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I agree with Twangster with regard to the "Meal with an Officer" as we have always had good food and good conversations, although, on a couple of occasions, we had an officer who obviously considered he/she had drawn the short straw.

Mostly we have found that just listening to the officer describe their duties and responsibilities was very instructive. Sometimes they also managed to enlighten us with useful insights into RCCL's plans and intentions (but not often).

In all cases we were asked to tick boxes on a card left in our stateroom as to which perks we wished to take advantage of - bridge tour, galley tour, entertainment tour, meal with an officer - and return the card to the loyalty ambassador by a certain day and time.

This is a great benefit and one I would miss if it were to be withdrawn in the future.

As others have said, I have seen no material impact on my C&A benefits since the introduction of The Key. Perhaps I have been fortunate so far. I will take particular note when we board Explorer next week of any meaningful delays to embarkation.

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4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I know what you mean I am so unhappy with the new upgrade discounts on comps. 

I know they have become really bad. It's such a frustrating system. I still like Royal but I have started to cruise on other lines as well just because I am not totally satisfied with the casino program. 

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23 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@BB1 welcome to the boards. Glad you found us. 

I feel the same as you, if people are unhappy with a cruise line, it is time to look elsewhere.   

I have never had any quarrel with you and don’t know of any quarrel that you have with me, so I only wish to clarify - are you saying that anyone who has any negative comment or opinion about anything related to Royal should go elsewhere (cruise line and board wise)? I had really thought all honest, genuine opinions of those who sail once or often on RCCL were allowed and welcomed here. I do so hope that is the case, after all there are complaints in this thread and many others and often from very loyal Royal cruisers -  either way, I definitely want to know if it’s not.  

I believe that if only certain people are allowed to make negative comments or if the entire point of a board is to amass kiss-up points then it ends up being of little value in the end. That would be a bad thing as RC Blog is a great resource. I am not much for doing things in a passive aggressive way or even trying to read between the lines; it is easier to just be honest and forthright. And also to be very clear I also welcome @bb1 here, but my comment was that It made sense to wonder why someone with almost no posts was so very worked up and critical of others (in the same way many long-term members have many times made comments on a poster’s low number of posts in response to their post without it being viewed negatively).  

Everyone - We head out soon on the Grandeur and I am more than ready to get a respite from the madness my work has been in the last months. I am off to pack now! Happy Memorial Day to those who celebrate it. My father was in DDay and fought for the liberation of Europe, my sister served in Iraq twice as a battle field doctor, and my husband served for 30 years in the US Marine Corps. Needless to say our family has too often witnessed the many sacrifices made for freedom and we will never forget those who lost their lies and families who never quit missing them.

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@2Beeze I simply meant that if OP or anyone else is unhappy with a cruise line, RCCL or any other line, they should consider looking at another cruise line.  

As far as this thread goes, OP seems to have posted once and not come back and we have encountered posts like this before.  I will just leave it at that.

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It is OK to re-evaluate your options.  Your priorities and preferences for an enjoyable vacation may change over time.  One should search for that cruise line that can accommodate your needs and wants. 

My wife and I have sampled a few mass market cruise lines before becoming "loyal to Royal".  I know mega ships are not for everyone but the Oasis class blew us away.  Since then we have sailed Freedom class, Voyager class and even the "tiny" Empress.  We love them all.  We also like how Celebrity will status match your C&A tier when we choose to have a different type of cruise experience.  

At the end of the day, it is impossible to make everyone happy.  

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Most of this thread is about perspective and where you have been and where you want to go. My wife and I came over from Carnival and have a whopping 5 points on RC. For the value RC has a better business model than Carnival but they do have drawbacks too. They are a for-profit-organization and that drives their many faceted decisions. They balance that with their business model to make shareholders happy as well as consumers; not an easy task.

I have noticed that if you have been around for many points you have seen things come and go and your perspective can be very different than a newbie like me. Cruising is still a very good way to spend vacation dollars as it has about everything you would want and don't have to do a lot of planning once you board the ship.  Some of my friends say they will never step foot on a cruise ship but they are also the ones that always ask me how it went when I come back.

You guys and gals spend a lot of money on annual cruises and at some point you want to have some perks for all your efforts - I get it as well as does RC, but in the end, their decisions will always be based on profit margins and that is something that can make some people upset and threaten to go cruise somewhere else.

As a newbie I will keep cruising for awhile until I get bored with it, if ever, and I will stick with RC until it doesn't make sense.  I'm 57 so all these perks won't matter too me much since I started so late and only take 1 cruise a year ☹️.

I have learned a lot from the members on RCBLOG and have saved myself countless time and research just based off of the groups discussions. For example - I just did a 5 day cruise on Indy out of Fort Lauderdale and the place I stayed the night before and where I went to eat (La Bamba), beaches at Costa Maya and Cozumel (Nachi Cocom) all came from conversations I have read on this Blog. Good stuff on this board!

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I will try to clarify my point. There is nothing wrong with complaining.  There is nothing wrong with having different opinions. That is not what I'm talking about. Read the first post. It's someone ranting and carrying on like a child having a temper tantrum. Maybe others find this constructive and helpful but I don't see how it is. I see the irony in that if I address this, I am in a way just complaining about their complaining so I'm not sure how to handle it. I assume most people here are seasoned cruisers.  It would surprise me if they had not seen people verbally abusing staff and sometimes other cruisers for petty grievances. From what I've seen these tend to be the same people over and over. That's why ask " if you are so unhappy,  why don't you find something you enjoy more". My intention is to go on a cruise and enjoy myself. It's not to see people have melt downs because they weren't the first on the ship. People love to talk about the old days and how everything was so much better. I'm not sure how true that is but people did seem friendlier and nicer to one and other. That to me would improve everyone's cruise. That's just my opinion for whatever it's worth.

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Sometimes people sign up to an internet forum to vent or retaliate what they perceive to be a transgression or offense by a company.  Valid or hyperbole is subjective.  That's the nature of internet forums.  

You can ignore such posts, their intentions are usually pretty clear or respond with your own observations without moving to their level and using their methods of expressing a position.  

Maybe there is some validity to their position or some portions of it.  Maybe the stars didn't line up on this cruise and it was a lesser experience compared to other cruises.  Maybe it was self-inflicted.  We'll never know since we weren't there.    

 

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16 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@2Beeze I simply meant that if OP or anyone else is unhappy with a cruise line, RCCL or any other line, they should consider looking at another cruise line.  

As far as this thread goes, OP seems to have posted once and not come back and we have encountered posts like this before.  I will just leave it at that.

My point was, partly, that the same could have been said about @BB1 (his count showed 5 and he had posted 4 on that one thread) but you had welcomed him. And many people here make complaints with support. I don’t know either of them, but the intensity from the responses seemed far stranger to me than the commentary from the OP.  But it surely isn’t a surprise the OP wouldn’t have returned. It was simply unclear to me how one was superior to the other or whether it was just the fact that I was the one who  posed the question that was the real problem.  But then it’s clear I am not viewed as worthy of being in the club, I haven’t missed the clear message, and so it may be that I am just not able to comprehend.

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Just wanted to stop back by to say that I appreciate the warmth and welcome many of you have offered since I found the wonderful resource last year. I also appreciate the information shared and hope that I occasionally added to that wealth of knowledge. @SpeedNoodles , my twin, I surely hope to see you he day on the high seas. Happy sailing to you all ???‍♀️

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On 5/25/2019 at 12:43 AM, Neo said:

As someone newer to cruising and still only Gold, the thought of loyalty perks is pretty foreign to me.

Royal Caribbean is the only cruise line I’ve personally sailed with, but at the end of the day after having heard hundreds of reviews and talking with friends and family who have sailed other cruise lines, Royal is the only one I’d want to give my money. Disney is too expensive and RC has an excellent experience-versus-cost ratio that fits perfectly for my family.

I’d never consider leaving one company over another due to loyalty rewards, my money and time is better spent seeking out the best bang for my buck and sticking with it for that reason. 

@Neo  We are absolutely the very same... I could have written this.

I also think vacationing is very subjective and relative.  We all travel/vacation for different reasons, we all have varying WAYS we like to vacation...heck, even MY OWN vacations are all different.  We've done lots of "vacations" over the years and (maybe it's my age and the fact that we will be empty-nesters soon) we are really enjoying cruising.  For the money and the time and the ports and the...everything.  We researched and read this blog and talked to LOTS of friends and family who have cruised, RC and other cruise lines, and decided that RC makes the most sense to us for when we CAN vacation and get to choose a cruise over something else.

Perks, for me anyway, are just that...perks.  Not requirements for me to continue or discontinue cruising.  I'm gonna cruise anyway, and if I get a perk/free drink/etc...yay!  If not, I'm still cruising.

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On 5/26/2019 at 8:45 AM, BB1 said:

There is nothing wrong with complaining.  There is nothing wrong with having different opinions. That is not what I'm talking about. Read the first post. It's someone ranting and carrying on like a child having a temper tantrum.

I think i follow...This has happened several times, where someone apparently signs on, writes a negative/ranting review/throws a tantrum then logs off never to be seen again.  Probably just someone stirring the pot.  But there is always a "good" discussion that follows.  It is good to talk through things.  As long as we all remember, which I think we do a good job of, that it's very difficult to read someones motives/intent/heart when typing on a computer/phone/tablet. 

I think @Matt and lots of others do a great job facilitating at times like this.  I'm glad this forum is here to help us all plan and have good vacations.

That is all for now.  Amen.

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2 minutes ago, JennyB said:

I think i follow...This has happened several times, where someone apparently signs on, writes a negative/ranting review/throws a tantrum then logs off never to be seen again.  Probably just someone stirring the pot.  But there is always a "good" discussion that follows.  It is good to talk through things.  As long as we all remember, which I think we do a good job of, that it's very difficult to read someones motives/intent/heart when typing on a computer/phone/tablet. 

I think @Matt and lots of others do a great job facilitating at times like this.  I'm glad this forum is here to help us all plan and have good vacations.

That is all for now.  Amen.

I agree with all the above!!

and for the record, I do find that there are a few posters that I find consistently sarcastic and quite frequently negative.  I’ve decided that I’m not going to really argue or change them! And I refuse to let them bring me down lol.  I read what they say with a grain of salt, and move on to the next post!!  Jane

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Cruise Companies are in business to make money.  Not everyone can travel often and be able to build up perks like others do.  Everyone wants to feel special and having the opportunity to BUY IN to a perk so you can experience what other who don't have to buy in experience, is sometimes worth it.  And because they are BUYING IN to it, why not give them a little more advantage.  This is bringing more revenue to the Cruise Line so that is why they extend the perk and give more.    I think that pretty much sums it up.   Also, I don't mind the negativity as it brings up more conversation and individual thoughts about current or changing benefits.

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  • 7 months later...

I agree with the previous author. We keep losing more and more of our perks. I was diamond and just became diamond plus. The key has more benefits than me. A great perk was early disembarkation now you sit with gold members.

Its not right! I will think of other carriers to use.

ray

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I guess I can sort of see both sides to this. Everyone should always complain when they feel mistreated because that feeling is subjective. All complaints that are constructive, i.e not "RCC sucks because a lady in a wheelchair boarded before me," could lead to some sort of rectification. However, the bonus of being loyal is just that. A bonus.

I would assume people cruise because they love it. Because it is the best use of your time and money. It makes it seem like those who are upset are just spending money to reach a level to get something...the exact thing Key holders are doing. I am new to C&A so my perception is a little different but it doesn't seem like having the Key takes away D/D+ perks. I mean would you be so upset if they introduced a level called Onyx after Emerald and the only perk was to board before everyone else? Onyx would be below D/D+, they don't get lounge access or drinks...just on the ship faster. Also how is the Key any different from Sky or Star Class? It all people paying more to get more.

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  • 1 year later...

Screen ALL passengers with temperature wand before boarding. Don’t exit boat at countries with high contamination. All staff must be checked as well. All staff in charge of checking others need to have been checked by others. No exceptions, and have a quarantine section on every ship. Install air purifiers that kill bacteria continuously, they exist. They allow people to sit together in planes trapped with same air circulating, why not on cruise ships that have continuous fresh air before they let planes fly again? Good luck. 

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