Okay, well.... If you are in the Dominican Republic today you are probably complaining about a little more than humidity and frost on the inside of your windows. You might be complaining about that tropical storm that is blowing your hut over. But I suppose, after it leaves, you'll have a great view of the beach.... cup half full, right? And if you were in the Dominican Republic today you would have the added advantage of not having to listen to Kathleen Sebelius sitting in front of Congress saying things like "I didn't do it..." rather than the Fox News shows that usually air while you work. I know, I could turn the TV off. But I really like having background noise while I work and the news is usually a good option since it doesn't generally distract me.
Today, let's talk about the advantages of cruise line loyalty. All cruise lines have loyalty programs. With some lines you have to enroll after your first cruise. On Princess, on your final day at sea of your first cruise, your cabin steward drops off your Princess loyalty information along with your membership pin. It's all automatic with them. I personally am a member of loyalty programs with Royal Caribbean, Princess and Celebrity. I've sailed on NCL and Carnival too, but was disappointed enough with each of those experiences that I didn't bother joining their loyalty clubs since I felt they would go unused anyway.
I know people who are absolutely loyal to one cruise line. I'm not sure that these people would go on a $5 cruise if it were offered by another line. On the other hand, there are a lot of people like me who want the advantages that a loyalty program offers but also want to experience what the other cruise lines have to offer. Royal Caribbean offers a Visa card that helps them get a great loyalty following. With it you can earn points for cruises or even on board spending credits during your cruise. In this program, you turn points in prior to your cruise departure in exchange for money that you can spend during your cruise. My parents do this each time they sail on RCI. If you use your RCI Visa card to book and pay for an RCI cruise, you get extra points. It's a great incentive to sail with Royal Caribbean.
But even with the RCI Visa, some people don't sail exclusively with Royal Caribbean. For instance, I just processed a final payment for a Princess cruise for clients last week using their Royal Caribbean Visa card. So, they're going to get Royal Caribbean points for sailing on Princess. Additionally, I would imagine that they will use their RCI Visa for the shipboard spending account. So, every penny they spend during this Princess cruise will get them closer to a free Royal Caribbean cruise. I LOVE that!
So you may be asking, if you don't have a Royal Caribbean Visa, are there any advantages to remaining loyal to one cruise line? The answer is yes, but the benefits are not nearly as big. For instance, I am a Platinum Crown and Anchor member on Royal Caribbean. Your level is based on the number of nights you have spent on board the cruise lines ships. With RCI the levels are as follows:
3 to 29 nights - Gold
30 to 54 nights - Platinum
55 - 79 nights - Emerald
80 - 174 nights - Diamond
175 to 699 nights - Diamond Plus
700 + nights Pinnacle
You'd be amazed at how many Diamond and Diamond Plus members you come across during any given cruise. If you get to pinnacle you have basically been on 100 cruises just with Royal Caribbean. That is crazy to me! How many cruises do these people take each year???? And more importantly, how do I get to be their travel agent????
On each cruise there are past cruiser functions. The higher you get into the program the more exclusive they become. Everybody from Gold through Pinnacle is invited to the Welcome Back Party on each cruise. At this event they'll pass a few free drinks around and then they will talk about how many members of each level are on board. They will single out Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members who are on board. The Captain usually attends and you can get a photo with him if you are inclined. If you like getting a photo with the Captain, it is easier to do so here than at the Captains party to which everyone on board is invited. Additionally, all Gold through Pinnacle members get an on board coupon booklet at the beginning of each cruise. The values in your booklet reflect your status. So a Diamond booklet is worth much more than a Gold one. You also get priority check in when boarding the ship. Again, the higher up you are on the food chain the faster you get on board. If you are Diamond Plus, I'm not sure that your feet hit the ground from the time you leave your ground transportation until you are in your upgraded room.
Once you get to Platinum, you get robes in your room for use while on board, you get a lapel pin and what they call a Top Tier Event. Basically, it's a Welcome Back Party for members who are Platinum and higher. The only thing that Emerald gets that Platinum doesn't is a free gift in their room and a free drink. This used to be available to Platinum members, but a few years ago, they changed the program up. (I guess the cheap picture frames and luggage tags they were giving away were cutting into the bottom line....) Before they changed the program, I got a picture frame, a luggage tag and a remarkably cheap tote bag on which the strap broke during my first use of it. So really when it gets right down to it, the only difference between Platinum and Emerald is a single free drink.
But Diamond is where it all starts to pay off. It's sort of like moving from steerage to a luxury suite. Once you get to 80 nights on board you get to use of the Diamond Lounge which is kind of what it's all about. This is a place where you can go and not deal with the riff raff that frequent the other areas of the ship. Only people who have spent a lot of time on Royal Caribbean are admitted. I mean these are strictly Thurston and Lovey Howell III types. (Not really, most of them are pretty nice people.) But it does give you a nice, quiet place to go before dinner that is out of the way and quiet since not many others are invited. You also get a Chef's Gift/Amenity. I have no idea what it might be. I mean, do they hand out RCI spatulas? I don't know. Maybe it's a Royal Caribbean Cookbook. I have a few of those and I don't mind telling you, they are pretty nice if you are into cookbooks. You also get a priority departure which gets you on the ship faster than Platinum members. There is an "Exclusive NIGHTLY Diamond Event". I can only assume that this means free drinks every night! Talk about some savings! You also get free specialty coffee at breakfast. I'm not a coffee snob so this holds no interest for me. As long as there is caffeine in the coffee it is good enough for me. On top of all this, you get an Entertainment Tour. I suppose this means a tour of a theater which might involve meeting an entertainer or two.
With Diamond Plus, you get a personalized gift, Concierge Lounge Access which is even more exclusive than Diamond. I don't know, maybe you would be the only person with access on some cruises. So, if you are into big crowds, this might not be a draw for you. Once you get to 340 points you qualify for seating with a ships officer at dinner. I'm not sure how I would feel about this. I mean, it would be neat to talk to the ships Captain or 1st Mate at dinner one night. But on the other hand, you really have to worry about dripping soup down the front of your dress a lot more than usual. It could be kind of humiliating. Priority seating for shows is included, plus upgraded bathroom amenities but only once you get up to 350 points. (That's 50 seven night cruises.) I guess until then you'll continue to use Suave with the rest of us or bring your own. Once you make it to 525 points.... that's 75 seven night cruises.... you get an extra gift. I hope it's not luggage tags. It's cheaper to bone up on your trivia and attend the daily trivia contests for luggage tags.
For the few people who make it to Pinnacle, there is a lapel pin and a Pinnacle Club Gold Card with exclusive privileges. I know, this is kind of vague but that's all the website tells me. I guess it's kind of good that there is not some exclusive Pinnacle Club on the top deck since you'd pretty much have to stand around in there alone watching all the peons (who have been on fewer than 100 seven night cruises... *losers!*) walk by looking in at you.
All of those things that I just told you about are the on board benefits. In addition to the on board benefits, there are exclusive Crown and Anchor cruises where only members are allowed on the ship, there are discounts sent out via email quarterly which are referred to as Savings Certificates, discounts on balcony and suite staterooms for Platinum and higher, reduced rate and sometimes even free upgrades. Once you get to 340 points, you can go on a cruise by yourself and only pay 150% of the price for a single person rather than 200%. Take my word for it, this is a big deal. Quite frankly, after 48.57 cruises, you are probably looking forward to 7 nights alone in a cabin. At 700 and again at 1050 points, you get a free seven night cruise in a balcony stateroom. I'll do the math for you.... after 100 seven night cruises and again at 150 seven night cruises, you get a free cruise in a balcony stateroom (Worth it? I don't know). Finally after 200 seven night cruises you get a free cruise in a Jr Suite stateroom and you get another free Jr Suite stateroom cruise every 350 points after that. (That's every 50 seven night cruises.) So do you suppose there is someone out there with 400 seven night cruises under there belt who is racking up on the free 7 night Jr Suite cruises? I kind of doubt it.
When I start thinking about this, I always wonder how many times a year you have to go on a cruise to reach some of these rewards. Let's think about it. If you don't start cruising until you are 30 and then you go on 2 seven night cruises a year from age 30 to age 50, that's only 40 seven night cruises. You'll still have 60 more cruises to go to get a free cruise! The most amazing part of all of this is that I have been on Royal Caribbean cruises with people who have been on 75 cruises! REALLY!!! I didn't personally know them. But I saw them at a Welcome Back function and then again sitting at the Captains table on a formal night. People who have been on 75 cruises dress really well in case you were wondering. They get a lot of recognition. All the crew members oooh and aw over them, as they should. But here's the thing.... and I'll leave you with this.... If I could afford to go on 200+ Royal Caribbean cruises at double occupancy in my lifetime, is that really the way I would want to spend every single vacation? I LOVE Royal Caribbean, but if I had that kind of money to blow on vacations, I think I would be wondering if there was more out there? Just sayin'....
I'm going to get busy. Have a terrific hump DAAAAAY.....
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