

 

DON

Edited March 4, 2020 by donaldsc

[bonsai3s]

When we were much younger, we only cruised once a year...sometimes every couple of years.  We didn't have much money and not much vacation time.  It's simply what we can afford.  We were happy just to be cruising.

 

When we got a bit older, we were able to save more money...we cruised every year.  Then twice a year.  We could now sail different cruise lines.  We sailed Princess, Holland America, Carnival, Commodore, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Renaissance Cruises.  Renaissance, to this day was our favorite cruise line...small ship, great food, and breathtaking itinerary (South Pacific).  Regrettably, Renaissance Cruises went bankrupt.

 

We had absolutely no clue about "perks". 

 

We still remember the two most significant "cruising events" we had that changed our cruising habits.

* While cruising Princess, our friendly trivia teammate asked if I drank alcohol.  I said "yes".  The next trivia game, he gave me a plastic bag full of small liquor bottles.  He explained later that free liquor was one of his perks.  This was our first introduction to loyalty perks.

* A truly wonderful British friend, Gordon B., introduced us to Cruise Critic. Imagine us making a gazillion mistakes before Cruise Critic.  Thanks to the many experienced members here...we only make a few mistakes. Smile.

Critic Critic was/is a great source for perks and benefits.

 

Much older now, we have settled with primarily Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  We love the reciprocal perks and the products.  The free laundry is our favorite perk because we can now afford longer cruises.  We are blessed...life is good.

[Pale Gail Sails]

8 hours ago, hawk/hornfan said:

...

a cabin choice I prefer(mid ship balcony),

...

Great comment, cabin availability (type and location), are big factors in our decision to book a cruise but I wonder how often it influences the decision(s) of others. I will have to start a new thread.

[DarrenM]

I have only sailed with celebrity and Disney. And one of them was infested with horrible small creatures.

 

So I am sticking with celebrity because I like them.

[Joebucks]

Perks are nice, but they aren't the be-all-end-all.

 

Marketers know that people hold an incredible obsession over "free stuff" and will pay more to get it.

[ducklite]

We have cruised six times on four lines.  We didn't like two of the lines at all, and the third wasn't a good fit for us once our son was grown (Disney).  We found our niche with Windstar and will continue to sail them.  Until we exhaust all of the itineraries that we're interested in on Windstar (which should take 15-20 years) I don't see the point of trying something else when we're very happy with what we have.

 

That said, we will use AMA for some river cruises and National Geographic/Lindblad for some expedition sailings over the next couple of decades.

We don't chose based on perks, as typically those "perks" have little to no value to us.  A $4 bottle of wine in my stateroom and a cheap rhinestone pin is not going to make remain loyal to a line if we either didn't enjoy it or it didn't serve our purpose.

Edited March 4, 2020 by ducklite

[cruisemom42]

24 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Perks are nice, but they aren't the be-all-end-all.

 

Marketers know that people hold an incredible obsession over "free stuff" and will pay more to get it.

 

True. And in the last few years that same obsession has led to a proliferation of deals being offered with "included" perks packages like drinks, gratuities, free wi-fi -- which, if you really stop and do the math, often ends up costing more as a bundle than they would based on your ACTUAL utilization for many people. Sure, there are some who may toss down 14 free drinks daily (or whatever the tipping point is) in order to "break even", but I am not one of them.

 

However, I agree there is something to be said for a more all-inclusive atmosphere aboard ship. There's no commercial transaction every time you turn around, and I do find appreciate it and find it relaxing. Just don't fall prey to the mindset that you're getting something tossed in for free...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iancal]

What baffles us is posters who are brand loyal to the extent that the feel the need to defend their ‘brand’ against any criticism, or wax poetic about how good their brand is and how poor competing brands are.

 

The reality is that many of the brand names are homogeneous.  Inconsistency between sailings on the same ship or cruise line appear to be the rule rather than the exception.  It seems like a race to the bottom by all of them in order to cut costs.

 

Who on earth wants to be loyal to a brand offering of a multi national conglomerate that operates many ships under numerous brand names?    We keep reading on the various forums how one cruise line has so much better, and more personable service than another.  Our experience across numerous lines is that the service levels are excellent and almost indistinguishable between cruise lines.

Edited March 4, 2020 by iancal

[George C]

We do not book based on any type of loyalty, we tend to book same line for a while then want to try something different and try a different line, but normally return to rccl sooner or later because of entertainment.

[sanger727]

We cruise roughly every other year or so. Our cruises have been spread out over 4 lines so far. I suppose we could pick one line to focus on future cruises on but at the rate we cruise we will be retired before we get to any loyalty status that actually gets us anything and by then our cruising preferences may change or the loyalty benefits could be shifted/eliminated. So, achieving loyalty has no been and probably won't become a motivating factor for us.