Combining loyalty program with Royal, helping or hurting?

[phoenix_dream]

In the video about changes, mention was made about combining the two programs.  A better status match would be nice. But combining? I have concerns about it. For example,  the upper level Royal perks are much less than Celebrity's Zenith.  Would we be downgraded and/ or lose some of our best perks?  I think if combining points they would have to significantly raise the point requirements,  which really hurts those loyal to Celebrity who are getting close to Zenith. And maybe those already Zenith by being loyal to Celebrity would be at some lower level.  I am concerned this would possibly hurt those at lower levels as well.  The only ones it may benefit are those who regularly sail both lines. So much for brand loyalty.   Call me skeptical but almost all the recent changes have been made to generate or save $$, not benefit the customer so this concerns me.  Some on various FB pages say this is a good thing.  I'm not so sure its good for most of us. Thoughts?

[cruisestitch]

I don’t see how this can possibly happen. The programs are too different.  

[phoenix_dream]

8 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

I don’t see how this can possibly happen. The programs are too different.  

And yet it was discussed as something they were looking into. And that's my concern,  the programs are very different. 

[Jeremiah1212]

40 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

In the video about changes, mention was made about combining the two programs.  A better status match would be nice. But combining? I have concerns about it. For example,  the upper level Royal perks are much less than Celebrity's Zenith.  Would we be downgraded and/ or lose some of our best perks?  I think if combining points they would have to significantly raise the point requirements,  which really hurts those loyal to Celebrity who are getting close to Zenith. And maybe those already Zenith by being loyal to Celebrity would be at some lower level.  I am concerned this would possibly hurt those at lower levels as well.  The only ones it may benefit are those who regularly sail both lines. So much for brand loyalty.   Call me skeptical but almost all the recent changes have been made to generate or save $$, not benefit the customer so this concerns me.  Some on various FB pages say this is a good thing.  I'm not so sure its good for most of us. Thoughts?

 

She never really mentioned outright combination of the programs. She alluded to 'threading the brands together" beyond the status matches currently available today. They are holding strong that it's two brands with two identities. Adding Silversea into that equation adds even more complication since their loyalty program is vastly different than RCI or Celebrity. Even though there isn't a whole lot of attrition from Celebrity to Silversea, giving mid-level+ Captain's Club members the same benefits as Silversea VS members would definitely cause some unhappiness. 

 

[Noskill]

What I would love is the ability to accrue one set of points on both (or all three) brands but they keep their unique benefits.  This way I can continue to bounce between the brands and grow my status while still being loyal to RCI. It's tough to choose to book a Celebrity cruise currently when I'm almost Diamond Plus knowing that I have a mountain to climb to get to Elite Plus.  Celebrity's product is more in line with my current cruising needs but it's tough to walk away from the status on Royal.  Also it would make the trek to Pinnacle/Zenith more realistic, encouraging me keep my cruise dollars in the RCI family.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Status matching from RCI/X to SilverSeas is probably a smart move as it gives the customer something to stay in the brand.  RCI and X have different loyalty benefits as does SilverSeas so there isn't a need to make status benefit updates to any brand but they may still choose to do so.  I do not see the pooling of points between the brands being a benefit for many.  On the other hand, doing so would allow them to advertise and receive free press that "RCG has the most customer-friendly multiple cruise line loyalty program at sea" at very little cost to them since so few would utilize a points pooling benefit

[Jeremiah1212]

9 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Status matching from RCI/X to SilverSeas is probably a smart move as it gives the customer something to stay in the brand.  

 

This would be a quick way to sour some Silversea customers IMO. You have to stay 100 nights onboard to their base discount. Between your second sailing and the 100 night mark you only get a 5% discount on select cruises. These passengers have spent a lot to get that 5-10% discount. A free scoop of gelato and a free bag of laundry doesn't really equate to a 5% discount on a $30k cruise. 

 

Another thing to consider is the growth of the loyalty programs in general. Royal's top tier status have grown by 30% this year. That is a huge number with status. Celebrity has also significantly inflated status levels with the PUP program. Months and months ago they mentioned something to the effect of 70k people participating in PUP activites. The more status becomes diluted the more trimmed back the programs will get. 

[wrk2cruise]

To me it's a bad thing.  Even the current status matching has made things like the Elite cocktail hour unmanageable on some sailings.  They also said that they wanted to keep Zenith very hard to get to.  If for some reason combined the RCL Pinnacle it would explode that level to a point where the perks would have to be scaled way back.

 

I don't see how they can combine points on the different lines without severely impacting the program.

[Gaynors]

I personally love this idea.  Having not been particularly loyal to one side of the family or the other.  I've earned Elite by points on Celebrity and then Diamond (getting close to D+) on Royal by number of nights,  I could only hope that combining would be helpful... but then again it depends on how they work out all those very important details!

 

I'll be interested to see if and how this pans out.

[scotlanders]

I’d like to see the 5 drinks vouchers from RCI also on Celebrity rather than the time limited house drinks from 5-7pm A coffee and a cocktail by the pool with 2 glasses of wine at dinner and a nightcap would suit us perfectly 

[TrueCruiseaholic]

I think that's the long term game plan with giving Zeniths access to Retreat Lounge. Give them lounge access but take away the beverage package - just like Pinnacle Club. Maybe unlimited laundry is also on the chopping block.

 

In other ways, though, giving the same perks is not realistic. There cannot be an Elite Lounge as there is no appropriate space on Celebrity ships (especially Edge Class). Comped drinks in bars seems the only way to go. Unless Celebrity just gets rid of free drinks for Elites as cost cutting. That would not go over well of course.

 

The point structures are completely different as well. I don't have a clue as to how they would unify the two point systems.

 

Ultimately, I think it's a process for Celebrity and LHB to take whatever they think works "better" or "cheaper" at Royal and to take the Celebrity square peg and force it into the Royal round hole (no humor intended).

 

Time will tell, but we have only experienced the beginning of the transition of Celebrity into Royal+. That is why LHB replaced LLP - to make Celebrity more profitable, like Royal.

[maggie.1008]

I have not been on Royal and don’t have any desire. I have 35 cruises on Celebrity. I have two cruises with Silver Seas but I don’t think they would be in favor of a reciprocal agreement. 

[phoenix_dream]

5 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

This would be a quick way to sour some Silversea customers IMO. You have to stay 100 nights onboard to their base discount. Between your second sailing and the 100 night mark you only get a 5% discount on select cruises. These passengers have spent a lot to get that 5-10% discount. A free scoop of gelato and a free bag of laundry doesn't really equate to a 5% discount on a $30k cruise. 

 

Another thing to consider is the growth of the loyalty programs in general. Royal's top tier status have grown by 30% this year. That is a huge number with status. Celebrity has also significantly inflated status levels with the PUP program. Months and months ago they mentioned something to the effect of 70k people participating in PUP activites. The more status becomes diluted the more trimmed back the programs will get. 

Even though there are alot of people doing PUP IMHO it doesn't really add up to a whole lot of points, especially if you are talking getting to Zenith. It's already pretty easy to get to Elite or Elite Plus, especially if you sail more than once a year. One thing I think did up the numbers alot quicker was the double points they were giving right after restart for awhile.  Those helped us get to Zenith probably 6 months sooner than we would have. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 hours ago, scotlanders said:

I’d like to see the 5 drinks vouchers from RCI also on Celebrity rather than the time limited house drinks from 5-7pm A coffee and a cocktail by the pool with 2 glasses of wine at dinner and a nightcap would suit us perfectly 

 

The problem with vouchers is, knowing "the X way", they'll exclude vouchers on the day of embarkation, keep the limited HH menu all while saying "We listened!"

[NutsAboutGolf]

8 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

This would be a quick way to sour some Silversea customers IMO. You have to stay 100 nights onboard to their base discount. Between your second sailing and the 100 night mark you only get a 5% discount on select cruises. These passengers have spent a lot to get that 5-10% discount. A free scoop of gelato and a free bag of laundry doesn't really equate to a 5% discount on a $30k cruise. 

 

Another thing to consider is the growth of the loyalty programs in general. Royal's top tier status have grown by 30% this year. That is a huge number with status. Celebrity has also significantly inflated status levels with the PUP program. Months and months ago they mentioned something to the effect of 70k people participating in PUP activites. The more status becomes diluted the more trimmed back the programs will get. 

 

I think it's inevitable that most cruise lines will follow MSC lead with loyalty by no lifetime status for new passengers while grandfathering the existing ones.  With MSC you have to sail once every 3 years or lose your status.  IDK about SilverSea's status benefits but do they RCG should offer RCI/X passengers something even if it's not status related.  RCG is marketing their three cruise lines everywhere, I would imagine those with high RCI and X status would be disappointed if there's nothing at all for booking Silverseas.  Offering them something may prevent them from shopping around other true luxury lines

[hcat]

i remember a cruise on Summit  years ago where all the loyal Cap Club members were 100% ignored by the CC  hostess and others... in favor of any Royal C guests new to X.  

 

They were wined and dined at special events, focus groups etc and lavished with gifts, seated with officers and were given  all sorts of attention. It was  a very obvious  marketng outreach. 

 

We oppose  any "intertwining" and crossing over beyond the current programs.  If we wanted to sail  on  a Royal clone these days we would....just not the same demographics or experience  but soon to change no doubt!

[cruiseerf]

They are combining RCL and Celebrity and leaving Silversea to its own as SS is a vastly different line, clientele and program.  I too will be interested How they do this without alienating some as Celebrity awards points based upon spend and Royal upon days cruised, like the old X program.   Also with so many people achieving the Top levels of these programs, it makes sense for them to put higher qualification #'s in play to keep the people striving to make "status", as there are now many Triple Zeniths and triple Pinnacle guests.  I agree with Truecruiseaholic that the return of Zeniths in the Retreat lounge is a small gift for the dilution of benefits that is going to hit Zenith members from Celebrity.  I would doubt they would touch the laundry benefit, however I think they may make Zeniths "pick a perk" either Alcohol or Wifi thus selling this as "providing more choices for their most valuable members".......time will tell, 2024 is going to be interesting.  LHB is definitely all about monetizing and it is sad to see Celebrity going through so many changes not great for the cruisers.  Don't even ask me about coco cay....Mass Market anyone?  We always sailed Celebrity because we felt they were a stop above mass market....oooh well.  Something for everyone I guess.   

[bikerunner]

There is going a to be no combing of the programs it was not mentioned in the video.  She did mention about maybe having more synergies between them but silversea program is vastly different.  With that rcl and celebrity is different I do think in long run with all loyalty programs all brands not just RCG but airlines etc, already seen it with delta, they will be watered down   

[hcat]

Recently,  I saw a blurb online or somewhere that DELTA AIr..( which we do.not use)  was "walking back" cutbacks to lounge use  for its freq flyer program.

 

.Was not paying attention but it does show that Customers may have a voice..???

[hcat]

Found the story many places. here's a link

 

https://frequentmiler.com/delta-may-walk-back-some-of-their-recently-announced-changes/

[Mark_K]

20 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

I don’t see how this can possibly happen. The programs are too different.  

How they are today is pretty much irrelevant if they want to do it.  You decide how points will be accumulated going forward, you make up a formula for combining like RCI did when they switched from cruise points to days, and then you pretend you’re at a Chinese restaurant and pick one from column A and two from column B.

[budmeister]

It would be nice if one cruise would grow points by one cruise for each brand- such as a 7-night Celebrity cruise would give what Celebrity does for that on Celebrity and add 7 points to RC. That way cruisers would not lose out on building one brand by cruising the other.