henrysea13

Not uncommon to get free balcony cruises but requires lots of play...and it’s easier to earn credit with slots than table games.
unhappy with my last host on Enchantment when i only earned a $400 cert. i monitored my rating more closely on my most recent Adventure of the Seas Cruise. First night, 3 hours at the craps table, 100 per roll and i only earned 179 points. 1hour of slots i earned 900 points.

I'm right there with you... Guess being in a suite is a rich mans problem.  Wow, someone who someone else think shouldn't be here even though they've spent about 100K to cruise on this line.  If thats the case maybe those who cruise in a suite shouldn't be allowed the the MDR or Windjammer, after all, we're just steerage...
 

ah it is so nice to not have such worries we lowly emeralds which I finally achieve the first night of my oct sailing will have to do for now and I know for a fact I will never be able to enjoy the mysteries of the suite lounge my income has doomed me to this fate but my booked future cruises will get me to the diamond watering hole sometime in feb 2019 for now I will deal with the luxuries Jack experienced in steerage on the titanic maybe I can meet a rich spoiled girl as he did to show me the luxuries of the suite class if not for the cruise but for an hour or so but with the spectrum now going to segregated experiences this may never happen I love the cruise life and will always enjoy it whether I have to do it from below deck or above some of us have it and some of us don't being one of the don'ts is not so bad I'm still riding the seas and for now will have to be satisfied with my deluxe plush C+A robe happy cruising to all 

ah it is so nice to not have such worries we lowly emeralds which I finally achieve the first night of my oct sailing will have to do for now and I know for a fact I will never be able to enjoy the mysteries of the suite lounge my income has doomed me to this fate but my booked future cruises will get me to the diamond watering hole sometime in feb 2019 for now I will deal with the luxuries Jack experienced in steerage on the titanic maybe I can meet a rich spoiled girl as he did to show me the luxuries of the suite class if not for the cruise but for an hour or so but with the spectrum now going to segregated experiences this may never happen I love the cruise life and will always enjoy it whether I have to do it from below deck or above some of us have it and some of us don't being one of the don'ts is not so bad I'm still riding the seas and for now will have to be satisfied with my deluxe plush C+A robe happy cruising to all 

Oh BEWARE, for there shall be wearing of sackcloth and ashes,  rending of garments, and gnashing of teeth when it finally happens !  I wouldn't even be surprised if the moon turns to blood and frogs rain from the skies !

The cost of Diamond happy hour has got to be on someone's radar.  I've sat there and watched the drinks flow, people stuffing 6 soda's or beers in their purse or watched a drunk D/D+/P fall down drunk and crash into a table spilling everyone's drinks only to be hauled away in a wheelchair because of how much they consumed.
On Anthem in December a DL server told me "changes are coming".  In January they no longer consumed the entire upper level of the Music Hall as overflow each evening.  This year on Liberty, Serenade and Adventure they never consumed the VCL as overflow despite the DL busting at it's seams when happy hour began. 
So far the changes seem to include making the DL an uncomfortable place to be by not overflowing outside of the club.  They never seem to enforce the "drinks can't leave the DL" policy.  To some degree it has worked as I tend to visit bars using my drink coupons before dinner now because the DL is chaos and you can never find a seat until past 6:30pm when dinner has finally persuaded most to get out of their chair.
Putting on my "I own the company for a day" hat, I'd certainly be asking my team how to contain the Diamond happy hour extravaganza.  With the growing number of Diamonds they are going to need make additional changes or adjust the thresholds to achieve levels.  That is dangerous talk right there because of folks who have been working for years at achieving Diamond and alienating them or pushing them to the competition if they "move the goal posts during the game".
The elimination of the CL and converting them to SL is part of this effort leaving the DL alone... for now at least.  I suspect they are waiting to see how that plays out before making more changes.
No other line offers the type of happy hour elite benefit that RCI does.  Carnival's platinum level is achieved at roughly the Diamond level and the biggest benefit is priority boarding.  Once on board Carnival's platinum doesn't do much for you and there is no equivalent lounge or daily free happy hour at any Carnival level.    I've certainly felt like more changes are coming as RCI aligns itself with the industry more and more which is why I made a push for D+ hoping to be grandfathered in in case they make drastic changes.  
 

Ain't THAT the truth !

I've seen plenty of annoying non-Pinnacle suite guests in the lounge.
I swear if I ever make it to Pinnacle I'm not going to wear the badge but do things to annoy the entitled Pinnacles.  When they complain I'll whip out my SeaPass card like a trump card ?

I'm not disagreeing with you, Tony....but couldn't this couple JUST as easily have been inconsiderate suite guests ?

As am I, just what are you trying to say? ?

I agree with @twangster, that's beyond over the top. I would have refused to move and told them to go pound sand.

Yep, there's a BIG OL' gap there between D+ and P.  They've been talking, for years, about inserting another level in there somewhere but for some reason, haven't done it yet.
I also read (only one time, in 1 post) that the Emerald Level (created a number of years ago) was supposed to be that D+ - P level but that they released the information incorrectly and prematurely and it ended up between Platinum and Diamond by mistake.  I have NO idea if this is true or not....but it sounds kinda plausible since there are really so few points between levels at that area of the C&A ladder.  It really didn't make much sense to throw another lower level in there.  Whatever....
I'm with you though.  I will be WAAAYTOOO old to enjoy P if I live that long and do not run out of money first.  LOL

@monctonguy, there are getting to be more and more Pinnacle's, as well as Diamond and Diamond+, I remember in one of @twangster live blog's. I believe on Anthem that he said there were over a 1000 diamonds on the cruise and that the diamond lounge could not hold them all and it spilled out over to an adjoining room, I agree, there probably shouldn't be an issue, but depending on the cruise it could get crowded.
I just figured it out, I will reach Diamond+ next year on a 9 night Anthem cruise, it will then just take me 37.5 more 7 night cruises in a suite to reach Pinnacle, 2 cruises per year=18.75 years, I'm 56 now so I will reach Pinnacle when I turn 75 approximately!!! Hope I stay healthy.

is this a change in policy or the way its always been?
 
Don't these people that pay lots of $$ for a suite get all kinds of perks for their money already? Surely sharing a lounge with some seasoned cruises doesn't ruin your experience or make you feel like you aren't getting what your entitled to? And I cant imagine they are over crowded.
 
I guess these are problems I will never have to worry about....staying in a suite and being waited on or reaching pinnacle.
 
There is lots that I don't like or agree with that Royal does...this doesn't even register as an issue for 95% of cruise passengers....just the elite ones I guess!..lol Sounds like those who sit in first class and complain about how NOT first class enough it is......first world problems eh?!....
 
Maybe cruise on a ship that doesn't have a suite lounge...then you wont have to deal with those pinnacle people that spent like 700 nights in a inside room to reach that status...haha
 
Now if your are pinnacle AND you can still afford to book a suite...then you deserve a whole lounge to yourself.....
 
Oh..and this thread should prob be under Discussion rather than News and Rumors?

Day 7 - Sea Day
Our final day at sea was a very beautiful one. If only we had started with weather this nice. The wind is almost nonexistent, the seas are glass, the sun is out. What an awesome ending to our cruise. 
Windjammer breakfast was followed by browsing on the promenade, followed by a second lunch at Chops Grill. Another great way to spend the last afternoon. 
Of course packing brought home the reality that all good things must come to an end. 
The Farewell show was our final appointment for the night. 
Overall the three biggest highs of the cruise  in my opinion were:
*The Cruise Director Chris Brown and his staff
*Chops and Izumi
*Our Wait staff in the Main Dining Room
The lows:
* Water pressure in the stateroom (sink took forever to get hot water when I shaved and rinsing the razor  was next to impossible)
* Dated shows.  I really miss the Oasis shows
* The weather for the first half of the cruise. The gamble we take when booking so far in advance. 
I would for sure go on the Adventure again, although I still have so many more ships to explore. Current plans are the Anthem in November, Navigator in December, Serenade next June. 

I've been keeping my mouth shut, but I really feel like I need to chime in. You say you want to be a CD and that you'd do such a great job of it, and then you make a comment like this.
I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about what goes into being a "great" CD, but I would imagine that having an incredible sense of tact and knowing at a near-instinctive level what topics to avoid talking about so as not to piss off your audience and sour their experience have to be two of the qualifications. As a citizen of the US, I was flat-out insulted and offended by that comment, and no amount of subsequent backtracking or clarifying from you is going to change that.

I'm from Texas and I might be offended if I had any idea what point you were trying to make with this post. I think this quote from Billy Madison says it better than I could...

 

Hey, ease up on Galveston, it's not all country music, lol...
The OB's comments are like complaining about kids being on a cruise when you are sailing on Spring Break or Summer break, of course there are going to be a lot of kids, school is on break.

I couple of years ago I sailed out of San Juan and there were about 20 Quinceañera (Very large extended families) on the ship during the week, instead of being upset my wife and I tried to join in the fun, it was a blast watching all of these young ladies strutting around in their frilly dresses.

I for one am truly saddened by this topic I never gave this a thought till I read this I love meeting people from all over the world and take great interest in sampling the food culture humor entertainment and for that matter every aspect of the area from port to returning to port ah well I guess this had to come up eventually?

Love these photos.

HA! I can guarantee they will not participate in the Quest. I'm actually not a huge fan of it myself. 
The holidays this past year were pretty difficult with the passing of my brother, so planning a trip and putting emphasis on spending time together rather than gifts is a welcome idea. 

I for one am truly saddened by this topic I never gave this a thought till I read this I love meeting people from all over the world and take great interest in sampling the food culture humor entertainment and for that matter every aspect of the area from port to returning to port ah well I guess this had to come up eventually?

I for one am truly saddened by this topic I never gave this a thought till I read this I love meeting people from all over the world and take great interest in sampling the food culture humor entertainment and for that matter every aspect of the area from port to returning to port ah well I guess this had to come up eventually?

Traveling the world and experiencing different cultures and demographics is one of the benefits off cruising.  
To suggest that non-Brits avoid Southampton or non-Americans avoid US ports is very isolationist.  As a non-Brit I intend to sail from Southampton next year as well as other European and Asian ports and I'm looking forward to cultural experiences beyond my own.  That's how I grow and learn to embrace other cultures rather than avoid them as you suggest.  

I for one am truly saddened by this topic I never gave this a thought till I read this I love meeting people from all over the world and take great interest in sampling the food culture humor entertainment and for that matter every aspect of the area from port to returning to port ah well I guess this had to come up eventually?