Royal Caribbean Platinum Benefits

When you first sail with a cruise line, you’ll typically be entered into their loyalty program. Most cruise lines have one – it’s a way of encouraging you to rebook future cruises with them, rather than switching between different lines.

Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program is called the Crown and Anchor Society, and it offers guests a wide variety of benefits as you progress through the rankings.

Platinum is one of the levels, which sounds pretty good, right? Well actually, you might be surprised that it’s not the top tier or even the second or third tier…

This guide tells you all you need to know about Royal Caribbean Platinum status, including the benefits you get at this level.

What Does Platinum Status Mean on Royal Caribbean?

Platinum Status means that you are a member of the Crown and Anchor Society with Royal Caribbean and you have at least 30 loyalty points. It means you’ve progressed past the original Gold status, but there are still several more rankings to move through as you cruise with Royal Caribbean in the future.

Being a Platinum-level guest shows that you’ve cruised with Royal Caribbean before, either for a few cruises or for one long voyage. It entitles you to a number of benefits whenever you’re booking a cruise or when you’re onboard.

How Many Cruises You Need For Platinum 

You need 30 Crown & Anchor Society points to be a Platinum-level member on Royal Caribbean. This means you need to either cruise for 30 nights in a regular stateroom, or 15 nights in a suite. 

With most cruises lasting between 3 and 7 nights, it can take as many as 10 cruises to reach Platinum status. However, you could get there on one cruise, if you booked a longer sailing and stayed in a suite.

Royal Caribbean cruises lasting 30 nights are very rare, so if you can’t afford suite-level accommodation, you’ll likely need at least three cruises to be able to get to Platinum level.

Royal Caribbean Platinum Benefits

Let’s take a look at the full list of perks you get as a Royal Caribbean Platinum member:

1. Drinks Discounts

As a Platinum tier member cruising with Royal Caribbean, you’ll receive four drinks coupons to enjoy during your voyage. Two of these can be redeemed for any glass of wine, beer, or soda, while the remaining two can be used at Johnny Rockets for a discount on their milkshakes.

All the coupons offer a generous 50% off, allowing you to make significant savings on your beverages (unless, of course, you’ve already opted for a drinks package for your cruise.

As well as that, you’ll also get a one-time discount of 10% which you can use against any beer, wine or soda that you purchase. So once you’ve used the 50% coupons, you can still get a discounted drink onboard.

There’s more too – you’ll get 50% off any coffees that you buy, except for those in Starbucks. No Crown & Anchor Society level gets you Starbucks discounts, unfortunately.

Finally, you also get a free complimentary non-alcoholic coffee drink (not a Starbucks one) whenever you book a speciality restaurant dinner.

2. Private Departure Lounge Access

Another perk you can enjoy is access to a private departure lounge. Available at “most” embarkation ports, this gives you the chance to kick back with a coffee, a juice and some pastries while you wait to board.

As nice as this might sound, you should know it’s open to anyone Gold tier and above, not just Platinum members. That means, anyone who has cruised with Royal Caribbean before. So it’s not going to be a quiet lounge…

The Royal Caribbean terms also don’t specify which ports it’s available in, so you’ll need to wait until you get your boarding info to see if this is a perk you can take advantage of.

3. WiFi Package Discounts

If you haven’t bought a VOOM WiFi internet package before you set sail on your cruise, you’ll get 15% off when buying onboard as a Platinum-tier member.

However, you can’t combine this with any other offers, so it’s worth keeping tabs on the Cruise Planner app before you sail. It could go on sale on the run-up to your cruise, with a bigger discount than 15%. If it does, snap it up.

Read more: Royal Caribbean Internet Packages: Cost & How to Buy

4. Top Tier Event Invite

All guests Platinum and above on a 5+ night cruise will be invited to a ‘Top Tier’ event. Here, the Captain, the Hotel Director and/or the Cruise Director will spend an hour talking to the room about the cruise, breaking down the numbers of guests in each Crown & Anchor Society tier onboard.

There’ll usually be some music from a band, and you will normally get a glass of Champagne too. You don’t have to attend, so it’s up to you – maybe something to try once.

5. Casino and Bingo Perks

Fancy trying your luck at the casino with no risk? Platinum members get a $4 FreePlay that you can use on the slot machines. $4 may not be a lot but you could spin in a jackpot! 

If you were wondering, no you can’t just cash out the $4 to spend elsewhere. You need to spend it on slots. But if you win, you can cash that out.

Also, there’s a bingo perk too – every time you buy a bingo package, you get three free jackpot cards, so your odds of winning are slightly improved.

6. In-Stateroom Perk – Robes

You’ll be given bathrobes to use during your cruise if you’re a Platinum member. You can’t keep them though! And the cruise line will likely charge you for them if you ‘accidentally’ put them in your suitcase.

7. Laundry Discounts

Platinum guests get $5 off any dry-clean or press service costing $25 or more. You’ll also get a $5 discount on any $34.99 bag of wash-and-fold laundry, provided your cruise lasts five or more nights.

Not bad if you’re on a longer sailing and don’t want to overpack.

8. Photo Offers

Platinum-level members get 20% off any single photo (print or digital), photo package or photobook bought from the photographer onboard. This perk was updated in December 2023 – previously, you had to pay for something full price, and then you’d get 50% off your second purchase.

So if you were buying multiple photography products, the deal is now worse, but if you just want one then it’s a better perk.

9. Discounts on Royal Caribbean Products

If you buy any Royal Caribbean-branded merch from the onboard stores, you’ll get 10% off if you spend at least $25 as a Platinum-status member. It’s a nice way to get a souvenir of your cruise at a slight discount.

10. Spa Discounts

If you’re a Platinum member, you’ll get 15% off any spa treatments you book. That’s 5% more than Gold members get. Just so you know, Medi-Spa services aren’t included in this offer.

11. Member Newsletter

Every member of the Crown & Anchor Society receives a dedicated newsletter containing information about upcoming ships, imminent sales, and other noteworthy updates.

12. Access to Exclusive Rates

Anyone in the Crown And Anchor Society gets special rates for booking future cruises. Don’t expect massive discounts – this doesn’t just include Platinum members, but all other tiers including Gold, which is anyone that’s cruised with Royal Caribbean before – you can hardly expect 20% off if it applies to so many people.

You also get discounted rates on Balcony and Suite accommodation options, which only starts once you reach Platinum level.

13. Loyalty Match

Guests who reach Platinum status can enjoy loyalty programme perks when they cruise with Celebrity Cruises, too. You’ll be classified as a Select member of the Captain’s Club with Celebrity Cruises.

No more lapel pins?

Until very recently in 2023, Royal Caribbean gave out a lapel pin for everyone that reached Platinum status. This would be delivered on the following cruise after reaching Platinum. However, Royal Caribbean has now stopped the Platinum pins, and you need to wait until Emerald if you want one. Alternatively, you can always get one off eBay!

Youth Member Benefits

Royal Caribbean is quite cool in how it treats children in the Crown & Anchor Society. Kids can sign up and get their own membership, accruing their own points in the background. But until they reach 18, they’ll share the benefits of their parents’ status.

This means that, if you’ve been on cruises before you had children, they’ll get extra perks to enjoy while they build up their own points behind the scenes. Once they hit 18, they won’t be bumped down to Gold level – you might already have them at Platinum level or even beyond.

If you’re a Platinum-status member of the programme then these are the perks your kids will enjoy, until they reach their 18th birthday:

1. Ice Cream Discount

Whenever you visit the ice cream parlour on a Royal Caribbean ship, kids will get 50% off their ice cream purchases. True, there is free ice cream available elsewhere on the ship, but it won’t have the wide range of flavours (or the quality) of the parlour, so a 50% discount is pretty cool. No pun intended.

2. WiFi Package Discounts

Your kids will get the same WiFi discount that you get, so that means they get 15% off a package if you’re a Platinum-tier member. This discount won’t change at Emerald, and if you make it to Diamond it becomes free days instead.

3. Buy-One-Get-One-Free Movie Rentals

A perk that’s offered at every level of the Crown & Anchor Society, kids get 50% off a second movie rental in their stateroom once they’ve bought one. If you enjoy a comfy night in bed with room service, this is a great option to keep them busy.

4. Arcade Cashback

Whenever kids in the Crown & Anchor Society play in the arcades, they can get cashback which is deducted from your onboard account at the end of your cruise.

Royal Caribbean offers cashback on arcade spends for young guests – every time you top up the arcade credits, you’ll get money back on your cruise account at the end of the cruise.

For every $15 you spend, you get $5 back, but if they pay for $50 credits in one go, you’ll get $25 back instead. Half-price arcade credits is a pretty sweet deal.

Royal Caribbean Platinum Choice – What Does It Mean?

If you’re a Platinum Choice member, that’s actually a combination of two different programmes. The ‘Platinum’ bit is your membership in the Crown & Anchor Society, while the ‘Choice’ part is your status in the Club Royale casino programme.

Anyone who plays casino games is registered for the Club Royale programme, and Choice is the entry-level tier. You’d need to spend a lot in the casino to move up those tiers, so it’s designed more for regular players.

Most people who are Platinum level are Platinum Choice, or they don’t have a Club Royale status.

What Comes After Platinum on Royal Caribbean?

The next tier up after Platinum in the Crown & Anchor Society is Emerald. To reach this status, you need 55 points – so an additional 25 nights at sea in a regular stateroom, or another 13 nights in a suite.

You’ll then reach Diamond status at 80 points, and Diamond Plus at 175. Very few people make it to the top tier, which is the Pinnacle Club – 700 points needed, the equivalent of 700 nights at sea in a regular stateroom. That’s 100 week-long cruises, or three per year for around 33 years.

Royal Caribbean Gold vs Platinum – Tiers Compared

Platinum level offers a small number of additional benefits compared to the earlier Gold tier, but the biggest changes are in some of the discount levels – you get more off your drinks or WiFi packages with Platinum.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison:

Benefit	Gold Level	Platinum Level
50% off coupons for wine, beer & soda	2 per cruise	2 per cruise
50% off coupons for Johnny Rockets milkshakes	2 per cruise	2 per cruise
Access to private departure lounge	YES	YES
Discount on wine, beer and soda	10%	10%
Discount on coffee beverages (excluding Starbucks)	25%	50%
Discount on VOOM internet	10%	15%
Exclusive Top Tier event on 5+ night sailings	No	YES
Casino Royale FreePlay	$2	$4
Free Jackpot cards with Bingo packages	1 card	3 cards
Robes to use on the cruise	No	YES
$5 off $25 dry-clean or pressing	No	YES
Discount on $34.99 laundry bags	No	$5
20% off a photography purchase	No	YES
Discount on Royal Caribbean branded products	10%	10%
Discount on spa treatments	10%	15%
Newsletter & exclusive rates	YES	YES
Discount on Balcony & Suite Staterooms	No	YES
Loyalty Match with Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club	No	YES
Youth Benefits	YES	YES

Perhaps the biggest difference is the Loyalty Match – if you wanted to cruise with Celebrity Cruises (a sister cruise line of Royal Caribbean), Platinum members would get extra perks on that cruise line too (though they will be different to Royal’s), whereas Gold members would not.

Final Word

Platinum status in Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society may not have a wealth of incredible benefits, but the list of perks you do get is quite long and they’re better than nothing.

After all, it’s not like you’re only paying to get these perks – you earn them by cruising, and you’re paying for the cruise holidays. These extra benefits are just a nice bonus.

If you’re the kind of person who wants to try every cruise line, you may not get to the Platinum level, or at least you’d be unlikely to progress past it. But for loyal Royal Caribbean fans, there are some nice perks to enjoy as you work your way towards the higher tiers.

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