Celebrity Captain's Club Changes June 2021

[maggie.1008]

I am sorry there will not be elite happy hour in the lounge, especially when we could bring a cabin mate that was not elite. 

[Loracpin2]

According to this latest update, and in case I missed seeing it, 240 free internet minutes has been eliminated from Elite plus perks. There is now a 35% discount.

[wrk2cruise]

It's still there in the chart.  You get the discount and the minutes.   So even if you have AI surf package you will still be entitled to your CC stream minutes.

 

[wrk2cruise]

The only things I saw as removed from the chart were priorty embarkation and mention of MC/Retreat lounge as that is the current state of things when sailings restart.   I believe this is all much about nothing.  The big news was last November.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I have to say, I am underwhelmed.

[CAicruiser]

51 minutes ago, HskrCrsr said:

Am I missing something? As with Viperfoth, I see nothing different today from what has been there since November. I also have copies of the chart pre- and post-AI but I don't see anything different today compared to months ago. Even the wording for Zenith to get a complimentary Premium Bev Package is the same.

 

Gelato is no different, either.

 

I am aware of the changes in November. Can someone please point to something that changed recently?

 

Note: earlier today, the link to "View All Benefits" did not work, so something changed, but it works now and just gives me the same stuff as before.

 

And the Retreat Lounge change was announced long ago, too, with the potential for this to be temporary. I am also optimistic it will be brought back for Zenith when COVID is not such a concern. 

Read my lips I only see zeniths be allowed back to Retreat Lounge if they found out Zeniths stop cruising Celebrity.

[jelayne]

The things we use, laundry and priority tendering, are still in tack.  The addition of a new event is interesting but will be a one & done most likely.
 

The thing I find most interesting is the reciprocal status with Azamara.  It was my understanding that in the near future points accursed on one would no longer add to the other and  that if you had not previously sailed on Azamara only Celebrity then you would not have status.  See the 3rd Q & A

[Orator]

7 minutes ago, CAicruiser said:

Read my lips I only see zeniths be allowed back to Retreat Lounge if they found out Zeniths stop cruising Celebrity.

You are absolutely correct in my case. This to me is a brilliant strategy to get rid of Zeniths.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Orator

[HskrCrsr]

10 minutes ago, CAicruiser said:

Read my lips I only see zeniths be allowed back to Retreat Lounge if they found out Zeniths stop cruising Celebrity.

Read my post. Not sure how yours even remotely addresses what I asked.

[cruising teacher]

4 minutes ago, Orator said:

You are absolutely correct in my case.

In my case too!

[bajathree]

7 minutes ago, Orator said:

You are absolutely correct in my case. This to me is a brilliant strategy to get rid of Zeniths.

I agree about the suites lounges.....I believe this is how Royal and Celebrity will end loyalty access to suite only areas.

[hcat]

Looks to me like most of the  valued perks are gone except for  a bag of laundry.

What remains requires expenditure of funds to get a discount applied....not  really the same as a  loyalty perk or anything very special.

 

We have a suite booked for our January  cruise ( under Lift and Shift) ..so loss of our E plus benefits  hopefully shoudn't have a huge impact.  We will  take  that cruise  only if  they accept our large fcc towards payment..if not we'll write it off as a loss.

 

Either way  X is over and done for us.  We had great cruises with accrued loyalty perks over many years. Time to seek out new  vacation options  for the future, making room for the New Celebrity Cruisers !

[marieps]

We don't need any of the "discounts."  We really only use the laundry and the internet minutes.  We may take advantage of the $20 pressing since we have so much OBC and little of interest to spend it on.  

[MamaFej]

58 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The things we use, laundry and priority tendering, are still in tack.  The addition of a new event is interesting but will be a one & done most likely.
 

The thing I find most interesting is the reciprocal status with Azamara.  It was my understanding that in the near future points accursed on one would no longer add to the other and  that if you had not previously sailed on Azamara only Celebrity then you would not have status.  See the 3rd Q & A

Bummer! I had made a point of creating Azamara accounts for us to take advantage of reciprocity. 

 

Granted, neither line owes us a darn thing, but we had been happy to see that our Celebrity points had carried over. I guess they won't actually be worth anything, after all. 

 

In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal, but it would have been nice to have some built-in "status" with Azamara, now that our post-retirement schedules will allow for more flexibility, and we are able/willing to try Azamara. 

[mahdnc]

I am not disappointed because I was not expecting much.

[jelayne]

13 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

I am not disappointed because I was not expecting much.

I so agree.  We don’t cruise to get points, we appreciate any CC benefit that we use, but never expect every benefit of every loyalty program we are enrolled into work for us.  

[mahdnc]

7 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I so agree.  We don’t cruise to get points, we appreciate any CC benefit that we use, but never expect every benefit of every loyalty program we are enrolled into work for us.  

 

Sometimes I chuckle when I think about having paid $35 to join the Captains Club back in 1996.  

[jelayne]

7 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Sometimes I chuckle when I think about having paid $35 to join the Captains Club back in 1996.  

Too funny!  We joined when there was no charge, so a hidden benefit we received😉

[cantstopingcruising]

19 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Sometimes I chuckle when I think about having paid $35 to join the Captains Club back in 1996.  

Didn't we get a refund?

[mahdnc]

43 minutes ago, cantstopingcruising said:

Didn't we get a refund?

 

When Celebrity dropped the fee, they sent all legacy Captain’s Club members a $50 coupon that could be used to reduce the cruise fare for your next booking. We were unable to use it before the expiration date.   

[ipeeinthepool]

8 hours ago, hcat said:

Looks to me like most of the  valued perks are gone except for  a bag of laundry.

What remains requires expenditure of funds to get a discount applied....not  really the same as a  loyalty perk or anything very special.

 

We have a suite booked for our January  cruise ( under Lift and Shift) ..so loss of our E plus benefits  hopefully shoudn't have a huge impact.  We will  take  that cruise  only if  they accept our large fcc towards payment..if not we'll write it off as a loss.

 

Either way  X is over and done for us.  We had great cruises with accrued loyalty perks over many years. Time to seek out new  vacation options  for the future, making room for the New Celebrity Cruisers !

 

I really don't see any big changes.  Exactly which E+ benefit loss was the deal breaker for you? 

[ipeeinthepool]

10 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

The only things I saw as removed from the chart were priorty embarkation and mention of MC/Retreat lounge as that is the current state of things when sailings restart.   I believe this is all much about nothing.  The big news was last November.

 

 Do you think the deletion of priority embarkation is related to new boarding procedures?  Perhaps the intent is to allow everyone to board the ship after check-in and eliminate the holding lounges in the terminal.  This may indicate a later time for check-in to start or a real move toward designated boarding times.

[Turtles06]

33 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

 Do you think the deletion of priority embarkation is related to new boarding procedures?  

 
I had the same thought, since it was such a big omission.  

[wrk2cruise]

1 hour ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

 Do you think the deletion of priority embarkation is related to new boarding procedures?  Perhaps the intent is to allow everyone to board the ship after check-in and eliminate the holding lounges in the terminal.  This may indicate a later time for check-in to start or a real move toward designated boarding times.

 

Absolutely.   I thought they were going to  strictly enforce the boarding times to control flow in terminal.  It looks like we are going to have to wait for the first few cruises to hear what the boarding process is really like.  I guess Celebrity has decided to not communicate anything regarding new protocols!

[hcat]

2 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I really don't see any big changes.  Exactly which E+ benefit loss was the deal breaker for you? 

It's  the whole package about Celeb that has changed under Royal, plus a changing demographic.  We have missed priority boarding, priority disembarkation.... small special parties and  events on board.  Now it's all for the masses unless in suites..

 

  We  enjoyed a small country club feel  to Hawaii, Alaska , Panama,   Canada   Europe ,  east coast, west coast etc... many years of pampering and great cuisine 

 

Now it just seems like a  Vegas clone ... not wrong but wrong for us. Nothing special in perks  for anyone but suite guests,  and  we noticed that even Concierge perks overtook AQ Class..our long time fav booking.

 

Used to love the Island music vibe   and parties in the Carib...all long gone.

 

We are enjoying our Fla vacation home visits ,  and Sandals ( suite/ concierge level) where guests are pampered starting from airport arrival.

 

So we will move on..maybe try another cruise line but not as " regulars".