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Changes to diamond lounge drinks


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It is funny how something that is a perk somehow becomes an expectation. Prior to the restart I remember the who priority boarding for C&A members. I saw that the lines were often longer for those then newbies.

I only got the drinks package once and as a light drinker it wasn't worth it to me. So, becoming diamond and prime were worth it. I found the D lounge to be a place to mingle more so than a destination. I don't drink coffee and the little canapes are okay, but I am glad I can get my drinks anywhere and elsewhere. 

I happen to like to gamble. So, I will work on maintaining my next year's status on the 5 cruises I have scheduled between now and then. 

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2 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

That's rich! Guess they don't count the time it takes to get from the curb to your initial interaction with a check in agent. On Ovation in May, THAT was only 40 minutes having arrived 10 minutes early for the FIRST assigned check in time. Obviously it got worse as the day went on.

They haven't even achieved 15 minutes from starting to work with a check in agent to ship in many cases.

If you read all of my post you will see I credited the CDC with our current woes getting into the terminal.  

Once we can eliminate the CDC from our lives Royal can get back working on the goal of getting it down to 15 minutes.  That was still a work in progress before the CDC ruined our lives.    

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We’re looking forward to hitting Diamond for the drink vouchers.  Once in a while I’ll get the soda package, but mostly we just drink the complementary beverages. 

Four vouchers a day each will be nice. 
 

If our points get doubled for our upcoming August sailing, we’ll be at 79 points and are planning on booking an October sailing out of NJ after our son’s wedding craziness is over, so that would add another 7 to make 86.
 

If not, we’ll have to wait till next spring.  Either way, it’ll be a treat. 

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Lol OP almost gave me an heart attack when I first saw the title of the post. I thought they're taking away or reducing the number of free drinks per day for diamond or something. My wife and I been talking about it since Royal raised prices of drink packages and everything being more expensive nowadays. Glad to see its no changes since my last few cruises. 

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5 hours ago, Jersey Judie said:

You get 10 points roughly for playing at any table for an hour at $10 a bet. Im working on my status now. LOL! When me and my boyfriend play, we start off with Minimum tables, and as we win, we start increasing our bets to $25 a hand. Last cruise he accumulated 280 points on a 3 night cruise playing black jack for 2 hours a night. All in all did not lose any $.

Something seems off with this calculation. You are going to get far more then 10 points in an hour at $10/hand. 

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4 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Something seems off with this calculation. You are going to get far more then 10 points in an hour at $10/hand. 

You know I thought so too. His bets were fluctuating throughout the nights though . Some bets he made were as high as $50.  I read this somewhere on RCCL's site. I wondered whether it was accurate.

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6 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Lol OP almost gave me an heart attack when I first saw the title of the post. I thought they're taking away or reducing the number of free drinks per day for diamond or something. My wife and I been talking about it since Royal raised prices of drink packages and everything being more expensive nowadays. Glad to see its no changes since my last few cruises. 

My adult kids are about to reach diamond and are terrified royal will go back to the old system. 

I tell them not to worry.  With the large number of new diamond members,  royal would have to enlarge the diamond lounge fleet wide to be able to go back. Not gonna happen.  It's just too expensive. 

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3 hours ago, Jersey Judie said:

You know I thought so too. His bets were fluctuating throughout the nights though . Some bets he made were as high as $50.  I read this somewhere on RCCL's site. I wondered whether it was accurate.

The bets are somehow recorded, the process I’ve yet to figure out as it appears to vary.  I’ve watched the pit boss come by, holding a tablet and marking in the bet….and you are already swiped in when you sit and counted out/logged out when leaving the table.  I’ve read where people say that’s how they can calculate your hand $ played…starting money vs. leaving money….but to me there are other factors that can impact that play time….# of players come to mind, as does speed of the dealer, then there is the player who raises/lowers their bets. Some tables I never see the pit boss come around.  Some nights they are around early but after midnight they don’t come around at all (unless doing a verification). If the pit boss is noting your $10 bet only than all those $50 bets appear to be “useless” when it comes to points…..I’d hope I’m wrong. Like I said, still trying to figure out the process.

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13 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

That's rich! Guess they don't count the time it takes to get from the curb to your initial interaction with a check in agent. On Ovation in May, THAT was only 40 minutes having arrived 10 minutes early for the FIRST assigned check in time. Obviously it got worse as the day went on.

They haven't even achieved 15 minutes from starting to work with a check in agent to ship in many cases.

I’ve not had that experience with the12 cruises I’ve done out of Bayonne.  The entry process to the terminal has been done by arrival time, (guy with a bullhorn and someone checking set sail passes) which cuts back the “wait  to get into the terminal”.  The longest I’ve waited to get through security was 15 minutes, and that’s  due to the people who don’t understand to empty their pockets and not as many gates open.

once I get through it’s been typically 5 minutes to see a check in agent, worst case 10 minutes and my documents are typically in order and uploaded so it’s 2minutes tops on the run through and then on my way onboard.

the only slowdowns to speak of …system down….that was a pain, added maybe 5-10 minutes  more to check in and the time Oasis had us go through the check in process but wait in a large seating area because the ship had to pull out to let a container ship pass.  (So thankful they had seats ready for that wait) and once for Adventure, I think the ship wasn’t ready.

my one experience in Miami was different, in January they let you enter whenever, security was quick but the terminal agent I had was a complete disaster, I’d swear there was a hidden video to try and watch me lose my sh$t.  She took about 30 minutes, I kid you not, for 4 of us, whose documents were already uploaded and I had printouts,  she created her own dilemma, decided to find a laptop and started the whole process over again. Meanwhile all the other agents were processing people through without issue.  

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7 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Something seems off with this calculation. You are going to get far more then 10 points in an hour at $10/hand. 

Getting points at the tables is quantum science level stuff. Generally though, $10 bets will get you 10 points an hour (totally subjective). Slots every $5 dollars betting will get you a point and $10 video poker betting gets you a point (totally objective). My wife and I both made prime on our first 7 day cruise on 1-8 April. It's the churn that does it. 

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14 hours ago, twangster said:

D+ upgrades disappeared long before Royal Up came around.  I was D+ in that era and have never been upgraded.  It wasn't Royal Up that killed the upgrade fairy, it was sold out cruises.  Two decades ago there were cabins empty to move guests into.  Over the last decade they used casino comps and other last minute rates like Going, Going, Gone to fill ships.  There were no cabins to upgrade people into before Royal Up became their tool of choice to ensure the ship sails full.  Royal Up has displaced Going, Going, Gone if anything has been lost due to Royal Up.  

It’s unfortunate it is still listed as a perk.  I did approach a Guest Service agent in April to ask about an Upgrade and was immediately shot down.  Last week I asked the Loyalty  Ambassador on Oasis about the possibility of an upgrade and she said it’s pretty much gone since they are now essentially filling  the ships and Royal Up.  I pointed out I’d been sailing since the restart  and with reduced capacity and it was never offered to which the reply was “you should have asked”.  Lol  

I will enjoy the benefits they do give. 

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14 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Never said it was $12500 out of pocket. The point is it would take a LONG time to cycle through that much slot play.

I’m not a huge slot player but I’ve dabbled, and I’ve watched others play.  The cheapest machine I found that I would play was .25 cents a spin, so 20 spins is 1 pt.  I’d guess it’s about 1 minute /1.30  to do those 20 spins.   Some are playing machines at $10 a spin so in 3 seconds they have 2 pts.  , 1 minute 40pts.   Yes, it’s most definitely an investment in time.  I never sat to try to get to prime-it happened. hubby is now chasing the points, which I think is a mistake.

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I love the new new system as it's gives us much more flexibility and ability to drink what we want when we want. The d system you had the diamond club full with people from 4:30 pm trying to get a seat and you could order alcohol from a very short limited  list , no frozen drinks (no lava flow). Now we use the DL for the coffee, for quite place to relax and some time to grab a quick breakfast if we don't feel like getting a  full one. Thank you Royal for upgrading the Diamond experience.

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10 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

The bets are somehow recorded, the process I’ve yet to figure out as it appears to vary.  I’ve watched the pit boss come by, holding a tablet and marking in the bet….and you are already swiped in when you sit and counted out/logged out when leaving the table.  I’ve read where people say that’s how they can calculate your hand $ played…starting money vs. leaving money….but to me there are other factors that can impact that play time….# of players come to mind, as does speed of the dealer, then there is the player who raises/lowers their bets. Some tables I never see the pit boss come around.  Some nights they are around early but after midnight they don’t come around at all (unless doing a verification). If the pit boss is noting your $10 bet only than all those $50 bets appear to be “useless” when it comes to points…..I’d hope I’m wrong. Like I said, still trying to figure out the process.

Definitely something to ponder!! Sailing on Oasis in August...I know we will be gambling evry night! I'm gonna try to watch closely.

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10 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I’ve not had that experience with the12 cruises I’ve done out of Bayonne.  The entry process to the terminal has been done by arrival time, (guy with a bullhorn and someone checking set sail passes) which cuts back the “wait  to get into the terminal”.  The longest I’ve waited to get through security was 15 minutes, and that’s  due to the people who don’t understand to empty their pockets and not as many gates open.

once I get through it’s been typically 5 minutes to see a check in agent, worst case 10 minutes and my documents are typically in order and uploaded so it’s 2minutes tops on the run through and then on my way onboard.

the only slowdowns to speak of …system down….that was a pain, added maybe 5-10 minutes  more to check in and the time Oasis had us go through the check in process but wait in a large seating area because the ship had to pull out to let a container ship pass.  (So thankful they had seats ready for that wait) and once for Adventure, I think the ship wasn’t ready.

my one experience in Miami was different, in January they let you enter whenever, security was quick but the terminal agent I had was a complete disaster, I’d swear there was a hidden video to try and watch me lose my sh$t.  She took about 30 minutes, I kid you not, for 4 of us, whose documents were already uploaded and I had printouts,  she created her own dilemma, decided to find a laptop and started the whole process over again. Meanwhile all the other agents were processing people through without issue.  

Seattle did nothing to enforce boarding times (thus not even entering the building until well past our arrival time), security only had 4 of the potential 10 scanners open (delaying things even worse than the norm for people not having a clue about emptying their pockets despite being told every couple of minutes for the entire time they were weaving through the rat maze), and the check-in agent couldn't operate the technology to process all of our documents that were uploaded AND in hand (she had to be at least 75 years old).

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