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What are advantages of being Platinum


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What are the advantages of being a platinum member? From our travel agent in trying to book a new seven day cruise on the Allure it got us $1 off a balcony room. Are there advantages that were missing? Or should we start looking at other Cruise Lines why be loyal if we're not receiving any benefits? I'm just trying to find out what the advantages are or what we're missing out on. Can anybody please help and thank you

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Platinum gets you a few things, but the balcony discount is not huge at that stage.  It is more than $1.  BUT...crown & anchor discounts are not always compatible with each sale.  Sometimes you get both sale & benefit, and other times you have to choose which is the better deal.  Your TA should be able to tell you pricing on both and you can decide which fits your need better, when they are not combinable.

Here is the link to the Crown & Anchor benefit pdf: https://dlxffu6hwewxp.cloudfront.net/cas/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CAS_Member_Benefits_Grid_11.6.17-1.pdf

You'll see you have a few extra dots filled in for Platinum over Gold.  Next step is Emerald which doesn't get you much more at all.  But once you reach Diamond you get a lot more. 

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1 hour ago, Motivatedman said:

What are the advantages of being a platinum member? From our travel agent in trying to book a new seven day cruise on the Allure it got us $1 off a balcony room. Are there advantages that were missing? Or should we start looking at other Cruise Lines why be loyal if we're not receiving any benefits? I'm just trying to find out what the advantages are or what we're missing out on. Can anybody please help and thank you

while it is true the perks are a little scarce at platinum and emerald there are some and your not that far from diamond it is worth the wait ask your room steward for the C+A robe they are very comfortable and the one big advantage so far for me as platinum was the check in at the port my indy cruise from ft laud this past February I walked into the big room only to see a huge amount of people waiting to check in and to my surprise I was directed to check in desk further in the room marked platinum there was no one ahead of me my check in took less then 5 mins and I was seated in a very comfortable not crowded area to await the rest of my party who are gold they stood in line for close to one hour . the jump from platinum to emerald is short making attaining diamond fairly easy I attain emerald the first day of my next cruise and on the following cruise a month later I begin to chip away to diamond .Hang in there Royal is a fantastic cruise line with few hiccups stay "loyal to royal" it will be worth it in my humble opinion

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@Matt's podcast episode from two weeks ago gives a very nice overview of all the benefits at each tier of C&A. It is more than just the discount on balconies at Platinum. You can give it a listen here:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-251-crown-and-anchor-society-overview

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Here is a typical example of the onboard offers for platinum:

Platinum.PDF

Like most loyalty programs the benefits get better at each level.  Personally I think Royal's Crown and Anchor Society is superior to other cruise lines but that is for my needs and likes/dislikes. 

I was 3 cruises short of platinum on Carnival which is earned around the same point that Diamond is on Royal.  For the entire time from zero to that point the only real benefit of Carnival's VIFP program was one bottle of water in the cabin and eventually a drink coupon that could only be used on the last night after 6pm but not in the MDR.   Once you do reach platinum on Carnival the biggest benefit is priority boarding.  Contrast that to Diamond which is earned with roughly the same amount of cruising on Royal and you get priority boarding, nightly happy hour drinks, meaningful on board offers and much more. 

Like many loyalty programs, loyalty is rewarded - that's kind of the point.  It is provided in incremental steps, getting better and better at each level.  Like airline loyalty programs if you fly one trip on United, the next on American, the next on Delta and another on Southwest you aren't really displaying loyalty to any of them and while each appreciates your business, it doesn't get you very far in the respective loyalty programs. 

Cruising is much the same way in terms of each cruise line's loyalty program.   Only you can decide if the perks of each program is worth a long term strategy to remain loyal to any particular one.

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Not much difference from gold to emerald really..some perks like robes in the cabin(but now I think you even have to ask for them) and some BOGO's etc......but hey, if your cruising Royal..you might as well get the points and climb the status ladder....diamond is where its at and it doesn't take a whole lot to get there if your platinum already.

 

As for savings...forget about that...your c&a status means nothing....at least for a dozen cruises so far for me its the case....

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I feel your pain with respect to balcony discounts.  They really become more meaningful at each level.  I've progressed up through C&A levels fairly quickly by cruising solo and cruising often.  This has allowed me to observe some perks like the balcony discount at different levels over a short time period.  Royal is doing a lot more frequent sales and marketing campaigns then they used to several years ago.  Those aren't always combinable with C&A discounts yielding that $1 your experienced at your current level. 

Having made it to Diamond Plus I can confirm the balcony discounts are real and I'm sailing in balconies more than I used to.  I've observed the balcony discount becoming better and better at each level.  It can vary on a per cruise basis, based on other promo rates so it may not always appear great if you only cruise every few years and you happen to pick a particular cruise where the balcony discount isn't as high as other cruises.   It varies by ship as well - not all ships have the same balcony cabin ratios as other ships.

Here is a random sailing in January 2019, first without any C&A discounts

1294777748_serenade7nightnocadiscount.jpeg.615be80ef863da7260f1fd870c5a12a8.jpeg

Now with C&A discounts

1789498307_serenade7nightwithcadiscount.jpeg.8a959eb8cb914ab4300ab8f6d9b728b9.jpeg

For a different ship on a longer cruise this looks different, first with no C&A discounts

1478302720_oa12nightnocadiscount.jpeg.e10d1dc3902fb738c72c078797322e90.jpeg

Now with C&A discounts

1533921800_oa12nightwithcadiscount.jpeg.126eeee3a8e858b5e4a523c5db58b312.jpeg

Note that balcony rates are cheaper than Ocean View rates.  I see this quite a bit now which is why I am sailing in balconies more now than ever before.  I've even seen where the discounted balcony rate is within a few dollars of the inside rate.

I've found a good travel agent who looks at all available rates including rates that aren't present on Royal's website.  On occasion she has flat out told me the C&A rate is not the best rate for that cruise while on another cruise it is the best rate.  I have a couple cruises booked where the refundable rate was cheaper than the non-refundable rate presented on Royal's website.  That's an the advantage of a good travel agent - they don't just look at Royal's website like you and I can, they see into the system and can see more than what is displayed on the website.

When I was gold I had to choose between Radiance of the Seas in Alaska and Celebrity.  I chose Celebrity because I wanted to try them.  In doing so I missed out on earning C & A points.  As I've progressed up through C&A it has occurred to me at each threshold I would have been there already had I chosen Radiance back then.  I don't regret sailing Celebrity but it has cost me in terms of progressing up the C&A ranks.

Keep an eye out for a deal on a suite cabin, even a junior suite.  You earn double C&A points with a suite which can help you move up through the C&A levels much faster.

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15 hours ago, Motivatedman said:

What are the advantages of being a platinum member? From our travel agent in trying to book a new seven day cruise on the Allure it got us $1 off a balcony room. Are there advantages that were missing? Or should we start looking at other Cruise Lines why be loyal if we're not receiving any benefits? I'm just trying to find out what the advantages are or what we're missing out on. Can anybody please help and thank you

One step closer to Diamond!

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3 hours ago, twangster said:

I

I've found a good travel agent who looks at all available rates including rates that aren't present on Royal's website.  On occasion she has flat out told me the C&A rate is not the best rate for that cruise while on another cruise it is the best rate. 

As @twangster states...often the C&A rate is not the best. Other sites are often much cheaper. I have not booked a cruise on Royals site now for years as they are much more there than elsewhere...even with my "discount"

 

Until you reach much higher, don't bother...and to be honest..even then you may still find it cheaper elsewhere than through Royal.

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Platinum is when I really started noticing the benefits - the typically shorter check in / earlier boarding on embarkation day is nice, and having the option to get a robe on board was nice. The discounts for things such as BOGO drinks, photograph prints, and similar are kind of nice, too. It's the little things.

No huge difference for the next step up in between Platinum and Emerald, but I do like having the bottled water and cookies in our room once we arrive! 

Looking like we'll hit Diamond at the end of next year, which I'm looking forward to. ? 

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