Do elite passengers get free cabin upgrades

[cruzisme]

Only a 1night cruise but we went from inside to one of the penthouse suites Caribe deck,aft.

It was fabulous, even if only for one sleep!:)

[IECalCruiser]

We booked an inside guarantee on a three day coastal on our 15th cruise and were upgraded to an oceanview. On our first cruise as Elite, a Panama Canal full transit, we booked an obstructed oceanview and were upgraded to an oceanview. On our next cruise we were offered an upsell from our booked Cat AD mini to a Cat S4 penthouse suite. We took that offer at $299/person :) Have no idea what will happen on future cruises.

[sjbj]

Nope. Sadly, long-term loyalty is not rewarded!

 

Princess has the best loyalty rewards in the business.

[sweet carol]

In 23 cruises we have only had one upgrade and that was on the original Dawn Princess in 1990 we went up one level could not see the difference. Since it was our first cruise we did not know what to expect and this ship was nothing like today's ships.

[WendyG]

Always book guarantees and never had a meta upgrade (I dont count f to a as an upgrade) but on my elite turning cruise was offered an up sell emerald deck mini to full suite of my choice and took it! :D

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[Pia1913]

Princess has the best loyalty rewards in the business.

 

Agreed. But not when it comes to cabin upgrades.

[pris993]

In 22 cruises on Princess, we have been upgraded once, from an ocean view to a balcony on the old, old Royal Princess on a Baltic cruise in l997.

 

We actually book the cabin we want and do not check we will take an upgrade.

 

We have been upgraded once on HAL to a full suite from a balcony and on Celebrity to a royal suite from a mini suite by comparison.

[swedish weave]

You guys make me feel lucky !! We have been upgraded many times on both Princess and NCL. Some have happened during the cruise and some before the start.

[CruisinChris]

Over 25 cruises with Princess and never upgraded.

[beg3yrs]

Our only upgrade ever was in 1988. It was our very first cruise and it was on Carnival's TSS Festivale (may she rust in pieces).

 

We were upgraded from interior to an ocean view with a tub! Being much younger and newbies to cruising we thought it was wonderful until ...

 

We realized people could look into the window from the Promenade Deck and ... ;)

 

The calypso band on the Lido Deck started playing. They were right above us. :eek:

 

Never again.

[JimAOk1945]

We have cruised twice with Princess and have a third cruise scheduled for next year.

On our second cruise we were given a free upgrade from a mini-suite to a full suite! We got a call from a Princess representative two days before sailing.

My wife was so excited she could hardly sleep for those two days!

[Hlitner]

Princess has the best loyalty rewards in the business.

 

Nope no nada! And of course we shall tell you why? Princess does treat their Elite cruisers (we have been in this category for a few years) very well. But when we look at the overall benefits of several cruise lines (we are in very high categories on many lines) we think that Celebrity's program outpaces all others. As I say this, Celebrity is about to change their program (probably will be announced this coming Monday) and add 2 additional classes for their truly best customers.

 

So let me explain a little about what happens to an Elite Captain's Club passenger on Celebrity. With the exception of the embarkation day, Elite members will generally have a 2 hour free cocktail party every day. Until recently this included unlimited drinks (the type of drinks were limited) as well as hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. The latest news is that they give each Elite Passenger vouchers for 3 free drinks during that 2 hour cocktail time (and this is every day) which they can use at the Elite party or in a few other bars around the ship. On every day of the cruise Celebrity has an "Elite" continental breakfast where, besides the typical continental type food, a member can get drinks like Champagne, Mimosas, Bellinis, Bloody Marys, as well as coffee drinks like Cappuccino. And all of this is free! In addition, they do give some free internet minutes (not as many as on Princess) and have the usual priority for embarkation, debarkation, tendering, etc. They also have some free laundry (soon to be unlimited for their new Elite Plus category).

 

Yes, we know that Princess gives us a one-time set-up of our mini-bar. But this is true if on a 7 day cruise...or a 47 day cruise. You still only get a single bar set-up. But the reality is that for folks that enjoy adult beverages it is hard to beat the offerings on Celebrity. DW and I once calculated we were getting over $30 a day (per person) in free booze.

 

Hank

[Pia1913]

Nope no nada! And of course we shall tell you why? Princess does treat their Elite cruisers (we have been in this category for a few years) very well. But when we look at the overall benefits of several cruise lines (we are in very high categories on many lines) we think that Celebrity's program outpaces all others. As I say this, Celebrity is about to change their program (probably will be announced this coming Monday) and add 2 additional classes for their truly best customers.

 

So let me explain a little about what happens to an Elite Captain's Club passenger on Celebrity. With the exception of the embarkation day, Elite members will generally have a 2 hour free cocktail party every day. Until recently this included unlimited drinks (the type of drinks were limited) as well as hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. The latest news is that they give each Elite Passenger vouchers for 3 free drinks during that 2 hour cocktail time (and this is every day) which they can use at the Elite party or in a few other bars around the ship. On every day of the cruise Celebrity has an "Elite" continental breakfast where, besides the typical continental type food, a member can get drinks like Champagne, Mimosas, Bellinis, Bloody Marys, as well as coffee drinks like Cappuccino. And all of this is free! In addition, they do give some free internet minutes (not as many as on Princess) and have the usual priority for embarkation, debarkation, tendering, etc. They also have some free laundry (soon to be unlimited for their new Elite Plus category).

 

Yes, we know that Princess gives us a one-time set-up of our mini-bar. But this is true if on a 7 day cruise...or a 47 day cruise. You still only get a single bar set-up. But the reality is that for folks that enjoy adult beverages it is hard to beat the offerings on Celebrity. DW and I once calculated we were getting over $30 a day (per person) in free booze.

 

Hank

 

But you're basing it all on booze. What about shareholder credit? Military credit? TA credit? FCC credit? Loyalty credit? Getting it all; quadruple dipping. Money speaks louder than booze.

[Hlitner]

But you're basing it all on booze. What about shareholder credit? Military credit? TA credit? FCC credit? Loyalty credit? Getting it all; quadruple dipping. Money speaks louder than booze.

 

Yep, am basing a lot of it on booze since we do drink. But lets deal with some of your other issues.. some of which have absolutely nothing to do with "loyalty rewards." The shareholder credit is basically the same for owners of CCL Stock and owners of RCI Stock (this covers Celebrity). That being said, we do think that RCI and Celebrity some times make it difficult to combine stockholder credit with other discounts.

 

As to Military Credit we think Princess gets the gold medal (I am eligible for the credit). However, Celebrity often offers special "Military fares" which can be quite generous. We once saved about $1000 on a single booking using a military fare on Celebrity. These fares are not available for every cruise and tend to be targeted more towards the late booker.

 

I should note that the military and shareholder benefit has nothing to do with Loyalty benefits.

 

Regarding Loyalty discounts...Celebrity is currently offering their Captains Club members a 10% discount on many cruises and its 15 % for Elites. Have no clue what you mean by "Loyalty credit."

 

And by the way, speaking of Loyalty discounts we actually got a bone tossed our way (yesterday) by Holland America...who we think has the worst loyalty program afloat (we are 4 Star Mariners). They e-mailed us codes we could use to get extra OBCs on our next cruise. A quick (30 second) call to our TA resulted in an extra $300 OBC added to our next cruise. Given that it was from HAL we are still in shock :). Even though we have nearly 300 days with HAL we still do not get a single free internet minute :( Some HAL cruisers attribute the lack of decent loyalty benefits to the line's Dutch Heritage.....but who knows.

 

FCC Credit - We have never gained anything from this as its often not "stackable" with other promotions/benefits.

 

At this point in our lives we are thinking a fun goal might be to get to the top of all the mass market cruise line Loyalty Programs. We know plenty of other cruisers who are at high levels on specific lines...but not too many who are at high levels on many different lines. And getting to those lofty levels is an awful lot of fun :)

 

Hank

Edited November 23, 2013 by Hlitner

[Pia1913]

Yep, am basing a lot of it on booze since we do drink. But lets deal with some of your other issues.. some of which have absolutely nothing to do with "loyalty rewards." The shareholder credit is basically the same for owners of CCL Stock and owners of RCI Stock (this covers Celebrity). That being said, we do think that RCI and Celebrity some times make it difficult to combine stockholder credit with other discounts.

 

As to Military Credit we think Princess gets the gold medal (I am eligible for the credit). However, Celebrity often offers special "Military fares" which can be quite generous. We once saved about $1000 on a single booking using a military fare on Celebrity. These fares are not available for every cruise and tend to be targeted more towards the late booker.

 

I should note that the military and shareholder benefit has nothing to do with Loyalty benefits.

 

Regarding Loyalty discounts...Celebrity is currently offering their Captains Club members a 10% discount on many cruises and its 15 % for Elites. Have no clue what you mean by "Loyalty credit."

 

And by the way, speaking of Loyalty discounts we actually got a bone tossed our way (yesterday) by Holland America...who we think has the worst loyalty program afloat (we are 4 Star Mariners). They e-mailed us codes we could use to get extra OBCs on our next cruise. A quick (30 second) call to our TA resulted in an extra $300 OBC added to our next cruise. Given that it was from HAL we are still in shock :). Even though we have nearly 300 days with HAL we still do not get a single free internet minute :( Some HAL cruisers attribute the lack of decent loyalty benefits to the line's Dutch Heritage.....but who knows.

 

FCC Credit - We have never gained anything from this as its often not "stackable" with other promotions/benefits.

 

At this point in our lives we are thinking a fun goal might be to get to the top of all the mass market cruise line Loyalty Programs. We know plenty of other cruisers who are at high levels on specific lines...but not too many who are at high levels on many different lines. And getting to those lofty levels is an awful lot of fun :)

 

Hank

 

Loyalty: $25 on each cruise after #20, $50 after 30, and so on until $100 at #51. No matter how many days, you still get the $$. We have been getting $100 on each cruise for quite some time

 

FCC: always good and always combinable; at least on Princess. Only time you don't get it is on a World Cruise, but you don't need it, since they pay all your gratuities and give you $1000/pp OBC anyway.

 

Discounts: Princess still allows discounting by TA's, so we get our money that way. Lower price works for me. And refaring if/when price drops. RCI is giving you a discount with OBC.

[KruzPrincess]

Nope no nada! And of course we shall tell you why? Princess does treat their Elite cruisers (we have been in this category for a few years) very well. But when we look at the overall benefits of several cruise lines (we are in very high categories on many lines) we think that Celebrity's program outpaces all others. As I say this, Celebrity is about to change their program (probably will be announced this coming Monday) and add 2 additional classes for their truly best customers.

 

So let me explain a little about what happens to an Elite Captain's Club passenger on Celebrity. With the exception of the embarkation day, Elite members will generally have a 2 hour free cocktail party every day. Until recently this included unlimited drinks (the type of drinks were limited) as well as hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. The latest news is that they give each Elite Passenger vouchers for 3 free drinks during that 2 hour cocktail time (and this is every day) which they can use at the Elite party or in a few other bars around the ship. On every day of the cruise Celebrity has an "Elite" continental breakfast where, besides the typical continental type food, a member can get drinks like Champagne, Mimosas, Bellinis, Bloody Marys, as well as coffee drinks like Cappuccino. And all of this is free! In addition, they do give some free internet minutes (not as many as on Princess) and have the usual priority for embarkation, debarkation, tendering, etc. They also have some free laundry (soon to be unlimited for their new Elite Plus category).

 

Yes, we know that Princess gives us a one-time set-up of our mini-bar. But this is true if on a 7 day cruise...or a 47 day cruise. You still only get a single bar set-up. But the reality is that for folks that enjoy adult beverages it is hard to beat the offerings on Celebrity. DW and I once calculated we were getting over $30 a day (per person) in free booze.

 

Hank

 

None of this means anything to me since I don't drink. Pia explained everything else very well. I'll take my free laundry, internet minutes, loyalty credit, etc. over drinks anytime. I own RCI stock, but when I check it out I can almost never get more than one OBC deal. I don't know how you get them all.

[jrzebird]

Nope. Sadly, long-term loyalty is not rewarded!

 

I think that PCL rewards loyalty better than most lines, in a lot of ways. That being said, I have been told that upgrades are mostly random, so has little to do with loyalty and more to do with what cabins they need to ensure sailing with the fullest ship possible.

 

I am 2 cruises away from elite and just had my first upgrade(s) on a b2b. First I was upgraded from a Plaza inside to an Emerald, barely obstructed aft cabin, on the 10 day repo. Then, a few days before I sailed, my TA managed to get me an upgrade for the 4 day part of the b2b, so I stayed in the OV cabin I had for the repo. I was a very happy lady. However, I prefer the inside on Plaza for convenience to the Piazza.

 

These 2 cruises were very undersold and a lot of people went from insides to balcony and I'm sure none of it had anything to do with status.