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Big announcement from Michael Bayley -- double captains club points for singles!!!

cruisestitch

By cruisestitch,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

Posted
Posted
Hey if your paying 200% over and above everybody else, double Captain Club points still wouldn't ease the pain much for me.

 

I would think getting a friend to travel with is still the best way to go.

 

Nope, not for many of us:);)..... For me it is worth the price I pay

to have my own cabin:D

 

Different strokes!

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goofysmom99

goofysmom99

Posted
Posted

I'm thrilled that they're giving solos double points! When you travel as a couple, as DH and I did for years, we had the benefit of double internet minutes, double bags of laundry, and double whatever the old Elite benefits were. When I travel solo, as I mostly do now, I get one set of club benefits - mine. I would like to to give Celebrity extra kudos for graciously allowing my roommate, when I have one, to also attend happy hour, unlike Royal Caribbean. As some others have posted earlier here, maybe it will be possible to reach Zenith before I'm too old to board the ship! Woo hoo! Thank you Celebrity!! :D:D

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Happy Cruiser 6143

Happy Cruiser 6143

Posted
Posted
I started cruising on Celebrity when a cruise earned you one credit. It didn't matter if you sailed on a short cruise or long cruise or whether you were in the penthouse or inside cabin. One point per cruise. 10 credits = 10 cruises needed for elite status. It was simple. If you got to elite , you had completed 10 or more cruises. That said that you were loyal to Celebrity. It wasn't based on how much money you spent. Now that the length of cruise and type of cabin determines how many points you earn on a cruise, it seems to be more based on how much money you spent on a Celebrity cruise....or is it? It has also evolved into a monetary type value for points or a selling promotion. It has become so confusing as to what is the true purpose of this point system. Many people on this thread seem to feel that if you spend more money, you deserve more points. Is that really the aim of a loyalty program? If it is, then giving solo cruisers double points makes sense. Afterall, paying double is worth something. We all know that cruises sell at a various prices at different times. If one person books at a high price and another books the same cruise at a lower price, do they deserve the same number of points? If they are in the same category cabin, they get the same points. That contradicts the notion that people who pay more should get more points. I have been elite for many years. I will probably hit elite + in a few years. The perks for elite + are not thrilling. A free latte which I can buy for $5 and some more free internet minutes. I don't use up the 90 that I get as elite. even when I take long cruises. The free cruise as a Zenith is nice. However, chances of attaining enough points to reach that level is out of sight for me. The more I read about the changes, the more I am confused as to the intent of the new plan. Is it loyalty or is it reward for money spent?

 

Yes, the intent of the plan is to reward those who spend more money with more points. Think about how your airline frequent flyer program works. If you fly first class, you're rewarded with extra miles. Same idea.

 

By the way, I like the Elite+ perks. They are not limited to one latte--you may have as many as you like. And I use all the internet minutes.

 

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upwarduk

upwarduk

Posted
Posted (edited)
Great job Celebrity for this decision - seems to make perfect sense to me. :D

 

Now all we need from Michael Bailey is an announcement that the WEB SITE will be sorted.

That will be a great decision which is long overdue.

Edited by upwarduk
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Redtravel

Redtravel

Posted
Posted

I have not traveled solo. 200% is too much to charge for solo travelers. I can understand an added fee.....maybe 50%. The solo cruiser does not use double everything. They do not use double towels, chaises, food, etc. They only occupy one seat in any venue. I can certainly understand the frustration of the solo cruiser. Allowing them double points is something. Why not reduce the single supplement to 50% or less. That would seem fair. If you asked solo travelers which would they prefer, 50% upcharge or double cruise points, what would they choose? If they charged 50% upcharge or better yet, even less or none, solo booking might increase. I have single friends who travel often. None of them travel on Celebrity. Why not have a solo promotion that gives solo travelers a break. They deserve it. On some ships, there are cabins that are only for singles.

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NLH Arizona

NLH Arizona

Posted
Posted (edited)
I have not traveled solo. 200% is too much to charge for solo travelers. I can understand an added fee.....maybe 50%. The solo cruiser does not use double everything. They do not use double towels, chaises, food, etc. They only occupy one seat in any venue. I can certainly understand the frustration of the solo cruiser. Allowing them double points is something. Why not reduce the single supplement to 50% or less. That would seem fair. If you asked solo travelers which would they prefer, 50% upcharge or double cruise points, what would they choose? If they charged 50% upcharge or better yet, even less or none, solo booking might increase. I have single friends who travel often. None of them travel on Celebrity. Why not have a solo promotion that gives solo travelers a break. They deserve it. On some ships, there are cabins that are only for singles.
It really doesn't matter what solo travelers want, it depends on what NCL is willing to give them. I think most solo travelers are very thankful for the double points as we will reach Elite, Elite+ and Zenith that much faster and can enjoy those great perks. Some of us wouldn't travel in the solo cabins, due to the size of them and, for me, they don't have balconies. Edited by NLH Arizona
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Xport

Xport

Posted
Posted
Really pleased this has started in time for my Cruise. How will I know if I get double points as not sure if I managed to get any sort of discount off the 200% price?

 

Are awarded after cruise completion to those who have enrolled in Captain's Club [you should do that if you have not already done so; it's not automatic] based upon the duration of your cruise, the category of your accommodation [ie; inside, oceanview, standard balcony, Concierge Class/AquaClass balcony, or suite [with multiple possibilities based upon level of suite] and the duration of your sailing... In addition, there are periodic sales promotions that award additional Cruise Points under very specific circumstances...

 

It is impossible for anyone here to predict your accrual--with or without the new "double up" for solos--based upon the information you have provided...

 

You might consider contacting either Celebrity or your Travel Agent--depending upon with whom you booked your cruise--to determine if you are paying a 100% Single Supplement [the trigger for the "double up"] or not as well as any of the other elements enumerated above that may need clarification... With that information, you can then forecast your Cruise Point accrual by acquainting yourself with Celebrity's methodology for awarding Cruise Points by visiting the Captain's Club section of their website...

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BEAV

BEAV

Posted
Posted
Hi all,

 

Here is some additional information:

 

Based on feedback from our single travelers, Captains Club is happy to announce that we will begin offering "Double Club Points" when you sail with us as a single traveler paying double occupancy (200%) for your cruise fare. We greatly appreciate feedback and suggestions from our loyalty members to help us make positive improvements to our program offerings. The new 'Double Club Points" will be credited for sailings that began on or after July 1, 2014.

 

I assume by this statement that a solo cruiser won't get double points in the event they take advantage of an Xciting deals promotion where the single rate is 125%, 150% or 175%.

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gimletgal

gimletgal

Posted
Posted
I have not traveled solo. 200% is too much to charge for solo travelers. I can understand an added fee.....maybe 50%. The solo cruiser does not use double everything. They do not use double towels, chaises, food, etc. They only occupy one seat in any venue. I can certainly understand the frustration of the solo cruiser. Allowing them double points is something. Why not reduce the single supplement to 50% or less. That would seem fair. If you asked solo travelers which would they prefer, 50% upcharge or double cruise points, what would they choose? If they charged 50% upcharge or better yet, even less or none, solo booking might increase. I have single friends who travel often. None of them travel on Celebrity. Why not have a solo promotion that gives solo travelers a break. They deserve it. On some ships, there are cabins that are only for singles.

 

I totally agree! While the double points are nice, I would much rather they reduce the single supplement. I reached Elite level a long time ago and really don't care much about points anymore, but it sure would be nice to save some $$$. :) Those single supplements are "killers"!

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cle-guy

cle-guy

Posted
Posted

 

I thought the whole part of revamping the Captain's Club was to make it harder to reach Elite? Doesn't this somewhat work against that?

 

The real purpose of revamping Captain's Club was to generate revenue. If they can fill unsold cabins with solo travelers paying double and getting half the service they make more revenue and profit.

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cle-guy

cle-guy

Posted
Posted
Is it loyalty or is it reward for money spent?

 

It's definitely changed to rewarding money spen=t, like airlines are moving to.

 

They no longer NEED to reward loyal cursers -- ships are sailing full and overall over capacity. So from a business standpoint no need to attract new cruisers or keep existing cruises at all - that's happening without rewards.

 

They now need to attract more $$$$, so the revamp of the Captain's club rewards money spent more than simply showing up time and time again to fill that need.

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cle-guy

cle-guy

Posted
Posted

I've always seen ship cabins like hotel rooms. They have a fare to them, I can stick 1 person in the room or 2, the cabin (room) cost is the same. This is how I avoid getting ticked off at the solo supplement.

 

They budget for 2 x number of cabins - revenue I get that. The single to full canons ratios can vary dramataicall cruise to cruise, so fully appreciate the pricing model.

 

If I share the room with someone, my part of the bill is half. I don't look it as paying double at all.

 

However with the way I look at it, the room comes with a particular number of possible reward points, and in the past single travelers the cabin were only being award half the points even through I paid the full amount for the room. This new policy corrects that. I further think as a solo paying full supplement if in Aqua Class for example, I should be entitled to bring a guest with me, that 2nd seat in BLU was paid for with my full cabin fare. If I have a promotional drink package as a solo, I should be able to gift a drink to another passenger if I want, I should get benefit of 2 beverage packages. If I'm in a suite as a solo, I should be able to poring a guest into Michael's I paid for that privilege for 2 persons and should get that benefit for 2.

 

If however I got a discount for traveling solo, then I should not get the full array of perks that 2 people in the cabin would get.

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NLH Arizona

NLH Arizona

Posted
Posted (edited)

I for one really don't care if Celebrity is (1) selling these double points to me or (2) giving them to me because I pay 200% or (3) did it because of loyalty, I'm just thankful to Celebrity for giving me the double points. Thanks again, Celebrity.

Edited by NLH Arizona
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AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted (edited)
I'm just thankful to Celebrity for giving me the double points. Thanks again, Celebrity.

 

On the flip side some had little sympathy for those of us who got off Celebrity ships last November with half of the points that we thought we were earning due to Celebrity's no warning over night change to the CC program. I see that they learned a little from that fiasco by at least back dating this change by one month.

 

In our case we are primarily Princess cruisers but had decided to move more in the direction of splitting our cruises between Princess and Celebrity. It was the worst possible timing and method of implementing the CC change for us. We have booked and completed five cruises with Princess since the Celebrity CC change last November and have three more booked with Princess. Poorly handled changes to loyalty programs can definitely drive customers away.

 

Terry

Edited by AE_Collector
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Redtravel

Redtravel

Posted
Posted

Hotels run promotions awarding extra points for a limited time or as a bonus for staying multiple times. I can see Celebrity offering bonus points for cruises that sell slowly. Do you think they would offer extra points as a promotion?

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