End of Elite cocktail party?

[amusea]

The bigger problem for Celebrity is that the number of Elites is growing and getting out of control. I have sailed Celebrity since its inaugural year and originally credits were very simply distributed - one credit per cruise. Even though some of those early cruises were long in length I still only received one credit. I called Celebrity to see if I could receive extra credits for those early long cruises but Celebrity set an arbitrary date when the rules changed without my knowledge and that was that.

Since the major problem is with TAs perhaps the price of these cruises has to be increased. My trans-Pacific cruise in 2014 is about the same length as my upcoming TA cruise but it is priced higher.

Celebrity cannot keep adding more ships and more cruisers and not revamp this whole Elite situation is some way and I think the current experimenting with vouchers is a trial run. If that doesn't work they will have to come up with another solution. A higher tier will upset many elites but that may be the only answer.

[navyrotorhead]

The bigger problem for Celebrity is that the number of Elites is growing and getting out of control. experimenting with vouchers is a trial run. If that doesn't work they will have to come up with another solution. A higher tier will upset many elites but that may be the only answer.

 

A voice of wisdom....cool logic....and sound reason is heard.... :) ;)

 

Oh what the heck, NEVER MIND! Where IS that dead horse anyway??? :D :p

[harz99]

A higher tier will upset many elites but that may be the only answer.

 

It MAY be, but ONLY if X look at the way their sister line RCL eventually dealt with the similar Diamond issue, and don't do anything to disadvantage existing Elite's by withdrawing hard earnt Captains Club benefits.

 

A better answer would be to remove the reciprocal benefits UNTIL you reach Diamond Plus or Elite Plus (when such a thing comes about), and much as I would mourn the loss of the cocktail party on TA's, couple the withdrawal of reciprocal benefits with the issue of drinks vouchers on TAs only, BUT look at either extending the number of bars that can used or extending the hours to say 3-7, so post lunch or pre dinner drinks.

[KathyPet]

I just completed my first Celebrity cruise. I got comped to Select status because of my RCCL status. Did not go to a single event sponsored by the Captain's Club. Guess what! I managed to meet plenty of very nice people who love to cruise without hanging at the cocktail party. I have sailed with 5 different cruise lines and my choices are based on the itinerary and the cost not whether I get a few free drinks, a bag of free laundry and a Pin to wear on my shirt. The cruise lines giveth and they taketh away. Deciding on a cruise based on the perks you might get is a waste of effort.

[teajak]

I just completed my first Celebrity cruise. I got comped to Select status because of my RCCL status. Did not go to a single event sponsored by the Captain's Club. Guess what! I managed to meet plenty of very nice people who love to cruise without hanging at the cocktail party. I have sailed with 5 different cruise lines and my choices are based on the itinerary and the cost not whether I get a few free drinks, a bag of free laundry and a Pin to wear on my shirt. The cruise lines giveth and they taketh away. Deciding on a cruise based on the perks you might get is a waste of effort.

We all set different priorities. What you believe is a waste of effort may be fun and interesting for someone else.

[3418ahl]

I just completed my first Celebrity cruise. I got comped to Select status because of my RCCL status. Did not go to a single event sponsored by the Captain's Club. Guess what! I managed to meet plenty of very nice people who love to cruise without hanging at the cocktail party. I have sailed with 5 different cruise lines and my choices are based on the itinerary and the cost not whether I get a few free drinks, a bag of free laundry and a Pin to wear on my shirt. The cruise lines giveth and they taketh away. Deciding on a cruise based on the perks you might get is a waste of effort.

 

As I stated on another thread, when you are cruising for up to two months, deciding a cruise on the "perks" you get...laundry, dry cleaning, internet, pressing, OBC, amounts to hundreds of dollars difference. We are saving well over $500 on our 60 day cruise. With both of us being elite, the internet alone is 15 hours!

[TravelerThom]

...Since the major problem is with TAs perhaps the price of these cruises has to be increased...

I'm sure the company would love to price these cruises higher, but I have a hard time believing that Celebrity is not already pricing these cruises as high as they can and still fill the ship. Filling the ship is critical. The tipped employees would basically not be paid if passengers are not on-board. Even more important to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd [the parent corporation, stock symbol RCL (I don't have numbers broken out by individual lines: RCI, X, etc)], they would quickly go bankrupt if they don't fill the ships. RCL loses significant money if you look at cruise sales revenue versus cost to run the ship, but more than makes up for this with on-board sales revenue [bars, spa, tours, photos, etc]. From the FY2011 RCL Annual Report there was on-board profit of $1.475 Billion [revenue of $2.011 Billion versus expense of $0.536 Billion], but overall net corporate income was $0.607 Billion - in other words throw out on-board profit and RCL lost almost a Billion dollars [$868 Million].

 

Thom

[spearmint]

I read a lot of posts, but eventually got bogged down....

 

Perhaps this suggestion has been put out there. already...

 

I know that the upper lounge is used due to large numbers of Elite members on board, and that overcrowding may account for the change of location .. and that not all bars on board would be available for using the voucher system....and that those bars which are available might/would be really crowded....

 

I wonder if the same location were followed as at present, but with the voucher system introduced. Personally, I like the upper lounge for the cocktail party and would have no problem with a 2 or 3 drink voucher; if I wanted more, then I would charge it to my seapass.

 

If crowding continues, then the vouchers could also be used in the bars that have been mentioned elsewhere in the thread. It's sort of a combination of the ideas mentioned herein.

[BosoxI]

The bigger problem for Celebrity is that the number of Elites is growing and getting out of control. I have sailed Celebrity since its inaugural year and originally credits were very simply distributed - one credit per cruise. Even though some of those early cruises were long in length I still only received one credit. I called Celebrity to see if I could receive extra credits for those early long cruises but Celebrity set an arbitrary date when the rules changed without my knowledge and that was that.

.

 

Yes, but Celebrity gave us NO credits for cruises we took years ago. Getting even one per cruise is better than what we got.

[TravelerThom]

Yes, but Celebrity gave us NO credits for cruises we took years ago. Getting even one per cruise is better than what we got.

In my experience Celebrity has been pretty liberal about allowing credit. I have friends who got credit for Chandris [ie pre Celebrity] cruises. If you have any sort of documentation [eg even a photo of you and the ship] I would suggest you revisit this. YMMV

 

Thom

[neverbeenhere]

We want a special hour for us.

[Wine-O]

If you have any sort of documentation [eg even a photo of you and the ship] I would suggest you revisit this. YMMV

 

Thom

 

The photo of her and the ship worked for my wife when she took a cruise vacation with her parents. That gave her one more cruise credit then me. I kinda chuckled because how would they know that was her in the photo. :rolleyes::D

[teajak]

In my experience Celebrity has been pretty liberal about allowing credit. I have friends who got credit for Chandris [ie pre Celebrity] cruises. If you have any sort of documentation [eg even a photo of you and the ship] I would suggest you revisit this. YMMV

 

Thom

They gave us credit for our one Chandris cruise,no problem.

[nikel]

It

 

A better answer would be to remove the reciprocal benefits UNTIL you reach Diamond Plus or Elite Plus (when such a thing comes about)

 

DITTO ! I think that is what is causing all the problems.

[FLACRUISER99]

It MAY be, but ONLY if X look at the way their sister line RCL eventually dealt with the similar Diamond issue, and don't do anything to disadvantage existing Elite's by withdrawing hard earnt Captains Club benefits.

 

A better answer would be to remove the reciprocal benefits UNTIL you reach Diamond Plus or Elite Plus (when such a thing comes about), and much as I would mourn the loss of the cocktail party on TA's, couple the withdrawal of reciprocal benefits with the issue of drinks vouchers on TAs only, BUT look at either extending the number of bars that can used or extending the hours to say 3-7, so post lunch or pre dinner drinks.

 

It

 

A better answer would be to remove the reciprocal benefits UNTIL you reach Diamond Plus or Elite Plus (when such a thing comes about)

 

DITTO ! I think that is what is causing all the problems.

Just remember this is an RCI benifit. From RCI's web site "Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society® Platinum and Emerald levels will be equivalent to Select in Celebrity Cruise's Captain's Club and Explorer in Azamara Club Cruises' Le Club Voyage. Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society® Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club levels will be equivalent to Elite in Celebrity Cruise's Captain's Club and Azamara Club Cruises' Discoverer in Le Club Voyage."

[sanjoseca]

I have a feeling that parent company, RCCL, likes the reciprocal benefits. It keeps more experienced cruisers, who don't want or need the family focus of RCI any longer, within the corporate family. The same with Celebrity pax migrating to Azamara.

 

The benefits are solely to help keep RCCL a strong company. Elites saying that reciprocal benefits should go away is probably never going to be considered by RCCL.

[jerry kincanon]

A voice of wisdom....cool logic....and sound reason is heard.... :) ;)

[sanjoseca]

So, if Celebrity creates Elite Plus, how will you all feel when Diamond Plus and Pinnacle people become Elite Plus too?

[neverbeenhere]

Do many Pinnacle folks travel on Celebrity? Anyone have estimates on the number of Diamond Plus and Pinnacles?

[sanjoseca]

Do many Pinnacle folks travel on Celebrity? Anyone have estimates on the number of Diamond Plus and Pinnacles?

 

I have no idea, but you know that if Pinnacles are aboard, some are gonna lord their status over Elite Pluses.

[neverbeenhere]

Yup, we'll certainly will have to shine their shoes.:)

[bigbenboys]

So, if Celebrity creates Elite Plus, how will you all feel when Diamond Plus and Pinnacle people become Elite Plus too?

 

I think it would be great. If they were going to let me into the Concierge Lounge, then why would I not want them to join us in our Lounge? Richard

[sanjoseca]

I think it would be great. If they were going to let me into the Concierge Lounge, then why would I not want them to join us in our Lounge? Richard

 

I agree, but based on some of the comments on this thread, I think some will resent the fact that they will get the same benefits as those that have "earned it" solely on Celebrity.

[robtulipe]

Just remember this is an RCI benifit. From RCI's web site "Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society® Platinum and Emerald levels will be equivalent to Select in Celebrity Cruise's Captain's Club and Explorer in Azamara Club Cruises' Le Club Voyage. Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society® Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club levels will be equivalent to Elite in Celebrity Cruise's Captain's Club and Azamara Club Cruises' Discoverer in Le Club Voyage."

 

This benefit goes both ways thus are reciprocal.

This is from X Capt's Club Elite benefits web page "Ability to enroll in Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society Diamond Level" and from the Select page "Ability to enroll in Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society Platinum Level.

[FortyNinerLiz]

It

 

A better answer would be to remove the reciprocal benefits UNTIL you reach Diamond Plus or Elite Plus (when such a thing comes about)

 

DITTO ! I think that is what is causing all the problems.

 

Definitely agree!!!