Party's Gold member status

Party's web page states that Gold members will accrue regular points at twice the rate of Blue members. However, a friend of mine in the Gold status is clearly getting close to one point per raked hand, and the bulk of his bonus points are from happy hour points. His accrual of points looks identical to mine, taking into account the number of hands played, though I am a Blue member.

Additionally, I'm surprised I am only a Blue member, given the number of hands I have played in the last six months. however, the dates on Party's web page that indicates how to qualify for silver or Gold are from the beginning of the year.

Is the Gold / Silver / Blue thing something of the past that party has just failed to get rid of, or are others getting 2x points for being Gold members, as well as getting 'upgraded' when playing a lot of hands in a quarter?

I'm wondering specifically for the purpose of understanding if a blue member has any business trying for the cruise package.

And no, I never considered sending email to party support for these questions.