POLL- How IMPORTANT are cruise line repeater perks??

[Kuki]

Just a couple of years back the cruise line's repeater programs didn't offer much at all in the way of perks, other than a repeaters cocktail party onboard.

Lately most of the cruise lines have been upgrading their programs to offer at least some value.

How important are these "repeater perks" to you when choosing your next cruise?

[PapaBill]

Repeater perks (Captains Club) were worth the following to us on our last cruise. (Celebrity Summit):
1) a one category upgrade , worth about $100 (maybe $150)
2) a $250 discount on the cruise when it became a Captains Club cruise.
3) a $50 onboard credit
4) a resrvation in advance at the specialty restaurant.
5) a check in line that had two agents per line instead of one so it moved twice as fast.
6) an escort past the 500 folks waiting to do US immigration in the departure lounge
in Vancouver , no line ,no waiting.
7) an onboard cocktail reception
8) guaranteed dinner seating
9) priority disembarkation, first group off the ship, luggage right at the bottom of the stairs.
10) getting handed two tickets to a last minute excursion we wanted to book when the onboard tv system was saying waitlist.

All that and Captains Club doesn't cost a cent. Did I book the cruise because of it? No.
I would have booked it anyway. Would I turn down any of the above ? . Absolutely not..

The perks are very important to me. This is one of the reasons we keep booking RCI. I love the fact that we do not have to wait in a long line to board, and can (or used to be able to) be one of the first ones off the ship. we have finally reached Diamond Status, and are looking forward to our cruise November 6 on the Jewel Of The Sea. I will say, however, a lot depends on the Loyalty Ambassador assigned to the ship. We have had two wonderful ones who could not do enough for us (even as Platinum Members), and others (especially one, who did not even come to say goodby at the C & A Lounge the morning of departure) who were just so-so.

We enjoy all of the perks mentioned by PapaBill, and TootsieBell, but they certainly aren't the reason we book. As I mentioned in another posting, we just booked Costa, and I haven't sailed that line for a long long time, so obviously, no perks, but we just want to try something different. If it's a toss-up, then the perks will make the decision for us.
Happy sailing!
Ken

We just received upgrade notification from Princess for our Easter cruise to the Mexican Riviera. We get perks for being Platinum members in the Captain's Circle, but I can't say that we book a cruise because of perks. Lots of times, there were no perks, as on RCI, since we don't cruise with them that often. I often think that the best perks are given to the people who get suites, anyway. That seems to be true from what I read n HAL and now Celebrity, too.

Judy

I am currently at the platinum level with RCL working towards Diamond..I would have probably reached that status by now if I had not experienced other cruise lines (Royal Olympic, Holland American, Carnival and we are planning to try Princess (Caribbean Princess)

I think when the cruise lines fully develop the synergy among their "family of cruise lines" (much like the airlines do with their international alliances) that will allow you to maintain status when you select among a number of cruise lines, then perks become very important

The past guest perks are not that important to me. I love the past guest party, and am happy to be on a cruise. It doesn't matter to me if they don't offer anything else.

I like the free internet on Princess.

[Marc]

An extra 5% on Radisson is nothing to sneeze at. Especially when you add on an additional 5% for onboard booking.

[LisaK]

they are nice little extras.

[earl]

on carnival, there is not much offer for repeater. I have cruise 5 times on
carnival. There is a repeater party and a magazine that they send you.

[bicker]

I've read a little about some kind of Vacation Club Carnival offers. Anyone know more about that?

I think the cruise lines need to be very careful. They've seen what kind of liability frequent flyer programs have become to the airlines. A major airline needs to offer one, but they're all still paying dearly for the early generosity of the programs, in inflated customer expectations if nothing else. The whole point of such programs is to increase profits, not give discounts to people who would have purchased anyway, so structuring a proper program has got to be very difficult! How many folks feel that the programs cause them to spend more money with the cruise line than they would have otherwise?

[Chuck Palm]

I've always enjoyed the little perks but they don't influence my choice in cruise line. Itinerary, price, food, & service mean a lot more when we're choosing. But most of the perks we,ve received have been fairly minimal in nature.

Our next cruise on Princess will be our 5th and I think we'll move up to Platinum level with that one. While we've never experienced bad service and have been invited to the Captain's Circle cocktail parties, Hubby is looking forward to the little ammenities that will come our way for being loyal. This would have been our 5th cruise with Princess last month, but we diverted to HAL last year to go with friends. We've come back to Princess. Lynne