What if there never was a loyalty program

[SewMuch]

Let's get it clear right from the start - I'm not asking what would happen if RCCL stopped the current loyalty program. I'm asking what if RCCL had never started one in the first place? How big a difference would the lack of loyalty perks have made to you? Would your cruising history be different?

 

Would you have cruised less and done more land vacations?

Would you have done the same number of cruises, but not as many on RCCL?

Would your cruise history with RCCL have stayed the same?

 

And before anyone suggests it, I swear I do not work for RCCL. Its just that on CC there's so much chatter about perks and lounges and free drinks. It started me wondering if for some people those perks out-weigh other considerations when choosing a vacation, trying new things.

[JTBCruiser]

We don't cruise enough to gain perks from any line but still love to cruise. My sample size is small, cruised Carnival, Norwegian and Royal. So far, we like Royal the best. The first thing on our list is where does the cruise go as in island stops. 2nd is the cruise line. :cool:

[Rdytogo2]

1. Would your cruising history be different? NO

 

2. Would you have cruised less and done more land vacations? NO

 

3. Would you have done the same number of cruises, but not as many on RCCL? YES

 

4. Would your cruise history with RCCL have stayed the same? NO

 

Did you realize your third question is question 1 and 4 combined?

[Tralynn222]

I want to try other lines so bad but the fact that we're diamond keeps us loyal to Royal for the most part.

[ryano]

Would not matter to me in the least. Reaching anything above Diamond in my lifetime is unrealistic unless I win the lottery. The only thing appealing to me at that level is the three free drinks per day during happy hour. I think thats nice :) Even with a slight discount, Im not sure I would book balcony.

 

I appreciate the very few small discounts that come along with being Gold and the welcome back party but it would not bother me in the least if they didnt exist.

[LMaxwell]

I can ascribe meaningful dollar amounts to perks associated with the loyalty program. These come into play when deciding who to book with. If there were no loyalty program it is entirely possible my cruise history would look different or less cruises with Royal.

 

I don't view it as loyalty program so much as a graduated discount program. The more you put in the more discounts you are entitled to.

[George C]

I like being diamond on RCCL but it does not change my booking, after I made diamond I did about 6 or more none RCCL cruises and several AI resorts. But last cruise and next 3 cruises are RCCL ( I do like RCCL suite perks)

[griffy116]

We would probably have cruised the same number of times, but would have tried other lines. Now that the loyalty program doesn't allow you to combine discounts and that many of the sales aren't really advantageous to Diamond members, we will be trying out other lines. On the last cruise we booked, we could choose between an OBC or the equivalent of the OBC on our balcony discount. The 3 free drinks and/or Diamond lounge don't really make the difference anymore. We'll be looking at price and itinerary much more closely when booking future cruises in our decision instead of exclusively choosing Royal Caribbean.

[srlafleur]

No, nothing would change. I totally don't expect to attain high status on any line. If and when I do, great, but it doesn't impact my planning. Now, say, if I were one cruise away from a major milestone, that could sway my decision, some.

I've cruised 20 times, split between RCCL, HAL, CCL, NCL, X (once), and Princess (once, with another scheduled). Each time, the itinerary, timing and cost have been the deciding factors.

[Melbourne84]

Would you have cruised less and done more land vacations? No.

Would you have done the same number of cruises, but not as many on RCCL? Hard to say…Started on NCL and loved it until a Royal transatlantic had better ports than NCL’s option. If no perks for Royal, I’d still probably sail it, but maybe also do NCL, depending on itinerary and price.Would your cruise history with RCCL have stayed the same? I think so.

 

I am at Platinum level. The biggest perk by far is discounts on balcony cabins HOWEVER NCL (really the only other line I’d consider at this point) can have very competitive balcony prices as well.

Really the only other Platinum perk I use is the Onboard offers (coupons): I enjoy the 50% off photos, as well as the 10% or whatever for the shops

 

Beyond Platinum, I didn’t think there were really any other perks I cared for. Get me a balcony cabin for under $1,000 for a 7N cruise and I’m happy.

 

I don’t know what most of the other perks are, or I don’t really care lol. I think what keeps me with Royal is there is a bit more of a refined/elegant feeling, compared to NCL, and I like the ships and activities better than NCL for the most part. I prefer the atmosphere on Royal ships to NCL. Just my opinion.

[JasonV1]

The Solarium is a big factor for me on Royal, as is the status match to Celebrity.

 

NCL had a chance to implement something similar when they came out with the Breakaway class and didn't, and Vibe doesn't count since it has no pool and you often have to be first on to *buy* the passes as they go quick. Even considering all of this, the NCL Haven is absolutely wonderful and solves these issues, but at a huge cost.

 

Carnival is ok, but since they make everyone in a cabin buy alcohol packages that is a strike against them (and again, no Solarium w/ pool). Plus to be honest their ship designs are the most dated of the 3 mass market lines (although the Vista will improve on this somewhat).

 

I must admit that I am looking forward to my free drinks, larger balcony discount, and even better Celebrity status match when I hit diamond on Royal next month. That being said, I'm not killing myself to make D+ as there are other cruises I want to do on other lines (as shown in my sig).

Edited February 10, 2015 by JasonV1

[Desertbelle]

When we started cruising we tried a few different cruise lines, so didn't have any loyalty to any company. We found that we enjoyed many things about the Royal Caribbean ships and soon we found ourselves booking more and more with Royal Caribbean.

 

Without loyalty programs we would probably still cruise mostly, because we love being on ships and on the water.

[ksuds]

This would have been an excellent topic to start a poll!

 

To answer your question.

 

I love cruising so I think taking more land based vacations would not be a choice option.

 

If RCCL never had a loyalty program I would have a more diverse cruise history to include several other cruise lines. I would base booking on price first and itinerary.

 

Good topic!

[Aquahound]

I can honestly say that absent loyalty programs, my signature would look exactly as it does right now. I appreciate the benefits but to me, they are just an added bonus. :)

[skiiergirl]

Without a doubt our cruise history would look different if it weren't for the C&A program!!!!!!

 

While we are creatures of habit, we probably would have ventured away from RC. We have only sailed RC and never any other cruise line (not even sister Celebrity). In the beginning we stuck with RC because we knew the product....good food, good entertainment, good value. Then as things started decreasing in quality...food, entertainment, and in the last year...value, we determined we had too much invested in "loyalty" with RC. Too much "loyalty" to start over at another cruiseline. It isn't even necessarily about the benefits. Mr Ski doesn't drink...so the free drinks in the evening aren't a big deal. On occasion we will pick up the free photo in the photo gallery....but most times don't even go near the photo gallery. Since they have removed the match play coupons from the perks...the casino vouchers are useless to us. The free or discounted laundry is a perk...but we would have the laundry done anyway! I agree with a previous poster that the discount is the best part of the perks.

 

As RC has changed up the MDR menus and decreased the quality of food...I have looked at other lines. As entertainment (on the older ships that we typically sail) has deteriorated I have looked at other lines. The food variety and entertainment on OA/AL/Q are ok and we are willing to pay higher prices for those ships....except we don't like the itineraries! We do either OA or AL once a year just for the ship. All others are out of SJU (on whatever ship is there) to get the better itinerary!!!! We had booked Q with the intent of moving it out to a Bermuda sailing. Well we all know what happened there. When Q was reassigned to Asia....we cancelled that booking. As ships are getting moved around and perks are being removed from the program and pricing models are totally absurd right now...I am definitely looking at other lines. If they continue removing perks (i.e....moving people out of lounges...and overcrowding other lounges)...continuing deterioration of food quality, etc....I just might be able to convince Mr Ski to try another line. There are several ships and itineraries in a competing line that I would love to try.

 

The C&A program is what has kept us monogamous to RC.

 

So...we definitely would have a different cruise history if there had been no loyalty program. We would probably have done the same number of cruises but the number would be spread out over several other cruise lines also. That is a lot of $ that would have gone to other lines rather than RC. Not to mention all of the friends/business associates that we have "addicted" to cruising...and they have also only done RC.

 

Loyalty program or not...if they keep up this crazy BoGoHo pricing (after inflating the price to begin with) I still might convince Mr Ski to try another cruiseline!

Edited February 10, 2015 by skiiergirl

[OCruisers]

Our cruising history would be exactly the same. :)

LuLu

[alfaeric]

Our cruising history would be exactly the same. :)

LuLu

 

For the most part, ours would too.

 

We've considered a Celebrity cruise or two, but all of ours have been on Royal, and we've been happy every time.

 

For some reason, we feel the opposite as most people who think things have gone down hill- the shows now are way better than when they were driven by the entertainment staff on our first couple of trips. We've been ok with menu change, and still think the food is good.

 

Would I like the pillow mints? Sure- but most everyone else is dropping it. We are spending similar per night $$ as we did in 2001, which is pretty amazing when you consider what's changed since then- so the value equation is still good.

 

Fits us, we'll keep doing it.

[Alohaaloha]

We have stayed loyal to Royal purely because of moving up the loyalty programme so quickly. We intend once we hit Diamond ( next cruise in May) then we shall definitely try other cruise lines.

To answer the questions asked:

 

 

 

Would you have cruised less and done more land vacations?

No we had years of doing land vacations- cruising is our current holiday of choice.

 

 

Would you have done the same number of cruises, but not as many on RCCL?

Yes, but we would have tried other cruise lines

 

 

Would your cruise history with RCCL have stayed the same?

No.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited February 10, 2015 by Alohaaloha

[orville99]

Our cruise history would probably be about the same. We cruise 5-6 times a year, and have four cruise lines in easy reach to choose from. They all provide what we look for in a vacation, and we have no desire to fly anywhere anymore. Would we be upset if the loyalty programs on all four lines went away? Sure. Did we choose any of the four to cruise with because of their loyalty programs? Nope. Did we stop cruising on one line because another had a better loyalty program? Nope. If a fifth cruise line home ported close enough to where we live that looked interesting (but with which we had no loyalty program) would we try them? Sure.

[Starry Eyes]

Early on, loyalty programs were not a consideration. We cruised different lines and enjoyed some more than others.

 

Because we enjoyed them and because the ports and timing worked for us, we eventually earned higher loyalty status with three lines. We generally continue to sail those three lines, though we would consider other lines, even now. A special itinerary or special company might cause us to select another line, but when all things are equal, the loyalty program perks do encourage us to stick we the lines we know and love.

[dadroy]

For me, the loyalty program makes less of a difference now that Royal infrequently visits the West Coast. For those who have commented the loyalty program was a major reason you stay loyal, if Royal stopped using the port you frequently sail from and you had to fly 3 hours to cruise, would you stay as loyal?

 

I think loyalty for most people stems from the price they pay for their cruise not so much the value of a few free drinks.

[alfaeric]

For me, the loyalty program makes less of a difference now that Royal infrequently visits the West Coast. For those who have commented the loyalty program was a major reason you stay loyal, if Royal stopped using the port you frequently sail from and you had to fly 3 hours to cruise, would you stay as loyal?

 

I think loyalty for most people stems from the price they pay for their cruise not so much the value of a few free drinks.

 

What a great problem to have.

 

Some of us have a multi hour flight to the closest port.

[davekathy]

We aren't loyal to any one Cruise line. Great if we pick up points and perks along the way but it doesn't influance us as to what Cruise line we choose to Cruise with.

[seabeew]

I've been loyal to Royal because I think is the best cruise line out of the six other cruises lines I have sailed with. One of the reasons that I think it's the best is it's loyalty program. As L Maxwell wrote, the loyalty program affects the cost of the cruise by including drinks and discounts. These savings allow me to book higher category cabins, eat at specialty restaurants, buy more expensive drinks, etc. I love most everything about Royal Caribbean, but the loyalty program makes booking 6-12 Royal Caribbean a year an easy decision.

[Starry Eyes]

For me, the loyalty program makes less of a difference now that Royal infrequently visits the West Coast. For those who have commented the loyalty program was a major reason you stay loyal, if Royal stopped using the port you frequently sail from and you had to fly 3 hours to cruise, would you stay as loyal?

 

I think loyalty for most people stems from the price they pay for their cruise not so much the value of a few free drinks.

 

What a great problem to have.

 

Some of us have a multi hour flight to the closest port.

 

I also have a substantial flight to any port. Some day I'll be closer to one.

 

I think loyalty stems from enjoying the product provided by that cruise line and the individual's perception of value (vs straight price). The perks we are offered and use are probably worth at least $200 per person per week to us, so the difference in cruise cost would have to be significant for me to select another line on cost alone.