Should DCL change how you get Castaway Club tiers?

[Kwami]

The issue with DCL is that so many FL residents do short discounted 3 nights and quickly gain status vs. the family that has to fly in or those who book longer cruises for 10x the price.

But why is this an issue? Everyone live somewhere and has easier access to some things because of that. Floridians just happen to benefit from DCL. You could argue that San Diegans also benefit from all of those 2/3/4-night Baja cruises (though admittedly without discounts). And nobody is paying 10x the price. The FL rates aren't nearly that good.

 

[Lilsia]

I see both sides. If I'm doing something for the first time, I want the full experience to be able to do all the things others have done dozens of times. But also, if I'm constantly giving someone my money, I want to be rewarded for loyalty. I don't think there is a right answer here, at all.

Yeah, I am with you. I find nothing wrong with loyalty programs, I am surprised that any business still does that. I also feel like if I have spent tens of thousands of dollars with a Company, a little recognition is perfectly valid. It never bothered me that companies have that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But why is this an issue? Everyone live somewhere and has easier access to some things because of that. Floridians just happen to benefit from DCL. You could argue that San Diegans also benefit from all of those 2/3/4-night Baja cruises (though admittedly without discounts). And nobody is paying 10x the price. The FL rates aren't nearly that good.

IDK based on my Orlando DISer friends they do quite a good discount. One couple is on the Wish right now the other friend went on the Wish last month IIRC. They get to do those quick cruises very easily. Literally the DISer couple said it was so cheap they couldn't pass it up. In part the pandemic is at play but they have certainly racked up multiple cruises throughout this pandemic due to it.

I'm in the middle of the country and while I benefit from having enough ease of access to both coasts without long long flights (most are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours) it's not justifiable to us personally to fly to the coasts to do these quick cruises especially when there's less monetary incentive.

There's no doubt that having those quick cruises means you can move on up on an easier level and I think that was the point of the initial question. Although a good point was made that repeated trips can equal a very loyal customer there is something to be said for enabling that and in a pseudo way penalizing those who can easily make those quick cruises work because in the end your loyalty may still be there and still be strong. When you don't live in FL generally your quick cruises are merely add ons to WDW.

 

[RAD]

I'm in the middle of the country and while I benefit from having enough ease of access to both coasts without long long flights (most are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours) it's not justifiable to us personally to fly to the coasts to do these quick cruises especially when there's less monetary incentive.

I'm in the same boat, not a long flight. But there's then the expense of the airfare and, a night in a hotel since you don't want to fly in the day of a cruise, an extra meal or two plus transportation cost from the airport to the cruise port.

 

[mousefan73]

But why is this an issue? Everyone live somewhere and has easier access to some things because of that. Floridians just happen to benefit from DCL. You could argue that San Diegans also benefit from all of those 2/3/4-night Baja cruises (though admittedly without discounts). And nobody is paying 10x the price. The FL rates aren't nearly that good.

the 10x the price refers to paying under a grand for a 3 night FL special vs 10,000 for an Alaskan or longer sailings. A 4 person 11 night Iceland sailings for 15,000 gets the same credit as a FL Resident 1500 for a 3 night.

 

[Scalemaster34]

IDK based on my Orlando DISer friends they do quite a good discount. One couple is on the Wish right now the other friend went on the Wish last month IIRC. They get to do those quick cruises very easily. Literally the DISer couple said it was so cheap they couldn't pass it up. In part the pandemic is at play but they have certainly racked up multiple cruises throughout this pandemic due to it.

I'm in the middle of the country and while I benefit from having enough ease of access to both coasts without long long flights (most are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours) it's not justifiable to us personally to fly to the coasts to do these quick cruises especially when there's less monetary incentive.

There's no doubt that having those quick cruises means you can move on up on an easier level and I think that was the point of the initial question. Although a good point was made that repeated trips can equal a very loyal customer there is something to be said for enabling that and in a pseudo way penalizing those who can easily make those quick cruises work because in the end your loyalty may still be there and still be strong. When you don't live in FL generally your quick cruises are merely add ons to WDW.

Haven't seen any FL discounts on WISH....

I do know it's been sailing with availability.... when we booked last year at the opening of bookings, ours in Sept sold out and stayed that way till full payment was required. Then a lot of rooms opened up, but at costs that were more than early booking rates. We kept checking FL discounts and have never seen the WISH on it. In the end ship only had 3000 onboard for our sailing.... far from full. But likly more within their ability to crew the ship, right now. I know there have been some great FL rates on the Dream and Fantasy for months. But just before COVID, FL Discounts had gotten few and far between.

But in the end.... the current system needs to be revamped, I think days on ship would be the simplest. I get there is a huge difference between booking a Concierge Suite and an Inside Stateroom, or between a standard fare and discounted one. Could get really complicated....

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Haven't seen any FL discounts on WISH....

I do know it's been sailing with availability.... when we booked last year at the opening of bookings, ours in Sept sold out and stayed that way till full payment was required. Then a lot of rooms opened up, but at costs that were more than early booking rates. We kept checking FL discounts and have never seen the WISH on it. In the end ship only had 3000 onboard for our sailing.... far from full. But likly more within their ability to crew the ship, right now. I know there have been some great FL rates on the Dream and Fantasy for months. But just before COVID, FL Discounts had gotten few and far between.

But in the end.... the current system needs to be revamped, I think days on ship would be the simplest. I get there is a huge difference between booking a Concierge Suite and an Inside Stateroom, or between a standard fare and discounted one. Could get really complicated....

Apologies on the long post.

I do not know the exact particulars of their rate with the Wish but me bringing in the Wish was that they have much better access to these short sailings which bumps up their levels quickly, the couple on it now it's a 4 night Halloween one. They def had discounted rates on the other ships throughout the pandemic but I didn't ask nor did they necessarily specify rates for the Wish. The one who took a cruise last month did a B2B on the Wish though short sailings to equal something like 7 or 8 days. I will note that the one who did the B2B on the Wish he booked before it came out but there were CM discounts for that.

I think there's a really good point to be had about not offering rates to TX and CA for those residents, not sure what impacts to the profits that would have for Disney but I see that more as a good faith throw in. Sure TX and CA may not make up the same amount of sailings but the logic is there.

Looking at the company we're sailing next year theirs is actually based on number of days as well as cost in a sense. Seabourn seems to comprise of a decent amount of people taking very long journeys and their Milestone rewards reflects this:


And yes I've seen the photos of people who have reached 2,500 sailing days, two of which happened this month.


In regards to the wealth discussion they do have that as part of their component in a sense because the room category that nets you double points is typically the highest price ones.



For us it would take a lifetime just to reach the first milestone but when you have people taking 65 day or 140 day cruises easily you can see why they bump up their days. Our 7 day cruise is piddly to many of the people on the FB page as many don't take less than 14 days and many doing 21+ days as normal. Imagine having a program like DCL where you're only rewarded by number of cruises and you're taking long cruises?

This is how their program shakes up:

And at least at its present iteration you can see how they reward those who take longer cruises. Just one 21 day cruise and you're already at Silver. Or split that up and do a 7 day and a 14 day cruise. We could do three 7-day cruises and be at Silver meanwhile for DCL I would need to take 5 cruises to get to the next level and for those with easy access they are much more likely to take quick cruises that bump them up while the 7-day cruisers get left in the cold so to speak.

I agree DCL needs an adjustment. I do agree number of days makes more sense but I think there should be a limit in some ways with the short trips to help curb. If DCL though is really finding those 3 to 4 day cruises are where its maybe that's why they have it structured the way they do with number of sailings but I get why people are annoyed. Different cruises appeal to different people but I think DCL is leaning on the Disney, and what that ends up entailing targeting an ultra kid-friendly environment, part of their cruise line to carry that loyalty, makes sense but again I get why people are annoyed.

 

[darnheather]

I do not understand the argument to have it based on stateroom. Wish seems already heavily weighted to suite guests which people have been complaining about.

 

[jrapps]

There are ways to accommodate both a system that rewards repeat cruisers and makes them feel some sense of value and loyalty from the company (even if that is just a marketing ploy) and giving concierge guest an upgraded, elevated, luxury experience. If we look at other companies like Royal and NCL we can see some great examples of this. Concierge doesn't have to mean (and shouldn't be) just paying for "Platinum-level" perks, and top tier loyalty should not be the same as paying more.

On Royal & NCL, Suite/Concierge guests get upgraded bedding, espresso machines in-room, priority boarding & departure, a concierge lounge with food/drinks, VIP seating at shows, special party/happy hour events, dedicated concierge-only sun/pool areas, and dedicated suite-only upscale restaurants.

People with Loyalty Status get access to a lounge (usually a different one than concierge guests), welcome beverages, special party/happy hour events, discounted fares on certain sailings, free drinks, discounts on wifi, free photos, discounts on laundry, etc.

Yes there is some overlap, but nobody would ever confuse the Platinum perks on a royal ship for the same level of service as a Concierge, and concierge benefits rarely step on the toes of the the high-tier loyalty guests. As a platinum on Royal, I have never been shut out of a dining venue, or been unable to book a cabana at their private island...they have so much more capacity that they mitigate those issues. Disney has no such capacity.

I think if Disney had added a new Concierge-only restaurant to the Wish, a lot of the issues with getting shut out of Palo would have been eliminated. But just giving them priority booking for upscale dining when there is such small capacity for that causes issues.

I also don't see an issue with concierge guests earning loyalty faster. Other lines give double the points for suites, but they also have 7 levels of loyalty with top-tiers requiring 700+ nights...that's still 350+ nights in suites, which is A LOT of sailing!

DCL can most certainly follow a similar path, add new levels, increase perks, reward concierge in points calculations, add more dedicated amenities for platinum and concierge guests...but will they? Not now, no need to do so. Maybe/hopefully one day they grow large enough to do so.

 

[Kwami]

Dedicated spaces for concierge guests is already one of the biggest complaints about having concierge rooms available. I doubt that adding even more concierge-only spaces like an exclusive restaurant would do much to make Disney's guests happy.

 

[jrapps]

Dedicated spaces for concierge guests is already one of the biggest complaints about having concierge rooms available. I doubt that adding even more concierge-only spaces like an exclusive restaurant would do much to make Disney's guests happy.

Really? Because if you look at the trends across the industry, every cruise line is adding space to that area. NCLs Haven, Royals Suite area, Disney Wish...every time they build a new ship the Concierge area gets bigger and bigger. And I get it, if I was paying 2-4x what everyone else on the ship was paying, I'd expect something like that too (I don't, I'd rather go on 2-4x the number of cruises instead).

If people really wanted to experience the concierge restaurant, nothing is stopping them from also booking Concierge. You get way you pay for. This is like saying WDW fans complain that Palo is on the Disney ships but not on land, so they are upset they can't eat there because they can't afford a Disney cruise. I agree that I'd be jealous, but I wouldn't complain about it. I am not the demographic that cruise lines go for with the concierge experience, I can't afford it. I also stay in Marriott's instead of Ritz Carltons and I drive a Hyundai instead of an Infiniti. I don't get mad at Disney because they offer a product that I can't afford. Silly.

As long as when they build new ships, they increase overall space to accommodate that instead of reducing space in other areas, I don't really see the issue. Its not like adding a concierge restaurant means they are removing a restaurant from everyone else's usage.

But I guess you can't please everyone.

 

[RAD]

I've seen the same complaints over on Celebrity boards about how the Edge Class is taking away too much from folks that don't book The Retreat. On the Edge Class ships unless you're in The Retreat you have no place to go view from the front of the ship.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Really? Because if you look at the trends across the industry, every cruise line is adding space to that area. NCLs Haven, Royals Suite area, Disney Wish...every time they build a new ship the Concierge area gets bigger and bigger. And I get it, if I was paying 2-4x what everyone else on the ship was paying, I'd expect something like that too (I don't, I'd rather go on 2-4x the number of cruises instead).

If people really wanted to experience the concierge restaurant, nothing is stopping them from also booking Concierge. You get way you pay for. This is like saying WDW fans complain that Palo is on the Disney ships but not on land, so they are upset they can't eat there because they can't afford a Disney cruise. I agree that I'd be jealous, but I wouldn't complain about it. I am not the demographic that cruise lines go for with the concierge experience, I can't afford it. I also stay in Marriott's instead of Ritz Carltons and I drive a Hyundai instead of an Infiniti. I don't get mad at Disney because they offer a product that I can't afford. Silly.

As long as when they build new ships, they increase overall space to accommodate that instead of reducing space in other areas, I don't really see the issue. Its not like adding a concierge restaurant means they are removing a restaurant from everyone else's usage.

But I guess you can't please everyone.

I think it's more like a self-fulfilling prophesy. The more people have these options the more they are inclined to stay in them the more the companies and designers of ships incorporate them. I think it's a bit more like "how can I find space in the sea (no pun intended) of people", people like the option of being able to get to a spot where they get a brief break. These mega ships invite more of that by the nature of their size and passenger count.

We were like that when searching for which cruise company to go with. With Holland America it was the Neptune Suite which comes with perks and lounge access. With Virgin Voyages it was a Rockstar Suite which comes with perks and lounge/dedicated space access.

We settled on Seabourn which only has 1 space on the ship (presently only on the 2 newest but larger ships) that separates anyone out called The Retreat where there's a whirlpool and cabanas and lounge chairs all covered but still open to elements as far as rain (this space so I understand was a putting green/outdoor game spot on the other ships and isn't overtaking in an obtrusive way) and everyone has the option to purchase a day pass (more expensive on sea days less expensive on port days). On the ship everyone is equal and the perks are more limited to milestone stuff (or in the case of Penthouse/premium rooms earning of sailing days rate). But they are an outlier these days in the cruising world and I do wonder if they will stay that way.

 

[Kwami]

Really? Because if you look at the trends across the industry, every cruise line is adding space to that area. NCLs Haven, Royals Suite area, Disney Wish...every time they build a new ship the Concierge area gets bigger and bigger. And I get it, if I was paying 2-4x what everyone else on the ship was paying, I'd expect something like that too (I don't, I'd rather go on 2-4x the number of cruises instead).

Yes, really. I see complaints here all the time about it. Some people say that they'll only sail with certain companies that treat everyone equal and give everyone equal access once you board the ship, like Viking. Of course, Viking still offers perks for higher room categories. They let you book activities and dining earlier, they give you more fancy dining slots, and they do your laundry. But there are no reserved spaces for higher paying customers. To some guests, that's appealing.

Disney reserves a small lounge area for their concierge guests. It's usually out of the way and not something that the average guest will stumble upon and become upset about. I think it's a good solution. Concierge guests get a little space for themselves and the rest of us get to ignore them and not think about it. But if Disney started adding concierge-only restaurants or something, well, I think that's just too much.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Yes, really. I see complaints here all the time about it. Some people say that they'll only sail with certain companies that treat everyone equal and give everyone equal access once you board the ship, like Viking. Of course, Viking still offers perks for higher room categories. They let you book activities and dining earlier, they give you more fancy dining slots, and they do your laundry. But there are no reserved spaces for higher paying customers. To some guests, that's appealing.

Disney reserves a small lounge area for their concierge guests. It's usually out of the way and not something that the average guest will stumble upon and become upset about. I think it's a good solution. Concierge guests get a little space for themselves and the rest of us get to ignore them and not think about it. But if Disney started adding concierge-only restaurants or something, well, I think that's just too much.

Why do you have to be under 18 to get into all those cool areas on a Disney Ship.....

 

[Lilsia]

Dedicated spaces for concierge guests is already one of the biggest complaints about having concierge rooms available. I doubt that adding even more concierge-only spaces like an exclusive restaurant would do much to make Disney's guests happy.

I agree. The Disney ships are not big enough to add all of that stuff. Where would they put yet another restaurant without taking up even more common space?

 

[Karin1984]

The short answer is yes, the system has to change because it's relatively easy for a large group to become Platinum.

 

[RAD]

The short answer is yes, the system has to change because it's relatively easy for a large group to become Platinum.

So true. in 2015 we did a 7 night where they still had the CC reception. It was nice, it was held in a lounge with many of the senior staff spread out where you could have a few minutes to talk to them. Cast members would come around offering you something to drink. Skip to 2019, we did the WBPC cruise. The reception was held in the Walt Disney Theater, which was packed. No interaction with the crew, all they did was give a presentation of what would go on behind the scenes during the presentation of Frozen. I forget the number of Platinum members that announced but it was the majority of the attendees .

I have a friend that's on an upcoming sailing of the Wish, she's only a Gold. She tried to book either a brunch or dinner in Palo, nope all booked up. Not the first time she's tried to book Palo on a cruise and didn't have any luck, was only able to get something booked once onboard.

So yep, if everyone is Platinum it looses its meaning. That's why IMHO DCL needs to come up with a different means of showing their loyal customers how they value them.

 

[Jason Martin]

As a Platinum CC approaching 20 cruises they should do the following. Add another tier at 20-25 cruises and include.

Bump the merchandise discount to 15-20%

Free popcorn and reserved seating like concierge

Free basic WiFi package

Galley tour like the old days

Since Palo reservations are hard to come by maybe a 2 for 1 at Remy or Enchante

 

[JM_97]

I mean it was a fine set up when DCL had limited options. For a while, all you had was Bahamas, Caribbean and occasionally the Med. So they were almost all the same.

But now you have so many more options. Alaska. Hawaii. Transatlantic. Northern Europe. It doesn't make sense that a 3 night Bahamas cruise gets you the same amount of points at a 14 night Transatlantic cruise.