Elite no longer get priority ??

[amyr]

On 2/3/2019 at 8:18 AM, dkjretired said:

Surprised no one mentioned that one of the reasons we are drowning with Elites is the people from Royal coming over.  I'm sure Royal has the same problem.  Maybe that should be revisited. 

I think they are revisiting it, or at least thinking about it.  I received a survey the other day from RCI that was all about the loyalty program.  I've been on Royal a couple of times, and I'm about 20 cruise credits short of Elite + and Discover + having earned that on both Azamara and Celebrity combined.  

 

There were lots of questions around what I thought about reciprocity between lines and whether that was a consideration for me when booking.  Different questions mentioned each cruise line specifically, including Azamara.  Also a couple of questions about whether I thought loyalty status should be for life or earned each year like hotels and airlines do.  The survey went on and on about what sort of perks mattered to me at each level, things like that.  I'm sure I'm not the only one here to have gotten that survey (maybe it was already discussed and I missed it) and I'm also sure something's in the works.  Probably because of the sheer volume of Elites/Diamond/Discover and above.  Drowning, as you say.

 

[Jim_Iain]

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 8:53 PM, jagoffee said:

What airlines and lounge?  That is very unusual, but I believe AA’s Admiral Club has stop selling one day passes.  

Was it a Partner’s Lounge?

I have been noticing mostly using Priority Pass.   We use to get access to many Delta and United lounges.  Most of these now don't allow access    I mostly fly United and they have also stopped selling day passes.  Priority pass is shifting to giving you a $25-30 credit at a number of different restaurants.   

 

Wasn't a partner lounge.   We were flying Air France and in SF they use small lounge that was being shared by Air China, KLM and Air France and all had flights going out about the same time.   

[Northern Aurora]

8 hours ago, amyr said:

 

 

There were lots of questions around what I thought about reciprocity between lines and whether that was a consideration for me when booking.  ...... Also a couple of questions about whether I thought loyalty status should be for life or earned each year like hotels and airlines do.  ......

 

 

 

I also suspect there may likely be an upcoming re-work of the loyalty program.  And the questions about whether loyalty status should be for life or earned each year somehow doesn't surprise me.

[Host Jazzbeau]

MSC loyalty points expire if you don't cruise every 3 years, and they have significantly cut back on the level at which they are matching other cruise/hotel status levels.  There are a LOT of 'elite' and 'gold' levels out there!

[hcat]

Also annoying is that the Sr officer Cocktail party which is supposedly an Elite event has been open to Select and up in our last 3 cruises...Most recently EDEN. 

 

Way overcrowded mass attendance event nothing like it used to be.  We avoid the reg Cap Club event for the overcrowding issue, but now cannot even enjoy  the Sr Ofc  event.  

 

Wonder why they are not following their own set policy???

[amyr]

6 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

MSC loyalty points expire if you don't cruise every 3 years, and they have significantly cut back on the level at which they are matching other cruise/hotel status levels.  There are a LOT of 'elite' and 'gold' levels out there!

I wish that survey had addressed it this way.  They just asked if I thought loyalty points should expire, yes or no.  I said no.  Would I have said I was willing to sail every 3-5 years to keep them? Probably.  I can't believe anyone taking that survey said 'yes' points should expire without a caveat of some sort, so not sure what they got out of that.

 

When they asked if taking loyalty across brands factored into my brand choices, yes or no.  I said yes. I would have liked to have said "Yes, BUT Elite Celebrity status is what made me initially choose Azamara over, say, Oceania, but it in no way factored into the two Royal Caribbean cruises I took.  It was all poorly done.

 

Whatever comes, I'm sure it will be excitedly rolled out as enhancements 🤣

 

 

[If only]

On 2/4/2019 at 10:37 AM, Fogfog said:

Definitely worth looking at the lines and deciding to get in line per Captains Club level vs Stateroom! Not being Zenith our stateroom class is better every time

Anytime we have had to wait at the port to embark the pecking order has always been Suites, Zenith, Aqua Class, Elite Plus, then Concierge & Elite then everyone else.  Does it really matter as you are on holidays

[Fogfog]

10 minutes ago, If only said:

Anytime we have had to wait at the port to embark the pecking order has always been Suites, Zenith, Aqua Class, Elite Plus, then Concierge & Elite then everyone else.  Does it really matter as you are on holidays

If it didn't matter --they would not do it in any particular order

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, If only said:

Anytime we have had to wait at the port to embark the pecking order has always been Suites, Zenith, Aqua Class, Elite Plus, then Concierge & Elite then everyone else.  Does it really matter as you are on holidays

 

We experienced the embarkation procedure in a different order.  They grouped Suites/Zenith in an area then escorted them onboard, followed by Aqua/Concierge, then Elite Plus/Elite.  We never waited for long.  We'll see how it goes in a few weeks when we board Reflection.

[hazeleyes10101]

We did B2Bs on Eclipse out of Amsterdam this past August.  There was a priority boarding line for Elite Plus and Zenith, but Elite passengers like us were lumped in with the masses.  It was the first time we didn't have priority boarding.  And was surprising given that there turned out to be very few Elite or higher passengers on either sailing - only a small section of Sky Lounge was roped off for the evening cocktail party, and even that was less than half full each night.  So the restriction of priority boarding apparently isn't related to the number of people who might use it on a given cruise.  It will be interesting to see the situation when we embark in Singapore in three weeks.  We're Elite Plus now, so perhaps we'll be in a shorter line.  Regardless, we'll get on board eventually and have a fabulous cruise.  No point getting stressed over something as unimportant as whether the line is long or short!