Friday, January 21, 2011

Royal Caribbean announces changes to the Crown & Anchor Society

For the second time in less than two years, Royal Caribbean is making changes to their Crown & Anchor Loyalty program.  This time the alteration is less about the benefits and more about the structure.  Here’s a summary of the changes.

 Previously, Crown & Anchor credits were earned per cruise.  A 3-night cruise and a 7-night cruise earned the same one credit.  Cruises longer than 9 nights earned double, as did being booked in suite accommodations.  The new program moves to a day-based accounting of points.  Once again, those booking suites will receive double points. For example, a 7-night cruise will earn seven points.  Stay in the Grand Suite and you will earn 14 points!

 Two new levels of recognition have been added.  The new tier configuration is Gold (3 points), Platinum (30 points), Emerald (55 points), Diamond (80 points), Diamond Plus (175 points) and the highest echelon, Pinnacle Club (700 points). When you log into the Crown & Anchor web page you can see how your credits were converted to points.  I now find myself with 104 points within the Diamond level.  The road to Diamond Plus will be long but what a lovely path to travel!

 There is now a way to select your upgrade preference, should one be available on your sailing. Maybe you want the upgrade to be automatic, while others prefer to limit upgrades with specific conditions.  That being said, keep in mind that quite often Royal Caribbean ships sail full, so don’t count on one! You can also select a gift preference, should one be due you.  Nothing grand, but I’d rather have a bottle of water on ice than another baseball cap when I arrive at my cabin!

 So there you have it. It is what I feel, a more equitable way of tallying up cruise credits or points. I also like being able to note my preferences.  That’s something that hotel loyalty clubs have been doing for years.  Nice job, Royal Caribbean!"

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