Woo Hoo... Pinnacle now equals Zenith on Celebrity

[island lady]

3 hours ago, RFerrington said:

I'm getting the same vibe.  I guess I can't blame them.  There are a lot more of us coming their way than there are of them, coming our way.

 

We will be staying undercover.   Should I wear a cap that says..."newbie" on it?  😄 

[island lady]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

If we were Pinnacle I would also be thrilled.  And my thoughts are that Royal’s principal reason in making this change was to hope that more high level cruisers will move to X and then they will get more revenue from families with kids doing the short cruises. They probably would spend more buying wifi, drink packages and so on. 
I did think since there are lots of D+ that they would also love to see us move because we also get plenty of good benefits. 

 

There are a lot of Pinnacles that are moving away from the way RCI is headed.  The company is only interested in young families, theme park mega ships.     Myself included, am leaving RCI.    Celebrity...eh OK as of late, but most of my future cruises are booked with Viking the last few months.    

 

So...now it's a big game changer for us.  Apparently someone at RCI had a light bulb go on over their head...and realized the loyal cruisers are jumping ship.  Trying to stop the bleeding before it is too late. Smart move on their part to toss in the status match with X.  😉   Worked for me...starting to book some X cruises now.  

[ATG]

32 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

I concur.  I have since changed my mind since that original posting.  P to Z does seem to be a better deal.  There are some P amenities that I would miss - breakfast in CK or specialty restaurant and also BOGO specialty. But overall I think the P to Z move is an improvement.

 

I think the drink package is a great perk but honestly, I don't even use the 6 Pinn vouchers that I get now.  I think overall the drink package will go pretty much unused....but unlimited laundry is a nice perk !

We won’t be pinnacle until next spring, but we rarely use all 5 vouchers.  

 

Months ago we booked a Celebrity cruise out of Port Canaveral (our favorite port).  At the time we discussed booking cruise only or all inclusive and decided we wouldn’t drink enough to do the all in.  Now they gave it to us!  We’re very happy.
 

 Our last cruise on an oasis class ship was filled with teenagers.  Even if they were well behaved (and almost all were) it was crowded and noisy.  That’s when we began looking more at Celebrity.  I guess we’ve reached a point in our lives where we want a little more relaxed environment.  We’ve enjoyed our past cruises on Celebrity, but the C&A benefits kept us booking RC.

[island lady]

Free internet...big perk for us as well.  😉 

[The Fun Researcher]

Based on our cruise on the Equinox six months ago, we are not ready to jump over to Celebrity yet. We still enjoy a more energetic ship with better entertainment. Celebrity is wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but it was just too sleepy for us. We do want to try the Edge class and the newest ships before I make a strong conclusion though.  I do see eventually shifting towards X in another decade or so

[Tlbecker1]

7 hours ago, FOXTROT said:

Went to lounge, told to sit down & server would be around, never came around, went to bar & told to sit down & server would be around. It took 3 nights to get one drink. At least at the Diamond Lounge we could get a drink every night, might be crowded but we always got a drink.

I agree 100%.  We actually had the Classic drink package and still had issues getting drinks between 5-7.

[lovesthebeach2]

13 hours ago, island lady said:

 

What...no love boat hats???   😄 😄 

darn…..we were on the actual Pacific Princess in 2002, the last summer it was in service from NY to Bermuda.  BEST CRUISE EVER! Sorry I didn’t get a love boat hat! I would wear it proudly 😁

[TeeRick]

14 hours ago, island lady said:

 

There are a lot of Pinnacles that are moving away from the way RCI is headed.  The company is only interested in young families, theme park mega ships.     Myself included, am leaving RCI.    Celebrity...eh OK as of late, but most of my future cruises are booked with Viking the last few months.    

 

So...now it's a big game changer for us.  Apparently someone at RCI had a light bulb go on over their head...and realized the loyal cruisers are jumping ship.  Trying to stop the bleeding before it is too late. Smart move on their part to toss in the status match with X.  😉   Worked for me...starting to book some X cruises now.  

Actually the families and kids spending a lot of money - that is the key point.  Higher level Loyalty cruisers like us get perks and likely spend less money on board.  RCG has already taken our money in our Loyalty journey. For a long time they have been trying to attract new cruising couples and families and get them established as repeat customers.  Just like we used to be.

[Jasukkie]

Woohoo, laundry perks! I'm not kidding, that means a lot to me. Especially when you have to fly and are trying to be a packing minimalist.

 

I have yet to try Celebrity, but it's definitely on my radar. 

[cruise wizard]

The RCG family has something for everybody as they cruise through life. Young and energetic folks, families, the adventuresome, experienced, more mature and affluent. We move through these cycles of different wants and needs. I think that "we" are fortunate to have the choices of movement within the RCG brands and also be rewarded for our continued loyalty however we choose. 

[karena1]

15 hours ago, RFerrington said:

I concur.  I have since changed my mind since that original posting.  P to Z does seem to be a better deal.  There are some P amenities that I would miss - breakfast in CK or specialty restaurant and also BOGO specialty. But overall I think the P to Z move is an improvement.

 

I think the drink package is a great perk but honestly, I don't even use the 6 Pinn vouchers that I get now.  I think overall the drink package will go pretty much unused....but unlimited laundry is a nice perk !

Yup, people like different things.  Breakfast or any meal in CK doesn't matter to us at all, we also rarely do specialty dining or the BOGO specialty, so those perks on Royal get unused for us.  But we always buy  the drink package so for us that is a huge perk on Celebrity.  Not to mention that the cruises I have priced are way cheaper on Celebrity than on Royal.  We will still do Royal a lot, but nice to be able to compare now and pick which one works for us.  

[FOXTROT]

Designed a nice pin based on Pinnacle pin. Has the X then Zenith Club with name underneath. Could not get picture to load. Will really look nice on our next Celebrity cruise. 😄

[cruise wizard]

14 minutes ago, FOXTROT said:

Designed a nice pin based on Pinnacle pin. Has the X then Zenith Club with name underneath. Could not get picture to load. Will really look nice on our next Celebrity cruise. 😄

 

Will it have diamonds?? Have a magnet backing like Royal's or a stick pin or clasp pin? Just don't have red concentric circles on it!!!

[island lady]

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Actually the families and kids spending a lot of money - that is the key point.  Higher level Loyalty cruisers like us get perks and likely spend less money on board.  RCG has already taken our money in our Loyalty journey. For a long time they have been trying to attract new cruising couples and families and get them established as repeat customers.  Just like we used to be.

 

Can see that.  Families get geared up for their maybe one cruise a year...maybe a 3 or 4 night cruise.  Yup, they will spend a lot during that time.

 

If you want to see money spent from a formerly loyal cruiser with RCI...pull up my cruising history. And those cruises are in suites.  Yeah, and with cruising on half of the overpriced World Cruise added to that?  We cruise much more than 3 or 4 days a year.  😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6 by island lady

[island lady]

2 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

The RCG family has something for everybody as they cruise through life. Young and energetic folks, families, the adventuresome, experienced, more mature and affluent. We move through these cycles of different wants and needs. I think that "we" are fortunate to have the choices of movement within the RCG brands and also be rewarded for our continued loyalty however we choose. 

 

Totally agree there.  We have been moving away from the RCI brand to other lines.  Paying more, but getting the privileges and luxury we used to enjoy with RCI years ago...before all the cut backs.  

 

Now...the lure is working (for us anyway).  Pulling the highest loyalty members over to the quieter section of Celebrity and away from the theme park ships.  🙂  But will still enjoy our new choice of Viking as well.  😉 

[island lady]

47 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

Will it have diamonds?? Have a magnet backing like Royal's or a stick pin or clasp pin? Just don't have red concentric circles on it!!!

 

You could always buy some of those tiaras online.  Would look on you Gary.  😄 😄 

[FOXTROT]

1 hour ago, cruise wizard said:

 

Will it have diamonds?? Have a magnet backing like Royal's or a stick pin or clasp pin? Just don't have red concentric circles on it!!!

🤪No diamonds (too cheap), magnet & definitely no circles. 

[fenton04]

Went to Celebrity website and sure enough we were Elite plus.  Good gracious!

[verizon]

2 hours ago, FOXTROT said:

Designed a nice pin based on Pinnacle pin. Has the X then Zenith Club with name underneath. Could not get picture to load. Will really look nice on our next Celebrity cruise. 😄

Make sure it shines like diamond and can be seen a mile away.

Thank you and thank you to make all the Pinnacles proud.

[orville99]

40 minutes ago, fenton04 said:

Went to Celebrity website and sure enough we were Elite plus.  Good gracious!

DW and I just received emails from X congratulating us on achieving Zenith. Still nothing but crickets from RCL on the status match.😇

[not-enough-cruising]

WOW!!

I just popped over to the X boards and the thread there on this topic. It's not a happy bunch AT ALL

[FOXTROT]

3 hours ago, verizon said:

Make sure it shines like diamond and can be seen a mile away.

Thank you and thank you to make all the Pinnacles proud.

like your idea, could have it lighted

[cruise wizard]

25 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

WOW!!

I just popped over to the X boards and the thread there on this topic. It's not a happy bunch AT ALL

 

There's a feeling by quite a few Zeniths that the status match is not equivalent and that Pinnacles are gaining benefits greater in value than their comparable on Royal. There is also a fear of the on rush of P's coming to Celebrity with their shiny pins and a bit of arrogance.........but I believe that these fears are unfounded and all will settle down over time.

[not-enough-cruising]

8 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

There's a feeling by quite a few Zeniths that the status match is not equivalent and that Pinnacles are gaining benefits greater in value than their comparable on Royal. There is also a fear of the on rush of P's coming to Celebrity with their shiny pins and a bit of arrogance.........but I believe that these fears are unfounded and all will settle down over time.

I can't disagree with the concern.

 

Pinnacles are making out on this deal. Conversely, Elite and Elite plus taking a Royal cruise are gaining FAR more than a Diamond or Diamond plus taking an X trip.

[Tree_skier]

So I booked a short Celebrity cruise just to give a whirl.  I'm not yet but will be D+ by the time this cruise rolls along so I will get to experience Elite + on Celebrity.  

 

I'd probably not have booked this cruise at all were not for the change in status matching...  so I guess their marketing ploy working on me anyways.