Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society cruise loyalty program guide

There are some great rewards waiting for cruisers who show loyalty to Royal Caribbean.

The line’s frequent cruiser program, the Crown & Anchor Society, offers members enticing perks such as discounts at onboard venues like spas after just one sailing. And after just a few more cruises, members start getting discounts on balcony and suite bookings, among other valuable perks.

Higher tiers of the Crown & Anchor loyalty program bring even more valuable perks, including up to six free drinks every night you’re on a ship, access to exclusive onboard lounges and a free cruise at the very highest tier.

Royal Caribbean also recently introduced two new features that increase the value of earning points in the program. In addition to offering a status match between Royal Caribbean and its two sister lines (Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises), all three cruise lines now have a Points Choice feature that lets passengers sailing on any of the brands apply the points they earn to any of the programs.

These new features are some of the reasons why TPG awarded Royal Caribbean the TPG Award for Best Cruise Line Loyalty Program this year.

Here’s everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program.

Ways to earn points

Earning points in the Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program is relatively straightforward. You will get:

• 1 point for every night you spend on a ship
• 1 additional point for every night you spend in a suite

Note that the extra point per night for suites applies only to stays in suites booked at the time a reservation is made. It doesn’t apply to stays in upgraded suites.

Related: A beginners guide to cruise line loyalty programs

Program tiers and benefits

There are six tiers to the Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society program:

• Gold (3-29 points)
• Platinum (30-54 points)
• Emerald (55-79 points)
• Diamond (80-174 points)
• Diamond Plus (175-699 points)
• Pinnacle Club (700 or more points)

Even at the entry-level tier of the Crown & Anchor Society program (Gold), members get some notable perks, including discounts on all sorts of onboard purchases. Among the most alluring benefits at this level are the exclusive rates available to members for specific sailings of specific ships.

Gold-tier membership benefits also include the following:

• 50% off any glass of wine, beer or soda (two coupons per sailing)
• 50% off a Johnny Rockets milkshake (two coupons per sailing, on select ships)
• 10% discount on any glass of wine, beer or soda (this is separate from the above coupon offer)
• A 20% discount on any coffee beverage, excluding Starbucks coffee
• A 10% discount on any internet package purchased on board (not combinable with any other internet offer)
• Access to a Crown & Anchor loyalty desk for membership inquiries
• Access to a private departure lounge with continental breakfast
• $2 in Free Play at shipboard casinos
• One free card when buying a bingo package
• A 10% discount on Royal Caribbean logo products (with a $25 minimum purchase)
• A 10% discount on any spa service (excluding medi-spa services)
• A member newsletter
• Priority notice on special offers, new ships and itineraries
• Additional points for purchasing suites and/or single pricing type

Upon reaching the second tier of the program, Platinum, you get a higher 50% discount on a coffee beverage (two coupons per sailing), a higher 15% discount on internet packages purchased on board and a higher 15% discount on spa services; you also get a few more perks such as a $5 discount on wash-and-fold laundry by the bag and a 20% discount on a single photo, photo package or photobook.

But the most notable addition at this tier, to us, is access to special member discounts on balcony cabins and suites. That can bring real savings.

Platinum status also brings access to exclusive, top-tier events on five-night-plus sailings (seven-night-plus sailings on Spectrum of the Seas) and the delivery of robes to your cabin for use while on board.

Related: The ultimate guide to picking a cruise line

The next tier, Emerald, adds just a handful of minor perks, including the delivery of two bottles of water to your cabin at the start of each voyage. At the Emerald tier, the discount on a single photo, photo package or photobook also rises to 25%.

The fourth tier of the program, Diamond, adds:

• Priority waitlist seating in the main dining room
• Four complimentary daily drinks up to $14 apiece in value (on most ships)
• One free day of Surf + Stream internet service
• Priority waitlist for shore excursions/Vitality Spa services
• An exclusive backstage tour (on sailings of five nights or longer)
• Access to an exclusive Crown Lounge (on ships that have them)
• A stateroom phone discount of $2 per minute
• A “chef’s choice” amenity in cabins (on sailings of five nights or longer)
• One free digital or printed photo
• Recognition with a special lapel pin
• Higher discounts for spa services (20%) and logo wear purchases (15%)
• A higher discount for a single photo, photo package or photobook (30%)
• A Crystal Block milestone recognition starting at 140 cruise points

It will take you just one cruise to reach the Gold level. Reaching the Platinum level would require five seven-night cruises, assuming you stay in standard cabins.

You can reach the Emerald tier in as few as eight seven-night cruises if you book a standard cabin. You could hit the Diamond level after 12 seven-night cruises in standard cabins.

If you book suites, you’ll reach all of these levels much faster.

Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean cabins and suites

The elite level that makes a difference

The Diamond Plus level is where the Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program really starts paying off.

Once you reach Diamond Plus, you’ll get all the aforementioned benefits plus priority access and seating at main theater shows, ice shows and AquaTheater events, which is a great perk.

Diamond Plus status also brings a 50% reduction in the single supplement charge for solo travelers — albeit only after your point total in the program hits 340 points. If you’re a solo traveler, this is a very big deal, as it will save you a considerable amount of money when sailing with Royal Caribbean.

Diamond Plus members also get the following:

• A higher 25% discount on any glass of beer, wine or soda
• Five complimentary drinks per day (up to a $14-per-drink limit)
• Complimentary dining for a second guest when you purchase a specialty restaurant dinner cover charge during the first or second night of your cruise
• A 30% discount on a Deluxe Beverage Package
• Two free days of a Surf + Stream internet package
• A personalized gift/amenity (one per household)
• One free wash-and-fold bag of laundry (on sailings of five or more nights)
• A complimentary add-on spa treatment
• Exclusive access to Diamond Plus call center staff

Diamond Plus members who accumulate 340 points also get access to a Cheers event with a ship’s officer, upgraded bathroom amenities and a bonus gift. Those accumulating 525 points get another bonus gift.

Note that the complimentary dining for a second guest mentioned above comes with a lot of fine print. It’s only valid for dinner reservations on the first or second night of a cruise. It also excludes dinners at the following onboard restaurants: Hibachi at Izumi, Teppanyaki, Chef’s Table, Celebration Table, Empire Supper Club, Playmakers and Hooked.

It can take as many as 25 seven-night cruises to reach Diamond Plus status if you stay in standard cabins. You can reach this level in far fewer cruises if you stay in suites and sail on longer voyages.

Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean

Best elite perk

The ultimate perk for Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society members comes upon reaching the top Pinnacle Club tier. You’ll get a complimentary seven-night cruise to the Caribbean in a balcony cabin.

The free cruise is for two people. You can bring a third and fourth guest, but you’ll pay their fares. You’ll also pay all taxes, fees and service charges (including gratuities); look out for other restrictions.

After hitting the Pinnacle Club level, you’ll get an additional free cruise every time you accumulate another 350 points. In other words, you’ll get an initial free cruise after hitting 700 points and then additional cruises at 1,050 points, 1,400 points, 1,750 points and so on.

The first two cruises are in a balcony cabin. After that, you qualify for a junior suite.

If you don’t want to sail the Caribbean, you can ask for a cruise credit to use toward an itinerary somewhere else. Royal Caribbean will give you $2,400 toward the purchase of a cruise at 700 and 1,050 points and $3,200 toward the purchase of a cruise at 1,400 points and above.

Pinnacle Club members also get:

• Six complimentary drinks
• A 40% discount on a Deluxe Beverage Package
• Access to the exclusive Coastal Kitchen restaurant on some ships on a space-available basis
• Daily breakfast at a specialty restaurant
• Free unlimited Surf + Stream internet package
• Suite/concierge lounge access
• Flexible arrival to the ship
• A personalized lapel pin

Related: The 7 classes of Royal Caribbean ships, explained

Status matching with sister brands

As noted above, Crown & Anchor Society members will receive matching status in the loyalty programs of its two sister brands, Celebrity Cruises (Captain’s Club) and Silversea Cruises (Venetian Society).

All three brands are owned by the same parent company, Royal Caribbean Group.

The matching status tier you will qualify for at each of the other two brands follows this chart:

Thanks to this matching status, higher-level Crown & Anchor Society members will be able to get some truly wonderful perks when sailing Celebrity or Silversea, even if they’ve never sailed those lines a single time before.

One of the great perks that kicks in at the Elite tier of Celebrity’s Captain’s Club loyalty program, for instance, is access to the Captain’s Club Coffee Lounge, where you can enjoy a coffeehouse-style breakfast each morning. This is a particularly big deal on shore excursion days, as it means you have a relatively quiet and uncrowded place to grab a quick breakfast before heading out for a tour.

Related: The ultimate guide to Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club program

Celebrity Elite members also get unlimited free drinks from the Captain’s Club menu each day between 5 and 7 p.m. at most bars and lounges on the ship.

How do I request a status match?

The status match should happen automatically. If you already have a loyalty program account with all three brands, check your status tier on each company’s website. Your status levels should already match between them according to the chart above.

If you don’t have an account with the other two brands, all you need to do is open one, and your status should then be automatically matched within a week.

If your status does not automatically update within seven days, contact your travel agent or call the specific loyalty desks of the specific brand that you want to be matched to:

• Crown & Anchor Society: 1-800-526-9723
• Captain’s Club: 1-800-760-0654
• Venetian Society: 1-888-978-4070

Points Choice: The new way to transfer points

In a major upgrade to the Crown & Anchor Society that took effect in January, Royal Caribbean will now let passengers allocate the loyalty points they earn from sailings on its two sister brands — Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises — to their Royal Caribbean loyalty accounts.

Alternatively, passengers on Royal Caribbean’s sailings can allocate the loyalty points they earn to their loyalty accounts with the other two brands.

Either way, this new super-perk, known as Points Choice, will let fans of Royal Caribbean and the other two lines build status in their preferred program faster than before, as they can focus their point earnings in a single program.

Given that all three brands have a status match feature, this is an incredibly positive change for the program.

Note that points do not always convert on a 1-to-1 basis, as each program has its own point-earning system. The chart below shows how a cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship would convert to points in the Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club loyalty program and to “VS Days” in Silversea’s Venetian Society loyalty program.

How to transfer points between programs

To transfer the loyalty points you earn while sailing Royal Caribbean to the loyalty program of one of its sister brands, you need to submit a request form through the Royal Caribbean app or website either before you sail or up to 14 days after your cruise ends.

Bottom line

Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program is relatively straightforward and can offer you some great benefits, even at its lowest tiers.

With some recent changes, it’s now the most robust loyalty program of any cruise line. Unlike the programs at many lines, it offers one of the truly great perks of any cruise loyalty program: a free cruise at its top tier.

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