Loyal Passenger Rewards?

[cruisefanX2]

Our 2 week Caribbean Cruise on the Thomson Celebration in February was our 16th cruise with Thomson (19 weeks in total). We like seeing new places and this was our first time in the Caribbean. We have sailed in the Baltic, Mediterranean, Norway Fjords, Aegean, Adriatic, Red Sea and Black Sea.

 

We were very disappointed that our repeat custom was not recognised in any way by Thomson, despite registering as repeat customers when booking online. On cruises 10 and 11 we were at least given a complementary bottle of fizz (ok, not exactly exciting). Fellow passengers were quite amazed that we had received no recent, tangible, reward.

 

I perhaps should have raised this issue on board but did contact Thomson on return. I received an ambiguous reply - they may put forward my request for consideration. Whether for me or for passengers in general, I do not know. My response asking for clarity has been met with silence.

 

So I'd be very interested to hear from other Thomson cruisers about any loyalty recognition that they have received and how this compares with other cruise lines.

[Malch_uk]

Fred Olsen have a points system - 1 point for every night spent on board one of their ships. As the points accumulate there are various benefits:

 

http://www.fredolsencruises.com/My-Cruises/Oceans-Club-Membership-Levels/Levels-of-Membership

[WeeCountyMan]

We've had £25 obc added (to claimed at reception) on a couple of Thomsons cruise.

 

Princess upgrade your Captain's Circle status after so many cruises (or days at sea), we have done 50 days which promotes us to Platinum = priority boarding at port of embarkation and free internet minutes.

 

Their military credit is worth having if you are eligible - extra $ obc added according to the length of cruise.

[Ska man]

Fred Olsen have a points system - 1 point for every night spent on board one of their ships. As the points accumulate there are various benefits:

 

http://www.fredolsencruises.com/My-Cruises/Oceans-Club-Membership-Levels/Levels-of-Membership

 

We have sailed with thomsons 9/10 times now and on one trip tatianna hope I spelt that right , gave us a bottle of bubbly after regonising Us from a previous cruise and two years ago we booked the dream for a party of 16 after telling her Thomson had not arranged anything for repeat bookings she gave us ,three trays of strawberry in chocolate, and bottles of of bubbly and all the glasses which we were allowed to take anywhere on ship , if you ask on board you might be surprised what you receive

[Julessmiles]

We have sailed with thomsons 9/10 times now and on one trip tatianna hope I spelt that right , gave us a bottle of bubbly after regonising Us from a previous cruise and two years ago we booked the dream for a party of 16 after telling her Thomson had not arranged anything for repeat bookings she gave us ,three trays of strawberry in chocolate, and bottles of of bubbly and all the glasses which we were allowed to take anywhere on ship , if you ask on board you might be surprised what you receive

 

The staff on the ship invariably bend over backwards & recognises past cruisers. Thomson as a company however have no loyalty scheme & do very little for repeat passengers.

 

If you want loyalty rewards, don't travel with Thomson - plenty of others have loyalty schemes. After my first mini cruise with Fred, I was an Ocean's member & automatically get 5% discount off future cruises booked at least 12 months ahead.

 

I don't think people travel with Thomson to obtain loyalty rewards; they travel with Thomson for the itineraries, ship, staff & Entertainmet.

[Ska man]

The staff on the ship invariably bend over backwards & recognises past cruisers. Thomson as a company however have no loyalty scheme & do very little for repeat passengers.

 

If you want loyalty rewards, don't travel with Thomson - plenty of others have loyalty schemes. After my first mini cruise with Fred, I was an Ocean's member & automatically get 5% discount off future cruises booked at least 12 months ahead.

 

I don't think people travel with Thomson to obtain loyalty rewards; they travel with Thomson for the itineraries, ship, staff & Entertainmet.

 

Your spot on about people traveling with thomsons ie itineraries ships staff&entertainment I myself don't go for any loyalty cards ie supermarkets etc I prefer to be surprised either way I go on thomsons for the above reasons but good luck to anyone who follows that route

[Pensioncruiser]

Just back from our Caribbean cruise (over fifty now) had a bottle of bubbly as returning cruiser's and a bottle of champagne and choc dipped strawberries for the flooded cabin😕😕 . We do have something most trips now best was a bottle plus a free trip of our choice. They only select randomly from HQ and send a list to the ship. Will give a full report when back in the real world. Just one worrying note on the flight, we had a smoker on board, three times no action taken passengers up in arms staff said nothing could be done unless they actually caught him in the act, how they could do that when he was locked in the loo???? No alarms went off. Captain was informed by passengers on return flight and had strong words with him.

[Vitalsign]

I returned from Dream on 3rd Feb and was surprised that during the cruise we were asked to fill in a form to say how many cruises we had done with Thomson and were subsequently invited to a captains reception on sirens deck early one evening. We were given as many glasses of Proseco we wanted and then the Captain asked everyone how many cruises they had done and the winners were rewarded with a bottle of champagne (or what purported to be) Maris and Tom entertained us and captain John talked individually to a lot of those there. I think that this would be better if it was the number of sea days spent on Thomson ships as they do on Princess as 19 day transitions only count as one cruise and Princess cruisers get much better rewards.

I was with a friend who had never cruised with Thomson and therefore my husband missed out but both my husband and I would prefer a reward which was more meaningful especially as he doesn't like sparkling wine.

I also have filled in the online form a number of times but have only received a bottle of sparkling wine twice - one was last year on the Dream for the Transatlantic which we gave to our cabin maid and one travelling with a girlfriend on a weeks cruise on Majesty but this is out of 19 cruises.

Something like a discount voucher or a free trip would be much more appreciated.

[GinoG]

It really does seem very hit and miss.

 

We have done over a dozen cruises with Thomson and once had a bottle of sparkling wine and on a couple of occasions had £25 obc. We've had nothing the last few cruises but on a Canarian cruise last month repeat cruises were invited via the Cruise News (not individually) to a reception with the Captain - not sure what this involved as we didn't go.

[Chaffesbird]

We have done more than 15 cruises with Thomson. We have had 3 invites to the captain's table for dinner, 1 £25 voucher, one trip when our weeks bill was cancelled and one bottle of wine. On our last three cruises we did not received anything. I guess it is luck of the draw. I would prefer to have the discount that other cruise lines give but I can't see that ever happening. We are off on the Celebration in June but I won't hold my breath that we will get any reward.

[Carib cruiser]

Our 2 week Caribbean Cruise on the Thomson Celebration in February was our 16th cruise with Thomson (19 weeks in total). We like seeing new places and this was our first time in the Caribbean. We have sailed in the Baltic, Mediterranean, Norway Fjords, Aegean, Adriatic, Red Sea and Black Sea.

 

We were very disappointed that our repeat custom was not recognised in any way by Thomson, despite registering as repeat customers when booking online. On cruises 10 and 11 we were at least given a complementary bottle of fizz (ok, not exactly exciting). Fellow passengers were quite amazed that we had received no recent, tangible, reward.

 

I perhaps should have raised this issue on board but did contact Thomson on return. I received an ambiguous reply - they may put forward my request for consideration. Whether for me or for passengers in general, I do not know. My response asking for clarity has been met with silence.

 

So I'd be very interested to hear from other Thomson cruisers about any loyalty recognition that they have received and how this compares with other cruise lines.

 

Ive just seen on Facebook that they have offered someone some free wifi!

[okavango]

just back frrom Spirit,got the usual £25

[shot2bits]

I nearly cancelled our trip on Discovery as Celebrity emailed us an offer. We have only sailed with them twice before but you accumulate Captains Club points which entitle you to a cabin upgrade within the category you have booked. You also get an invite to a reception party and depending on your points total, other perks as well. Price for price celebrity are often cheaper than Thomson, especially if you get the AI upgrade for free. I decided to stay with Discovery in the end, but it was close! Never had a perk out of Thomson though this will be our 4th two week cruise with them.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Ive just seen on Facebook that they have offered someone some free wifi!

Yes I saw that! Would have rather had that than the bottle of Cava we got last year on the Majesty, when we already had the drinks package :rolleyes:

 

I agree that the recognition of returning passengers is very hit and miss. We have done 3 cruises with Princess and are already on Platinum tier as our two P&O cruises and one Ocean Village cruise count towards it too :)

[GLYNAGP]

I have to say I was surprised when we cruised Thomson for the first time a couple of years ago that there were passengers on board who had cruise with them 10 or more times and there was no loyalty package for them . On Celebrity and RCI we get a couple of hours free drinks every evening, one bag of free washing each , priority checkin, 90 mins free wifi each etc etc. It's not stopped us booking with Thomson again if there is a ship departing from our local port of Malaga.

[Huddersfieldtourist]

There is no formal loyalty scheme and whilst I appreciate that the ad hoc nature of the recognition can cause some people to feel left out, I expect all passengers return for the whole package rather than building up cruises to get a bottle of wine or £25 on board credit or free wifi etc - However if you have cruised say 10 times or more or less and you are disappointed at the inconsistency of the recognition then that is also understandable. The token gesture if received from Thomson shows they acknowledge your repeated custom but I am sure they do not deliberately omit people who have equally repeated . There will be those who are never recognised and in the early days of recognition that was normally due to the way you had booked your cruise.

[Eglesbrech]

Have lost count of the number of Thomson cruises we have done and we have never had any recognition as repeat passengers in recent years.

 

In the early days of Thomson cruises there was actually a formal recognition scheme. You registered once onboard and there were cocktail parties and other nice little perks. They did away with this once the cruises were established and became very popular.

[paulaud99]

I can never get my head around this.

Thomson are a commercial business who's aim is to make profit for its shareholders.

Everything that is provided on board is priced into their product. Entertainment, food, ports, flights etc. So everything you experience on board has been carefully costed so that the price we pay as passengers includes an element of profit.

Loyalty schemes are no different. a structured loyalty scheme would have to be priced into the Thomson product increasing prices. I know some will not agree but look at most other cruise lines. They all generally give you only 3 days in port out of 7. They dock later and sail earlier than Thomson and charge your account with up to $15 per day tips and charge 15% on your bar bills.

For me give me a good pricing structure, 5 ports out of 7 days and excellent entertainment which I do have to say has stepped up a level this year and a no tips policy allowing you to freely tip as you wish

Let the americans keep their loyalty schemes they only create a hierarchy of class!

[Pensioncruiser]

Totally agree with all your points, its also a good argument as to why we pay for the safes.

[Eglesbrech]

Nothing comes free but air and water.

 

I tend to agree that all the loyalty perks come at a price which will add to costs somewhere along the line. That said I do take advantage of them on other cruise lines when they are offered.

 

The fact that some lines offer extra points in their loyalty schemes based on the cabin grade eg more for concierge class or suites ties in directly with the cost of you reaching a certain level more quickly and getting the perks.

 

Interesting point re a class system. I don't mind the perks that don't impact on others passengers but some are creeping in that annoy me (and this is not green cheese, we are entitled to some of them) eg holding sections of the theatre until 10 minutes before the show for x level / and suite passengers.

 

Perhaps Thomson had the right idea dropping the parties etc all these years ago.

[Ska man]

I can never get my head around this.

Thomson are a commercial business who's aim is to make profit for its shareholders.

Everything that is provided on board is priced into their product. Entertainment, food, ports, flights etc. So everything you experience on board has been carefully costed so that the price we pay as passengers includes an element of profit.

Loyalty schemes are no different. a structured loyalty scheme would have to be priced into the Thomson product increasing prices. I know some will not agree but look at most other cruise lines. They all generally give you only 3 days in port out of 7. They dock later and sail earlier than Thomson and charge your account with up to $15 per day tips and charge 15% on your bar bills.

For me give me a good pricing structure, 5 ports out of 7 days and excellent entertainment which I do have to say has stepped up a level this year and a no tips policy allowing you to freely tip as you wish

Let the americans keep their loyalty schemes they only create a hierarchy of class!

That's a very good well thought out post well done

[GLYNAGP]

I can never get my head around this.

Thomson are a commercial business who's aim is to make profit for its shareholders.

Everything that is provided on board is priced into their product. Entertainment, food, ports, flights etc. So everything you experience on board has been carefully costed so that the price we pay as passengers includes an element of profit.

Loyalty schemes are no different. a structured loyalty scheme would have to be priced into the Thomson product increasing prices. I know some will not agree but look at most other cruise lines. They all generally give you only 3 days in port out of 7. They dock later and sail earlier than Thomson and charge your account with up to $15 per day tips and charge 15% on your bar bills.

For me give me a good pricing structure, 5 ports out of 7 days and excellent entertainment which I do have to say has stepped up a level this year and a no tips policy allowing you to freely tip as you wish

Let the americans keep their loyalty schemes they only create a hierarchy of class!

Whilst I do hear and concur what you say, Loyalty Bonuses do have to be paid for somewhere along the line by the cruises lines, but don't discount them totally out of hand, there are pros and cons.

 

Our level on RCI and Celebrity gives us some very nice perks free drinks for 2hours a night, free laundry , various on board functions. Cabin upgrades, Etc etc. These are a big incentive for to us book with these cruise lines (and just for the record there are plenty of port intensive itinerary on these lines, we usually have 10 or 11 Ports of call on a 14 night itinerary in the Caribbean, we wouldn't travel all that way for less) however as the Thomson Spirit is based in our local port of Malaga with sailings every Sunday through this summer that's also a big incentive for us to book Thomson's even with no loyalty bonus (no flying, home to ship in 30mins, both worth their it weight in gold to us) . We look at the deal and weight up all the pros and cons including the loyalty perks if applicable .

 

For example NCL have had ships in Barcelona this winter with amazing deals, 10 night cruises in Balcony Cabins with free drinks package for similar price to our cruise on Thomson Spirit for 7 nights in October. Now that's worth travelling to Barcelona for with or without a loyalty bonus.

 

Just to reiterate my point, combined with a good deal loyalty bonuses can be well worth having .

[paulaud99]

It is interesting when you think about it that this conversation is also raging on Facebook but only in relation to Thomson Cruises. Thomson sell thousands of other holidays to resorts and i cant recall every seeing anyone ask the question about Loyalty schemes.

We have travelled with Thomson on Cruises and normal hotel holidays and its never dawned on me that I should be rewarded in any way unless something goes wrong.

 

We have used many travel companies over the years and without doubt the Thomson product beats competitors by a mile for completeness.

 

It is only my personal opinion and I understand others will have differing views.