Pearl Castaway level?

[jrapps]

We are just about to hit platinum - will make it next spring. I take the Pearl category as a challenge. It will have taken us about 5 years to make platinum - with DCL closed for over a year of those 5 years.

This new tier will make me change the way I book cruises. I will book VGT rates to make cruises cheaper and do some shorter B2B cruises. No longer will I pay full price for a certain cabin. Have to make our cruise $$$’s stretch if I am to make Pearl.

I will admit I have already looked to see if there are some really inexpensive 3-nighters that fit my schedule over the next year or so.

Gamification works. It's amazing how many thousands we will spend for perks worth pennies!

 

[BamaGuy44]

I do apologize if you took offense to what I was trying to say. Perhaps I didn't express my thoughts the way that it was meant to come across as. Again, I am not complaining at all. I was only trying to share that my belief is that most will be close to the ports who have the luxury and the convenience of living closer.

As for don't hate the player hate the game. The truth is, I don't hate the player nor do I hate the game. The game is the way the game is; and I'm ok with it. An example is cruising in concierge. There are benefits to doing it. I will be on the Dream in 5 days and staying concierge for the first time. I was able to play the game. I was able to get a cabana, secure multiple reservations to Palo, Remy, and every tasting I wanted, and have a Port arrival at 11:00 am. It's the way the game is played. Same thing here with how Disney rewards frequent cruisers and reward them as pearl.

Again, I apologize if you took offense to what I posted. It was not my motive or my intent, nor was it complaining. I'm not a big social media debater, I'm to freaking old for that, and again was not my intent to insult or debate. The online world is changing so fast on me and one of the reasons why I don't post on these boards the way I did when I joined 14 years ago.

I wasn't offended at all, no need to apologize. Just trying to clarify what you meant, which you did. Good for you for taking advantage of the concierge perks. I've never sailed concierge but certainly don't begrudge the people who pay double what I did (or more) extra perks. You pay more, you get more, nothing wrong with that IMO.

Concierge is essentially buying your way up to Pearl status instantly, at least for that cruise. Cheaper than 25 cruises for sure, lol

 

[DCLMP]

I will admit I have already looked to see if there are some really inexpensive 3-nighters that fit my schedule over the next year or so.

Gamification works. It's amazing how many thousands we will spend for perks worth pennies!

I didn't realize the Wish had a 18-20 year-old space until someone mentioned it on this thread. I'm not sure how I missed that. It started me looking for a "cheap" LOL cruise on the Wish and I'm coming up empty. I wish they would add this space to the other ships it would keep us on cruising on DCL for the next three years.

 

[tink1970]

I do apologize if you took offense to what I was trying to say. Perhaps I didn't express my thoughts the way that it was meant to come across as. Again, I am not complaining at all. I was only trying to share that my belief is that most will be close to the ports who have the luxury and the convenience of living closer.

As for don't hate the player hate the game. The truth is, I don't hate the player nor do I hate the game. The game is the way the game is; and I'm ok with it. An example is cruising in concierge. There are benefits to doing it. I will be on the Dream in 5 days and staying concierge for the first time. I was able to play the game. I was able to get a cabana, secure multiple reservations to Palo, Remy, and every tasting I wanted, and have a Port arrival at 11:00 am. It's the way the game is played. Same thing here with how Disney rewards frequent cruisers and reward them as pearl.

Again, I apologize if you took offense to what I posted. It was not my motive or my intent, nor was it complaining. I'm not a big social media debater, I'm to freaking old for that, and again was not my intent to insult or debate. The online world is changing so fast on me and one of the reasons why I don't post on these boards the way I did when I joined 14 years ago.

Oh, absolutely no apologies necessary -tone can be hard to parse on a computer. I agree-sailing in concierge makes status (at this point-we'll see what DCL offers up for Pearl perks) seem irrelevant, and I hope you enjoy your first concierge sailing. Warning-they can become habit forming

 

[Lorana]

I didn't realize the Wish had a 18-20 year-old space until someone mentioned it on this thread. I'm not sure how I missed that. It started me looking for a "cheap" LOL cruise on the Wish and I'm coming up empty. I wish they would add this space to the other ships it would keep us on cruising on DCL for the next three years.

The space (Hideaway) isn't dedicated. It's part of the existing Teen Club (Vibe, 14-17 year olds), but they designed the teen club so that they can split it in half when they are running activities for the 18-20 crowd.

Personally, my teen boys - who were 18 and 15 when we sailed the Wish - were unhappy overall with this. The teen club wasn't very big, so splitting it in half really restricts the space, and the fact that there wasn't a dedicated 18-20 space meant that my older teen couldn't go whenever he wanted.

I also wish Disney could make some exceptions if there is a younger sibling. When we sailed the Magic, they allowed my 15 year old to be able to go in to Edge (pre-teen 12-14 club) so long as he was going in with his brother (who was 12 at the time). But when we sailed the Wish, they refused to allow my 18 year old to go into Vibe with his 15 year old brother. I completely understand not letting my 18 year old into the Teen club on his own, but it would be nice to allow siblings to hang out together.

We are sailing on the Dream in January, and I'm very much hoping they will allow my 18 year old go into Vibe with my 16 year old.

 

[cvjw]

I will admit I have already looked to see if there are some really inexpensive 3-nighters that fit my schedule over the next year or so.

Gamification works. It's amazing how many thousands we will spend for perks worth pennies!

We have decided to give DCL the same amount of money. We aren’t going to book an almost $6000 cabin on the 8 night anymore. We will used that $6000 to book two VGT 7 night cruises instead. DCL still gets their $$$. We get more nights on the fantasy and closer to Pearl. Not sure that is what DCL intended with the new tier.

 

[Kwami]

We are sailing on the Dream in January, and I'm very much hoping they will allow my 18 year old go into Vibe with my 16 year old.

They don't allow anyone 18+ into the kid's clubs except during open house hours. Don't count on it for your January cruise.

 

[DCLMP]

The space (Hideaway) isn't dedicated. It's part of the existing Teen Club (Vibe, 14-17 year olds), but they designed the teen club so that they can split it in half when they are running activities for the 18-20 crowd.

Personally, my teen boys - who were 18 and 15 when we sailed the Wish - were unhappy overall with this. The teen club wasn't very big, so splitting it in half really restricts the space, and the fact that there wasn't a dedicated 18-20 space meant that my older teen couldn't go whenever he wanted.

I also wish Disney could make some exceptions if there is a younger sibling. When we sailed the Magic, they allowed my 15 year old to be able to go in to Edge (pre-teen 12-14 club) so long as he was going in with his brother (who was 12 at the time). But when we sailed the Wish, they refused to allow my 18 year old to go into Vibe with his 15 year old brother. I completely understand not letting my 18 year old into the Teen club on his own, but it would be nice to allow siblings to hang out together.

We are sailing on the Dream in January, and I'm very much hoping they will allow my 18 year old go into Vibe with my 16 year old.

They absolutely won't let an 18 year old into the vibe. It's for legality reasons since an 18 year old is an "adult" so to speak. It's unfortunate to hear about the Hideaway not being a permanent space. Most kids turn 18 their senior year of high school and still want to hang out with other teens.

Anyway, thanks for clarifying what the hideaway actually is. It explains why I hadn't heard much about it.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

They don't allow anyone 18+ into the kid's clubs except during open house hours. Don't count on it for your January cruise.

apparently, there were some issues in the past that got mentioned on the boards

 

[n2mm]

They don't allow anyone 18+ into the kid's clubs except during open house hours. Don't count on it for your January cruise.

very true. My granddaughters are trying to convince mom to book one more cruise before the 17yo turns 18 in March. Little sister is 15yo so has a few years left in the vibe. the girls (and us) know that it’s absolutely enforced and know that is you’re 17 on the cruise and turn 18, that you can’t go back in on your birthday. I leave it up to mom to decide if she wants to jump on a Vgt. We’re always willing to book one more cruise.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Yeah, it seems they're pretty strict on the age limits for the clubs, which if I'm being candid is a major reason we booked our last minute Dream cruise for February. I wanted my eldest to get to enjoy Oceaneer's on the Dream at least once before he ages out. We took our first cruise on the Wonder in 2019 when he was only 7.5 and we loved it so much we planned one on the Magic for 2020, and I thought we would have maybe done one on the Dream by the time he was 10, but the pandemic happened and suddenly he's 11. But at least he gets this last chance.

 

[kps7795]

Yeah, it seems they're pretty strict on the age limits for the clubs, which if I'm being candid is a major reason we booked our last minute Dream cruise for February. I wanted my eldest to get to enjoy Oceaneer's on the Dream at least once before he ages out. We took our first cruise on the Wonder in 2019 when he was only 7.5 and we loved it so much we planned one on the Magic for 2020, and I thought we would have maybe done one on the Dream by the time he was 10, but the pandemic happened and suddenly he's 11. But at least he gets this last chance.

We did the same thing for a Spring Break cruise four years ago so that our daughter could enjoy the Oceaneer Club one last time before aging out.

 

[KevinFL]

Very happy with DCL decision to introduce this new tier it was much needed. Guests have been asking for this and DCL saw the need and listened.

One thing really needed though is for them to fix their website showing the cruises you have taken in the past. Before they tinkered with their website maybe 18+ months ago you used to be able to see a detailed list of all cruises you had taken including date sailed, ship name, room number, itinerary. Now all you see is the total number of cruises you have taken (pasted below) with no ability to look back at your detailed trip history. This is a big one really needs to be escalated I have sent them feedback.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have sent them feedback.

I did also, some time ago. Basically the answer I got back was "they have no plans at this time to fix that"

 

[PrincessShmoo]

and suddenly he's 11.

He can go to Oceaneers through age 12.

 

[Chirple]

I am up for the challenge; just 9 more to go!

 

[Cruise]

Very happy with DCL decision to introduce this new tier it was much needed. Guests have been asking for this and DCL saw the need and listened.

One thing really needed though is for them to fix their website showing the cruises you have taken in the past. Before they tinkered with their website maybe 18+ months ago you used to be able to see a detailed list of all cruises you had taken including date sailed, ship name, room number, itinerary. Now all you see is the total number of cruises you have taken (pasted below) with no ability to look back at your detailed trip history. This is a big one really needs to be escalated I have sent them feedback.


View attachment 722391

You're lucky to even see that - I still just get the generic Castaway Club info page. I tried using the online chat to get my information but they told me to write to reservations for the information. I didn't hold out much hope of getting a reply, but I actually got the information back the same day. The agent was able to provide me with the reservation number, date of sailing, and ship, but not the exact itineraries or my room numbers. A quick internet search gave me a site that would provide me with itineraries by date, but my room numbers are still a mystery (except for the few I can actually remember).

Like others have reported, I got the generic "we hope to have that back some day but have no timeline for it now" response to my feedback about having it added back to the site.

 

[DCLMP]

That's referring to the fairest way to assign perks. It should be based on what you spend.

I disagree. People that cruise more spend more overall. It’s impossible to figure out what people spend onboard.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I disagree. People that cruise more spend more overall. It’s impossible to figure out what people spend onboard.

Not really. Since everything is charged to your room card. It's pretty easy to see all charges there.

 

[Justacruiser]

Getting ready flip or number 55 next week an a last minute fantasy. Live in oklahama and work full time. I had built up a few hours during covid, but catching up now. Although folks have begun to squirm about deteriorating benefits, a reason of the slacking of quality benifits. The new teer level could create a push for those recent platinums that feel the push over platinum wasn’t that great. I predict pearl with first on privileges, the vertical first to book cruises and excursions and specialty dining and maybe a Huber minimum 45 each in palo, maybe a push up to 75 per.20percent off for stuff. Added benifits could drive cruisers to push for the pearl level which would be filling their ships with upcoming new ships. Baes is good now, needs to be much higher. We will see. Wonder if I will get acknowledged Saturday as pearl.