When you step onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, you’re enrolled in the company’s Crown & Anchor loyalty program. It’s a program that’s very straightforward in how passengers earn points to advance in the program.
Earning Crown & Anchor status is solely based on how many nights you spend onboard, whether you sail in a suite or not, and whether you travel alone or with other people.
Related: 3 things new cruisers need to know before they cruise
Here’s how points are earned:
1 night in a cabin with at least two people: 1 point1 night in a cabin sailing solo: 2 points1 night in a suite with at least two people: 2 points1 night in a suite sailing solo: 3 points.
If you have more than two people in a cabin, everyone earns 1 point while anyone in a suite with more than two people earn two points per night.
Every passenger has their own Crown & Anchor Society number. That includes children.
All Royal Caribbean passengers are members of its loyalty program.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
How does Crown & Anchor status work?
“The Crown & Anchor Society is our way of recognizing and rewarding our most loyal guests. All you have to do is come aboard — you’ll be automatically enrolled into our loyalty program once you complete your first sailing,” the cruise line shared on its website. “Points add up to perks you can enjoy both on board and on land. And as your points grow, so do your benefits and status.”
Earning points advance passengers to different levels of the program. This is how many points you need to reach each level:
Gold: 3 pointsPlatinum: 30 PointsEmerald: 55 pointsDiamond: 80 pointsDiamond Plus: 175 pointsPinnacle: 700 points
Benefits at the lower levels are relatively minor, but when you reach Diamond status the perks become meaningful. Diamond-and-above members get access to the Crown Lounge, a dedicated space onboard with a high-end espresso maker that operates 24/7 as well as a continental breakfast and evening snacks/hors d’ouevres.
The Crown Lounge also offers a concierge who can help with dining and show reservations along with other issues. In addition, Diamond members get four free drink vouchers for each day of their cruise. Diamond Plus members get five each day while Pinnacle members get six.
These vouchers can be used anywhere on the ship or at Royal Caribbean’s CocoCay private island. The Crown Longue hosts a happy hour each night where members can use their vouchers, drink packages, or pay for drinks.
As passengers earn higher status, the benefits improve and include things like a free day of internet (Diamond), and a buy-one-get-one for specialty dining on the first two nights (Diamond Plus).
A full list of benefits can be found here.
Royal Caribbean now offers a status match
Royal Caribbean will now match status across its namesake brand, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea. That program will allow its passengers to sail with the comparable status they have earned on any of the three brands at the comparable level on the cruise line they are sailing with.
“Now, loyalty members have another reason to experience all Royal Caribbean Group has to offer, with a product to meet them for each of life’s moments. As the first major cruise company to offer loyalty status matching across its core brands, the Royal Caribbean Group Loyalty Status Match program allows members of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society, Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club, and Silversea’s Venetian Society to enjoy reciprocal tier status no matter which brand they sail with,” the cruise line shared.
It’s important to remember that each cruise line has its own system and benefits. Diamond on Royal Caribbean, for example, status matches to Elite on Celebrity, but the Diamond and Elite perks are different. Passengers get the benefits associated with the level they match with on the line they are sailing.
In addition, each cruise line has a separate system for point accrual. Passengers earn points on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Silversea based on the nights sailed with those cruise lines. The status match does not impact that.
Related: Royal Caribbean gives passengers something they asked for
