Loyalty program

[jennymaxgirl]

I have a question about the loyalty program. I am now Ruby after just completing my third cruise. My question is whether shorter duration cruises i.e. three or four day trips, count as a full cruise when trying to work up to the next level? I have read that it says it goes according to either the number of cruises for the number of the cumulative days which ever is greater. So if you short cruises would be beneficial to move up in the loyalty levels. Am I correct with this?

[CineGraphic]

Even a 1 day cruise counts as a full cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes.

[neverbeenhere]

Also works to book full suites (2 credits per cruise) or sailing solo ( 2 credits per cruise). So , 8 - one night cruises in a suite will buy you Elite Status.

[Selion]

Or book 16 1-day cruises. That will get you to Elite, too.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[Thrak]

Also works to book full suites (2 credits per cruise) or sailing solo ( 2 credits per cruise). So , 8 - one night cruises in a suite will buy you Elite Status.

 

Or solo in a suite. 3 cruise credits. I know that people take the one day cruises from Seattle to Vancouver (or the reverse) and book a suite solo. Very fast way to make it to Elite. In my case I will make it someday but it will probably be a tie whether it is on cruises or days. Either way eventually works and it's just nice to be able to cruise. The Elite perks are "nice" but not something that I am drooling for or anything that make me feel covetous.

 

We have two cruises booked at the moment - 28 days and 14 days. After those two we will still only have 9 cruises and 109 days. Still a long way to go. ;)

[caribill]

I have a question about the loyalty program. I am now Ruby after just completing my third cruise. My question is whether shorter duration cruises i.e. three or four day trips, count as a full cruise when trying to work up to the next level? I have read that it says it goes according to either the number of cruises for the number of the cumulative days which ever is greater. So if you short cruises would be beneficial to move up in the loyalty levels. Am I correct with this?

 

You can move up the loyalty ladder on Princess by the method that has the first criteria you meet.

 

So, next level for you is Platinum which can be reached by either having five cruise credits or 50 days at sea, which ever you satisfy first.

 

Other cruise lines can have their loyalty levels reached by different criteria.

 

Royal Caribbean and Carnival now only count cruise days.

 

Celebrity has points based on cruise days and the type cabin you are in.

[Robinsoncruiseso]

Yes, the 1 nights do count. Book single inside (can usually get around $30 if you time it right), then have SO book your preferred cabin (be it inside, OV, Balcony). You can both stay in preferred cabin and collect 2 cruise credits each. Normally you can book 3 - 4 one nights a year...so 6 - 8 cruise credits per year. When our kids were still home, we could only get away for a night so we did achieve Elite with very few days. Now our kids our out of the house and we still do the one nights, squished in-between at least a couple 7 or 10 nights.

[Lucky TGO]

I have a question about the loyal. If you short cruises would be beneficial to move up in the loyalty levels. Am I correct with this?

Yes you're correct. :D :D

Tony

[shepp]

And this rejiggering of the rules is the major reason why on some sailings damn near everyone is Elite.

[Robinsoncruiseso]

And this rejiggering of the rules is the major reason why on some sailings damn near everyone is Elite.

 

Not "rejiggering", following. Cruisers did not make up the rules, the cruise line did. They are free to change anything they believe is not working. Obviously, they feel the current loyalty program is working.

 

It worked for me. And I have introduced at least a dozen new cruisers to their line..so I would say it is working for them.

 

From an elite cruiser who does not flash their card, is polite to other cruisers and cruise staff, willing to go through "regular' lines when cruising with non elite/platinum guests and we spend money on the cruise.

[shepp]

Not "rejiggering", following. Cruisers did not make up the rules, the cruise line did. They are free to change anything they believe is not working. Obviously, they feel the current loyalty program is working.

 

It worked for me. And I have introduced at least a dozen new cruisers to their line..so I would say it is working for them.

 

From an elite cruiser who does not flash their card, is polite to other cruisers and cruise staff, willing to go through "regular' lines when cruising with non elite/platinum guests and we spend money on the cruise.

 

Yes, rejiggering. Back in the day, status was based on sea days only, not number of cruises. No, I don't think that there's anything special about being a regular consumer of a business' offerings. Still, having spent eight months aboard Princess ships, it's odd that the only "loyalty" perk I get that someone else can earn by spending just 15 or 20 days cruising is an underwhelming $25 per cabin credit. (On the other hand, I'm hardly the biggest spender aboard, so if Princess were to switch to a revenue-based system…)

 

Sure, a lot of Elite bennies aren't zero-sum. There's plenty of free booze to go around, and lately having a lot of people online hasn't slowed things to a crawl. But if half the ship has priority boarding or priority tendering, what does "priority" really mean? And I recall on the Royal's inaugural TA there were so many Elites that the laundry couldn't keep up, took days longer than usual, and finally just stopped taking in new laundry.

 

So what do you say to prospective cruisers? "Sail for a few weeks and you'll get free shoeshines?"

[Thrak]

Yes, rejiggering. Back in the day, status was based on sea days only, not number of cruises. No, I don't think that there's anything special about being a regular consumer of a business' offerings. Still, having spent eight months aboard Princess ships, it's odd that the only "loyalty" perk I get that someone else can earn by spending just 15 or 20 days cruising is an underwhelming $25 per cabin credit. (On the other hand, I'm hardly the biggest spender aboard, so if Princess were to switch to a revenue-based system…)

 

Sure, a lot of Elite bennies aren't zero-sum. There's plenty of free booze to go around, and lately having a lot of people online hasn't slowed things to a crawl. But if half the ship has priority boarding or priority tendering, what does "priority" really mean? And I recall on the Royal's inaugural TA there were so many Elites that the laundry couldn't keep up, took days longer than usual, and finally just stopped taking in new laundry.

 

So what do you say to prospective cruisers? "Sail for a few weeks and you'll get free shoeshines?"

 

We only have 7 cruises completed with two more booked. We did take two short (4 day) cruises because that was all we could fit in with work but we definitely aren't in a huge hurry to make Elite and aren't trying to cram a lot of short cruises into our schedule in order to reach that level. So far our cruises have been:

 

10 days

15 days

4 days

10 days

4 days

17 days

7 days (although it was part of a 13 day connoisseur cruise tour)

 

Upcoming cruises are 28 days and 14 days. At this rate we will make Elite eventually but it may be a draw as to whether we make it on number of cruises or days at sea. I am always a bit surprised when I see people post that they only take the "longer" 7 day cruises. 4 days was crazy short and the 7 days after the land tour would have felt really short but for the fact we both came down with a killer cold (along with a large portion of the passengers) after boarding the ship.

 

As long as we get to cruise it really doesn't matter if we are Elite or not. When it happens we will do a very small happy dance but that will be about it. We both just feel so very happy that we are able to cruise.

[Chief02]

Many passengers use a 1 night cruise (say Seattle to Vancouver) to bump from one level to another. We did it the hard way and with AB's (now MB's) and above . . . and with longer itineraries.

[GUT2407]

Or do what we did and do a couple of longer cruises.

 

Got there in three.

[caribill]

Yes, rejiggering. Back in the day, status was based on sea days only, not number of cruises.

 

Not Princess.

 

 

"Back in the day" status was based on number of cruses only.

 

 

There were a number of complaints that people taking a long cruise would only get one cruise credit for the 21 days they were on the ship. So at some point Princess added an alternative criteria of number of days.

 

And subsequent to that Princess started giving an extra cruise credit if traveling solo in a cabin and an extra cruise credit if in a full suite.

 

And even later, Princess started giving credit for each segment of a B2B that was booked with a single booking number.

 

Actually, RCCL and Carnival also started out only counting number of cruises and in the last several years converted over to number of cruise days only.

[Thrak]

Not Princess.

 

 

"Back in the day" status was based on number of cruses only.

 

 

There were a number of complaints that people taking a long cruise would only get one cruise credit for the 21 days they were on the ship. So at some point Princess added an alternative criteria of number of days.

 

And subsequent to that Princess started giving an extra cruise credit if traveling solo in a cabin and an extra cruise credit if in a full suite.

 

And even later, Princess started giving credit for each segment of a B2B that was booked with a single booking number.

 

Actually, RCCL and Carnival also started out only counting number of cruises and in the last several years converted over to number of cruise days only.

 

That is what I thought I had read here many times as well. People complain about the "change" that makes the number of cruises count but that used to be the only criteria and they actually added number of days to make people happy. Many seem to have it wrong and complain about something that has always been in place.

[Musky Ike]

Just crossed that elite line and guess what? Life is pretty much the same. No halo or rose petals in or path :halo: but the mini bar is nice.

[lolane1]

Just crossed that elite line and guess what? Life is pretty much the same. No halo or rose petals in or path :halo: but the mini bar is nice.

 

I agree. Approaching elite myself and since I am not a big drinker and would prefer to do my own laundry, I don't think life will change either. However, I do like the platinum perks.

[TravelingEA]

Yes, the 1 nights do count. Book single inside (can usually get around $30 if you time it right), then have SO book your preferred cabin (be it inside, OV, Balcony). You can both stay in preferred cabin and collect 2 cruise credits each. Normally you can book 3 - 4 one nights a year...so 6 - 8 cruise credits per year. When our kids were still home, we could only get away for a night so we did achieve Elite with very few days. Now our kids our out of the house and we still do the one nights, squished in-between at least a couple 7 or 10 nights.

That is very easy for someone who lives in the Pacific Northwest, however, it is very difficult if a person is not anywhere close to a cruise port.

[floridalover5623]

Yes, the 1 nights do count. Book single inside (can usually get around $30 if you time it right), then have SO book your preferred cabin (be it inside, OV, Balcony). You can both stay in preferred cabin and collect 2 cruise credits each. Normally you can book 3 - 4 one nights a year...so 6 - 8 cruise credits per year. When our kids were still home, we could only get away for a night so we did achieve Elite with very few days. Now our kids our out of the house and we still do the one nights, squished in-between at least a couple 7 or 10 nights.

 

 

That is very easy for someone who lives in the Pacific Northwest, however, it is very difficult if a person is not anywhere close to a cruise port.

Unless a person lives within a short driving distance of a port it's not a logical way to achieve the next level. I live in Florida & wouldn't consider it (even combining a short trip with a longer one to up my count hardly pays since those short cruises are pricey) ;)

[skynight]

Yes, rejiggering. Back in the day, status was based on sea days only, not number of cruises.

Our first Princess cruise was in 1995. At that time loyalty status was on a different system based on cruises only. Around 2000 the reward system was changed to it's current model and status was only based on cruises. Somewhere around 2008/2010 the system was changed to also include days. More recently it was changed again to the cruise credit system where you receive additional credits for full suites and single person occupancy.

 

The important point passengers should remember is that the loyalty system is a marketing method to encourage past passengers to book another Princess cruise. It is up to Princess to manage the system as they see fit to maximize their income. What it is not is a system to separate passengers into classes where a small group of passengers get lots of on board benefits, while others do not.

 

Does the program require an overhaul? Probably yes, but that is up to Princess to decide. An overhaul might not be to your advantage.

[LeeW]

Did a three day repo Vancouver to LA in a suite a few years back to get to Elite before a Panama Canal cruise (suite was about $240pp, so we could afford trying it). Have done multiple Seattle-Vancouver, stay a few days, Vancouver to LA since. Yes, you can use these to gain credit, although the only real benefit for us is the free laundry. Minibar is impossible for us to drink on a three day, let alone a one day. The short cruises are a bit different than a normal cruise but nice if you haven't cruised in a while and just want a quick getaway and Vancouver is a pretty nice place to go.

[Musky Ike]

I agree. Approaching elite myself and since I am not a big drinker and would prefer to do my own laundry, I don't think life will change either. However, I do like the platinum perks.

 

We swap out the alcohol and do our own laundry as well.

[erber]

We are not big drinkers so we swap the mini bar for 2 coffee cards. I love the lattes and if you are on the Regal or Royal you can also use the coffee card in Gelatos for delicious gelato/sundaes.

 

We do like the "free laundry" benefit, although on several cruises it has taken several days to get the laundry back.