Why is there a Captain’s Club minimum age?

[budmeister]

8 hours ago, Mark_K said:

Rather than privacy, I’d sooner think it’s because a minor can’t legally agree to the terms and conditions. 

Good point. Since they get their points at 18, they are denied an agreement, rather than credit for sailings. It would not hurt for Celebrity to just provide a few of the benefits like ice-cream and discounted laundry. It is not like someone under 18 is not allowed to use coupons in the "real" world."

Edited July 27, 2023 by budmeister

[LoveThatCorgi]

8 hours ago, lostchild said:

You can't join CC until 18, but you can have an account on the Celebrity cruise website before 18.   My son has one, so he could sign in on his phone to access the Celebrity App.   And if he logs in to the website, he can see all his past cruises.   I was told that when he turns 18 and join Captain Club, he would get all the points back.

Our son turned 19 a few months ago.  He had an account that allowed him to access the Celebrity app before he turned 18, but he didn't have a Captains Club number.  This summer, he joined Captains Club.  We did have to email Celebrity Engagement to get the credit for past cruises added to the account, but it was no big deal.  We also had to do that for my husband for some reason, and he has had his Captains Club number listed on all reservations.  Now both of them have the correct points for all cruises taken. 

[jbcallender]

Legally in the US, people under the age of 18 don''t have the legal capacity to sign a contract or agreement, except under very limited circumstances.

[davekathy]

13 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

This is a genuine question which I've been mulling over for some time,

1-800-760-0654...

[ConnMom]

I think Royal Caribbean provides membership in the Crown and Anchor program to minors,and that they can take advantage of the age-appropriate benefits that their status confers.  This is an inconsistency across the company's 2 cruise lines.   If a child is Diamond on Royal Caribbean, he does not receive the reciprocal status on Celebrity that adults are given.  I don't know why the policies are different, but there must be some advantage to Celebrity  to exclude children.

[sixpackeddie]

We are on the summit now with our 13 year old daughter and it says her status as Elite on her Key Card the same as ours? So she is Elite but not sure if she has the perks?

[mauimary]

15 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

I don’t think that kids should get Captains Club status based on sailings the parents booked and paid for. They should start at zero at age 18. 

Adult kids over the age of 18 still get credit even though their parents paid for their cruise!!  Id venture to guess not very many pay for their own cruise when sailing with their parents.  Pretty sure that’s not how you meant it!!!   

Our kids assumed our status on RCCL and that later transferred to elite status on Celebrity.  We took a grandson on a couple of Celebrity Cruises and he did not get Captains Club credit as he was under age 18. 
 

[villauk]

18 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Our first Celebrity cruise was in 1996 (the brand new Century!) and we took our kids with us who were then 3 yrs old (daughter) and 7 months old (son).  We took a total of 14 cruises together as a family--all on Celebrity.

 

I remember our son getting his Captains Club membership before he was 18 and his older sister got it sometime later.  In both cases, their complete sailing history was already in their file and they were assigned the correct membership tier when they became of age.  I am proud to say as parents, my wife and I got both our kids a college education and Elite status with Celebrity.

 

Infinity, Feb 2002, Caribbean.  Kids are not Captains Club members yet.

 

Infinity, Christmas 2016, off the coast of Peru.  Kids are Elite (in more ways than one)

 

Yes, the same with our kids. They actually did have their CC numbers issued prior to them being 18 and Royal ones too, including the plastic cards. In fact, on Royal, they had Diamond benefits linked to being a minor.

[swjumbo]

On 7/27/2023 at 1:55 PM, Charles4515 said:

Most airline loyalty programs I am in if you don’t earn points in any two year or 3 year period you lose your points and you have to earn your status yearly. None of the cruise line programs I am in work that way. I am Elite Plus even if I take zero cruises from now on. 

 

On 7/27/2023 at 1:41 PM, Charles4515 said:

I don’t think that kids should get Captains Club status based on sailings the parents booked and paid for. They should start at zero at age 18. 

Why shouldn’t they get the benefits? I’m paying full price for two adjoining cabins which have one adult and one kid in each.

 

Also, with the comment about being Elite Plus for life, that needs to be stopped too. If you’re not cruising regularly then you shouldn’t be using my lane to get fast track check in, drink my cocktails at and Officers’ party nor delay my free laundry.

 

There must be a minimum amount of nights cruised per year to keep your status.

 

[SPacificbound]

54 minutes ago, swjumbo said:

 

Why shouldn’t they get the benefits? I’m paying full price for two adjoining cabins which have one adult and one kid in each.

 

Also, with the comment about being Elite Plus for life, that needs to be stopped too. If you’re not cruising regularly then you shouldn’t be using my lane to get fast track check in, drink my cocktails at and Officers’ party nor delay my free laundry.

 

There must be a minimum amount of nights cruised per year to keep your status.

 

Gee, that would have worked really well during COVID!

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, swjumbo said:

 

Why shouldn’t they get the benefits? I’m paying full price for two adjoining cabins which have one adult and one kid in each.

 

Also, with the comment about being Elite Plus for life, that needs to be stopped too. If you’re not cruising regularly then you shouldn’t be using my lane to get fast track check in, drink my cocktails at and Officers’ party nor delay my free laundry.

 

There must be a minimum amount of nights cruised per year to keep your status.

 

If Celebrity wants to give out legacy benefits or Elite Plus benefits for life well it is their business. People are earning Elite Status not even sailing with the PUP points. Doing quizes I don't blame anyone for taking advantage of legacy status for their kids, (it is not like getting into college) or status when they don't even sail. Not my problem. 

 

I don't cruise for the benefits, I cruise often on cruise lines that don't give them out like candy, probably because they don't need to. I have taken too many cruises and in the course of time reached high status in loyalty programs but that does not move me to book more on Celebrity than other cruise lines. If they want to give me perks, fine, but they won't cause me to book Celebrity more or less. 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Charles4515

[Orator]

Their program; their rules. They can and do anything they want!

[swjumbo]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

If Celebrity wants to give out legacy benefits or Elite Plus benefits for life well it is their business. People are earning Elite Status not even sailing with the PUP points. Doing quizes I don't blame anyone for taking advantage of legacy status for their kids, (it is not like getting into college) or status when they don't even sail. Not my problem. 

 

I don't cruise for the benefits, I cruise often on cruise lines that don't give them out like candy, probably because they don't need to. I have taken too many cruises and in the course of time reached high status in loyalty programs but that does not move me to book more on Celebrity than other cruise lines. If they want to give me perks, fine, but they won't cause me to book Celebrity more or less. 

And why, if I’m paying full fare for my kids, shouldn’t they have CC benefits?

[Baron Barracuda]

Believe this wasn't always the policy.  Took my preteen children on both Royal and X in the early '90's and still have confirms showing loyalty numbers for each of them.  Back then there was no such thing as an app so their loyalty #'s were their customer #'s.  

[Charles4515]

1 minute ago, swjumbo said:

And why, if I’m paying full fare for my kids, shouldn’t they have CC benefits?

They should have benefits when sailing with you for sure. But after they are out of your household? As we discussed the benefits are forever. It seems like a entitlement but it seems a lot of people these days feel entitled. I don't make the rules Celebrity does. So if they want to give out freebies that is the way it is. I don't really think we need to argue about it because I don't make the rules and as it is your children will have CC benefits.

[swjumbo]

8 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

They should have benefits when sailing with you for sure. But after they are out of your household? As we discussed the benefits are forever. It seems like an entitlement but it seems a lot of people these days feel entitled. I don't make the rules Celebrity does. So if they want to give out freebies that is the way it is. I don't really think we need to argue about it because I don't make the rules and as it is your children will have CC benefits.

HA! Totally agree. Lots of entitled people out there and especially in the travel industry.

You’ve made me chuckle!
 

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

8 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

They should have benefits when sailing with you for sure. But after they are out of your household? As we discussed the benefits are forever. It seems like a entitlement but it seems a lot of people these days feel entitled. I don't make the rules Celebrity does. So if they want to give out freebies that is the way it is. I don't really think we need to argue about it because I don't make the rules and as it is your children will have CC benefits.

Are you sure you're understanding their policy correctly?  It appears that you may think Celebrity runs their program like Royal Caribbean does for children where they inherit their parent's status for life so long as they cruise at least once with their parent(s) when younger that 18.  With Celebrity there is no inherited status and point accumulation is based on cruises where the child actually sailed.

 

If you think Celebrity is generous with the kids loyalty benefits, just compare that against Royal Caribbean's C&A program.

[Cap_D]

25 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

They should have benefits when sailing with you for sure. But after they are out of your household? As we discussed the benefits are forever. It seems like a entitlement but it seems a lot of people these days feel entitled. I don't make the rules Celebrity does. So if they want to give out freebies that is the way it is. I don't really think we need to argue about it because I don't make the rules and as it is your children will have CC benefits.

It's now the opposite. An adult paying for a minor doesn't get the benefits of the minor's sailings.  Not until the minor is of age, and makes the request (with proof) is there any status conferred based on their sailings with whatever benefits / rewards come with that.  

Edited July 28, 2023 by Cap_D

[phoenix_dream]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:29 AM, Jeremiah1212 said:

It’s a legal issue. There are all sorts of privacy laws, specific laws that pertain to children’s personal information, state specific laws, the need to be able to accept T&C’s, etc. 

And none of these laws apply to foreign owned cruise lines.

[Jeremiah1212]

11 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

And none of these laws apply to foreign owned cruise lines.

 

Totally incorrect. Recent privacy laws almost always pertain to the location of the customer, not the location of the business. There are many regulations, state and federal. In the US the FTC says COPPA for applies to "all Foreign-based websites and online services must comply with COPPA if they are directed to children in the United States, or if they knowingly collect personal information from children in the U.S. The law’s definition of “operator” includes foreign-based websites and online services that are involved in commerce in the United States or its territories.

 

On a larger scale the EU's GDPR applies to those "who are located in the EEA (European Economic Area), and applies to any enterprise—regardless of its location and the data subjects' citizenship or residence—that is processing the personal information of individuals inside the EEA.

 

 

 

 

[Cap_D]

40 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Totally incorrect. Recent privacy laws almost always pertain to the location of the customer, not the location of the business. There are many regulations, state and federal. In the US the FTC says COPPA for applies to "all Foreign-based websites and online services must comply with COPPA if they are directed to children in the United States, or if they knowingly collect personal information from children in the U.S. The law’s definition of “operator” includes foreign-based websites and online services that are involved in commerce in the United States or its territories.

 

On a larger scale the EU's GDPR applies to those "who are located in the EEA (European Economic Area), and applies to any enterprise—regardless of its location and the data subjects' citizenship or residence—that is processing the personal information of individuals inside the EEA.

 

 

 

 

Doesn't matter though.  None of this stops companies from having loyalty programs that recognize minors as customers and provide rewards.  E.g., airlines, ice cream chains, app and video games, etc.  But, there is usually alignment between the benefits, how they are accrued, how the product is sold, etc.  For example, when miles flown equate to miles earned then that may accrued frequent flyer points, but spend wouldn't if not the one paying, same for hotels (only one person accrues points).  Since cruise rooms and certain fixed costs are broken out for marketing purposes by passenger, but are actually one amount (e.g., x room is y price), and some costs are actually per passenger (e.g., food), it gets a bit complicated to make comparisons difficult, on the accrual side.  And, similarly redemptions are made complicated and a point of contention because they are often per person.  And, for a minor, many of the perks just aren't of any value, except like a free gelato that shouldn't cost anything in any event.  Hence, why it's even more ridiculous the benefits don't get conferred.   

 

All of the above being said, glad that frequent cruisers get some recognition, that upon the magic age the benefits can be obtained (and start to possibly have more relative value), and that generally everyone gets attention (because of higher crew to pax ratio) and a quality experience (ships with more sq ft per pax compared to many others) regardless - one of the hallmarks of being a Celebrity Cruise from what I can tell.  

Edited July 28, 2023 by Cap_D

[waterbug123]

On 7/27/2023 at 7:27 PM, budmeister said:

Agree!!! Some of us spend our whole adult lives tiering up. 

And your point is what, exactly?  That there should be an age minimum for acquiring status?  Why, exactly should that be the case?

[waterbug123]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:10 PM, jbcallender said:

Legally in the US, people under the age of 18 don''t have the legal capacity to sign a contract or agreement, except under very limited circumstances.

 

I would hardly equate signing up for a loyalty program to be the same as signing a contract.  By your logic, kids also shouldn't be able to get a punch card at the ice cream store.