The more you spend the more C&A Points?

[Paulette3028]

I think it will be a good plan for those who are buying there way to status, points, or levels

 

As I look forward to (for example) a European/Mediterranean cruise (far in the future, unfortunately), we hear from friends that have done them. The excursions are fairly expensive (more so than Caribbean ones, at least), so booking those on board would add up quickly to reach that $450 per person threshold....the fear would be that I could not get the excursion that I wanted. This type of cruise would probably be the only cruise that our cruise time spending would exceed the necessary $$ amount. I wonder if they would count excursions whether booked in advance or onboard toward this amount.

 

Our first cruise in a JS, is coming up this coming February and I really don't see them in our future after that very much to give us double points.

 

We don't cruise for the status or the points, we cruise because we love that type of vacation -- the status and perks only give us more to enjoy.

[TexCruise371]

We definatly spent enough on our Freedom cruise a couple of weeks ago to qualify for the points. DW bought a Crown and Anchor necklace for a friend plus a couple more things. We did the Ultimate Dining Package and ate in the specialty restaraunts all week, had some wine and drinks, etc. So, all and all, it was over $1000. We were not chasing it but we did qualify.

 

So far, our cruise credits have been posted but not the extra 3 for the program.

[Retired LEO]

So far, our cruise credits have been posted but not the extra 3 for the program.

 

It will take 60 days to be posted.

[setsail]

We don't cruise for the status or the points, we cruise because we love that type of vacation -- the status and perks only give us more to enjoy.

 

Yes, a great way to vacation.:)

[Lady Hudson]

Lucky for everyone that they raised the price of the cabanas recently to make it easier on everyone to get to the level required.

 

I don't get this:(. I personally never think it is "lucky" when prices are raised. Or don't I get the joke??

[John&LaLa]

I don't get this:(. I personally never think it is "lucky" when prices are raised. Or don't I get the joke??

 

I found the humor in the statement. Every cloud has a silver lining type statement

[Rewind]

Reading the fine print, future cruises are not excluded from the terms. Book your next cruise and put down $450 and you get 3 points. Might help encourage people to book more cruises.

 

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Offer applies to Freedom of the Seas Sept. 6, 13, 20, and 27, 2015 sailings. Gold status and higher Crown & Anchor members over the age of 18 will receive an additional three cruise points per sailing when each member in the stateroom makes $450 USD or more in purchases during the sailing and after all credit and refunds have been applied, if any. All adults in the stateroom must meet the minimum amount independently. Purchases and charges made prior to the sailing, such as but limited to air, hotel, dining booked through the call center, items purchased through our Gifts & Gear website, promotional onboard credits, and onboard charges for casino and stateroom gratuities are excluded from the calculation of the minimum amount. Amount of guest's purchases will be calculated upon the end of the cruise. Points will be added to eligible Crown & Anchor member's account 60 days after cruise completion.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Rewind

[setsail]

Reading the fine print, future cruises are not excluded from the terms. Book your next cruise and put down $450 and you get 3 points. Might help encourage people to book more cruises.

 

Do you mean 900$ ?

[John&LaLa]

Reading the fine print, future cruises are not excluded from the terms. Book your next cruise and put down $450 and you get 3 points. Might help encourage people to book more cruises.

 

Future cruises don't get applied to your shipboard account though. They go straight to your credit card

[kike368]

Not easy for me either -- even when DH tags along. We're not big drinkers, rarely do excursions anymore, and a few dinner reservations just don't add up to $450. I would be interested in knowing how many frequent cruisers would hit the $450 mark.

 

If drink packages count we would easily hit the $450/person mark on a 7 night cruise. With the premium drink package it's right at $400 each, and the prospect of extra points would probably be incentive enough to get us into a couple of specialty restaraunts or book 1 over priced excursion per trip. Both things we don't normally do so this could be the closest thing to a win/win promotion they have done in a long time. Probably why it won't happen to though! Lol

[MNfamilycruiser]

I thought TA provided OBC is returned to your credit card. Laura got back $2 on her last Freedom. :rolleyes:

 

Yes - we use a warehouse club TA and our unspent OBC was refunded to the credit card we used to book the cruise.

[willing292]

I'd rather book a cheap cabin for that kind of money and earn more points and actually cruise.

[AlexanderBeetle]

Do people really like the idea of buying their status? Just seems strange to me.

 

I can only see doing this in a situation like someone else mentioned, where it'll push you to the next tier a cruise early. I can't imagine doing it every time, at least for us, since it would prevent us from cruising as often.

 

At any rate, I like the idea of the status levels being earned instead of bought. It's sort of like those free-to-play games. You can play them as much as you want but if you want to actually advance past a certain point, you better be ready to fork over some $.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding it though. What is it about Celebrity's loyalty program that people enjoy more?

[kike368]

I'd rather book a cheap cabin for that kind of money and earn more points and actually cruise.

 

That's an excellent point, but if I can get 3 extra points and premium coffee for moving up to a premium drink package ($469/person) on a 7 night cruise then yeah why not

[John&LaLa]

I'd rather book a cheap cabin for that kind of money and earn more points and actually cruise.

 

But if you are going to buy a drink package anyway, and a lot of folks do, might as well get a bonus. Only RCL knows if this is something they need to add to The program. Probably trying to react to other cruise lines. I'm sure they will evaluate it, and see if it increased on board spending for Freedom this month

[akcruz]

As with everything else it depends on how you cruise. If you are an inside cruiser that gets drinks packages, goes on ship excursions, goes to the spa, etc it will be easy to spend the $$ to get you to extra points. On the other hand if you sail in suites (where you have access to the CL), do private excursion, you will get your points through the cabin selection.

 

Nothing right or wrong in either scenario, just a different cruising style.

 

I think its a great option for those that do spend onboard (btw, those are the people it seems Royal is looking for since that's where they make most of their money)

[TC1957]

Do people really like the idea of buying their status? Just seems strange to me.

 

I can only see doing this in a situation like someone else mentioned, where it'll push you to the next tier a cruise early. I can't imagine doing it every time, at least for us, since it would prevent us from cruising as often.

 

At any rate, I like the idea of the status levels being earned instead of bought. It's sort of like those free-to-play games. You can play them as much as you want but if you want to actually advance past a certain point, you better be ready to fork over some $.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding it though. What is it about Celebrity's loyalty program that people enjoy more?

 

I sincerely hope you and the other poster who made a similar comment realize that EVERYONE at every level in the C&A program "bought" their status. RCI didn't look at you the first time you happened to sashay onto a ship and scream "Oh my God...you are exactly the type of person we want in our "exclusive" lounges. Here, you are now Diamond Plus".

 

You attain the different levels by spending money with the cruise line. Why would you possibly care if the person sipping a free drink on the other side of the lounge attained that level with the help of onboard spending?

 

All the money goes to the same company. This is just a way for them to encourage you to spend money on the ship. That way, they don't have to wait a year (or longer) for the customer to take another cruise or risk them choosing another line for any of a multitude of reasons.

 

As far as that goes, I would like to see them change the program so that all cruises on all their lines earned points in one program. If the "perks" do not translate easily across the lines they could be different depending on the line...but you would "move up" on all their lines with every cruise.

[akcruz]

 

You attain the different levels by spending money with the cruise line. Why would you possibly care if the person sipping a free drink on the other side of the lounge attained that level with the help of onboard spending?

 

 

Or is that person sipping those free drinks got there with the old system where they took short 3 day cruises for a point a piece that were converted to 7 points, or those that "inherited" their status from parents, significant others, etc?

 

There are many ways to get through the levels, some do it quickly with little $$ while other take a long time and a lot of $$ to get there.

[John&LaLa]

And some do it quickly with a lot of $$$

[AlexanderBeetle]

I sincerely hope you and the other poster who made a similar comment realize that EVERYONE at every level in the C&A program "bought" their status. RCI didn't look at you the first time you happened to sashay onto a ship and scream "Oh my God...you are exactly the type of person we want in our "exclusive" lounges. Here, you are now Diamond Plus".

 

What?!? They didn't?? Of course I get that.

 

Why would you possibly care if the person sipping a free drink on the other side of the lounge attained that level with the help of onboard spending?

 

I think you are reading tone in my post that isn't there. I don't care how anyone earned their level. I didn't say that. I'm simply debating whether or not this cheapens the feel of the program and wondering if anyone else thinks so.

 

Best case scenario right now is someone cruising exclusively in suites can attain D+ after 13 7-night cruises. With this change that would become 7 7-night cruises (4x per night right?). If you compare that with 25 7-night cruises traveling in a non-suite balcony all the time it does seem so to me.

 

I could see my wife and I taking advantage of it once in a great while so please don't misunderstand where I'm coming from.

 

As far as that goes, I would like to see them change the program so that all cruises on all their lines earned points in one program. If the "perks" do not translate easily across the lines they could be different depending on the line...but you would "move up" on all their lines with every cruise.

 

Totally agree with this. In fact one of the reasons we like the loyalty program for RCCL is that some form of your level comes with you once you hit a certain level. Even better to have that program for their brands across the board.

[John&LaLa]

This isn't the first time they've added some bonus points to build status levels. Diamonds in December and Choice Air bonus are a couple that come to mind

[KiwiGal117]

I hope they roll this out fleet wide by next summer (Hello!?! Royal Caribbean are you listening??) We will be 2 or 3 points shy of the next level after our next cruise. What they should do is offer 1 point for every $150 spent, to a maximum of X points per cruise.

 

Because we only cruise every few years we do tend to spend more on board - bottles of wine with dinner, spa treatments, fruity cocktails by the pool...

[SargassoPirate]

Do people really like the idea of buying their status? Just seems strange to me.

 

Ah yes, the nouveau riche, they can be a problem, can't they? They just don't seem to hold to the same socials norms as the rest of us. ;)

 

I imagine that Royal will do a long and hard examination on this one. It will have to pay off for the cruise line in order to roll it out fleet wide. And if they do, we'll have all those Beverly Hillbillies in the Concierge Lounge.:eek:

[kike368]

Do people really like the idea of buying their status? Just seems strange to me.

 

I can only see doing this in a situation like someone else mentioned, where it'll push you to the next tier a cruise early. I can't imagine doing it every time, at least for us, since it would prevent us from cruising as often.

 

At any rate, I like the idea of the status levels being earned instead of bought. It's sort of like those free-to-play games. You can play them as much as you want but if you want to actually advance past a certain point, you better be ready to fork over some $.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding it though. What is it about Celebrity's loyalty program that people enjoy more?

 

Exactly how do you think you "earned" your status? Did you mop decks or wash dishes on your way to D+ ? Your status was bought with cash. This is just another way of collecting it.

 

How would taking advantage of this program alter your ability to cruise? Unless your truly stupid enough to spend money just to get the points because they are there.

 

Seems to me if your concerned about points being earned and not purchased you would be calling for the end of multiple points for Suite passengers. The extra points there are clearly purchased with money after all.

 

Or is your real problem with the program that you fear those of us who will gain the 3 points per cruise by buying drink packages will over run the diamond loung while we are still under 80?

[John&LaLa]

Ah yes, the nouveau riche, they can be a problem, can't they? They just don't seem to hold to the same socials norms as the rest of us. ;)

 

I imagine that Royal will do a long and hard examination on this one. It will have to pay off for the cruise line in order to roll it out fleet wide. And if they do, we'll have all those Beverly Hillbillies in the Concierge Lounge.:eek:

 

So wish we had a like button.