Double Points - Results

[Andy & Sheryl Unwin]

After what seems like an eternity as Platinum, Sheryl and I really made out like bandits on our latest voyage on Allure.

We were already going to profit from having a Junior Suite, with double points our 6 night cruise was to net us 12 points. However, because we satisfied the terms of the (sadly no longer happening) double points offer. (book by end september 2021, sail by end of march 2022 I think) that was doubled up to 24 points.

The result was to pole vault us high into the Emerald level. We now have 73 points.  We have a 7 nighter in October on Serenade, and that I believe will take us to Diamond at long last.

So, has anyone else managed to benefit from the double points promotion ?  It would be interesting to see some positive outcomes

[wordell1]

Yes, I have been on 3 post covid cruises - all in suites at 28 points each (7 day cruises) for a total of 84 points.  Went from Gold to Diamond.

[RWDW1204]

If all goes as planned (no Covid, they cancel, any other unforseen circumstances), we'll collect 132 points by the end of the year. 

[smokeybandit]

We were on track to get to Diamond Plus in 2026. With double points and some fortuitous accounting on the home front, we're on track to get to D+ in July of this year.

[whitsmom]

We are Emerald and will be Diamond after our Harmony & Jewel cruises this summer.

[Riley]

Yep - that's how we hit D+ and will approach Pinnacle.  Love those double-doubles.

[BrianB]

Yes! Made out like a bandit! I cruise solo in a suite and usually get 3 points…1 per night, 1 per solo, 1 per suite….and with the double point promotion I made 6 points each night. Vaulted from 292 points to 860 points between September and now. Then again, I’m a Cruisaholic who can’t stand being on dry land!

[teddy]

Double points has definitely helped us climb the ladder.  After our cruise on Liberty in Aug/Sept of this year, we will be at 79 points.  Because of this, we decided to book a short 4-nighter in early 2023 to hit Diamond before our Europe cruise in October.....then we decided to add the 3-night itinerary prior to make it a full 7 days (by doing a back to back).

 

Other than booking the short one due to being at 79 points, we haven't been chasing status.  Not bad for people who never cruised until Jan 2019.

 

[BeachGal]

From Gold to Diamond in less than a year.  Traveling solo, and a jr. suite in June to boost me into diamond range. Not a 'status' kind of person, but I won't say no to those free drinks added to my account each day.

[teddy]

7 minutes ago, BeachGal said:

I won't say no to those free drinks added to my account each day.

This is what prompted us to book a short cruise to get the extra point before Europe......well...that and leaving Maine in February is always nice.

[XtremeGK]

Only taking one double points cruise, but it's doing its most important job. Starting at 66 points, so need 14 for Diamond. Wife wanted to limit the spending on a purely points-motivated trip, so 4 nights on Adventure out of Cape Liberty (live less than an hour away) to Canada. Booked interior solo. 4 nights + 1 extra point for solo doubled up gets me 16 points. And thanks to price drops, moved myself up to an aft balcony -- which my folks graciously decided to make the upgrade cost a birthday present. Interior was costing me under $500 all in solo.

With the Diamond drink vouchers, my wife and I will forego the DBP on our 9-nighter on Oasis next summer. So the <$500 saves us from the >$1000 in drinks next year.

Mission accomplished.

[smokeybandit]

31 minutes ago, BrianB said:

Vaulted from 292 points to 860 points between September and now.

[JazzBassMan]

Unfortunately I never cruised before the pandemic so my wife and I missed out on this. We booked during the time period for eligibility, but we would have needed to be gold status already to get the double points benefit. 

Would have been great too since we were in a grand suite for 8 nights on Enchantment. Could have skipped gold entirely!

Super happy to hear all the success stories though. Still on track for Diamond by March of '23.

[MTNeedsAVacay]

Before COVID, we were at 112 points. 

October 2021 had a 6-night sailing in Jr Suite (24 pts); April 2022 upcoming 4-night sailing (just 4 points, booked after the double points deadline); June 2022 7-night in balcony (14 points; lifted and shifted from 2020, so should still get double points); November 2022 8-night in Grand Suite (32 points; booked during double points promo window)

Based on my math, we'll hit D+ in November! 

[Ampurp85]

So, correction for US sailings it was extended to all bookings sailing by Dec 2022 if booked before that Sept 30th, 2021, deadline.

I wasn't loyal to RCG yet so I started with 4points, 5 cruises later I am at 104pt and will make D+ by Jan 2023. 3/5 were in suites where I was getting between 4-6 point per night and the rest was solo. I have a B2B, solo, in Sept and 2 sailings in Nov that were booked under the double points promotion. So I will hit D+ during my Jan 15th Oasis sailing. 

I personally never thought I would be Diamond, let alone make it to D+ and I am happy just to make it as pinnacle isn't even in my stratosphere. 

[BrianB]

36 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I’m so sorry…I’ll try harder!

[Larry Muster]

2 hours ago, Andy &amp; Sheryl Unwin said:

We have a 7 nighter in October on Serenade, and that I believe will take us to Diamond at long last.

A Serenade cruise got me my Diamond status as well!

[Jolly Ogre]

We were at 11 points before Covid...I did not chase points at all. I just booked my regular cruises at our regular times and by the end of this year we will be diamond.

We only cruise once a year due to work schedules so there is no way to take extra cruises. Even the short weekend cruises would be logistical nightmares. We need months of advanced planning to pull off a cruise.   

[Andy & Sheryl Unwin]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

So, correction for US sailings it was extended to all bookings sailing by Dec 2022 if booked before that Sept 30th, 2021, deadline.

Ahhh, thats pretty good news for us then, it means another double helping from Serenade in October.  14 points not the meager 7 we had anticipated.

[Templecruiser]

I was 11 points shy of diamond when I booked my double points trip for March odyssey cruise, but wanted to used my diamond perks for it. So I found a cheap 6 day balcony in November double points to get me to 81 points. Then got to fully enjoy my 8 day cruise in March with all the vouchers drinks. Then got 32 points for that cruise. So now I’m 4 cruises from diamond plus. One will be on Harmony in December.

[CrimsonCruiser]

Oh absolutely!

The mom and I were creeping along with a plan to earn 14 points per year (7-nighters + suites). It wasn't nothing but we were a good 3-4 years away from hitting Diamond before the panini.

Then...double points hit and we pole vaulted from middle Platinum to the end stretch of Emerald in one 8-nighter GS. Now, we're scheduled for Allure this fall which will give us another 32 points each and we'll be Diamond in 5 total cruises!

I don't know what we're gonna do when we have to go back to slogging our way up the ladder to get to Diamond+

[Jill]

We will be Diamond Plus after our October cruise. Will have gone from 83 points to 175. 
 

4 cruises total but ended up costing us over $20k lol. 
 

Alaska will be the big one (40 points) with our 12 night Holy Land (24 points) adding to the count. 
 

2 regular old eastern Caribbean in a balcony pulled up the rear. (28 points)

[Moby Dick]

3 hours ago, Andy &amp; Sheryl Unwin said:

After what seems like an eternity as Platinum, Sheryl and I really made out like bandits on our latest voyage on Allure.

We were already going to profit from having a Junior Suite, with double points our 6 night cruise was to net us 12 points. However, because we satisfied the terms of the (sadly no longer happening) double points offer. (book by end september 2021, sail by end of march 2022 I think) that was doubled up to 24 points.

The result was to pole vault us high into the Emerald level. We now have 73 points.  We have a 7 nighter in October on Serenade, and that I believe will take us to Diamond at long last.

So, has anyone else managed to benefit from the double points promotion ?  It would be interesting to see some positive outcomes

Almost exactly the same situation here.  

[Andy & Sheryl Unwin]

16 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

Almost exactly the same situation here.  

For sure Diamond status will come in useful when I book our 25th anniversary cruise. The official date is 12/10/2023, but likely we will celebrate any time between 12/01/23 and 03/31/2024.

It will be first cruise for example where we dont have the DBP. There will be plenty of other opportunites for booze.

 

[LovetoCruise87]

Our cruise last year got us to 72 points and after our Sept 22 cruise and the double points we will finally be at diamond. I'm sure we would be close to Diamond+ if not there had we not taken 2 breaks 5 years and 3 years.

I know....who takes breaks like that?? Still scratching my head over that. lol

[Pattycruise]

I had booked my entire family for a much needed cruise in August. We all enjoyed the sailing.  I decided to do my first ever solo in September and when I did the calculations I told my husband if I took the year to do 22 cruises I would get us to Pinnacle.  Yes, such a sacrifice to go solo! LOL  Anyhow the cost of cruises was ridiculously low until recently so I booked a bunch (not 22) and am now  D+ and we will be on our way to Pinnacle-not necessarily a goal, but a nice outcome if we continue to cruise.  I've "let" hubby join me for a few cruises and pointed out that in a balcony for 2 (not booked double double) he is "costing me points".  He appreciates the sense of humor. If the cruise prices had remained low I would have booked us 2 cabins at essentially the same cost and earned the double points.  

[Moby Dick]

24 minutes ago, Andy & Sheryl Unwin said:

For sure Diamond status will come in useful when I book our 25th anniversary cruise. The official date is 12/10/2023, but likely we will celebrate any time between 12/01/23 and 03/31/2024.

It will be first cruise for example where we dont have the DBP. There will be plenty of other opportunites for booze.

 

I/we have 49 points now, mostly earned in suites.  We cruise in 30 days on a 7 day cruise, so that's 14 more points because it's a suite, double those points and that's a total of 77 which puts us into Emerald.  But, we won't benefit from that because we earn it while on a cruise and we're in Star Class so it doesn't matter anyway.  Our next cruise after this one in 30 days is in November on an 8 day cruise.  So, 8 points + 77 = 85 points, that puts us into Diamond but because we earned it on that cruise, we don't benefit from it until the next cruise after that.

[LovetoCruise87]

9 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

I/we have 49 points now, mostly earned in suites.  We cruise in 30 days on a 7 day cruise, so that's 14 more points because it's a suite, double those points and that's a total of 77 which puts us into Emerald.  But, we won't benefit from that because we earn it while on a cruise and were in Star Class so it doesn't matter anyway.  Our next cruise after this one in 30 days is in November on an 8 day cruise.  So, 8 points + 77 = 85 points, that puts us into Diamond but because we earned it on that cruise, we don't benefit from it until the next cruise after that.

That is our situation: we reach diamond on our next cruise so have to wait till our next one to get the benefits. 

[Moby Dick]

95 points between Diamond and Diamond +, that's a lot of damn points.  When your 70+ years old, it makes one wonder if one will make it to that landmark.  

[Andy & Sheryl Unwin]

8 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

I/we have 49 points now, mostly earned in suites.  We cruise in 30 days on a 7 day cruise, so that's 14 more points because it's a suite, double those points and that's a total of 77 which puts us into Emerald.  But, we won't benefit from that because we earn it while on a cruise and were in Star Class so it doesn't matter anyway.  Our next cruise after this one in 30 days is in November on an 8 day cruise.  So, 8 points + 77 = 85 points, that puts us into Diamond but because we earned it on that cruise, we don't benefit from it until the next cruise after that.

Very similar yes. We did our last cruise as Platinum, the next one as Emerald, and the one I havent booked yet as Diamonds.

In and of itself, its not the most important thing in the world. But we really do want to feel we have achieved something out of the debacle that was the last 2 years.  Besides, its a bit of harmless fun.  I doubt we will make Diamond + till I am well into my dotage though.

[Cakemeister]

We have three double-point cruises, one in 2021 and two in 2022. All are plain-Jane 7-day cruises out of Galveston. That 21 extra points won't do anything as we are already Diamond and well short of Diamond+, but it's three less cruises I need to take to get to D+. And I'm cheap so that's several K $ for free! I like free!

[LovetoCruise87]

11 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

95 points between Diamond and Diamond +, that's a lot of damn points.  When your 70+ years old, it makes one wonder if one will make it to that landmark.  

Just cruise every other week!

[Moby Dick]

8 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

We have three double-point cruises, one in 2021 and two in 2022. All are plain-Jane 7-day cruises out of Galveston. That 21 extra points won't do anything as we are already Diamond and well short of Diamond+, but it's three less cruises I need to take to get to D+. And I'm cheap so that's several K $ for free! I like free!

You've got a plan working for you, go for it!  

[LovetoCruise87]

14 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

We have three double-point cruises, one in 2021 and two in 2022. All are plain-Jane 7-day cruises out of Galveston. That 21 extra points won't do anything as we are already Diamond and well short of Diamond+, but it's three less cruises I need to take to get to D+. And I'm cheap so that's several K $ for free! I like free!

Yep...that's a big jump from Diamond to Diamond+

[Andy & Sheryl Unwin]

13 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

We have three double-point cruises, one in 2021 and two in 2022. All are plain-Jane 7-day cruises out of Galveston. That 21 extra points won't do anything as we are already Diamond and well short of Diamond+, but it's three less cruises I need to take to get to D+. And I'm cheap so that's several K $ for free! I like free!

7 minutes ago, LovetoCruise87 said:

Yep...that's a big jump from Diamond to Diamond+

My own feeling is it will remain that much of a jump too. If Royal were to (say) make the gap 50 points, it would I think be unfair to those who already made it to Diamond+

[LovetoCruise87]

11 minutes ago, Andy &amp; Sheryl Unwin said:

My own feeling is it will remain that much of a jump too. If Royal were to (say) make the gap 50 points, it would I think be unfair to those who already made it to Diamond+

Very true. 

[WAYNO]

We tried.

I was offered a cruise, online from Casino Royale, including double points.  I said yes!  Please book me!

The agent was not real forthcoming in communication.  When we finally heard from him, it was to tell us the offer was a mistake, and we'd have to choose another. 

 

We chose another cruise, still expecting double points.  When we were only credited with single points, they told me it's because the double points offer had then expired.        

[YOLO]

Ceil and I cruised 22 years to get 171 points - all pre-Covid and all non-suites.  We averaged about 1.5 cruises per year, but not all Royal.  So we made D+ on our November cruise and sailed for the first time as D+ last week.  Double Points didn't help us at all.  And I don't think they ever will.  Seriously we will never get to Pinnacle...

[Moby Dick]

20 minutes ago, Andy &amp; Sheryl Unwin said:

My own feeling is it will remain that much of a jump too. If Royal were to (say) make the gap 50 points, it would I think be unfair to those who already made it to Diamond+

Agreed.  I know I'd be pissed!

[YOLO]

@Larry Muster  Kudos on your signature!