- Carnival Cruise Line faced controversy after announcing a series of changes to their loyalty program.
- The uproar was because the new changes effectively meant that many current loyalty members would lose their status.
- Our analysis shows the line we think could be next.
Carnival Cruise Line faced significant heat after making changes to their loyalty program that were so drastic that 47% of cruisers threatened to leave to another cruise line.
The reaction was so strong that Carnival suggested it would revise the new changes, but since then appears to have doubled down and confirmed the new program will go ahead as planned.
The main takeaway that people took issue with off the new program is that it’s a repeating two-year system: you can earn loyalty points only over these two years, and then they reset from zero.
This is unheard of in the cruise industry, where loyal customers can gather more loyalty points over years and years, without worrying about losing their perks if they take a break or are unable to travel for a couple of years.
The announcement sparked not only anger from Carnival fans, who were upset with being kicked off from their loyalty status, but also anxiety from regular cruisers of other cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruises, who are worried this could happen to their beloved loyalty programs as well.
There was a particular flaw in the design of Carnival’s old loyalty program that meant its days were always numbered. Surprisingly, it’s not that they were offering too many perks – many other cruise lines offer significantly more additions in their loyalty programs than Carnival does.
Carnival was extremely upfront about why their loyalty program had to change. The simple reason is that so many people were reaching the highest loyalty tier, that the program was effectively losing its benefits.
Think of it like this, if half of the people on a cruise have priority embarkation, does it still serve any benefit to cruisers that have earned this perk? Priority embarkation obviously won’t feel like much of a perk if even with your special status, you still have to wait in line for hours.
Which loyalty programs could be in trouble?
Through an analysis of cruise loyalty programs, it appears the majority of cruise fans shouldn’t have to worry about their loyalty perks suddenly disappearing.
For example, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America and Celebrity Cruise Line all have programs with systems that make it quite difficult to reach the upper tiers of benefits, and their cruises also operate at a price point slightly higher than Carnival, meaning the rush of passengers shouldn’t be as fast.
More expensive lines such as Azamara and Oceania should also be safe, as it takes an extremely significant investment to reach the upper tiers of their programs, and as luxury ships, the profit margin per passenger is higher, meaning that even if more passengers make their way to the higher tiers, this shouldn’t be a cause of concern for the cruise lines.
Disney has a program that in theory the highest tier can be reached fairly quickly, at just 25-sailings, however, in reality this isn’t very likely.
Disney cruises are popular but are also expensive and somewhat of a novelty, it’s unlikely that many would cruise on Disney more than once a year. Furthermore, the cruise line is very new and the perks aren’t that expansive anyway.
There is one cruise line that could potentially be in trouble, this is Princess Cruises. This can be identified for a range of reasons.
The first is that it isn’t overly difficult to reach the top tiers of loyalty, it only takes 150 cruise days, or 15 cruises. Furthermore, Princess has an extremely loyal base of cruisers, who like to cruise repeatedly on Princess and often have done so for many years.
While Princess isn’t a budget line, it is a lot cheaper than luxury lines and due to the demographic it attracts, passengers are often able to cruise consistently year over year. Adding to this, is that Princess frequently runs world cruises, and longer voyages in general. Someone who sails on a world cruise of 100-days with Princess would already be two/thirds of the way towards achieving top status.
Another important point to note is that until recently, all sailings on P&O Australia and P&O UK were also counting towards Princess sailings, as those lines didn’t have their own specialised loyalty programs.
Finally, Princess’s upper tiers include similar perks to the ones that were the undoing of Carnival’s program, such as priority embarkation for water shuttles, priority disembarkation, exclusive access to customer service lines, access to special lounges, early access to dining reservations and more.
Not to mention, that Princess Cruises is owned by Carnival Corp.
Princess also actually offers fewer perks than most major lines, but with how easy it is to reach the top tiers, it could soon be possible that similar to Carnival, Princess will soon feel it’s no longer able to actually offer these advertised services and will need to revert its program, just like Carnival did.
What other lines offer
If the Carnival saga has made you ask what else is on offer, here’s a list of the major cruise lines’ loyalty programs and how they work.
Generally, they will work based the number of nights of sailing, with some bonuses for higher-level cabins. Then as you move up through the tiers, you’ll see more and more benefits.
One thing worth noting is that that the majority of cruise brands are owned by three companies, Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
However, of these three groups, only Royal Caribbean has cross-line benefits.
This means cruisers who have loyalty benefits on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises or Silversea can status match across the lines, which is explained in more detail here.
However, Carnival Corp and NCL Holdings do not offer this, so your points will count only for your specific line that you sail with.
Royal Caribbean
How does it work?
You earn one point for each night of sailing, and two points per each night of sailing in a suite. The tiers are at three, 30, 55, 80, 175 and 700 points.
What can you get?
The RC loyalty program offers all sorts of different perks that increase with status. This ranges across restaurant discounts, alcohol discounts, complimentary drinks, two for one specialty dining, internet discounts and packages, access to exclusive events, laundry services, photo package discounts and much more.
Norwegian Cruise Lines
How does it work?
Guests are given one point for each night of cruising with NCL, however, some points can be gained faster by booking higher level suites or fares that include extra nights. There are seven tiers of rewards. The tiers are 1 points, 20 points, 45 points, 75 points, 150 points, 350 points and 700 points.
What can you get?
NCL’s loyalty program has a range of perks can extend as you move up the tiers, with perks like duty-free discounts, shore excursion discounts, cocktail parties, laundry service, priority tenders, priority disembarkation, Wifi discounts, a dinner for two with a bottle of wine, concierge service, a wines around the world tasting, cabin upgrades and plenty more, depending on your status.
Celebrity Cruise Lines
How does it work?
With Celebrity Cruises, you earn a different amount of points based off of your room category. Inside and ocean view rooms are two points, verandas are three points, concierge class and AquaClass are five points and suites range from eight to 18 points. The tiers start at 2 points, 150 points, 300 points, 750 points and 3000 points.
What can you get?
Possible perks stretch across priority embarking, disembarking and tenders, exclusive onboard events, drinks and dining coupons and discounts, internet discounts and packages, laundry services, spa services and more.
Princess Cruises
How does it work?
You are awarded one point per night of sailing. If you travel solo and pay the full suite or exclusive occupancy fare, you can earn two points.
However, you can also move through the tiers based on the amount of cruises you take, not just how many days.
The first tier is reached after three cruises or 30 cruise days, the next is reached after five five cruises or fifty days, and the final is reached after 15 cruises or 150 days.
What can you get?
Princess Cruises benefits are not as comprehensive as some other cruise lines. However, perks that can obtained include an exclusive wine-tasting event, cancellation protection, discounts on spa treatments and WiFi packages, free afternoon tea and more.
Disney Cruise Lines
How does it work?
Disney’s loyalty program works based on tiers of how many sailings you’ve done. There are tiers of one sailing, five sailings, 10 sailings and 25 sailings.
What can you get?
Perks are fairly limited. They include advance notice of new itineraries, advance booking of activities, a complimentary dinner, member discounts and a complimentary photo package.
Holland America Line
How does it work?
You are entered into Holland America’s Mariner Society after one cruise, and then there are four more tiers based on the number of sailing days. These are at 30 days, 75 days, 200 days and 500 days.
What can you get?
The perks range across cocktail vouchers, onboard credit, specialty dining discounts, wine tastings, laundry services, priority check-in programs and more.
Azamara
How does it work?
On Azamara sailings, you can earn a different amount of points depending on which cabin you sail in. Interiors earn two points per night, Oceanview cabins earn three points per night, Veranda’s earn five, Veranda Plus cabins earn 6, Club Continent Suites earn 8, the highest level suites earn 18 points.
These earn you points towards five different tiers, at 1 points, 150 points, 300 points, 750 points and 3000 points.
What can you get?
Perks scale up from Wifi, drinks package and spa discounts, towards free sailing nights, exclusive events, laundry service, priority check-in and future sailing discounts.
Oceania Cruises
How does it work?
Oceania’s system is slightly more complicated, you earn credits based off the length of your voyage, and then those credits go towards tiers with increasing benefits.
You can earn anywhere from one credit one voyages up to 24 days, two credits for 25 to 34 days, three credits for 35 to 44 days, four credits for 45 to 54 days, five credits for 55 to 64 days, seven credits from 65 to 99 days, 10 credits from 100 to 157 days and 15 credits for 158 days +.
Then these credits are put towards tiers of one credit, five credits, 10 credits, 15 credits, 20 credits, 40 credits and 60 + credits.
What can you get?
Perks start from $100OBC and a members cap, and range through package discounts, spa discounts, higher onboard credit amounts, an exclusive dinner, wine tastings and beverage packages.
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