Disney Cruise Line Updates Castaway Club Membership Requirements

[sponica]

I'm interested in what the cutoff is, I'm clearly still listed as silver, and my activities window opened at silver. Maybe because I booked the cruise before they changed the terms?

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

It would have been nice to have received a notification/email from DCL and allow at least a couple of years from the notification period so you could continue to build your status if that is/was important to you. This abrupt change that I found out about from scrolling through a WDWNT article ( because I enjoy reading Disney related stuff) took me by surprise and I jumped on here to see if it had merit. I will miss the deadline by 1 year from being gold because I already spend so much in time and money with DVC and the Parks. I considered DCL part of the Disney family but if they are going to treat me like the unwanted step son then I will join a cruise line I can build a relationship with.

 

[Bostonjetset]

I think this is a good decision for DCL. It makes sense.

Many airline/hotel programs have similar limitations.

Yes but no other cruise lines do this which is the point. Well except for MSC but they are an extreme budget line and one could theoretically take an MSC cruise every year for the price of one Disney cruise every five years in many cases. It’s not going to heavily affect those of use who cruise multiple lines and aren’t loyal to just one but it come off as stingy especially when Disney cruises are so expensive to begin with.

 

[Cfabar1]

I may be in the minority but I found the elite status with Disney cruise line to not be that bad compared with other lines - especially if you do the short cruises.

After as few as 30 nights you can get a free meal in premium dining. Not too shabby.

I do find the pearl photopass benefit funny. You’d think after 30 cruises the pictures don’t matter as much.

 

[lanejudy]

Someone above mentioned this has actually be in the Terms & Conditions since at least March. If that is true it doesn't seem that DCL is in huge rush to actually purge the database. I'm not sure why this suddenly surfaced yesterday other than someone probably finally noticed it.

I agree with the PP who suggested this may be tied to data privacy -- which is becoming stricter about what and how much data a company can maintain on an individual and for how long. I see it as a CYA for DCL to point to this clause in case they have to clean out records at some point -- not that they are actively trying to limit CC status of cruisers.

 

[bobbiwoz]

How about the 50 cruise people with their names on CC. Will their names be removed if they don’t come back in 5 years?

 

[HokieRaven5]

Someone above mentioned this has actually be in the Terms & Conditions since at least March. If that is true it doesn't seem that DCL is in huge rush to actually purge the database. I'm not sure why this suddenly surfaced yesterday other than someone probably finally noticed it.

I agree with the PP who suggested this may be tied to data privacy -- which is becoming stricter about what and how much data a company can maintain on an individual and for how long. I see it as a CYA for DCL to point to this clause in case they have to clean out records at some point -- not that they are actively trying to limit CC status of cruisers.

One thought that’s out there is that while DCL may have updated the terms in March 2023, the website for the terms and conditions may not have been indexed until yesterday which is why it became more readily known.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

How about the 50 cruise people with their names on CC. Will their names be removed if they don’t come back in 5 years?

They already applied that for those. My friends are close friends with a couple that was at 70 cruises but then about 8y ago something happened on their cruise that they didnt appreciate how it was handled and they moved cruise lines… they were never contacyed for the cc namething

 

[lanejudy]

One thought that’s out there is that while DCL may have updated the terms in March 2023, the website for the terms and conditions may not have been indexed until yesterday which is why it became more readily known.

Possible. I feel like this is probably old news -- something that's actually been in place for a while but for whatever reason only recently noticed. Not a "new" policy on which DCL is actively working to purge records.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Possible. I feel like this is probably old news -- something that's actually been in place for a while but for whatever reason only recently noticed. Not a "new" policy on which DCL is actively working to purge records.

Certainly possibly. Most of the folks in the blog community who just dedicate to DCL also didn’t really seem to know about it till yesterday.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

Possible. I feel like this is probably old news -- something that's actually been in place for a while but for whatever reason only recently noticed. Not a "new" policy on which DCL is actively working to purge records.

I think they put it in the terms last time they updated it but didn’t implement it then. I was able to book a cruise for my parents who hasn’t cruised since 2004 on the Silver booking date for the cruises in February 2025. However, when I called yesterday was told they won’t be eligible to book activities on the day for silver for that cruise.

 

[lanejudy]

However, when I called yesterday was told they won’t be eligible to book activities on the day for silver for that cruise.

That doesn't make any sense. If they were "silver" for advanced release date, there is no logical reason that status is removed for activity booking. Honestly, I only half trust phone CMs for such information. If you call again you may get a different answer. Did you/they check online how they are listed? It should give the date they are eligible for booking activities.

 

[sponica]

That doesn't make any sense. If they were "silver" for advanced release date, there is no logical reason that status is removed for activity booking. Honestly, I only half trust phone CMs for such information. If you call again you may get a different answer. Did you/they check online how they are listed? It should give the date they are eligible for booking activities.

I don't think Disney IT is that sophisticated anyway. I see what's more likely is they pick a date and if you don't have a cruise booked and haven't sailed in 5 years they'll purge you.

 

[soniam]

Some people are saying you are reverted to silver. However, I thought you would be reverted to no status/membership, ie before you are even silver.

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

How about the 50 cruise people with their names on CC. Will their names be removed if they don’t come back in 5 years?

No because it cost money to do that

 

[tvguy]

Wonder if they will also purse those names from their marketing database or just the rewards database?

Just got my answer. Nope. I got an e-mail from Disney Cruise Line.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

That doesn't make any sense. If they were "silver" for advanced release date, there is no logical reason that status is removed for activity booking. Honestly, I only half trust phone CMs for such information. If you call again you may get a different answer. Did you/they check online how they are listed? It should give the date they are eligible for booking activities.

It does if they hadn’t implemented the policy at that point. She did call someone else with both reservation number so

Both reservations say we will be able to book activities in November so we’ll see if it changes?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow I have a B2B booked for next January and there will be a gap of 4 years and 11 months since my last cruise with Disney. Mainly due to the pandemic but also other reasons. I wouldn’t have been happy if I had lost my platinum status without a warning or notice. They could at least be more clear about it on their website.

But, since you're already booked, you'd be covered under the new policy. It says you must book OR cruise within 5 years of your last eligible cruise.

 

[llachance]

Guess I don't understand what all the fuss is. Most loyalty programs have a finite use it or lose paradigm and DCL is just moving to it. I am just shy of Pearl after this year but have no idea if I will ever sail Disney again or not - I have other travel plans and I am further along in my years. That said I haven't used any of my "Platinum" perks in a number of years. I am never in a rush to get on the ship, Palo is not a must do and the treat in the room I always have to be reminded of. I might actually use a Photopass reward if I got it.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

I seldom post on this board these days, but I came over to see how this news was going over. I'm pretty bummed about this change. Of course I understand that Disney is a business and will continue to make decisions that benefit them, but it's still really disappointing. This does not feel like losing status/miles/etc. with an airline or hotel loyalty program. For one thing, Disney cruises are very expensive, and many people can't justify taking even one, much less one every 5 years. For another, DCL's messaging has always fostered the idea that those of us who've sailed multiple times are like family and will be treated specially. This feels like the opposite of that. I think this will impact a lot of people at the Gold and Platinum levels in particular, many of whom have kids who are now adults and don't plan to cruise with DCL as often. It's a shame, because those people -- myself included -- worked hard (and spent a lot of money) to earn that status.

We sailed with DCL for the first time when our daughter was 8. She's now 20. We sailed with DCL a handful of times when she was younger, and then we started branching out. We did that in part because of the increasing expense of DCL cruises and in part because we were interested in exploring cruise lines and ships with more activities for older kids and adults and different itineraries. We sailed on the Wish in 2022, after a 7 year DCL break, to check out the new class of ship. I envision us continuing to sail with DCL in the future, but not very often. It's disheartening to think that, if we take a 5+ year break, we'll go back to zero -- not even Silver. That's pretty crummy.