Platinum Overview

[DCLCrazy]

I am two cruises away from the coveted Platinum sailing status! :D:D:D I am so excited! Aside from what is on the DCL website regarding the extras you get, are there any hidden surprises once on board? I heard you get champagne and a fruit basket in your room. I also heard you get the option for a back stage tour of the theater. Are any of these rumors true? What are the current stateroom gifts for platinum? I assume the beach bag in a different color. Thanks!!

[Shmoo here]

I am two cruises away from the coveted Platinum sailing status! :D:D:D I am so excited! Aside from what is on the DCL website regarding the extras you get, are there any hidden surprises once on board? I heard you get champagne and a fruit basket in your room. I also heard you get the option for a back stage tour of the theater. Are any of these rumors true? What are the current stateroom gifts for platinum? I assume the beach bag in a different color. Thanks!!

 

Well, as to the champagne/fruit bowl, sort of. You'll get a little card to be filled out as to what you'd like for your room freebie. The choices are a bottle of wine (could be champagne - don't recall for sure); a fruit bowl; or truffles. One note - we asked if the fruit bowl was cut up fruit or whole fruit. We were told cut fruit, so we asked for it to be delivered toward the end of our cruise, since we knew we'd have to eat it pretty much right away. Turned out it was whole fruits, and we would have loved to have just had it in our room for the duration of the cruise.

 

The back stage tour - not so much. Last one I knew of was on our WBTA in 2010. Most of those type perks (backstage/galley) have actually been reduced. Although some cruises do offer a galley tour (but you must inquire at Guest Services whether there's going to be one). And anyone can go on it, as long as they've signed up. If enough people ask, they sometimes have them.

 

The basic gift for returning Castaway Club members is a bag of some sort, depending on your itinerary. Caribbean cruises tend to get a beach bag, now it's a burlap type bag. Alaska and Europe it's generally a backpack type bag.

 

You also receive the Gold level gift (most recently it's been a chrome insulated tumbler). And the Platinum level gift is the choice mentioned above.

[DCLCrazy]

Thank you for info. After all the money that is spent making it to Platinum, you'd think they would offer more incentives. Early room opening before everyone else would be great so you wouldn't have to lug around carryons. Two dinners at Palo instead of one would be great too.

[Shmoo here]

Thank you for info. After all the money that is spent making it to Platinum, you'd think they would offer more incentives. Early room opening before everyone else would be great so you wouldn't have to lug around carryons. Two dinners at Palo instead of one would be great too.

 

Well, of course, there's the free Palo meal (we used for dinner our last cruise). But let's not be greedy.

 

Time was there were more perks, but DCL has steadily been reducing them.

 

Early room opening - that's reserved for Concierge.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Shmoo here

[moki'smommy]

Platinum benefits have been decreasing over the years and are much less now than they used to be.

 

The "Platinum Experience" has been discontinued. There were several things you could choose from--basically "behind the scenes" tours in various departments. No more.

 

As above, you can choose from a bottle of sparkling wine, a fruit bowl, or a box of truffles. You get a comped Palo meal. It says "dinner" but can also be used at brunch.

 

You get the same discount in the gift shops, rebooking benefit, etc. as you are currently getting as "gold."

 

There is a sheet of discounts which varies. The "freebies" are gone. These are basically a benefit with purchase like "buy this big a photo package, get 2 free photos," or "buy 6 bingo cards, get 2 free," or "get $10 off a rainforest pass of at least 3 days."

 

We do mostly the long, specialty cruises of 12 days or more. We have had some situations where platinum cruisers got a few extra benefits on these.

 

As noted, there are thousands of platinum cruisers. On the "normal" 3/4/7 night cruises, there may not be a lot on your cruise. On specialty cruises, sometimes 1/3 of the guests on board are platinum!

 

There are cruise lines that give much better loyalty benefits than DCL...like complimentary internet packages, loyalty OBCs, etc. DCL isn't at the top with these perks!

[DCLCrazy]

Thank you, Moki, for your kind response! It's a shame they dropped those benefits. I am still looking forward to my 11th cruise. :)

[ilovecruising232]

DCL needs to re-work their Castaway Club benefits. We are double platinum and it's no big deal. Same benefits as Plat. I always try to add something on my comment card about the CC perks and how they need to change it.

[moki'smommy]

DCL needs to re-work their Castaway Club benefits. We are double platinum and it's no big deal. Same benefits as Plat. I always try to add something on my comment card about the CC perks and how they need to change it.

 

We're "triple platinum" with primarily cruises longer than 10 nights each (yes, there are a few short cruises in the mix). And you are right--there's nothing beyond platinum....and those benefits were severely cut back a few years ago. Compared to other lines, I'd better just say "no comment."

[DCLCrazy]

Wow! I bow to you ilovecriusing232 and moki'smommy. I am impressed! What did they offer to Platinum guests before that they don't know? Just curious. :)

[moki'smommy]

The earlier offerings included some of the things you heard about--we had a choice of sparkling wine, a fruit assortment, truffles, and something else (1 per cabin). The onboard booking OBC was $350 for a 7 night or more cruise. The "Platinum Experience" was a small group behind the scenes activity. The choices varied by cruise but included a theatre tour where you got to ride the lifts, see costumes up close, be on stage for some of the special light effects, and spend about an hour with a couple of the theater management people. The VIP galley tour included many area that are not part of the regular tour, champagne, a recipe assortment, Mickey rice krispie bars, etc. The animal experience was on Castaway with one or more of the stingray researchers. You get the picture--all were "adult only" and quite impressive. Occasionally there would be additional "goodies," especially on the long cruises like TAs. We also got $25 off in the gift shop on a $100 or more purchase, and could use this multiple times...so if you planned your purchases carefully it was essentially 25% off; there were a few items excluded. The captain's reception for gold and platinum used to be a lot fancier too! Loved the coconut shrimp!

 

Also, at various times Platinum check in was with concierge and could wait in the concierge lounge (that didn't last long; I think we only had both on one cruise.

 

Other lines do many more perks and also base their programs on a combination of number of cruises and number of nights. We don't have enough seniority on other lines to matter, but they include perks like a special waiting lounge with snacks, free internet, free laundry, first in line for complimentary upgrades, upgrade to a better insurance plan (you pay for the lower plan and get the higher one), etc.

Edited December 28, 2016 by moki'smommy

[DCLCrazy]

Wow! Those are crazy good perks! Such a shame they changed it. I wonder if the recession did something to change it. :/

[moki'smommy]

Wow! Those are crazy good perks! Such a shame they changed it. I wonder if the recession did something to change it. :/

 

A lot of it seemed to coincide with a change in management at the top of the cruise line. Could have just been coincidence, but..... There have periodically been surveys and "studies" about adding another tier of benefits, but those typically go on for years before anything happens. I think we did Alaska surveys for about 8 years before they announced that!

 

It could also relate to the increasing number of higher tier guests. When 10 people on a cruise get a comped Palo, that's not such a big deal. When 100 people get it, that's more money out of DCL's pocket. However, the cost of keeping the perks intact for any given family is less than the loss when that family chooses another line for even one cruise.

[Ex techie]

The jalapeño poppers at the CC reception were amazing!!!

 

I only got to eat them after the Guests left, but they were still so yummy!

 

ex techie

[moki'smommy]

Ah, Techie....I never even thought of sending a plate of goodies to the crew. Don't think it could have been pulled off. Sorry!

 

However, at about age 5, darling daughter did send a bowl of nuts to Chip and Dale. In all seriousness, she went to the ice cream buffet line at Chef Mickey's and got a bowl of nuts. She then presented it to the server with instructions that it was to be delivered to her favorite characters. The server promised that they'd get the treat.

[chemistrynerd]

We're "triple platinum" with primarily cruises longer than 10 nights each...

 

We are on the opposite end of the spectrum. We will be platinum at the end of the year, but it's mostly through 3- and 4-night cruises. Four of the cruises are/will be from B2B stints on the Dream. (We're on the Dream for a B2B just after the new year.) We are definitely low-end Disney customers. Admittedly, costs tend to keep us on the shorter cruises. The realities of the school year also play a role. Although we're both teachers (and presumably value education), we aren't above pulling the kids from school for a few days here and there. Our kids are currently right in the Disney sweet spot, and we figure our run of Disney cruises will soon be snapped for other adventures.

 

Because we are soon going to backdoor our way to platinum status, I sort of see the CC status levels as a joke. I also hypocritically keep track of our running total.

[Ex techie]

Ah' date=' Techie....I never even thought of sending a plate of goodies to the crew. Don't think it could have been pulled off. Sorry!

 

However, at about age 5, darling daughter did send a bowl of nuts to Chip and Dale. In all seriousness, she went to the ice cream buffet line at Chef Mickey's and got a bowl of nuts. She then presented it to the server with instructions that it was to be delivered to her favorite characters. The server promised that they'd get the treat.[/quote']

 

haha! The tech on duty would get some warm finger food if and when the Hotel Director wasn't looking! ;)

 

And that was so so sweet of your daughter to be so thoughtful to send the bowl of nuts to Chip and Dale!

Bless her! Good job Mom!

 

ex techie

Edited December 29, 2016 by Ex techie

[Ex techie]

We are on the opposite end of the spectrum. We will be platinum at the end of the year, but it's mostly through 3- and 4-night cruises. Four of the cruises are/will be from B2B stints on the Dream. (We're on the Dream for a B2B just after the new year.) We are definitely low-end Disney customers. Admittedly, costs tend to keep us on the shorter cruises. The realities of the school year also play a role. Although we're both teachers (and presumably value education), we aren't above pulling the kids from school for a few days here and there. Our kids are currently right in the Disney sweet spot, and we figure our run of Disney cruises will soon be snapped for other adventures.

 

Because we are soon going to backdoor our way to platinum status, I sort of see the CC status levels as a joke. I also hypocritically keep track of our running total.

 

DCL need to hear your opinion on the perks, so make sure you tell every officer you see your opinion, how it could be improved, what you would find valuable or an incentive (within reason! :) ) and also write it on the comment card.

 

ex techie

[Ex techie]

Just to add:

Feedback at ship level is taken extremely seriously and acted upon where they can.

Once that information is passed to shoreside, unfortunately it is out of the crews hands.

 

ex techie

[moki'smommy]

Just to add:

Feedback at ship level is taken extremely seriously and acted upon where they can.

 

 

ex techie

 

Oh yeah! One evening the hotel director asked me if everything was OK with my room. I mentioned that there was a rust streak on the inside of the cabin door. Said that it obviously didn't bother my stay, but it made me sad to see the Magic being allowed to look old and tired. He took my cabin number, and a couple days later asked if it had been fixed. You could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears when I said "no." The next morning the stateroom host asked if I wanted it painted then or wanted to wait for a port day because there would be a little paint smell--I told them to go ahead and get it done.

 

I've read lots of reports of quick action when something is said at the officer's reception.

[Ex techie]

They do what they can, but their hands are tied when it comes to shoreside level decisions affecting many Guests.

 

I would imagine your Stateroom Host was given a "coaching" session if they had not reported the rust on the door, but also praised it they had and it was entered into the ship maintenance request database, Expresso.

 

ex techie

[chemistrynerd]

DCL need to hear your opinion on the perks, so make sure you tell every officer you see your opinion, how it could be improved, what you would find valuable or an incentive (within reason! :) ) and also write it on the comment card.

 

We are really big on filling out the cards and advocating for staff members who have made a difference - from the guy on the Magic who had to clean the pool after every kid had an accident to a server from a past cruise who recognized my wife on deck and then visited our table that evening to a very helpful staffer in the Oceaneer's Lab. We keep a running list of names/nationalities during the cruise and put them on the comment card.

 

We're probably not as good about other items - room issues, perks, programming suggestions, etc. I guess we figure that listing a person's name carries some power (and hopefully benefit), but programming suggestions likely end up being noise-level chatter. Apparently we should think again.

[moki'smommy]

Naming special people is one of the nicest things you can do for them, particularly if they are in "non-tipped" positions. Those positive comments are placed in their employment file and sufficient numbers of comments can result in some very nice perks, promotions, raises, etc. Even one or two comments can mean an extra hour off on a port day, and that's huge to many of the CMs.

[Ex techie]

We are really big on filling out the cards and advocating for staff members who have made a difference - from the guy on the Magic who had to clean the pool after every kid had an accident to a server from a past cruise who recognized my wife on deck and then visited our table that evening to a very helpful staffer in the Oceaneer's Lab. We keep a running list of names/nationalities during the cruise and put them on the comment card.

 

We're probably not as good about other items - room issues, perks, programming suggestions, etc. I guess we figure that listing a person's name carries some power (and hopefully benefit), but programming suggestions likely end up being noise-level chatter. Apparently we should think again.

 

It truly is great that you mention the hard working CM's you see and encounter, so please keep on doing that!

As Moki'smommy rightly said, it really does benefit them in many ways!

In addition to time off, they can actually be nominated for a cash reward for making someones vacation extra special!

I received a Magical Moment Certificate and $50 after the parents I assume, mentioned me when their son took an interest in the audio equipment in RBD.

I was alone, so could not invite the kid into the booth, but said to come back later that day at a time, and I would give him a tour, and show him around.

I spoke to my manager who arranged to have a second tech with me, and we showed him the amplifier room, the racks of equipment explained what each bit did, and allowed him to operate the sound desk.

Was cool for him, and cool for us to see someone so enthusiastic about our industry!

At no point did we expect anything in return apart from a thank you, but the parents recognised that we did a little something special for 15 minutes, and mentioned us. DCL rewarded us as a result.

 

And as for reporting problems and deficiencies with a Stateroom or anywhere else, you have paid a hefty sum to cruise with DCL!

Let them know if something isn't right!

As I said above, the Stateroom Host may have already reported it on Expresso, but it may not get a priority due to other repairs needed. They may have reported it 3-4 weeks ago, but it wasn't deemed a priority repair, and the Guests since have thought that DCL are not maintaining their ships as well as they could, like Moki'smommy's comment to the Officer.

If a Guest notices, it get's a higher priority as it impacts the "Show" part of the 4 Disney Standards.

 

Safety

Show

Courtesy

Efficiency

 

Do not worry about genuinely reporting something you see not right.

If a CM has not reported it, they need coaching to spot these things. If they have already, they are in the clear too!

 

ex techie

Edited December 29, 2016 by Ex techie

[moki'smommy]

Wow! I'd not heard of a one time cash reward--good to know. I had heard about salary raises, promotions, trips to Palo, and a little extra time off..and probably a few other perks. Obviously most of those require more than one special comment.

[gometros]

We are on the opposite end of the spectrum. We will be platinum at the end of the year, but it's mostly through 3- and 4-night cruises. Four of the cruises are/will be from B2B stints on the Dream. (We're on the Dream for a B2B just after the new year.) We are definitely low-end Disney customers. Admittedly, costs tend to keep us on the shorter cruises. The realities of the school year also play a role. Although we're both teachers (and presumably value education), we aren't above pulling the kids from school for a few days here and there. Our kids are currently right in the Disney sweet spot, and we figure our run of Disney cruises will soon be snapped for other adventures.

 

Because we are soon going to backdoor our way to platinum status, I sort of see the CC status levels as a joke. I also hypocritically keep track of our running total.

 

Glad you brought that up. In my opinion, castaway club status needs to be revised to number of nights sailed, not number of sailings. Why should somebody who sailed 10 3 or 4-day itineraries be rated the status as somebody like moki'smommy who generally sails longer itineraries? They sure haven't spent as much to earn their status. And this probably contributes to the exponentially increasing platinum members.