Wish MV - Tiered experience booking?

[otten]

Really think the whole rewards program needs to be reworked. A 3 Night Cruise isn't the same as a 15 Night Cruise, and a stay in a Category 1A cabin isn't equal to an Inside Stateroom, or even rates vary.

I'm only one away from Platinum.... and while I've done a few 7 nights, it's mostly been 4 night cruises, and almost always at some discounted rate like Florida Resident. Some here might spend more on one cruise than I have on all ten of mine (one shakedown cruise didn't count).

Agree. We’ve only done 2 cruises but we have 21 sailing nights. Once we do our third cruise next summer we’ll have 32 sailing nights but still only 3 cruises.

 

[pascalspal]

Big same as the previous posters above. I was able to get on by the skin of my teeth... not worried at all about whether or not we can book Palo etc, I'm just excited to be on the ship with the execs and you all. Anything beyond what is included in the cruise fare is pixie dust in my mind... I just need to break it to my husband that we have second dining and that is very unlikely to change... I keep thinking we should try it anyway and our bodies are on PST so maybe it won't matter much.

I think second dining is quite nice, though we prefer the first rotation. The second rotation tends to take a little longer as the kitchen begins to wind down (it was about a 2hr dinner each night for us), which is very nice and relaxing. But to be fair, we were not cruising with kids and dont partake in much of the nightlife. It reminds me a lot of the dinner experience you might have in Europe - slower paced and more enjoying the moment. Another perk is you often get to know your wait staff better (although this may not be the case on the MV). Our servers were able to slow down since fewer guests elect the later dining rotation and we got to hear more about who they were, their families back home and hear some great stories!

 

[HiStitch626]

Really think the whole rewards program needs to be reworked. A 3 Night Cruise isn't the same as a 15 Night Cruise, and a stay in a Category 1A cabin isn't equal to an Inside Stateroom, or even rates vary.

I'm only one away from Platinum.... and while I've done a few 7 nights, it's mostly been 4 night cruises, and almost always at some discounted rate like Florida Resident. Some here might spend more on one cruise than I have on all ten of mine (one shakedown cruise didn't count).

It's true that a 3-night is not the same as a 15-night, but the person who sailed 5 3-night cruises has shown more loyalty to Disney than the person who sailed one 15-night cruise. It would make it more complicated, but a combination of the number of total cruises and the number of nights cruised could work.

 

[mmouse37]

So since the Maiden Voyage of the wish will be all platinum cruisers, here's the question I've been pondering. Do we think they will do the same type of tiered booking they did for the cruise itself with the excursions and/or onboard experiences? Pretty much everyone is going to want to do Palo, etc. so I have a feeling they may have to do something different for those bookings.

Thoughts?

My friend and I were just discussing this earlier today. I think they may have to do something like a lottery. I doubt everyone who wants to do Palo will be able to book Palo. They did a lottery on the Magic MV for the cruise itself. We had to deposit about 18 months before and did not even know till later if we actually would get on the cruise. They pulled reservations and we were lucky enough to go.

We booked late dining for the Wish. We were seriously thinking about getting early this time but then felt we should stick with our late dining. I am beyond excited about going.

I agree that they may be strict with PATs....but I think that will be in general, not just the Wish. Maybe they will randomly assign boarding numbers.

I was also wondering if splitting the booking days for Platinum may be the start of ushering in a new Castaway Club tiered system. Maybe a combo of number of cruises and nights sailed. I do not believe it should be cost of cabin based. Where do they cut it off for the next level....I have 45 DCL. Will they start at 50 and then work their way down with new named tiers or start Platinum at 25 or give folks with over 25 a new named tier. Only time will tell.

We got this button on the MV of the Magic but didn't see anything like it for the MV of the Dream. Feel free to use or share.



See ya onboard real soon.....well in 384 days LOL

MJ

 

[princessmommyx3]

Well, I for one will want to be at the Frozen dinner, so I won‘t be the competition.

Us too!

We were hard sticklers on first seating to start with but we did second seating on a cruise and have done nothing else since. It really feels like you get a lot of extra time in the evening before the first show.

We are the same. We used to swear by early dining but did late once when port times were going to make early dining a challenge and we loved it. Now we will only do late.

 

[djpflug23]

Us too!



We are the same. We used to swear by early dining but did late once when port times were going to make early dining a challenge and we loved it. Now we will only do late.

We've only ever done late dining and haven't wanted anything else. What's the appeal of early dining? We see people prefer it but don't understand why.

 

[JWG]

We've only ever done late dining and haven't wanted anything else. What's the appeal of early dining? We see people prefer it but don't understand why.

We switched when kids came along. Our next cruise we'll switch back to late.

 

[txaggie94gigem]

My friend and I were just discussing this earlier today. I think they may have to do something like a lottery. I doubt everyone who wants to do Palo will be able to book Palo. They did a lottery on the Magic MV for the cruise itself. We had to deposit about 18 months before and did not even know till later if we actually would get on the cruise. They pulled reservations and we were lucky enough to go.

We booked late dining for the Wish. We were seriously thinking about getting early this time but then felt we should stick with our late dining. I am beyond excited about going.

I agree that they may be strict with PATs....but I think that will be in general, not just the Wish. Maybe they will randomly assign boarding numbers.

I was also wondering if splitting the booking days for Platinum may be the start of ushering in a new Castaway Club tiered system. Maybe a combo of number of cruises and nights sailed. I do not believe it should be cost of cabin based. Where do they cut it off for the next level....I have 45 DCL. Will they start at 50 and then work their way down with new named tiers or start Platinum at 25 or give folks with over 25 a new named tier. Only time will tell.

We got this button on the MV of the Magic but didn't see anything like it for the MV of the Dream. Feel free to use or share.

View attachment 576503

See ya onboard real soon.....well in 384 days LOL

MJ

Yeah since they split up Platinum it seems.obvious they are looking to redo the tier system because too many Platinums....I would be fine if they did it by amount of days or number of cruises but I would not like it if they did it by money spent per cabin! Concierge already gets front of the line....

 

[tink1970]

We've only ever done late dining and haven't wanted anything else. What's the appeal of early dining? We see people prefer it but don't understand why.

Three reasons off the top of my head-

1) we're early to bed/rise so it fits our lifestyle
2) we don't like to linger over dinner and the wait staff isn't not as...ahem...relaxed and chatty after early service (I could live the rest of my life without doing another crayon puzzle )
3) reflux and late dinners don't go well together!

 

[Dug720]

we don't like to linger over dinner and the wait staff isn't not as...ahem...relaxed and chatty after early service

You can let your wait staff know that you don't want to linger/don't want crayon puzzles - even at late dining. They are not holding you hostage with a gun to your head to stay in longer.

 

[Bishoparc]

We are probably going to book at least one more cruise on the Wish for next year as I'm sure there will be many experiences we won't be able to book due to it being all platinum and sure that they will do some sort of tiered booking. But who knows, maybe they've got it all figured out.

We'll just pack our patience and live in the moment, thrilled to be on the MV.

 

[princessmommyx3]

You can let your wait staff know that you don't want to linger/don't want crayon puzzles - even at late dining. They are not holding you hostage with a gun to your head to stay in longer.

I known we are getting off topic here but this is exactly true. We do late seating and are always out of the dining room in a reasonable amount of time. We have discovered that if we go into the dining room right on time, already knowing what we want to order (by looking at the app ahead of time) then our servers follow our cues and quickly figure out that we will always be their first table to arrive and be ready to order, which results in being first to get our food, and first to finish.

 

[Robbydj13]

Yeah, I really like how Celebrity does it. It's points per night, and the number of points goes up depending on the category you book (and for solo cruisers, it's doubled unless you're in a solo stateroom). It really seems the most equitable way to do it. And it was before my time looking at them, but they did convert from another system and had some way to credit the previous cruises equitably.

Yes...Royal Caribbean does something similar. Its based on PER NIGHT, not per cruise, and you get double points if you book a suite. Disney's thought that a cruise equals a cruise is crazy. A transatlantic in a suite should not be rewarded the same as a 2 night cruise. That's crazy to me

 

[Robbydj13]

I think second dining is quite nice, though we prefer the first rotation. The second rotation tends to take a little longer as the kitchen begins to wind down (it was about a 2hr dinner each night for us), which is very nice and relaxing. But to be fair, we were not cruising with kids and dont partake in much of the nightlife. It reminds me a lot of the dinner experience you might have in Europe - slower paced and more enjoying the moment. Another perk is you often get to know your wait staff better (although this may not be the case on the MV). Our servers were able to slow down since fewer guests elect the later dining rotation and we got to hear more about who they were, their families back home and hear some great stories!

See we are the opposite. We like the 2nd service as its closer to a time we would normally eat lol

 

[Meriweather]

Really think the whole rewards program needs to be reworked. A 3 Night Cruise isn't the same as a 15 Night Cruise, and a stay in a Category 1A cabin isn't equal to an Inside Stateroom, or even rates vary.

I'm only one away from Platinum.... and while I've done a few 7 nights, it's mostly been 4 night cruises, and almost always at some discounted rate like Florida Resident. Some here might spend more on one cruise than I have on all ten of mine (one shakedown cruise didn't count).

I always thought that was wrong. The other cruise lines do nights not cruises.
I am platinum now but it took a long time.
We don't do the 3 or 4 night cruises......to far for us to go for less than 7 days until we hook it on a park visit
We've done several 2 week ones and to have those count the same as a 3 day just never seemed right.

 

[HiStitch626]

Yes...Royal Caribbean does something similar. Its based on PER NIGHT, not per cruise, and you get double points if you book a suite. Disney's thought that a cruise equals a cruise is crazy. A transatlantic in a suite should not be rewarded the same as a 2 night cruise. That's crazy to me

I always thought that was wrong. The other cruise lines do nights not cruises.
I am platinum now but it took a long time.
We don't do the 3 or 4 night cruises......to far for us to go for less than 7 days until we hook it on a park visit
We've done several 2 week ones and to have those count the same as a 3 day just never seemed right.

But, shouldn't there be some benefits for showing loyalty? I agree that a TA is not the same as a 3-night. But, someone who has sailed five 3-night cruises is showing more loyalty ot the DCL brand than someone who has sailed one 14-night cruise. Plus although the overall cost for a TA is higher than a 3-night, the per night cost is often much lower.

 

[Robbydj13]

But, shouldn't there be some benefits for showing loyalty? I agree that a TA is not the same as a 3-night. But, someone who has sailed five 3-night cruises is showing more loyalty ot the DCL brand than someone who has sailed one 14-night cruise. Plus although the overall cost for a TA is higher than a 3-night, the per night cost is often much lower.

So should the person who sailed 5 (4-night) cruises be equal to the person who sailed 5 (transatlantic or 7-night) cruises?
I think the better system is to do it by night. All the systems are loyalty but one cruise does not equal another, but one night does equal another. And then you include a multiplier for concierge/suite bookings. Rewards the spenders, as rewards programs should

 

[HiStitch626]

So should the person who sailed 5 (4-night) cruises be equal to the person who sailed 5 (transatlantic or 7-night) cruises?
I think the better system is to do it by night. All the systems are loyalty but one cruise does not equal another, but one night does equal another. And then you include a multiplier for concierge/suite bookings. Rewards the spenders, as rewards programs should

Perhaps a combination of the number of nights sailed and the total number of sailings would work. Ours have mostly been longer cruises or BTBs to create a longer cruise. But, I do value is rewarding people who have more sailings, even if they are short. Southwest Airlines does it both ways. You can get onto their A-List through both taking a lot of flights or spending a lot of money.

 

[Robbydj13]

Perhaps a combination of the number of nights sailed and the total number of sailings would work. Ours have mostly been longer cruises or BTBs to create a longer cruise. But, I do value is rewarding people who have more sailings, even if they are short. Southwest Airlines does it both ways. You can get onto their A-List through both taking a lot of flights or spending a lot of money.

Valid point, but I think we both can agree the current system needs updating

 

[justafigment27]

Well, if DCL starts rewarding loyalty points for days sailed, sign up for Transatlantic cruises! They are even less per night than peak hurricane season cruises!

I just crunched some numbers ...

The 5/8/22 Transatlantic is $513/night for a family of 4 in an inside stateroom.

The average price per night for the same family in the same stateroom category for the other cruises DCL offers during that timeframe in May 2022 is $920/night.

If we move to peak family vacation season in July 2022, the average price goes up to $1388/night for a family of 4 in an inside stateroom (without the Wish sailings - add in those and the average price goes up to $1443/night).

If we decide to risk hurricane season and cruise in September 2022 (again, removing the Wish from the equation), prices go down to about $817/night for a family of 4 in an inside stateroom.

Whatever you do, avoid the Greek Isles! A 12 night Greek Isles is THREE TIMES as much money as the 13 night Transatlantic!

Actually avoid anything 5 nights or less too ... there are several 5 night cruises that cost MORE than a 13 night Transatlantic.