Norwegian Cruise Line revamps Latitudes loyalty program

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2011/12/norwegian-cruise-line-latitudes-loyalty-program/578252/1?csp=34travel&
Norwegian Cruise Line today officially announced a major overhaul of its 16-year-old loyalty program that will bring more perks to customers who book the line's longer cruises.

The newly named Latitudes Rewards program (a slight change from its old name, Latitudes), will reward customers with one point for every night they spend on one of Norwegian's 11 ships. Until now, customers have gotten one point for each cruise taken, no matter its length.

The change, which has been leaking out on cruise fan message boards in recent days, means customers who sail regularly on seven-night or longer Norwegian sailings will accumulate more points and reach elite status faster than those sailing on shorter three- and four-night sailings.

As part of the change, Norwegian says that customers also will earn additional reward points when booking a suite; when booking nine months or more in advance; or when booking one of the line's monthly Latitudes Rewards Insider offers.

"The satisfaction and loyalty of our guests is very important to us," Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan says in a statement accompanying the announcement. "Our new Latitudes Rewards program demonstrates our commitment to delivering the highest levels of guest satisfaction while rewarding our loyal guests with enhanced benefits."

The Norwegian loyalty program will continue to have four tiers, but the number of points it takes to reach each of the tiers is changing. The lowest tier, called Bronze level, will be for customers who have amassed one to 19 points (until now it was for those who had sailed up to five cruises). The next tier, called Silver level, will be for customers who have earned 20 to 47 points (previously, it was for those who had sailed 6-9 cruises).

The top two tiers, Gold and Platinum, will be for customers who have earned 48-75 points or 76-plus points, respectively. Until now they have been for customers who had sailed 10-14 or 15-plus cruises, respectively.

In addition to current member benefits such as priority check-in, members-only cocktail parties and access to an on-board program representative, benefits have been added to the program, Norwegian says. Among them, for cruises departing on or after Dec. 5, will be such on-board perks as chocolate covered strawberries and nightly treats delivered to rooms, ship pins and discounts on photo gallery packages.

Latitudes Rewards members also will now be able to see their total rewards points, tier status and cruise history at ncl.com/myncl.

Norwegian says current Latitudes members automatically will be enrolled in the new Latitudes Rewards program and will remain in at least the same tier as they have been in until now. Depending on how many nights they have sailed with Norwegian and in what cabin categories, some customers may find themselves upgraded to a higher tier than in the past, the line says.

This is the first major change to Norwegian's loyalty program since it introduced a tier system for rewards in 2005. It's the first time the company has changed the way customers earn points.