Crown and Anchor Diamond is Now Cubic Zirconia

[critterchick]

I was under the impression, please correct me if I am wrong, that Princess had imposed some limitations on both of those perks and they were not unlimited as they were in the past. Diamond members on RCI get a number of free minutes on the internet that can significantly reduce your cost unless you spend a major portion of your cruise time online, and twice during our TA we were offered an "all that you can stuff into a laundry bag (wash and fold) for $20. Not exactly free but still a decent benefit. The Concierge Lounge, which is available to diamond members on three quarters of the RCI fleet, with free cocktails every evening is probably more of a meaningful savings to us than the two Princess benefits that you mention.

 

Royal Caribbean gives you $10 of free internet access on a cruise of any length. Princess gives you $75 on a 7-night cruise (I think you get more for longer cruises, but I don't know the amount). The laundry and dry cleaning are FREE for Elite, and you get full service, not the wash & fold for $20 that RCI sometimes gives you.

 

I just called for my CZ Plus amenity and the wine list, which they expanded earlier this year (as I recall) to include some nice selections, has been slashed. The rep told me, "well, there used to be only a red and a white." Um, so? Then there were half a dozen of each to choose from (for 49+ plus credits), and noew there are 3, all inferior quality IMHO. No Pinots of either color, either.:mad:

 

I'm going to be working more diligently on getting to Elite on Princess. I've always preferred RCI, but only by a whisker, and with the little nicks that they are putting into the C&A program, along with the Beasts of the Seas that are sucking the financial life out of them, they are no longer my clear favorite.

 

I guess they'll be kicking me OUT of the Royal Champions...

[Cruising89143]

Ah, woe is me. Ah, poor me. Maybe some do need to take it across the hall. Let's see if the grass is greener on the other side. My guess is it won't be.:rolleyes: Now, I am going to go and dry my crying eyes at all the woe is me that is on this board lately.

[suziehmkr]

The invitation to become a member of their loyalty rewards program is one way. Nothing is asked or required from anyone. The more you cruise, the bigger the reward. We give nothing extra and get something in return. How can this process be described any other way than positive?

 

I LOVE the way you think! Thanks for posting that. :)

 

As far as Princess goes... been there, done that. We were treated so poorly by the staff on the Island Princess and the corporate office after the cruise that we would be hard pressed to take another one. We were treated better on Carnival BOTH times than we were on Princess. While I won't say we will never sail on them again, it would have to be at a darn good price or an itinerary that no one else has (like the Tahitian cruise I want to do :rolleyes: ) I keep holding out for the hope that Royal will hit those islands someday.

 

We don't cruise enough to be Diamond, Elite, Emerald or anything else... It will be a long time before we are anything shiny - but no matter where we cruise, we always feel like something is missing when we aren't on a Royal Caribbean ship. That beats free dry cleaning any day. :D

[Fury1995]

I LOVE the way you think! Thanks for posting that. :)

 

As far as Princess goes... been there, done that. We were treated so poorly by the staff on the Island Princess and the corporate office after the cruise that we would be hard pressed to take another one. We were treated better on Carnival BOTH times than we were on Princess. While I won't say we will never sail on them again, it would have to be at a darn good price or an itinerary that no one else has (like the Tahitian cruise I want to do :rolleyes: ) I keep holding out for the hope that Royal will hit those islands someday.

 

We don't cruise enough to be Diamond, Elite, Emerald or anything else... It will be a long time before we are anything shiny - but no matter where we cruise, we always feel like something is missing when we aren't on a Royal Caribbean ship. That beats free dry cleaning any day. :D

 

Thanks Tina, thought my post 'just slipped by everyone'.

 

I may have needed to put a disclaimer in my post that I am a C&A Diamond member and Royal Champion "intitee" (haven't recieved any follow up yet :rolleyes: ) some may take any opinions as "super biased". However, any changes to the loyalty rewards programs have bigger impacts the higher your membership level.

[wraithe]

So is the OP saying they're improving the program? Since in many aspects, laboratory made diamonds are higher quality. They're practically as hard as diamond, and usually flawless, colorless and perfect crystals, unlike diamonds. Just looking at it from a different perspective. Just because something is less expensive doesn't necessarily make it better for every use.

 

Wraithe, first diamond cruise coming up in 13 days, but who's counting??:p

[sea-cruise]

BON VOYAGE!!! (and Happy 1st D cruise)!!! :)

[Hypo]

Royal Caribbean gives you $10 of free internet access on a cruise of any length. Princess gives you $75 on a 7-night cruise (I think you get more for longer cruises, but I don't know the amount). The laundry and dry cleaning are FREE for Elite, and you get full service, not the wash & fold for $20 that RCI sometimes gives you.

 

I just called for my CZ Plus amenity and the wine list, which they expanded earlier this year (as I recall) to include some nice selections, has been slashed. The rep told me, "well, there used to be only a red and a white." Um, so? Then there were half a dozen of each to choose from (for 49+ plus credits), and noew there are 3, all inferior quality IMHO. No Pinots of either color, either.:mad:

 

I'm going to be working more diligently on getting to Elite on Princess. I've always preferred RCI, but only by a whisker, and with the little nicks that they are putting into the C&A program, along with the Beasts of the Seas that are sucking the financial life out of them, they are no longer my clear favorite.

 

I guess they'll be kicking me OUT of the Royal Champions...

 

RCCL has recently changed the coupon book for Diamonds, and now is only giving 10 minutes of Internet access per coupon book.

 

Hypo

[cctn]

Has anyone else seen this?:rolleyes:

 

MIAMI, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has announced that the highest levels of the Crown and Anchor Loyalty program will be renamed. What were in the past Diamond and Diamond Plus will now be Cubic Zirconia and Cubic Zirconia Plus. "We feel that renaming our Loyalty program tiers more accurately reflects the direction RCI is taking for the future" said E. Scrooge, VP for Loyalty Programs, "and dovetails nicely with our recent cutbacks to the RCI shareholder benefits"

 

If not, just wait. ;)

 

 

that's cute -- well, I started another thread for the Diamonds/+ - let's see what the D/D+ cruisers have to say - Corkey Carol

[Cruise Junky]

I was under the impression, please correct me if I am wrong, that Princess had imposed some limitations on both of those perks and they were not unlimited as they were in the past. Diamond members on RCI get a number of free minutes on the internet that can significantly reduce your cost unless you spend a major portion of your cruise time online, and twice during our TA we were offered an "all that you can stuff into a laundry bag (wash and fold) for $20. Not exactly free but still a decent benefit. The Concierge Lounge, which is available to diamond members on three quarters of the RCI fleet, with free cocktails every evening is probably more of a meaningful savings to us than the two Princess benefits that you mention.

 

The only limitation on Princess is it's not unlimited internet access as it once was, but you also don't have to be Elite to get the perk. We're both Platinium....6 cruises...and we both received approx 250 minutes each of free internet access on our 12 night cruise last month.

 

Princess does a free mini bar set up in rooms for their Elite, which isn't quite the same as the Concierge Lounge free drinks, but you do get a nice selection of mini bottles of hard liquour, beer and soft drinks in your room.

[Merion_Mom]

RCCL has recently changed the coupon book for Diamonds, and now is only giving 10 minutes of Internet access per coupon book.

 

Hypo

 

Either you are confused, or I am.

 

The Diamond internet coupon is for TEN DOLLARS of internet usage, which at the rate of fifty five cents a minute, is 18 minutes.

[ChevyCruiser]

 

The Diamond internet coupon is for TEN DOLLARS of internet usage, which at the rate of fifty five cents a minute, is 18 minutes.

 

Whoopee Do....18 minutes of SLOOOWWW connection internet.:(

 

The bean counters must've tweaked the internet service to gain maximum revenue. Their formula was:

 

Slow Speed X Per Minute Charge = More $$$

 

 

They developed the internet formula after the alcoholic drink formula was successful. The drink formula was:

 

Juice/Water/Ice > Alcohol = More $$$;)

[DataStar]

Friends:

 

I think we have to realize that loyalty programs -- not just on cruise lines, but airlines, hotel chains, and car rental companies -- are constantly re-evaluated and changed. I have a lot of airline miles -- 3 million points on Continental, for example -- and I have seen a lot of changes. Some I thought were good, some were OK, and some I hated.

 

Here's the point. You can't go ballistic over every change. How much do the changes in the onboard coupon books mean to you? How about the change in the Shareholder benefit? Not everything has the same impact or import.

 

If something is particularly bothering you, let the company know, whether it is Royal Caribbean or American Airlines, or Hertz or American Express or Hilton. Or post it where they can see it.

 

Don't think it helps? A couple of months ago, Continental changed its mileage accrual program rules to eliminate the 500 mile per flight minimum, going, instead, to actual miles flown. That changed bothered their frequent flyer community a lot, and they let the company know. A few weeks later, I got an email from the company which said that they heard from the elite-level customers loud and clear, and were changing the program to reinstate the 500-mile minimum for frequent flyers.

 

As someone said earlier in this thread, you evaluate programs as you wish to. I think that every company that has a loyalty program is trying to find the right balance between the cost of the program and the benefits they gain. And I believe that feedback from frequent guests/users is an important tool for getting that balance right.

 

So choose your battles, figure out what you like and don't like, and let them know. Ultimately, you'll decide if what you get is worth your loyalty.

 

My personal take is that RCI's program is overall, better for me than those of competitors. When I combine that with the on-board experience, I plan to stick with the line, and I hope to see many of you on future voyages.

 

Alan

[tinkerme1]

Alan: Well said! I couldn't have done it better if I tried! :D :D

[Alexis]

I tend to take longer cruises and with the airlines luggage restrictions found that it was much easier to take fewer clothes and send them out to the ship's laundry or dry-cleaning services. Our last cruise ended last week and I sent laundry out three times. Having laundry as a perk would be something that I'd be very interested in.

 

2P.P1

 

There is a coupon in the Diamond book now for laundry service.

Plus they have a special of so many items in a bag for a certain price.

So they are giving some "specials" on the laundry service.

We did use all of them on our B2B cruises.

[ChevyCruiser]

Friends:

 

 

If something is particularly bothering you, let the company know, whether it is Royal Caribbean or American Airlines, or Hertz or American Express or Hilton. Or post it where they can see it.

 

So choose your battles, figure out what you like and don't like, and let them know. Ultimately, you'll decide if what you get is worth your loyalty.

 

 

Alan

 

Alan,

 

It is my usual habit to speak out for good service and for bad service as well. Here's the text of a letter I sent to RCCL:

 

My wife and I are "Loyal Royals" having cruised exclusively with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. We are Diamond members of the Crown and Anchor Society, Royal Caribbean shareholders, and as young retirees looking forward to many, many more years of cruise vacations. We have introduced several friends and family members to cruising and we frequently book cruise vacations on RCI together.

 

We are distressed to learn from a cruising friend - we missed the official announcement from RCI - that we will no longer be able to combine Next Cruise on-board credits with shareholder benefits. Luckily, we learned of the change in time to utilize two open Next Cruise certificates that we purchased on the Radiance of the Seas in September and we hurriedly booked two cruises prior to the October 15th deadline. Had we known in September of the changes taking effect in October, we would not have booked two open Next Cruise certificates.

 

Because of this sudden change in benefits that even had the RCI phone reps scratching their heads in trying to explain the ramifications to the customers, our confidence in RCI has been seriously eroded. We do understand that RCI retains the right to adjust loyalty program benefits, but you must understand that we retain the right to adjust our cruise plans.

 

With the ill-timed, sneaky, and poorly communicated changes to the RCI loyalty program, we have begun to look elsewhere for cruise vacations and recently booked a two-week cruise with Princess Cruises this winter. Another couple with whom we have cruised with RCI in the past, will join us on the cruise. That represents approximately $10,000 in revenue that RCI has let slip away.

 

Any wet-behind-the-ears MBA understands that it is much more cost-effective to retain loyal customers than find new ones.

 

We hope that RCI will reconsider the recent changes to shareholder benefits.

 

 

I always figured that if I don't stand up for myself, I'll be bending over for everyone else.;)

[ancldaca]

Each line's loyalty program (talking Princess/Royal only here) is tailored to the type of cruising they offer. Princess' internet and laundry is custom made for their cruises which have a tendency to be longer (not counting B2B, of course). Such benefits are of lesser value on Royal as its cruises tend to be more 7 day based which packs easier in one piece of luggage.

I'm not saying that either line only does one or the other, merely that it's more of a tendency (Princess has many more 9,10, and 12 day single segment cruises IMO).