Update: Dec. 21, 4:15 p.m. -- Royal Caribbean's Celebrity brand sent out an email that it would be extending the casino year for its Blue Chip casino through July 31, 2024. That means that existing members will hold onto their current tiers for seven more months as the year normally ends at midnight on Dec. 31.
This move heavily suggests that the cruise company has plans to merge its Celebrity and Royal Caribbean casino loyalty programs but needs more time make it happen.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises both fall under the same corporate banner, led by CEO Jason Liberty. But each cruise line has its own leadership: Michael Bayley leads the Royal Caribbean brand and Laura Hodges Bethge helms Celebrity.
Having distinct management teams at the cruise lines enables each to operate in the way that best serves its customers. And having one overall corporate management team prevents inefficiencies, like the two brands both spending resources solving the same problems.
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The challenge for the parent is deciding how much the two brands will integrate and in which areas they will remain independent. Take the company's app, which very quietly has been adding new features.
Both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity use the same nearly identical apps with slightly different skins. That's cheaper for the company and it means a better product for people sailing on both cruise lines.
Celebrity and Royal Caribbean generally don't act as if they're owned by the same company in two key areas: loyalty programs and their casinos.
Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor members and Celebrity's Captain's Club members get some perks based on a status match across both cruise lines. But you earn points to get to new tiers only on the line you're sailing on.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
Loyalty program changes may be coming
A change to that and a possible merging of the two programs has been rumored, after Andrea Shay, Celebrity's assistant vice president of loyalty, talked about the potential of that happening during a Captain's Club webinar.
"I'm so glad that this question came up, and it's something that members are asking for," she said, according to a scoop from Royal Caribbean Blog, which is unaffiliated with the cruise line.
"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."
That's not a definitive answer, but Celebrity is planning to make a move early next year that will give its top-tier members a perk similar to one Royal Caribbean offers.
Every Royal Caribbean ship has a Crown Lounge, a dedicated space for Diamond-and-above loyalty members. These lounges have high-end coffee makers, and continental breakfast is served in the morning. At night, the lounges offer an appetizer bar and drink service.
Celebrity does not have dedicated lounges but offers a coffee and light-breakfast spot for Elite-and-above Captain's Club members. Next year, however, on cruises five nights and longer it plans to offer top-tier Captain's Club members a dedicated space for a happy-hour-style event.
That's not quite adding a lounge, but it's a concrete step toward seeing whether doing so makes sense.
Celebrity has already made casino changes
In addition to the loyalty programs based on how many nights a passenger has sailed with each cruise line, both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity's casinos have dedicated earned-benefits programs.
Over the course of the casino year — which ends March 31 for Royal Caribbean and Dec. 31 at Celebrity — casino players earn points toward various status levels. The levels and the perks differ on the cruise lines, and while many are speculating that the programs could also combine, so far that has not happened.
Celebrity Cruises, however, has added a popular perk from its sister cruise line. On Royal Caribbean ships the cruise line offers "Instant Reward" certificates. If a player earns a certain amount of points (usually 1,500) on that cruise, they get a free sailing from a limited list.
As your point totals grow the list improves, and you may be offered an ocean-view cabin, a balcony, or even a suite. Points are earned at different levels for different games (with slots being 1 point for every $5 bet).
On each ship Royal Caribbean provides QR codes so players can know which cruises and which types of cabin they earn at each level. It's a very clear system that Celebrity previously did not use.
Under the old Celebrity system, there was no promised cruise simply for hitting a points total. You would almost certainly get offered one (sometimes at the end of the cruise, sometimes waiting for you on the first night of your next cruise), but the program was never clearly defined.
Now, Celebrity has fully adopted the Royal Caribbean program, which makes it easier for gamblers to understand the free cruise perk they're earning by playing.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are also merging their backend casino operations and have even sent out some mailers that include offers on both cruise lines.
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