Norwegian Cruise Lines Builds on Existing Loyalty Program

While travel is among the foremost industries when it comes to loyalty programs, the perception of these initiatives is often tied to the earn-and-burn model of airlines. Lesser known within the travel vertical are cruise line programs, which forgo this kind of currency turnover in favor of a tiered approach. Guests aren’t required to spend points in order to earn rewards, but rather keep these “points” in the form of a status tier, with each level offering unique benefits given either once or on each subsequent cruise.
 
This model is designed to account for the infrequent customers that comprise a large segment of cruisers, while still appropriately recognizing loyal and more frequent guests.
 
This model can be observed in almost all cruise loyalty programs: Carnival’s VIFP Club, Holland America’s Mariner Society and, recently announced to be getting its first major revamp since 2011, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Latitudes Rewards.
 
One challenge faced by the tier system employed by cruise lines is the ceiling reached by the most frequent customers. Once a guest reaches the highest tier—Platinum, in the case of Latitudes Rewards—they have no incentive to continue engaging with the brand, beyond receiving their existing rewards.
 
To alleviate this, the changes include two new tiers: Platinum Plus and Ambassador. These tiers give the most loyal cruisers additional rewards to aspire to, creating increased engagement among customers that may have fallen off once hitting the Platinum level.
 
These new tiers include a dinner with cruise officers and priority seating in both entertainment venues and onboard restaurants, Notably, members of the Ambassador tier will receive a free 7-day cruise, a first for the program.
 
“At Norwegian Cruise Line, we value our loyal guests and want to provide an aspirational and meaningful rewards program,” said Meg Lee, Chief Marketing Officer for Norwegian Cruise Line. “We have listened to our guests’ feedback and have enriched our Latitudes Rewards program to better recognize our loyal guests with more valuable onboard amenities and additional tier levels that provide exclusive offers, including a complimentary cruise for our most frequent guests.”

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