In a blog post by Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean announced that at some point in 2013, the Crown and Anchor Society Ultimate Value Booklets that are distributed to passengers onboard their cruise in paper form will go to a paperless format instead.
The new coupons will be available right onto guests' Seapass cards instead of having to use paper booklets. We've heard that guests will be able to check which coupons they have available at any given time via the interactive televisions in their staterooms, similar to how passengers can already check their onboard spending accounts.
The change to electronic coupons is cited for its environmental savings but there's plenty of speculation the change has more to do with abuse of the coupons over the years. Often coupon books will be given to family and friends following a cruise to be used on another cruise or sold on sites like eBay. Officially, the coupon books must only be used by those the books are given to on that sailing only.
The Ultimate Value Booklets are given to passengers who are enrolled in Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society (a brand loyalty reward program) and have sailed with Royal Caribbean at least once.
No word on when exactly this change will happen, but we can expect it sometime "soon" in 2013.
Do you like the change to e-coupons? Let us know in the comments below.
