Diamond Lounge Newbies

[teddy]

Now I know every ship and cruise isn’t like this, but our first impression:  

The Diamond Lounge isn’t all that and a bag of chips. 
 

We are currently on our first cruise as Diamond.  On boarding day we went in the lounge for a coffee.  It was really good coffee.  We went back after sail away for another cup and were approached by an old guy (a complete stranger) who asked how many cruises we had done.  When we said we’re on our 11th he started telling us how many he had and asked if we belonged in there. He asked how many points they lowered Diamond level to. 
 

Normally I’m aggressive to people like that, but we laughed, acted nicely deferential, drank our coffee and walked out.  After all, we know jerks exist all over the place, not just on cruise ships. 
 

We went back a couple afternoons later for a cup of coffee and he was holding court again.  He saw us and started in on C&A points, and number of cruises he has that he knows is more than years I am old.   This time I quietly stared at him until everyone became uncomfortable and found other places to be.  This  approach ended up with us being able to sit in some comfortable chairs since they were vacated after five or six  minutes of complete silence. 
 

Today we went in for a cup of coffee and he asked if we were still on our 11th cruise.    

 

I’m not looking for help with dealing with idiots, I work retail and am very comfortable doing so. 
 

My reason for posting this is to remind older Diamond Plus and Pinnacle cruisers that they aren’t the future of Royal Caribbean.  People like my wife and I are, along with the young families we’ve heard people in the lounge complaining about.  
 

Another reminder….no matter how much money you like to brag about spending, it costs nothing to be nice to someone else, especially people who obviously share a passion with you  

We’re heading back for happy hour tonight.  It will be fun to see what all the regulars do when we walk in  

 

[Last Lion]

Well handled. I suspect you will be greeted well by the other loungers tonight. 
Few people like or support a jerk like that.

[bobroo]

I'd steal a couple of his pool towels and return them as my own. Then call it even....

[smokeybandit]

I'm not sure I could have avoided being a complete smart ass with him.

[teddy]

29 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I'm not sure I could have avoided being a complete smart ass with him.

My wife told me she’s floored that I’ve kept my mouth shut.  
 

Nice visit this evening . A couple people asked how we’ve been enjoying the cruise.  No awkwardness or arrogance. 
 

I can’t speak to the fancy coffee machine, but the regular coffee is great. 

[Pattycruise]

Kudos to you.  It's been my experience some older folks just don't know when to stop.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how you stared him down.  I think it's hysterical.  

I'm very slow to come to the good comebacks but some that come to mind -and again I would not think of them until I was out of the situation:

I'm in here, obviously I earned it, if you have doubts feel free to call security or talk to the diamond concierge.
Thank you for asking, I didn't know anyone would be overly concerned with how many points I had compared to them, is it supposed to be a pissing match?
Oh, I've only sailed in Suites for my 11 cruises-with Royal (let him think you've sailed other lines)   the points add up quickly, you must have done it the longer way.
I'm surprised you aren't Pinnacle given your age, or are you? isn't there a special place for people like you?
Oh, I'll make Pinnacle in 3 more cruises, I did double double points during the comeback.  Can't wait, maybe the pinnacle people will have more class.

Oh,how I could go on! LOL  See, I said on the other thread I hold back, I don't want to come off like that pompous buffoon when I answer questions of those who are new to these boards and quick to complain, though I could easily do so.  

Generally the few people I've met in the Diamond Lounge (I don't go often and if I do it's pretty much off normal peoples hours) have been very nice.
Typical quesitons are Favorite ports, favorite ship, other cruise lines.   I've yet to run into a pompous a$$, thank goodness.

I did meet a young man at the Diamond 340pt and up luncheon and was shocked he had so many points.  Of course we laughed at how we earned them during the comeback.  I guess it was a good thing the others at the table didn't speak English or their feelings might have gotten hurt.

Happy Cruising!


 

[Ampurp85]

It is true that one pinnacle or D+ close to pinnacle will loudly proclaim and complain. But I don't let them ruin my DL experience.

I hate to say it, but this has been mine and my brothers experience as well. I have been asked HOW I became Diamond, told it must be nice to get it from my parents, and then just flat out asked if I was using someone else's seapass........not to mention I am often stared at by others. I am polite and ignore most of it as it is my right to enjoy the lounge as such. 

[smokeybandit]

17 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

It is true that one pinnacle or D+ close to pinnacle will loudly proclaim and complain. But I don't let them ruin my DL experience.

I hate to say it, but this has been mine and my brothers experience as well. I have been asked HOW I became Diamond, told it must be nice to get it from my parents, and then just flat out asked if I was using someone else's seapass........not to mention I am often stared at by others. I am polite and ignore most of it as it is my right to enjoy the lounge as such. 

Just say your dad is the Captain.

[Pattycruise]

19 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

It is true that one pinnacle or D+ close to pinnacle will loudly proclaim and complain. But I don't let them ruin my DL experience.

I hate to say it, but this has been mine and my brothers experience as well. I have been asked HOW I became Diamond, told it must be nice to get it from my parents, and then just flat out asked if I was using someone else's seapass........not to mention I am often stared at by others. I am polite and ignore most of it as it is my right to enjoy the lounge as such. 

Yes, yes it is nice I earned it from my parents.  
Yes, I found a seapass card on the floor and knew immediately it would work to get into the diamond lounge!
I've not, but who cares how it was earned.  People need to get a life.

I'll have to take my 20 year old to the Diamond lounge so people can stare at her.  She'll really hate me.

[GregD]

I am so looking forward to walking into the Diamond Lounge for the first time next week with my kids. We all earned our points, including my kids, and I have zero "F's" to give. I will have no problem telling someone how unimportant they are! I've watched too many pinnacles berate crew members to stay quiet.  

[Ampurp85]

I also want to say I met a solo D+ woman in the DL on my Grandeur sailing last month and she said she has been dealing with racist D+ and pinnacles since she joined the lounge, and she is at 305pts. She told me that's why I get all the stares and inquiries, I always assumed it was because I was so young. I wanted to believe she was just one of those that can't see they might be an A*hole and it has nothing to do with her skin color. But then one went on a rant about how there is so many black people cruising now and proved her point. 

On Oasis my brother and his young, ethnic self went several times a day to get coffee.......he was always accosted by someone and their cruise stories. 

[teddy]

My problem with getting into pissing contests is that I don’t really have a middle ground.  I go from 0-100 immediately when I open my mouth. There’s no place on a cruise (or most places, truth be told) for that….plus, it can be fun to see how complete silence and a blank face makes people react when they think they’re pushing all your buttons. 

Besides, I don’t want to have to register here with a new login and complain about how I got kicked off a ship for being an ass.

[teddy]

35 minutes ago, GregD said:

I am so looking forward to walking into the Diamond Lounge for the first time next week with my kids. We all earned our points, including my kids, and I have zero "F's" to give. I will have no problem telling someone how unimportant they are! I've watched too many pinnacles berate crew members to stay quiet.  

Congratulations!!!

The happy hour munchies and coffee are really good in Anthem’s Diamond Lounge this week. 

[smokeybandit]

I've never seen any of this behavior in the suite lounge towards other guests.  Sure some dirty looks once in a while from the craggy old Pinnacles (who tend to soften up after the first couple days).

In that lounge, it's more self entitlement "look at me I'm in a suite" but even that's rare.

[wordell1]

3 hours ago, teddy said:

Now I know every ship and cruise isn’t like this, but our first impression:  

The Diamond Lounge isn’t all that and a bag of chips. 
 

We are currently on our first cruise as Diamond.  On boarding day we went in the lounge for a coffee.  It was really good coffee.  We went back after sail away for another cup and were approached by an old guy (a complete stranger) who asked how many cruises we had done.  When we said we’re on our 11th he started telling us how many he had and asked if we belonged in there. He asked how many points they lowered Diamond level to. 
 

Normally I’m aggressive to people like that, but we laughed, acted nicely deferential, drank our coffee and walked out.  After all, we know jerks exist all over the place, not just on cruise ships. 
 

We went back a couple afternoons later for a cup of coffee and he was holding court again.  He saw us and started in on C&A points, and number of cruises he has that he knows is more than years I am old.   This time I quietly stared at him until everyone became uncomfortable and found other places to be.  This  approach ended up with us being able to sit in some comfortable chairs since they were vacated after five or six  minutes of complete silence. 
 

Today we went in for a cup of coffee and he asked if we were still on our 11th cruise.    

 

I’m not looking for help with dealing with idiots, I work retail and am very comfortable doing so. 
 

My reason for posting this is to remind older Diamond Plus and Pinnacle cruisers that they aren’t the future of Royal Caribbean.  People like my wife and I are, along with the young families we’ve heard people in the lounge complaining about.  
 

Another reminder….no matter how much money you like to brag about spending, it costs nothing to be nice to someone else, especially people who obviously share a passion with you  

We’re heading back for happy hour tonight.  It will be fun to see what all the regulars do when we walk in  

 

I work retail also, its good training for these situations.  In my experience, people who act like this are nobodies in real life so its best just to laugh at them (silently)

[GatorCruiser]

Man I hope someone flexes on me next month in the diamond lounge. 

[CruiseGus]

Truth be told they ought to just eliminate the lounge and turn it into a revenue producing space.

I mean they already provide 4 or 5 complementary drinks.  The hors-d'oeues are nothing to talk about, the only thing you could miss is morning coffee 

[Bowen]

That sucks. I’ve never had anyone act this way to me in a Diamond or suite lounge. 

[Vancity Cruiser]

1 hour ago, CruiseGus said:

Truth be told they ought to just eliminate the lounge and turn it into a revenue producing space.

I mean they already provide 4 or 5 complementary drinks.  The hors-d'oeues are nothing to talk about, the only thing you could miss is morning coffee 

But then how will people feel important?

[RCIfan1912]

Hmm interesting and not very comforting. Number 1 I hate people like you described, I don't want to be hassled about who is the most impressive cruiser. Number 2 we turned Diamond on our last cruise and I am kinda worried about going in there all together because we have kids, 9 and 2. I'm worried about getting looks and crap. Like what was said and thank goodness for it, 4 free drinks anywhere, anytime so we will probably spend very little time in there anyway. 

[Temeculaguy]

Challenge accepted, hope I see him or anyone like him on one of my cruises. I guess I've been lucky in the suite lounge thus far, everyone was either reserved or very nice. Just made diamond, mostly by going on suites during the quad point post pandemic days so I would be the most undeserving diamond he ever met.  Looking forward to taking one for the team.

[FionaMG]

7 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I also want to say I met a solo D+ woman in the DL on my Grandeur sailing last month and she said she has been dealing with racist D+ and pinnacles since she joined the lounge, and she is at 305pts. She told me that's why I get all the stares and inquiries, I always assumed it was because I was so young. I wanted to believe she was just one of those that can't see they might be an A*hole and it has nothing to do with her skin color. But then one went on a rant about how there is so many black people cruising now and proved her point. 

On Oasis my brother and his young, ethnic self went several times a day to get coffee.......he was always accosted by someone and their cruise stories. 

I know a couple who encountered precisely this on their first cruise as D; he's Asian and she's Afro-American.

[Xaa]

It's a human nature thing.  Since the beginning of time, groups of people like to separate themselves into smaller groups of people in order to feel strong.

You did a great job @teddy.  I think I would have just asked him if people were so welcoming to him when he first became Diamond.

Enjoy the perk that you earned!

[The Fox]

We, too, are looking forward to our first cruise as Diamond, Oasis tomorrow. I feel we have worked hard for it and deserve it. I look for it to be a time of sharing experiences with others and maybe making some new friends.

[GregD]

48 minutes ago, The Fox said:

We, too, are looking forward to our first cruise as Diamond, Oasis tomorrow. I feel we have worked hard for it and deserve it. I look for it to be a time of sharing experiences with others and maybe making some new friends.

Be nice to her. I'm sailing on Oasis the week after you!

[GatorCruiser]

5 hours ago, Temeculaguy said:

Challenge accepted, hope I see him or anyone like him on one of my cruises. I guess I've been lucky in the suite lounge thus far, everyone was either reserved or very nice. Just made diamond, mostly by going on suites during the quad point post pandemic days so I would be the most undeserving diamond he ever met.  Looking forward to taking one for the team.

#metoo. I only had one Royal cruise in before Covid. Then i too benefited from quad points suites to achieve diamond status. I’m sure it irks some “old money” cruisers who did it the traditional way, that we got fast tracked to higher tiers as “nouveau riche” Johnny come lately’s. I very much doubt I will spend much time in the diamond lounge as it’s a cave on oasis class ships. Allure notwithstanding. 

[Qeytondude]

Love, love, love, the coffee machine, morning, noon, and night (at least until they shut it down to clean it).

Our coping mechanism is to get our beverage, snack, and leave. Im non confrontational and its just easier for us.

We find it worse on the older ships where the lounge is still in the Crown.  Not as much an issue on Oasis class where its on the inside on 4

[DoomSlayer]

"At the end of the day, your status means nothing to me if you are going to brag and be a jerk." -- That's kind of my feeling on this and I probably would have said something back to this effect.  Kudos to @teddy for letting it pass and handling it well.  On the flip side, I have meet a lot of high status D+ and Pin members that are great people to talk to and still put their pants on like everyone else -- one leg at a time.

[steverk]

My 29 year old daughter is uncomfortable in th DL too. She's never experienced treatment that bad, but people stare and whisper. Ironically,  she's D+ and earned all the points herself. That's probably more than the jerk earned!

Btw, I don't like non diamond members in the lounge either. My course of action is to make sure the door closes behind me. If someone makes it in, I assume they belong.

[ChessE4]

Never witnessed the described behavior in the DL,  but I have seen disrespectful behavior in the MDR. When we encounter well travelled guests in DL I ask which cruises or destinations they liked best and why. That enables them to feel important and be helpful at the same time.  

[Ampurp85]

I have met some wonderful pins, gave lots of helpful advice. But it's always the one or two that aren't nice that seems to stick with you when you go to the SL or DL.

I look at least a decade younger than I am, which is why when they say things or stare I assume it's because they think I'm in my twenties. I think even without double points I would have made diamond in same time frame because of casino comps. Now going from 4pts in Oct 2022 to 186pt in Oct 2023 might not have been possible without them. But I put in the work and deserve to be there and enjoy it.

[michaelp1446]

36 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I have met some wonderful pins, gave lots of helpful advice. But it's always the one or two that aren't nice that seems to stick with you when you go to the SL or DL.

I look at least a decade younger than I am, which is why when they say things or stare I assume it's because they think I'm in my twenties. I think even without double points I would have made diamond in same time frame because of casino comps. Now going from 4pts in Oct 2022 to 186pt in Oct 2023 might not have been possible without them. But I put in the work and deserve to be there and enjoy it.

Absolutely!!!!

[smokeybandit]

When we first started sailing as a family back in 2015, it had only been a couple years since kids were allowed in the suite lounge at all.

A couple 30-somethings with a small for his age 3 yr old in tow drew all sorts of looks. This was back when the lounges were mostly interior midship, and weren't exactly roomy.

[Last2Know]

There are definitely some curious expressions in the DL from longtime cruisers that "earned it the hard way" when my 20-somethings show up. It's good to have parents that were loyal to Royal.  No one has ever been as confrontational as OP's situation.  A quick conversation with the Concierge would have cleared that right up too.   

We also have acquaintances that took full advantage of the double point promotion that RCL was running during the restart.  They were able to reach Diamond status in just four cruises in JS and above staterooms.  5 nights x 4 points x 4 cruises = 80 points & Diamond status.  They took full advantage of the opportunity to cruise in spite of the vax and mask mandates.  Fortes fortuna iuvat.

[Cakemeister]

Yeah, during the restart it was easy to make Diamond. Like L2K said it could be done in four cruises. It took me nine with interior cabins only, thanks to one transatlantic and two double-points cruises.

[Bowen]

12 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Hmm interesting and not very comforting. Number 1 I hate people like you described, I don't want to be hassled about who is the most impressive cruiser. Number 2 we turned Diamond on our last cruise and I am kinda worried about going in there all together because we have kids, 9 and 2. I'm worried about getting looks and crap. Like what was said and thank goodness for it, 4 free drinks anywhere, anytime so we will probably spend very little time in there anyway. 

Don’t worry about it, really. I bring my kids in all the time. It’s a great place to find open tables to play cards, dominos, etc. we’ve never had anyone be anything but nice to us, even offering to change tables if they’re sitting alone at a big one. The chances of someone being rude to you are so incredibly slim, don’t let it bother you at all.

[Bowen]

1 hour ago, Last2Know said:

There are definitely some curious expressions in the DL from longtime cruisers that "earned it the hard way" when my 20-somethings show up. It's good to have parents that were loyal to Royal.  No one has ever been as confrontational as OP's situation.  A quick conversation with the Concierge would have cleared that right up too.   

We also have acquaintances that took full advantage of the double point promotion that RCL was running during the restart.  They were able to reach Diamond status in just four cruises in JS and above staterooms.  5 nights x 4 points x 4 cruises = 80 points & Diamond status.  They took full advantage of the opportunity to cruise in spite of the vax and mask mandates.  Fortes fortuna iuvat.

Yep, my kids will be Diamond Plus by the time they reach 18, so they’ll be the 20 somethings in the lounge.

[RCIfan1912]

17 minutes ago, Bowen said:

Don’t worry about it, really. I bring my kids in all the time. It’s a great place to find open tables to play cards, dominos, etc. we’ve never had anyone be anything but nice to us, even offering to change tables if they’re sitting alone at a big one. The chances of someone being rude to you are so incredibly slim, don’t let it bother you at all.

Excellent info, yeah we kinda are curious and excited to check out the diamond lounge. I also don't want to annoy anyone and don't want to hassle either.

For our honeymoon on Explorer we had a Grand suite which we have never did before or since. Splurged for our honeymoon and had access to the suite lounge but no kids of course yet. We liked it and didn't get any BS at us. Thanks for the advice. 

[smokeybandit]

Earning it within the bounds of how RC allows you to earn it is still earning it. Whether 1 point per day, 2 per day, 4 per day or getting your parents' status.

[cruisellama]

We had lunch with a very nice Pinnacle club guest and during our discussion, I was surprised she was being apologetic about getting over the Pinnacle line from the recent double points offers as the shutdown was coming to a close.   I think its great that folks were able to "ladder up" after the difficult circumstances, but I guess there are a few folks who want remind everyone they walked uphill in the snow both ways to the cruise terminal to get their status.  Just roll with it.