If no Elite ++ level before Zenith how about some other options

[phoenix_dream]

I know the desired addition of a level between Elite Plus and Zenith has been discussed to death, and completely dismissed by LLP unfortunately.  But it would sure be nice if they did something in response to all the interest.

 

I propose some 'milestone' perks.  These would not cost them a lot but could be a nice 'thank you' to people like us who are very, very loyal to Celebrity but will probably be in the grave before hitting Zenith.  They could do something nice for you at certain milestones - like a certain number of cruises, or hitting a certain level  - maybe midpoint on the way to Zenith, or after you earn an additional X number of points or something like that.  Could be something fairly minor like a dinner in Murano, or a dinner with the Captain or one of the Senior Officers or something.  Maybe one free shore excursion, or a personal behind the scenes tour or something.  Earlier this year we hit our 50 Celebrity cruise milestone and to be honest I was a little let down that no one even acknowledged it, even though I had mentioned it to the maître d' in Blu where we were dining, as well as the Captains Club hostess.  You would think at the very, very least a nice congratulations from the CC hostess would have been warranted - a couple flowers sent to the cabin or some chocolate covered strawberries or something.  Nothing.  When I mentioned it she just smiled.  

 

I'm guessing somewhere along the line someone else has suggested this, but thought it wouldn't hurt to resurrect it.  After all the interest displayed in the additional level, perhaps Celebrity would be willing to consider/reconsider something like that.  I know loyalty seems to be very low on their list of things to care about, but …...I can always hope😊

[awhfy]

Congratulations on your 50 Celebrity cruises 

[ghstudio]

You are beating a dead horse. 

 

As far as your 50 cruises....yes, any company focused on customers....any folks in customer service roles who understand that just a little something can mean a lot and would have done something within their power.....a cupcake with a candle, a glass of port....whatever on  your 50th.....but you unfortunately ran into folks who only understand their job...not their mission.

 

From experience, I know there are folks in those roles on Celebrity ships that would have gone the extra mile...or the extra 100 ft to do something, however small.  Sorry you didn't have those folks on your cruise.

Edited August 27, 2019 by ghstudio

[keesar]

Sadly, as long as there are cruisers who keep on cruising the same line time after time, there is little incentive on the part of the line to make those changes.  It is almost like they have those particular cruisers "hooked" as they keep coming back.  

[C 2 C]

38 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I propose some 'milestone' perks.   They could do something nice for you at certain milestones - like a certain number of cruises, or hitting a certain level  - maybe midpoint on the way to Zenith, or after you earn an additional X number of points or something like that.  Could be something fairly minor like a dinner in Murano, or a dinner with the Captain or one of the Senior Officers or something.

I'm guessing somewhere along the line someone else has suggested this, but thought it wouldn't hurt to resurrect it.  After all the interest displayed in the additional level, perhaps Celebrity would be willing to consider/reconsider something like that.  I know loyalty seems to be very low on their list of things to care about, but …...I can always hope😊

 

Congratulations on hitting 50 cruises.  I agree with you but the loyalty department is anything but when it comes to personal milestones.

We have friends who made double Zenith... nothing from MIA

 

In the last year we have reached triple Zenith, 200 Celebrity cruises and 2,000 days/nights on a Celebrity ship in 25 years of sailing on X.

Nothing from Miami, no card saying well done, no special dinner... (which they removed for the top cruiser on board just as we hit 2,000), no meal with an officer....

Celebrity is still the line on which we sail but not because of any loyalty department which as far as we're concerned, is non existent.  (the Z perks are nice though but that was created under a different priority) A simple thank you would go so far but don't hold your breath.

[Shadow9612]

6 hours ago, awhfy said:

Congratulations on your 50 Celebrity cruises 

Ditto, I think that's fantastic and should certainly have been acknowledged by Celebrity. 

[Shadow9612]

6 hours ago, Arno. said:

In the last year we have reached triple Zenith, 200 Celebrity cruises and 2,000 days/nights on a Celebrity ship in 25 years of sailing on X.

Wow! Incredible!  Congratulations! 

 

 

[chemmo]

7 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I know the desired addition of a level between Elite Plus and Zenith has been discussed to death, and completely dismissed by LLP unfortunately.  But it would sure be nice if they did something in response to all the interest.

 

I propose some 'milestone' perks.  These would not cost them a lot but could be a nice 'thank you' to people like us who are very, very loyal to Celebrity but will probably be in the grave before hitting Zenith.  They could do something nice for you at certain milestones - like a certain number of cruises, or hitting a certain level  - maybe midpoint on the way to Zenith, or after you earn an additional X number of points or something like that.  Could be something fairly minor like a dinner in Murano, or a dinner with the Captain or one of the Senior Officers or something.  Maybe one free shore excursion, or a personal behind the scenes tour or something.  Earlier this year we hit our 50 Celebrity cruise milestone and to be honest I was a little let down that no one even acknowledged it, even though I had mentioned it to the maître d' in Blu where we were dining, as well as the Captains Club hostess.  You would think at the very, very least a nice congratulations from the CC hostess would have been warranted - a couple flowers sent to the cabin or some chocolate covered strawberries or something.  Nothing.  When I mentioned it she just smiled.  

 

I'm guessing somewhere along the line someone else has suggested this, but thought it wouldn't hurt to resurrect it.  After all the interest displayed in the additional level, perhaps Celebrity would be willing to consider/reconsider something like that.  I know loyalty seems to be very low on their list of things to care about, but …...I can always hope😊

 

Congratulations on your 50th cruise! 

 

We are another couple who are E+ but unlikely to live long enough to hit Zenith although our son might get there who hit E+ and D+ in his early 20’s....The only ‘cruise’ my parents took me on was the ferry from Liverpool to the Isle of Man...

 

I love your idea of simple ‘milestones’ being acknowledged. It would cost X next to nothing to simply offer...

 

25 cruises a bottle of champagne 

50 cruises free speciality meal

75 cruises dinner with an officer

 

As the points you receive towards Zenith are based on spending (more points for higher rooms) it would be nice to have actual loyalty of number of actual cruises acknowledged.

 

However, if Arno’s achievements are not acknowledged I don’t think the rest of us have any chance! By triple Zenith I think you deserve a free week in the PH....

[Redtravel]

50 Celebrity cruises!   They should roll out the red carpet for you.  But they won t. In case you haven't heard, Celebrity is cutting back. That includes cut backs to loyal guests.  Do you feel ignored? Welcome to the club.  Be happy that LLP hasn't cut back the Captains club benefits. I am elite+.  On Azamara, sister of Celebrity, they cut back loyalty benefits. I wouldn't be surprised if Celebrity cuts some benefits too. Enjoy the benefits that you have now.  I hope that you are not just sailing because of the loyalty benefits.  

 

 

 

 

[waterbug123]

15 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

 You would think at the very, very least a nice congratulations from the CC hostess would have been warranted - a couple flowers sent to the cabin or some chocolate covered strawberries or something.  Nothing.  When I mentioned it she just smiled. 

 

It's kind of a no-win situation for X.  If they did do something small to acknowledge mid-point milestones, no doubt they would get complaints of "I've sailed on such and such number of cruises with you and I'll I got was a stupid cupcake???" 

Bottom line:  while it would "be nice" to have more recognition, just accept that it won't happen and enjoy your cruise.  After all, the reason one is cruising on a particular line is because they like the ship or the itinerary or the perks they already get, right?  Not because they are hoping for some free strawberries or flowers or cupcakes or whatever.  I think folks get way too hung up on achieving status.

[awhfy]

Arno!  Wow, triple Zenith. Amazing!!! We will hit Elite Plus after our MardiGras cruise next February, I don’t expect to attain Zenith 

[Longboysfan]

Congrats on your 50.

Could you give a breakdown - high level of the Celebrity ships you have been on and destinations?

 

Way back whennnnnnn....

My wife and I were on a Celebrity cruise at the meet the officers party.

My wife had the second most cruises with Celebrity in the group there.

 

They presented her with a dozen roses, a bottle of champagne and a picture with the Captain.

 

I'm not sure what they do now.  I'll have to pay attention this next cruise.

 

I'm just a minor leaguer with my 25 or so Celebrity Cruises and 600 points. 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Longboysfan

[TeeRick]

17 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I know the desired addition of a level between Elite Plus and Zenith has been discussed to death, and completely dismissed by LLP unfortunately.  But it would sure be nice if they did something in response to all the interest.

 

I propose some 'milestone' perks.  These would not cost them a lot but could be a nice 'thank you' to people like us who are very, very loyal to Celebrity but will probably be in the grave before hitting Zenith.  They could do something nice for you at certain milestones - like a certain number of cruises, or hitting a certain level  - maybe midpoint on the way to Zenith, or after you earn an additional X number of points or something like that.  Could be something fairly minor like a dinner in Murano, or a dinner with the Captain or one of the Senior Officers or something.  Maybe one free shore excursion, or a personal behind the scenes tour or something.  Earlier this year we hit our 50 Celebrity cruise milestone and to be honest I was a little let down that no one even acknowledged it, even though I had mentioned it to the maître d' in Blu where we were dining, as well as the Captains Club hostess.  You would think at the very, very least a nice congratulations from the CC hostess would have been warranted - a couple flowers sent to the cabin or some chocolate covered strawberries or something.  Nothing.  When I mentioned it she just smiled.  

 

I'm guessing somewhere along the line someone else has suggested this, but thought it wouldn't hurt to resurrect it.  After all the interest displayed in the additional level, perhaps Celebrity would be willing to consider/reconsider something like that.  I know loyalty seems to be very low on their list of things to care about, but …...I can always hope😊

Thanks for your thoughts on this.  Seems quite reasonable.  The sister company Royal has a similar gap between D+ and Pinnacle.  After a certain number of points on the way they do provide some intermediate acknowledgments.  This is just good business.  Not sure why Celebrity does not see it that way.  Once we all get to E+ we have reasons to start looking elsewhere.  Maybe that is exactly what they want?  

[phoenix_dream]

33 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Thanks for your thoughts on this.  Seems quite reasonable.  The sister company Royal has a similar gap between D+ and Pinnacle.  After a certain number of points on the way they do provide some intermediate acknowledgments.  This is just good business.  Not sure why Celebrity does not see it that way.  Once we all get to E+ we have reasons to start looking elsewhere.  Maybe that is exactly what they want?  

I think you've hit it on the head.  That probably is exactly what they want.  They know that likely a large portion of us who have surpassed Elite Plus some time ago tend to be older.  Partly because of that and partly because we have cruised so often we tend to spend less on things like portrait packages, souvenirs, shore excursions (been there; done that; or know better to book our own) and on and on.  Yes, of course there are exceptions but IMHO this is generally true.  So while they certainly want to fill up their ships, right now that is not generally a problem so they are hoping for younger, more new to cruising people who WILL spend lots of $$ on those things.

[phoenix_dream]

17 hours ago, Arno. said:

 

Congratulations on hitting 50 cruises.  I agree with you but the loyalty department is anything but when it comes to personal milestones.

We have friends who made double Zenith... nothing from MIA

 

In the last year we have reached triple Zenith, 200 Celebrity cruises and 2,000 days/nights on a Celebrity ship in 25 years of sailing on X.

Nothing from Miami, no card saying well done, no special dinner... (which they removed for the top cruiser on board just as we hit 2,000), no meal with an officer....

Celebrity is still the line on which we sail but not because of any loyalty department which as far as we're concerned, is non existent.  (the Z perks are nice though but that was created under a different priority) A simple thank you would go so far but don't hold your breath.

Hello, Arno.  Met you some time ago in Michael's club on one of the rare times we were able to afford a suite.  Very disappointing to read your post.  My goodness, if they can't acknowledge those accomplishments I can't imagine them giving a hoot over a new level or additional perks!  Shame on them.  Right now the economy is doing well and ships are booking up so they are really looking for newer cruisers who spend money on stuff we have long ago quit doing (portraits, shore excursions etc).  But I suspect with all the new ships coming out and the economy facing its inevitable slowdown sometime soon,  one of these days they may need to change their approach.  But in the meantime we also will still pick Celebrity as overall the cruise experience is very much to our liking (although with LLP at the helm and some of her recent changes frankly we are open to considering other options for the future).  Until then, smooth sailing😊

[CAicruiser]

1 hour ago, Longboysfan said:

Congrats on your 50.

Could you give a breakdown - high level of the Celebrity ships you have been on and destinations?

 

Way back whennnnnnn....

My wife and I were on a Celebrity cruise at the meet the officers party.

My wife had the second most cruises with Celebrity in the group there.

 

They presented her with a dozen roses, a bottle of champagne and a picture with the Captain.

 

I'm not sure what they do now.  I'll have to pay attention this next cruise.

 

I'm just a minor leaguer with my 25 or so Celebrity Cruises and 600 points. 

600 point 2nd Top cruiser?you were not on a mini boat weren't you?

[Longboysfan]

It was a long time ago. I would say at least 15 years ago.

That this event happened.

 

And yes it was most likely on a small ship - Horizon or Zenith.  

[Orator]

4 minutes ago, CAicruiser said:

600 point 2nd Top cruiser?you were not on a mini boat weren't you?

It would be very rare for the second "top spender" to receive any recognition today let alone flowers. It still happens, but very rarely.

 

[ghstudio]

Award for the 2nd top spender: coffee with a waiter in the buffet

[Loracpin2]

We are Elite+ and just hit 30 cruises as we disembarked the Summit this past Sunday with 2 more cruise booked on the Reflection in 2020. Based on this Summit sailing, even if they created an E++, I'm not I sure see reaching this level in our future. I would be happy if this recent Celebrity experience resembled even 20% of our first experience on the Horizon (no balconies, no specialty dining, etc) in 1993.  Even with the new relaxed "Modern Luxury" policies, it appeared that enforcement might not be customer friendly.

[phoenix_dream]

7 hours ago, Longboysfan said:

Congrats on your 50.

Could you give a breakdown - high level of the Celebrity ships you have been on and destinations?

 

Way back whennnnnnn....

My wife and I were on a Celebrity cruise at the meet the officers party.

My wife had the second most cruises with Celebrity in the group there.

 

They presented her with a dozen roses, a bottle of champagne and a picture with the Captain.

 

I'm not sure what they do now.  I'll have to pay attention this next cruise.

 

I'm just a minor leaguer with my 25 or so Celebrity Cruises and 600 points. 

 I have sailed all Celebrity ships except Meridian and Edge class, all of them more than once.  I have been on Infinity the most often, followed by Millennium and Equinox.  To-date all of our cruises have been Caribbean, Alaska, or west coastal US.  Coming up is our first Europe cruise on Silhouette to Norway.  

 

In our early sailings, twice we were the most cruised (I am talking back in the 1990's or very early 2000's).  Got a bouquet of roses, as well as a picture with the Captain that was given to us in a very nice folder.  Might have come with a bottle of champagne as well - can't remember for sure.

 

I don't sail for the perks but they are definitely nice to have.  Since these days we often upgrade to all four perks through our travel agent at a discount (not always available cheaper, but usually) the perks overall mean little to us.  The most valuable to us is the laundry coupons, which we use on longer cruises.  We don't really use the specialty restaurant discount as we never book those unless we can get at least 25% discount onboard.   If we don't purchase internet, then the 240 minutes is a nice perk as well.  The one cabin category upgrade has saved us a few $$ here and there but that is available to any CC level.

[Longboysfan]

Thank you for the reply.

I've been on about the same as you have - No Edge class yet.  No Meridian also.

We did a lot of Horizon and Zenith cruises to Bermuda while those ships were about.

Then shifted to the Caribbean.

No Alaska yet.

 

We did get an invite to NYC to preview one of the new class of ships - Century.

I liked that series of ships.

 

My agent has saved me enough over the years to be able to go on cruises.

 

Again thank you for the reply.

I posted a few cruise reviews but then those may have expired off the site.

 

I always feel like writing a letter to the line along with the comment card is helpful to the people who make my vacations special..

[Denny01]

On 8/27/2019 at 3:21 PM, keesar said:

Sadly, as long as there are cruisers who keep on cruising the same line time after time, there is little incentive on the part of the line to make those changes.  It is almost like they have those particular cruisers "hooked" as they keep coming back.  

Why is it ‘sad’ that cruisers pick the same Cruise Line? I should go with another Line because it’s going to make Celebrity add incentives? Right. Most of us that go on the same Line do so not to get more points, but that Line is meeting our current needs and interests. I’ve cruised on many of the mainline Cruise Lines and find Celebrity meets what I enjoy and why I cruise. Loyalty points are nice and provide a few goodies, but with Cruise Lines, including Celebrity, adding included benefits such as drink and internet packages and so on to sign up, the Loyalty benefits aren’t that big of a deal. 

 

I’ve had friends upgrade a SR in order to get more points to get to a new level, but not pick a Line only for that reason.

 

And wondering about another post; why would I move over to another Line just because I reached Elite+ and won’t get to Zenith? I got to Elite+ because I enjoy this Line and when/if I cruise on it again, I’ll get nice benefits as an Elite+ that enhance my cruise experience. 

 

I’ve made 25 Celebrity cruises, and as you can see from my signature, I’ll be making a few more on Celebrity and going over to other Lines that provide an experience Celebrity doesn’t. Each of my selections were for a specific rationale: New Years cruise with friends/river cruises/smaller ‘all inclusive’ cruise to ports that large cruise ships can’t pull into/.....and Celebrity when it provided an experience I want.

 

And back to the OP’s post: LLP was very clear. No changes. I’ll just enjoy the current benefits. And if Celebrity decides to acknowledge in some way me reaching some number, great. If done at some social event, I’ll be sure to stand up and make a big deal out of it just to embarrass my wife!!

 

Den

[Straughn]

8 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Thanks for your thoughts on this.  Seems quite reasonable.  The sister company Royal has a similar gap between D+ and Pinnacle.  After a certain number of points on the way they do provide some intermediate acknowledgments.  This is just good business.  Not sure why Celebrity does not see it that way.  Once we all get to E+ we have reasons to start looking elsewhere.  Maybe that is exactly what they want?  

I was going to make a similar comment. One of the benefits that Royal offers to D+ passengers, when they hit the halfway point to Pinnacle, is that solo passengers pay 150% instead of 200%. As a frequent solo cruiser, I am Elite + and unless I live on a cruIse ship (if only), I will never reach Zenith. I should reach the halfway point. Because I won’t reach Zenith, I would happily give up the double points to pay 150% rather than 200%.

 

[verizon]

9 minutes ago, Straughn said:

I was going to make a similar comment. One of the benefits that Royal offers to D+ passengers, when they hit the halfway point to Pinnacle, is that solo passengers pay 150% instead of 200%. As a frequent solo cruiser, I am Elite + and unless I live on a cruIse ship (if only), I will never reach Zenith. I should reach the halfway point. Because I won’t reach Zenith, I would happily give up the double points to pay 150% rather than 200%.

 

I know it sucks I am also paying 200%.