Two different loyalty accounts

[ThyriC]

Out of curiosity, I'm presently in the research phase of booking a mother/daughter cruise and we have an interesting conundrum.  Her Celebrity account is likely at Elite+ (just based on how many cruises I'm aware she's been on) and I'm just starting to build my loyalty up with Royal.  

So, I'm doubting I can apply both of our loyalty programs to one cruise (short of a back to back) so I'm debating whose to use?  Get the perks of her account, or get the loyalty points on mine. And is it based on who books the cruise, whose loyalty program is used?  

[cmdrfrag]

Each guest earns Loyalty points of the nights they are on board.

When you are booking initially you have the option to enter in the Lead passengers C&A which then can show you the reduced rates on the rooms if applicable. Afterwards though you can attach a C&A number to each of the guests on the booking. This would mean you could add the higher one at booking if it will get you a bit of discount and embarkation perks and then the other guest will earn their loyalty points as well while cruising.

[KLA]

Hi @ThyriC! 

Under my understanding, if you have a higher tier of cruise status with a sister brand (as you do with Celebrity), that higher tier should be able to make a one time match to another brand's equivalent loyalty status (in this example, Celebrity to RC). I believe if you contact customer service, they should be able to get that set up. However, you'll only earn nights with Royal Caribbean, not Celebrity, so it won't really advance that status any further. 

This could be better explained by someone else (and I 100% could be wrong) but this is how I've understood this since I've heard you can do this going from RC to X. 

[ThyriC]

This is perfect, so I can take my mother on a Royal cruise, utilize her benefits of her Celebrity rewards and still get my loyalty points.  Double win!  

I did want to give the Celebrity Edge a try but that was only going to be if I could utilize one or the other, the suites are pricier on the Edge than on the rest of the ships.  Not saying they're not nice, they're stunning, but I just cant see swinging the cost for the really amazing ones while on Royal its not too life altering for us to swing a Sky class suite.  

[twangster]

2 hours ago, ThyriC said:

This is perfect, so I can take my mother on a Royal cruise, utilize her benefits of her Celebrity rewards and still get my loyalty points.  Double win!  

I did want to give the Celebrity Edge a try but that was only going to be if I could utilize one or the other, the suites are pricier on the Edge than on the rest of the ships.  Not saying they're not nice, they're stunning, but I just cant see swinging the cost for the really amazing ones while on Royal its not too life altering for us to swing a Sky class suite.  

Your mother, if Elite+ will be recognized and have Diamond benefits when sailing on Royal.  However those do not extend to the whole cabin. 

She will be treated as if she is Diamond, you will not be unless you are also Elite or higher on Celebrity, or you are already Diamond on your own merit in C&A.

[ThyriC]

Ok then so would she have priority embarkation and I dont  unless the reservation is made in her name?  And that's if I book the cruise with Celebrity?  I think I may have just confused myself though.  

So in theory the way to maximize the benefits would be to add my rewards on at the end?

I cant imagine Royal or Celebrity would split up two individuals travelling together in the same stateroom if they had different rewards levels.

[twangster]

Terminal employees are contractors, not Royal employees.  Your check in experience will depend who you run into on that day.  Since they are contractors, that can vary.

In some cases a non-Diamond traveling with a Diamond will be allowed to sit in the Diamond area.  In other cases they've refused and directed the Diamond member to sit in the lower status area.  In reality it doesn't matter that much.  Maybe 5-10 minutes of extra wait time.  In the overall cruise experience it's a blink of the eye.   If you arrive after the ship is already boarding it's a moot point.

You both will earn point in the Crown and Anchor system when sailing Royal.  While they recognize your mother's Celebrity status, she won't get points in Celebrity's Captains Club when sailing Royal.  There's no need to "add it at the end".  Your status will be based on your Royal sailings to date and you will earn C&A points when sailing Royal.  

I think maybe you are over thinking it.  Chances are if your mother has Diamond privileges you'll be able to sit and board as a Diamond.    If they don't allow it, they are following policy so don't let it upset you.  However chances are you'll be fine.  

However in terms of going into the Diamond Lounge for the nightly free drinks - don't count on that.  They usually check cards and will likely refuse you entry while welcoming your mother.  As a Diamond 'member' she should have three drink coupons that she can use at most bars on board to get a Diamond happy hour drink for either of you during the nightly Diamond happy hour outside of the actual Diamond Lounge.  Typically that is 4:30pm to 8pm so three free drinks from the Diamond happy hour menu every night isn't a bad deal.  

For what it's worth, the same contractors are used for Celebrity cruises.  On my first Celebrity cruise they tried to deny me from using the Suite line in the terminal because they only saw my "pre" status and ignored my Suite status.  A mistake by a contractor.   I ignored her and went into the suite line anyways as I am supposed to be able to when booking a Sky Suite.  

[ThyriC]

Thank you very much, I think you're right I'm overthinking things.  I usually do.   Like I know with my hotel rewards statuses, a lot of them afford me a free room upgrade and certain in room perks (like wine or a fruit plate or water) so I was kind of expecting the same of cruise loyalty programs.  

That there is very little real meaningful upgrade other than the diamond lounge, I'm free to give Celebrity a try, and experience the Edge and then maybe our next mother/daughter cruise we can try one of the large ships from Royal and experience some new ships since we've both visited most of the destinations that both lines go to in the caribbean (I dont fly so I'm limited to sailings out of the east coast and cant go transatlantic because none are round trip)