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Paying Allot extra for more C&A points?


Matthew Smith

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We are looking to book our next cruise before the deadline for the end of the Double C&A Points offer. 

Is it worth paying £1000 more for a junior suite vs large balcony, just to gain an extra 14 points?

(If we go for Junior Suite, we will both be Emerald Level, 19 nights away from Diamond, if we go for Balcony we will still be Platinum level, 33 nights away from Diamond)

What do you think? 

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I would be reluctant to spend money just for points. Consider the ship and itinerary to decide if amenities a Junior suite provides are worth the premium over a balcony. 
As an aside, for some, suites are like a black hole. Once you cross the event horizon it is not possible to see lesser cabins as an option. 

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It depends.  

£1000 / 14 points = ~£72 per point.

What are the first 14 points costing you on a per point basis?

If you predict cruising more in your future then it's definitely an opportunity to leapfrog that may not come around ever again.  If £1000 will post to a credit card and accumulate interest it's probably a bad investment.  

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15 minutes ago, Matthew Smith said:

We are looking to book our next cruise before the deadline for the end of the Double C&A Points offer. 

Is it worth paying £1000 more for a junior suite vs large balcony, just to gain an extra 14 points?

(If we go for Junior Suite, we will both be Emerald Level, 19 nights away from Diamond, if we go for Balcony we will still be Platinum level, 33 nights away from Diamond)

What do you think? 

To me, it matters how important it is to advance to Diamond (which is the 1st rank where the perks have any real value).  If you are planning to make many future cruises, then I think a good argument could be made to spend the extra money.  A few things I would consider

1.  Is a JS something you would like to try anyway?  If it is, and the price is right - this may be a good time since they are giving away double points.  It is a bigger room, with a tub.

2. You would need to take 2 future cruises to gain the same points during "normal" times.  Again this may matter if you know now that you want to continue to cruise Royal into the future.

 

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We did just book an extra cruise this year to get us to Diamond Plus. Once they extended double points through December 2022, our 12 night in October 2022 came into play and now is worth 24 points. That put us only 14 points from Plus. For us it was a no brainer. We live 2 hours from Port Canaveral so booked a week on Harmony in a Central Park balcony. It was cheaper to book one cruise versus 2 to get us to plus. 
 

Here’s the fun part: when Wonder was announced last week, we moved our Harmony to her for $500 less and an ocean balcony. 
 

For us it made sense. We have the luxury of driving to the ports. We weren’t planning on an extra cruise this year but the extension pushed us to

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Honestly, I think it depends on what the C&A means to you.

In the case of my mom and I, we really pushed to book another suite in the double points period because it will ensure we are Diamond level at the end of that next one. And we *desperately* want to be Diamond to actually save money on our cruises lol. We've gotten spoiled by Grand Suite benefits and once we're Diamond a lot of our favorite benefits will be available even if we choose to book an interior hahaha.

But if you don't quite care about the C&A level and don't mind taking more time to climb the ladder, I don't think that much money is worth it.

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15 hours ago, Matthew Smith said:

We are looking to book our next cruise before the deadline for the end of the Double C&A Points offer. 

Is it worth paying £1000 more for a junior suite vs large balcony, just to gain an extra 14 points?

(If we go for Junior Suite, we will both be Emerald Level, 19 nights away from Diamond, if we go for Balcony we will still be Platinum level, 33 nights away from Diamond)

What do you think? 

While being Diamond offers some perks, I myself wouldn't pay the extra $$ to get there faster.  Instead, I'd put the $$ towards another cruise. 

PS. When we sailed out of Southampton, we enjoyed the Canaries!  That is typically a longer cruise with more guest nights, which is another way to spend your dollars.

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Of course you need to factor everything in. If you are just chasing points is £1000 worth it? IMHO £1000 could purchase a whole other cruise. If you have the time. But it might be better money spent to do solo than a jr.suite. This suite will put you closer but so could 2 solos in a balcony. Plus it should be fun to reach diamond.

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8 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Honestly, I think it depends on what the C&A means to you.

In the case of my mom and I, we really pushed to book another suite in the double points period because it will ensure we are Diamond level at the end of that next one. And we *desperately* want to be Diamond to actually save money on our cruises lol. We've gotten spoiled by Grand Suite benefits and once we're Diamond a lot of our favorite benefits will be available even if we choose to book an interior hahaha.

But if you don't quite care about the C&A level and don't mind taking more time to climb the ladder, I don't think that much money is worth it.

Curiosity has gotten to me: what Grande Suite benefits are you saying are available to you at the Diamond level?

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On 9/24/2021 at 4:32 PM, TXcruzer said:

Curiosity has gotten to me: what Grande Suite benefits are you saying are available to you at the Diamond level?

Priority disembarkation, diamond lounge (in lieu of the suite lounge), robes, priority dining reservations, access to a specialty restaurant for free breakfast (it was Chops on most of our cruises except Odyssey in which it's Coastal Kitchen).

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments. Much Appreciated. 


In the end i went for it and purchased the JS for the extra money. Means i can look forward to becoming Emerald and only 19 points away from diamond. 

Might as well do it now while i can afford it, may not be in the same position in afew years time. 

Cheers.

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25 minutes ago, Matthew Smith said:

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments. Much Appreciated. 


In the end i went for it and purchased the JS for the extra money. Means i can look forward to becoming Emerald and only 19 points away from diamond. 

Might as well do it now while i can afford it, may not be in the same position in afew years time. 

Cheers.

That’s what we’re here for! To push you over the edge lol! We’re a great group of enablers! 

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I buy all inclusive drink package for 2 adults and refreshment package for 2 kids on every sailing except when we are in star class.  Now that we are Diamond, I only buy the soda package for the kids and the wife and I have diamond drinks, and the kids get their smooth fix as well with the diamond drink vouchers so that saves us money on every sailing.

With that said....I only travel in suites to begin with.....however....if do normally buy drink packages like I do, there is some benefit to be realized long term by reaching the diamond status......but......to see those gains you also have to be planning to sail a lot more in the future.

At least.....that's how I see it 😉

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8 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Priority disembarkation, diamond lounge (in lieu of the suite lounge), robes, priority dining reservations, access to a specialty restaurant for free breakfast (it was Chops on most of our cruises except Odyssey in which it's Coastal Kitchen).

Thanks

 

I need to be paying closer attention to my on board benefits

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