New to Captain's Club and I have some questions

[KellyCz]

Hi All. Thanks for this helpful community. I'm fairly new to cruising, and am learning a lot from all of you.

 

I took my first cruise on Celebrity with my daughter earlier this month (5-nt. Caribbean). My husband and I are booked on the Solstice to Alaska this summer. Now that I have joined "the club," I have questions about some of the Classic level benefits. (I'm making the assumption that the benefits will apply to our upcoming cruise, even though we booked it prior to the Caribbean cruise. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

 

1. How long before my points will show up in my online profile? Or if I called, say to upgrade to the premium beverage package, would the rep be able to see that I should have the points and give me the 5% discount?

2. What is the Captain's Club Welcome Event? Worth stopping by?

3. Same question about the Reunion Cruise and President's Cruise events.

4. What are the Captain's Club offers when booking a future cruise onboard?

5. And finally, how does the category upgrade work? When making a new booking, do you choose Concierge Class but pay Veranda fare (for example)?

 

[omeinv]

1. How long before my points will show up in my online profile? Or if I called, say to upgrade to the premium beverage package, would the rep be able to see that I should have the points and give me the 5% discount?

 

Generally about a week to 10 days AFTER your cruise.  So if this is your first Celebrity cruise, you won't have any points - and will be "Preview" level, until after your first cruise.

 

3 minutes ago, KellyCz said:

2. What is the Captain's Club Welcome Event? Worth stopping by?

 

It's an event for all Captain's Club members, with drinks, an introduction of the Ship's Officers, and live music.  It's generally on a sea day, and can be fun, but not a "make-or-break" type thing. 

 

5 minutes ago, KellyCz said:

3. Same question about the Reunion Cruise and President's Cruise events.

These are particular sailings, with some enhanced benefits.  I wouldn't think you'd seek these out, but if you were looking at two sailings, and this was one of them, it might tip the scale. 

 

7 minutes ago, KellyCz said:

4. What are the Captain's Club offers when booking a future cruise onboard?

Nothing special for Captain's Club.  You will get an additional on-board credit on the future sailing, and a reduced deposit. 

 

8 minutes ago, KellyCz said:

5. And finally, how does the category upgrade work? When making a new booking, do you choose Concierge Class but pay Veranda fare (for example)?

 

The upgrade is not from Category to category, but from room type to room type.  For example from an obstructed view veranda to a regular veranda, or from a veranda to a prime veranda.  Not for Veranda to Concierge, or Concierge to Aqua. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[KellyCz]

16 minutes ago, omeinv said:

Generally about a week to 10 days AFTER your cruise.  So if this is your first Celebrity cruise, you won't have any points - and will be "Preview" level, until after your first cruise.

Thanks for the detailed response, Harris! I returned from my first cruise on Feb. 10 so the points should show up soon.

 

And your explanation about the upgrade makes much more sense. Wishful thinking, I guess!

[DCPIV]

41 minutes ago, KellyCz said:

5. And finally, how does the category upgrade work? When making a new booking, do you choose Concierge Class but pay Veranda fare (for example)?

 

Just to flesh out the excellent explanation above, the term Celebrity uses is "supercategory."  You can get an upgrade within the supercategory, but not from one supercategory to another.  So, like mentioned, you can go V2 to V1 (both veranda), or you can go C2 to C1 (both concierge), but you cannot go from V1 to C2.  It's also subject to availability, of course.

 

It's not as exciting as it sounds at first, but it's better than a poke in the eye!

[omeinv]

42 minutes ago, KellyCz said:

I returned from my first cruise on Feb. 10 so the points should show up soon.

 

 

The points should have shown up by now.  I would call the Captain's Club, with both your cruise's confirmation number, and your Captain's Club number at hand.  Often for new enrollments to the Captain's Club, your Captain's Club number may not have been attached to your reservation.  It's definitely worth a call. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[DCPIV]

1 hour ago, KellyCz said:

1. How long before my points will show up in my online profile? Or if I called, say to upgrade to the premium beverage package, would the rep be able to see that I should have the points and give me the 5% discount?

 

I forgot to answer this one!

 

I've had points show up in as little as 7 days, but some have taken about 3 weeks.  I have everything I need to show I've cruised, so I figured I wouldn't get worked up about it until a month has passed.  That's never been an issue.

 

Now, if you need your status to be updated tout suite, give them a call now.  No rep will be able to give you the CC discount until your status is updated, and that can take up to a couple weeks after you get something in motion.

 

And, yes, your benefits apply as soon as you are updated, no matter when you book the cruise you are trying to work on.

 

 

[mahdnc]

6 hours ago, KellyCz said:

5. And finally, how does the category upgrade work? When making a new booking, do you choose Concierge Class but pay Veranda fare (for example)?

 

 

Here is a link to a Celebrity Cruises brochure. At the bottom of the first page is a table that shows the specific Captains Club (aka Loyalty) cabin upgrades that are allowed.  There are four tables shown because the new Edge class ships have cabin categories not found in the other two classes of ships (Millennium and Solstice) AND because Celebrity is in the middle of transitioning to a different cabin category nomenclature (aka stateroom recategorization). In fact the whole brochure is geared towards explaining this transition.  As you can see from the table (I also pasted it below), the free upgrade does not apply to any suites (but imagine the joy if it did!).  Also a few special cabin categories are excluded such as Sunset Veranda (old categ = SV) and Family Veranda (old categ = FV).  You can also see the answer to your specific question about Veranda to Concierge Class upgrades (the answer is no).

 

Also note that if you are booking a cabin category that is eligible for the free upgrade, you have to ask for it at the time of booking through your travel agent (TA) or through a Celebrity Vacation Planner (CVP, used when you book through Celebrity).  Surprisingly, the upgrade does not get applied if you try to book online even after you type in your Captains Club number during the booking process which is kinda bad.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by mahdnc