A Look At Royal Caribbean’s Crown And Anchor Society

Just like the airlines, every cruise line offers a loyalty program to keep repeat customers coming back. These programs work very much the same as they do with a major airline except the perks are different, and some say even better, especially at the highest levels.

All loyalty programs are broken into tiers with a passenger reaching a certain level based upon the amount of points that have been accrued. Let’s take a look at a few loyalty programs just as a comparison.

Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society (the one I’m most familiar with since most of my cruising has been done on this line) is a six-tiered program based upon the number of nights you spend on board. Each night is worth one point, but suite cruisers get an extra point, as do solo cruisers since they’re paying for two. That means that if you’re sailing solo in a suite you can rack up the points pretty quickly to jump program levels. The six tiers are:

Gold – 0 to 3

Platinum – 4 to 54

Emerald – 55 to 79

Diamond – 80 to 174

Diamond Plus – 175 to 699

Pinnacle – 700 or more

While it seems like a long way between Diamond and Pinnacle, Royal does have at least small recognition points along the way, providing a commemorative engraved crystal block starting at 140 points and at every 70 afterwards.

Benefits: Every level has some level of priority check-in as well as an invitation to the onboard Welcome Back party. At Platinum, you also get a pin and an invitation to the captain’s C&A member’s party, while at Emerald you’re supplied with a small Welcome Aboard present and drink as well as various discounts for spa, specialty dining, and internet packages.

At Diamond level it gets more interesting in that a load of steeper discounts kick in, a free 60 minutes of internet is included as is a $200+ discount on any balcony or above cabins, and what seems to be the most coveted perk of all – entry into the C&A Lounge. The only thing that makes this lounge special is that every night between 5 and 8PM a wide range of free cocktails are available, although it also has a concierge available for booking excursions, events, dinner, and even plane tickets.

One of the downsides of the popularity of the program is that the many nights the C&A Lounge is overcrowded, so now Royal just loads three free drinks onto your SeaPass card that can be retrieved at any bar on the ship between 5 and 8PM.

At Diamond Plus and Pinnacle meals with officers, behind the scenes tours and discounted and free cruise options are available, plus a special call center for making reservations.

Members-Only Deals: C&A members get normal email notices of sales, but there are also an exclusive sales that they’re made aware sale up to several days before they begin. This allows them to take advantage in order to book the best cabin before it hits retail.

Most loyalty programs have more similarities to each other than differences. They’re all based on the amount of time spent cruising, the perks increase with the tier, and the benefits center around discounted to free goods or services.

That said, here’s generally what you can expect from any program:

• Discounts and upgrades
• Faster embarkation and debarkation
• Free services and amenities
• Gifts and swag
• The biggest differences are at the level that most of the desirable perks actually kick in.

Ways To Upgrade Fast

If you really want to jump levels fast there are ways to do it. One is to book suite level cabins, which provide additional points. On many cruise lines, a suite is good for double points but on others it could go to 10 times that, if you can afford it.

Another is to cruise solo, which generally provides double the points, since you’re paying for two. If you’re lucky enough to get a single supplement deal of 150%, you’ll usually still receive your double points but for a lot less money.

In many cases just sailing in a suite is enough to get basically the same perks as an elite level loyalty member, although only for that cruise. The one exception on some cruise lines are the junior suites in that some only receive partial suite benefits since many cruise lines consider them more of a premium balcony rather than a small suite. Regardless, booking a junior suite is an excellent way to double your cruise points at a reasonable price.

Many cruise lines have their own Visa or MasterCharge cards that also accrue loyalty club points when you use it, just like with an airline card. That sounds pretty good on the surface, but many times the points aren’t exactly transferrable and aren’t worth as much as you’re led to believe, so it’s not a reliable way to accrue points. Many times the credit card points are only good for onboard credit and have no bearing on your loyalty program tier, so it’s best to read the fine print before you jump in.

The Parties

Most cruise lines will have a Welcome Back party on board for their loyalty club members where they serve free drinks and appetizers and are usually attended by the ship’s captain and senior staff officers. These are all pretty typical in that the cruise director acts as the master of ceremonies, and the captain is the main attraction. Many captains have a canned speech while others are very loose and ad lib and take questions from the audience.

At the beginning of the show the cruisers from all the tiers except the lowest are recognized, with a special presentation to the ones who have sailed the most. I’m always amazed at the number of people that have 1,000 plus nights at sea, but even more amazed at the ones that are at 1,700+ (there’s seems to be one on every sailing). Imagine that, spending almost 5 years on vacation!

The 2016 Cruise Industry In One Infographic

If you ever wanted to know the big picture about the cruise industry, this one infographic from Cruise Industry News tells the whole story. It gives you a look at the current major sailing regions, the cruise fleet and revenue, the largest fleets, and the industry’s growth.

It’s no surprise that by far the major sailing market is the Caribbean, but the #2 and 3 markets are the Mediterranean and Asia/Pacific regions, which are a bit unexpected. Also Carnival is by far the largest cruise company, with a bit more than twice as many ships in its fleet than #2 Royal Caribbean, with has twice as many as #3 Norwegian, which has twice as many as #4 MSC.

But what’s most surprising is the industry’s dramatic growth from 2001 if you look on the bottom of the graphic. That said, it’s positioned for an even greater increase in that there are now 59 new ships on order with a total price tag of over $44 billion, according to Seatrade Cruise News. I’d say that qualifies it as a growth industry for sure.

An Overview Of Different Cruise Lines

Just like with most other things in life, cruise lines are not created equally. Generally speaking, the differences lie in the markets that they serve. Some cruise lines straddle different markets as well, which make them even more difficult to classify. That said, it’s pretty much agreed that cruise lines fall along these lines:

Retail (least expensive)
Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Costa, Fred Olsen, MCS, P&O, AIDA

Premium
Celebrity, Holland America, Cunard, Princess, Disney

Upper Premium
Azamara, Oceania, Windstar

Luxury
Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea, Regent Seven Seas, Paul Gauguin

Niche
Hurtigruten, Un-Cruise Adventures

River Cruises
Avalon Waterways, Uniworld, Viking

Sailing Ships
Windstar, Star Clippers, SeaCloud, Ponant

As you go upscale, the ships tend to get smaller and crew to passenger ratio gets larger. Of course, that comes at a cost so those cruises are definitely more expensive, but they’re also aimed at a clientele that could afford it.

There are other things that set the various cruise lines apart though. Food is a big one, although what’s good and what’s not is so subjective that it’s hardly worth noting. Entertainment is another, where the larger ships tend to have more entertainment, although the caliber can vary quite a bit.

A big difference between cruise lines is family activities. While it’s true that Disney is more oriented to families just by the nature of entertainment properties, other cruise lines are sensitive to family cruising and try to have activities available for all age groups. For instance, Royal Caribbean has the Dreamworks Experience with characters from films like Madagascar for the smaller kids, as well as a video arcade, teen disco and Adventure Ocean, a supervised activities area for ages 3 to 17. On the other hand, a more upscale line like Oceana or Crystal has fewer of these areas or activities because they cater to an older crowd.

One thing’s for sure, there’s a cruise that will fit every whim, fancy and budget if you look around.

7 Cruise Myths Busted

Many people who haven’t cruised before have an incorrect idea of what it’s like, and that keeps them from what may be one of the most enjoyable experiences they might ever have. I’m sorry to say that I was one of those people, but those beliefs exploded after the first couple of hours of being aboard my first cruise. So what are the typical cruise myths?

1. I’ll feel trapped on a ship. The thought of going on a giant metal can for a week along with as many as 5,000 or more passengers and another 2,000 or so crew brings about visions of those submarine movies with crew members sharing bunks that are in between missile tubes and having to put their backs against the wall to squeeze past another person in the hallway. When it comes to a modern cruise ship however, nothing could be further from the truth.

Even on the largest ships with a small city of people onboard, you’ll find more space, personal and otherwise, than if you lived in a small rural community. You never feel squeezed, crowded or squashed, so you can forget about those pictures of Black Friday at the local mall. It’s more like 9AM at the mall in July. In other words, you’re not going to feel cramped.

Even on the largest cruise ships, there’s enough room to where you can always (and I mean always!) find some quiet space by yourself if you want to be alone. Many times you’ll wander around the ship feeling virtually by yourself and think, “I guess they didn’t fill the ship up,” only to find that it’s full to capacity. For the most part, you don’t have to worry about long lines to eat, get a drink, buy something, or just about anything else on board.

2. I won’t have fun. That may be true if you stay in your room for the entire time and watch television, but there are so many things going on all day long that’s its difficult to not find some activity that that doesn’t pique your interest. Plus, you go to an exciting new location almost every day that has new things to see and do. If you just want to relax, there’s something so tranquil about watching the ocean that its fun just by itself. And you can’t beat lying in the sun by the pool or just people watching in the dozens of public places of the ship.

3. I’ll get seasick. There aren’t any definitive statistics of the number of people that get seasick on a typical cruise is, but its believed to be minimal. Not once on any any cruise that I’ve gone on (15 and counting) have I seen a single person sick, and that includes going through some storm doozies. I remember eating in the dinning room one night and no one at the table for eight realized that we were sailing through a storm with 70 mph winds. About an hour into dinner, someone noticed that there was rain against the windows. Likewise, another time we sailed through a storm one night only to find out about it at breakfast the next morning. I was dead asleep through the whole thing and never felt so much as a shake.

Modern cruse ships are unbelievably stable. There’s so little pitching and rolling that you’ll think you never left land. When the seas do get high, most cruise ships have horizontal stabilizers that are deployed to make sure that the ship doesn’t roll. These are like wings that come out from the ship under the waterline to widen the center of gravity and smooth out any wrinkles the sea may be throwing the ship’s way.

But the need to use them is rare, as most ships, just like modern aircraft, do their best to steer around a weather system so you won’t sail into it in the first place.

4. It’ll cost too much. Cruises are the most economical vacations that you can spend your money on. Where else can you get accommodations plus meals for as little as $100 a night (sometimes less – I’ve paid as little as $99 for an entire three night cruise!). Of course, this all depends upon the itinerary, the time of year, the vessel (newer ones generally cost more), and the type of cabin that you’re interested in (some suites can get really expensive). Generally speaking though, it’s going to cost you far less than a comparable traditional land vacation.

5. Ships aren’t safe. Cruise ships are very much like taking a trip on an airplane. You never hear about the millions of safe voyages, but you always hear about the one big mishap that happens on that rare occasion. While traveling by aircraft may be the safest way to travel percentage-wise, cruising comes in a very close second.

6. I could get sick and need a doctor. There’s a complete medical staff on each cruise ship not so much for the passengers, but for the crew, since they get free medical care. That said, you’ll find that in the rare case that you do need medical attention, the on-board hospital is readily available.

If anything serious occurs that they can’t handle, cruise ships readily make unscheduled stops or return to port to offload a passenger in need of urgent medical attention. Plus, if you’re not close to a port, most cruise ships are outfitted to accommodate a helicopter evacuation. I’ve never been on a cruise where that happened, but I have been on one where a passenger had a heart attack about an hour after the ship left port. The ship turned around and rushed back to evacuate the passenger to a waiting medical team, then turned right around and high-tailed it to the next port and made it exactly on time.

7. I won’t like the other passengers. You’ll be surprised at some of the nice people that you’ll meet on a cruise ship. Sure, every trip has their share of jerks or incompatible personalities (that can be said for any group of people), but many long and enduring friendships have come from cruises.

The bottom line is that any of the negative things you’ve heard have probably come from someone who’s never been on a cruise before. It doesn’t take too long into the experience before you’ll change your mind and completely abandon these popular, but incorrect cruise myths.

Celebrity Millennium Alaska Cruise – Part 3

I’m going to abbreviate the last 3 stops of my May 2016 Celebrity Millennium Alaska trip since the pictures were more arty than explanatory. As I stated in previous posts, there are better pictures from my last Alaska adventure that I’ll post soon. Day 3 of the 7 day journey docked at Skagway, which is a great tourist town in that they really have done a fine job in putting together so many tourist attractions that you can have 4 ships docked there (like on this day) yet you don’t hear any complaining about boredom.

This time I opted to take one of the White Pass and Yukon train excursions, which was pretty cool to do at least once. This was the shortest and cheapest of the offerings, coming in at $122 for about a 31/2 train ride just into Canada then back again. You don’t get off the train so you don’t need your passport. There are some pretty cool things to see along the way, such as the breathtaking scenery and some pretty unbelievably engineered railroad bridges. In fact, one of them is rated as one of the world’s best engineer feats, ranking right up there with the Eiffel Tower.

Day 4 was Icy  Strait Point at the village of Hoonah, which added a dock this year so no need to tender any longer. They also built a few more tourist eateries (I had a salmon ruben for lunch – yummm). Of course, there’s the standard whale watching and bear sighting tours, but I opted to just stay onshore. It was a great day for watching the sea life however. A very large fin whale lazily lounged along the shoreline, a school of orca arrived, as did a large school of dolphin. This usually happens pretty fast – faster than I could get to a camera – so I didn’t get pictures unfortunately.

One of the coolest things here is the rainforest, which is pretty amazing. It’s hard to believe that something like this exists in Alaska, but there we were with about a 100 foot canopy on top as we walked along the forest by the shoreline. Icy Strait Point is also known for what it calls the longest and highest zip line in North America. Pretty expensive at $134, but everyone I spoke with that did it felt it was worth it.

The final port stop was in Ketchikan, which is truly the best winter clothing shopping almost everywhere. Why? The best prices for the quality clothing is amazing. It’s almost worth it to take the cruise just to go there and stock up. It’s also pretty scenic with a great salmon run (no, they weren’t running yet), fish ladder and hatchery. There’s also this great little park (below) that I found near the hatchery that’s just a joy. There’s not as much to do that isn’t shopping or touristy stuff, but it’s an enjoyable stop nonetheless.

Day 6 was through the Inside Passage where the weather finally turned sunny. Once again, just lovely scenery everywhere. Then it was debarking in Vancouver, which was absolutely the fastest I ever had. Off the ship and through customs and immigration in 5 minutes! So, so easy – why can’t they all be that way? This is in contrast to the miserable embarking last year in Vancouver, which took about 2 hours. It was the reason why I chose the southbound trip out of Seward this time.

Anyway, I’ll be back to Alaska again, although next time I think I’ll go when the salmon are running.

Celebrity Millennium Alaska Cruise – Part 2

Part 2 of my Celebrity Millennium Alaska southbound cruise brings us to Juneau. It’s the capitol of the state and like most Alaskan cities, isn’t really that large. It does feature a couple of very cool tourist attractions though, with the Mendenhall Glacier just a short bus ride (less than 10 minutes) from town. The other attraction, which I didn’t do this time, is the Mount Roberts Tramway, which takes you to the top of the mountain for an awesome look of the city and the port (I’ll post some photos from here that I took on my last cruise in 2015 soon).

There’s lots of shopping available in Juneau, although the prices here aren’t nearly as good as in Ketchikan, which is a shopping mecca. That’s probably because Juneau is a landlocked city. That’s right, there are no roads leading in or out. You get there either by boat or by airplane. That said, everyone living there seems happy enough with no complaints, just like everywhere else in Alaska.

First, let’s look at some pictures from Juneau.

Next was the Mendenhall Glacier, which like Hubbard, looks a lot more fragile than last year. It’s receded quite a bit, in fact. Still, seeing it and the giant waterfall beside it is very cool.

That’s it for Juneau and Mendenhall. I have lots more pictures from my 2015 trip that I’ll post soon. Next up, Honnah and Icy Point Strait.

Celebrity Millennium Alaska Cruise – Part 1

Just back from my second trip to Alaska, both on Celebrity Millennium. This trip was almost 1 year to the day of my first trip to the great state, but this time I took the southward itinerary from Seward (starting in Anchorage first) down to Vancouver. I didn’t take as many pictures this time, mostly because I covered that my previous time there (I’ll post those in the near future).

Let’s start with a few pictures taken along the way on the trip from Anchorage to Seward on the bus (took the train last year from Seward to Anchorage, which was most excellent).

Day 1 of the voyage visited the Hubbard Glacier, which is nothing short of tremendous. The glacier seemed a little more fragile than last year even though it was still an incredible 7 miles long and towered over the ship by about 500 feet! It was overcast that day, which actually made everything easy on the eyes and much easier to see. The Captain was able to bring the ship as close to the glacier as legally possible, then made a couple of sweeping 360 degree turns so everyone could get a look.

There’s a lot more to see, and I’ll be showing it too you in Alaska Cruise Part 2.

Some Interesting Cruise Facts

We all love cruising and inherently know some things to be true when it comes to the big picture of cruise itineraries, destinations and motivations. That said, here are the real cruise facts direct from the Cruise Line International Association.

Top Cruise Itineraries
Caribbean – 37.3%
Mediterranean – 19%
Other Markets -14.5%
Europe – 11.1%
Australia – 5.9%
Alaska – 4.5%
Asia – 3.4%
South America – 3.3%

Where do the passengers come from?
USA – 51.7%
UK/Ireland – 8.1%
Germany – 7.7%
Italy – 4.0%
Australia/New Zealand – 3.6%
Brazil – 3.4%
Canada – 3.4%
Spain – 2.8%
France – 2.4%
Scandinavia – 1.6%

What are the next hot cruise destinations?
Trans Pacific
US Rivers
South America
Antartic
World Cruises
Africa
Middle East
Canada/New England

What are the major motivators to take a cruise?
Value/Price – 86.6%
Destinations/Itineraries – 77.7%
Cruise Brand Reputation – 76%
Home Port – 61.3%
Lifestyle Amenities – 39.3%

There are some surprises here. First of all, the next hot cruise destination is Trans-Pacific (which basically means a repositioning cruise across the Pacific). This survey was obviously done before Cuba opened up, as that seems to be the hottest choice by far, even though there’s only one cruise line (Carnival’s Fanthom) going there at the moment, although that destination is expected to be widespread throughout the industry soon.

One thing that’s not so surprising is that most people see price as a major factor in their decision to cruise in the first place. These cruise facts do change every year though, so we might be looking at some completely new data when we check it out again next year.

Common Crew Expressions

The crew has a number of expressions that can be heard on the crew decks, but probably not in front of the passengers. Most of these crew expressions are an infusion of Italian, Filipino, Jamaican, Spanish, Balkan and other languages.

a la cartuch – Excellent.

babalu – A fool.

banana – A non-tipping passenger.

barko – A Filipino term for a huge ship.

batty man – A gay, bisexual or effeminate man (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

boat drill – At the beginning of every cruise, both crew and passengers must perform a mandatory lifeboat or muster drill.

bomboclat – A Jamaican expression meant to convey shock or surprise. For example, “Guest give me $200 tips! BOMBOCLAT!”

burro – In Spanish it means donkey, but on a ship it’s a mobile side stand that waiters use to store dirty plates.

CD – Cruise director.

cheapatone – A dirt cheap guest who doesn’t tip.

che fache – Used by the Romanian crew to ask “whats up?”

cones – Slang for passengers. This comes from the old Saturday Night Live sketch The Coneheads, where the cast was constantly asked, “Where are you from,” and they would respond, “We’re from France.” Every crew member gets asked this question constantly. They also ate “mass quantities” like many passengers do.

coning – Sleeping with a passenger, which results in immediate dismissal if caught.

culero – means asshole on Spanish.

dark – The state that one achieves after losing that rosy “Oooo, I work for on a cruise ship” glow.

F&B – Food and beverage.

galley – The kitchen.

GI – A gastrointestinal illness common to cruise ships known as norovirus.

gordo – An overweight guest.

I-95 – The main corridor (usually on Deck 3) that runs through the upper crew deck.

I-95 – The all-important work visa for non-United States citizens.

la ge ge – Very behind in work.

mamacita – A “babe” or good looking girl or women.

mamagaio – A crew member on duty killing time or doing an activity that has nothing to do with work.

mambruko – An idiot

mess – The dining room

myuzo – A cruise ship musician.

paddock – The buffet restaurant. A paddock in Australia is a field where grazing can take place all day.

paisano – Italian for countryman or brother, but means buddy, friend, or mate on ship. In the Caribbean they just shorten it to “Paisa.”

port manning  – A ship is required to keep a certain amount of crew on board while docked. The crew that is port manning is not allowed to exit the ship in that particular port.

shirt – An officer, because of their white shirt or uniform.

sign-off – Leaving a ship at the end of a contract.

sign-on – Joining the ship at the beginning of a contract.

six o′clock knock – When a crew member is fired without warning, it occurs at 6AM during a port day when the shirts knock on a crew member’s door.

USC – A United States citizen. USCs are universally disliked in a friendly way.

vacation – The time between contracts, from one day to several years.

The next time you hear one of these crew expressions you’ll know what’s being talked about. The problem is that just maybe you won’t like it.