Turning Elite mid voyage

[ProfMHC]

We are going to be on a cruise next year that’s sold as both a 10 and 20 day; we are booked on the 20 day. I. The past we’ve received two credits after completing the entire cruise,. The question is this: we will meet the criteria for Elite after the first ten day segment?  When will receive the perks? After the first segment or not until we complete the whole 20 day cruise? Anyone else experience this? Thanks for your help. 

[Jaymuxman]

You will receive Elite Status on your NEXT cruise following this 20 day cruise.

[jennybenny]

You could try going to the captain circle host near day 8-10 and ask. It couldn’t hurt and may get you the perks on that second leg of the back to back.

[franktown]

As Jennybenny said go see the captains circle host. 

[Steelers36]

51 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

You could try going to the captain circle host near day 8-10 and ask. It couldn’t hurt and may get you the perks on that second leg of the back to back.

 

17 minutes ago, franktown said:

As Jennybenny said go see the captains circle host. 

This.  Nothing to lose.

Edited April 27, 2021 by Steelers36

[skynight]

If the first 10 days is your 15th cruise/cruise credit or you reach 150 days during that segment you will be elite on the 2nd 10 days. You probably will have to visit the Captain's Circle rep. during the 1st segment to assure they have the records straight.

Post #2 is not correct. Each segment counts as one cruise. Counting is not done by booking numbers.

Edited April 27, 2021 by skynight

[Esprit]

15 minutes ago, franktown said:

As Jennybenny said go see the captains circle host. 

We tried that with the excuse we were arguably on a B2B. But it was booked as a two week cruise so no Elite perks until the next booked cruise sadly!

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, ProfMHC said:

We are going to be on a cruise next year that’s sold as both a 10 and 20 day; we are booked on the 20 day.

Hope you also price the 2x10-night option.  I have found in most cases it is to our advantage to book separate voyages.  If booking early enough, the same cabin is possible, but later on, well it may be a challenge.

[trvlwrld]

We were actually booked on 2 separate cruises b2b, circle host told us if we weren’t changing cabins, then no elite perks until next booked cruise...I would certainly talk to them, we just got a nasty one who clearly was having a bad day🥺others have had good luck getting their perks mid-cruise!

[Akaicb]

25 minutes ago, trvlwrld said:

We were actually booked on 2 separate cruises b2b, circle host told us if we weren’t changing cabins, then no elite perks until next booked cruise...I would certainly talk to them, we just got a nasty one who clearly was having a bad day🥺others have had good luck getting their perks mid-cruise!

That is a shame, we did a B2B in May 2019 and my husband was given the platinum perks without having to go to circle host at all for the second half of our trip.  It did have a separate booking number so not sure if that factored in or not.

[skynight]

58 minutes ago, trvlwrld said:

We were actually booked on 2 separate cruises b2b, circle host told us if we weren’t changing cabins, then no elite perks until next booked cruise...I would certainly talk to them, we just got a nasty one who clearly was having a bad day🥺others have had good luck getting their perks mid-cruise!

Captain's Circle host was not correct. Credits have nothing to do with changing cabins. They are counted by voyage numbers, not booking numbers. Each voyage number gets you a cruise credit. Here is an example from a 20 day b2b completed in 2014. We were in the same cabin for the entire 20 days. The last col. is the number of credited days, next to last is the number cruise credits earned for each 10 day segment.

2014 Emerald Princess Caribbean Completed 1 0 2014 Emerald Princess Caribbean Completed 1 20

 

[ProfMHC]

thanks a lot for the help, I’ll be sure to visit the Captains circle host towards the end of the first segment and see if they’ll bite. (And hope for an amenable host who’s having a good day) If not, oh well, it’s the the bag for the next one!

[LACruiser88]

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Hope you also price the 2x10-night option.  I have found in most cases it is to our advantage to book separate voyages.  If booking early enough, the same cabin is possible, but later on, well it may be a challenge.

Our experience has been the complete opposite, rarely have the b2b's been lower in price.  I guess it all depends on the voyages...

[wallyj]

5 hours ago, skynight said:

Captain's Circle host was not correct. Credits have nothing to do with changing cabins. They are counted by voyage numbers, not booking numbers. Each voyage number gets you a cruise credit. Here is an example from a 20 day b2b completed in 2014. We were in the same cabin for the entire 20 days. The last col. is the number of credited days, next to last is the number cruise credits earned for each 10 day segment.

2014 Emerald Princess Caribbean Completed 1 0 2014 Emerald Princess Caribbean Completed 1 20

 

My understanding is Princess has updated their system so your cruise history will show 2 credits if you booked a 20 day cruise that can also be booked as 2 ten day sailings. You should no longer see above like posting getting the extra credit with zero days.

 

The OP has confused some of us, as she was not clear if after the first 10 day cruise she would qualify for elite level as she added the comment about getting 2 credits, so does she need 2 credits to get to elite? Or  would she reach elite after first segment and getting 2 credits is really a second question.

 

My experience has been when a passenger reaches a next level on the first segment of the above scenario, they are entitled to the benefits of the higher level for the second segment. 

 

Some Circle hosts are really good at looking for these events and some need a little reminder and will usually happily help getting your level updated ASAP. 

 

Even if you booked as 2 seperate cruises, in the old days, cruise cards were printed days before cruise started, so your new 'status' is not in the system yet. Which is why Circle hosts would sometimes need to update manually then have you go to passenger services to get your updated card/Medallion.

 

Fortunately it is usually very easy for passenger services to create you a new 'Medallion' since all Princess ships should be converted if not already when cruising restarts.

 

 

[susancruzs]

I received perks on a 2016 Regal Baltic cruise portion after reaching Elite during a prior Transatlantic cruise.  I did not book the cruises separately, was booked as a Grand Adventure.  I talked to Captain's Circle during first cruise, it was no problem.   

 

I almost always book Grand Adventures instead of separate but lately with casino rates it is cheaper for me to book separately.  I'm doing the Baltic plus TA again in Aug./Sept. 2022, price difference is thousands so I booked them separately.

Edited April 28, 2021 by susancruzs

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Our experience has been the complete opposite, rarely have the b2b's been lower in price.  I guess it all depends on the voyages...

I hear that, but I look at the net-net bottom line after all OBC's and such.  You are correct - it depends on how Princess prices things. 

 

Our biggest deal was when we were booked on a full 60-night Circle S.A. trip and then not long before FP Date, the prices for the three segments dropped to amazing savings and I switched to them and we had one cabin move - it was well worth it. 

 

[wineglass]

We always book B2B. For instance, we have a trip this summer booked B2B2B.. we get a $100 onboard credit for each cruise = $300. If we booked as one 21 day cruise we would have got $100. Plus, credit for 3 cruises, not one. Of course, the days credit is still 21, but it works out. Also, B2B2B was a little cheaper too. For medallion purposes, they list it as one cruise. 

[wallyj]

7 minutes ago, wineglass said:

We always book B2B. For instance, we have a trip this summer booked B2B2B.. we get a $100 onboard credit for each cruise = $300. If we booked as one 21 day cruise we would have got $100. Plus, credit for 3 cruises, not one. Of course, the days credit is still 21, but it works out. Also, B2B2B was a little cheaper too. For medallion purposes, they list it as one cruise. 

The Princess software has supposedly been updated quite awhile ago to recognize 'segments' and will credit your cruise count by segments whether you booked separately or as one 21 day sailing. 

 

Cruise count loses revelancy after your 51st credit(after 51 you have reached highest tier for loyalty credit),  as it used to be metric for 'milestone' cruise which was changed to 'cruise days' years ago. Was told it would be used as tie breaker if passengers/guests had same number of days in trying to determine top 3. Believe Princess now uses MTG terminology for 'Most Traveled Guest' whereas in the past it was MTP for 'Most Traveled Passenger'.

 

This can can be easily checked by doing a mock booking then checking your cruise history. Under future sailngs if you had booked as one 21 day sailing that could be book as 3 seven day, cruise credits should show 3.

 

There are a few instances where even though you can book as 2 segments, you will only get 1 credit. Example, 28 day Transpacific on Majestic, April 2023. Can be booked as 7 day SYD/AKL and 21 day AKL/LA or 28 day SYD/LA. Only way to get 2 credits is to book separately. Friends had done this itinerary on Golden a few years ago and booked as one. Interestingly there were Captain circle events for those booked only on the SYD/AKL segment, like wine tasting and cocktail party. If you were booked on longer, you were not invited and did not receive another minibar on turnaround day in Auckland.

[Mud_Shark]

We have not yet reached elite, but did transition from Ruby to Platinum in the midst of a 14 day cruise that was actually two 7 day cruises back to back (booked as one cruise).  The perks aren't that significant in this case - really just internet minutes, but we received a letter in our stateroom on the last day of the first leg welcoming us to Platinum.  We didn't really care one way or the other in this case, but we did see that it worked automatically for us.  But we did use the internet minutes on the 2nd leg.

 

Don

[caribill]

13 hours ago, Esprit said:

We tried that with the excuse we were arguably on a B2B. But it was booked as a two week cruise so no Elite perks until the next booked cruise sadly!

 

13 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

We were actually booked on 2 separate cruises b2b, circle host told us if we weren’t changing cabins, then no elite perks until next booked cruise...I would certainly talk to them, we just got a nasty one who clearly was having a bad day🥺others have had good luck getting their perks mid-cruise!

 

Both Circle hosts were wrong.

[NSWP]

Supposed to be completed cruises for status upgrade.

[ProfMHC]

This is so confusing! Seems like anything could happen! We will start the cruise with 15 cruise credits already earned. So I’ll check with Captain’ Circle onboard — prior to day 10.  If the host says yes then we will happily transition to Elite mid-cruise and get some new Medallions. If not, then we will get the letter and our new pins at the end of the second segment of the cruise on day 20, I’m sure! And then be ready to get advance notice and early booking availability for new cruises after we disembark!!!

[wallyj]

If you have completed 15 credits before the start of this 20 day booking , you will be 'elite' already! So you should receive 2 minibars, one at the start of the cruise and another 'setup' on the first day of the second segment. If you want to customize your minibar for the second segment or be swapping it out for coffee program or one bottle of wine, the circle host can arrange or call room service on last day of the first segment. Many elites have asked to be able to do this precruise like maybe in the personlizer, so we do not have to on day one, some have posted they wait till day 2 as room service can be slammed during the first few hours upon embarkation. Depends, sometimes I have gotten my minibar swapped out within 1 hour calling on day 1. I was on a 3 day sailing and the Circle host said there were 1,000 cabins that were 'elite' so 1,000 minibars were setup, just think how long it would take room service to redo 500 minibars.

 

Minibar is 10 alcohol and 10 non alcohol, you can swap alcohol for alcohol, so all one kind of alcohol like only Vodka or what ever combo you like of the ten. I have a sister who does not drink alcohol so she swaps for all soda. You can swap alcohol for water or soda.

 

Usually at the end of the cruise earning your 15th credit, the Circle host sends you your 'elite' pin and letter letting you know your new benefits. Credits are earned at the completion of the cruise or segment, so with your question about will you earn 2 credits, I thought maybe you needed 2 credits and thought you may be asking would those post at the end of the first segment. Reread post 6 for this clarification again.

 

Elite starts at completion 15th credit or 150th days. Assume there is a gap in time when you will have completed your 15th credit and the start of this 20 day?

 

if this gap is at least a few days, your profile on Princess will update to 'Elite'. 

 

Your thread question does not seem to apply to you as it appears you will be elite at the start of the cruise, but some reading may have learned what happens if you change levels during a cruise you booked as 1 that can be booked as B2B.

Edited April 28, 2021 by wallyj

[skynight]

1 hour ago, ProfMHC said:

This is so confusing! Seems like anything could happen! We will start the cruise with 15 cruise credits already earned. So I’ll check with Captain’ Circle onboard — prior to day 10.  If the host says yes then we will happily transition to Elite mid-cruise and get some new Medallions. If not, then we will get the letter and our new pins at the end of the second segment of the cruise on day 20, I’m sure! And then be ready to get advance notice and early booking availability for new cruises after we disembark!!!

Now I'm confused with your original post and this post. Anything can happen? No. There is only one policy and that is the one where each segment counts as one cruise credit.*

How many cruise credits do you have today, 14 or 15? If 15 you are already elite and will board as an elite. If 14 then you will be platinum for the 1st ten days and elite for the 2nd 10 days. It's very simple. As many have advised if you change status after the 1st ten days visit the Captain's Circle host during the 1st segment to make certain they have your records correct.

*additional cruise credits awarded for a full suite or travelling as a single.

[ProfMHC]

I said I’m confused and that anything can happen because I’ve seen from those who replied that a variety of experiences have occurred! So I stand ready to expect the unexpected. Not a bad policy overall these days!