The guide to Royal Caribbean status match

Did you know that you can match your Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society status to other cruise lines?

While Royal Caribbean wants you to continue sailing with them, they also understand the evolving needs of today’s cruisers.

Rather than forcing loyal guests to start from scratch, the parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, created a cohesive ecosystem that rewards brand loyalty across its entire portfolio — from Royal Caribbean International to Celebrity Cruises and Silversea.

This offers cruisers a way to instantly earn perks and benefits with another Royal Caribbean Group line, despite never having sailed with them before.

Through the Royal Caribbean status matching program, Crown & Anchor Society members can receive equivalent tier recognition in Celebrity’s Captain’s Club and Silversea’s Venetian Society. This ensures that guests stay within the Royal Caribbean Group network.

The program has recently gotten even better. Now, instead of automatically earning loyalty points with the brand you sail, guests can choose which line’s loyalty program they want their points to be added to.

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the Royal Caribbean status match program, including how it works, how the different tiers align, and how to choose where you want your loyalty points to accrue.

Read more: Royal Caribbean introduces a new way to status match between its other cruise lines

Does Royal Caribbean Status Match?

You can only match your Royal Caribbean loyalty status to other brands in the Royal Caribbean Group umbrella, including Celebrity Cruises and Silversea. This means that you can’t take your American Airlines or Delta Airlines status and hope to cheat your way up the loyalty ladder.

Effective June 2024, cruisers can enjoy reciprocal status across the brands — this even includes the top-tier levels. That means if you’ve reached Pinnacle Club with Royal Caribbean International, you can sail as a Zenith member of Celebrity’s Captain’s Club.

In other words, your hard-earned loyalty isn’t diluted from one brand to another. That said, the perks within each program aren’t identical.

For example, while Diamond Crown & Anchor Society cruisers get four complimentary drinks per day, Elite Captain’s Club members get access to a limited happy hour from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

This means that, on Royal Caribbean, you can redeem your drink vouchers for a beachside piña colada at Perfect Day at CocoCay or a morning mimosa, but you’re limited to a set window in the evening when sailing with Celebrity Cruises.

Moreover, whereas Celebrity offers a complimentary bag of laundry for Elite cruisers and above, only Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club members are eligible for a free bag when sailing on voyages that are 5+ nights.

Some perks cannot be attained through the Status Match Program, as they're exclusively reserved for those who earned their status by sailing with the brand directly. These include:

Crown & Anchor Society

• Complimentary Pinnacle Club milestone cruises
• Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club amenities
• Single supplement cruise fare reduction
• Cheers with an Officer onboard event
• Milestone recognition (Crystal Block)
• Upgraded bathroom amenities
• Pinnacle Club milestone kits
• Chef’s Choice amenity 

Captain’s Club

• Complimentary Zenith cruises
• Zenith milestone kits
• WWF® donations
• Retreat Lounge access when not staying in the Retreat (Status match members will only be permitted to access the Retreat Lounge when not staying in the Retreat, based on availability and at the sole discretion of Celebrity Cruises) 

Venetian Society

• "Sail with Us: referral offer before your first Silversea voyage
• Complimentary cruises
• Milestone recognition during the Venetian Society Party

Here’s how each loyalty status tier within the Royal Caribbean Group aligns across the three programs:

How To Match Your “Royal Caribbean Loyalty Program” Status

If you're currently a member of one or more Royal Caribbean Group brands’ loyalty programs, the company will automatically verify your information and determine whether you qualify for a status upgrade. Those who are eligible will receive an email confirming their new status — typically within one week.

If it’s been more than seven days since you’ve enrolled, you should call to further review your information. According to Royal Caribbean, those who do not receive an automatic status match may have different names, addresses, or phone numbers listed on the accounts.

Here are the best numbers to call to help get your status match sorted before your next cruise:

• Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society: 1-800-526-9723 or (541) 285-9723 if outside of the U.S. and Canada (charges may apply)
• Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club: 1-800-760-0654 or 1-316-554-5961 if outside of the U.S. and Canada (charges may apply)
• Silversea Cruises’ Venetian Society: 1-888-978-4070 (North America) or call your local Silversea Office (charges may apply)

Royal Caribbean MGM Status Match

Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society members can get a complimentary tier match into MGM® Rewards and benefit from the perks at all MGM destinations nationwide. You must visit an MGM Rewards desk at any MGM Rewards destination to validate your Crown & Anchor Society status.

Here’s how each of the Crown & Anchor tiers matches across MGM’s loyalty program:

MGM Rewards destinations in Las Vegas, Nevada, include the Bellagio, ARIA, Vdara, MGM Grand, The Signature at MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, W Las Vegas, Park MGM Las Vegas, NoMad Las Vegas, New York-New York, Luxor, and Excalibur.

The regional MGM Rewards destinations are the Beau Rivage, Borgata, Empire City Casino, MGM Grand Detroit, MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, and MGM Northfield Park.

Read more: How do Royal Caribbean and MGM Resorts' shared benefits work?

What is the MSC Status Match program?

While you can't use other loyalty statuses to climb the Royal Caribbean Group ladder, you can leverage your existing status with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, or Silversea to gain a head start through the MSC Status Match program.

Thanks to MSC Cruises' status match initiative, you can sail as a top-tier member in their Voyagers Club immediately, unlocking lucrative benefits like 20% off spa treatments, priority check-in, a complimentary picture, specialty restaurant dinner, and more. 

Enrollment is easy. All you have to do is submit the one-time request on MSC's website. Note that you will need to attach a scan or screen capture of your current loyalty status for proof. 

Read more: I cruised on Royal Caribbean's and MSC's biggest cruise ships. One was a better experience, but the other was a better value