Inherited diamond status question

[Raven]

Hi, so a big question has come up in our family regarding kids and keeping their parents' RCL status.  Ok here's my question,  I understand that if your parents earn diamond before you turn 18 , you get their status as diamond.  Once you turn 18, the relationship as a dependent is terminated by RCL.  However, I was under the impression the child keeps the diamond status in perpetuity eventhough the child's points reflect the actual accumulated points.   This is not explicitly stated in the fine print. Who knows the true answer? Please help. 

Also, if that child gets married and has diamond only because of their parents,  does the new spouse get it too? 

Thank you

 

[Ampurp85]

My understanding is when a child turn 18 they get the status they obtained, not the status their parents have. That means as long as you are diamond and your children sail with you, they will have diamond status.  However if/when they turn 18 and they only have enough points to be platinum or emerald, then that is what they will be at 18. Their spouse will inherit their status, not the one they obtained by proxy.

[Raven]

OK are you 100% sure of that and where did you get that?  

[WesKinetic]

It used to be that way--children would keep the parent's status even after they turned 18.  Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean changed that policy not too long ago. Once a child turns 18, they revert to whatever status they've earned on their own. Here's the relevant portion of the C&A legalese.

 

A Crown & Anchor Society member can be added into a relationship with other family members in the same household and receive equivalent tier status; however Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system described above. Pinnacle Club member tier status will not be awarded to dependents if earned by their parent and/or guardian. Pinnacle Club member tier status can only be earned by an individual, spouse or significant other by one of them accumulating 700 Cruise Points or more in the CAS program.

For all tiers except Pinnacle Club, a relationship is defined as a spouse or significant other and children less than 18 years old. For Pinnacle Club a relationship is considered a spouse and/or significant other. Children will be taken out of a relationship with a parent or guardian upon their 18th birthday date. If it is found that a dependent or child is not immediately removed from a relationship upon their 18th birthday and accumulates a higher tier status outside of this time period, the dependent's record will be adjusted back to the appropriate tier status.

[smokeybandit]

But that doesn't explicitly say 18+ adults revert back to their own accumulated status. Just that if they gain a tier after turning 18 based on their parents' status, then that would get reverted.

[wordell1]

My understanding is that the child would keep the status that they had at 18, but would also keep only the points they earned on their own.

So if a 17 year old was diamond because of their parents, but had only accumulated 60 points on their own, they would remain diamond but would still need 180 points yo achieve diamond plus.

[Raven]

54 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

But that doesn't explicitly say 18+ adults revert back to their own accumulated status. Just that if they gain a tier after turning 18 based on their parents' status, then that would get reverted.

That's exactly what I thought.  It does not say that they loose the status just that they loose the dependent relationship. 

[Raven]

54 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

My understanding is that the child would keep the status that they had at 18, but would also keep only the points they earned on their own.

So if a 17 year old was diamond because of their parents, but had only accumulated 60 points on their own, they would remain diamond but would still need 180 points yo achieve diamond plus.

 

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

My understanding is when a child turn 18 they get the status they obtained, not the status their parents have. That means as long as you are diamond and your children sail with you, they will have diamond status.  However if/when they turn 18 and they only have enough points to be platinum or emerald, then that is what they will be at 18. Their spouse will inherit their status, not the one they obtained by proxy.

 

55 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

But that doesn't explicitly say 18+ adults revert back to their own accumulated status. Just that if they gain a tier after turning 18 based on their parents' status, then that would get reverted.

I wonder what Matt would say? 

[twangster]

There are reports from families where the dependent children reverted to their actual level upon turning 18 and there are reports where children were frozen at their level upon turning 18.

It's Royal Caribbean.  They are not known for being consistent.

Some who have reported their experiences stated they tried to have it adjusted but where denied.  It seems once the decision is made, they won't change the call on the field.  

[SteveK]

1 hour ago, Raven said:

It does not say that they loose the status just that they loose the dependent relationship. 

You have a higher status ONLY because of that dependent relationship, therefore if you lose that relationship, your status will default to your accumulated points.

So they haven't worded it as you would hope to see, but it leads to the same outcome either way.

 

[BrianAlt]

Our "kids", 26 and 23, have our status, D+.  What's interesting is that my daughter was older than 18 when we turned D+.  I assume an oopsie by Royal that I won't correct them on.  They have kept their status and will keep it no matter their points until they have enough for Pinnacle.    If that ever happens.

My son and his girlfriend just came back from a cruise.  When (and if) they get married she will indeed get to share his D+ status.

[Maggie M]

Good to know - Thanks for sharing @BrianAlt - I was wondering this too for my son who will be going on his first cruise at age 3 next year! Sounds like he'll be D+ for many years to come!  

[Atlantix2000]

I think the issue of inherited status affects fewer people than we might initially think which may be why Royal has such an inconsistent response on this topic.  Keep in mind, the posters on this blog are not a good cross-section of the general cruising population.  We are all either frequent cruisers or cruisers who want to discuss ALL the details.

So let's think about an 18 year old that would be eligible to inherit their parent's diamond status.  This teenager must have parents that cruised often enough to reach diamond BUT did most or all of their cruising before having their children or they left their children home for most of their days at sea.  Otherwise, this teenager would likely have enough points to qualify as diamond on their own and not need to inherit the status.  So how likely is that scenario?  Royal is a pretty family oriented cruise line.  I could be wrong but I don't think a lot of parents are taking Royal cruises while leaving their kids at home.  Royal is never going to release numbers, but I would bet there are more people inheriting status through marriage/living together than through their parents.

[Raven]

19 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

I think the issue of inherited status affects fewer people than we might initially think which may be why Royal has such an inconsistent response on this topic.  Keep in mind, the posters on this blog are not a good cross-section of the general cruising population.  We are all either frequent cruisers or cruisers who want to discuss ALL the details.

So let's think about an 18 year old that would be eligible to inherit their parent's diamond status.  This teenager must have parents that cruised often enough to reach diamond BUT did most or all of their cruising before having their children or they left their children home for most of their days at sea.  Otherwise, this teenager would likely have enough points to qualify as diamond on their own and not need to inherit the status.  So how likely is that scenario?  Royal is a pretty family oriented cruise line.  I could be wrong but I don't think a lot of parents are taking Royal cruises while leaving their kids at home.  Royal is never going to release numbers, but I would bet there are more people inheriting status through marriage/living together than through their parents.

It impacts more people than you realize.  In my family for instance,  my parents became diamond when my 2 younger sisters were teens, but I was an adult.  They both had diamond status for years.  All of a sudden it was taken away from one sister but not the other.  (Neither earned it on their own).  I will earn diamond status in a year or two and I have two kids.   Recognize that you earn your status your whole cruising life, not just starting the day your kids are born.    So it's very likely that you'll have more cruising points than your minor children.   

[BrianAlt]

3 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

So let's think about an 18 year old that would be eligible to inherit their parent's diamond status.  This teenager must have parents that cruised often enough to reach diamond BUT did most or all of their cruising before having their children or they left their children home for most of their days at sea.  Otherwise, this teenager would likely have enough points to qualify as diamond on their own and not need to inherit the status.  So how likely is that scenario?  Royal is a pretty family oriented cruise line.  I could be wrong but I don't think a lot of parents are taking Royal cruises while leaving their kids at home.  Royal is never going to release numbers, but I would bet there are more people inheriting status through marriage/living together than through their parents.

We cruised both pre-kids and without our kids (thanks grandparents!).  Sure, we're not necessarily a good cross-section, but I know a lot of people in the same "boat" as we are.

[Lugnut]

This is hearsay, so take it as that. 

It's my understanding that kids indeed "inherit" their parents status and keep it when they turn 18. At that point they no longer benefit from any additional cruises taken by their parents, and to progress further upward they must earn the required points on their own. That is, using the example offered above by wordell1 a child with 60 points who has parents with Diamond status will remain as a Diamond but they'll have to accumulate another 120 points (totaling 180) to become D+. 

Another catch is that the child retains the status they enjoyed on the child's last cruise before turning 18. If the parents have Diamond status and the child cruises with them, but later the parents cruise alone and acquire D+ status, the child will not have D+ status unless they go on yet another cruise with the parents. 

YMMV. 

[twangster]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:46 AM, Atlantix2000 said:

I think the issue of inherited status affects fewer people than we might initially think which may be why Royal has such an inconsistent response on this topic.  Keep in mind, the posters on this blog are not a good cross-section of the general cruising population.  We are all either frequent cruisers or cruisers who want to discuss ALL the details.

So let's think about an 18 year old that would be eligible to inherit their parent's diamond status.  This teenager must have parents that cruised often enough to reach diamond BUT did most or all of their cruising before having their children or they left their children home for most of their days at sea.  Otherwise, this teenager would likely have enough points to qualify as diamond on their own and not need to inherit the status.  So how likely is that scenario?  Royal is a pretty family oriented cruise line.  I could be wrong but I don't think a lot of parents are taking Royal cruises while leaving their kids at home.  Royal is never going to release numbers, but I would bet there are more people inheriting status through marriage/living together than through their parents.

I don't think there are that many single people, or divorced people, cruising with a new spouse who has lower status.  There are some, but not many.  Most married folks tend to cruise together.  

There are more kids cruising who inherited status through their parents I suspect compared to folks gaining status by a spousal relationship.

In my mind I understand the spousal status match - if you fall into that minority who remarried or somehow have a spouse with less status then it's awkward if one person in the relationship can get in the DL while the other can't.  The other spouse might say "screw Royal, let's cruise with XYZ where we are equal."  Royal doesn't want that.

Kids on the other hand I don't understand.  Why does it matter if kids equal their parents status?  The DL doesn't need double the number of kids running around while parents pop in for a coffee from the DL machine.  "Hey kids, go to AO while mom and dad go to the DL".    It makes little sense to give kids status that is mostly meaningless until they are adults.  

If you eliminate kids status match then there are even fewer adults who got status as kids but are now adults trying to match their newly married spouse.  If said kid who is now an adult has earned status on their own actual cruising then they fall into the above spousal match allowance so not a huge impact.