Change to Castaway Club Status program

[phissy]

Disney released change to DCL castaway club levels achieved by sailing.
If one has no cruise booked or completed by 5 years from last cruise, status is lost.

Interesting change to program….many are not happy with this development.

 

Sail every 5 years or lose Castaway Club Loyalty Status

Please direct all complaints to Disney.

dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com

Edited December 21, 2023 by phissy

[Shmoo here]

14 hours ago, phissy said:

Disney released change to DCL castaway club levels achieved by sailing.
If one has no cruise booked or completed by 5 years from last cruise, status is lost.

Interesting change to program….many are not happy with this development.

 

Sail every 5 years or lose Castaway Club Loyalty Status

Please direct all complaints to Disney.

dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com

Well, it's not all that new.  The change was apparently updated on the website in March.  

[NancyIL]

19 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Well, it's not all that new.  The change was apparently updated on the website in March.  

 

I'm looking for that information on DCL's web site, but they don't make it easy to find. I see that info now on another Disney forum: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/castaway-club/membership/

Edited December 22, 2023 by NancyIL

[Shmoo here]

4 hours ago, NancyIL said:

 

I'm looking for that information on DCL's web site, but they don't make it easy to find. I see that info now on another Disney forum: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/castaway-club/membership/

Well, when you go to the CC FAQ page, it's right on the front page.  And clicking on the "Terms & Conditions" link you can find it.

[mz-s]

5 years is a reasonably long time. MSC is 3 years. Most land based loyalty programs like airlines casinos and hoteliers are much less, a year or so.

[Tenderpaw]

On 12/23/2023 at 8:01 AM, mz-s said:

5 years is a reasonably long time. MSC is 3 years. Most land based loyalty programs like airlines casinos and hoteliers are much less, a year or so.

It doesn't cost thousands of $$ to stay at a hotel and keep your status.  Not the same.  

[jwalk03]

They must not actually be enforcing this rule change.  I haven't been on a Disney Cruise since 2014 but I just booked one for 2025 and it still showed me as Silver before booking.

[toodycat]

On 1/25/2024 at 11:48 AM, jwalk03 said:

They must not actually be enforcing this rule change.  I haven't been on a Disney Cruise since 2014 but I just booked one for 2025 and it still showed me as Silver before booking.

Same! My last DCL cruise was in 2016, but I'm still gold. 

[Shmoo here]

24 minutes ago, toodycat said:

Same! My last DCL cruise was in 2016, but I'm still gold. 

The speculation at this point is everyone is starting from 2023/24 in calculating.  So, even if it's been 17 years, and you book a cruise within the next 5 years, you will retain your status.

 

At least, so far, that's how it's working.

 

Of course, DCL can change the rules at any time.

[fantavet]

On 2/2/2024 at 5:25 PM, Shmoo here said:

The speculation at this point is everyone is starting from 2023/24 in calculating.  So, even if it's been 17 years, and you book a cruise within the next 5 years, you will retain your status.

 

At least, so far, that's how it's working.

 

Of course, DCL can change the rules at any time.

Appears to be that way, my last Disney Cruise was a LONG time ago, but my booking is still calling me Silver and my booking dates seem to reflect Silver status.

[CarolynFH]

Yes, our first DCL cruise was on the Magic in 1998. Our next was in January 2024, and we had Silver status for it. 

[canyoncam]

On 2/2/2024 at 3:25 PM, Shmoo here said:

The speculation at this point is everyone is starting from 2023/24 in calculating.  So, even if it's been 17 years, and you book a cruise within the next 5 years, you will retain your status.

 

At least, so far, that's how it's working.

 

Of course, DCL can change the rules at any time.

Unfortunately for me it is not working that way. Perhaps if you had a cruise currently booked it retained your status. I was Platinum. Last cruise was May of 2016. Now I went in to book and I must rejoin. 

[CarolynFH]

11 hours ago, canyoncam said:

Unfortunately for me it is not working that way. Perhaps if you had a cruise currently booked it retained your status. I was Platinum. Last cruise was May of 2016. Now I went in to book and I must rejoin. 

You might try calling them, or send an email via the link on the CC website. When DH and I cruised on the Magic in January, we hadn’t cruised with DCL since 1998. He was recognized as Silver when we boarded, I was not, although months earlier when I had logged into the website I was. After the cruise, we didn’t receive an email copy of our folio, so I sent an email and received an email back asking me to call. It turned out that somehow the system had made several profiles for me, even though I used the same email address at all times, so she had to merge all the profiles into one. Then she checked DH’s email address, and he had more than one profile too! She said the system does that sometimes, and given issues with Disney’s IT in other areas, I’m not surprised. So again, you might contact them - maybe they’ve duplicated you too and can merge those other profiles back into your  Platinum profile. 

[canyoncam]

2 hours ago, CarolynFH said:

You might try calling them, or send an email via the link on the CC website. When DH and I cruised on the Magic in January, we hadn’t cruised with DCL since 1998. He was recognized as Silver when we boarded, I was not, although months earlier when I had logged into the website I was. After the cruise, we didn’t receive an email copy of our folio, so I sent an email and received an email back asking me to call. It turned out that somehow the system had made several profiles for me, even though I used the same email address at all times, so she had to merge all the profiles into one. Then she checked DH’s email address, and he had more than one profile too! She said the system does that sometimes, and given issues with Disney’s IT in other areas, I’m not surprised. So again, you might contact them - maybe they’ve duplicated you too and can merge those other profiles back into your  Platinum profile. 

 
I’m actually not too concerned, just was posting my experience. Anyway, I wound up not booking. Found a better cruise on Royal. I was essentially priced out of Disney back when I made Platinum. Got a little excited when I thought I might be able to finally get back on. Fond memories though!