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And there go the Crystal Blocks...


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I'm told it was announced today that Royal Caribbean will phase out distributing Crystal Blocks to Crown & Anchor members at 70-point milestones and will allow the current inventory to deplete.

They claim 60% of them were being left behind in the cabin.

Well, I say that would be a cost saving measure to be able to give people a benefit then recycle them for others. ?

Anyway, they're apparently also trying to figure out what to replace it with, like a mention at the top tier event or perhaps a printed certificate.

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What frustrates me is hearing that 60% of the people who receive the block leave them behind on the ship. That number completely baffles me. I can say on the June back to back, I tried to get my block from the Loyalty and Ambassador but he told me I didn’t qualify for one until my next sailing after I cross the milestone points (which is completely wrong). I think there were some lazy Loyalty Ambassadors not distributing the blocks and letting corporate “think” people weren’t taking them.  Just my opinion.  This is one of the perks that “made Royal feel Royal,” and now it’s gone. Very sad today…

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 I have 3 blocks.  All were delivered to our cabin.  I probably qualified for more but didn't realize it at the time.   I would never leave one on the ship.

Wish I could get more, but that's ok.  Am curious what they will replace it with?  How about an onboard credit?

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1 hour ago, GSBrockman said:

I tried to get my block from the Loyalty and Ambassador but he told me I didn’t qualify for one until my next sailing after I cross the milestone points (which is completely wrong).

I was under the impression that you get it in your cabin the night you hit the number of points required?  Not that it matters at this point.  I am really sad too today....

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3 hours ago, GSBrockman said:

What frustrates me is hearing that 60% of the people who receive the block leave them behind on the ship. That number completely baffles me.

The number is high, but I totally believe it. It's heavy, and for anyone flying it can be an issue.

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As silly as it sounds the crystal block was an active component of my cruise planning.  My spreadsheet has a block column that has conditional highlighting rules that automatically indicate if a block was going to be earned on that sailing.  

It doesn't take much to get me to book a cruise and I may have booked cruises in between others or I might have upgraded to a suite to influence where my blocks landed.

With the blocks out of the picture it frees me from the crystal block game.  That includes making the playing field more level for other cruise lines.  Reduced capacity for 2021 makes it a great time to play the field. 

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10 minutes ago, twangster said:

As silly as it sounds the crystal block was an active component of my cruise planning.  My spreadsheet has a block column that has conditional highlighting rules that automatically indicate if a block was going to be earned on that sailing.  

It doesn't take much to get me to book a cruise and I may have booked cruises in between others or I might have upgraded to a suite to influence where my blocks landed.

With the blocks out of the picture it frees me from the crystal block game.  That includes making the playing field more level for other cruise lines.  Reduced capacity for 2021 makes it a great time to play the field. 

You are not alone doing that. On the other hand with double points it gets a little silly.

image.png.a2422df6fe244bc23c7ea3a272b7acf9.png

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52 minutes ago, dswallow said:

You are not alone doing that. On the other hand with double points it gets a little silly.

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My spreadsheet uses a formula to write the word Block into a cell and then conditional formatting rules makes it appear or disappear.  My points column looks at cruise duration and depending on cabin type and date relative to the dates of the double points promo it automatically calculates the bonus multiplier.  

When they extended the date of the double points promo i just corrected one cell and all my new blocks updated. It also colors my points background to match the CAS color at each level. 

If I insert or remove a cruise it recalculates the block projection automatically. 

1544971220_ScreenShot2021-07-14at9_30_51PM.thumb.jpg.503f6df9ad5cfc7505a7c999d9a54630.jpg   

I also note the deposit type and if I applied an FCC so I know to be careful with that booking.

2012958437_2022BlockForecast.thumb.jpg.54b11c4686d0b3dd1358424dadb586b3.jpg

It also calculates the price per night and price per C&A point then applies a color background based on fixed price ranges.  The greener it is the better the deal it is.

1943033359_ScreenShot2021-07-14at9_38_18PM.jpg.b942c326ec59960dd809125557e7b1c8.jpg

 

I may have a problem.  

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9 minutes ago, twangster said:

I may have a problem.  

Yeah. My spreadsheet does that as well, but I wanted it to also show the point level just to make it a little easier in my head to look at what may shift if I add something in the middle. I do just manually enter the expected points for each sailing in my spreadsheet, though. #firstworldproblems

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21 minutes ago, twangster said:

Starting at 140 and every 70 thereafter.  


So if after our Symphony cruise in October we have 125 points ……. And after our Odyssey cruise over Thanksgiving we’d have 157 points ……. Does that mean we get a block on Odyssey?  Or would we have to wait and get a block on Mariner in December?

I’m hoping the answer is that we get an Odyssey block LOL 

 

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:


So it after our symphony cruise in October we have 125 points ……. And after our Odyssey cruise over Thanksgiving we’d have 157 points ……. Does that mean we get a block on Odyssey?  Or would we have to wait and get a block on Mariner in December?

I’m hoping the answer is that we get an Odyssey block LOL 

 

You SHOULD get your block on the cruise during which you attain 140 points, so that would be OY.  You may have to go and beg for it but that’s when you should get it.  

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Unlike leveling up to the next level which only occurs once the cruise ends and the points post to your account, blocks are awarded on the ship where you will cross a threshold.

In the past they didn't always factor in bonus multipliers for solo or suites so I always stopped by the Loyalty Ambassador's desk to inquire and make sure they know I'm due a block.

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11 minutes ago, twangster said:

Unlike leveling up to the next level which only occurs once the cruise ends and the points post to your account, blocks are awarded on the ship where you will cross a threshold.

I’ve twisted the arm of C&A Ambassadors to give me my pin on the sailing where I got to a new level. ?  

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Sometimes, because of how slow points post to your account, if you did B2B or S2S near a threshold you might "accidentally" get a block twice or blocks from two ships. 

The first ship shows you are due for a block so you get one.  The next ship thinks you are due for one because the points from the last cruise haven't posted yet when you sail them close together near a threshold.  Both ships think you crossed the threshold on that ship.

 

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@twangsterYour block collection is beautiful?, make me really want one. I brought a block with the  Colosseum in it when I was in Rome and one of the Titanic museum when I visited Belfast. Was using them as a paperweights at work, we had a visiting lawyer who thought it might be a good idea to juggle them. Thankfully only the Colosseum one has a chipped edge.

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