How to climb the Princess Cruises Captain's Circle Loyalty Program quickly

How to climb the Princess Cruises loyalty scheme tiers quickly?

In my last blog article, I covered the Princess Cruises loyalty programme called Captain's Circle. If you need a reminder click here

I received a number of questions and the main one was whether there was a way to climb the tiers quickly and whether you can buy credits. In this cruise blog I am going to give you some tips that can see you get to Elite tier quickly and yes you can get there with just 10 nights cruising which is crazy I know.

A reminder of how the Captains Circle loyalty works.

There are four levels: Gold, Ruby, Platinum, and Elite – you can access different levels of rewards at each tier. Each tier requires nights cruised or cruise credits to get there.

Gold Tier is attained after your first cruise, whatever the duration.

Ruby Tier is attained after completing 3 cruises (cruise credits) or 30 cruise days.

Platinum Tier is attained after completing 5 cruises (cruise credits) or 50 cruise days.

Elite Tier is attained after completing 15 cruises (cruise credits) or 150 cruise days.

Up until the Elite tier, the benefits are not great and need a refresh following the Princess Plus and Princess Premier cruise packages, which have devalued the loyalty benefits. However, Princess Cruises Elite tier ramps up the perks and offers some of the best benefits of all cruise lines at sea. The highlights being:

• Complimentary mini-bar set-up

• Complimentary laundry services and shoe polishing

  • This is unique to Princess and one of the best perks of all loyalty programs

How do earn Princess cruise credits and how to get to the Elite tier quickly?

Captain's Circle Elite Tier is attained after completing 15 cruises or 150 cruise days and if you are aiming for that then you need to know how to earn cruise credits

1. For every cruise sailed you earn one cruise credit

   • Tip - it doesn't matter how long the cruise is to earn a cruise credit, a 2 night cruise will get the same as a two week cruise. Princess Cruises Australia features a number of 2 night cruises.

2. You will receive an additional cruise credit if you book a suite

   • Tip - this has to be a full suite and not a mini suite

   • Tip - if you bid for a suite when you receive the upgrade offers then a successful cabin upgrade to a suite does not earn a cruise credit

   • Tip - one way to climb the tiers quickly is look for a suite on a short cruise or a repositioning cruise where the price for a suite per night or for a short cruise is lower

3. You will receive an additional cruise credit if you book a solo cabin

   • Tip - this doesn't matter what cabin type so you could book an inside cabin and receive 2 cruise credits

   • Tip - book a suite solo and you will receive 3 cruise credits

4. Watch out for specials. Princess Cruises will sometimes offer double cruise credits for some cruises and when they launch something new e.g. when they launched Princess Plus and Princess Premier they offered an extra cruise credit for a limited period of time if you took a Princess Plus or Premier packagage.

5. Have you cruised with P&O Australia. P&O cruises Australia before it was transferred to Carnival was part of Princess Cruises Australia. Therefore you can claim cruise credits or nights for any sailings you made with P&O.

   • Tip-check your cruise history on the Princess Cruises website, are any missing? Drop the Captain's Circle an email, they are very good at responding. You might just have some additional credits waiting to be claimed.

6. The tips above focus on cruise credits, you can reach Princess Elite with 150 nights. The longest cruises featured with Princess at the moment are a 116 day World Cruise Sydney to Brisbane (Cruises Australia classic), 129 days Pacific Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles and the longest duration is 131 days Pacific Circe Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles. Click on the Princess banner below if you are interested in any of those.

   • Tip - you receive the tier upgrade after the cruise you qualify for the tier upgrade. so if you are focusing on nights to get to Captains Circle Elite tier you are going to need to complete at least 2 cruises to get there.

   • Tip :Unlike some cruise lines (e.g. Carnival) you cannot earn additional credits for other purchases e.g. excursions / packages

We answer - how to get to Princess Elite tier after cruising for just 10 nights.

Yes it is possible to get to Princess Cruises Loyalty Elite tier with just 10 nights cruising.

To do this you would need to be a solo traveller booking a suite on 5 x 2 night cruises. You would receive 5 Princess Cruise credits for the 5 cruises of 2 nights each and then another 5 cruise credits for travelling solo and another 5 credits for booking a Suite cabin type.

A perusal of the Princess Cruises current itineraries shows 2 night cruises with Princess Cruises Australia, cruise from Sydney to Brisbane, also a 2 day cruise from Brisbane to Sydney and a 2 day cruise from Melbourne to Sydney.

I appreciate that the 10 nights is the extreme end of attaining Elite tier but by following the www.cruisesdownunder.com guide and tips it is certainly attainable by booking a standard room for 15 x 3 night cruises. Therefore Princess Elite tier can be comfortably attained with just 45 nights cruising.

Are you worried about whether a 2 night cruise is worth it (or is any short cruise worth it). Check out my blog post.on whether taking a short cruise, is it worth doing.

I look forward to seeing you in the Elite lounge soon!