ROYAL CARIBBEAN JUST DID SOMETHING CARNIVAL CANNOT

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Royal Caribbean International is doing it again. They have breaking cruise news and they're doing something that Carnival cruise brands just aren't doing.

[00:00:19]>> What's going on? My name is Jared and this is JJ Cruise. Thanks for joining me here today. Well, it's no secret that Carnival cruise brands have been in the news a lot recently and within the last few years for bad reasons. Maybe it's the changes to their loyalty program for the worse. Whatever it may be, Carnival isn't listening to its clientele, and Royal Caribbean International is doing the opposite by releasing cruise news today that I am so excited to share with you all. But before we get into this breaking cruise news, please subscribe to the channel. We are less than 600 subscribers away from 100,000 subscribers. It's free to you. Means the world to us. You could be the one to make us hit 100K. While you're there, hit that thumbs up. Thank you in advance. So, Royal Caribbean International comes out with cruise news today all about Celebrity Cruis's loyalty program. And although we were worried when we saw this email come through, as we have learned in the past that usually when a loyalty program changes, it's not usually for the better. But Royal Caribbean International has made really great cruisers in the past year or two regarding status matching across all her brands, as well as recently doing points choice where you can actually choose where your points go to every single sailing. We have done this and loved it.

[00:01:45]We've done the math on our channel. So, if you have any interest in finding the fastest way to hit top loyalty status across any Royal Caribbean international cruise brand, doesn't matter what cruise line you sail, you can get to status fast if you just go to that video. It's on our channel. We have been doing this ourselves and we have loved seeing our points go towards the cruise line that we are closest to achieving top loyalty status with. But today may change all of it. Yes, that is correct. With Celebrity Cruises, we have a new loyalty program that has new status tiers. However, they're not calling them tiers, they're calling them milestones. Why is that, you may ask? Well, we're going to get into the reason, and it's an important reason here very soon. So, make sure you stay till the end so you don't miss the very important notes of why they aren't called tiers, but they're called milestones. If you don't already know, Celebrity Cruises has multiple tiers, but the top tiers are going to be that of Elite, Elite Plus, and Zenith. Now, Elite Plus is 750 points. It's different than Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, where you might have a point per night, or maybe double points for sailing in a suite, maybe sailing in a cabin by yourself as a solo cruiser. Celebrity has different points per cabin type, so you can get there quickly if you sail in the top suites, but it will take quite a bit of time if you're sailing in those interiors or inside cabins as well as those ocean views or even just a traditional veranda or infinite veranda cabin. Well, one main complaint for so many people in Celebrities Cruise loyalty program, which is Captain's Club, have talked about the Captain's Club loyalty program being too far apart for tiers when you get to Elite Plus and head all the way up to Zenith. Going from 750 points once you hit Elite Plus to then getting all the way up to 3,000 points for Zenith is really hard to do and it's hard to stay motivated to hit that actual next tier. Jordan and I are currently elite plus and we have about 1,480 points right now. We are getting close to 1500 points and it sounds like we're doing it just in time as yes, Celebrity Cruises just released new milestone tiers. Now, these new loyalty milestones are 1,500 points, 2,250 points, and then 6,000 and 9,000 points. Yes, you Zenith members out there have also been complaining that there's nowhere to go from Zenith status. you aren't getting rewarded for continuing to sell after you hit the top tier status. Well, now that all changes once you hit 1500 points for Elite Plus, you have hit a new milestone and you have gotten some new perks. Before we get into these perks, I have to mention these are all in addition to what you already received. So, this is key. This is amazing news. This does not take away from anything you already have today.

[00:05:00]For 1,500 points, you receive 480 minutes of premium Wi-Fi. It is unclear if there's an additional percentage off if you decide to get a package.

[00:05:11]Currently, as a plus status members on Celebrity Cruises, Jordan and I get 35% off any of our Wi-Fi packages. In addition, 20% off any specialty dining while booked on board, as well as you get one digital photo per sailing when you're on board your cruises. Last, we have a surprise in room amenity that is given to you on your first sailing after you hit that milestone. So, yes, you have to hit 1,500 points as a milestone and then on your next sailing, you will get an surprise in room amenity. What that amenity is, who knows? But I think Jordan and I will be some of the first to be able to tell you. So, make sure you follow along because we will definitely share what that amenity is for us. This in room amenity is only for that first milestone cruise. So, it's not going to be received every single cruise from then on out. In contradiction to the other additional benefits we just noted, the next tier for Elite Plus, or I should say milestone is 2,250 points. With this tier, you get 720 premium Wi-Fi minutes. You also get 25% off specialy dining booked on board. Two digital photos are included, complimentary. You get another surprise in room amenity on your milestone cruise. And when available, you get to extend your stay. If you've never done this in Europe, it's common to where you can extend your stay on board. So, if you have a hotel night that you're going to stay in port and you can't really check into your hotel at 7:00 a.m. in the morning when you disembark, normally, you can stay on board the ship enjoying the amenities of your cruise ship while you wait to get off a little bit later in the afternoon so you can get to your hotel and check right in.

[00:07:06]This is a great program that we've done in the past and absolutely recommend.

[00:07:10]It's unclear how this program is going to be successful with the new EES program as it was eliminated on our recent European sailing, but something good to note one way or another. Those are the Elite Plus milestones. Once you hit Zenith, you'll have 35% off specially dining. You'll also have three digital photos included in every sailing. You'll also receive a surprise in room amenity for that milestone achieved and the rest of the amenities that you already can expect with Zenith today. Now, for those that are Zenith already, here are the tiers, or I should say milestones to come. At 6,000 points, you get one specialty lunch every single imbarcation day of every cruise you take. After hitting 6,000 points, you also get one specialty dinner on your milestone cruise. So that first cruise after hitting that milestone in points, you get one specialy dinner any day of that cruise and you get a bottle of champagne on that milestone cruise.

[00:08:10]That's a one-time feature as well. At 9,000 point milestone, we get a complimentary cruise. Once you hit that 9,000 point milestone, you get a 79 Caribbean or Bermuda sailing completely complimentary in a sky suite. So, they're giving you a suite for hitting that 9,000 milestone point level. Your specially lunch per cruise that's complimentary has been upgraded to not just imbarcation day, but any day of your cruise. You still get that specialy dinner for your milestone cruise. And you get that bottle of champagne for your milestone cruise. That was a lot all at once. Of course, we'll include the link in the description below so you can go and look at all of these milestone perks. Few things we have to note though. Frequently asked questions that we are curious about too. I have some answers for. First and foremost, when does this start? Well, you do have to wait until June 11th. This will not roll out until any cruises after June 11th. So, if you're taking a cruise before then, it's not going to count.

[00:09:14]So, don't even think about it. The next question is, what about status match and points choice? Will those points and status match still be good for these milestone tiers? The short answer is yes. The long answer, more complex answer is, but it depends. And why I say that is because we talked about this at the beginning of the video. You can still status match to tiers, but you can't status match to milestones. So in essence, you are able to status match to elite plus or to zenith status. But if you have uh equivalent points in Royal Caribbean to what you think it would be in celebrity, well, it doesn't work like that. You have to start at one of those loyalty statuses and then build your points from there. Points choice can really help here. If you are sailing on Royal Caribbean and want to achieve a milestone on Celebrity, you can still get there that way, but it's very different than what a tier status match would be. I hope that makes sense to everyone at home. But yes, these are milestones, not tiers. So, you're not status matching to milestones, only to the tiers. That's at least the information we have today. That could change in the future, but currently today, that is why they're called milestones. This all is really good news for us as we are getting so close to the 1500 point milestone. But I want to hear from you all at home. Is this exciting news to you as well? Is this going to change where you put your points within Royal Caribbean International Cruise Brands to maybe not going towards Royal Caribbean status, but celebrity status?

[00:11:02]And what are your thoughts at home of why Celebrity is doing this? Is it just because Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines are listening to their customers and what they want? Or is there something behind this? Have too many people been going towards Royal Caribbean status and not enough going towards celebrity status? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks again for joining me today. My name is Jared. This is JJ Cruz. And until next time, see you.