Each cruise line has a loyalty level system where you are rewarded either with discounts or onboard amenities and perks the higher your status in the system. You move up in the levels by sailing repeatedly with the same cruise line. Some lines count the sailings as a whole (as American Cruise Lines or ACL does), and some count days sailed. Carnival calls their loyalty program VIFP Club (Very Important Fun Person) whereas Royal Caribbean calls it their Crown & Anchor Society. When it comes to ACL, the loyalty program is called The Eagle Society and just like every other line, you automatically become a member after your first cruise. Since Dad already had one cruise on ACL, he has since been an Eagle Society member and receives tons of mailings with future cruise options.
After we had been checking out this East Coast Inland Passage itinerary online, Dad gets the latest issue of the Eagle Society member news in the mail. In it, the November 2nd 15-day sailing was listed as one of the chosen Eagle Society cruises. It's a little confusing when compared to the list of these special cruises on the website because the website only lists 2020 sailings. We talked to people on the cruise who had no idea you could have booked this sailing for all 15 days. Some only found it listed as the passage from Baltimore to Charleston that covered our first week and others only found it listed as the now current route of Charleston to Jacksonville and back again. ACL missed out on several booking opportunities as many told us they'd have happily booked both weeks if they'd known. As it was, each week onboard for us was treated like two separate cruises according to ACL's records. The only exception was that unlike ocean cruises, we didn't have to get off and back on with new cards so that they could "zero out the ship." When it comes to these special Eagle Society itineraries, here's what the newsletter describes one should expect that's different from any other sailing: "These itineraries offer an enhanced experience as they include special features such as a welcome reception, onboard gifts, an exclusive dining experience, and VIP access at a historically significant venue." Keep this claim in mind as the story progresses.
Becoming an Eagle Society member gives a passenger a small list of benefits mostly to enjoy for the future. After your third cruise, all of your tours through the cruise line are free. After your tenth cruise, you get your 11th cruise free. If a ship in their line is visiting your hometown, you're welcome to come onboard for lunch or dinner. When you're cruising and happen to visit a town where your friends live, you're welcome to invite them on board for visits and dining. Definitely a lot less stringent with security and access than the bigger cruise lines. There's also mention of a bridge and galley tour that's a membership perk. Never saw a galley tour option but the bridge tour was part of that day's activity schedule so not really an exclusive perk. The mention of "member-only" onboard gifts rounds out the list of perks so I'm not sure which was for that and which was for being on this special cruise date.
These specific cruises are listed as only being for Eagle Society members but there was a small group of people who were there on their first ACL cruise. I was able to become a member prior to my first cruise thanks to the program's referral option that gave me automatic status and was to give Dad a referral "courtesy savings" of $500. When we booked over the phone, we were told that there was only one cabin left. On this kind of ship, there was only one suite cabin but it didn't give you anything extra other than space for the extra cost. The one cabin left turned out to be the next level cabin down, an AAC with Private Balcony. Unfortunately, this was a connecting cabin but we went with it believing it to be the only cabin left. We ended up booking cabin #321 and did enjoy the fact that it was super easy to remember. At the time of booking, we didn't have the information about the referral program so we just paid in full not expecting any further issue.
A short while later, Dad gets another brochure in the mail and notices the mention of the referral program. He calls up to ask if referring me counts as normally cruise line referrals insist that the new person have booked their own cabin. The rep says that he does qualify for the referral but has to look into getting me membership status. We give them a couple weeks to get back to us and then call again. This rep assures us that they've given me status but are still working on whether they can give the $250 (note the drop from $500 because now they are only offering half the credit since we're booked in the same cabin) back as a refund off the cruise fare or as onboard credit. Another couple weeks pass without word so we call again. Now the story changes to "we'll give it to you as a credit toward your next cruise." Sorry but who wants that when they can't guarantee they'll want another cruise to use that credit? Offer that on a line like Princess or RCL and I'd be willing to blame my need for another cruise on your offer. :)
Thankfully Dad had some past experience with an online advocacy group and through them was able to find the name and contact information for a supervisor in ACL's customer service. He dropped an email to her and within minutes she called and asked for all the information. At most a couple hours goes by and she's calling us back revealing the real issue. It seems that once you pay for your ACL cruise in full (as we had to since we booked only a couple months before sailing), their system locks up your reservation and no one can figure out how to make changes. She offers the better solution instead of comping all of Dad's tours on this sailing to which he readily agrees. As with any company, the mantra "get it in writing" should always be followed. This supervisor sent a new trip confirmation showing the comped tours in an email by that evening. This would come in handy not once but twice during the cruise.
Several days after booking, we received in the mail a rarity for cruising these days - a brochure full of paperwork, information, and nice sturdy plastic luggage tags. Most of the time all of your documents are online and you complete an online check in before being able to print out a boarding pass.
Inside was a copy of our booking confirmation, a brochure full of general information covering everything from the address where Independence docks and parking options to boarding times, packing tips, and how shore excursions work, four luggage tags and little plastic tubular ties that wrapped around the tag and your luggage handle. Also inside was our two boarding passes, two similar looking printouts showing that we had the included bus transfer (that's usually an extra cost on the big lines so kudos to ACL) at the end of the cruise to the Jacksonville airport, and a form to fill out and send back with our contact information, onboard preferences, and transportation plans. That form had to be mailed back within so many days of sailing so we got it filled out and mailed right away even though we hadn't yet finalized our flight home yet.
And so began the whir of activity one propels themselves into as vacation approaches...
No comments:
Post a Comment