Crown & Anchor, Captain's Club & Le Club: RECIPROCAL BENEFITS

[Elginjock]

Well said jolly jones not interested in RC, Celebrity or Azamara.Please in no way link them with Silversea.

[brimary]

1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

This makes truely depressing reading on a cold, windy Sunday morning.

Agreed no sign of sun on the horizon.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

I am posting this thread, as a point of reference.  When this change does occur, all RCCL Corp Lines, will continue sharing a similar Loyalty Program platform.  This subject was addressed on the recent President's Cruise.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2590932-pineapples-gone-wild-live-from-president’s-cruise-2018/?page=9

The only thing I see on the entirety of the crazy thread you posted is that the President and CEO of RCI made a passing remark.  Hopefully the Chairman and CEO of RCCL has more common sense and understands the complexities of brand segmentation.

[zqtchas]

On 3/2/2019 at 9:22 PM, Silver Spectre said:

Not to this cruiser! Having started with Princess and P&O and moved up to the luxury level, there is no way that we would ever step foot on a mass market line, and that includes Azamara. I would like to think that most SS cruisers are like minded.

Agree. looks like SS is trying to go that route with all these mini voyages. 

[saminina]

21 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

On Royal Caribbean ships, status is like military rank.

 

We admire your enthusiasm......not really.    SS has to fill their ships and the RCI crowd will find its way aboard.  

High rank on Celebrity is rewarded with a happy hour consisting of all you can drink Budweiser and cheap wine.  Different culture on SS.  You can drink better beer and wine all day/night long.  So far,  single malt Scotch is included.

[gogo65]

On 3/3/2019 at 1:22 AM, Silver Spectre said:

Not to this cruiser! Having started with Princess and P&O and moved up to the luxury level, there is no way that we would ever step foot on a mass market line, and that includes Azamara. I would like to think that most SS cruisers are like minded.

Oh wow,

As someone that has just booked our first SS cruise (expedition), I’m questioning our decision, if that is the general feeling of SS cruisers, I think we are on the wrong ship (and wrong line)

We choose our cruises and travels based on itinerary, price etc, for us its about the destination and the experience (hence choosing our upcoming Arctic cruise on silver cloud), but I’d be just as happy on any mass market non luxury line, or catching the local bus in the middle of Guatemala,  if it provides us with an experience or destination that we want.

I consider myself well travelled, have been to over 60 countries and I certainly wont be pigeonholing my future travel to one or two ‘luxury level’ cruise companies.

Maybe my husband and I will be eating alone each night as we wont fit in with all the other ‘like minded’ SS cruisers.

[Silver Spectre]

3 minutes ago, gogo65 said:

Oh wow,

As someone that has just booked our first SS cruise (expedition), I’m questioning our decision, if that is the general feeling of SS cruisers, I think we are on the wrong ship (and wrong line)

We choose our cruises and travels based on itinerary, price etc, for us its about the destination and the experience (hence choosing our upcoming Arctic cruise on silver cloud), but I’d be just as happy on any mass market non luxury line, or catching the local bus in the middle of Guatemala,  if it provides us with an experience or destination that we want.

I consider myself well travelled, have been to over 60 countries and I certainly wont be pigeonholing my future travel to one or two ‘luxury level’ cruise companies.

Maybe my husband and I will be eating alone each night as we wont fit in with all the other ‘like minded’ SS cruisers.

Each to their own.

[UpstateJan]

I'm going to jump in on this .... we're getting ready for our second cruise on Silversea, with most of our cruises being on Celebrity.  Like gogo65, we pick according to itinerary.   We were blown away with our Asian cruise last April, one of the few lines going to Borneo, and certainly the best stops, and length of time there (not to mention 300 fellow travelers as opposed to 3000 on Princess).   There were far less sea days than the competition, and well the food was amazing!   We didn't find any snobby people, mixed and mingled with first timers as well as seasoned SS folks.  Staff was over the top excellent.

 

Our next trip is in less than 3 weeks (yay), again on Silversea, this time the Wind.  Can't wait.  It's the caribbean, which we can do an any of the cruiselines.  Why did we pick SS?  Well, the islands we were visiting, of course.   Not the normal big ship island, and the experience on a small ship with the longer days in port, etc, all the things SS brags about and more.

 

Does this mean I won't sail on anything else, ever again?   Nope.  We have a cruise booked in the fall with family, lower price point, shorter duration than what SS was offering, with good old Royal Caribbean (not my fav, but for the price with our reciprocal status, a fantastic deal).   

 

As far as Silversea getting sucked into the Royal Caribbean point system, currently RC owns 75-80%?, not the whole thing.  They also own part of other cruise lines (Tui, Pullmantur) which are not incorporated into the plan.  Who knows what will happen.  With Silverseas being all inclusive, and honestly you get free laundry from day 1 (if you are willing to do it yourself, which I prefer, thank you), I don't know what the incentives would be.  Sure, RC or Celebrity folks could get a small discount to try out SS, but at that price point, there are probably a lot of folks that would rather stay on the larger ships with all the activities, especially people with small children.  

 

Where I think it may get interesting is the expedition cruises.  We have yet to take one with SS (they haven't scheduled the one we wanted for 2019 or 2020 as of yet), so I can't speak to that.  We did do the Galapagos with Celebrity on their 96 passenger ship, which was probably the best cruise I've been on.  And yes, free drinks .... oh, whoever said that Celebrity's happy hour was just beer and cheap wine is incorrect, we had anything we wanted, then again we're really not big drinkers.  Celebrity is also getting ready to launch some new small expedition ships that will make Silverseas' look like behemoths.

 

gogo65, go on your cruise, enjoy yourself.  You will many great folks on the ship to chat with and share a meal with.  The staff is outstanding, we enjoyed them as well.   What you are witnessing on this thread isn't snobbery, it's just hard-core Silverseas patrons that don't want to see the quality or experience diminished by the big corporate take over.  I get that, it doesn't always come thru that way.  I really don't think RC is going to turn SS into the waterslide, wakeboarding fun ships, there's an elegance with SS that the other ships don't have, and it is supported by the price tag.  

 

Jumping off my soapbox, and getting back to running my monthend reports so I can go on vacation....

[nowornever]

Well said, Upstate Jan.  Will you please post from the Wind with your thoughts?  We'll follow you on in about 7 weeks so I'll be so very interested in what you have to say.   I certainly appreciated Jolly's thoughts also.  There is nothing like pre-cruise anticipation!  Hopefully the waterslide & congo lines won't be in evidence (yet) by the time we get there.  

[UpstateJan]

Only Conga line I was ever in was a rock concert back in the very early 1980s .... Talking Heads, about 20,000 of us.   It was fun, but I think those days are happily behind me .   I promise to leave the Wind in as good condition as we find her, and even some alcohol too!!!!  This really is the perfect ship for the small ports we are hitting, I am very excited to storm the shores with only 290 of my new closest friends.

 

[caripoo]

Funny.....I just called Silversea this morning with this same question.....I was told that although RCCL now owns Silversea there are NO PLANS to combine the loyalty programs.....They will remain a separate entity.

[UpstateJan]

Thanks for the confirm caripoo, I'm thinking the OP has a case of wishful thinking.  I'm not really sure what benefit the incorporation in loyalty would give, it's not like you get deep discounts between the different lines.  Silversea is an all inclusive as far as amenities, so you pay more upfront, but don't get nickle and dimed on board.  For what you get, some of the Silversea cruises are really a bargin compared to a RC or Celebrity (first hand experience typing).  If they are trying to match market with Regent, Oceania, and Seabourn, they aren't going to turn Silversea into waterslide world.   Methinks some people like to come on the board and poke the loyalists a bit for a reaction.  

 

I did reach out to RC a few weeks back to see if there were any shareholder benefits to be given for the Silverseas cruise and was told "nope" - hey, I'm an accountant, you can't shame me for doing my job  .  Speaking of, just finished inhaling my lunch, time to get back to report.  17 days until vacation (not counting or anything).....

[CruisinPashmina]

Poke the loyalists?? Ya think? Let’s all get Silversea serene and ignore this fellow...of course while wishing him well..

[drron29]

Well I don't need reciprocal benefits on any other RCI line.

 

I also wonder what it would be like if a top elite member on RCI was on Silversea and started throwing their status around.I would think that it may confirm their prejudice that we are mostly snobs.I would certainly avoid them.

[UpstateJan]

On 3/6/2019 at 7:29 PM, drron29 said:

Well I don't need reciprocal benefits on any other RCI line.

 

I also wonder what it would be like if a top elite member on RCI was on Silversea and started throwing their status around.I would think that it may confirm their prejudice that we are mostly snobs.I would certainly avoid them.

drron29, I would disagree.  The only snob would be the status obsessed one.  The other passengers would be "oh, good for you", and move on.  The fact that there would not be a special lounge or special breakfast area would wound the old ego pretty fast.  I will admit, I was a bit apprehensive before our first trip, but everyone was very nice .... there was one passenger, but he was pretty drunk and trying to show that he was important, everyone ignored him.   Have to say, my favorite conversations were with the staff, they are so wonderful.  It was fantastic to have servers comfortable enough to engage me in meaningful conversation, that meant the world to me.  The one guy at the pool bar was so helpful before our stop in Brunei, and followed up the next time we seen him to make sure we got to see everything we wanted to.  It felt more like a friend than a man paid to bring me drinks and smile.  That's the difference between "big ships" and Silversea.  

[jpalbny]

Jan, I think you've misunderstood the good Doctor. You have to think upside down; he is an Aussie, after all! 

 

He says, "I would think that it may confirm their prejudice that we are mostly snobs [emphasis mine]. I would certainly avoid them." but this correlates almost perfectly with what you said here: "The other passengers would be 'oh, good for you,' and move on." You're both saying the same thing.

 

I think Ron is saying that because we (the typical SS cruiser) would not be impressed with anyone's elite status, they (the elite cruiser) would think we're snobs. Ron is not saying that we are actually snobs, as you've found out firsthand, unless my Australian is really rusty... In which case, I apologise to Ron in advance and I will cease further efforts until Google Translate adds Aussie to its repertoire. 

 

We'd be happy to have people come up from RCL or X, and try the SS experience, and we'd welcome them...unless they pretend that they're better than we are because they have some status on their other line. No need for that; SS is great and we can all enjoy it equally. And I wouldn't assume that the majority of RCL/X elites would act that way. Have met plenty of nice people there.

 

On the original topic of combined vs separate loyalty programs, the concept doesn't immediately bother me either way, but certainly the devil would be in the details. We've done a few on X back in the day and if they want to add those nights to our growing SS total, more power to them. Just don't take away our free laundry - that would upset me greatly!

Edited March 8, 2019 by jpalbny

[drron29]

You nailed it JP.See what I can do to get you honorary Aussie citizenship!

[Master Echo]

By way of a small correction, RCI recently sold 51% of Pullmantur.

 

i too am an SS aficionado, having also cruised on many lines, including sailing on larger ships.

 

Some of the many advantages of SS - no long lines to embark and disembark, ability to visit smaller ports where big ships are unable to go, but above all sailing with "family", both officers and crew, who not only remember your face but also your name.  You are a person not a revenue generating passenger - and long may it continue.

 

Finally, it is possible to drink every minute of the day on any SS ship, but you do not see people who have drunk too much, which is commonplace on other lines.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[Silver Spectre]

18 minutes ago, Master Echo said:

 

 

Finally, it is possible to drink every minute of the day on any SS ship, but you do not see people who have drunk too much, which is commonplace on other lines.

 

Generally true ME, but in 15 years of SS we have seen three, one woman, who is now much better, one lonely old guy and one obnoxious piece of dog poo, who will never be allowed to return.

[CruisinPashmina]

In more than 20 years sailing on Silversea ships, I have only seen one person who had to be cut off...must have been others, but I only know about this fellow. He was from Chicago, owned a trucking empire, had a petite, quiet, attractive wife who was a physician, and he traveled with what he referred to as his trainer...obviously a body guard. He was perfectly pleasant as he held court all day at the bar. We never saw him unruly, but half way thru this pretty long cruise, he disappeared...apparently banished?  As is usual, the crew was discrete, but we could add it up. Dr. Wife,  Mr.Trainer and Bar fly must have been disembarked. He disappeared as we sailed peacefully on and we never saw any of them again. I mention this because it was such a truly unusual experience for Silversea. 

[Tothesunset]

We've not met any obnoxious drunks on SS either. But one or two who have managed it sober... 

[CruisinPashmina]

Tothesunset is right. And funny. Fortunately the “difficult” passengers are extremely rare. The predominant vibe on SS is low key, respectful and inclusive. Anyone loud, demanding or disrespectful...especially towards the crew...will stand out and will be avoided. I don’t think this is snobbish at all.