Curious why levels are not based on # of days sailed

[tinkerone]

Not exactly. Loyalty is not about how much money you spend its about your devotion to the brand and how much you keep coming back. If I go on one 15 night cruise I have been on the same number of nights as someone who went on 5 three nights cruises. But the other person who has chosen DCL 5 times as their vacation choice has been a more loyal customer.

Agree to disagree. That 15 night cruise may be the beginning of 50 seven night cruises. The 5 three night cruises may be all the cruises that person will ever do.

However, a loyalty program is a loyalty program no matter how you do it. My point was it can be a loyalty program whether or not it is made up of number of cruises or number of days. Its a loyalty program. Yes, its about devotion but it could be either and still qualify. You can be loyal either way. Heck, you could make the loyalty program all about cabin catagories. Its still a loyalty program. They get to choose, we get to follow.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Not exactly. Loyalty is not about how much money you spend its about your devotion to the brand and how much you keep coming back. If I go on one 15 night cruise I have been on the same number of nights as someone who went on 5 three nights cruises. But the other person who has chosen DCL 5 times as their vacation choice has been a more loyal customer.

True, but if you did 5 15-night cruises, you would have paid for 75 cruise days, and if I did 5 3-night cruises, I would have only paid for 15, yet we would both have the same "loyalty" to Disney. Apples to Aardvarks

 

[jetskigrl]

One reason why number of cruises makes sense with regard to measuring the "loyalty" of a customer is that this means that the customer decided to book a cruise again and again. So, they made a positive decision to actually book a DCL cruise, hence showing loyalty to the line. You can become a gold CC member after 15 nights on a ship (5 3-night cruises). My Panama Canal cruise was 15 nights. However, I think someone who only booked the one 15-night Panama Canal cruise could be considered less "loyal" to DCL than someone who kept booking a 3-night cruise every three years. Of course, there can be totally different cases, but this might be the reasoning behind using the number of cruises, not the nights on board.

Not exactly. Loyalty is not about how much money you spend its about your devotion to the brand and how much you keep coming back. If I go on one 15 night cruise I have been on the same number of nights as someone who went on 5 three nights cruises. But the other person who has chosen DCL 5 times as their vacation choice has been a more loyal customer.

These is an excellent point and something I had not really considered before. It does make sense to consider how many times the person comes back vs. just taking a one-and-done cruise.

 

[peter11435]

True, but if you did 5 15-night cruises, you would have paid for 75 cruise days, and if I did 5 3-night cruises, I would have only paid for 15, yet we would both have the same "loyalty" to Disney. Apples to Aardvarks

Exactly. Both would have the same loyalty to Disney and that is exactly the point of a loyalty program. It's not about how much you spend.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just looking at it another way:

Disney only cares about your loyalty if it makes them more money. A happy customer repeating is cheaper than recruiting a new customer. So, they award those that give repeat business. What they are giving isn't worth all that much, so they can afford to keep people happy by awarding the same credit for all their cruises. It also gives people incentive to do the 3 and 4 night cruises, rather than trying for more points on a 7 day cruise, leaving it harder to fill those short cruises. This is the loyalty scheme that must make them the most money and divides their clientele in a way that they can most evenly fill their ships.

If they suddenly came out and said they were changing to days, instead of cruises, there would still be people who'd take the shorter cruises, but if someone were deciding between a 7 day on the Fantasy or a B2B 3/4, which would give the same days, they might not want to bother repeating stops and essentially losing the disembark/embark day, which might put a premium on the Fantasy, but might also leave the other ships with staterooms to spare. People might get fed up if they couldn't afford the suddenly rising price of the 7 day, but they didn't get as much loyalty value from the shorter cruises.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I look at it as a extra. I am Platinum but have no clue how many days or for that matter how many cruises I have under my belt. I don't care how they go about it. It's their cruise line and they have the right to determine it themselves. The perks are nice but not expected by me. If I have too many bags, so be it.

 

[tinkerone]

Just looking at it another way:

Disney only cares about your loyalty if it makes them more money. A happy customer repeating is cheaper than recruiting a new customer. So, they award those that give repeat business. What they are giving isn't worth all that much, so they can afford to keep people happy by awarding the same credit for all their cruises. It also gives people incentive to do the 3 and 4 night cruises, rather than trying for more points on a 7 day cruise, leaving it harder to fill those short cruises. This is the loyalty scheme that must make them the most money and divides their clientele in a way that they can most evenly fill their ships.

If they suddenly came out and said they were changing to days, instead of cruises, there would still be people who'd take the shorter cruises, but if someone were deciding between a 7 day on the Fantasy or a B2B 3/4, which would give the same days, they might not want to bother repeating stops and essentially losing the disembark/embark day, which might put a premium on the Fantasy, but might also leave the other ships with staterooms to spare. People might get fed up if they couldn't afford the suddenly rising price of the 7 day, but they didn't get as much loyalty value from the shorter cruises.

I have a friend who worked for DCL and he told me that the 3/4 night cruises were the cash cow for DCL, that they in fact did not like the b2b on the shorter cruises. To them, it means that they will sell twice the mickey t-shirts, twice the plush toys, basically everything twice in one week where as if they have a b2b cruiser they are only going to sell one of everything instead of the two. B2b on the Dream does not make them the most money. Hope that makes sense. The hope is that once on a 3 or 4 nighter you will want to do the longer cruises. He said it was easy to sell the shorter cruises more so than the longer. Now, that is just what I was told, take from it what we will.

You are certainly correct that a repeat client is cheaper than recruiting a new customer but, to me, it looks like they are throwing that model out the window. They don't seem to want to make repeaters feel special anymore. They are charging more and giving less. At least that's the way I see it.

 

[FigmentSpark]

That does make sense, tinkerone. Good points.

 

[delo4]

The disappointing thing about Disney's loyalty program is the number of things that have been taken away over the years. It kinda doesn't make you feel very appreciated. For example, the gift bag used to have some fun stuff like key chains, notecards, mugs, Rice Krispie treats, pens, etc. Now, if you are lucky, you get a photo album. At one time Platinum cruisers got a $350 on board credit for a 7 day cruise. Also, the one thing we enjoyed the most and didn't really cost Disney anything was the backstage tours. We got to see the galley, engine room, bridge, and backstage at the Theatre.

I am all for adding another level. Maybe they would be able to add some things instead of take away. Taking away things you used to get sends a negative message.

Yes, I know that Disney does not owe us anything and I will keep sailing with them regardless. It is also nice to be appreciated for your brand loyalty.

We sailed recently with some first time Disney cruisers and they were shocked by how little Disney offered to their repeat guests who are platinum level. They are frequent cruisers with Princess and they have much better perks.

But, since Disney ships usually sail full, they don't really need to - I guess that's the bottom line. We come back anyway.

 

[gismo1554]

I've always said it should be a combination of both i.e. 10 cruises or 70 days sailing which ever is less for example. I have cruises 8 times but in those 8 cruises clocked up 88 days and still only Gold. There are some that have done 10 cruises and clocked up only 30 days in theory but are Platinum. Yes its about loyalty but for some people (such as me) I choose the longer cruises due to the distance I have to travel to get to the cruise and therefore can't justify 3 night cruises. If I lived in Florida I'd be a lot more likely to just pop on a 3 nighter.

 

[Amunet]

I'm only a Silver member, going on my 3rd Disney cruise. I've done two 7 night cruises and my upcoming is a 14night PC. I'd be much farther up in loyalty if it was by night. But, really ... I'm not all the excited to get up to gold or platinum. Why? Even from the lowest tier, I can look up and see there really isn't much of a difference. Checking in early, reserving activities/dining and a free palo meal is really it. While those are pretty awesome things, that's something I could see at gold tier ... because platinums have been sailing with Disney through all the crazy prices and economy fluxuations, they should have more than that.

Of course, the above is my opinion as a Silver member. I'm in no rush. I'd rather take my longer Disney cruises at a very good price than many little ones and have that leisure cruise time broken up.

 

[Anisum]

I would say that if they did it solely on number of nights it might alienate some people. For example I have family that loves DCL but really can't stand the relaxation of being on the ship for more than three or four days before they get bored and restless (sounds crazy, I know) so for them it would take way longer to get up there because the shorter cruises cost more per night.

That being said, I'm not opposed to either way (though given my first few cruises were 3/4 nights I would be lower on the totem pole) I just would hate to see them take away from the current levels when/if they provide a new one because while Disney isn't required to provide you anything I would like to keep the small perks I have at gold.

I like the idea @gismo1554 had about it being days or cruises whichever you hit first.

 

[clten]

I'm only a Silver member, going on my 3rd Disney cruise. I've done two 7 night cruises and my upcoming is a 14night PC. I'd be much farther up in loyalty if it was by night.

Just using your quote as an example, my comments are not directed at your post (I agree with you, there isn't much reason to want to climb to the higher levels quickly because there isn't much benefit to them!)

I think a lot of people just assume since the current program, based on # of cruises, is set at after 1 Silver; after 5 Gold and after 10 Platinum that Disney would have made the program, if they based it on # of nights, those # of cruises multiplied by 3. So after 3 nights you would be Silver; after 15 nights you would be Gold and after 30 nights you would be platinum.

But I think if Disney were to convert to nights, I don't think the people who think they would jump from Silver to Gold or even Platinum would. When DCL organized the tiers, they wanted a very small percent to be platinum and I guess at the time 10 cruises was the cut off to have X% in that tier. But they didn't count on people climbing into that level so quickly (which is why they have done away with a number of the perks).

So as I see it, if they converted to # of nights the very lowest they would set it at would be Silver after 2 or 3 nights, but to get to Gold it would be after 30-35 nights and Platinum after 70-75 nights. But I suspect they have too many in Gold and Platinum now and if they revised the plan, they would either make those numbers even higher and/or add another level.

So some who take cruises longer than 7 days may benefit, those who take a lot of shorter cruises would lose but generally we would still have people who think it isn't organized right because it doesn't maximize the way they vacation.

 

[Flossbolna]

So some who take cruises longer than 7 days may benefit, those who take a lot of shorter cruises would lose but generally we would still have people who think it isn't organized right because it doesn't maximize the way they vacation.

I think this is really it: Every system will have some that benefit from it and some who will lose out on it. There is not one system that is fair overall.

Personally, I think the best perk DCL gives to Castaway Club members is the 10% shopping discount that you get as soon as you get to Gold level. 10% is not much, but it is nice to get your souvenirs from the ships' shops a little bit cheaper.

 

[John VN]

I worked at a place that only allowed 3 days off at a time MAX. Pretty hard putting together a 5 day, 7 day, 10 day vacation. Multiple 3 dayers was the only way to go so more money and more stand alone cruises = more come back for more or in other words loyalty.....IMO.

 

[darnheather]

Well airlines do it by miles not be number of trips. So I would think days would translate from that model better.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Also, the one thing we enjoyed the most and didn't really cost Disney anything was the backstage tours. We got to see the galley...,

You can still do a galley tour on most cruises. You just need to ask at Guest Services (early on in the cruise) whether one is going to be scheduled. They aren't advertised, but, if enough people ask, they tend to set one up.

But that's not a loyalty perk.

 

[jetskigrl]

Well airlines do it by miles not be number of trips. So I would think days would translate from that model better.

Funny, I just got an email from American Airlines yesterday that they are changing their loyalty program to be based off of $$ spent rather than actual miles traveled. "Earn award miles based on your ticket price and elite status. You'll earn more miles when you spend more."

So it looks like even the airlines are re-thinking miles vs. $$ spent.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Some airlines have perks that are tied to the number of flights you take. ie: lounge access or front of the line boarding.

 

[delo4]

You can still do a galley tour on most cruises. You just need to ask at Guest Services (early on in the cruise) whether one is going to be scheduled. They aren't advertised, but, if enough people ask, they tend to set one up.

But that's not a loyalty perk.

Yes, but thy aren't quite the same. I know some ships do ones for the general public, but this was one they did just for Platinum members, and it's been awhile since we did that one. As I remember, there were only a few of us and it was a bit different than the regular galley tour. We have done both. I haven't seen one offered on any of the ships lately, but maybe they just weren't offered on the sailings we have taken lately.

It is always a good idea to ask if they are doing one, but I still miss the Platinum perks that were once offered.