Double the Love Promo - time for a Cruise Credit Run

[MattnTricia]

I am 51 and my wife 47 and we only travel during peak times due to our work. We love to cruise and despite owning

a stupid number  of timeshares we are finding that we enjoy cruising more than ever.  We have sailed Carnival, and

Royal Caribbean primarily with the kids and are now at a point where we envision ourselves sailing 2-3 times a year pre retirement .

 

We have focused our cruises on Celebrity and Princess over the las few years and our currently select status on

Celebrity and Ruby status on Princess. We are planning on 1-2 trips between 14 and 21 days over the next 2 years with

more to follow. We have chosen Princess due to their presence on the west coast where we live and the fact we like

the West Coast based itineraries that Celebrity abandoned. As an FYI we sailed Celebrity twice (one is in upcoming in November)this year also

 

With the background laid I decided to pull the trigger on a cruise mileage(credit)run to obtain elite status with Princess.  I am fully aware

that for most this the benefits are not worth it  but my wife and I have decided that it is something we would like to have. 

 

For those that done know The double the love promo https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-deals-promotions/double-the-love allows for double Captains Circle credits during the shoulder season between August and the beginning of December.  Any cruise booked prior to sailing with plus/premier on this promo will get Double Captains Circle  Credits for these cruises.   I decided to go for it and booked the following:

 

2 Day Cruise -  S6 Full Suite - Plus Package   - Solo  - 3 credits earned will double to 6

3 Day Cruise - S4 Full Suite - Plus Package - Solo - 3 credits earned will double to 6

 

These 12 credits will take me to Elite from Ruby with only 5 cruise days sailed.   I paid for  these reservations using timeshare points which 

were basically extra ones whose maintenance fees were already paid for via rentals I had already done.  I am not fully utilizing these timeshare points currently and this was a way to use them.   Ultimately it will cost me these timeshare points - $426 in reservation fees - 45k in frequent flyer miles -  2 days of having to work from the ships during the 2 trips combined and 3 flights totaling 2-3 hours each to accomplish this Status run.   

 

As a side note 8 credits could have been obtained booking 2 inside least expensive cabins with about $1000 Cash and the same airline mileage needs with no timeshare points.  We did not go this route as it would have taken us 2 more years to earn the 4 additional points and killed out travel flexibility over that time to ensure we got Elite prior to Summer 26 when we "need" the benefit in Europe. 

 

I am fully aware that Elite benefits are not life changing and my wife will not have the same status I do but will get the benefit of being in the same cabin on future cruises.  With that being said this is what  makes this adventure worth doing for us. 

 

1)Our last 15 day cruise laundry during the middle was incredible painful on the Emerald.  It took 6-8 hours out of our trip and was very frustrating with the masses on these long cruises needing to do laundry. 

Being able to have a suit / dress pressed every cruise along with the Laundry benefit on longer cruises is a very nice perk. 

 

2)My wife does not drink so we have been doing plus / premier for 1 on our cruises which is a very poor value.  This will allow us to go standard

and use the Internet discount, along with the minibar set up, wine carry on  and any OBC to offset the drinks I will purchase.  Ultimately we expect we will save a minimum of $400 per 7 nights of a cruise. 

 

3)Priority Tenders off the boat - We typically book non cruise excursions and are not suite passengers.  With tender intensive itineraries in our future  

knowing we can secure early tenders in places like the Mediterranean are a huge benefit.  We have had recent cruises where we waited in line for 2 hours plus to get early tender tickets in a mob to still be 30-60 minutes after the first tender getting off. 

 

4)Not a huge deal but we will also use the early access to dining reservations also

 

 

[startedwithamouse]

Sounds like an excellent plan!

 

The laundry service is priceless. We had close to 100 days last year on Princess, and not once did we step into a laundry room! 

 

We find getting Plus is the way to go. Even if your wife doesn't drink alcohol, she will drink something. Our kids get Plus, and we like that they have the freedom to get their own drinks. They also drink sparkling water, frappes, etc. and those would add up if not for the package.

 

You're on the West Coast, in LA, if you're in the Elite lounge area in the terminal, you'll be on the ship first. Also, for Cabo tenders, similar to Med tenders, being Elite, you'll only wait 10 or so minutes. 

 

There's also an Platinum/Elite lounge on the ship with small bites, and reduced price drinks. 

 

Edited July 14 by startedwithamouse

[wallyj]

@MattnTricia, hope your plans work out and the cruises sail. Your strategy only has to make ‘sense’ to you. I know some may feel chasing ‘elite’ is not worth it.

 

Some have previously expressed displeasure at passengers who were able to attain ‘Elite’ tier by doing many short cruises as a solo when many of these short cruises were available on the West coast.

 

Many years ago, a friend of my brother felt Princess MIGHT possibly modify the loyalty program to only count ‘days’ and not AND OR, since most other cruise lines have gone to days/points only. He was able to attain ‘Elite’ with Princess with only 19 days, doing short sailings as a solo.

[Yehootu]

1 hour ago, MattnTricia said:

Priority Tenders off the boat

Only perk we really find valuable.

1 hour ago, MattnTricia said:

Being able to have a suit / dress pressed every cruise along with the Laundry benefit on longer cruises is a very nice perk. 

 Burnt ladies slacks and one mens suit pants have made the laundry/pressing a NO GO for us. Hope you have better luck.Don't forget the longer turn around times now that so many will take advantage of program and dilute benefits. 

 

Always good to use the system to one's advantage. 

Edited July 14 by Yehootu

[Mara4166]

I cannot find it now, but I thought that I read the suite bonus is not doubled which would mean your 3 credits would actually double to 5 not 6.  I have looked and cannot find it so hopefully I am incorrect., before spending a lot of money on this plan, please make certain the solo and suite cruise credits are also doubled as Princess is good at interpreting things to suit themselves and saying that the cruise credit is always 1  and the solo and suite extras are bonuses and not actually cruise credits.

 

hopefully someone will tell me I am wrong and did not see this.

Edited July 14 by Mara4166

[MattnTricia]

Even if this was the case we would be fine.   As I mentioned we have very few actual $ being spent in this plan and the rest is points / miles / time.  

 

From what my TA told me this would be inaccurate based on their confirmation from Princess and the published documentation from Princess as well

Edited July 14 by MattnTricia

[rosevew]

So unfair as there are no short cruises in the UK, just one 5 day cruise per year. Also, those on a 31 night Canada cruise will be platinum even if it's their first cruise. Seems a bit of a kick in the teeth.