Will Carnival , copy Disney cruise lines, loyalty program change?

[CruiseHealing]

If you haven’t heard Disney cruise lines just announced a major change to their loyalty program:

 

Guests who have completed one eligible Disney cruise automatically qualify for Castaway Club membership. To remain in the program, Castaway Club Members must book or sail on at least one eligible cruise within 5 years of their last Disney voyage. 

There are lot Carnival cruisers that have status, but haven’t sail Carnival for many years.  This would be a way to thin heard of Diamonds, Platinums and Golds that switched to other cruise lines or just stop cruising.  

 

[mz-s]

There have been rumors that Carnival is going to revamp the VIFP program going back years. I am sure they'll do something like that whenever the revamp is announced.

[Essiesmom]

MSC already does this, has for years.  Have to sail every three years to maintain status or start from the bottom again.  EM

[ZoeyVictoria]

48 minutes ago, CruiseHealing said:

There are lot Carnival cruisers that have status, but haven’t sail Carnival for many years.  This would be a way to thin heard of Diamonds, Platinums and Golds that switched to other cruise lines or just stop cruising.  

 

I don’t understand what difference it would make if they aren’t actively cruising anyway?

[Saint Greg]

I don’t see how dropping people who stopped cruising or switched cruise lines is going to help anything. It’s certainly not going to get them back.

[Saint Greg]

22 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

MSC already does this, has for years.  Have to sail every three years to maintain status or start from the bottom again.  EM

They seem to be the easiest to get status on. They match status of other cruise lines. I’m gold on MSC (next to highest tier) and I’ve never cruised with them.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Saint Greg

[mz-s]

Do you think the goal is to get you to come back, even if only for a quick 3-night cruise, to keep your status? If that's the case I could see Carnival adding it to their program. To encourage folks to continue sailing, even if they've moved on to other lines, if they want to keep their Platinum or Diamond status with Carnival they need to do a cruise every 3-5 years. I imagine some folks who otherwise have moved on to other lines would go on a Carnival cruise every so often just so they can keep their status.

[nycruise1]

21 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Do you think the goal is to get you to come back, even if only for a quick 3-night cruise, to keep your status? If that's the case I could see Carnival adding it to their program. To encourage folks to continue sailing, even if they've moved on to other lines, if they want to keep their Platinum or Diamond status with Carnival they need to do a cruise every 3-5 years. I imagine some folks who otherwise have moved on to other lines would go on a Carnival cruise every so often just so they can keep their status.

This makes a lot of sense.  It would also encourage former loyal cruisers to get reacquainted and possibly reinterest them in sailing more regularly with Carnival.

[Saint Greg]

35 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Do you think the goal is to get you to come back, even if only for a quick 3-night cruise, to keep your status? If that's the case I could see Carnival adding it to their program. To encourage folks to continue sailing, even if they've moved on to other lines, if they want to keep their Platinum or Diamond status with Carnival they need to do a cruise every 3-5 years. I imagine some folks who otherwise have moved on to other lines would go on a Carnival cruise every so often just so they can keep their status.

 

Could do the opposite if they miss the deadline and get dropped to blue card. If they did that to me I’d probably never cruise with them again.

 

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Could do the opposite if they miss the deadline and get dropped to blue card. If they did that to me I’d probably never cruise with them again.

 

My guess is the cruise line would

consider that acceptable collateral damage. A cruiser that hasn’t spent any money for 3-5+ years is not a focus. 

[jimbo5544]

The overhaul of the loyalty program is WAY overdo.  The program is unsustainable.  When I read about the Disney program, I thought it was too weak to make any difference.  I have personally heard about changes from mgt going back to when the Splendor came out and they hired Hana away from Starwood loyalty (I think it was).  

 

The fact of the matter is that when half the ship qualifies for the “program” it needs to be scoped down, significantly.  I doubt very much very there change will only be the Disney or MSC versions.  Look for somethingwhre they raise the bar for the top two levels and add a third level (just mho).

[Saint Greg]

37 minutes ago, mz-s said:

My guess is the cruise line would

consider that acceptable collateral damage. A cruiser that hasn’t spent any money for 3-5+ years is not a focus. 

The only good part about it would be dropping all the people who got lifetime diamond as kids because their parents paid a 3rd or 4th guest rate.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Saint Greg

[jsglow]

I would fully support a 5 year limit. The herd needs thinning. Other changes are also warranted.  My one 'add' would be to provide some level of CCL cross-over at the Diamond level.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Could do the opposite if they miss the deadline and get dropped to blue card. If they did that to me I’d probably never cruise with them again.

 

Seems kinda dumb to me too. If they arent sailing it's not like printing their names on a list takes that much work on carnivals part. It's not like I'd miss a bunch of perks anyway. My upcoming cruise is a journey cruise so oh ..we dont do priority boarding for journey cruises. Nothing else I care about. I dont drink bottled water and dont need a luggage tag. 

 

First they need to add some perks besides laundry. Everyone here keeps saying oh I love laundry. 

 

Finally hitting diamond. Little incentive to me if I hit diamond or not. I dont cruise to get my laundry done. Give me a discount every cruise on a pay restaurant or something. Yes I've heard rumors they will change. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

.. and add a third level (just mho).

That would be my guess too. Add a level above diamond with more perks. Something worth attaining.

 

Rcl top level is 700 pts but even at that level there are extras. A free cruise every so many additional pts for one. 

[bg2310]

I'm new to the VIFP club but even I agree, albeit with a 5 year limit. 3 years seems too short to me for those who have been cruising for years with Carnival. Maybe 3 years for the lower tiers, and 5 for the Diamond/Platinum tiers?

 

That said, having read about cruises with Carnival this year where too many of the guests are Diamond or Platinum to actually be able to provide certain perks of those tiers, it clearly needs some thinning.

 

Nothing is very "exclusive" or great about it if every other guest sailing is a Platinum/Diamond member. Can't be very sustainable for them from a fiscal standpoint either.

Edited December 29, 2023 by bg2310

[jimbo5544]

13 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

That would be my guess too. Add a level above diamond with more perks. Something worth attaining.

 

Rcl top level is 700 pts but even at that level there are extras. A free cruise every so many additional pts for one. 

From your lips….

 

[Saint Greg]

33 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Seems kinda dumb to me too. If they arent sailing it's not like printing their names on a list takes that much work on carnivals part. It's not like I'd miss a bunch of perks anyway. My upcoming cruise is a journey cruise so oh ..we dont do priority boarding for journey cruises. Nothing else I care about. I dont drink bottled water and dont need a luggage tag. 

 

First they need to add some perks besides laundry. Everyone here keeps saying oh I love laundry. 

 

Finally hitting diamond. Little incentive to me if I hit diamond or not. I dont cruise to get my laundry done. Give me a discount every cruise on a pay restaurant or something. Yes I've heard rumors they will change. 

Yeah laundry is what I like. And it’s very good to have on a journey cruise.

[KarmaCruisers]

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Could do the opposite if they miss the deadline and get dropped to blue card. If they did that to me I’d probably never cruise with them again.

 

I’m honestly curious; as a Diamond, what tangible benefits do you get? (Other than maybe Laundry)

a cocktail party...when you alresdy have the cheers package?

[stobe1]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

Do you think the goal is to get you to come back, even if only for a quick 3-night cruise, to keep your status? If that's the case I could see Carnival adding it to their program. To encourage folks to continue sailing, even if they've moved on to other lines, if they want to keep their Platinum or Diamond status with Carnival they need to do a cruise every 3-5 years. I imagine some folks who otherwise have moved on to other lines would go on a Carnival cruise every so often just so they can keep their status.

 

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I don’t see how dropping people who stopped cruising or switched cruise lines is going to help anything. It’s certainly not going to get them back.

 

They may be taking a page from airline frequent flyer programs. Most airlines require you to either fly a certain number of miles or flight segments per year to earn and maintain status. Other airlines require you to spend a certain amount of money per year to earn or maintain status.

 

The airline I work for requires a certain number of miles or flight segments annually. At the end of every year we always see people making "mileage runs" so that their status carries over into the following year. They just fly from point A to point B and back to point A in the same day or make a quick weekend trip out of the mileage run to rack up the miles they need at the last minute. It is a huge motivator for people to keep their status tier.

 

We also see this same approach with hotels, car rental companies, etc... If you don't give them business every so often you lose status. 

 

This approach may work for cruise lines as well.  While there would be some moaning and groaning initially with JH's page being bombarded with negative comments, it would eventually die down over time. 

 

Lots of people on here (yours truly included) have been belly aching for at least a decade about the VIFP program needing changes and updating. No matter what they do or how they revamp it, there will be someone that has heartburn about it.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Edited December 29, 2023 by stobe1

[PayneAS]

38 minutes ago, bg2310 said:

That said, having read about cruises with Carnival this year where too many of the guests are Diamond or Platinum to actually be able to provide certain perks of those tiers, it clearly needs some thinning.

To be fair, those are mostly the Journeys cruises you hear that happening on and those are not cruises that Blue and Red cards generally go on. If 80% of the ship is P & D, then yeah, the perks mean nothing.

[cruisinpips]

In response to the OP, I certainly hope Carnival never copies anything from Disney!!! We went on one Disney cruise based on all the recommendations that it was the best cruise ever… we have never returned and never will. Maybe Disneyphiles love that stuff, but we hated the entire experience especially the dining.

They can have our “loyalty status” we dont need it. 

[CantWait08]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

The overhaul of the loyalty program is WAY overdo.  The program is unsustainable.  When I read about the Disney program, I thought it was too weak to make any difference.  I have personally heard about changes from mgt going back to when the Splendor came out and they hired Hana away from Starwood loyalty (I think it was).  

 

The fact of the matter is that when half the ship qualifies for the “program” it needs to be scoped down, significantly.  I doubt very much very there change will only be the Disney or MSC versions.  Look for somethingwhre they raise the bar for the top two levels and add a third level (just mho).

As a knowledgable cruiser, where do you think the levels would be best set at?

 

I would think to decrease the numbers in top tiers you would have to go to at least:

500 days new level

300 days Diamond

125  days Platinum

 

I think the Diamond and Platinum benefits are too similar and Carnival does a poor job separating them when making them unavailable on certain cruises personally.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

23 minutes ago, CantWait08 said:

As a knowledgable cruiser, where do you think the levels would be best set at?

 

I would think to decrease the numbers in top tiers you would have to go to at least:

500 days new level

300 days Diamond

125  days Platinum

 

I think the Diamond and Platinum benefits are too similar and Carnival does a poor job separating them when making them unavailable on certain cruises personally.

If you push the days out, do you grandfather existing?  That always comes up in these discussions. 

I would like to see some type of annual award like airlines but still somehow keep your legacy level.  Don’t change the tiers (except maybe add one more) but have something like Platinum+ or Diamond+ if you had 2 cruises in last year or 18 months. If you don’t have the 2 then you are just Platinum or Diamond without the plus.  Then offer the pluses some additional perks - discounts on specality dining, WiFi, excursions or something.  

[Oletruckdude]

As I read through this topic I will throw in my 2 cents worth. As Platinum with 17 Carnival cruises under my belt I must say the perks are so minimal I never even consider them. For me Carnival has always been about price, price, price. We've done other cruise lines and had just as much fun. What keeps us coming back to Carnival are the casino offers. We don't spend a lot of money in the casinos, but it's enough we get their offers. When there isn't a great offer on the table we look at other lines. And sometimes they have better deals so we go with those. 

Carnival's Platinum rewards are minimal, and won't buy my loyalty. The casino offers on the other hand will.

Kind regards