C&A Changes?

[Airbear232]

We were on EOS out if Trieste on May 21st.  One evening I was at Guest Services and the couple before me was told that going forward children under 18 would no longer accumulate C&A points.  They would share their parent’s status until 18 at which time the “clock” would start for them.

 

Given the number of things I’ve been told by GS in the past, I’ve taken it with a grain of salt.  
 

Has anyone heard anything similar?

[firefly333]

Sounds a bit muddled but basically what it has been. Children share their parents status until they turn 18. So if both are diamond, child is 17, turns 18, if they did t earn diamond on their own, then they stay diamond but their own earned pts are tracked. Their status doesnt change until they earn it once they turn 18, .. no more status match to parents. 

 

Not sure what you overheard that you think is different tbh.

[Another_Critic]

May be miscommunication/misunderstanding.  Kids do not accumulate points unless they sail.

[nelblu]

Not sure that is much of a change. The children retain the parent’s tier level up until their 18 birthday and must earn the required points/nights on their own to the next tier level.  
 

They must sail to earn points. 

[Rackham]

To rephrase OP, since other posters appear to have read the post differently, (unless I'm misunderstanding Airbear232) what they overheard was passengers under 18 will no longer earn C&A points for any sailing. Instead, they have the same status as their parents until their 18th birthday. On their 18th birthday, their status starts at 0 C&A points (or the amount of points they had prior to this change) with the equivalent status for the points they do have.

 

I haven't heard anything like this, but it wouldn't surprise me. Since status is kept for life, Royal's going to want people to earn the status as full fare customers over time instead of at a discounted rate thanks to starting as children. 10+ years as adults buying onboard upcharges, such as alcohol, is worth more than 10+ years as children with their parents buying soda packages and discounted shore excursions.

[Ourusualbeach]

Loyalty ambassadors on board can't even get the policy right, I'm not placing a whole lot of stock in what someone at guest services states.

[robmtx]

Our 18yr old's online account and Set Sail Pass are both still showing "Diamond Plus" so he hasn't been reset...yet. We sail Friday. I wonder if it's based on time of booking, as he was 17 when we booked this upcoming cruise.  Or perhaps we're in for a surprise when we get onboard and discover he has been reset and it's just not showing correctly in the App.

 

Although it wouldn't be surprising if he is reset, and Royal IT just doesn't show that online yet. He has a soda package with internet, so I don't think he'll miss any of the other perks. We shall see Friday. 

[topnole]

20 minutes ago, robmtx said:

Our 18yr old's online account and Set Sail Pass are both still showing "Diamond Plus" so he hasn't been reset...yet. We sail Friday. I wonder if it's based on time of booking, as he was 17 when we booked this upcoming cruise.  Or perhaps we're in for a surprise when we get onboard and discover he has been reset and it's just not showing correctly in the App.

 

Although it wouldn't be surprising if he is reset, and Royal IT just doesn't show that online yet. He has a soda package with internet, so I don't think he'll miss any of the other perks. We shall see Friday. 

Status doesn’t get reset.  Once they are D+ by cruising with you as a child, they keep that status for life.  

[topnole]

16 hours ago, Airbear232 said:

We were on EOS out if Trieste on May 21st.  One evening I was at Guest Services and the couple before me was told that going forward children under 18 would no longer accumulate C&A points.  They would share their parent’s status until 18 at which time the “clock” would start for them.

 

Given the number of things I’ve been told by GS in the past, I’ve taken it with a grain of salt.  
 

Has anyone heard anything similar?

Makes zero sense.  Why would they give them status of parents, but not points when they actually cruise.  I’m quite sure there was miscommunication in whatever you think you overheard.  

[robmtx]

14 minutes ago, topnole said:

Status doesn’t get reset.  Once they are D+ by cruising with you as a child, they keep that status for life.  

Ahh ok thanks for clarifying. 

[moposh]

Minors should still earn points if they cruise.  Haven't heard this before.

[smokeybandit]

They'd basically be discouraging bookings by changing the system to not count for minors. 

[Airbear232]

For clarification, the gist of the discussion was that children going forward would not earn points.  They would benefit from their parent's tier until they were 18 at which time "the clock" would reset for them and they would start accumulating their own C&A points.  I can understand the change from a costing perspective.  I don't like it, but I understand it.  This was only a conversation I heard.  I haven't seen any communications to this effect, so I don't even know how credible it is.  I was looking to see whether anyone had heard anything similar.

[topnole]

28 minutes ago, Airbear232 said:

For clarification, the gist of the discussion was that children going forward would not earn points.  They would benefit from their parent's tier until they were 18 at which time "the clock" would reset for them and they would start accumulating their own C&A points.  I can understand the change from a costing perspective.  I don't like it, but I understand it.  This was only a conversation I heard.  I haven't seen any communications to this effect, so I don't even know how credible it is.  I was looking to see whether anyone had heard anything similar.

That wouldn’t really save them anything since kids keep their status into adulthood.  If they wanted to save money, the thing to do is end the status matching once a child becomes an adult (ie. they reset to status provided by their own points).  Not arguing what they should do either way.  Just that kids not earning points doesn’t save them much of anything if they keep the status matching aspect of the program.  
 

Plus, why would Minors be denied points when they cruise?   Because they didn’t pay for it?   So what and who’s to say who paid for it?  Lots of adults cruise with someone else paying for it.  Who pays the bill isn’t a criteria in any loyalty program I’m aware of in other industries either.  
 

I’m 99.9999% sure that whatever you think you heard is wrong.  

[robmtx]

Wait for it... I could see Royal implementing fractional points for all 3rd/4th berths! They are paying fractional prices, so why not reward fractional points?

[Ret MP]

[HicksRA]

Not giving people credit points for days they’ve actually sailed is going to cause a lot of kicking and screaming along with bad press if they ever tried to do that. (i.e., starting a minor back to zero at age 18). 
I’m not giving any credence to this rumor whether real info, wrong info or not heard right. 

[smokeybandit]

This surely was some incorrect information given from guest services.

If C&A was going to change anything, they would change the perk to keep your parents' status after age 18.

[topnole]

1 hour ago, robmtx said:

Wait for it... I could see Royal implementing fractional points for all 3rd/4th berths! They are paying fractional prices, so why not reward fractional points?

Well.  Airlines like SW used to do points based on segments.  A $39 short

flight was the same a cross county flight that was much more expensive.  Then they changed it to a $ based method.  The more you spend, the more points you get for each flight segment.   No need for double points on suites.  You get points based on how much you spend.  
 

That makes the most sense.   But they decide how they do it. We just live by their rules which can change whenever they choose to change them.  Such is life.  

[topnole]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

This surely was some incorrect information given from guest services.

If C&A was going to change anything, they would change the perk to keep your parents' status after age 18.

Exactly what I was saying.  That is the change that would save money.  Deny points for a cruise due to age makes zero sense in any way.  It isn’t happening anyhow.   

[NateUpNorth]

I could absolutely see RCL changing C&A to an "18 or older" program.
Kids share adult status when they "can't sign up" and then at 18 they become eligible to start collecting points. 
Lots of rewards programs indicate "thou shalt be X age to enter/apply/belong"

I can imagine a bean counter somewhere saying "here's how many Diamond drinks (insert other perks here) you give away to passengers that grandfathered in, and here's how many you'd save if they don't start accumulating points until they do it "themselves" when they turn 18"

Having said that I also could fully believe the RCL staff member being misinformed or not understanding the program.

[HicksRA]

7 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

I could absolutely see RCL changing C&A to an "18 or older" program.
Kids share adult status when they "can't sign up" and then at 18 they become eligible to start collecting points. 
Lots of rewards programs indicate "thou shalt be X age to enter/apply/belong"

I can imagine a bean counter somewhere saying "here's how many Diamond drinks (insert other perks here) you give away to passengers that grandfathered in, and here's how many you'd save if they don't start accumulating points until they do it "themselves" when they turn 18"

Having said that I also could fully believe the RCL staff member being misinformed or not understanding the program.

Your scenario does make sense. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, HicksRA said:

Not giving people credit points for days they’ve actually sailed is going to cause a lot of kicking and screaming along with bad press if they ever tried to do that. (i.e., starting a minor back to zero at age 18). 
I’m not giving any credence to this rumor whether real info, wrong info or not heard right. 

It's not happening that way ... remember this is a rumor. The OP overheard someone elses conversation and is repeating what he thinks he heard.  .. like a game of telephone. .. as of customer service crew onboard a ship have never been wrong ... lol. 

 

Glad I'm leaving soon, people are bored out of their minds. 

[NanciRDH]

My 18 yo is D+ in her C&A status, she keeps that, and now earns her own points.  She will probably hit pinacle in her lifetime, she's almost halfway there now.  My oldest turned 18 before getting to D+, so she has to earn her own way there.  

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, robmtx said:

Wait for it... I could see Royal implementing fractional points for all 3rd/4th berths! They are paying fractional prices, so why not reward fractional points?

Using that logic then they would have to revamp the entire system for adults as well.  Look at the price differential between insides and balconies that are all earing one point per night or a Royal suite that could cost nearly 100 time what that inside cost