Royal Caribbean shares loyalty matching with its two sister cruise line brands, and it means different perks if you sail on one or the other.
When you go from Royal Caribbean to Celebrity, you don't get your Crown and Anchor benefits. Instead, you get the equivalent status benefits in Captain's Club.
Royal Caribbean Group revamped its status matching to make it significantly better, and that's enabled me to try more cruises on both Silversea and Celebrity.
I wanted to share with you the best perks at each tier, biggest differences, and who benefits most from each program.
Loyalty program overview
Before we dive into each program, here's a quick look at what each cruise line offers its most loyal guests.
| Brand | Program Name | Entry Tier | Top Tier | Status Match Across Brands? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Caribbean | Crown & Anchor Society | Gold (3 points) | Pinnacle Club (700+ points) | Yes |
| Celebrity | Captain’s Club | Classic (2 points) | Zenith (3,000+ points) | Yes |
| Silversea | Venetian Society | Member (1 voyage) | Milestone 500+ days | Yes |
Tier breakdown
When you look at each cruise line's program, the best benefits are always at the top.
One other difference is Royal Caribbean typically includes more benefits in their program than the other cruise lines because the other cruise lines include more benefits in their base fare.
Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society
- Gold to Diamond
- Benefits like priority check-in, onboard discounts, welcome events, free drinks in the Diamond Lounge.
- Diamond Plus & Pinnacle
- Upgraded perks larger loyalty discounts, more drink vouchers, priority tendering, and suite lounge access (if eligible).
- Best Perk: Daily free drinks and access to exclusive lounges from Diamond level onward.
Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club
- Classic to Select
- Discounts, onboard events, and priority check-in.
- Elite & Above
- Complimentary laundry, private breakfast lounges, and cocktail hours.
- Zenith
- Unlimited specialty dining, premium drinks, complimentary cruises for two.
- Best Perk: Unlimited specialty dining & premium drinks at Zenith level.
Silversea Cruises Venetian Society
There aren't exactly tiers with Venetian Society. There's one tier, but you earn Venetian Society days for the more you sail with them.
You get one Venetian Society day for each day you sail, regardless of the type of suite you're booked in.
- Member (after 1 voyage)
- Invitations to member events, special offers.
- 100+ Days
- 5% savings on future voyages.
- 250, 350, 500+ Days
- Free voyage rewards, milestone recognition, enhanced onboard experiences.
- Best Perk: Free voyages at 350 and 500 days sailed.
How status matching works
Within Royal Caribbean Group, it's the easiest it's ever been to get equivalent status across each line.
Once you've earned status with one line, you can apply to have a status match with the others.
The key differences are the benefits between the programs are not identical and points earned on each cruise line are separate.
You can link your accounts through either the mobile app or the respective websites. Silversea doesn't have an app, so it's an online form to fill out.
Once it's processed, you'll instantly get the equivalent status. For example, a Diamond member in Crown & Anchor is automatically Elite in Captain’s Club.
It's a great advantage to be able to hop between cruise lines and have some level of recognition and benefits on your first sailing.
Key differences between the cruise loyalty programs
While each loyalty program is now potentially linked between each other, they aren't the same.
In my experience trying all three, it's clear each has its own approach to how loyalty benefits work and how it's best used. I was surprised how Silversea doesn't mention loyalty status at all on its Seapass card, but that's because it's not a focal point for their customers.
One major difference is how each line counts your points.
Royal Caribbean is one point per night, but you can earn more points per night if you're in a suite or cruising solo. Celebrity is similar, but points are earned based on cabin type and cruise length. Silversea is completely different and simply counts nights onboard and there are no tiers.
Another important difference is how each cruise line rewards their cruisers with perks.
Among these lines, Royal Caribbean includes the least with its cruise fare, so its loyalty program focuses on onboard perks, such as drinks, lounge access, and discounts.
Celebrity Cruises is similar, but includes more emphasis on discounts for things that cost extra, such as photo packages or internet.
Silversea has all-inclusive fares, so their approach with the Venetian Society is to offer incentives to sail again.
The top tier at each line is where you'll see some very impressive benefits.
You'll earn a free cruise after reaching any of them, and that's a substantial value before you dig into any of the additional perks.
The Zenith level in Celebrity has a free drink package, which was truly impressive to me when I tried them.
Crown and Anchor offers a blend of perks for suite guests and Pinnacle-only benefits that I always take advantage of when I sail.
A powerful way to enjoy freebies on any line
Ever since Royal Caribbean Group introduced their revamped status matching, I think it's enabled more cruisers to try the various lines.
While you don't earn points by sailing the lines interchangeably, it does allow you to take advantage of status with one line and extend it to the others.
I found it so much more approachable to try Celebrity and Silversea if I knew I'd be starting off already with some level of recognition to it. Cross-brand matching makes it easier to experiment with new cruise lines without starting from scratch.
As each line launches new ships, I think the status matching enables cruisers to try them out and get a sense of what's different and better.
