Jean, where it starts to dribble off on the Radisson webpage, it should say "click here" When you click on that, your Adobe reader should open and the program will be listed there.

I will try emailing you a copy of what I am seeing.

Jean: Go to beginning of this thread - i just did - it works all there

Nope, I just did again and there is nothing to "click" on. Wonder why it was taken off the web site? Thanks, Karen, for emailing it. Clyde just read the benefits and he, too, agrees with everybody here that it,to quote Joanna, STINKS and we are 206 days. I mean, what does free liquor mean? We get it anyway. Do they mean in the bar? And the rest of it is just plain silly. Who cares about art auctions and advisory boards and free phoning? We never call home (bad grandparents!) Bah humbug. Seabourn at least gives free cruises which makes better sense to us.

Jean, I just looked again at the Radisson site and it hasn't been taken off? I am not sure why you are not seeing it but I am glad my email version worked!

We never call home (bad grandparents!) Bah humbug. Seabourn at least gives free cruises which makes better sense to us.

Jean we don't call home either - rarely - not a perk for me!!!! I'm on vacation!!~! Joanna

Looks like we are being censored!! What do you suppose we did to RSSC? Go on a Seabourn cruise? <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />

I'm fairly new to RSSC (my first cruise last summer,another coming up in a few months) so I may have a slightly different view of these perks. I'm reading these comments and thinking that these gold and platinum levels are for couples who probably spent more on RSSC cruises than we invested in our home. And the discussion is over $50 worth of free internet or $100 in phone calls? This,of course,points out the lessons I learned in a career in sales and sales management...it's not the reward,it's the idea of winning it. Million dollar producers would get excited about qualifying for a four day vacation at a resort in the off season. With Radisson,it's a picture with the captain and a visit to the bridge. Am I to believe that someone who has sailed the equivalent of six months on the Mariner can't get a bridge visit or picture with the captain any time they want. A line such as RSSC has a problem with frequent cruisers' programs: An airline which treats you like cattle,anyway,can make your life special with perks that make your trip bearable and a mass-market cruise line can really improve your vacation by eliminating lines. What can Radisson do to make your experience even more special?

Well, i'm really sorry, but this makes silverseas look even better than it did, we have done both....our preference is to Radisson, but the all inclusive thing pushes us over. We are not total drunks, but with the dollars close.........it's an easy decision. Wonder if we will see Marc Conroy on this "presidents cruise" in 3 weeks. No documents yet, but we are going!!
Cindy

Steve -

Well worded -

Special Shore Excursions would be good (notified in advance), we've all been talking ALL INCLUSIVE Liquor for a long time. And as we said earlier - give us back our discount and let us decide where to put our perks. 5% on a $5000 cruise is $250.00. It'd cost them a lot less than that to do what most of us want in the first place.

With Radisson,it's a picture with the captain and a visit to the bridge

SCARY THOUGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jean, your feelings are mirrored though out this entire LCT thread. Hope you found the link....I assure you, you are Platinum. I'm not even sure how many of us are Platinum but I know you and Clyde are. I do have to agree that many of the perks are geared to helping RSSC (buy one, get one free type things). I'm not disappointed in what we're receiving but can certainly understand how others may be. Even for those hitting Platinum, from there it kind of loses any future incentives.

I have no problem with companies making $$, all the power to them...it's the way it should be, but I'm hearing from so many of us "don't insult our intelligence" trying to put something over on us that just ain't there! I'm still convinced that it's MORE than coincidental that the tier program doesn't begin until April, AFTER the WC and Circle SA cruises. Hmmmmmmmmmm??

And the art auction....Anna Luisa, I'm with you (you must be reading my mind). Get rid of them. I've peeked into some of the auctions and seen as few as 3 or 4 people. One time I heard a man snoring in the middle of one! Hardly worth the return. (I think this is true of all cruiselines, not just RSSC). The best part of those are the "frames" they're displayed in.

Jean, as for our letters that are "in the mail", don't feel alone. NONE of us have received them yet.

I'm a happy person and hate to say/post negatives things but sometimes it's good to get things off our chest...just did. I believe the many many members here are a good cross section of RSSC cruisers...agree? Hope some with powers are listening to us.

BTW, hvsteve1 I think it is so important for the
"good of all" to hear remarks such as yours! Please continue your good input.

are for couples who probably spent more on RSSC cruises than we invested in our home

Once we got older, educated kids, decided NOT to leave $$$ to kids but spend it, YES disappointed being rewarded with WHAT??? Picture of the Capt??? Come on...the whole thing is a joke - Joanna

Joanna,

You're a much more responsible parent than me! I haven't finished educating mine but I'm already participating in the SKI program ;) !

We have collected limited edition prints for a number of years and find the Park West stuff is pretty much what you would find at a land-based art gallary. Their prices also appear decent. HOWEVER,I thought the whole presence of PW adversly impacted what is,otherwise,a cruise that prides itself on understated luxury. Many of the reviews,by both cruisers and professionals,have alluded to the out-of-place feeling of the artwork spread over the public areas. In a perfect world,the same thought that went into other factors that make up the atmosphere would have gone into the artwork, Instead,the walls are adorned with whatever PW happens to have brought to sell. On my Mariner cruise,the atrium was plastered with oversized nudes of the type one would expect to see in a bachelor pad. And walking through the lounge cluttered with piles of framed art is really out of character for this ship. Maybe on Celebrity or HA.

To be on an advisory board, most folks are paid. I wonder if they will pay us? I guess we will have the honor of doing it for free? Back to Bill's cost-centric model.

Well...maybe not if you own a home in So Cal!! After supporting 2 kids through 4 years of college (count 'em...that's 8 years in a row with NO break!) I do feel we've earned our own luxuries! We paid the price for some R & R...several times over!

This new tier program as Bill mentioned above is "alot of hooey". We would qualify as silver because we are new to cruising and have taken just two RSSC cruises. I was convinced that after the first cruise we would be enjoying a long time of cruising with Radisson. However, due to the new cost increases and lack of benefits for being loyal, we will definately try another cruise line in the future. We have three booked on RSSC this year and may cancel the third to try Silverseas or Seabourn. As for our silver benefits....little use to us. The priority dinner reservations I see as a real problem. We like RSSC because of their service to ALL customers....old and new alike. When comparing to benefits at hotels, this is very different (spoken from someone who gets numerous benefits from hotels-Hilton and Marriott and airlines-Continental, KLM, Northwest) These benefits do not impact other customers in gaining access to reservations. We book in the same time frame as everyone, even with the highest status level on three airlines. As for free internet access....and I qualify for this...it is a HUGE problem. While on a cruise in Sept. on the Voyager, the internet was unavailable for the first 3-4 days. Afterwards, RSSC thought they were doing everyone a favor by having internet access free of charge. People abused this and the computers were tied up for huge periods of time by a single user. I finally convinced the front desk staff to put up a letter requesting people to limit their time to 30 minutes. Still, people did not think that applied to them.
Michelle commented above regarding "baby boomers itching to spend money" but not amongst a bunch of prima donnas is right on target. We will be looking elsewhere for a way to spend those $$$.

NHCruiser:

As usual, your quiver is full of common sense arrows.

Cheers! Ray

Radisson truly "missed the boat" on this new program. This would have been an ideal time to win newcomers as well as seasoned cruisers over with a program that is designed to say "Thanks for choosing Radisson. We value and appreciate your loyalty!" Instead, all it equates to is a whole lot of nothing special. I expected more from an upscale cruiseline such as Radisson.

On LCT, we have a great cross-section of RSSC cruisers; those who have just begun cruising and those who are long-time, frequent RSSC cruisers. Not one person is entirely pleased with this so-called loyalty program.

As I've stated in a previous post, I do think Silversea, Seabourn, Oceania, to name just a few, will be the winners in this when all is said and done. I hope RSSC will rethink this and give SSS members real incentives to keep us coming back and remain loyal.

Interesting that the link to the new tier program is gone from their website. We can only hope that it was posted too soon before it was really thought through!

Denise, I can still see the link.

Bill, your comments are "right on" and I can't say it any better than you and others here have done. I agree with all of you.

I think the art auctions are really tacky. I'm not criticizing the type of art (although I prefer Arlene's :) ). It's the whole idea of the auction that gets me including the obnoxious brochures placed on the cabin doors each day. It reminds me of a carnival atmosphere and doesn't belong on a Radisson ship.

Bill...Where is your home in N H? We are in Exeter, when not at my husband's job assigment in the Northeast of England!

As Karen has said, the link to the new program is not gone on the rssc Web site. It just takes a long time to load the pdf file.

------------

Eugene

Those art auctions were so cheesy. Seemed like most people were only there for the free champagne. Park West seemed desparate to sell some of (any of) the stuff, they were giving away a $500 bid credit. So much for the supposed gold benefit of $100 credit.

Maybe they should have put their Advisory Board in place before they rolled out this mess.

Marcie, Marcie Marcie! Thank you so much. You have opened up the oportunity for me to get that free cruise people are moaning about. Since we obviously take different itineraries, when you are not on board I will offer drinks and laundry to the lower classes at half price. I figure that on a thirty day cruise I can make enough to pay for a lovely time on Rad. I am not too proud to serve drinks and do laundry. I will just post my cabin number on LCT to let my future customers know the opportunities available to them. WOW.

Of course, we will avoid the rush for the crowded internet room by bringing our own laptop.

Karen: I still don't see the link!! Isn't that crazy? I'm going to call the RSSC number to get an explanation.

Perhaps this thread should be sent to Marc Conroy?

Jean,
i just pulled up the link and it came up really fast, don't know why it is inconsistent, but I just clicked on Seven Seas Society and there it was!!
Cindy

I am assuming that by the time they roll out the free internet, they'll have connections in all the cabins. Otherwise, we might see a replay of some of the "Mutiny" movies.

Jean, since the letter is supposedly coming fairly soon in written form (along with their count of how many nights we have sailed), why not just wait for that? It will be easier to read anyway.

I got my letter yesterday, 1/3/06.

The link is still there for me - try refreshing the web site.

Hopefully someone from RSSC is reading comments on here and other boards. They should have run the program by their top producing agents - like B&K - to get a read on what the client reaction might be.

The most problematical is the restaurant reservations, unless by priority they mean that people can sign up on line ahead of time. Otherwise, how are they going to manage it - you board, make your reservations, think you are set and then they call your stateroom to say - sorry can't accomodate you then, a Gold member just called....

I called them just now and the answer was that it must be my server! Oh well. She also said the letters would go out at the end of the month. Does anybody know what's going on in that office??

Well, I took a picture of my screen where I see the link. Now I'll try to get it here. It's a lousy picture, and for some reason my camera is dating it wrong, but I took it ten minutes ago.



I think it worked, now see the little "click here" link?

While bennies are nice, having them or not having them wouldn't change our decision to cruise RSSC. We like the ships and everything about them. I agree with Marcie though. Once onboard, everyone should be treated alike. Bennies should not be flaunted! Accept them quietly.

Doug, I agree with you 100%--creating classes of passengers is a big mistake. One of the great things we like about Radisson is that we get treated well, despite having a lower cabin. And I'm sure that those platinum types (lucky guys!), already do get treated specially in lots of ways already, but in subtle ways that don't make us infrequent cruisers feel left out.

So for me, the preferential restaurant reservations are the biggest mistake. And the all-inclusive next in line, that's going to be fairly obvious and tacky I think.

That all being said, if we can afford a cruise once in a while, we will be sticking to Radisson unless the experience becomes compromised in some way.

Having been a member of a club where there were different levels of privileges we've seen that become a problem over time and people always seems to find ways around it, or are very offended by it. Either way it really doesn't serve a purpose once that happens.

I'll appreciate internet time, if it's available. We prefer Compass Rose and room service. I have collected art for so long that we've run out of walls to hang it on. Sometimes I like the spa, sometimes I don't want to take the time. I can roll with all of this.

BUT...it *is* a problem for a lot of people, and I would hate to see RSSC's quality spiral downward because their previously loyal passengers are headed off for greener pastures. I don't understand why they put off this announcement for so long, and then thought we'd faint from joy when they rolled out such a pitiful offering.

Well maybe we should all hit the "contact us" link on the SSS page, and tell them what we think!

If anyone makes a "problem" out of this new program, they must look for the fault within themselves. We are being given gifts based on our past traveling with Radisson. Would these complainers prefer to receive nothing?

I would of rather of kept the old system, with a percentage off of every sailing.