Status matching

[TrueCruiseaholic]

From the new Power Up Points survey, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and SilverSea may have status matching.

 

What do we think that would entail?

 

With the point structure difference between Royal and Celebrity would suite guests from Royal cruise on Celebrity to get to the next status faster?

 

Would an inside stateroom cruiser sail on Royal in order to become Pinnacle Club faster?

 

Would Celebrity be inundated with Royal cruisers of all tier levels?

 

Does SilverSea have multiple tiers to match Royal and Celebrity?

 

Also, Royal Caribbean Group really wants everyone to have their credit card. ;)

 

[TrueCruiseaholic]

It would be only one small part of the status matching, but Celebrity would definitely have to create a Pinnacle/Zenith lounge for all the Pinnacles coming on Celebrity.

Edited February 15 by TrueCruiseaholic

[Ex-Airbalancer]

20 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

 

 

Also, Royal Caribbean Group really wants everyone to have their credit card. 😉

 

That is not true,  as their card is only available in the USA 

[TrueCruiseaholic]

Just now, Ex-Airbalancer said:

That is not true,  as their card is only available in the USA 

I was hyperbolizing. In the survey they ask if you have the credit card and if you don't, why not.

[mahasamatman]

44 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

In the survey they ask if you have the credit card and if you don't, why not.

 

I took the survey and was not asked about a credit card. Perhaps because I'm not U.S.-based?

 

1 hour ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

Does SilverSea have multiple tiers to match Royal and Celebrity?

 

No tiers on Silversea.

 

I'm sure that any status matching would take years to implement.

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

It would be only one small part of the status matching, but Celebrity would definitely have to create a Pinnacle/Zenith lounge for all the Pinnacles coming on Celebrity.

They’ve floated this idea for months and essentially have already said there would be tier caps in place as there with the current status match maxing out at Elite and Diamond. No way they dilute Pinnacle and Zenith. The hard part is if they pull in Silversea. Their loyalty program and onboard inclusions are so different it would be hard to offer a RCL/Celebrity customer anything valuable. Especially without irking the Silversea people who have spent massive amounts of money to earn a 10% discount or a free cruise. 

[TrueCruiseaholic]

16 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

They’ve floated this idea for months and essentially have already said there would be tier caps in place as there with the current status match maxing out at Elite and Diamond. No way they dilute Pinnacle and Zenith. The hard part is if they pull in Silversea. Their loyalty program and onboard inclusions are so different it would be hard to offer a RCL/Celebrity customer anything valuable. Especially without irking the Silversea people who have spent massive amounts of money to earn a 10% discount or a free cruise. 

I understand what you are saying. So, the idea being put forward in the survey is essentially the addition of status matching with Silversea (since Royal Caribbean and Celebrity already have the capped status matching as you wrote)? It would be great to get a 10% discount for Silversea having never sailed before. It is also completely unfair, as you wrote, for the guests who have paid their way to the benefit.

 

Time will tell.

[doghog]

I have mixed feelings about the reciprocal program. We both made Elite and Diamond before the merger and before the reciprocal program started. 

[villauk]

7 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

took the survey and was not asked about a credit card. Perhaps because I'm not U.S.-based?

Yes, the survey didn’t include the credit card questions over here either, obviously not being US based.

 

Interesting to see what they would offer on a reciprocal basis for Silversea.

[the penguins]

10 hours ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

It would be only one small part of the status matching, but Celebrity would definitely have to create a Pinnacle/Zenith lounge for all the Pinnacles coming on Celebrity.

only if the status match applies to all the tiers. At present if you are Elite+ and Zenith you are only Diamond on Royal.

Also to get to the higher levels you have to cruise on the X or Royal starting with zero points.

I can't see then Clubs ever being incorporated into one combined Club covering all the brands

[Tierun]

An option for incorporating Silversea would be to create a lower tier for new cruisers/ reciprocals to flow into.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I bet they already have made the plans for what they want to do 

Has anyone got the same kind email from RCL ? 

Edited February 16 by Ex-Airbalancer

[TrueCruiseaholic]

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

only if the status match applies to all the tiers. At present if you are Elite+ and Zenith you are only Diamond on Royal.

Also to get to the higher levels you have to cruise on the X or Royal starting with zero points.

I can't see then Clubs ever being incorporated into one combined Club covering all the brands

Why send out a survey if you are not proposing changing the current policy? Or as was discussed earlier, the purpose of the survey is solely for creating status match with Silversea? My interpretation of the survey is that they are proposing status match for all levels including bilateral Pinnacle Club and Zenith. Why else would the questions have an answer both about 1) my status does have a match or 2) my current status doesn't have a match (ie Diamond plus and Pinnacle Club)?

Edited February 16 by TrueCruiseaholic

[TrueCruiseaholic]

So we think these questions are ONLY about Silversea or include Diamond Plus to Elite Plus and Pinnacle Club to Zenith?

 

That is what I was wondering this whole time.

[Jeremiah1212]

56 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

My interpretation of the survey is that they are proposing status match for all levels including bilateral Pinnacle Club and Zenith. 

They aren’t. The questions may be poorly written or written in a way to identify people who think their RCL and Celebrity status would be matched on Silversea when currently it is not. The heads of Loyalty have said several times, even once on a public PuP event, that Zenith/Pinnacle tiers would be off limits. There is little movement between RCL and Celebrity customers moving to Silversea. It’s more likely both programs look different in the future and Silversea remains an outlier or you get some very modest incentive at mid level RCL/Celebrity status.

 

It would make sense to time this with a much needed revamp of the All Included concept but that may be taking on too much at once. We’ll see.  

[TrueCruiseaholic]

2 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

They aren’t. The questions may be poorly written or written in a way to identify people who think their RCL and Celebrity status would be matched on Silversea when currently it is not. The heads of Loyalty have said several times, even once on a public PuP event, that Zenith/Pinnacle tiers would be off limits. There is little movement between RCL and Celebrity customers moving to Silversea. It’s more likely both programs look different in the future and Silversea remains an outlier or you get some very modest incentive at mid level RCL/Celebrity status.

 

It would make sense to time this with a much needed revamp of the All Included concept but that may be taking on too much at once. We’ll see.  

So what's the point of the survey?

 

I'm not trying to be dumb. There is status matching between Royal and Celebrity up to Elite/Diamond. Silversea is a different structure. Why even ask about interest in cruising on another line with status matching if nothing is going to change?

 

It isn't all about the credit card since some guests are not asked about the credit card.

 

Is the survey gauging whether guests know there is status matching up to Diamond/Elite?

 

What, if any, changes are being proposed?

I'm really confused now...

[newtocruiseinblue]

11 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

So what's the point of the survey?

 

I'm not trying to be dumb. There is status matching between Royal and Celebrity up to Elite/Diamond. Silversea is a different structure. Why even ask about interest in cruising on another line with status matching if nothing is going to change?

 

It isn't all about the credit card since some guests are not asked about the credit card.

 

Is the survey gauging whether guests know there is status matching up to Diamond/Elite?

 

What, if any, changes are being proposed?

I'm really confused now...

My interpretation is that they want to find out if customers are more likely to try other brands if there is status matching. Secondly, does it make sense to offer one RCL “super” credit card that goes across the three brands with its own benefits to encourage credit card enrollment. 

[doghog]

1 hour ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I bet they already have made the plans for what they want to do 

Has anyone got the same kind email from RCL ? 

I haven't. 

[markeb]

14 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

So what's the point of the survey?

 

I'm not trying to be dumb. There is status matching between Royal and Celebrity up to Elite/Diamond. Silversea is a different structure. Why even ask about interest in cruising on another line with status matching if nothing is going to change?

 

It isn't all about the credit card since some guests are not asked about the credit card.

 

Is the survey gauging whether guests know there is status matching up to Diamond/Elite?

 

What, if any, changes are being proposed?

I'm really confused now...

 

Confirmation/validation of what I'm sure is MUCH more extensive data from actual behavior. Do the people who participate in a power up survey, a convenience sample, behave the same as what our data shows? They already know how frequently a RCI Diamond books Celebrity, and whether a RCI D+ is more likely or less to book Celebrity. And vice versa.

 

The programs are customer retention programs disguised as rewards programs. I suspect they're incredibly effective as designed to encourage customers to chase status in two different programs with RCG benefitting from the chase. The simple fact that you can match status but at 0 points is brilliant. Some folks (that would be me) will simply enjoy our Elite benefits and our Celebrity cruises with no real need to go from 0 to 750 cruise points for Elite +. Others will turn right around and start cruising to get to E+. They already know if that's more likely for someone who began as D+; the survey would just confirm current attitudes towards matching.

 

I suspect Silversea is a different animal entirely. If they feel they need to capture current Celebrity travelers, there are likely other means than some kind of status match. One time invitation, for instance. The goal would be to keep them in the RCG family at the lowest cost to their retention programs. And, again, they know how many D/E and above travelers book Silversea, currently with NO loyalty incentives. If that meets their needs, they're not going to change.

 

The credit card thing is interesting. Is credit card points applying to frequent traveler status a uniquely US thing? The airlines and hotel chains keep playing with that in the US. You could theoretically spend your way to 1K on United this year just by using your credit card and taking the required 4 flights.

 

 

[ArgoNereus]

2 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I bet they already have made the plans for what they want to do 

Has anyone got the same kind email from RCL ? 

I opened my Celebrity App on Constellation recently and was surprised to see:

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

So what's the point of the survey?

 

I'm not trying to be dumb. There is status matching between Royal and Celebrity up to Elite/Diamond. Silversea is a different structure. Why even ask about interest in cruising on another line with status matching if nothing is going to change?

 

It isn't all about the credit card since some guests are not asked about the credit card.

 

Is the survey gauging whether guests know there is status matching up to Diamond/Elite?

 

What, if any, changes are being proposed?

I'm really confused now...

 

To gauge awareness of the existing status match and get a feel for if there is even any significant benefit to the effort and expense the hook the programs together in a new way. Are you more likely to sail another line if your status is matched in some way or not? The already would have data to support most of the questions they ask. 3 of the 7 questions are secondary topics related to the credit card which I would hope most savvy travelers know is terrible. 

 

 

1. Have you ever taken a cruise with our sister brand, Royal Caribbean International?

If yes, what did you enjoy most about it?

They may or may not know this. Without a loyalty number to tie in to hook the customer they may not have clean data to support this depending on what customer data they retain. 

 

2. Have you ever taken a cruise with our sister brand, Silversea? 

If yes, what did you enjoy most about it?

Same as question 1. 

 

3. Given that Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, and Silversea are all part of the Royal Caribbean Group family, do you think your tier status should be matched to the equivalent tier on our sister brands?

Question 3 and 4 are the only ones that provide true customer insight. 

 

4. Would an equivalent tier status match make you more likely to consider a future cruise with either of our sister brands?

Same as 3.

 

5. Are you aware that Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International offers a credit card?

Fluff. Trying to cross-sell the weak credit card.

 

6. Do you currently have the Celebrity Cruises or Royal Caribbean International Visa Signature Card?

Probably could gain some data from this but they also have data to show who has the card. 

 

7. If no, for what reasons? Select all that apply.

Subjective/secondary topic. 

 

RCG is all about high yielding routes and passengers and increasing the onboard spend. If Celebrity did something like match Royal's drink ticket program that in turn reduced the number of people buying All Included and going with the cheaper Cruise Only rate that will not happen. The 'loyalists' are already low yielding. They aren't going to reduce that even more without something significant to offset the impact. There are several scenarios along those lines that lead me to believe that any potential change will come with a different sales approach in general. 

[paulh84]

I know people are very serious about their status but I think we've now completed our third cruise as Elite and the only perk I've used is the laundry discount one time. The pre-cruise discounts are usually better and the events don't interest us. There is very little benefit to any of the status levels for me.

[the penguins]

19 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

I know people are very serious about their status but I think we've now completed our third cruise as Elite and the only perk I've used is the laundry discount one time. The pre-cruise discounts are usually better and the events don't interest us. There is very little benefit to any of the status levels for me.

For anyone who doesn’t drink any or little alcohol and doesn’t need/want unlimited Wi-Fi the Elite+ benefit is very valuable.

[TrueCruiseaholic]

The only downside from a guest perspective of status matching is a dilution of your benefits if people from another line come on and get your benefits (eg Diamond lounge on Royal being more crowded with Elite and above from Celebrity). Anyone would be more likely to sail on another line if they even get one more perk than they normally would.

 

I would be more likely to sail on Royal if I got more benefits on there than I do now. I would be less likely to sail on Celebrity if my benefits are diluted (whether from status matching or Celebrity cost cutting).

 

I can't get into the mind of Royal Caribbean Group corporate, but aside from the greater per guest profit on Silversea, does it really matter which line guests sail on as long as they sail? I really don't think that RCG needs to hook Celebrity guests on Royal. 

 

The purpose of the loyalty program is to encourage someone to book that next cruise. If you sail with us X more times or spend Y more money you get these additional benefits.

 

Again, time will tell. I still don't get the purpose of the survey but I get the feeling that I'm not the target audience for the survey anyway.

Edited February 16 by TrueCruiseaholic

[wrk2cruise]

The last few months have been loaded with posts from Celebrity loyal trying Oceania, Regent among others.  They do need a way to try to push these people to SilverSeas brand.  Right now there is nothing.