tonyfsu21

YIPPEE !!  So glad to hear it, Tony.  I hope that casino hostess on Enchantment heard about all of this !

Hello- Local here. Sounds like your looking for the Fort Lauderdale experience & money does not appear to be a factor. My suggestions would be:
1. Marriott Harbor Beach
2. Hilton Fort Laud Beach
3. W Hotel Fort Laud Beach
4. Atlantic Hotel Fort Laud Beach (Botique Hotel).
5. Ritz Carlton Fort Laud Beach.
*** Don’t concern yourself too much w/ shuttle service exc as just about everything (including the port) in Fort Laud is 15 min away via Taxi or Uber. Any of the choices above will give you the full beach, restaurant, pool, 4-5 star resort experience. If you have any questions let me know. I live 1 minute from the Port & know the area like the back of my hand.
 
 
Jane-
I have a couple options for you for Fri:
1. Riverside Hotel (las olas blvd): historical Hotel that is located directly on Las Olas where u can easily access all the dining exc right out the front door. Also, the water taxi stop on the new river is a short walk. Cons: older hotel “historical”. I believe it was renovated not so long ago but I haven’t seen for myself. There is a pool area located close to the new river which is nice. 
2. Hilton Marina- for a quick one night stay before a cruise my parents always come into town and stay here. Pros: water taxi stop right outside under 17th street bridge. Nice resort style pool. If you have HHonors status try to book a high floor looking South and you can watch your ship come into the port. Also, you can easily take the water taxi to the las olas stop or a short Uber ride. Cons: just your same old ordinary and cookie cutter Hilton Hotel. Nothing too special here but it does offer a good location close to port, short walk to dining, water taxi exc.
 
Sat after your cruise:
1. Marriot Harbor beach is a great choice to get the full beach & resort experience. In fact it’s so great that we SoFL folks actually pay to join the beach club and use the pool + facilities! 
2. I would also recommend the resorts listed in my previous post for you as they are located on A1A and most have private beach access across the street. I am not very familiar with the Westin but I drive by it all the time and it seems to be in a great location. Not so sure about B ocean Hotel if your considering that...
 
***** note- Uber to Pirate Republic (great Brazilian influenced menu on the new river) and take the water taxi through the new river where the captain will give you a tour of all the famous peoples homes exc. 
Dining recommendations:
Franco & Vinny’s Pizza Shack- Local favorite Italian (very casual).
Cafe Vico- Great Italian food (you will thank me later)
Chima Las Olas (Brazilian steak house). Quite an experience.
Le Tub (Hollywood beach): google it, Oprah made it famous.
Jimbos Sand Bar: Tiki hut vibe & excellent food especially the blackened shrimp or mahi tacos.
Rustic Inn: Garlic crab out of this world. 
 
Please let me know if you have any other questions as I am sure I can help.
- Tony 
 

Yes we have an owners suite. First suite& first cruise on Oasis class ship so lots to learn. Very excited! Thanks everyone?

This is what the letter looks like.  It was delivered by the stateroom attendant.  This was for Harmony but I imagine that the Allure one would be very similar.

The casino on Allure is very big and I loved the 2 hostesses. They could not have been more helpful with getting tier levels etc.  They have removed the electronic poker machines (hallelujah!) and now have 2 live dealer tables but I never saw more than 1 of them manned during our cruise.  The table minimums, like all of the other Oasis Class ships, are higher with most of the table games ($10 minimum vs $5 on the smaller ships).   Lots of slots, if slots are your game of choice. I love playing in the O class casinos.  I don’t plays slots but I’ve heard others complaining about the slots being very tight.

Wow.  What a horrible mistake for them to make.  You and Tonyfsu can commiserate about poor service by the casino host on a ship.  I guess in your case, it is really not the hostesses' fault.  She was given bad intel but it doesn't make it any more acceptable.
Don't let them off the hook though.  You are right and they are wrong.  Keep after them and hopefully you will get satisfaction like Tony did.
I still have gotten NOTHING from Club Royale.  I found out our tier levels from the casino hostess on Allure 2 weeks ago but still nothing from the shoreside program folks.
I have only tried to book 1 cruise since the new program took effect and I will say that if the price I was quoted is going to be indicative of casino rates and discounts for Prime, going forward, they are nearly useless.  I thought the certificates were useless but the pathetic discount they quoted us for a cruise on Grandeur in Sept. 2019 was really horrible.  I will give it more time to see if they get any better but what a disappointment. After having received casino discounts in the 48 - 55% range (off total cruise fare price), the quote for the Grandeur cruise was truly pathetic.  A total of $237 for BOTH of us on a cruise fare of $6740.00.  Of course, we still got our C&A balcony discount and the prevailing BOGO50 but for casino discount alone - horrible, horrible, horrible.  I guess this is where the REAL negative benefits of the lower tier levels is going to hit us.

As @CGTLH alluded to, it depends on the ship, but generally speaking the differences are minor.
I think the biggest difference is the Concierge lounge tends to be less crowded in the evening, and the "power" of the Concierge attendant is higher/better than the Diamond Lounge attendant. 

Took a ride on my boat Sat and snapped a pic of the new terminal progress @ port Everglades. Not sure if it’s for Royal Caribbean or not but for what it’s worth, the Indy normally is berthed in that location.

I'm having a bit of a time getting my C&A account straightened out since the website "upgrade".  In my opinion, its a raging dumpster fire.  After the Majesty cruise last month, my wife's points bumped from 133 to 139.  Mine didn't.  I finally checked my 20 year old son's account and his was at 139 (he has been on a total of one cruise with RC...lol).  The cruise showed up in my past history, but the points went to him!!!  I'm curious to find out where the points go from the Oasis cruise we just got back from yesterday, that will add another 14.
I've tried MULTIPLE phone calls and they all say my "reciprocal" status is at 139 (because of my wife) even though my points show at 133 on my RC login page.  They can't tell my why my son's jumped to 139 then.  I'm very frustrated.  My son is 20 and doesn't live with us anymore, but his page shows more than mine.  Very frustrated.  I thought once they turned 18 the reciprocal status stopped.  Either way, he will be diamond for the Mariner cruise we are taking him on next February for his 21'st birthday.  We got him a JS for him and his longtime girlfriend.  
So..... moral of the story - no clue why he continues to accumulate reciprocal C&A points even though he is 20..... 

I think this was a mistake.  The children should get the same status as the parents until they are 18 years old.  After age 18, they retain whatever status they have accumulated (if they are Diamond b/c of their parents, they remain Diamond) but they will not get to the next level until they accumulate enough points on their own to warrant the next step.
It should not matter whether children are in a cabin of their own or in the cabin with their parents.  They rate the C&A level of the parents; it is independent of what type of cabin arrangements they have.  If your children are not the same C&A level as you are, you need to check again with C&A.  They should be.
This, however, does not extend to other members of your family.  You have to have the same address in order to acquire the same C&A level.  Even then, I'm not sure they would extend the C&A level beyond spouse, parents and children.  I know that sisters and brothers do not get that extension.

Two lounges are more the same. In the case of Harmony and Symphony the Suite Lounge has a view. While the Diamond Lounge has no outside views. Plus the Diamond Lounge has a concierge as well.
Yes both do have the espresso machine and snacks at times.
On the flip side, the Concierge Lounge on Voyager and Freedom class ships have no view. But those class ships where the Suite Lounge is in place is just about a mirror of the Diamond Lounge 

LOL...My wife received an email from RCI that stated "here's the requested receipt" which i asked her if she had requested one.  She had not.  So i logged into RCI to check what was going on, as our cruise was paid in full.  That's when i noticed we were on a different floor...then i noticed we had been upgraded from a JS to 2BR suite. No phone calls asking  for additional money requested...just a fantastic upgrade that we enjoyed and are willing to take at any time. :-)

I’m about to get one after my horrific casino experience on Enchantment. I’m hoping for GS to Royal Loft Suite but most likely it will be GS to crown loft suite. Either way, I’m satisfied with the resolution and will continue to gamble in the casino on Allure.

I don't think so, there was a big discussion on here last year, had to do with a young lady and her boyfriend, he got her status because they proved they lived at the same street address.
So if I understood what I read last year, your extended family would all have to reside at the same address, then they could benefit from your status.

Update-
The shoreside CR team has kept me updated and it looks like they are in the process of approving a full cruise fare refund! I also asked that they comp upgrade my May Allure sailing from a grand suite to a crown loft suite. Holding on approval call. It appears as though they are going to make me whole. 

Yes.  I’ve been upgraded twice. The first time was in Jan 2015.  Royal called my cell phone about 5 days before the sail date to ask if we wanted to move from our current cabin on Oasis (Boardwalk balcony) to an ocean view balcony.  It was our first cruise as D+.  We took the no-cost upgrade.  The second time we had an ocean view on Grandeur (about a year ago) and when we got to the port and started checking in, we found that we had been upgraded to a JS.  On the second one, we had no idea we had been upgraded until we got to the check-in counter. In the first case I cannot remember whether we had booked directly with Royal or whether we had used our TA but I know for sure that with the last one, on Grandeur, we had used Michelle with MEI.
We have never been called and offered an upsell.  We have only had “free” upgrades.

Well, you certainly deserve it.  They completely ruined your Majesty cruise.  I hope this all comes through.  Glad you were able to find someone to help you and I hope the Casino host on the Majesty is gone b/c of this.

Update-
The shoreside CR team has kept me updated and it looks like they are in the process of approving a full cruise fare refund! I also asked that they comp upgrade my May Allure sailing from a grand suite to a crown loft suite. Holding on approval call. It appears as though they are going to make me whole. 

The initial rating period was 18 months (from July 1 2016 - Dec. 31, 2017) but the subsequent evaluation periods will be 1 year, beginning on April 1 of one year and ending on March 31 of the next year.
Please remember that this is information coming from a single casino hostess (although I have heard this information from other sources as well) so please do not take it as gospel.  I have yet to hear a WORD about this from any official source.
Stephanie, she did not say anything about when they would be able to provide the tier information at CR.  I find it impossible to believe that they do not have this information already.  Where would the casino hostess (on Allure) have gotten my exact points count and tier level, otherwise ?  My guess is that they simply have not made it "public" yet so that the CS reps can access it or have been told not to release the information yet.  My guess is that the CS reps cannot see it otherwise, SOMEone would have slipped and released it by now.
While I'm thinking of it, I will say one more thing on this matter.  This is the second cruise in a row where I have had my certificate upgraded AFTER it was originally given to me.  I recommend to EVERYone that you go to the casino host desk after you have completed ALL of your play for the cruise and ask for a final points count.  She issued a new certificate right then and there.  It was actually quite a significant difference. My points went from 2012 to 2512, which is a 25% increase.  This makes me think that they are cutting off the points count at LEAST a full day early for the purpose of awarding certificates.  I'm sure most people don't even think to go back and check to see if their certificate can be upgraded.  I was originally awarded one for $300 and the new one was for $500.  Now, as I have said in the past, the certificates are pretty much useless to me but I still want it to be accurate !  I have decided that at least for the first year of the new program, I am going to track my points closely.  I have absolutely lost confidence that the program has any of this under control.  According to what I THINK are the new rules, I should have already qualified for Tier 2 for 2019-2020 (I believe that threshold is 2500 points) and we have 4 more cruises booked so I shouldn't have any problem keeping my Tier 2 status but I simply do not have confidence in them - AT ALL.  I plan on keeping track myself.

Get on that phone as quick as you can. I’ve been fighting with them for a week and so far no real resolution. I’m sailing again in May.

I don’t think you have to accumulate all the points in 1 cruise.  I think it’s a cumulative deal where you keep adding up your points throughout the evaluation period.  So you may start out at level 1 or 2 but once you accumulate 25k points you graduate to level 3 etc.  that’s the way I understand it anyway.  During the last evaluation period (18 months as I recall), I accumulated 11,667 points which puts me right in the middle of level 2.  I have already qualified for level 2 for the new evaluation period which started April 1. This new evaluation period will run from now until March 31, 2019 and then it all starts over again.  I never expect to get above level 2. I don’t wager enough but I’m ok with that.

I just had a strange chat with someone at Club Royale. I was calling up to apply my latest certificate to an upcoming cruise, and she mentioned that just based on the points from my last cruise alone, I'd be Signature.
I know I didn't earn 25,000 points during my last cruise, so it's certainly possible she simply misread the number off her screen and added a digit. Otherwise, I wonder whether they're changing the number of points per dollar wagered. I haven't seen anyone else say that, so my basic assumption is that she made a mistake.

Tony, Raye, and Anyone Else,
I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with RCCL Club Royal because I am on the Liberty the first week of May and wanted to know my ranking. Of course, they couldn't tell me. What the representative did tell me is the new ranking system and what each level is called and what you get for the level. I am going to list them below. Just remember this is just one representative's information and somehow it will change with each rep you talk to.
Step 1 is called Choice and you need to get from 1 to 2,499 points on a cruise. With the Choice level you qualify for rewards certificates and point redemption.
Step 2 is called Prime and you need to get from 2,500 to 24,999 points on a cruise. With the Prime level you qualify for the Choice benefits and the convenience fee waived and free drinks in the casino.
Step 3 is called Signature and you need to get from 25,000 to 99,999 points on a cruise. With the Signature level you qualify for the Choice and Prime benefits and priority check-in and one (1) comped device for WiFi and a short comped cruise. Also the rep stated she thought there would be Signature events on the cruise.
Step 4 is called Masters and you need to get 100,000 points on a cruise. With the Masters level you qualify for the Choice, Prime and Signature benefits and two (2) comped devices for WiFi, priority seating pretty much everywhere, usually a 7 day comped cruise, special Masters only events, dining, meetups, etc.
I hope this helps and as I said it is only what one rep told me. Supposedly RCCL is suppose to email all Casino Royale members before their cruise and let them know what their level is and what they qualify for. But if they don't just go to the Casino Host/ess.
Hope this helps. Candie

There is still a lot of mystery involved with determining what the onboard amenities are going to be.  While this has NOT been confirmed, I understand that once you are rated to a certain tier, you will remain there until the next rating system comes around, at which time you will be re-assessed and either remain in the same tier, move up or move down depending upon your accumulated pounds during the rating period.  I also understand that in order to keep your “free drinks”and waiving of the 5% convenience fee, you must accumulate at least 1000 points on the previous cruise.  This may all be wrong.  I plan on having a chat with the Allure hostess before getting off this cruise and hopefully she can let me know the truth.  Fingers crossed anyway.  I have a couple of flyers that we received on this cruise, which I plan on posting once I get home and can scan them.

Tony, I am SO happy to hear this news.  Imagine how many people that hostess totally screwed with her incompetence not to mention how many loyal CR members she disappointed, like you.  I hope she gets soundly reprimanded. Totally inexcusable !  I’m glad the shoreside folks made it right for you.