WAAAYTOOO Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 Just got this notice regarding a change to applicable hours for drink vouchers. Does this mean that we have to consume all of our first day's vouchers by 5:00 PM....and that after 5:00 PM you are now on the next day's allocation ? VoidoftheSeas and RCIfan1912 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chmusar Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 No its 5am to 4.59am not pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 I just got this email, and I am a bit glad. I really hope they work out the receipt kinks. I lost 3 drinks in the DL on my Sept cruise because the server put someone else drinks on my card and charged me for a "diamond" soda even though I had the soda package. FireFishII and RCIfan1912 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 The only downside I see is if you’ve used all your vouchers on the last night, you won’t get new ones at 12:01am. This is another cost saving measure for Royal in my opinion. Bob Burd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMarc Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: Just got this notice regarding a change to applicable hours for drink vouchers. Does this mean that we have to consume all of our first day's vouchers by 5:00 PM....and that after 5:00 PM you are now on the next day's allocation ? No, they reset at 4:59 AM, so you will basically loose the first and last day's vouchers. Nice that they tried to spin it as a positive though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzard Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 28 minutes ago, MrMarc said: No, they reset at 4:59 AM, so you will basically loose the first and last day's vouchers. Nice that they tried to spin it as a positive though. My first reaction was this is a cost saving move as well regarding last cruise night vouchers not resetting at midnight. I doubt it will impact me as it's not uncommon for me to have unused vouchers some nights and I never am out and about after midnight on the last night of the cruise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fox Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 36 minutes ago, MrMarc said: No, they reset at 4:59 AM, so you will basically loose the first and last day's vouchers. Nice that they tried to spin it as a positive though. I don't see how you would lose your first day vouchers. Pattycruise and RCIfan1912 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 29 minutes ago, MrMarc said: No, they reset at 4:59 AM, so you will basically loose the first and last day's vouchers. Nice that they tried to spin it as a positive though. Actually, you don't. I would assume they would start when you board. I use mine on the last day to get some specialty tea/coffee and waters. The WJ opens at 6am usually on the last day and they have a bar. Mike n Ky, FloatyBoaty, VoidoftheSeas and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 I can't see where anyone loses anything. I think this addresses those who are a late night person and midnight comes around and you've not used your vouchers they are still there to use. I know there were times I still had vouchers left at midnight and had to debate with myself use "tomorrows" vouchers now, suck it up and pay for a drink or just call it a night. The last day of the cruise you would still have vouchers that begin at 5am. SpeedNoodles and RCIfan1912 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VoidoftheSeas Posted December 15, 2022 Report Share Posted December 15, 2022 21 minutes ago, Pattycruise said: I can't see where anyone loses anything. I think this addresses those who are a late night person and midnight comes around and you've not used your vouchers they are still there to use. I know there were times I still had vouchers left at midnight and had to debate with myself use "tomorrows" vouchers now, suck it up and pay for a drink or just call it a night. The last day of the cruise you would still have vouchers that begin at 5am. It's this exactly. The edge case where people were burning their last few vouchers after midnight on the last night of a cruise is probably not large enough to warrant trying to save $40 a cruiser (I'd bet this actually made them money on people buying drinks after their vouchers run out). This is the second update to make the voucher program into a real benefit for Diamond rather than a conciliatory afterthought. This doesn't save them money on drinks - it saves them money on customer service staff. JD Life, Ryan79 and RCIfan1912 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobroo Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 I know that all the D and above here will be well, well past their free allotment of 4, 5, or 6 when they sail this New Years Eve. But….there are a lot of Diamond newbies these days and I think this new policy may come as a surprise to them after the ball drops in the Viking Crown disco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 14 minutes ago, bobroo said: I know that all the D and above here will be well, well past their free allotment of 4, 5, or 6 when they sail this New Years Eve. But….there are a lot of Diamond newbies these days and I think this new policy may come as a surprise to them after the ball drops in the Viking Crown disco. It shouldn't come as a surprise if they read their emails. It's not as though Royal is trying to hide it. JD Life and RCIfan1912 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 24 minutes ago, bobroo said: I know that all the D and above here will be well, well past their free allotment of 4, 5, or 6 when they sail this New Years Eve. But….there are a lot of Diamond newbies these days and I think this new policy may come as a surprise to them after the ball drops in the Viking Crown disco. Knowing in advance how the timing works everyone can adjust their voucher consumption to suit their individual needs. Before the shutdown there would be no NYE drinks to be had once happy hour ended at 8pm so every NYE after eight beverage back then would mean paying per drink. That's 4 hours of buying drinks just to reach midnight plus anything you drink after midnight. I feel like people are splitting hairs trying to find some small way that this is a disadvantage. If NYE was last week, you had 4/5/6 drink per day. Now? You have 4/5/6 drinks per day. Last week you'd have to strategize how to play the system to get make sure you didn't drink anything past midnight on the 30th to maximize drinks on the 31st. With the new rules you can drink past midnight on the 30th (if you have remaining vouchers from the 30th) and not impact your NYE drinks. It's just time shifting, they are not taking drinks away. It's like this is ruining NYE somehow. It's NYE folks, one night of the year pry open that wallet and buy a few drinks if you need more than 4/5/6. Last night of the cruise? That's maybe a sore point for some, but for me, by the last night of the cruise I'm near done drinking and I'm in bed before midnight. Old person syndrome. Ampurp85, JustMeJoe, JD Life and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 I’d rather they just load my drinks to my sea pass right off the bat. When they’re gone, they’re gone. JustMeJoe, tjcruisers and SteveK 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 27 minutes ago, Jill said: I’d rather they just load my drinks to my sea pass right off the bat. When they’re gone, they’re gone. That's because you haven't cruised with @Matt. "What do you mean I drank 18 shots on night one? I don't remember that!" Neesa, RCIfan1912, FireFishII and 8 others 9 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 2 hours ago, Jill said: I’d rather they just load my drinks to my sea pass right off the bat. When they’re gone, they’re gone. Agree 100%. Load the vouchers on the card, and use them as we see fit. And exactly right, when they're gone, they're gone. Too much admin, too much 'control management'.... RC should just load and forget, its up to the user to manage their drinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Life Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 I like the new way of doing this. Lot less confusing. More reasonable and simplistic. As someone said above, you still have the same # of drinks, you just have to manage it a little differently to maximize it to your individual tests. 4/5/6 drinks is still a fantastic deal. Shelling out a little more if need be isn't such a bad thing but we now have options and for me will be easier to remember and maximize to my advantage. The last night if I am up I can still drink. After 7 days, it sometimes happens but sometimes I'm partied out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWhoWaits Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 The biggest benefit to the change is that instead of a "day" being a calendar day it's a real-life day (from the time I get up until I go to bed, whatever that interval may be). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinJ Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 Our Odyssey cruise in Jan will be the first time I'm going without the DBP. With my four and my wife's four vouchers I'll need to manage my drinks. When you have the DBP it's quite easy to have a couple Mimosa's at breakfast and several other drinks throughout the day, one maybe two glasses of wine at dinner, then some evening drinks and during a show. I'll just need to pay a bit more attention. This will be a learning experience as I'm cruising in May without my wife so will be down to just my four, but I'll have five on the second week of a B2B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaa Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 Just because you don't need the DBP @KevinJdoesn't mean you need to manage your drinks. Just drink and enjoy your cruise and if you pay for some full price then that's what you do, but you'll still come out ahead of DBP. I hear this notion often regarding DBP that if someone calculates an estimate and it is below the threshold to get the DBP there is a feeling that they can't just drink what they want. The calculation should be based on generally drinking what you want and if you come close to DBP price or go a little over by cruise end, then there's a better frame of reference for the next time you need to calculate. KevinJ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barjpoe Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 1 hour ago, KevinJ said: Our Odyssey cruise in Jan will be the first time I'm going without the DBP. With my four and my wife's four vouchers I'll need to manage my drinks. When you have the DBP it's quite easy to have a couple Mimosa's at breakfast and several other drinks throughout the day, one maybe two glasses of wine at dinner, then some evening drinks and during a show. I'll just need to pay a bit more attention. This will be a learning experience as I'm cruising in May without my wife so will be down to just my four, but I'll have five on the second week of a B2B. Remember on the 1st cruise of your B2B to let the C&A person know that you will reach D+ on that cruise; so that you'll et the D+ awards on the 2nd cruise of the B2B. KevinJ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinJ Posted December 16, 2022 Report Share Posted December 16, 2022 @Xaa yeah that's what I figure. The savings of not getting the DBP for my son and I, plus the refreshment package for my wife is quite a bit so I have plenty of spend power. It will be interesting to track. I'll also have a couple bottles of wine really should be plenty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 Just thought I would drop a quick note regarding drink vouchers since this is our first cruise where the new policy is in place… We are now on day 4 (of 7) and have yet to use even 1 drink voucher. Our D+ “gifts” include a half dozen sodas and a half dozen bottles of water so that has certainly helped. Dan smuggled a couple of Coronas from our stash in the Star Loft Suite (last week) and we drink for free in the casino…so I’m sure these mitigations have reduced the need for ala carte drinks, considerably. I have 1 cruise remaining for which I had purchased the DBP (SY 2-11-23) but judging from this sailing’s “trial”, I am fairly sure I will cancel it. At first I was a bit self conscious about carrying a can of Coke into a restaurant but that concern quickly diminished and now I do it, routinely. Pooch, USCG Teacher, asquared17 and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted December 25, 2022 Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 43 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said: Dan smuggled a couple of Coronas from our stash in the Star Loft Suite (last week) and we drink for free in the casino…so I’m sure these mitigations have reduced the need for ala carte drinks, considerably. Your Genie didn't tell you to take the entire minibar? Ours let us put the cooler with our luggage to be delivered to our non-SC room for the second leg of our B2B HeWhoWaits, teddy, FireFishII and 2 others 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: Your Genie didn't tell you to take the entire minibar? Ours let us put the cooler with our luggage to be delivered to our non-SC room for the second leg of our B2B No. I felt like a bandit just agreeing to let Dan take 2 Coronas from the fridge ! Lol teddy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asquared17 Posted December 25, 2022 Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 46 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said: No. I felt like a bandit just agreeing to let Dan take 2 Coronas from the fridge ! Lol dan sounds like my kinda hero WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted December 25, 2022 Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: No. I felt like a bandit just agreeing to let Dan take 2 Coronas from the fridge ! Lol ours was all you paid for it..take it! He also set up our reservations for the entire second leg and decorated our cabin door. If I can't do both legs in SC, sure gonna make sure the first leg is the SC one in the future! WAAAYTOOO, teddy and FireFishII 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said: ours was all you paid for it..take it! He also set up our reservations for the entire second leg and decorated our cabin door. If I can't do both legs in SC, sure gonna make sure the first leg is the SC one in the future! Allan did make all of our UDP reservations for this week, which was a huge deal since all of the dining pkgs had been sold out for some time. We were very grateful for that help. AshleyDillo and teddy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda R Posted December 29, 2022 Report Share Posted December 29, 2022 On 12/15/2022 at 3:01 PM, MrMarc said: No, they reset at 4:59 AM, so you will basically loose the first and last day's vouchers. Nice that they tried to spin it as a positive though. You can use your vouchers the first day of embarkation and also the morning you disembark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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