Celebrity Cruises Launches New Captain's Club

JoeyandDavid · July 8, 2009

Celebrity Cruises' Captain's Club - the top-rated premium brand's three-tiered recognition and benefits program designed exclusively for its most loyal guests - has been redesigned and relaunched based on a series of member-inspired improvements. Several new features are rolling out across the fleet on sailings beginning this month, while others will be introduced in intervals over the course of the year.

"Our most loyal guests deserve our loyalty in return, so we're thrilled to offer them a vastly improved program," said Celebrity Cruises President & CEO Dan Hanrahan. "Our new Captain's Club gives them greater recognition, exclusive benefits, and a number of new features designed to make them feel like the center of our attention every time they sail with us."

New features launching this month include the Captain's Club Celebration, a one-of-a-kind social and entertainment event available to all members; significantly improved Internet and laundry benefits for Select and Elite tier members; and a new onboard lounge exclusively for Elite members. The brand has even introduced a new theme for the club, which doubles as its ongoing commitment to members: "The center of our attention."But these improvements are only the beginning. During the second half of this year, Celebrity will expand the Captain's Club with a variety of other new features, all of which will be announced prior to taking effect. "Our new Captain's Club was designed based on a tremendous amount of research, feedback from our members, and advice from our travel partners," said Hanrahan. "We want to ensure that we deliver every aspect to our guests' utmost satisfaction, so we're choosing to roll out the enhancements in intervals, beginning with improvements to the member experience onboard."

A highlight of the onboard experience is likely to be the Captain's Club Celebration. Soon available across the fleet, with the exception of Celebrity Xpedition, all members will be invited to this exclusive event once per sailing. Redesigned to be a highlight of every cruise, the spirited affair will provide the perfect opportunity to meet fellow members, chat with the Captain and senior shipboard officers, experience interactive cooking demonstrations, and enjoy the new "CC Jams" performance by a variety of shipboard musicians.

For members interested in a quiet haven of their own, Celebrity is pleased to introduce the Captain's Club Lounge at Michael's Club, exclusively for Elite members and their stateroom/suite companions each morning and early evening. The new Lounge will offer a casual coffeehouse-style experience from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., with complimentary espressos, teas and other menu items, a variety of reading materials, and, on Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox, wi-fi access. Every evening from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Captain's Club Elite members and their stateroom/suite companions can return to the Lounge to socialize with fellow members, participate in a wine tasting event, or simply relax and enjoy a quiet, complimentary drink before dinner. In recognition of their desire to stay in touch with family and friends while vacationing, Elite members will now receive complimentary, 90-minute Internet packages, while Select members will receive a 25 percent discount.

Also within the new program, Captain's Club Select- and Elite-level members can now enjoy new laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing benefits, based on the length of their cruise (laundry and Internet benefits upgrade from tier to tier, and are not cumulative). Celebrity also is extending its pledge to make members the center of attention by engaging many in the entirely new Captain's Club Advisory Board, to ensure its most loyal guests always have a voice in shaping the program. Participation on the Advisory Board will be offered online on a rotating basis to a selection of members across all tiers. In addition to focusing on effectively delivering the new features of the Captain's Club, Celebrity will continue to ensure that members enjoy all the program benefits currently available, too, and that they continue to have more opportunities to achieve higher-tier status. "We will continue to provide members in every tier of the Captain's Club with the recognition and rewards they've come to expect, while adding several new enhancements over the course of this year," said Hanrahan.

"We also want to ensure that our members have the opportunity to quickly advance to the next tier. That's why we count tier credits versus purely counting cruises. Tier credits are earned simply by sailing with us, but we also award additional credits for cruises of 12 or more nights, and for booking certain stateroom and suite categories. As a result, members can more quickly advance to the next tier."

"What we're rolling out today, combined with everything we'll be adding to the program over the course of this year, will add up to what I'm confident will be the best loyalty program at sea," Hanrahan added.

Prior Captain's Club benefits and new enhancements available at launch include:

For Classic members (1-4 tier credits):Access to the loyalty desk and loyalty host; a premium onboard discount booklet; access to the new Captain's Club Celebration event; a complimentary custom air request; pre-cruise specialty restaurant reservations; member reunion cruises; one-category upgrades (when available); and an online newsletter.

For Select members (5-9 tier credits): All of the benefits of Classic membership, plus priority embarkation, a complimentary wine seminar, priority status to shore excursion waitlist, an invitation to the senior officers' cocktail party, 25% off any Internet package, complimentary pressing of two clothing items, and discounted laundry on cruises of 12 nights or more.

For Elite members (10 or more tier credits): All of the benefits of Select membership, plus a private shipboard departure lounge with continental breakfast, priority tender service, priority waitlist for dining room seating, elegant tea service, complimentary use of Thalassotherapy pool use on Celebrity Mercury, complimentary access to the Persian Garden (port days only), access to the new Captain's Club Lounge at Michael's Club, 90 free Internet minutes, one free item of dry cleaning, a complimentary bag of laundry (wash, dry, fold) and additional discounted laundry on cruises of 12 nights or more.