Anyone think status should be based on days cruised rather than cruises?

[Shanti]

That depends on the cruise. Have you priced out a 10 or 12 night European cruise lately? I could buy a nice new car for what some of those would cost a family of four.

I said per night. Yes, I've priced out many cruises, and the short peak season Dream cruises are often the most expensive per night.

 

[LAX]

If anyone genuinely wants a "fair" metric, it should be $$ based. If you spend $, you become silver. If you spend $$, then you are gold. If you spend $$$, platinum is yours! Loyalty means nothing to a business if it doesn't translate into revenues/profits.

LAX

 

[Disney mac]

If anyone genuinely wants a "fair" metric, it should be $$ based. If you spend $, you become silver. If you spend $$, then you are gold. If you spend $$$, platinum is yours! Loyalty means nothing to a business if it doesn't translate into revenues/profits.

LAX

That is true. This is essentially what companies like Marriott have gone to in terms of “reward points” but they still bases status on a nightly total.

 

[MomOTwins]

It would be arbitrary no matter how they cut it because the prices are so variable. My family of 5 so much more than a family of 2. You could argue that you should get double points for a verandah versus and inside, or bonus points for concierge bonus. I think they made it per cruise because it really does show "loyalty" -- those who cruise frequently are making them more money in the aggregate than those who cruise infrequently on longer itineraries.

 

[IrishEye]

Don't want to get into the argument of how DCL should reward loyalty. I do appreciate they have one of the better systems for us, acknowledged we are not everyone. On our first cruise they provided us a 10% discount on our next cruise plus gave us a $ 200 on board credit. This occurs on each and every cruise we take regardless of our status. On our journey through silver, gold and now platinum, we always have appreciated the little extra items, the crispy flip flops, back packs, duffle, beach bags, beach towels, trinket trays, sling packs, prints, truffles, wine, Palo meal, shop discounts, unique itinerary pins, or stateroom upgrades. Others may do better with other programs however for us, we don't feel this same appreciation when we sail Carnival, Norwegian, Royal, Princess, or Louis. Given I travel so much for work, we also have multiple hotel and airline loyalty memberships, one gives us $ 40 after 5 stays, others free nights after earning credit for the amount of money spent, others are a combination of number of miles flown and money spent for discount or free flights, all have a different value to me.

All I am suggesting is that for us DCL happens to be one of the better loyalty programs when I look at it in totality. Not saying that I would not appreciate any additional perks, just don't know what I could suggest other than something that would further benefit my style of travel.

 

[Shanti]

Not saying that I would not appreciate any additional perks, just don't know what I could suggest other than something that would further benefit my style of travel.

I would love a 15% OBB discount for silver, 20% for gold, and 25% for platinum. That would be a genuinely motivating loyalty program.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

And you could have taken those shorter cruises to get to gold faster as well.

Imagine how good that would have felt?



Yes, we could have taken more short cruises but for those that live so far away from a port it's really not a feasible option. It costs us about $2k just to get to the port when we are able to travel.

I like the suggestion of "or". 5 cruises OR x amount of days. This seems like a completely fair compromise, come on Disney!

Someone mentioned this has been discussed, my apologies, I have never seen it discussed on the board and it has bothered me for years.

 

[dvcdisney]

If anyone genuinely wants a "fair" metric, it should be $$ based. If you spend $, you become silver. If you spend $$, then you are gold. If you spend $$$, platinum is yours! Loyalty means nothing to a business if it doesn't translate into revenues/profits.

LAX

That's my exact point on my post (#11):

I don't know if this has been suggested --- since those who take shorter cruises may spend more per day than those who have longer cruises and solo cruiser tend to pay more, I think the most equitable method is to base the levels by total spent. I wouldn't have a clue what the cut off amounts for the levels would be, but perhaps along the lines of:

silver: average night stay of 7 nights of standard inside*
gold: average night stay of 7 nights of standard inside* X 5
platinum: average night stay of 7 nights of standard inside* X 10

*Standard inside - to be fair to those who only book this category

Once someone reaches that level, their next cruise will be the new level (as it is now).

 

[Trera]

Don't want to get into the argument of how DCL should reward loyalty. I do appreciate they have one of the better systems for us, acknowledged we are not everyone. On our first cruise they provided us a 10% discount on our next cruise plus gave us a $ 200 on board credit. This occurs on each and every cruise we take regardless of our status. On our journey through silver, gold and now platinum, we always have appreciated the little extra items, the crispy flip flops, back packs, duffle, beach bags, beach towels, trinket trays, sling packs, prints, truffles, wine, Palo meal, shop discounts, unique itinerary pins, or stateroom upgrades. Others may do better with other programs however for us, we don't feel this same appreciation when we sail Carnival, Norwegian, Royal, Princess, or Louis. Given I travel so much for work, we also have multiple hotel and airline loyalty memberships, one gives us $ 40 after 5 stays, others free nights after earning credit for the amount of money spent, others are a combination of number of miles flown and money spent for discount or free flights, all have a different value to me.

All I am suggesting is that for us DCL happens to be one of the better loyalty programs when I look at it in totality. Not saying that I would not appreciate any additional perks, just don't know what I could suggest other than something that would further benefit my style of travel.

Very well said!

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

I believe number of days should count in how quickly you advance for DCL Castaway Cay rewards program. If I were DCL King; any cruise up through seven nights is counted as one. Eight to 14 nights counts as two and anything 15 and higher three.

I also agree DCL could be more generous with their perks as you climb. But why it matters most for us is being able to book a future cruise ahead of those in a lower category than us. Because we do book our cruises as soon as the dates are released by DCL. Unfortunately it means we typically have a wait of around 1.5 years out from the departure date.

 

[cruiser21]

I said per night. Yes, I've priced out many cruises, and the short peak season Dream cruises are often the most expensive per night.

Why does per night cost matter? The longer the cruise the more money spent onboard at ports etc. Wll dcl cruises are expensive and overpriced so it's kind of a mute point in my opinion.

 

[undertheradar]

I would love a 15% OBB discount for silver, 20% for gold, and 25% for platinum. That would be a genuinely motivating loyalty program.

How would you reward concierge and the different levels within?

 

[MUN]

I'm not sure if this has ever been discussed and hopefully I won't be flamed.

I really think silver, gold, platinum should be based on days cruised. We will have cruised 35 nights to get gold status but someone could take 5, two, three or four day cruises and be gold. Thoughts?

I think it's fine the way it is.

 

[Shanti]

How would you reward concierge and the different levels within?

The DCL loyalty program has nothing to do with concierge or stateroom type. It's based on number of cruises. I think that part of the system is fine as is, but could use better incentives.

 

[undertheradar]

The DCL loyalty program has nothing to do with concierge or stateroom type. It's based on number of cruises. I think that part of the system is fine as is, but could use better incentives.

Bummer

 

[Snowwhyt]

I think it will be a great idea to see anyone over 600 days get a night in the castle. Over 300 a night at the resort of their choice. Either the night before or after the next seven or more day cruise.

 

[lizzyb]

Since I don't think there is much benefit to the status it really doesn't matter to me. However, since we travel from Canada to take a cruise we only do 7 night ones therefore it would be better for us if it was based on nights.

 

[cgolf]

How would you reward concierge and the different levels within?

I believe Royal does double nights for concierge level guests, so following that logic you could have concierge level cruises count double. Now that we are platinum doesn't help us, but we would have gotten there quicker.

 

[MPS516]

Well it looks like there are lots of different options which is probably why every companies loyalty program seems to differ. Even with that, similar ones seem to have different amounts for case in on a benefit. Who could have known when S&H Green Stamps created the loyalty awards back in the day it would have come to where it is now.

My vote would be to offer a discount for everyone in the North Central US. Give us the same opportunity as Fla resident, Canadian resident (occasionally) and when they did Texas resident (introducing Galveston port). Probably will not save me anymore than using our onboard booking discount on opening day but hey, look how much business a store creates offering a discount, regardless how minimal the amount.

 

[jnsma]

There is 1 class of passengers that I've never seen discussed in these threads.... the kids! My kids are platinum and haven't spent a dime, well except at the gift shop. The 3rd and 4th person in a cabin are less money than the first two. On our first cruise we got a kids sail free deal, but it still counted as a cruise taken for them. So whenever my kids come of age and paying their own way, they will have all the perks that I do.
I'm half joking, so don't flame me, but I've always found it an interesting loophole in this discussion. I guess if it wasn't for the kids, I probably wouldn't have tried DCL.