The Good News and the Bad News for us.

[TomTN]

The Bad news:
[COLOR=magenta]In general[/COLOR] the new program awards those who sail in Concierge or above, giving 5 points per day for CC and Aqua. We usually sail Veranda (CC if very cheap) which reaps only 3 points per day. So on our typical 12-14 day cruise we will now earn 36-42 points. Previous 12-14 day cruises would have earned 2 points, and converted to 60 points under the new program. So earning points for us and most other people will be at a slower rate than before the change.

The good news:
The benefits for Elite+ are not that great. I could care less if we ever get there. We will still sail Concierge only when it is deeply discounted. OTOH, I am still very happy:) with the Elite perks. All the internet we need. A few free drinks. Fast tender service. Laundry. I'm happy.
And, having sailed on other cruise lines(that we enjoyed) X is still my first choice.

[tserface]

And... for us Celebrity and RCI are still the best cruise experience for the price so we still have that going for us. I'm surprised they didn't change the name "Elite" to something else. It still has a snobby connotation to it even though it got knocked down a couple pegs by adding even higher levels. I think Zenith was a good choice since it doesn't sound as egotistical, but it still means the highest point. In a few years, they'll likely add Zenith+ where people who attain that level will actually own their own ships.

Tom

[quote name='TomBeckCruise']The Bad news:
[COLOR=magenta]In general[/COLOR] the new program awards those who sail in Concierge or above, giving 5 points per day for CC and Aqua. We usually sail Veranda (CC if very cheap) which reaps only 3 points per day. So on our typical 12-14 day cruise we will now earn 36-42 points. Previous 12-14 day cruises would have earned 2 points, and converted to 60 points under the new program. So earning points for us and most other people will be at a slower rate than before the change.

The good news:
The benefits for Elite+ are not that great. I could care less if we ever get there. We will still sail Concierge only when it is deeply discounted. OTOH, I am still very happy:) with the Elite perks. All the internet we need. A few free drinks. Fast tender service. Laundry. I'm happy.
And, having sailed on other cruise lines(that we enjoyed) X is still my first choice.[/QUOTE]

[Host Jazzbeau]

[quote name='tserface']And... for us Celebrity and RCI are still the best cruise experience for the price so we still have that going for us. I'm surprised they didn't change the name "Elite" to something else. It still has a snobby connotation to it even though it got knocked down a couple pegs by adding even higher levels. I think Zenith was a good choice since it doesn't sound as egotistical, but it still means the highest point. In a few years, they'll likely add Zenith+ where people who attain that level will actually own their own ships.

Tom[/quote]

At least they didn't make the mistake that is becoming more and more common: calling the top level "Penultimate" ;)

[A Sixth?]

[quote name='TomBeckCruise']...... Fast tender service. Laundry. I'm happy.
........[/QUOTE]

I actually have not seen priority tender tickets listed as an Elite benefit. :eek:

Is it still one of the pluses of loyalty? :confused:

[travelberlin]

[quote name='jazzbeau']At least they didn't make the mistake that is becoming more and more common: calling the top level "Penultimate" ;)[/QUOTE]

I had to laugh about "penultimate":)

[milesfromu]

We were to move to select after March 2014 sailing. Even being in a CC1, we will be 25 points short. Under the old, it would have been 2 credits or 60 points, now its only 35. Guess as newbies we will have fun working our way up either way. This system will slow moving from one class to the other unless booking suites consistently.

[TomTN]

[quote name='A Sixth?']I actually have not seen priority tender tickets listed as an Elite benefit. :eek:

Is it still one of the pluses of loyalty? :confused:[/quote]

Appearently that information is on the X facebook site.

From earlier post on CC.

Originally Posted by [B]NLH Arizona[/B] [URL="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40795169#post40795169"][IMG]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/buttons/viewpost.gif[/IMG][/URL]
[I]check Celebrity's responses on facebook, I think he addressed it, but don't remember what he said.[/I]
[COLOR=red]I just checked & yes, we still get them:). Thanks, never thought to check on Facebook. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=red]__________________
John & Shirley [/COLOR]

[akowilm]

So now we have to take a few more cruises to get to Elite+. Oh the horror of it all. Woe is me...:)