RC and Celebrity loyalty programs possibly merging?

[vjmatty]

20 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

I honestly don’t think they care. As the number of D, D+ and Pinns keeps rising they have to give away more and more free drinks and clearly they’d much rather attract new, younger cruisers who’ll happily spend more on board.

I don’t think the vouchers lose them much money when you take into account how many people still buy the drink package no matter how high it goes. Especially young new cruisers. The drink vouchers are worth about $60-75 per day depending on status. Comparing that to the lost passengers’ cruise fare, they’d be saving pennies to lose dollars. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

8 hours ago, Rackham said:

 

I've been speed running C&A levels to Diamond (between last year and this) because when looking at their different loyalty programs in 2021, and how the C&A program has evolved over time, this seemed like the next logical evolution. It was a question of when and the form it would take.

 

 

I figure that Royal wouldn't go back to the old happy hour. Instead, they'd offer a generous discount on the DBP based on loyalty status instead of drink vouchers beyond what's currently on offer. For example, instead of 4 vouchers at Diamond, maybe they'd get 50% off the DBP once onboard. D+ receives 75% off and Pinnacle could receive 90% off. It still appears to be a great deal for everyone who hasn't reached these tiers, people who are already at one of these levels and still buy the DBP comes out ahead, and Royal would undoubtedly convert some people who wouldn't otherwise buy a package to do so. They would lose some higher tier members of C&A with this, but it might be a net positive in their eyes since the people lost might be those who primarily take advantage of the benefits, but aren't opening their wallets for Royal beyond the cruise fare.

 

Your opinion sounds logical. That is why it should make RCI Crown and Anchor members think long and hard about why they cruise. Would they cruise without the C&A perks if they were taken away tomorrow?

 

Is the cruise itinerary, service, food quality, and experience satisfactory for the investment of your time and money? How do you feel when the cruise is done?

 

There has not been a cruise that my wife and I regretted taking for the money that we paid for the experience, with or without C&A perks.

 

Currently, we are not booking future cruises with RCI beyond our existing cruises because in general, the prices have doubled and the experience has been degraded by previous "adjustments" to RCI service and food. I have not found the things changing in a positive manner in meaningful ways to justify a doubling of the cruise fare.

 

"Adjusting" the C&A policies is just one more consideration to throw into the decision matrix.

[Starry Eyes]

6 hours ago, Its the journey said:

It will save quite a bit of money.  They buy liquor wholesale.  Their most expensive drink costs around 3 dollars. 

 

They make a huge markup profit on the drinks.  The average drink on board costs half that for them to provide, compared to that most expensive drink.  And they can choose what drinks they offer at a happy hour.

 

The problem with the way it is now, is that a lot of people who are moderate drinkers are happy with the vouchers.  They don't need to buy the drink package.  If those people are forced back into a limited hours, limited drinks happy hour, to get their drink perk, they will be motivated to buy packages that increase RCI profits.

 

RCI will say, "getting the drinks of your choice, at any time of day, was only a temporary covid related change.  We are going back to how it was originally and to be more in line with our premium lines. "

 

This is a piece of what is being discussed.

 

 

The D lounges were undersized before,  Now with the increased number of D and above, the D lounges would be untenably crowded if they returned to unlimited drinks only in the DL during HH.  Newly minted diamonds and aspiring diamonds would be shocked and disappointed (old ones know about crowded lounges).  It really cannot literally go back to the old way.  It could go to a specific D drink menu at various (or all) bars for set hours.   Unless HH was shorter than the old days and shorter than suite HH, I think that would actually substantially increase the number of drinks per D.  And I still don’t think most of those “moderate drinkers” who don’t buy a drink package with four vouchers will buy a drink package if they have a HH.

[HappySailer88]

I did see where RC used my Captain's Club # from Celebrity when we just booked our first Rc cruise. Thought that was odd.

[vacationlover_mn]

15 hours ago, Its the journey said:

Is this the Facebook group that bans people for being less than 100 percent positive pro Royal cheerleaders?  Those admin are horrible.

Yep.

[doghog]

7 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Dave....did you get your original account back finally?   No more doghog?  

No. Still doghog if I use my laptop. Weird. If I use my phone to post my screen name is the orginal (davekathy). 😵

[Billy Baltic]

2 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

The D lounges were undersized before

I believe there was already talk (or CC speculation) of removing the DL anyway. 

[smokeybandit]

8 hours ago, Its the journey said:

It will save quite a bit of money.  They buy liquor wholesale.  Their most expensive drink costs around 3 dollars. 

 

They make a huge markup profit on the drinks.  The average drink on board costs half that for them to provide, compared to that most expensive drink. 

Every restaurant in the USA puts a huge markup on liquor, so it's definitely not an RC thing.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

I don’t think the vouchers lose them much money when you take into account how many people still buy the drink package no matter how high it goes. Especially young new cruisers. The drink vouchers are worth about $60-75 per day depending on status. Comparing that to the lost passengers’ cruise fare, they’d be saving pennies to lose dollars. 

And that is $60-$75 per day in revenue; the actual cost of the vouchers to Royal is more

in the $6-$8 range. Certainly a good investment on the part of the cruise-line to keep us coming back.  

[lovesthebeach2]

17 hours ago, davekathy said:

Provide the source of the rumor.

 

 

It was mentioned in the Captains Club Webinar by the new President of Celebrity 

[The Scurvy Pirate]

3 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

It may save them money.... Next up balcony discount or solo discount? How would they encourage people to be loyal when the customer knows they’ve previously moved the goalposts?

With all of the constant 60% off and KSF promotions they have practically done away with the balcony discount. I couldn't tell you the last time I was actually able to use my balcony discount....  now, if they would let us stack them that would be great, but that will never happen.

[island lady]

40 minutes ago, doghog said:

No. Still doghog if I use my laptop. Weird. If I use my phone to post my screen name is the orginal (davekathy). 😵

 

Ahhh...secret identity then.  😉 

[island lady]

20 years being "Loyal to Royal" is over.....typing this right now from Viking cruise line. Still have previous cruises booked with Royal that we will be taking, but not adding any new ones.  Viking is getting those new bookings now.  

 

Viking:  Wow...wow...what a change!  Back to great service, good food, crew members that care, no nickel and diming us to death.   The things we used to enjoy on Royal.  

 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by island lady

[bob63005]

https://stocks.apple.com/AHeIAyKxYSwK3XE-B9SCbmQ

 

[Charles4515]

19 minutes ago, bob63005 said:

https://stocks.apple.com/AHeIAyKxYSwK3XE-B9SCbmQ

 

This article is based on the Blog which bases the idea on an interpretation of an answer to a question about the loyalty programs on the Celebrity webinar. Neither the Blog or author of the article have any facts or other sources. When I heard the Celebrity reps answer I took her answer to be generic. Always looking to enhance customer experience type answer.  Since the questions picked were obviously cherry picked maybe the answer means something but then again maybe not. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Charles4515

[Engineroom Snipe]

27 minutes ago, island lady said:

20 years being "Loyal to Royal" is over.....typing this right now from Viking cruise line. Still have previous cruises booked with Royal that we will be taking, but not adding any new ones.  Viking is getting those new bookings now.  

 

Viking:  Wow...wow...what a change!  Back to great service, good food, crew members that care, no nickel and diming us to death.   The things we used to enjoy on Royal.  

 

 

I know I have stopped booking more RCI cruises since last October, 2022. I am finishing my third of 2023 cruises with another one booked for November 2024. I normally would do at least one spring (2024) but I am on hold until after my Jewel cruise this November. I will have a good time but it will the added to my opinions of how much I cruise RCI in the future.

[mac_tlc]

28 minutes ago, island lady said:

20 years being "Loyal to Royal" is over.....typing this right now from Viking cruise line. Still have previous cruises booked with Royal that we will be taking, but not adding any new ones.  Viking is getting those new bookings now.  

 

Viking:  Wow...wow...what a change!  Back to great service, good food, crew members that care, no nickel and diming us to death.   The things we used to enjoy on Royal.  

 

 

In the spirit of full disclosure, I believe you are in a river cruise (I would love to do that one!), which is a different animal than Royal.

 

We have also branched out a bit, but I think it’s important to provide context when we all talk about moving on. Ship size is one that no one typically mentions when they say they are moving on. We have an Oceania cruise booked, on a ship that holds about 1200. For us, that’s small. Viking Ocean is about 930. Azamara, Seabourne, Regent even smaller , yet I do see folks making it sound like they are comparable to Royal or Celebrity. 
 

Im looking forward to trying some others.

 

mac_tlc

[Rewind]

Diamond here.  I don't drink, DW has 1 a night, maybe 2 if we go see a show.  Now the evening soda I get and the handful of waters that we use the next day for excursions are quite nice.  The biggest benefit for us is the 24 hours of free Wifi each.  Benefit to get to D+ would be the two days of WiFi each and reserved seating at shows.

 

If they remove the drink vouchers, will we buy a drink package at a discount?  Not a chance.
Does Royal have the best loyalty program currently?  I think so.  But even with that, we are trying other lines as well.  Have done one MSC and have both a Virgin and Celebrity coming up; did not like the ship design of the MSC but want to try another layout to see if it suits us better; Virgin - we got a deal in order to try them but otherwise I think they are quite pricey (like more than an Icon sailing pricey).

[grandgeezer]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Every restaurant in the USA puts a huge markup on liquor, so it's definitely not an RC thing.

Every restaurant doesn’t mark up their liquor as high as RC, at least the ones we frequent. In fact MSC didn’t pre pandemic. We drink mostly beer and we can get a 16oz tap for $3.60 including tip, at happy hour. The most we pay anywhere else is $5.40 tip included, that’s for a 12 oz bottle. If I remember right, it around $10 on the ship. If we have a cocktail, which happens rarely, is about $8 including tip.

If you what to bring at home into play, around the holidays I get the 12oz. beer for $.60 each, tax included. It’s been a long time since I had to buy a bottle of booze so I can’t comment on the price comparison.

[smokeybandit]

3 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

Every restaurant doesn’t mark up their liquor as high as RC

 I can get a beer on an RC ship for $8.  In some cities on land, that same beer can be $10+. I live in a small town and even the local hole in the wall has $7.50 beer.

RC liquor prices are quite competitive with shoreside prices.

[lovesthebeach2]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

20 years being "Loyal to Royal" is over.....typing this right now from Viking cruise line. Still have previous cruises booked with Royal that we will be taking, but not adding any new ones.  Viking is getting those new bookings now.  

 

Viking:  Wow...wow...what a change!  Back to great service, good food, crew members that care, no nickel and diming us to death.   The things we used to enjoy on Royal.  

 

 

I’m thinking about booking a Viking cruise but I’m booked up thru next year….. are you on a river or ocean cruise?

[lovesthebeach2]

9 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

Every restaurant doesn’t mark up their liquor as high as RC, at least the ones we frequent. In fact MSC didn’t pre pandemic. We drink mostly beer and we can get a 16oz tap for $3.60 including tip, at happy hour. The most we pay anywhere else is $5.40 tip included, that’s for a 12 oz bottle. If I remember right, it around $10 on the ship. If we have a cocktail, which happens rarely, is about $8 including tip.

If you what to bring at home into play, around the holidays I get the 12oz. beer for $.60 each, tax included. It’s been a long time since I had to buy a bottle of booze so I can’t comment on the price comparison.

The drinks at Disney restaurants that my husband drinks are more than the Royal drinks for sure.

Even a glass of wine is more at Disney than the ships.

[vjmatty]

8 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 I can get a beer on an RC ship for $8.  In some cities on land, that same beer can be $10+. I live in a small town and even the local hole in the wall has $7.50 beer.

RC liquor prices are quite competitive with shoreside prices.

I think the difference is you don’t live in a bar or restaurant for 7 days. 

[vjmatty]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

In the spirit of full disclosure, I believe you are in a river cruise (I would love to do that one!), which is a different animal than Royal.

 

We have also branched out a bit, but I think it’s important to provide context when we all talk about moving on. Ship size is one that no one typically mentions when they say they are moving on. We have an Oceania cruise booked, on a ship that holds about 1200. For us, that’s small. Viking Ocean is about 930. Azamara, Seabourne, Regent even smaller , yet I do see folks making it sound like they are comparable to Royal or Celebrity. 
 

Im looking forward to trying some others.

 

mac_tlc

I thought Viking recently branched out into ocean cruising. I’m pretty sure the Vista class ship we saw in Naples last year with the Viking emblem was not a river cruise 🤷🏻‍♀️

[mac_tlc]

16 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

I thought Viking recently branched out into ocean cruising. I’m pretty sure the Vista class ship we saw in Naples last year with the Viking emblem was not a river cruise 🤷🏻‍♀️

They sure have. Their ocean cruising vessels are all identical and hold about 930 people. The post I was responding to was from some who is currently on an awesome Viking River cruise. 
 

mac_tlc