In an industry first, Royal Caribbean Group, the parent company of three major cruise brands, created a Loyalty Status Match program that allows guests to apply their existing loyalty club tier level — earned on any of the brands — to all three cruise lines.
The change takes effect on cruises departing on and after June 5, 2024 on bookings with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises.
Royal Caribbean Group announced the pioneering reward program on May 30, 2024 as part of an effort to enhance the guest experience for cruisers who are members of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society, Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club, and Silversea’s Venetian Society.
All three loyalty programs provide popular perks, free amenities, and service bonuses to frequent guests, such as early check-in, priority reservations for restaurants and entertainment, early booking access to new itineraries; private parties; and free laundry services, for example.
Frequent guests earn points for each night they sail, accumulating many points over time and attaining various benefit tier levels. Prior to the new match program, the points and/or tiers were not reciprocal between the brands.
“We strive to provide guests with experiences within our portfolio of brands that meet them for all of life’s moments. Each of our differentiated brands have passionate fans who take pride in the status they’ve achieved through repeat sailings,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group.
Loyalty Plans Operate on Point-Based Systems
Royal Caribbean Group’s various loyalty programs operate in similar ways, using a point system to indicate the level of benefits each line offers.
With Royal Caribbean’s Crown and Anchor Club, guests earn 1 point for each night they spend on one of the line’s ships and 2 points if they book a suite. The lowest level is Gold, for anyone who has sailed at least three nights.
Subsequent levels are Platinum, 30 points; Emerald, 55 points; Diamond, 80 points; Diamond Plus, 175 points; and finally, Pinnacle, 700 points.
On Silversea Cruises, the group’s luxury brand, the line’s Venetian Society has 5 milestone tiers, including 1 day; 100 days; 250 days; 350 days; and 500-plus days.
Venetian Society members who have sailed 100 days receive an invitation to a private onboard party for Venetian Society members, and free laundry service, for example, while those who have sailed 350 days receive a free 7-day voyage.
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Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club also has 5 tiers: Classic (2 to 149 points), Select (150 to 299 points), Elite (300 to 749 points), Elite Plus (750 to 2,999 points), and Zenith (3,000-plus points). With this brand, points are based on stateroom category.
Inside and ocean view cabins earn 2 points per night of sailing, up to 8 points for Sky Suite bookings, 18 points for Edge Villa, Penthouse, and Reflection suites, and at the top end, 24 points for guests staying in an Iconic Suite.
After enrolling in the new program, guests will be eligible to take advantage of point-for-point matches among the three brands, allowing them to receive all onboard perks tied to their tier status.
Cruisers who are already signed up for more than one of the group’s loyalty programs will automatically be matched to the status level they are entitled to.
Royal Caribbean Group’s three brands operate a total of 66 ships on global itineraries. The group also owns a 50% stake in a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. The shared loyalty program does not apply to those cruise lines.
