Your opinion on latitudes rewards

[KeithJenner]

5 hours ago, UKstages said:

as for airline status being irrelevant if you're already flying up front... i will concede that may be the case for some flyers for that particular trip, particularly if flying for business when somebody else is paying. but on my airline, it gets me my preferred choice of meal above all other flyers. it gets me preferred award availability not available to others. it allows me to use upgrade points on free flights, which your average bear can not. and it allows me pre-boarding before all other flyers. and when my flight is running late, they meet me on the tarmac with an SUV and drive me to my next gate.  but the most important thing status does is that it extends the same benefits and treatment to me and my traveling companions when i'm flying on my own dime.

 

so, it may be your view that status is irrelevant in a loyalty program. that's fair. i'm here to tell you that it's extraordinarily relevant to me and i would venture to say that it's relevant for most of the people who go out of their way to achieve it.

 

within this thread we've heard from folks who love to get on and off the ship before anybody else. they have either earned that right or purchased it (by virtue of their haven accommodation). so status does matter to some.

 

 

I will answer in more detail later, as you seem to be missing my point on a lot of this, but I’ll just clarify this point.

 

Status on an airline isn’t irrelevant to me due to the fact that I am flying in club a lot of the time anyway (I often don’t). It is irrelevant because, even as a relatively heavy leisure flyer (I only know a couple of people who fly more than me for leisure, and they don’t have status either), I’m just never going to reach a status worth achieving.

 

The people I know who have high status either get it from credit cards (ie Amex Platinum) or through business travel. That is a fundamental difference between airline programs and latitudes. I don’t know anyone who cruises for business. 🙂

 

These things can be very different dependant on circumstances (for example, there is more internal flying on the US than here in the UK), but it is a major difference for many.

[Old & Retired]

4 hours ago, complawyer said:

ive discussed this before. we're platinum+ have been for a while,  to me the ability to disembark with little or no effort is the major benefit .  You meet in a specially designated area with the concierge and he walks you right off the ship and directly to your luggage. within a half hour we're out and into a taxi.

 

This is NOT a perk at any latitudes level.  This is only available to Haven/Suite guests and a very few VIP's.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Old & Retired

[KeithJenner]

28 minutes ago, Old & Retired said:

This is NOT a perk at any latitudes level.  This is only available to Haven/Suite guests and a very few VIP's.

There is confusion over this. The latitudes page states priority disembarkation as a perk, but doesn’t expand on what that means.

 

Looking at the list of perks, I don’t see mention of the yellow luggage tags at all (perhaps I’m missing it), so it really isn’t clear.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, Old & Retired said:

This is NOT a perk at any latitudes level.  This is only available to Haven/Suite guests and a very few VIP's.

No. It is a benefit of latitude status. We got escorted disembarkation as a P+ on our Encore cruise a few weeks ago and we were in a regular cabin. We were escorted down a crew elevator to the front of the security line. 

Edited August 31, 2021 by BirdTravels

[BirdTravels]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:24 PM, Nataly1982 said:

Has anyone got free artwork for attending art auction? We attended auction on our first cruise, but after 45 mins they were still reading T&Cs so we left. 

They are normally given out at the end of the auction so you stay. 🙂 

[BirdTravels]

On 8/29/2021 at 9:58 AM, Oxo said:

Why do you cruise or pick a specific cruise or line?

Cruise Line perks/loyalty program? No!

 

We look at perks as just a little add on.

Accept what you get, enjoy it while you get it.

It is getting reduced.

 

Actually yes.
 

The total cost and value of any travel industry purchase is an integral part of the decision making. That is EXACTLY why the travel industry do it. There is a monetary and intrinsic value placed on each “perk”. Not everyone shops for Low Bid offerers (it they did, they would not be on NCL). 

[ggTexasGal]

3 hours ago, Old & Retired said:

This is NOT a perk at any latitudes level.  This is only available to Haven/Suite guests and a very few VIP's.

Within the chart of Latitudes Benefits it states:

Priority Disembarkation* (only available to US Citizens and benefit varies for international guests).

and further down the page, "* Present your key card to receive these benefits and discounts"

[Travelicious]

I quite love the platinum benefits.  

[mscdivina2016]

5 hours ago, Old & Retired said:

This is NOT a perk at any latitudes level.  This is only available to Haven/Suite guests and a very few VIP's.

I always utilize this perk. I even get special luggage tags.  I mostly get Balcony cabins and am Platinum plus.  I have had this work 2 ways.  Sometimes we meet in a lounge and get escorted off as a group, other times I am told to meet the concierge and they simply open a door and we walk off.

Steve

[Old & Retired]

On 8/31/2021 at 3:34 AM, BirdTravels said:

No. It is a benefit of latitude status. We got escorted disembarkation as a P+ on our Encore cruise a few weeks ago and we were in a regular cabin. We were escorted down a crew elevator to the front of the security line. 

Incorrect.  The 'priority disembarkation' you get starting at gold status is special colored luggage tags, NOT escorted, front of the line special treatment.  As I stated, exceptions can be made for 'VIPS', but being escorted off the ship at the end of the cruise is NOT a benefit of latitude status.  I know this and common sense would tell you that the number of people with Gold status and above on any given cruise would make it impossible for the concierge to escort all those people.  Literally hundreds, if not thousands, some weeks.

P.S.  I thought I read you were in a club suite, not a 'regular' cabin?  And please don't tell me club suites are not real suites.  I know that, but they do get many additional perks that 'regular' cabins do not get.

[complawyer]

i apologize for my previous mistake. being taken off the ship early is a perk for the people staying in haven cabins. the concierge has everyone meet at a designated area and walks us all off. 

 

if you get priority  disembarkation and not staying in a haven, consider yourself fortunate. it is not a perk

of either platinum or platinum +

[ChiefMateJRK]

Am I the only one who doesn't really care how fast I get off the ship?  We always leave plenty of time to get to the airport.  I would rather just relax and meander off once the mad rush subsides.

[pbenjamin]

6 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only one who doesn't really care how fast I get off the ship?  We always leave plenty of time to get to the airport.  I would rather just relax and meander off once the mad rush subsides.

 

Living in the western US, getting off a cruise that ends on the east coast in a timely fashion is important.  Flights that get you home at a reasonable time on the same day can be difficult to get to on time.

[KeithJenner]

7 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only one who doesn't really care how fast I get off the ship?  We always leave plenty of time to get to the airport.  I would rather just relax and meander off once the mad rush subsides.

It depends on what you are doing. If you have a plane to catch, or a long journey home then it’s good to get going.

 

If we aren’t in a rush to get anywhere we usually plan to just hang around, but to be honest with everything closed you we usually end up just literally hanging around and decide that we may as well just hang around in the taxi queue.

 

It does depend a lot on the port though. In ports with large queues I would always try to disembark early or late, but in most places we sail from there is generally no rush time.

[ChiefMateJRK]

32 minutes ago, pbenjamin said:

 

Living in the western US, getting off a cruise that ends on the east coast in a timely fashion is important.  Flights that get you home at a reasonable time on the same day can be difficult to get to on time.

When we are in that situation, we generally will just stay overnight in a hotel and fly back the next day.  That's much cheaper than paying for the Haven so that I can get off the ship 30 minutes faster.

[pbenjamin]

12 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

When we are in that situation, we generally will just stay overnight in a hotel and fly back the next day.  That's much cheaper than paying for the Haven so that I can get off the ship 30 minutes faster.

 

If those were the choices, I would do the same.  

[Oxo]

13 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

When we are in that situation, we generally will just stay overnight in a hotel and fly back the next day.  That's much cheaper than paying for the Haven so that I can get off the ship 30 minutes faster.

What about self walk off? 

[KeithJenner]

29 minutes ago, pbenjamin said:

 

If those were the choices, I would do the same.  

Yes, it's a good job there are other options.

[ChiefMateJRK]

18 minutes ago, Oxo said:

What about self walk off? 

We always "self walk" off (i.e. take our bags with us).  The other posters were discussing Haven passengers being escorted to the front of the line.

[cruiserbear55]

20 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only one who doesn't really care how fast I get off the ship?  We always leave plenty of time to get to the airport.  I would rather just relax and meander off once the mad rush subsides.

We and our traveling companions always take the last called color tags. Normally out of the cabin by 8, and up to the buffet. We eat breakfast , and then play Whist for an hour or so. Our color usually gets called around 10. So it's down the elevators ( which are empty by that time because there is hardly anyone left in the buffet) and down to baggage pickup. We grab our bags, which is super -easy as we don't have to search through hundreds to find them, and we're on our way!

[oteixeira]

21 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only one who doesn't really care how fast I get off the ship?  We always leave plenty of time to get to the airport.  I would rather just relax and meander off once the mad rush subsides.

Nope, even when I am in the Haven I always ask how slow I can play my roll.  I want every minute I can get on that vacation, and normally flying out of those southern Florida airports on the weekends we are lucky if our flight leaves before 3PM for some reason (Maybe it's a North Carolina thing??)