CAS Changes

[rascalious]

Because the way they do it the spouse was at 20 when you sailed without them. My dh has the same amount of points that I do even tho I've sailed 3x without him...just the way they do it...

Good explanation. I am more than happy that I sailed without the spouse to get to Diamond Plus (she did not have the vacation time available - but I did). You might say "I took one for the team" to get to D+. So, we are both now at D+ with my 24 cruise credits. She has only 22 - but got to D+, too. I am glad I did a pre-emptive strike by booking Navigator B2B earlier this month. And, I just called and had my D+ discount applied to my July 2011 Alaskan Cruisetour - No problem getting the extra discount.

[mommabean]

looks like you're in the same 'boat' I am!! If I get knocked out of D+, I can tell you there will be a letter written!!

 

If you've done any longer cruises, you may get knocked in. But if all your cruises were short ones, you are right, you may be a longer way off from D+. I'd right a letter, too, especially if they make good on the threat to allow all with 100 cruise credits to be pinnacle.

 

Gina

[mommabean]

So, if I am currently a DIAMOND, and have taken mostly 10-12 night cruises (say 18 cruises), will I move to DIAMOND +, since I have accumulated 180+ cruise nights?

 

I would think so if that is what is required to be D+. This could work to the advantage of some. :D

 

Gina

[xpcdoojk]

For those that don't think this program works, think about all of the obsession over minor points of the program that have been expressed in this thread and the 1000s of others just like it.

 

Seriously, it is not like this is a law it is a rewards program. They change all of the time, they are not permanent. They morph and sometimes they go away.... Enjoy the ride, or obsess your choices.:eek:

 

jc

[darkauf]

thanks, got it changed. That was really funny....

[beachbuddy]

looks like you're in the same 'boat' I am!! If I get knocked out of D+, I can tell you there will be a letter written!!

 

LOL..........I can tell you that plenty of Diamonds wrote letters when we got the boot, didn't do a darn thing for us. Sure, they have a Diamond Lounge on the Freedom Class ships (which will pretty much be in Europe) and Oasis class but just a Diamond Event on the other ships and I can tell you the Diamond Event is a joke! So going from access to CL and/or overflow lounge to the Diamond Event is a big drop as far as I'm concerned. There's no reason why they couldn't have made the Diamond Event the Diamond Lounge especially on Voyager class ships.....those ships are big enough to handle another lounge. Having no room is no excuse because if there's a room for the D event, that could be the D lounge. So, they booted Diamonds from the CL and now they moved the levels and it's even harder to reach D+ so again, the carrot was moved.

[brmoqueen]

If you've done any longer cruises, you may get knocked in. But if all your cruises were short ones, you are right, you may be a longer way off from D+. I'd right a letter, too, especially if they make good on the threat to allow all with 100 cruise credits to be pinnacle.

 

Gina

 

Out of my 23 cruise credits...only 2 cruises earned more than one point...I've come by it the hard way....several were 10 or 11 day but there was a 2day (over 9/11 to get back to Seattle), a 3day and a 4 day....sooo those would hold me back some....If they make it effective Jan 12, then I won't be D+ until after my b2b in Jan and my b2b in March....The whole planning to be D+ on Allure will go out the window...(wanted to enjoy the CL with a group of friends )...

 

Oh well............es lo que es....

 

Only Time will tell!

[ARCruisinNana]

From everything I have heard (and I don't work there so I may be missing information, it is coming from a former colleague that still works in Loyalty there) it is all positive changes. They specifically said there should be little to nothing to complain about.

 

I don't know about the CL, nothing was mentioned. I would assume it would be for Suites, D+ and Pinnacle and the Diamond Lounge would be for Diamonds.

 

Oh, and my numbers were a bit off on Pinnacle and some others.

 

Gold - starts at 1

Platinum - starts at 30

Emerald - starts at 55

Diamond - starts at 80

Diamond + - starts at 175 (or 170, I cannot remember)

Pinnacle - starts at 700

 

Balcony discounts will start at Platinum and progressively get higher, as per usual.

 

Thanks for sharing your inside information with us.

[brmoqueen]

LOL..........I can tell you that plenty of Diamonds wrote letters when we got the boot, didn't do a darn thing for us. Sure, they have a Diamond Lounge on the Freedom Class ships (which will pretty much be in Europe) and Oasis class but just a Diamond Event on the other ships and I can tell you the Diamond Event is a joke! So going from access to CL and/or overflow lounge to the Diamond Event is a big drop as far as I'm concerned. There's no reason why they couldn't have made the Diamond Event the Diamond Lounge especially on Voyager class ships.....those ships are big enough to handle another lounge. Having no room is no excuse because if there's a room for the D event, that could be the D lounge. So, they booted Diamonds from the CL and now they moved the levels and it's even harder to reach D+ so again, the carrot was moved.

 

Very true!

[thelion]

Pretty weird actually.

 

Why would they be using that sign already? And I still wonder why they would have another level stuck between platinum and diamond which are already so close together in cruises needed to attain them both?

 

And since almost every cruiser is platinum or above at so few cruises needed, the regular line is probably shorter in many cases.

 

Gina

 

They probably received the signage already and the pier didn't know it was not implemented yet.

 

Also...I have some potentially not so great news. According to my source implementation date is 1/12/11

[brmoqueen]

They probably received the signage already and the pier didn't know it was not implemented yet.

 

Also...I have some potentially not so great news. According to my source implementation date is 1/12/11

 

I just heard the opposite.....according to some inside info, we heard that the implementation date is not the same as the announcement date...

 

It's all speculation at this point......(mostly anyhow!)

[beachbuddy]

They probably received the signage already and the pier didn't know it was not implemented yet.

 

Also...I have some potentially not so great news. According to my source implementation date is 1/12/11

 

I bet that date changes..........LOL Seems whenever they announce something and they get enough complaints, they move the date out a bit to give people notice. I think they did that with the Next Cruise Certificates a few years ago.

[mommabean]

From everything I have heard (and I don't work there so I may be missing information, it is coming from a former colleague that still works in Loyalty there) it is all positive changes. They specifically said there should be little to nothing to complain about.

 

I don't know about the CL, nothing was mentioned. I would assume it would be for Suites, D+ and Pinnacle and the Diamond Lounge would be for Diamonds.

 

Oh, and my numbers were a bit off on Pinnacle and some others.

 

Gold - starts at 1

Platinum - starts at 30

Emerald - starts at 55

Diamond - starts at 80

Diamond + - starts at 175 (or 170, I cannot remember)

Pinnacle - starts at 700

 

Balcony discounts will start at Platinum and progressively get higher, as per usual.

 

They made platinum a bit easier with this scale but made Diamond harder. D+ isn't much different if it's 170. But D should be 70 if they are basing things on an average cruise. I still think Emerald is a silly addition.

 

Gina

[mommabean]

They probably received the signage already and the pier didn't know it was not implemented yet.

 

Also...I have some potentially not so great news. According to my source implementation date is 1/12/11

 

It's not likely that will happen. People will go nuts and their email box will be jammed probably way more than when they made the D changes. They know how all their other changes have gone over....they aren't dumb enough to just drop that on everyone effective the date of the announcement. Are they? NO! I don't believe they are.

 

Gina

[CptSticky]

Only 1 per household.

Unless they make a mistake and give you two. It was very nice because we got them for Monarch, which my son-in-law proposed to my DD on, so I gave them one to remember by.

[Seatravelers]

If they are going to completely revamp the C&A levels, I wish they would do it for EVERYONE exactly the same. Easiest way would be to take everyone's credit history, multiply the credit(s) received by the nights for ea cruise and get the NEW total that way. From there, everyones level would be decided. Some will win and some will lose but it would certainly be the fairest way and then everyone will go forward, equally. These are perks after all and can be given and taken away as RCCL sees fit. We appreciate all RCCL has given us in the past and will continue to sail with them regardless of what happens with the C&A program. Just don't feel those with 100 cruises and say 300 nights should be given highest level when others with less cruises would have twice as many nights - that's what's not fair. Let's level the playing field, imho. Won't we all be surprised when and if the new program comes out it and it is totally different, lol. Not worth worrying about, imho. Happy New Year!

[CptSticky]

They probably received the signage already and the pier didn't know it was not implemented yet.

 

Also...I have some potentially not so great news. According to my source implementation date is 1/12/11

Ok, so I am on a cruise on that date. Will they come take my CL card away from me for the rest of the cruise?

A word to RCI if you are reading this: You took the CL away from me right after I made Diamond, if you take it away again now that I just made Diamond plus, I hope that it will not bother you to have one less passanger on future cruises.

[TerriDHair]

From everything I have heard (and I don't work there so I may be missing information, it is coming from a former colleague that still works in Loyalty there) it is all positive changes. They specifically said there should be little to nothing to complain about.

 

I don't know about the CL, nothing was mentioned. I would assume it would be for Suites, D+ and Pinnacle and the Diamond Lounge would be for Diamonds.

 

Oh, and my numbers were a bit off on Pinnacle and some others.

 

Gold - starts at 1

Platinum - starts at 30

Emerald - starts at 55

Diamond - starts at 80

Diamond + - starts at 175 (or 170, I cannot remember)

Pinnacle - starts at 700

 

Balcony discounts will start at Platinum and progressively get higher, as per usual.

 

Little to nothing to complain about would be great. :D If the only real changes are ones that make it harder for people to gain status with short cruises, most won't likely complain much about that, they will just follow the new plan. I can certainly understand how anyone who is just short of a new level whenever the changes go into effect would be frustrated, though.

From a personal perspective, the days at sea method of counting makes sense. I booked one three day cruise, and will admit the sole purpose was to get us to Diamond before a longer cruise the following month, lol. But that was the only cruise on RCCL with fewer than seven days...all others were between seven and 12. The longer the better for me, I don't want to get off the ship after a mere seven days! :)

[beachbuddy]

If they are going to completely revamp the C&A levels, I wish they would do it for EVERYONE exactly the same. Easiest way would be to take everyone's credit history, multiply the credit(s) received by the nights for ea cruise and get the NEW total that way. From there, everyones level would be decided. Some will win and some will lose but it would certainly be the fairest way and then everyone will go forward, equally. These are perks after all and can be given and taken away as RCCL sees fit. We appreciate all RCCL has given us in the past and will continue to sail with them regardless of what happens with the C&A program. Just don't feel those with 100 cruises and say 300 nights should be given highest level when others with less cruises would have twice as many nights - that's what's not fair. Let's level the playing field, imho. Won't we all be surprised when and if the new program comes out it and it is totally different, lol. Not worth worrying about, imho. Happy New Year!

 

I agree. It's the same as some D+ers that made it by doing 24 short 3 or 4 night cruises.........that certainly won't give them the 170 or 175 nights that they would need under the new system. So if someone did all 4 nighters 24 times......that's 96nights and they get to be D+ going forward. I really don't think it's fair the way they are doing it but that's just my opinion and what will be will be! :rolleyes:

[thelion]

Pinnacle at 700 is what I had suggested it should be. And I still don't think those with 100 cruise credits should be invited unless they have the actual number of 700 after the conversion.

 

What do you know about their future plans for pricing guarantees? I had quite a long talk with someone in an upper level position. I had suggested that their 48 hour price protection was a joke and basically worthless.

 

In a previous message to me they had claimed that their new pricing procedure which doesn't allow for price protection after final payment was to keep them in line with other cruise lines. During our conversation I suggested that if they really wanted to do something right, they should set themselves apart from other cruise lines. I brought up Southwest Airlines and one of their best features - if a price goes down and a passenger notices, they will give the difference back in the form of a voucher for a flight within the next 12 months.

 

I think if they offered this to C&A members that people would be happy since most people book another cruise within 12 months anyway.

 

Have you heard anything that would point to what they may be doing about this? I know I'm not the only one who has backed off of early booking and have committed to shopping the so called fire sales. If locals knew their price was protected in some way, they'd be more likely to book early thereby keeping prices up higher and making less need for fire sales (commonly called the Tuesday Special or Royal Caribbean Sales Event) in the first place.

 

During the course of our conversation I was told this new pricing lack of guarantee has indeed been a problem for them and the source of many written complaints. They take the complaints seriously and the more people that write about one subject, the more likely they are to do something to alleviate the problem.

 

Gina

 

Several times in the past I have stated that my company deals very closely with the financial side of RCI. I will tell you this, under their old price protection policy (pre-May 17, 2010) they were losing money hand over fist. We are talking tens of thousands per DAY. They had no choice but to change.

 

The fact is, I doubt they will ever go back. They cannot afford to. Not without more major cutbacks, which no one wants.

[SherriZ366]

I just heard the opposite.....according to some inside info, we heard that the implementation date is not the same as the announcement date...

 

It's all speculation at this point......(mostly anyhow!)

This is the original letter from the last big change dated March 28, 2009. You will note that the original implementation date was July 1 -- more than 3 months away:

 

 

With 20 ships currently in service around the globe and two magnificent ships under construction, Royal Caribbean International® has always regarded the optimum enjoyment of all our guests worldwide as a top priority. We consistently review valuable guest feedback to ensure that we are able to continuously improve our services while keeping the base price of a Royal Caribbean International cruise essentially the same for nearly a decade. In that process, we constantly measure and evaluate the satisfaction of our guests.

 

To enhance the onboard experience, Royal Caribbean International has recently initiated a variety of programs including:

 

MyTime DiningSM, which allows guests more flexibility to dine according to their own schedule, and My Family Time DiningSM, which provides young children an expedited 40 minute dinner experience and an escorted return to the Adventure Ocean youth programming facility so that parents can continue to enjoy dinner at a leisurely pace.

 

Pre-cruise booking of shore excursions and beverage packages and advance reservations for specialty restaurants.

 

Upgraded suite services and amenities including preferred seating and reservations, exclusive in-stateroom culinary treats, concierge lounge access, upgraded furniture and more.

 

An enhanced departure process which provides a quicker and more seamless experience for guests at the conclusion of the cruise, while extending access to their staterooms on the morning of departure.

 

New programming for kids and families, such as Crayola® Beginnings art, Sitters at Sea, Babies 2 Go!, Fisher Price® toy lending, Stroll & Roll, and more.

 

Pool-side towel service which eliminates the need for a guest to remember to bring towels from their stateroom.

Starting July 1st there will be some changes to our Crown & Anchor® Society benefits based on member feedback and our recent enhancements. Crown & Anchor® Society members will continue to receive their most valued benefits such as discounts on cruises, savings certificates and priority embarkation and debarkation. Our Platinum and Diamond members also will continue to receive discounts on suite category staterooms including the recently introduced upgraded services and amenities for suite guests.

 

Keeping your feedback and cruise experience in mind, some of the changes that will occur include:

 

A new Ultimate Value Booklet with coupons for various onboard amenities.

An upgraded wine tasting event at a special price.

A new special event, hosted by our ship officers, for Diamond and above members to meet and mingle with other fellow members, and featuring complimentary wine, champagne and hors d'oeuvres.

Due to limited capacity, the Concierge Lounge has not been able to accommodate our growing membership, challenging our ability to provide the optimum experience for our guests. Therefore the Concierge Lounge will now be accessible to our suite and Diamond Plus guests only. Diamond Members cruising on Freedom class, Oasis of the SeasSM, and Allure of the SeasSM will continue to be able to experience exclusive access to a dedicated Diamond Lounge on these ships, which feature a complimentary 'happy hour' from 5:00-8:30pm daily.

 

The chart below outlines the new Crown & Anchor Society benefits, starting July 1st. You may also visit the Crown & Anchor benefits section of our website to view the updated list of benefits.

 

Thank you for your ongoing loyalty to Royal Caribbean International. We hope to see you onboard very soon.

[SherriZ366]

This is the follow-up letter from Adam Goldstein dated April 13, 2009 with changes to go be delayed from July 1, 2009 to September 1, 2009:

 

April 13, 2009

 

Dear Crown & Anchor Diamond Plus, Diamond and Platinum Members,

I am writing to provide you with an update regarding the recent changes to our Crown & Anchor® Loyalty Program.

 

Let me begin by thanking you for being loyal customers of Royal Caribbean International®. These are remarkable times - economic challenges, new modes of communication, amazing new ships and so many other changes that impact our lives at every turn. Especially in these times, we appreciate your loyalty as Crown & Anchor Society members.

 

As you may know, we recently announced a number of changes to our Crown & Anchor Loyalty Program. Many of our Diamond Members have expressed considerable unhappiness about the change in eligibility for access to our Concierge Lounges. While we knew the reaction would be negative, it has been more negative than we anticipated. This underscores how phenomenally passionate our most loyal customers are about their Royal Caribbean experiences. We believe one of our strengths that inspires such loyalty is our ability to learn from others and especially from our Crown & Anchor customers. With this in mind, I will comment on the change in eligibility regarding our Concierge Lounges and also inform you of some new enhancements that will improve your experience onboard our ships.

 

Our decision to limit access to the Concierge Lounges was based on the unfortunate but inescapable fact that we cannot deliver an acceptable experience in lounges that were never designed to handle so many people. We regret that the crowding in our Concierge Lounges prevents us from delivering the experience we intended. It also prevents us from being able to grandfather in Concierge Lounge access for existing Diamond level members. We deeply regret having to restrict this access, but we are committed to delivering an exceptional Concierge Lounge experience. Having said that, we realize we should have provided more notice of our decision, which carries such consequences. To that end, we will delay the implementation date for the change in eligibility from July 1, 2009, to September 1, 2009.

 

Before I address the additional initiatives we will implement, I would like to summarize the physical or "hardware" status of our fleet as it relates to Concierge Lounges and Diamond Lounges, taking into account all 22 Royal Caribbean International ships that are now open for sale.

 

Five ships (our Freedom class and Oasis class) have both Concierge Lounges and Diamond Lounges. We are excited about the Concierge Lounge overlooking the Boardwalk and the Diamond Lounge overlooking the Royal Promenade on our forthcoming Oasis of the SeasSM and Allure of the SeasSM.

 

Five ships (Monarch of the Seas®, Majesty of the Seas®, Vision of the Seas®, Grandeur of the Seas® and Rhapsody of the Seas®) have no Concierge Lounges and two ships (Splendour of the Seas® and Legend of the Seas®) have limited Concierge Lounges.

 

Ten ships have Concierge Lounges but no Diamond Lounges (Enchantment of the Seas®, as well as the ships in our Voyager class and Radiance class). While we don't currently have plans to add Diamond Lounges to these ships, we will look for opportunities to invest in Diamond Lounges as we go forward.

 

The strong response from our Diamond members regarding our recent changes demonstrates how much the Concierge Lounges are valued and we clearly should honor that response. The feedback we have received from Diamond members falls primarily into one of the three following categories:

 

 

• Preserving the social aspect - the ability to meet and mingle with other members

• Maintaining free or reduced price drinks

• And, access to concierge-type services for ice show tickets and other activities

 

 

In order to address the first two interests for Diamond members, outside the Concierge Lounge, effective September 1 we will offer them a dedicated VIP private party in one of our bars or lounges. This may be held in the Viking Crown Lounge, or any other bar or lounge designated by the ship. In this dedicated area, from approximately 5 to 8 p.m., we will offer complimentary wine and champagne and a happy hour discount of 25 percent off all other beverages. This will be offered every day of each sailing and will replace our recently announced one-time per-cruise special Diamond party.

 

Additionally, we will offer a new continental breakfast from approximately 8 to 10 a.m. in one of the rooms adjacent to the main dining room onboard. During these morning hours, a crew member will be present and will provide services such as obtaining ice show tickets, and other assistance. We believe these changes will address the primary desires our Diamond members have expressed. These enhancements will be instituted on all our ships that don't have a Diamond Lounge today.

 

A number of Crown & Anchor members have placed the Concierge Lounge issue in the context of a perceived sequence of "cutbacks" that taken together have reduced the quality of the product we offer. We take these comments seriously. I am pleased to inform you that in 2009 we are seeing one of the most meaningful year-over-year improvements in our guest satisfaction ratings in memory. Apart from the obvious - Independence of the Seas® entering the fleet, Empress of the Seas® and Sovereign of the Seas® leaving the fleet and Oasis of the Seas soon to join - systemic improvements such as My Time DiningSM, our suite enhancements, the new debarkation process, and numerous smaller initiatives are being very positively recognized by guests, travel agents and the media.

 

While we understand not everyone is happy about every change taking place in our fleet, we appreciate your loyalty to our company and we sincerely hope you will continue to choose Royal Caribbean International. It gives us no pleasure to hear from aggrieved Crown & Anchor loyalty customers. Our goal is to earn your advocacy and your return to our fleet by providing you with truly memorable vacations and by recognizing and rewarding your loyalty.

 

Our mantra at Royal Caribbean International, besides delivering the "Wow," is "continuous improvement." We constantly strive to find the right balance, so our product evolves in ways that our guests, especially our most loyal guests, are comfortable with. Our ratings and most communications we receive indicate that the balancing is working. However, occasionally we stumble and when we do we try to react quickly. This may be such an instance. We are committed to earning the faith you place in us. I hope the additional enhancements explained in this letter demonstrate our commitment.

 

These changes will be reflected on our website in the next 48 hours.

 

Thank you very much for being our customer and for your loyalty to Royal Caribbean International.

 

Sincerely,

 

Adam M. Goldstein

President and Chief Executive Officer

Royal Caribbean International

[BND]

We are currently Platinum as of our last cruise (7 credits-26 actual sea days total). Our 5 day in a balcony in July and our 7 day in a GS in Oct WOULD have made us Diamond under the current plan. Now, we'll still be Platinum at that point, so I see more losses than gains. We've never taken less than 5 day with RCI and we have had only JS and GS so far. Do suites gain anything extra or not under the new plan?

[detroitautocruisers]

i am betting the implementation will be 1-12-11 (or whatever date they announce it) because the writing has been on the wall for a very long time. they have even done two years in a row of D/D+ celebration in december, another example that the writing has been on the wall.

and they told us back in june 2010 that another phase was coming.

RC has been encouraging all of us all along to get as many credits/cruises as we could, because we should have known this was coming. let's just wait to see what the official announcement brings

[detroitautocruisers]

We are currently Platinum as of our last cruise (7 credits-26 actual sea days total). Our 5 day in a balcony in July and our 7 day in a GS in Oct WOULD have made us Diamond under the current plan. Now, we'll still be Platinum at that point, so I see more losses than gains. We've never taken less than 5 day with RCI and we have had only JS and GS so far. Do suites gain anything extra or not under the new plan?

 

according to the rumors, yes, suites will get double the days/nights just like suites would get an extra credit under the old plan.