Royal Caribbean and Celebrity considering merging loyalty programs in the future

There’s a chance that Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises will be merging their loyalty programs in the future. 

The Captain’s Club is the cruise line’s program that rewards cruisers for showing loyalty to Celebrity Cruises. After your first cruise with the brand, you’ll start earning points to move up the ranks of their program.

During a Captain’s Club webinar sent via email on September 26, Celebrity Cruises President Laura Hodges Bethge answered questions sent in from loyal Celebrity fans, including some about Perfect Day at CocoCay, the future of “All Included,” vaping in the casino, and potential changes to their loyalty program.

While no definitive answer was provided, members of Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club and Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society may be able to consolidate their statuses in the future. 

Is Celebrity Cruises considering the possibility of consolidating Royal Caribbean Group loyalty programs?

Andrea Shay, AVP of Loyalty for Celebrity Cruises, took the reign on this question, responding by saying, “I’m so glad that this question came up, and it’s something that members are asking for.”

“We have some status match between the brands today, but there’s such a huge opportunity for us to do more and really take advantage of the connection and us being part of the same family.”

According to Shay, the status match doesn’t thread the three Royal Caribbean Group brands together, so they’re working with their sister brands. Hopefully, more will be revealed in the coming months. 

Celebrity Cruises’ current status match program

By status matching, cruisers are able to receive comparable benefits from Celebrity’s Captain’s Club when sailing onboard Royal Caribbean ships. 

You won’t, however, be able to match your status with Royal Caribbean until you become a Select member, which corresponds with the Platinum tier of the Crown & Anchor Society. 

When you become an Elite member, you’ll level up to a Diamond Crown & Anchor member. This is the highest tier you will be able to match into. 

Likewise, if you are matching into Celebrity’s Captain’s Club through the Crown & Anchor Society, Platinum and Emerald members will be able to benefit from Select benefits, while those Diamond and become will get those of an Elite member. 

With the status match program, you don’t earn points when sailing on a sister brand. So, for instance, if you are a Diamond Crown & Anchor member through points, sailings on Celebrity Cruises won’t help you move towards Diamond Plus status. 

Similarly, you won’t earn any Crown & Anchor points if you embark on a 14-night transatlantic cruise onboard a Celebrity ship. 

What kinds of benefits do Elite Captain’s Club members get?

To become an Elite member, you’ll have to earn 300 points. Earning points is based upon a couple of factors, such as the length of your cruise and cabin category that you sail in:

• Inside or ocean view: 2 points per night
• Veranda: 3 points per night
• Concierge Class and AquaClass: 5 points per night
• Sky Suites and Aqua Sky Suite: 8 points per night
• Celebrity, Signature, Royal, and Sunset Suites: 12 points per night
• Penthouse, Reflection, and Edge Villa: 18 points per night
• Iconic Suite: 24 points per night

This means that it is possible to earn Elite status after three cruises if you book a Penthouse, Reflection, or Edge Villa. 

Elite members get a private continental breakfast, access to private events, priority tender access, 20% off any bottle of wine, 15% discount on drink package or premium drink package, a complimentary cocktail hour from 5-7pm, and more. 

What perks come with Royal Caribbean’s Diamond tier?

Once you reach 80 cruise points, you’ll become a Diamond member with the Crown & Anchor Society. This is when you begin unlocking some pretty lucrative benefits, such as daily drink vouchers, a free day of internet, a complimentary photo, and more. 

This means that if you are an Elite member with Celebrity thinking about taking your first-ever Royal Caribbean cruise, you’ll be eligible for the same perks. 

Note that typically you earn a single cruise point for each night sailed with Royal Caribbean. This means that if you go on a 7-night cruise, you’ll get seven cruise points. 

You can earn an  extra point per night by staying in a suite, or double points for traveling solo. Those cruising alone in a suite will earn three cruise points per night. 

It would take 12 week-long cruises to become a Diamond member in standard cabins, or six if you’re staying in suites or traveling solo. 

CocoCay, smoking in the casino and more

During the webinar, Laura Hodges Bethge mentioned that adding Perfect Day at CocoCay to Celebrity itineraries was an easy decision.

One thing that loyal guests were asking for was a private destination, and since Celebrity Cruises does not have their own at this point in time, this was the easiest and fastest way to make it happen for their guests. 

With Coco Beach Club and the addition of Hideaway Beach in January 2024, there’s something for those seeking either a relaxed day at an exclusive beachfront beach club or for adults wanting a fun day away from children.

Moreover, Zenith members, those who have reached the highest tier of Celebrity’s Captain’s Club, are able to access The Retreat Lounge effective immediately.

She did note, however, that since this perks was initially pulled back due to volume and capacity issues, there may be times that Zenith members will be offered an annexed space, rather than getting access to The Retreat Lounge.

Finally, while they did a test onboard two ships to see if they would allow smoking in the casino, Celebrity Cruises figured out that the majority of passengers are against this. Therefore, the casino onboard Celebrity ships will remain a no smoking (or vaping) area.