C & A announcement postponed

[TEXASMUNK]

Leave the check-in counter for Diamond and Diamond Plus.

 

But...

 

No matter how good or bad the changes might be, Cruise Critic better add servers because the howls and squealing will, not doubt, be ovewhelming.

 

 

Just did the math...we have 146 days....so whatever they do with the levels, we will live with it and still make our buying decision based on a whole lot more than the cheap wine or cheap booze served in the lounge to D and D+ members.....that stuff is terrible! LOL

[nydiana]

Can probably be done with an excel spreadsheet -- wouldn't even need a computer program. (We all know how unreliable computer "upgrades" have been for RCL.)

 

Excel is a computer program.

[Tranquil Waters]

I think some of you don't understand just how screwed up RCI's accounting systems are...

Remember, some of us go back over 40 years (RCI was started in 1970)...

They do not have complete records on a good number of people's cruise histories...

 

(Heck, I don't even remember how many cruises I have really been on...My memory only goes back to the late 80s when I started cruising on my own dime...)

 

But RCI doesn't really have complete records of everyone either...that was sort of the first point of my post...

 

In many of our cruise histories, we have some sort of vague, unassigned points...

I, myself, have FIVE of my 14 credits being for unknown cruises on unknown ships for unknown durations...There are dates--like the infamous November 5, 1970--but I can virtually guaranty I did not cruise on that date...I was in High School at that time and that would have been during the school term and my parents would not have taken me out of class for a cruise...It is an arbitrary placemarker date that many of us have on our list...because RCI doesn't have certain other cruises from long ago that I know I did cruise on--like on the old Viking Serenade...

 

So, it really is NOT just an "easy spreadsheet"...

 

There may be thousands of us out there with similar "official" cruise histories on the RCI website...

 

But the point is that those vague, unaccounted cruises are being counted in an arbitrary way now. You have 1 cruise credit for them.

 

So in a conversion to "days cruised" it would make much more sense to again give an arbitrary designation to those few cruises (like 7 days) than to give an arbitrary designation to ALL cruises on your cruise history (when they actually KNOW how many days and whether they were suite, etc. on most of the cruises). And, again, you are left with an easy computer run conversion. :)

[mommabean]

For the record - the woman at C&A I spoke with on Monday who told me that she wouldn't be able to fix my husbands cruise credits right away because she didn't have access to the system for 48 hours, because of changes to the system, has fixed the problem.

 

In October they gave my husband another number that apparently belonged to a man in Canada with the same name but switched this other man's information to our address. My husband was welcomed as a platinum member after our December cruise in the mail by Adam Goldstein on Monday which is what prompted my call.

 

And on our cruises he was still recognized as D+. Apparently I filled in the cruise documents with the correct number which is why it was correct on board. But the LA who booked our "next cruise" certificates which we used for those cruises, put the wrong number on the booking which we never noticed.

 

Anyway, it's obvious the system is once again available to the people at C&A. And the woman had told me originally that she expected to be so busy beginning today that it might take a few more days to correct the problem. She has also said that the extra D in December credits were going to be recognized in the new system in some way but wouldn't give details.

 

It seemed something was up on Monday. And as we have found out, it appears delayed.

 

At least we have DH's account fixed and printed out.

 

Gina

[koterry]

Incredible double-speak. It's what I expected though.

Where in your mind exactly is the"doublespeak"????

[koterry]

Amazing all the hubbub that one person started eh?

Beyond amazing

[Tranquil Waters]

Beyond amazing

 

So what else exactly would anyone have been doing on these cold, snowy, shut-in days?:confused: It's just a way to pass the time. I don't think anyone is about to have a heart attack over the whole thing..... :D

[koterry]

It was actually my feeble attempt at a bit of humor (hence, the laugh-y faces)....guess it didn't come across that way, huh?

 

But, since I'm here, if the rumor that the rumored changes are postponed is true, and not just another rumor, then I wonder why the website is still down....

The website is up right now

[koterry]

You will be considered Platinum on your 5th cruise. We didn't even realize it until we saw it on our Documents when we checked in. We got to move up into the short line and have a nice waiting area and champaigne and sandwiches during a long fog delay, while others were waiting outside and sitting on the floor hungry. Enjoy your Platinum cruise!

Your not platinum till AFTER your 5th cruise

[EVALUATOR]

 

So, it really is NOT just an "easy spreadsheet"...

 

There may be thousands of us out there with similar "official" cruise histories on the RCI website...

 

It really is simpler than you may think.

 

None of the pre 2003 cruises were extra points for suites.

All of those early cruises are giving you 1 cruise credit, correct?

They probably gave out more extra cruise credits for the Diamonds in December than they will ever give out to those that sailed 40 years ago. Sure some of those cruises you took were under 7 days, but if a loyalty program is supposed to reward anyone, it surely should be some that has continued to cruise with the company for 40 years. sailed 30-40 years ago.

 

If you have it in your history for 1 credit, just pick a number of days (like 10) to assign the early cruise, and enter that into the equation.

 

The IF function is a pretty powerful yet simple excel function.

[EVALUATOR]

They probably did run a simple spreadsheet program after downloading all the cruise history the last few days when the site was down.

 

Then they crunched the numbers and found out that adding an emerald level between platinum and diamond, and making the diamond plus level 175 days didn't do anything to slow the increase of people approaching higher levels.

 

All they ended up with in the end is another couple of levels, then said STOP THE PRESS.:eek:

 

150,000 diamond members with 23 credits isn't much different than 150,000 diamond members with 169 days at sea.

[CruiseKeeper]

Where in your mind exactly is the"doublespeak"????

 

 

This double-speak was because it was the same copy/paste reply as a previous chat.

[kc320]

Seems to be just a replay of the same old thing...last March or April there were big rumors circulating about major changes at C&A...people in the know & all that...basically there were no major changes..a few ammenities added..moved around etc...but no changes in the number of credits needed per level...and now 6 months later we've had the same rumors going...again from people in the know...sooner or later even a blind squirrel finds a nut...and one of the people in the know...will really know...till then I'm going to keep cruising and quit worrying...

[DarthGrady]

With all the talk of spreadsheets, phantom cruises from the 70s and conversion processes I wonder why RCI would bother to change the system at all. Consider:

 

Leaving it the way that it is requires no work. But the folks who believe a per-day system in the more "fair" are unhappy.

 

Changing it would seem to require at least a fair amount of effort. But the folks who think a per-cruise system is the most "fair" are unhappy.

 

If I were them, I would probably choose the easier way. Some folks will be upset no matter what.

 

And I don't buy for one minute that RCI (or any other cruise line) want to limit the number of people getting to the higher tiers of their past guest program. I think its only people not wanting to share their "status" with so many others that espouse that notion. Getting people to the higher levels is the whole point! That means they are coming back with their business. The perks cost the cruise lines very little compared to the business they drum up. Just think of how many Diamond/+ people booked extra cruises in December. The only challenge is managing the higher numbers, and what a great problem for a business to have! :)