loyalty and benefits

[Knickearth]

Just read an entire article  on how Royal Caribbean really believes in loyalty and offers benefits to keep passengers returning.  I know Princess has always been like  that AND  that Princess benefits were generally the best there was.   Now we are all learning of a  new Princess mentality and I wonder how this may affect repeat customers.  As an elite member, I have not been very happy with the changes in our benefits.  Feels like most were taken away and now we pay something or other for them.  I personally know a lot of elites who are now considering other cruise lines (and the itineraries) because they feel so let down.

 

Thanks for listening

[pris993]

We started our cruising with Royal Caribbean, Song of American in early l980s.  When RCCL started building bigger ships and we toured a ship in SF, found new cabins smaller and twin beds subsize, we left and never went back.   Have seen some RCCL ships in port, would guess a good option for families but not for us as seniors.  We have cruised 9 lines over the years, including Celebrity, Holland America, Crystal, Cunard and NCL, plus a few lines no longer around.  Don't know how these lines compare post pandemic but before Princess attention to customer service on board beat the others out for us.  I understand how you feel losing benefits, we are also elite, going on our 31st Princess cruise in December.    For now, we will stick with Princess, do believe it is going to take more time for all cruise lines to fully recover from the pandemic.  Plus, I have no interest in flying at all, airlines seem to be in worst shape than the cruise lines.  For now, I can take Princess out of my home port of San Francisco and that works for me.   

[geoherb]

My brother and his wife are Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean. Our Elite benefits are still better than what they receive, other than the drink vouchers being better than our minibar, especially for longer cruises, since they get five vouchers for free drinks per day and not just one setup for an entire cruise. They don't get any internet discount or laundry benefits. 

[LACruiser88]

It is unfortunate that loyalty benefits have definitely taken a hit.  But, we still value the Princess itineraries and their overall pricing.  And, having cruised other lines, we feel strongly that they have the friendliest and hardest working crews.

[Moondogy]

Princess is still the only line I know of that takes care of veterans. The only way I'd consider switching is if other cruise lines followed suit for vets.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

My brother and his wife are Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean. Our Elite benefits are still better than what they receive, other than the drink vouchers being better than our minibar, especially for longer cruises, since they get five vouchers for free drinks per day and not just one setup for an entire cruise. They don't get any internet discount or laundry benefits. 

This is exactly why we left RCCL also.

Drink vouchers were okay for us, but

really didn’t like the huge amusement park ships.  They charge for almost all of the activities and the lines are horrendous.  But, if we still had young children, then maybe. 
We still prefer Princess. 

[mtnesterz]

 

16 minutes ago, Moondogy said:

Princess is still the only line I know of that takes care of veterans. The only way I'd consider switching is if other cruise lines followed suit for vets.

Sure they do! Here you go:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2547

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by mtnesterz

[memoak]

The only perk I really miss is the loyalty OCB. Mini bar and laundry are great perks and since we always sail with Plus packages that takes care of WiFi and drinks

[cruzsnooze]

Besides preferring the drink vouchers every day I prefer the cabins on RCL. All cabins have a love seat whereas Princess did away with the barrel chairs leaving no place to sit but the desk.  That stated I prefer the more adult environment and less children on Princess. I prefer the buffet on RCL since it much bigger with a greater variety. I am Diamond Plus on RCL and Elite tier on Princess so I've cruised a good amount on both.

  One area I absolutely love on RCL is the self serve coke machines. Many times on Princess when I order a diet coke with the soda package the fountain coke comes in a glass and I can taste it's regular coke and usually very watered down with melted ice. I no longer waste my money on a soda package and bring a 12 pack of cans to supplement the complimentary mini bar. 

  Both cruise lines have their good and bad and I'd sail either one and enjoy it. 

[Ombud]

I have never been to the buffet nor will I as I have an issue with portion control. By having the ship limit my portions I stay within my healthy BMI. range. But this thread has me wondering if RCL could be a fit. My questions are: does RCL have:

- classical & modern jazz / blue grass music

- full productions with my generations music not my parents (1980s)

- expansive piazza

- found my answer re: apparently not better wifi (https://justuseapp.com/en/app/1260728016/royal-caribbean-international/problems) 

 

[Moondogy]

4 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

 

Sure they do! Here you go:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2547

 

Thanks, RCCL's is a joke. I have 2 Carnival cruises, that's enough for us on that line. I may have to look into HAL.

 

[mtnesterz]

4 minutes ago, Moondogy said:

Thanks, RCCL's is a joke. I have 2 Carnival cruises, that's enough for us on that line. I may have to look into HAL.

USAF Vet. BTW. One and done with both Carnival and RCCL. Interested in reading others opinions on which lines to try from here. HAL is a train ride to San Diego, but would go if I read enough positive.  Like to near about Cunard too.

@Ombud I mentioned one and done with RCL.  Seems like every day I got my excercise heading to the customer service desk over some problem, plumbing, wrong thing delivered to cabin... The ship, "felt," crowded. If you want to try an RCL family product, Celebrity is more on a level with Princess. Be forewarned, the food is really, really good.

[JimmyVWine]

This thread shows just how difficult it is for a company to build a desirable loyalty program. Everyone values different things. (That is an observation, not a complaint.) Some like OBC. Others are lured by soda machines. Some by veterans’ benefits. Or minibar setups. Fluffy towels. Canapés. Cocktail receptions. Ultimately the brain trust sits around a conference room table (or Zoom call) pontificating about what the company can provide that gives the appearance of caring but that doesn’t actually cost anything. Loyalty perks are often the Cracker Jack prize of the adult world. 

[NRWPA]

Just wanted to note - I am elite with Princess and diamond plus with Royal Caribbean. There are some additional benefits for diamond plus from Royal that you get on the ships. Those benefits are not listed online but a letter from the Loyalty Ambassador is in your cabin that gives the full list. They include a free bag of laundry, one free photo, a buy one get one specialty dining (for me, going solo, I get one full price and second one on a different night free), 2 free days internet, and several other bennies. That said, I still prefer Princess somewhat and am leaving tomorrow for 2 weeks on CB 😉

[capriccio]

5 hours ago, Moondogy said:

Princess is still the only line I know of that takes care of veterans. The only way I'd consider switching is if other cruise lines followed suit for vets.

MSC offers a 5 to 10% discount depending on cabin category to active and retired US and Canadian military plus local, state and federal civil servants:

 

Terms and Conditions

 

Up to a 10% discount can be applied to the prevailing market and/or promotional rates based on ship sailing date chosen. 10% off is applicable on select Balcony, Suites and YC1 staterooms; 5% discount is applicable on select Interior and Ocean View staterooms. Discount rates apply to all to active and retired U.S. and Canadian military, civil service and interline personnel and their spouses, dependent children, parents, and parents-in-law.  (https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-deals/military-discount-rates)

 

 

 

 

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, mtnesterz said:

Be forewarned, the food is really, really good.

I am on a special diet on the ships,  vegetarian with allergies, so I'm a really poor judge of food quality. I'd be happy with plenty of raw produce & coffee with heavy cream

 

But I really should give Celebrity a try again (last voyage with them was a disaster)

 

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Ombud

[Moondogy]

7 hours ago, capriccio said:

MSC offers a 5 to 10% discount depending on cabin category to active and retired US and Canadian military plus local, state and federal civil servants:

 

Terms and Conditions

 

Up to a 10% discount can be applied to the prevailing market and/or promotional rates based on ship sailing date chosen. 10% off is applicable on select Balcony, Suites and YC1 staterooms; 5% discount is applicable on select Interior and Ocean View staterooms. Discount rates apply to all to active and retired U.S. and Canadian military, civil service and interline personnel and their spouses, dependent children, parents, and parents-in-law.  (https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-deals/military-discount-rates)

 

 

 

 

Thanks, but as I am retired, I didn't retire from the military. It doesn't say veterans just retired and active. Not sure about them, but other companies that state that means it's only for those retired from the military.

[amajaa]

13 hours ago, Moondogy said:

Princess is still the only line I know of that takes care of veterans. The only way I'd consider switching is if other cruise lines followed suit for vets.

 

13 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

 

Sure they do! Here you go:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2547

 

Apart from those both P & O and Cunard give OBC to military and veterans so I assume all of the Carnival brands probably do as well. Similar amounts to Princess except P & O is in GBP

 

One of the small things I was looking forward to when we got to Elite was the priority embarkation unfortunately that didn’t happen at all on our last cruise and there was no Elite area to wait which people had previously posted about. 

[Jadn13]

15 hours ago, Moondogy said:

Princess is still the only line I know of that takes care of veterans. The only way I'd consider switching is if other cruise lines followed suit for vets.

Holland has added a Veterans benefit that can also be combined with shareholder OBC

[capriccio]

2 hours ago, Moondogy said:

Thanks, but as I am retired, I didn't retire from the military. It doesn't say veterans just retired and active. Not sure about them, but other companies that state that means it's only for those retired from the military.

Good point! 

 

Maybe the specific information will be useful to someone else.

 

We used it as my DH is a retired fed.  Our daughter. a county employed public school teacher, and our daughter-in-law, a county employee, haven't used it yet but hope to in the future.

[Sea Hag]

9 hours ago, Ombud said:

I am on a special diet on the ships,  vegetarian with allergies, so I'm a really poor judge of food quality. I'd be happy with plenty of raw produce & coffee with heavy cream

 

But I really should give Celebrity a try again (last voyage with them was a disaster)

 

 

We probably should give Celebrity another try too. We only sailed with them once, and while it wasn't a disaster, we were completely underwhelmed. The cabin was nice, but the food was disappointing. The best thing I had all week was braised shortribs, and the waiter tried earnestly to talk me out of it. 😂

[Adventures ahead]

We've been on several RCI, one Carnival, one HAL and a Scenic river cruise. Sticking with Princess even though Elite perks are missing. Due to losses over the pandemic, we're not surprised that changes needed to be made. We buy Standard fare so the perks are still good for us, and now excursions (a new perk if we chose to book through Princess) are 10% off.

After only one HAL (obviously nothing to do with loyalty perks), we said if we lived to be 100 we'd never be "old enough" to go on another!

[bjkTX]

17 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

 

Sure they do! Here you go:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2547

 

I'm sure some of the other cruise line benefits are good - but the few times we strayed from Princess (where we get a discounted fare from our TA that I haven't been able to get on another line, the $100 military OBC and the $100 shareholder OBC) we have found that the "discounted military" fares cost more than whatever special is going on at the time - and you can't get both - so we have ended up not using the "military" discount - so far.

[XBGuy]

Like a previous poster, I like being able to drive to the port and get on the ship.  40 years in the corporate world provided enough miserable airport/airline experience for me.  The last few years we have cruised exclusively on Princess.  We are Elite level, but I can't say that loss of Elite benefits would discourage me from trying another line.  

 

However, there is one Princess benefit that I absolutely love, and it is not even related to the Captain's Circle program.  I am a wine guy, and I love being able to bring my own wine on board.  I am very OK with the Princess corkage policy.  I think that is eminently fair.  Also, I might add, Mrs. XBGuy and I still manage to order a significant amount of wine from the wine list at various venues on the Princess ships.

[93yearsyoung]

I signed up to comment on CC recently, but have been reading the boards for a long time and these type threads amuse me, although not as much as "what can I wear on Formal Night" threads.

 

We too are Elite and none of the lost benefits effect us that much, certainly not enough to storm off to another line where I might have zero benefits. I appreciate the struggle these companies are going through to stay alive

 

If there were zero benefits I'd still choose Princess first because we can drive to the pier.

Edited July 9, 2022 by 93yearsyoung