Disney Cruise Line is finally expanding its Castaway Club! The rewards program for frequent Disney Cruise Line guests will get a new tier starting in early 2023 in honor of the line’s 25th anniversary.
The new Pearl tier will become the highest tier in the Castaway Club program. The Pearl tier will be for guests who have sailed on 25 or more voyages with Disney Cruise Line.
Via Disney:
The anniversary of Disney Cruise Line also heralds the unveiling of a brand-new membership tier for Castaway Club, which recognizes returning Disney Cruise Line guests with exclusive rewards and perks. Honoring 25 years of Disney magic at sea, members will now earn the distinction of Pearl status after 25 Disney Cruise Line vacations. As the line’s biggest fans, Pearl members will unlock new at-home and onboard benefits, which will be announced in early 2023.
Here’s what the new Castaway Club tier levels will look like when the Pearl tier debuts:
Silver: 1-4 completed cruises
Gold: 5-9 completed cruises
Platinum: 10-24 completed cruises
Pearl: 25+ completed cruises
Disney will outline what perks the new Pearl tier will receive at a later date.
The Castaway Club is long, long overdue for some changes. In fact, we outlined exactly why and how the Castaway Club needs to change in a recent article. Summarized, we believe the Castaway Club has fallen well behind competing cruise lines in terms of how their rewards program works and functions.
Adding a new tier to the Castaway Club is a great first step, though we already know a ton of guests who will instantly join the new Pearl tier. Remember the guest we met who has sailed on 99 (and counting) voyages? The Pearl tier’s 25-sailings requirement might not expand the Castaway Club as much as it needs to be expanded.
Our other major gripe with the Castaway Club is how tier levels are calculated. Currently, Disney assesses your tier level based on the number of voyages sailed. That has always felt a bit silly as it doesn’t take into account number of days sailed or how much money was spent on a given cruise. Why should someone with five 4-night cruises (20 total nights) be in a higher tier than someone with four 7-night cruises (28 total nights)? It doesn’t make sense.
Details on the new Pearl tier and how it may impact the existing Castaway Club tiers will be announced in the near future.
