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Hypothetical C&A question


ChrisK2793

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I’ve wondered this for a while  …… if children have 2 single parents who were never married to each other or connected on C&A ……. Say both the parents cruise all the time …….. can the children be connected to both parents and earn points when each parent cruises?  Or can they only be connected to one parent?   Then let’s say one parent is Diamond, but the other parent hits Diamond Plus, and say the child can only be connected to one parent and it was the one who is only Diamond, could they then swap to the parent who is Diamond Plus and become that instead?

 

 

 

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I believe that the children will acquire their own points but while sailing with either parent they will get the parent's status that they are sailing with. For example if Mario was my dad I would get all his Pinnacle benefits even though I was only Gold but if I sailed by myself I would only get Gold benefits.

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31 minutes ago, Dimension said:

I believe that the children will acquire their own points but while sailing with either parent they will get the parent's status that they are sailing with. For example if Mario was my dad I would get all his Pinnacle benefits even though I was only Gold but if I sailed by myself I would only get Gold benefits.

I don’t believe Pinnacle benefits transfer to the child.

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If the hypothetical parents were smart they would declare themselves in a relationship so that they are both recognized as Diamond Plus.  The children could then be declared as dependents and they would also be recognized as Diamond Plus.

When it comes to points, actual points, everyone still has their own tally.  While the children or significant other may appear to have the points of the highest person in the relationship, behind the scenes everyone still has their own personal point counter.

Once the children reach 18 they no longer benefit from level ups reached by their parents.  Their status is frozen but their own personal counter is still there counting their own actual points sailed.

Here is a scenario as an example - If the children cruised once and have 7 points but they are Diamond based on their parents cruising without them, they get frozen at Diamond on their 18th birthday.  For them to reach Diamond Plus they have to earn 175 points minus the 7 points they actually have.  In this hypothetical case they have to earn 168 points in order to reach Diamond Plus.   They will be recognized as Diamond along that journey of earning 168 points but their own personal points counter doesn't get set at whatever their parents had on their 18th birthday, their personal counter will always be actual points earned.

16 minutes ago, BrianB said:

I don’t believe Pinnacle benefits transfer to the child.

Correct.  Pinnacle does transfer to the significant other in a relationship but not the dependent children.  

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49 minutes ago, Dimension said:

I believe that the children will acquire their own points but while sailing with either parent they will get the parent's status that they are sailing with. For example if Mario was my dad I would get all his Pinnacle benefits even though I was only Gold but if I sailed by myself I would only get Gold benefits.

If you had established your dependent relationship with Mario prior to turning 18 your status would be Diamond Plus.  Later on once you were an adult your status would still be D+ even if you sailed alone without Mario.  Once your status has been recognized or earned through a child-parent relationship that is your status for life regardless who you sail with.

Let's say you are 14 years old and you are Diamond Plus because of your parents.  Then another family of Gold members invites you on a cruise without your parents.  You'll sail as a D+ while the rest of your group on that sailing is Gold.  

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12 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

How does Royal define "in a relationship?"

The actual company policy is not known publicly but in broad terms it seems that having the same address, living under one roof, is a key component of their qualification.  

Not all countries, states and regions recognize marriage and the terms spouse, husband, wife, etc. equally.  Royal's policies tend to be open to accommodate many lifestyle choices.   However there are limits.  

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32 minutes ago, twangster said:

The actual company policy is not known publicly but in broad terms it seems that having the same address, living under one roof, is a key component of their qualification.  

Not all countries, states and regions recognize marriage and the terms spouse, husband, wife, etc. equally.  Royal's policies tend to be open to accommodate many lifestyle choices.   However there are limits.  

Thank you for that information.  We were wondering how this all worked.  How do you know if RCCL has you listed as in a relationship?

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@ChrisK2793 Back to your original question, I think the "correct" answer is that the children should connected to the parent that has primary physical custody which I think in most all cases would be where they officially live for purposes of public schooling.  However, since I don't believe Royal asks for proof of residency for children, connecting them to the parent with the higher points/status is unlikely to be questioned unless they keep updating it.

I think this situation could also easily lead to the children actually having more points/status than the parents if they travel separately with both parents.

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These answers made me wonder how many points our son has independent of us.  He’s only 10 so can’t have his own online account to look it up.  I just did some calculating of his cruises.  After our Symphony family cruise from 2/12-19, my spouse and I will have 178 points (my spouse would be at 158 without me since my son and I took 2 cruises when he couldn’t in 2019) ……. And our son will independently have 145 points!  I guess that’s not bad for a kid who’s first cruise was for his 7th birthday in November 2018!  
 

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

The actual company policy is not known publicly but in broad terms it seems that having the same address, living under one roof, is a key component of their qualification.  

Not all countries, states and regions recognize marriage and the terms spouse, husband, wife, etc. equally.  Royal's policies tend to be open to accommodate many lifestyle choices.   However there are limits.  

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/crown-and-anchor-benefits-for-companion?country=AUS
I'm sure I read more on this on the FAQ boards that explains exactly what you said about children under 18 as well

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49 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:

 

These answers made me wonder how many points our son has independent of us.  He’s only 10 so can’t have his own online account to look it up.  I just did some calculating of his cruises.  After our Symphony family cruise from 2/12-19, my spouse and I will have 178 points (my spouse would be at 158 without me since my son and I took 2 cruises when he couldn’t in 2019) ……. And our son will independently have 145 points!  I guess that’s not bad for a kid who’s first cruise was for his 7th birthday in November 2018!  
 

My kids are 13 and 15.  They each set up accounts on their phone apps to see menus and activities and are able to see their points.

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14 minutes ago, Jkaczano said:

My kids are 13 and 15.  They each set up accounts on their phone apps to see menus and activities and are able to see their points.


I’ve tried before  ….. 13 is the minimum age Royal allows you to have your own online account, unless anybody knows a way around that?

 

 

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34 minutes ago, 12thman said:

@twangster when we make diamond, if I take some solo cruises and make diamond plus does my wife get that status because we married?

Yes.  I know many couples that designate one person to be the tribute and cruise solo in order to advance the team collectively.

Some people even put the person with highest count in a suite by themselves then they book a cheap interior for the other person.  On board they get an extra key for the suite and stay in the suite, leaving the interior unoccupied.  This works better once you reach 340 and get the reduced single supplement.  Solo in a suite is 3x points.  

The point is, designate one person to lead the charge and carry the team to victory... so to speak.

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

Yes.  I know many couples that designate one person to be the tribute and cruise solo in order to advance the team collectively.

Some people even put the person with highest count in a suite by themselves then they book a cheap interior for the other person.  On board they get an extra key for the suite and stay in the suite, leaving the interior unoccupied.  This works better once you reach 340 and get the reduced single supplement.  Solo in a suite is 3x points.  

The point is, designate one person to lead the charge and carry the team to victory... so to speak.

Oh didn't even consider doing that!? Woohoo lots of Alaska cruises to book. Can this work if we are already booked on cruises? 

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

Yes.  I know many couples that designate one person to be the tribute and cruise solo in order to advance the team collectively.

Some people even put the person with highest count in a suite by themselves then they book a cheap interior for the other person.  On board they get an extra key for the suite and stay in the suite, leaving the interior unoccupied.  This works better once you reach 340 and get the reduced single supplement.  Solo in a suite is 3x points.  

The point is, designate one person to lead the charge and carry the team to victory... so to speak.

I took up the gauntlet this year, made the sacrifice  and have done my first solo cruises since September.  I've brought my husband up to Diamond Plus with me.  I was going to try for Pinnacle but did not (I really should have! LOL)    I told him if we get divorced he will be stuck at his "paltry point level" but he will still be a Diamond Plus member. 🤣

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

Yes.  I know many couples that designate one person to be the tribute and cruise solo in order to advance the team collectively.

Some people even put the person with highest count in a suite by themselves then they book a cheap interior for the other person.  On board they get an extra key for the suite and stay in the suite, leaving the interior unoccupied.  This works better once you reach 340 and get the reduced single supplement.  Solo in a suite is 3x points.  

The point is, designate one person to lead the charge and carry the team to victory... so to speak.

The only reason my wife even considered giving her blessing to a solo cruise for me in May is because the points (thanks to solo cabin & double points promotion) will get me to Diamond. With that, we won't need to buy drink packages on our 9-night cruise we're planning for next year (she is far from Diamond on her own). The cost of me going solo on a 4-nighter this year is less than half of what the drink packages would cost us next year. 

"Hey hun, can I take a cruise to save us some money?" 

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10 hours ago, 12thman said:

Oh didn't even consider doing that!? Woohoo lots of Alaska cruises to book. Can this work if we are already booked on cruises? 

If already booked it's more tricky as there can be costs involved with dropping someone from a booking and then purchasing them a separate cabin.   Some suite cabins require more than one guest on a booking so you have to be careful when implementing this strategy.  

However to illustrate the lengths some people go, I know a couple that have put the husband in with friend's in their cabin who are also sailing on that cruise.  The rates to add a 3rd person can be lower than the cost of a throw away interior cabin.  Once onboard they get an extra key and husband sleeps in the suite.  Wife gets extra points for solo in a suite.  Husbands gets some points but his tally doesn't matter.  This had less risk pre-pandemic because now, in current times if the friends test positive in the days before the cruise it would ruin the plan.  

Occasionally these days there are reduced solo supplements on some cruises.  More now than in the past.  You may not be accustomed to searching out solo deals if you traditionally have always planned and booked with two guests.

The spreadsheet I use for tracking my cruises contains a column with price per night and a column for price per point.  By tracking these figures it's easier to determine if a cruise with a reduced solo supplement is a good deal or not.  It does cost extra to cruise with a focus on maximizing points but if the cost for extra points on a particular cruise is low enough it can make sense to do it as opposed to booking a whole other cruise to gain those points.

With my C&A discounts I am often faced with a choice of a studio cabin for one or regular double occupancy cabin.  Studio cabins are single point per night, a double occupancy cabin for a solo cruises nets an extra point per night.  Usually it's a matter of a few hundred dollars to score the extra points but also a slightly bigger cabin.  As you climb the C&A ladder the gap between the two gets smaller as the C&A discounts go up.  

On a recently booked cruise I chose a regular cabin for $75 more than the cost of a studio cabin.  That $75 delta will net me 4 more points.  That's ~$19 per point which is pretty cheap.   The regular cabin is bigger so splurging $75 was an easy choice.  I could cruise in the studio cabin and still have a great cruise but for $75 more, why not enjoy a bigger cabin and get extra points?

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@twangsterThanks for the explanation. Seems a lot of work just to earn more points, we cruise a couple times a year but always stay in a suite because it's our only vacation time. Think if I make diamond plus I'll be happy as those perks seem pretty good for the amount we cruise. This seems to be a great strategy if you are young and want to achieve pinnacle early on.  

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