Pearl Castaway level?

[When I Grow Up]

Has anyone any information as to when they will start the Pearl Benefits (if there are any). Important to me is the Port Arrival Time freedom and Check in desk and Boarding group. Holding off booking until I find that out.

 

[jrapps]

Has anyone any information as to when they will start the Pearl Benefits (if there are any). Important to me is the Port Arrival Time freedom and Check in desk and Boarding group. Holding off booking until I find that out.

So far all they have said is early 2023. Since they announced this in conjunction with their silver anniversary sailings which start in May, I would expect to see the announcement anytime between New Year's Day and May 1st.

Maybe they'll pick April 1st and give us all a good laugh at how mediocre the perks are.

 

[When I Grow Up]

That would figure. I believe they realize that just like the parks they can increase the price and reduce their cost and service level and still the people will buy the product. The "perks" such as the Port Arrival Time and Boarding really cost little and provided a feeling that they cared if you returned. I do hope they reinstate the casual dining in the evening in Cabanas. That was most enjoyable and relaxing and more like the service used to be in the main dining rooms.

 

[Meriweather]

Barely into platinum......I too would like to see number of nights counted instead of cruises. We never do less than 7 and have several 14 nights.
We cruise other cruise lines too and the ones we sail with use nights

 

[DCLMP]

Barely into platinum......I too would like to see number of nights counted instead of cruises. We never do less than 7 and have several 14 nights.
We cruise other cruise lines too and the ones we sail with use nights

What 14 night cruises have you done on DCL? The only ones I've ever seen are panama.

 

[happycamper47]

. I do hope they reinstate the casual dining in the evening in Cabanas. That was most enjoyable and relaxing and more like the service used to be in the main dining rooms.

Many have said that probably won't happen until the staffing shortage eases. Not enough servers to work all the dining rooms and Cabanas.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What 14 night cruises have you done on DCL? The only ones I've ever seen are panama.

We've done 3 14 night cruises on DCL - westbound trans Atlantic (2010); eastbound trans Atlantic (2016); and Hawaii (2011). Our Panama Canal cruise was 15 nights.

 

[DCLMP]

We've done 3 14 night cruises on DCL - westbound trans Atlantic (2010); eastbound trans Atlantic (2016); and Hawaii (2011). Our Panama Canal cruise was 15 nights.

I've done all those cruises except Panama and they were a little less than 14 nights. You will have people that argue that their 4 nights cruises in the heart of Summer or Christmas break cost the same or were more expensive. The two TA's we did and our Hawaii cruise were very cheap. Less than my upcoming Wish cruise. There is such a difference in price between off season and peak season on DCL I don't think there's a way DCL could do it that would make it fair for everyone.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I've done all those cruises except Panama and they were a little less than 14 nights. You will have people that argue that their 4 nights cruises in the heart of Summer or Christmas break cost the same or were more expensive. The two TA's we did and our Hawaii cruise were very cheap. Less than my upcoming Wish cruise. There is such a difference in price between off season and peak season on DCL I don't think there's a way DCL could do it that would make it fair for everyone.

How long was your Hawaii cruise?

 

[DCLMP]

How long was your Hawaii cruise?

10 nights. Our TA's were 11 and 13 and we've done two European cruises 12 and 11 nights. Other cruise lines have a lot of long cruises. More ships and more itinerary's. Disney has just a few every year and I believe they got rid of the Panama cruises.

 

[Kwami]

10 nights. Our TA's were 11 and 13 and we've done two European cruises 12 and 11 nights. Other cruise lines have a lot of long cruises. More ships and more itinerary's. Disney has just a few every year and I believe they got rid of the Panama cruises.

There are Panama Canal cruises scheduled for next year on the Magic.

 

[DCLMP]

There are Panama Canal cruises scheduled for next year on the Magic.

Good to know. For some reason I thought they stopped doing it. I regret not that cruise when my kids were younger. It's out of the question now with college kids.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

That would figure. I believe they realize that just like the parks they can increase the price and reduce their cost and service level and still the people will buy the product. The "perks" such as the Port Arrival Time and Boarding really cost little and provided a feeling that they cared if you returned. I do hope they reinstate the casual dining in the evening in Cabanas. That was most enjoyable and relaxing and more like the service used to be in the main dining rooms.

I am all about them giving Platinum/Pearl back priority arrival, but I hesitate to think it will be "Arrive whenever" like it used to be. That caused mass chaos and you could tell it overwhelmed the port.

I remember being in the terminal for a Fantasy sailing in 2019 where they actually had to close the terminal because there were too many people inside and they hadn't started boarding yet. We were claustrophobic with all the people there.

They should tier online check in to allow Pearl/Platinum first crack at the port arrival times the same way they do Port Adventures/Onboard activities.

 

[Trera]

I wish you could get the numbers of how many of each level of Castaway Club. Knowing the number of Platinums would probably shed some light on why they are adding the new tier and why they are slowly removing amenities.

 

[Mommb]

Simply knowing the number of Platinum guests would be less helpful than knowing the typical number of Platinum guests on specific itineraries.

I would guess there are many people who reached Platinum while their kids were young(er) and then stopped cruising on Disney. These people wouldn't affect current policies, unless they start cruising again.

I would also guess that longer and unusual itineraries have a greater proportion of guests who are Platinum. People who have cruised often are likely to have enough vacation time for longer cruises, and Platinum guests are both able to take advantage of early booking and likely to want to sail on itineraries they haven't yet experienced.

On the other hand, I'd guess that weekday 4-night cruises tend to have lower proportions of Platinum guests. I'm not sure about weekend 3-night cruises -- those would appeal to the "take a lot of short cruises because I live nearby" Platinum people, but not the "I really love the ship and want to spend as much time on it as I can" people.

I am curious whether the Pearl rewards will be geared more toward people who typically take longer/unusual cruises or more toward people who take a lot of short cruises.

 

[DisneyConvert]

There are too(?) many Platinums given the size of the overall DCL sailing population, so adding another, higher level and re-figuring the bennies makes sense. Palo shouldnt operate as a loss leader just to make FL Residents and back-to-back Dream'ers (yes, we did that once) happy. I do miss those more-intimate welcomes in Fathoms or D-Lounge though.

 

[DCLMP]

Simply knowing the number of Platinum guests would be less helpful than knowing the typical number of Platinum guests on specific itineraries.

I would guess there are many people who reached Platinum while their kids were young(er) and then stopped cruising on Disney. These people wouldn't affect current policies, unless they start cruising again.

I would also guess that longer and unusual itineraries have a greater proportion of guests who are Platinum. People who have cruised often are likely to have enough vacation time for longer cruises, and Platinum guests are both able to take advantage of early booking and likely to want to sail on itineraries they haven't yet experienced.

On the other hand, I'd guess that weekday 4-night cruises tend to have lower proportions of Platinum guests. I'm not sure about weekend 3-night cruises -- those would appeal to the "take a lot of short cruises because I live nearby" Platinum people, but not the "I really love the ship and want to spend as much time on it as I can" people.

I am curious whether the Pearl rewards will be geared more toward people who typically take longer/unusual cruises or more toward people who take a lot of short cruises.

I agree with you. Every unique cruise or long cruise I've taken has had a disproportionate number of platinum and gold cruisers. The short ones seem to be mostly first-time cruisers. I would love to know how many platinum cruisers that post on this board take multiple short cruises every year. My guess is probably few to none.

 

[holula]

I agree with you. Every unique cruise or long cruise I've taken has had a disproportionate number of platinum and gold cruisers. The short ones seem to be mostly first-time cruisers. I would love to know how many platinum cruisers that post on this board take multiple short cruises every year. My guess is probably few to none.

I just got off a b2b on the Wonder (4n/3n) - initially I booked the 4 night only as the price was right however then I added on the 3 nights because 4 wasn’t long enough.

I’m glad I made that decision. Not sure I want to do anything less than 5 in the future.

 

[bigAWL]

I agree with you. Every unique cruise or long cruise I've taken has had a disproportionate number of platinum and gold cruisers. The short ones seem to be mostly first-time cruisers. I would love to know how many platinum cruisers that post on this board take multiple short cruises every year. My guess is probably few to none.

I just got off a b2b on the Wonder (4n/3n) - initially I booked the 4 night only as the price was right however then I added on the 3 nights because 4 wasn’t long enough.

I’m glad I made that decision. Not sure I want to do anything less than 5 in the future.

We are platinum. Our first cruise was 4 nights. Since then we've done a 3/4 night back-to-back (it was the only way to get on the Dream back then), and a 5/7 night back-back. Other than that, we've only done 7 nights or longer.

We booked a 5 night spring break cruise for Mar because it was all we could fit in to everyone's breaks. I'm very worried about how short it will feel, but at least we'll have two sea days.

 

[DCLMP]

I just got off a b2b on the Wonder (4n/3n) - initially I booked the 4 night only as the price was right however then I added on the 3 nights because 4 wasn’t long enough.

I’m glad I made that decision. Not sure I want to do anything less than 5 in the future.

I've done short cruises and I've done a B2B, but I don't do those exclusively. The notion that there are a high number of pearl cruisers that do nothing but short cruises is hard for me to believe. The short cruises are the most expensive per night and I would think at some point you would want to try something new.