Leaving tomorrow for the 2006 WC and haven't received THE letter. I'll have to wait until I return in May. From what I have read in LCT, I haven't missed much.

After today's reports, I'd decided it wasn't geographic or alphabetical, but maybe # of cruise days? BUT, NO, or surely Marcie, Beth and Joanna would have received theirs! No logic to this, I guess!

we got our letter today, addressed to me. number of days were toally correct. only to me though, David did not get his "own "letter. with his 30 days.

Hi Kathy: I have not a clue about who and when - but other than making sure my days are correct - I don't think I care about the rest of it - Joanna

Our letter was addressed to both of us but days don't match - apparently Mark wasn't on the 2000 cruise on the Diamond from Nice to Rome - I wonder who I went with?

Our mailing arrived today. It was addressed to both of us and inside there were separate membership statements for each of us.

I am underwhelmed. I am not at all certain about the reasoning/logic that went into this program. The free internet is nice, but only if you are able to use a computer in club.com. Otherwise you have to bring your your own laptop and hope the wifi is available. There seems to be no real incentive to reach higher status tiers - I can do my own laundry and pressing - that's not going to attract me into booking another cruise. We don't go to art auctions and the other "perks" are pretty useless to us (maybe not to others). The concept of a class system of preferential pre-booking of restaurant reservations and spa appointments is repugnant.

It is more cost effective for a company to build a sustainable, profitable business by retaining existing customers through true customer loyalty/customer satisfaction initiatives than to have to constantly recruit a high percentage of new customers.

Jim and I enjoy our Radisson cruises but the changes in pricing and the deterioration of service on our two most recent trips (PG this summer and Voyager over Thanksgiving) have caused us to look at alternate options for our vacations. Fortunately, Ngaire and the whole Brown and Keene team are now providing interesting additional travel experiences.

Mary Ellen

It seems there is no pattern to whom they addressed the letters. Some are addressed to both people, some are addressed to only one , some people receive 2 letters, one for each person. I give up trying to understand their system.

Definition of system: "A combination of things or parts forming a whole; an ordered and comprehensive assemblage of facts, phenomena or doctrines in a particular field of knowledge."

System? What system?

Mary Ellen, I agree with you! I would NEVER feel comfortable reserving a table at Signatures (or the spa) only to know that I'm taking it at the expense of someone who may have waited in line and reserved it days before me! I HATE the idea of a caste system! How are they to entice repeat customers if they keep getting shoved to the back of the line? This is a turn-off, not an incentive!

I'm all in favor of discounts and perks that are deserved (earned) but DISCREET.... I do NOT want to be singled out once on board. We are ALL paying dearly and should all be treated as valued "priority guests" not just the top tiers.

BTW, we love Radisson! We have ALWAYS had top notch service on all our cruises so this is not a complaint in anyway. I just want my friends and fellow cruisers whom I may never meet to always have the same excellent treatment and service we have always received.

I guess we've never taken any trips...We never got our letter. Who should I notify?

No letter here in Westlake Village. :rolleyes:

Andi, I don't think I would notify anyone just yet, the letters have just started arriving!

Funny question! The letter we got was addressed to me, received Jan. 3rd, last name "W", partner excluded.

No letter here either. Not holding my breath, but want to make sure it's right.

Marcie raises a good point. There is much about the "fine tuning" of this new system of perks and benefits I don't understand. Such as, what does the term "priority reservations" mean? If, as Marcie suggests, it means that guests with higher tier categories can "bump" those with lower tiers, this is one BAD idea.

Thanks,
Richard

There has been nothing said about "bumping." Although I cannot find it now, I thought I saw somewhere that Gold and Plat could make advance reservations, similar to shore excursions.

I am still confused by all the complaints regarding priority reservations. If, in fact, reservations (or even reservations on preferred nights) are limited, some are going to be disappointed. I do not like the current format. If you get to the ship late, you are out of luck. If you are mobility impaired and cannot make it to the queue, you are out of luck. If you don't know the "rules" and don't read your newsletter right away and see the need to stand in line, you are out of luck.

A simple example. There are two reservations available. There are three people desiring one of the remaining reservations:

A local who lives at embarkation port and arrives at 1200; never has sailed with Radisson.

A Gold Member flying in from Texas but not scheduled to arrive until 1600, one hour before departure.

A couple, both in wheel chairs, Platinum Members, that are transferred by limo and arrive around 1400.

Under the current system the person who never sailed and the wheel chair bound couple (assuming that they make it to the queue in time) will get the two reservations. Why is that necessarily a better solution than the Platinum and Gold members getting the reservation without having to wait in the queue or changing to earlier flights?

This is not setting up a caste system. It is just revising the rules for allocating a limited resource. I just am not convinced that the current rules are better than the new rules.

Granted my experience is limited to the smaller ships (PG and Diamond), but we've never had to stand in line to get a reservation, or been denied one. Is it different on Voyager and Mariner?

Voyager and Mariner both have two reservations only restaurants: Signatures and Latitudes. Although reservations for Latitudes never seem to be an issue, it is sometimes hard to get Signature reservations especially on preferred nights (e.g., we have booked Signatures twice for our wedding anniversary).

Got our letter in the mail today, We are Silver members, this tier program is very strange to me, if I never reach gold that will be fine, If I had a real upgrade coupon I would probably pay for a D cabin on Mariner so I could upgrade to a C penthouse, Radisson is not thinking correctly, they are not motivating anyone by doing things like this.

We got our letter yesterday (fortunately addressed to both John AND me and not just John, which would have annoyed me mightily). I'll be checking to see whether our nights on a charter, our first cruise with RSSC, can be included. Otherwise, nothing new yet to add. We'll see ....

I got my letter this weekend, addressed to both my husband and I. The days were accurate but the whole program is very disappointing.

Sounds like most people's letters had accurate information about their cruises...mine, however, was WAY off. It had 3 wrong cruises...they were on the correct ship in the correct year, but that was all...and they completely missed 3 cruises!!! I called to see if we could straighten it out on the phone, and they didn't seem to believe my information, although they WERE nice about not believing me! :D Thankfully, I usually keep cruise docs and so I can send them the booking numbers.

As far as the tiers...I think LCT people should just all get bumped up to Platinum!!!!! hahahahaha... <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[naughty]" title="" src="graemlins/naughty.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />

Our letter arrived today...address to both of us with statement for each of us as well. Our statements were correct up to Nov. 30, but our 14 day canal cruise was not listed...I will use the mail back card to update.

Sadly there is nothing there that makes me want to book right away, but at least the letter and statements were for BOTH of us!

Our letter arrived today addressed to Mr. & Mrs. with separate sheets in each of our names just as Betty K and JoAnn described. They got our cruises and nights all correct - with 33 we're silver and with economics being what they are, it's where we'll stay. The free internet will be nice if we're so fortunate to sail RSSC again.

Our first cruise was booked through a local agency but Ngaire has taken great care of us since. I wonder if that is part of the reason neither Bill nor I was neglected in the long awaited mailing.

One more peg point: our letter arrived today addressed to both of us and with separate, accurate statements. So I guess you accrue the benefits as individuals but they aren't combinable. Slight advantage if one or the other of us decided to cruise without spouse?!?

RSSC - I'm still waiting. You have my money (deposit) for another cruise. But can't send me one lousy letter?

No letter here either, but I'm sure we're peons, 14 nights each, unless they count the post-cruise Denali (NOT) so who knows when/if we'll get letter!

Betty,

It is, indeed, a lousy letter...but you still should get one. Like I said, ours came today. Last name begins with "L". Live in Virginia. Who knows what the order is? alphabetical? geographic? signs of the zodiac?

No letter here either. I guess our 3 cruise mean little to nothing. No wonder we are trying Silversea in October.


Anthony

Scott
Hadn't consider the zodiac. Alphabet & geography criteria has already been met by others.
Since it actually doesn't mean anything (now that I have read what the others have received), I wrote that because of Sheri having incorrect cruises listed. I want to make certain they know I'm entitled to the free internet time.
I love the RSSC ships and crews. Not going to abandon them yet.
Also, thought if I posted that, the letter will probably come tomorrow.

Betty...LOL! Hope your letter comes soon. The only suspense is how it's addressed and if they actually have a correct total - what we thought would be the "exciting" part (tier benefits)is obviously NOT!

Like you, the only thing I'm sure I'll use is the free internet - don't mind dragging along my laptop if there's wifi on the ship - we'll flood LCT with seamail!!!!

We recieved ours today. It was addressed to both of us. The record was perfectly accurate and showed both of us as "Gold". The only item in question is a 1992 cruise on SOF which was not included. This was close to the time that RSSC was formed and I can't recall whether SOF was formally a part of RSSC. Naturally, we haven't retained any documentation! Only indication in our files is a list of excursions that has the "Lyre" logo attached. It was a 7 night cruise, so won't make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

Re the list of "perks" - not a big deal for us - we didn't expect much. We do like the internet, and the pressing will have some value on a long cruise and that's about it. The critical issue is the cruise experience - if that's not there, perks won't attract us. If the experience is first class, we don't need the perks.

Ted, we discussed this earlier in this message, my SoF cruise was included in my total even though I thought it was pre Radisson. But in any case, it appears that RSSC was formed in 1995.

Editing to add, I think the lyre was the logo for Seven Seas cruise line (pre Radisson) but I am not sure.

No letter here yet....Last Name R
5 cruises taken and three booked and deposited for 2006! What are we? Chopped Liver???

Only one person has looked at my "Frequent cruisers" post. It concerns the new 'programme.'

Neville, how can you tell only one person has looked at your "Frequent cruisers" post?

Guess what? Arizona finally got their letter! BUT the interesting point is that Stan has been shorted by 14 days while I have been shorted by 21 days! How can this be when we have always traveled together? I'm just glad we have all the dates and ships so they can verify and correct the days.

Ardis

Sorry, Karen, I meant "reply" Thank you for the postings. Next cruise May 24th. - June 8th. on Silver Wind.

No ltr. here.

To be fair, Penny and I haven't cruised Radisson or any other line that much so bennys aren't something we anticipate.

That being said, we like the old format...early booking dscount, onboard booking discount, society savings, bar set up in room, neat L.C.T. people to adventure with while cruising and at the dining table.

Cheers! Ray

I'm with you Ray!! Sounds like a plan! :)