CARNIVAL GAME IS AFOOT...

Not all Diamond card holders are rude, but enough that they give snooty a new definition. We are loyal because Carnival tends to fit our needs AND my DH doesn't want to sail without the ability to press his wrinkled clothing. Doesn't mean we aren't open to other opportunities.

Crying shame you got to buy loyalty. Pay out the tail, so you get freebies? DUH. Not loyal at all, just people are buying their tiers; who are they going impress by strutting the decks showing their cards on the lanyards. Had one guy on Dream this last week bragging he is Diamond he needs this and that, embarassing. I am loyal to Carnival as I live real close to the pier in Galveston and I cannot see going anywhere else. I see other ships in ports Carnival goes to, different ships same ports. The only loyalty perk I like is first to board and the first to get off, the rest is ho hum. Royal Carribbean has a new port built in Galveston, we may give that ship a try but oh no, we will be on the bottom of that loyalty list. The world will come to the end

SHHHHH!!!!! (You're absolutely right! When we made platinum there, it changed our entire packing habits...now they'll "adjust" it....)

We’re Platinum with NCL. The best thing we receive is free laundry.

I think its more important than alot of us are willing to admit. Yes, folks will cruise different lines for different reasons, and shop around for a better itinerary and/or better deal and so on...no doubt about it...but monkeying around with a "perk scheme" which all lines have adopted , no matter what the ranking or color, can hit people right in their egos, and I'm including me. And i know I'm not alone...I rationalize it every time we plan to book, but the idea of "demoting" ourselves just doesn't sit well...too much $$ and too many cruises have done us in..we earned our stripes, as many of y'all have....and again, they had better be VERY careful about what and who they're toying with.

I agree with that wish the loyalty was for all the Carnival Corp. lines. The best I could get with our fist Princess cruise was "past guest" rate; which was better than any first time special (at the time).

I'm enjoying this conversation a great deal. Thanks everyone for your thoughts on the matter!

I agree completely. As much as I'd like to see a cross-brand loyalty program within Carnival Corp, I don't think it'll happen anytime soon. From what I can tell, each of the Carnival brands operates as an independent entity. The only synergy I see across brands is when one line has a major problem (e.g. Costa losing their China market), they can easily offload unneeded ships to another healthier line within the corporation. In the future, Carnival Corp may drive more integration across brands in order to reduce overall costs, but until that happens, I wouldn't expect to see a cross-brand loyalty program.

Having cruised only HAL, Princess and Carnival, I have said several times (just today, actually, the topic came up) that I believe (and wish) CCL should roll the "family" into a single loyalty program, but really don't expect that to happen. I would be top tier if they would do it, but will likely never reach that on any one brand by itself.

Not having top status doesn't keep me off a cruise line and having better status doesn't get me on a ship, but I do start my searches with the one where I have the higher status and ultimately book whichever I feel provides the best value for the itinerary I want.

So, am I loyal? Kinda to the family, but not to any one brand. And to the family really only by chance - didn't know they were all owned by Carnival when we started cruising.

Will I spend more money to "buy" higher status? Not intentionally. The $3.50 bottle of water on Carnival is not worth $3.50, it sure isn't worth hundreds or thousands of dollars - I'll spend $3.50 when I'm thirsty, lol.

Great read/opine...thanks..

I suspect the cruise line loyalty programs will soon be following the path taken by airline loyalty (frequent flyer) programs.

Over the past few years, nearly every domestic and international carrier has modified their frequent flyer program to award miles based in large part upon revenue earned, as opposed to strictly the number of segments traveled or the number miles flown. What this has done (by design) is to eliminate perks for those customers who typically fly on reduced fares. A consequence of this is that airlines have lost the "loyalty" of their casual/thrifty customers, which is most likely not considered to be a great loss since the profit margin on those fares is very thin. These casual/thrifty customers now seek out flights on any airline offering them the best value for money - and loyalty programs don't generally factor into those choices. On the other hand, the airlines are gaining the loyalty of customers flying for business and others paying higher fares for first, business and "economy+" fares. These are the customers who contribute the most to the profitability of the airline, and the ones they want to retain. Airlines (like cruise lines) have a fiduciary responsibility to their creditors/investors, as well as their employees and ordinary shareholders. They will tailor their programs and policies in the best interests of these stakeholders, and you best believe they carry out extensive analyses on the impact to their business before making any changes.

With all of this said, change the word "airline" to "cruise line" in all of the above, and the same principles still apply. In fact, it's even easier for a cruise line to make these sort of changes because of all the additional revenue opportunities that come with cruising. Casinos, specialty dining, shore excursions, spa treatments, boutiques, and the like all have a significant impact to the bottom line.

I think it's only a matter of time until all the major cruise lines take a cue from the airline industry and modify their loyalty programs to be more revenue-centric. As a customer (and an admittedly cheap charlie one at that), I won't like it. As a shareholder, I think it's the right thing to do. In my case, I've been rewarded for taking a lot of cruises, of which the majority have probably been at a loss to the line revenue-wise, and that just doesn't make good business sense.