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Disloyalty


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CROWN AND ANCHOR MEMBERS

Anybody suffered disloyalty from rccl  

Me and my husband are diamond plus members, we booked 3 cabins, 1 for us and one each for friends who are. Are all first time cruisers

we booked the same category cabin, at the same price at the same time with the same rccl staff member.  He gave us individual booking reference nos. But I specifically asked for all three bookings to be linked so that what we could sit at the same table etc. Me and my husband both celebrate our birthday on next weeks dubai cruise!!

On 24th dec we received email saying that diamond plus members would not be allowed into concierge due to high number of loyalty memberbers on board - ok, not the Christmas present we would expect but as all 6 of us have a drinks package we didn’t worry too much

HOWEVER, this is where the DISLOYALTY really hurts. We receive an email  saying there was a change to one of our friends reservation. - they have been upgraded from balcony to Grand Suite. That’s great for them, a kick in the teeth for us LOYALTY MEMBERS 

do you all realise that first time cruisers get upgrades over loyalty members 

WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF BEING LOYAL TO RCCL?

we called the office to explain our surprise and disappointment at being snubbed but were told the office who allocate cabins had left (this was 2pm USA time) so nothing they could do 

LOYALTY MEMBERS BEWARE OF DISLOYALTY FROM RCCL

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I made all 3bookings and my email was on all 3 reservations 

when we called they said everyone in cabin allocation office had left and there is nothing they can do until Monday. The ship sails Monday  and d we don’t want to embarrass either couple at the port by raising the issue at the port 

we are very surprised that they gave a two category upgrade to a first time cruise over a loyal cruiser

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I don’t understand.....what matters is that you and your colleagues are on the same boat. Not what cabin you or your friends are in.

And, you are claiming that Royal Caribbean is just giving away a grand suite to someone who has effectively purchased a balcony???

As a Diamond Plus status, you don’t know Royal by now that they don’t elevate anyone by two cabin grades especially one of the big rooms without collecting big additional $$$? C’mon.....

 

Have the DL concierge do the few keystrokes required so that have you all dine and sing Happy Birthday at the same MDR table and enjoy your time together on your holiday.

 

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To answer your question I haven’t encountered any disloyalty from Royal Caribbean.  

As a D+ I’ve encountered many times the concierge lounge becoming over subscribed and the need for them to accommodate D+ in an expanded Diamond area.  That’s always worked very well.  The result is no loss of benefits.  

As far as upgrades go, those are not promised to anyone.  No D+ should ever get upset over a missed upgrade.  If they did give out upgrades by CAS status a Pinnacle would have received the upgrade so either way you lost out on nothing.

Instead be happy for your friends.  

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3 minutes ago, twangster said:

To answer your question I haven’t encountered any disloyalty from Royal Caribbean.  

As a D+ I’ve encountered many times the concierge lounge becoming over subscribed and the need for them to accommodate D+ in an expanded Diamond area.  That’s always worked very well.  The result is no loss of benefits.  

As far as upgrades go, those are not promised to anyone.  No D+ should ever get upset over a missed upgrade.  If they did give out upgrades by CAS status a Pinnacle would have received the upgrade so either way you lost out on nothing.

Instead be happy for your friends.  

My other thought was that perhaps the one that was upgraded was a guarantee cabin. Part of that roll of the dice is maybe one in a million you get upgraded to the last room left and it’s a good one. 

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  • Matt changed the title to Disloyalty
15 hours ago, Kay evans said:

they have been upgraded from balcony to Grand Suite. That’s great for them, a kick in the teeth for us LOYALTY MEMBERS 

How is your friend being upgraded an insult to you? I get you think upgrades should only come down to the highest C&A members first, but that's how it works. 

15 hours ago, Kay evans said:

WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF BEING LOYAL TO RCCL?

Free alcohol every night in Diamond Lounge, priority boarding, free print photos. Heck, the free drinks alone are a perk unrivaled on any other cruise line.

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I have to admit, I’d feel a little bit upset by this.  I understand how the upgrades happen so it was definitely luck of the draw.  No intentional slap on Royal Carribean’s part.  But if the situation is as explained, and we all are being completely honest, I think everyone would feel a little something crappy about it.   No shame in admitting it would feel like a little gut punch if you’d been that loyal and a first timer in a group that you organized got that upgrade over you.  Just my thought 

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I did say “it,s  great that my friends have the upgrade” of course I’m happy for them. The shock came as several loyalty ambassadors on board our  previous cruises have specifically told us “any available upgrades are offered to loyayalty members first “

I also said that all 6 of us have a drinks package so free drinks are not relevant. 

So perhaps someone can explain why They joined the loyalty  program?

My understanding of the loyalty program was that the company would reward loyal customers 

maybe some people are happy to spend many thousands on cruises so that first timers can benefit

 Maybe the company are cleverer than some cruisers - upgrade the first timers and hope they become “loyalty members” who will, in turn fund the next upgrade for first timers 

Thank you for your views and comments, very interesesting to see how people have diffferent interpretations of the loyalty program and what I wrote 

 

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21 hours ago, bobroo said:

I don’t understand.....what matters is that you and your colleagues are on the same boat. Not what cabin you or your friends are in.

And, you are claiming that Royal Caribbean is just giving away a grand suite to someone who has effectively purchased a balcony???

As a Diamond Plus status, you don’t know Royal by now that they don’t elevate anyone by two cabin grades especially one of the big rooms without collecting big additional $$$? C’mon.....

 

Have the DL concierge do the few keystrokes required so that have you all dine and sing Happy Birthday at the same MDR table and enjoy your time together on your holiday.

 

I wrote the truth. 

Booked balcony upgraded to  grand suite - it’s a fact no dollars asked for or paid 

c,mon .........?

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And you confirmed with your friends that they did not submit (and subsequently win) a Royal Up bid?

While I can’t say for sure, outside of the Royal Up program, why you were snubbed but your initial post certainly does not exhibit happiness for your friends. You were/are clearly upset that you were ‘passed over’ for a cabin you feel you are entitled to. To answer your question... I joined C&A because I think a number was assigned to me when I booked my first cruise. 

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did you also complain about this on a Facebook group

get over it some folks are just lucky.....  personalty I'm happy when ever some or myself gets over on the system

If I really want it "I pay for it" ... i.e. book a suite

wish i was in the 1%

but darn happy to be in the 10%

most people to sail more than once are, and I'm just guessing at  this are at least in the 20%

 

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When I used to fly a lot frequent flyer programs were a thing that I paid attention to.  Top frequent fliers often get free upgrades to first class.  Two years straight I received complimentary first class upgrades 99% of the time.  The only time I didn't was when missing a connection due to flights delays.

It was interesting to hear complaints and claims of upgrade shenanigans from folks who weren't at the top level.  Claims of upgrades being given to employees or military or someone in a lesser level were commonplace.  

The wisdom I'll never forget was "Upgrades are not an entitlement.  Book a seat in the cabin your want to fly in".

If a stranger was given an upgraded cabin on a sailing 99% of guests would never know.  How Royal chooses to hand out upgrades before sailing is a mystery because it rarely happens.  

A loyalty ambassador in days of old sometimes had unused inventory at their disposal.  They might offer upgrades on board.  Loyalty ambassadors have no input to a pre-cruise upgrade.  Now with cruises selling out and with RoyalUp the loyalty ambassadors don't have upgrades to hand out very often.  

It's entirely possible someone wanted that cabin for a specific reason.  They may have asked and been denied by Royal, unless they were willing to pay to upgrade those guests to a suite.  

We'll never know the mechanics of why that cabin was chosen to be upgraded.  You were not owed an upgrade, Royal was not disloyal.  You can choose to dwell on this and let it impact your cruise or you can shrug it off and let it go.  

With thirty two cruises under my belt at the D+ level I'm not going to waste a moment to fret that at some point someone else got an upgrade.  In all those D+ cruises I was never upgraded.  I cruised in the cabin I booked and I enjoyed all thirty two cruises.

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

When I used to fly a lot frequent flyer programs were a thing that I paid attention to.  Top frequent fliers often get free upgrades to first class.  Two years straight I received complimentary first class upgrades 99% of the time.  The only time I didn't was when missing a connection due to flights delays.

It was interesting to hear complaints and claims of upgrade shenanigans from folks who weren't at the top level.  Claims of upgrades being given to employees or military or someone in a lesser level were commonplace.  

The wisdom I'll never forget was "Upgrades are not an entitlement.  Book a seat in the cabin your want to fly in".

If a stranger was given an upgraded cabin on a sailing 99% of guests would never know.  How Royal chooses to hand out upgrades before sailing is a mystery because it rarely happens.  

A loyalty ambassador in days of old sometimes had unused inventory at their disposal.  They might offer upgrades on board.  Loyalty ambassadors have no input to a pre-cruise upgrade.  Now with cruises selling out and with RoyalUp the loyalty ambassadors don't have upgrades to hand out very often.  

It's entirely possible someone wanted that cabin for a specific reason.  They may have asked and been denied by Royal, unless they were willing to pay to upgrade those guests to a suite.  

We'll never know the mechanics of why that cabin was chosen to be upgraded.  You were not owed an upgrade, Royal was not disloyal.  You can choose to dwell on this and let it impact your cruise or you can shrug it off and let it go.  

With thirty two cruises under my belt at the D+ level I'm not going to waste a moment to fret that at some point someone else got an upgrade.  In all those D+ cruises I was never upgraded.  I cruised in the cabin I booked and I enjoyed all thirty two cruises.

Agree 100%.  

I love cruising and always want friends or family to cruise with us.  On a previous RCCL cruise, when I was the point man, there were only 2 aft balconies left and we needed 3.  All 3 paid the same price, but my wife and I gave up the aft balcony and took one on the same floor right beside the 2 aft balconies (without discussing it with the other two couples).  Seeing the looks on their faces and enjoying the conversation about their great balconies... especially when both parties realized what we had done for them, made any sense of missing out fade to a feeling of having really done a good thing.

That was 2016, and they still talk about it.

It was a small gesture that made an impact on the 6 people involved.

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Hey, here's an idea. Instead of relying on the company to  pick you out of thousands of guests, work a little harder in life if the GRAND SUITE is soooooooo important to you. The good ole age of entitlement is getting OLD!                                                            U Mad GIF by Adam Lambert

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Please note, I'm not saying the OP is incorrect, but I really don't see WHY RC would upgrade randomly from Balcony to GS?

Surely, if they had to upgrade someone to GS, they would select someone that has paid for JS and upgrade them. They would then upgrade someone else from Balcony to JS.

This would then mean two bookings would get upgraded, and they would have twice as many people who were very happy instead of one.

The whole story just makes zero sense to me, especially since the advent of Royal UP... they could have at lease made a few dollars from someone willing to pay for an upgrade?

 

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I don't know - it was never confirmed by the OP that they checked with them if they did get it through Royal Up.  They just said they'd never heard of it - but it appears to be available in the UK. Maybe the friends did Royal up but the OP doesn't want to make it awkward to ask, so there's just lots of speculation going on?

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/gbr/en/booked/cruise-room-upgrade

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I just hope you don't let this spoil your vacation. 

First time you walk into your friends upgraded suite and you think this should have been ours!

Also hope those that received upgrade knowing how upset you are at missing out, don't let it spoil their vacation by feeling that you are annoyed and jealous etc that they got a bonus instead of you , you are all there to celebrate a birthday not worry about cabins 

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20 hours ago, Hutcherl said:

I have to admit, I’d feel a little bit upset by this.  I understand how the upgrades happen so it was definitely luck of the draw.  No intentional slap on Royal Carribean’s part.  But if the situation is as explained, and we all are being completely honest, I think everyone would feel a little something crappy about it.   No shame in admitting it would feel like a little gut punch if you’d been that loyal and a first timer in a group that you organized got that upgrade over you.  Just my thought 

Gotta disagree.  I would be very happy for my friends and have no additional concerns whatsoever.  The friends will know they got it and you didn't, and if they are a good friend may buy a pre cruise or post cruise dinner for you.  And they will remember what happened for a long time and see you in a better light because you were the bigger person.

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4 hours ago, RCVoyager said:

Gotta disagree.  I would be very happy for my friends and have no additional concerns whatsoever.  The friends will know they got it and you didn't, and if they are a good friend may buy a pre cruise or post cruise dinner for you.  And they will remember what happened for a long time and see you in a better light because you were the bigger person.

I’d never make a situation about it to make them feel some awkward or uncomfortable kind of way.  That’s just a obvious way you’d handle that if they are friends.  To handle it any other way would be acting as the lesser person.  
Like  I said,  I stand by thinking it’s fair to feel excited for them and yet normal to quietly feel that would’ve been great for that to fall your way since you sailed with them for so long.  

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