Is the Captain Circle Loyalty Program sailing in the wake of the future?

[MissP22]

15 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Hal has dropped to around 60, Celebrity is around 55 to 57, Princess is around 65.  Came from a few different sources. Will take a look to find the links  when I get a chance over the next day or two.  10 years ago HAL was about 65, Princess was about 60 with Celebrity slightly less.  HAL and Celebrity have made major changes. In HALs case the entertainment  changes and retirement of their smaller ships alienated some of their older, long term guests, and music walk appeals to a younger demographic. Their long cruises still appeal to an older demgraphic.  But the ages on their shorter Alaska and Caribbean cruise for example have dropped significantly.

You're correct about the demographics. Princess has typically been older than HAL even way back when the comedians used to joke about HAL. 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

I agree. we are on a 22 day cruise. If we purchased packages it would cost us $2640.  I estimate that at the end of the cruise with Princess excursions at most ports, my wife having Enclave for the first 14 transatlantic days, our total out of pocket spend would be  about $648 for everything beyond basic cruise fare.  No brainer to skip the package.

Is that 22 day cruise one trip or B2B ??

I know our 20 day one in Dec is a B2B and it was $2,000 extra for the package. Now it's up to $2,400. 

Even considering the gratuities being taken out and the pitiful internet, it's one heck of a bar tab.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

You're correct about the demographics. Princess has typically been older than HAL even way back when the comedians used to joke about HAL. 

Usually you would see it in the longer roundtrip cruises to Hawaii and Tahiti where people could go without having to fly internationally. Was very surprised on the current transatlantic cruise at the number of scooters, walkers and other mobility assist devices, considering the international flights involved one way or the other.

 

 Did two Alaska cruises this last summer. The demographics on the Princess cruise tilted significantly older then the HAL cruise.

[ldubs]

8 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

The only lines that give alcoholic perks are RCI at the Diamond level and I guess Celebrity at a happy hour at whatever level.  Since I haven't reached either of these levels yet after 50+ cruises, it's a moot point.

 

Kind of interesting. On our last RCI cruise, we got 5 free drinks per day even though we are only Diamond status.   Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I never asked why.  😄

 

We are at about 40 cruises now I think.  Primarily with Princess, RCI, & Celebrity, with a handful on Carnival.  I'm actually not intending to be negative about any of the programs. But hey, if someone wants to give me more freebies, I'm not going to argue!  

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Is that 22 day cruise one trip or B2B ??

I know our 20 day one in Dec is a B2B and it was $2,000 extra for the package. Now it's up to $2,400. 

Even considering the gratuities being taken out and the pitiful internet, it's one heck of a bar tab.

14 day transatlantic plus 8 day British Isles. Used 60 per day for my package calculation based upon what I have seen, but I have never actually purchased a Princess package so my numbers could be off. 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

grats? It'll cost you either way.

wifi? Terrible, I can do without it. Possible if it were Starlink it might be worth the price.

coffee's, water, soda? Drip coffee isn't that bad and the water package is cheap. we bring our own soda. 

See above/

[BamaVol]

2 hours ago, ldtr said:

Are you sure about the 75?  They raised the fee when they changed the loyalty structure about a year ago.

 

It was a bit better under the older system before they changed get the tier names. At that time you got top tier, instead of second tier.

 

Mine renews this month.  I’ll find out soon. I don’t recall a letter from Chase or IHG advising that the rate would increase. But I may have a lower tier card than you.

 

I acquired the card right before the last change.  The bonus points raised my “spend” and I actually was granted Spire status as a result.  But only for a year.  Platinum ever since.

[CruizinSusan70]

6 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Is that 22 day cruise one trip or B2B ??

I know our 20 day one in Dec is a B2B and it was $2,000 extra for the package. Now it's up to $2,400. 

Even considering the gratuities being taken out and the pitiful internet, it's one heck of a bar tab.

If you factor out the gratuities and consider the WiFi and other things gravy, the bar tab is 45 a day for drinks.  So that would be 1800 for a 20 day cruise.  The same drinks package on RCI can run close to 1200 for only a 7 day cruise. So 90 a day for a bar tab for 2 people is cheap on Princess compared to some of their competitors.

[MissP22]

Just now, ldtr said:

14 day transatlantic plus 8 day British Isles. Used 60 per day for my package calculation based upon what I have seen, but I have never actually purchased a Princess package so my numbers could be off. 

Why not cut the price by about 1/3, buying the Plus package for only the first leg and stock up on everything. Surely you can do without the mixed drinks for 8 days. I know we can after 10 days of drinking mixes drinks I'm ready to slow down to just Baileys or Kahlua in my coffee and the husband can still have his beer.  😄

[CruizinSusan70]

11 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Kind of interesting. On our last RCI cruise, we got 5 free drinks per day even though we are only Diamond status.   Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I never asked why.  😄

 

We are at about 40 cruises now I think.  Primarily with Princess, RCI, & Celebrity, with a handful on Carnival.  I'm actually not intending to be negative about any of the programs. But hey, if someone wants to give me more freebies, I'm not going to argue!  

If you got 5 drinks from Royal, you should be Diamond plus.  Diamond gets 4 and Pinnacles get 6.  Even after our next 3 cruises on them that we have booked over the next 2 years, my DH will be 1 point shy from Diamond and those free drinks.

[MissP22]

4 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

If you factor out the gratuities and consider the WiFi and other things gravy, the bar tab is 45 a day for drinks.

The Wi-Fi is just terrible almost at every location. It's practically useless except for email an 99 % of that is pure spam which I can do without until I reach on of the Caribbean Islands where it free.

I don't consider the $45 for drinks as logical since you've paid for them but if you do then the package is made for you. 

I'll pocket the difference & purchase what I want. 

[CruizinSusan70]

6 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Why not cut the price by about 1/3, buying the Plus package for only the first leg and stock up on everything. Surely you can do without the mixed drinks for 8 days. I know we can after 10 days of drinking mixes drinks I'm ready to slow down to just Baileys or Kahlua in my coffee and the husband can still have his beer.  😄

That is the value smart way of thinking.  It works better of course if you are in the same cabin for both cruises. 😄

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, BamaVol said:

Mine renews this month.  I’ll find out soon. I don’t recall a letter from Chase or IHG advising that the rate would increase. But I may have a lower tier card than you.

 

I acquired the card right before the last change.  The bonus points raised my “spend” and I actually was granted Spire status as a result.  But only for a year.  Platinum ever since.

They changed spire to diamond, and made the card tied to platinum, instead of diamond. They then raised the fee.

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

That is the value smart way of thinking.  It works better of course if you are in the same cabin for both cruises. 😄

What difference would that make? Anything you have stashed can be moved very easily.

We almost never book our B2B's in different cabins. It's just to much effort to be bothered with, especially if your book early enough. 

[SCX22]

37 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

"This thread is all about snobbery."

 

Come on now.  Wanting more loyalty perks has nothing to do with snobbery.  All things being relatively equal, I will select the cruise option that provides the better loyalty program.  

 

 

 

My point in this comment was that the very Elites that are wanting more perks for being Elites have no desire to cruise with other cruises lines.  For those loyal to Princess, "it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks."  So this thread just comes off as entitlement for being Elite.

 

 

 

 

[CruizinSusan70]

Just now, MissP22 said:

The Wi-Fi is just terrible almost at every location. It's practically useless except for email an 99 % of that is pure spam which I can do without until I reach on of the Caribbean Islands where it free.

I don't consider the $45 for drinks as logical since you've paid for them but if you do then the package is made for you. 

I'll pocket the difference & purchase what I want. 

The WiFi situation is gravy since it's not the best.  But we'll pay 45 a day for the drinks package every day going forward.  It was even better at 25 per day for our 14 days on the Discovery last year and our 14 on the Majestic this year.  When we cruise is when we consume 95% of our alcohol consumption, so it provides value to us but we know that 45 a day is too much for teetotalers or light drinkers.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

The Wi-Fi is just terrible almost at every location. It's practically useless except for email an 99 % of that is pure spam which I can do without until I reach on of the Caribbean Islands where it free.

I don't consider the $45 for drinks as logical since you've paid for them but if you do then the package is made for you. 

I'll pocket the difference & purchase what I want. 

On the transatlantic was only unusable for 2 days. days 3 and 4 after leaving FLL. Rest of time it has worked pretty well. Though I have not tried streaming, though I did make a couple wifi calls.

Edited May 1, 2023 by ldtr

[CruizinSusan70]

1 minute ago, MissP22 said:

What difference would that make? Anything you have stashed can be moved very easily.

We almost never book our B2B's in different cabins. It's just to much effort to be bothered with, especially if your book early enough. 

We always book way in the future so we would be in the same cabin, but it would be less of a hassle if in the same cabin, that's all.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Why not cut the price by about 1/3, buying the Plus package for only the first leg and stock up on everything. Surely you can do without the mixed drinks for 8 days. I know we can after 10 days of drinking mixes drinks I'm ready to slow down to just Baileys or Kahlua in my coffee and the husband can still have his beer.  😄

Still not worth it.

[memoak]

22 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Why not cut the price by about 1/3, buying the Plus package for only the first leg and stock up on everything. Surely you can do without the mixed drinks for 8 days. I know we can after 10 days of drinking mixes drinks I'm ready to slow down to just Baileys or Kahlua in my coffee and the husband can still have his beer.  😄

My gawd I don’t go one day in land without 2 drinks before dinner and wine with dinner. Prior to packages we used to pay for 8-10 drinks a day so the plans are wonderful for us

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

My gawd I don’t go one day in land without 2 drinks before dinner and wine with dinner. Prior to packages we used to pay for 8-10 drinks a day so the plans are wonderful for us

You drink my equivalent of 6 months worth in a week at 2 drinks per day. At 10 you do it in 2 days.

Edited May 1, 2023 by ldtr

[memoak]

6 minutes ago, ldtr said:

You drink my equivalent of 6 months worth in a week at 2 drinks per day. At 10 you do it in 2 days.

That is why packages work for some and not others   I never go for the premier package because the drinks I like are covered under the plus plan and I can still get a discount on bottles of wine and pay the difference if I want a glass that is a few dollars above $15

Edited May 1, 2023 by memoak

[CruizinSusan70]

3 minutes ago, memoak said:

That is why packages work for some and not others   I never go for the premier package because the drinks I like are covered under the plus plan and I can still get a discount on bottles of wine and pay the difference if I want a glass that is a few dollars above $15

The packages were fantastic at 25 a day for the drinks portion and are still great at 45 a day.  After factoring out gratuities the bad wifi and the other crap is all gravy.

[richsea]

6 hours ago, ldtr said:

Of course the entire class of repeat cruisers they need is not all Elite or even Platinum. Princess is now running the oldest average age on the main stream lines (Hal, Celebrity, Princess, Royal, Carnival, NCL).  HAL and Celebrity have been successful in lowering their demographics, while Princess has gotten older. 30 to 35% elite and platinum might be a good mix 50 to 70% is a bit much

Interesting. Is there somewhere on the net to find those numbers? Thanks.

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Celebrity does -- Unless it changed relatively recently.  While I have no idea of our status on Carnival, they give us a large bottled water.  I'm sure they have free beverages for upper tier members but I'm not there.   Never been on NCL or MSC.  

Celebrity still gives you unlimited drinks from the CC HH limited beverage menu at most bars (depends on the ship) from 5 to 7:PM.