from C&A - Redesigned, New, and Fresh Program Gifts and Onboard Amenities are coming in 2023

[truffles2]

19 hours ago, Coralc said:

I appreciate the communication being posted. We didn't receive it. ☺️

I didnt get it either😟

[njkruzer]

13 minutes ago, truffles2 said:

I didnt get it either😟

Found it in the newsletter. 

[NateUpNorth]

24 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Tell me what MSC, CCL or Norwegian offer you as enticements.  What does their loyalty program do for you?

 

We're talking RCL here. I don't know what other lines offer.... but the point is there's no incentive to stop me (or others) from thinking about finding out based on the "stay loyal to us" program RCL is running. And that is a realization the C&A team is employed to navigate around.

 

We're at 31 nights, by now they should have me hooked. They don't. Perhaps we're the exception? I don't know. 

The family we last travelled with is in the 20's and they came away saying "maybe CCL next time"

 

I'm not trying to be confrontational, this is just the reality.

"The ships sail full right now" and "Enjoy other lines, bye" are not sound business plans.

[soremekun]

It would be nice if we could make our selections during check in.

[audome78]

10 hours ago, island lady said:

Oh dear...every time there is an "enhancement".....it is usually never an improvement.  Sigh...

 

We get bottles of wine...though the selections they send to our cabin...never seem to be what is on our list.  They replace those choices with whatever they have on board...and some of the stuff is pretty bad (getting rid of old inventory).   Sooo...I guess the enhancement will still be same old...same old.  😛

Sorry, but I don't let them get away with this. Inferior wines are returned to the concierge and the correct replacements, or better are requested.

[BND]

49 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Hear me out.

Average family takes 1 big vacation a year. 7 or 8 nights.

Diamond is 80 nights.

The "loyalty" program basically says "give us 10 years of your vacation time and then we'll toss a few drinks your way"

If that IS the enticement to stay loyal to royal.... it's garbage. Good luck to them. And this is from a fan of RCL.

 

No offense but if you're already Diamond, Diamond+, Pinnacle.... you're likely locked in.

The "loyalty" the corporate coffers need is from the lower levels. What in the Gold, Platinum, Emerald categories screams  "don't shop MSC, or CCL or Norwegian" to you?

 

Yes the ships are full but they need a way to make sure it's not 6000 one and done passengers each sailing.... times how many ships fleetwide?

Maybe a "loyalty" revamp will help.... can't hurt.

It doesn't have to take anywhere near 10 years. Pretty sure we made D in about 4.  Also, with double points that was offered last year, we did a 20 night b2b in a JS and got 80 points.   There had to be a few families that made D quickly with the double point incentive.  We're now 157 points away from Pinn. Prior to the restart we were just over 350.

Edited December 23, 2022 by BND

[Starry Eyes]

30 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Hear me out.

Average family takes 1 big vacation a year. 7 or 8 nights.

Diamond is 80 nights.

The "loyalty" program basically says "give us 10 years of your vacation time and then we'll toss a few drinks your way"

If that IS the enticement to stay loyal to royal.... it's garbage. Good luck to them. And this is from a fan of RCL.

 

No offense but if you're already Diamond, Diamond+, Pinnacle.... you're likely locked in.

The "loyalty" the corporate coffers need is from the lower levels. What in the Gold, Platinum, Emerald categories screams  "don't shop MSC, or CCL or Norwegian" to you?

 

Yes the ships are full but they need a way to make sure it's not 6000 one and done passengers each sailing.... times how many ships fleetwide?

Maybe a "loyalty" revamp will help.... can't hurt.

No offense but the newbies are drawn to Royal Caribbean by the awesome ships.  They design the ships to attract young families and it works really, really well.  If a newbie family is only doing one big vacation a year, that family has many options to weigh and, frankly, should not be swayed by the relatively small benefits any cruiseline loyalty program might offer.  Go pick the best once a year vacation for your family and make the best memories you can that week.  If that vacation happens to be Royal Caribbean enough times, the points will gradually build up.  Some infrequent cruisers book junior suites or full suites, thus moving up the loyalty program at twice the speed.

Those of us who D, D+, or Pinnacle are not “locked in” to Royal Caribbean, LOL.  We just love to cruise.  Many of us have been cruising for many years and/or are retired.  Plenty of us cruise other lines, too.

 

There’s no risk of a shop with 6000 “one and done” passengers.  On the mega ships I’ve been on lately over 50% of the passengers are returning guests.  Of course some people only cruise once; cruising is not for everyone.  Of course some people will switch (or switch back) to a different cruiseline.  
 

[NateUpNorth]

2 minutes ago, BND said:

It doesn't have to take anywhere near 10 years. Pretty sure we made D in about 4.  Also, with double points that was offered last year, we did a 20 night b2b in a JS and got 80 points.   There had to be a few families that made D quickly with the double point incentive.

 

No offense, and with respect and sincerity..... "20 night b2b in a JS" is not your typical RCL passenger. 

 

I'm just giving the perspective of the slow and steady once a year cruiser. Which I suspect is the majority of the clientele.

[BonTexasNY]

3 hours ago, NateUpNorth said:

From a lowly Gold who turned Platinum on Sunday, and who just filled out my post cruise survey.... I included the commentary that the C&A rewards are no incentive whatsoever below Diamond.

So whilst those in our category appreciate being regaled with tales of free booze and tote bags and bath towels....... perhaps they're gonna do something to entice those down in steerage to stick with RCL to actually get to the Diamond level? I won't hold my breath!

I'm Emerald and enjoy the $125 balcony discount I received when I became Platinum.  I'll be 11 points away from Diamond after our 2 cruises in 2023.  I don't cruise to rack up points to become Diamond.  If I reach it, fine.  If not, I'll still enjoy whatever future cruises we book.  And congrats on becoming Platinum.  Enjoy your balcony discount if that's what you usually book.

[BND]

3 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

No offense, and with respect and sincerity..... "20 night b2b in a JS" is not your typical RCL passenger. 

 

I'm just giving the perspective of the slow and steady once a year cruiser. Which I suspect is the majority of the clientele.

Point is double points made a lot of new D and aboves and that includes families.

[Starry Eyes]

14 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

We're talking RCL here. I don't know what other lines offer.... but the point is there's no incentive to stop me (or others) from thinking about finding out based on the "stay loyal to us" program RCL is running. And that is a realization the C&A team is employed to navigate around.

 

We're at 31 nights, by now they should have me hooked. They don't. Perhaps we're the exception? I don't know. 

The family we last travelled with is in the 20's and they came away saying "maybe CCL next time"

 

I'm not trying to be confrontational, this is just the reality.

"The ships sail full right now" and "Enjoy other lines, bye" are not sound business plans.

Maybe they should try CCL.  We tried them once years ago.  It did not suit us; it felt like we were on somebody’s else’s cruiseline.  HAL felt way too old when we tried them, but we have aged.  I’m still not sure we want to go back to HAL.  OTOH, we have been happy on NCL, Celebrity and Princess.  We’d happily sail with them again.  Sometimes you need to sail a different line to know what suits.

[Tree_skier]

4 hours ago, NateUpNorth said:

From a lowly Gold who turned Platinum on Sunday, and who just filled out my post cruise survey.... I included the commentary that the C&A rewards are no incentive whatsoever below Diamond.

So whilst those in our category appreciate being regaled with tales of free booze and tote bags and bath towels....... perhaps they're gonna do something to entice those down in steerage to stick with RCL to actually get to the Diamond level? I won't hold my breath!

Balcony discount saved me money at both Platinum and Emerald.  It wasn't huge but it was something,.

[NateUpNorth]

7 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

No offense but the newbies are drawn to Royal Caribbean by the awesome ships.  They design the ships to attract young families and it works really, really well.  If a newbie family is only doing one big vacation a year, that family has many options to weigh and, frankly, should not be swayed by the relatively small benefits any cruiseline loyalty program might offer.  Go pick the best once a year vacation for your family and make the best memories you can that week.  If that vacation happens to be Royal Caribbean enough times, the points will gradually build up.  Some infrequent cruisers book junior suites or full suites, thus moving up the loyalty program at twice the speed.

I agree completely with your sentiments. The point I'm making is if the company IS looking to swing people to RCL over an AI or other lines.... this program currently isn't doing that. I don't think marketing operates on "If it happens to be us that's great"!

7 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Those of us who D, D+, or Pinnacle are not “locked in” to Royal Caribbean, LOL.  We just love to cruise.  Many of us have been cruising for many years and/or are retired.  Plenty of us cruise other lines, too.

Again I understand completely. From a corporate profits standpoint the goal should be enticing people to get there. The "loyalty" rewards under discussion don't do that. The ships.... sure they do.

7 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

 

There’s no risk of a shop with 6000 “one and done” passengers.  On the mega ships I’ve been on lately over 50% of the passengers are returning guests.  Of course some people only cruise once; cruising is not for everyone.  Of course some people will switch (or switch back) to a different cruiseline.  
 

 

Yep. But again I don't think RCL marketing and finance are employed to bo OK with that.

[NateUpNorth]

12 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Maybe they should try CCL.  We tried them once years ago.  It did not suit us; it felt like we were on somebody’s else’s cruiseline.  HAL felt way too old when we tried them, but we have aged.  I’m still not sure we want to go back to HAL.  OTOH, we have been happy on NCL, Celebrity and Princess.  We’d happily sail with them again.  Sometimes you need to sail a different line to know what suits.

 

Agree completely, however as I've said, C&A dept would be fired if that was their strategy. I seem to have opened a can of worms here. lol

[NateUpNorth]

10 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Balcony discount saved me money at both Platinum and Emerald.  It wasn't huge but it was something,.

Honest question, learning here, is it combinable with all the "dynamic sales"?

[Biker19]

Just now, NateUpNorth said:

Honest question, learning here, is it combinable with all the "dynamic sales"?

Combinability of the balcony discount depends on the kind of sale is going on and sometimes is a partial amount.

[Tree_skier]

15 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Agree completely, however as I've said, C&A dept would be fired if that was their strategy. I seem to have opened a can of worms here. lol

I agree that outside of the balcony discount there is little benefit from the loyalty program at gold, platinum or emerald.  However, the incentive  to reach diamond is the incentive. If that makes sense?  By the time you reach emerald or platinum you have obviously decided you like the product enough to cruise get beyond 30 nights.  The product keeps people coming back, the benefits that they will achieve at diamond incentivize the loyalty.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Tree_skier

[Coralc]

19 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Maybe they should try CCL.  We tried them once years ago.  It did not suit us; it felt like we were on somebody’s else’s cruiseline.  HAL felt way too old when we tried them, but we have aged.  I’m still not sure we want to go back to HAL.  OTOH, we have been happy on NCL, Celebrity and Princess.  We’d happily sail with them again.  Sometimes you need to sail a different line to know what suits.

We didn't like it. The old Carnival Jubilee was decorated like a Bordello. Not, that we have ever been in a Bordello. It was very gaudy. And there were a bunch of mostly weather related and ship power and plumbing problems with the cruise. Haven't been back. 

[Tree_skier]

14 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Honest question, learning here, is it combinable with all the "dynamic sales"?

I have 6 future cruises with Royal booked.  The next two are in suites and there wasn't any benefit because of other discounts that supplanted the C&A benefit.  However, of the four remaining, they are balcony cabins and all four have a discount of $226 that I would not have received had I not been Diamond. That is good value to me.  Had I been platinum or emerald and not diamond the discount would be less but it would still be a discount. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Combinability of the balcony discount depends on the kind of sale is going on and sometimes is a partial amount.

When booking group space through my TA I always get the full amount and the TA's price is always better than the best sale Royal ever puts on.  It is a rare thing that I need to get a price reduction since booking this way.

[gerig]

Still waiting for my oasis of the seas glass block that was ordered May 2022.

 

[Tree_skier]

I do have to admit that I find it amusing reading all the hand wringing over the sure to degraded benefits.  I think that recent evidence (4,5,6 drink vouchers) indicates that change can be a very good thing.  

 

In an a possible upcoming environment where disposable income may be more limited disincentivizing your established and loyal base is foolish.  I don't think they are foolish.

[jamon]

Will be interesting to see what these will be.

[Starry Eyes]

32 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

I agree completely with your sentiments. The point I'm making is if the company IS looking to swing people to RCL over an AI or other lines.... this program currently isn't doing that. I don't think marketing operates on "If it happens to be us that's great"!

Again I understand completely. From a corporate profits standpoint the goal should be enticing people to get there. The "loyalty" rewards under discussion don't do that. The ships.... sure they do.

 

Yep. But again I don't think RCL marketing and finance are employed to bo OK with that.

People are bound to sail other lines at some point for a variety of reasons.  Curiosity, to join friends, a theme cruise, a change of pace for the frequent cruiser, an itinerary Royal doesn’t offer (or not at the right time, a bargain price, etc. So many cruise lines, so many reasons.  It is not cost effective to design a loyalty program that will effectively sway most people from trying other lines.  They are instead offering great ships that will attract new and returning cruisers.  Look at the other ships; book Royal Caribbean if it is the best choice for you.
 

Though you have not bothered to compare it, Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program is excellent compared to others.  You simply don’t get much at the low levels of cruise loyalty programs.  As all the cruiseline do that, they may be correct (or, your argument might be self-serving)

[Exuma Girl]

Where do you pick which amenity you want?