Well now we know what is to come for Diamond members

[RCIfan1912]

Well it looks like we know what is eventually to come to all ships on all sailings when it comes to access to what used to be called "diamond lounge". 

This is textbook how Royal Caribbean does things too. Test it out on "one ship, just one sailing" scouts honor and then 2 minutes later it's the law of the land. 

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-adjusts-top-tier-lounge-access-again/113208

[Montemy2419]

Yep, just like everyone on here said.  They double the points, too many in the higher levels so let's piss off those lowly "only" Diamond level cruisers.  Really glad that we are trying out Celebrity next month because we just made Diamond this year.  This new rule will probably move over to Celebrity but for right now no changes...maybe, we'll see.

[smokeybandit]

This was a signature casino cruise with tons of high tier cruisers.  That's why they limited access, not because it's a new fleetwide policy.

[AlmondFarmer]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

tons of high tier cruisers. 

Depending on average cruisers weight gain per cruise and number of cruises 2,000 pounds would be about 8 cruisers. Need to be lots of tons to overfill Diamond Lounge. 

[Bruin Steve]

That article is from NEARLY A YEAR AGO!

The signed receipt system has been in effect (and poorly managed) for our last few RCCL cruises.  They STILL make mistakes and wrongly delete valid unused vouchers.  The system is there to protect THEM, not US.  I've still had to head to Guest Services to have them reinstate vouchers.  And since they still don't always issue receipts to be signed, I've also had them give us an extra voucher or two.  Basically, always remember to keep track of free drinks you've had, where and when...and be ready to demand Guest Services to show you those "signed" vouchers.

But, yes, they have had this in place for a year now.

[bretts173]

More and more cruisers aging and getting to Diamond level than ever before. Something has to give. You can't just add additional space that the general cruising public can't access, there is already enough exclusive area. Happy if they just keep a small room with a coffee machine and the concierge.

[RCIfan1912]

4 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

That article is from NEARLY A YEAR AGO!

The signed receipt system has been in effect (and poorly managed) for our last few RCCL cruises.  They STILL make mistakes and wrongly delete valid unused vouchers.  The system is there to protect THEM, not US.  I've still had to head to Guest Services to have them reinstate vouchers.  And since they still don't always issue receipts to be signed, I've also had them give us an extra voucher or two.  Basically, always remember to keep track of free drinks you've had, where and when...and be ready to demand Guest Services to show you those "signed" vouchers.

But, yes, they have had this in place for a year now.

You are correct, I just saw it in my news feed and didn't look at the date but with the name change recently I would guess this is coming. After that if Diamond loses the drink vouchers what do we have left? In the end the C&A loyalty program was not the reason we sailed Royal but the fact things are being whittled away is not exactly cool. 

[JasonOasis]

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

You are correct, I just saw it in my news feed and didn't look at the date but with the name change recently I would guess this is coming. After that if Diamond loses the drink vouchers what do we have left? In the end the C&A loyalty program was not the reason we sailed Royal but the fact things are being whittled away is not exactly cool. 

How does one loose drink vouchers when they are loaded automatically and daily onto your sea pass?  For diamond members you get 4 vouchers loaded daily on your card. 

Now I've seen instances where bar tenders have use someone vouchers when they ordered a drink and they didn't want their vouchers used at the time but that falls on the cruiser in my opinion to catch that while they are signing the ticket.   If that's what's meant when people say loose a voucher I have a hard time blaming Royal for that because you should catch it while you're signing the ticket and the bar tender will surely correct it. 

[RCIfan1912]

6 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

How does one loose drink vouchers when they are loaded automatically and daily onto your sea pass?  For diamond members you get 4 vouchers loaded daily on your card. 

Now I've seen instances where bar tenders have use someone vouchers when they ordered a drink and they didn't want their vouchers used at the time but that falls on the cruiser in my opinion to catch that while they are signing the ticket.   If that's what's meant when people say loose a voucher I have a hard time blaming Royal for that because you should catch it while you're signing the ticket and the bar tender will surely correct it. 

Lose drink vouchers as in they take it away as a perk because the CEO can make an extra 1% in stock options by saving the company a million bucks a year. 

[Matt]

It was a casino sailing of top tier casino players

[RCIfan1912]

Are you guys serious? I'm talking about the mods here? Are you serious? An infraction for using the term BS? Absolutely ridiculous. 

[Matt]

Just now, RCIfan1912 said:

Are you guys serious? I'm talking about the mods here? Are you serious? An infraction for using the term BS? Absolutely ridiculous. 

Yes, that's profanity. It's against the rules. There's many other descriptive words you can use

[tonyfsu21]

It’s just a couple hours per night and you still get the Diamond drinks so what’s the big deal? IMHO the Diamond/Crown lounge is pretty crappy anyway. I will trade you my D+ status for 1/2 of your drink vouchers per day and you can enjoy happy hour in that place. Anyone, anyone?

[RCIfan1912]

15 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

It’s just a couple hours per night and you still get the Diamond drinks so what’s the big deal? IMHO the Diamond/Crown lounge is pretty crappy anyway. I will trade you my D+ status for 1/2 of your drink vouchers per day and you can enjoy happy hour in that place. Anyone, anyone?

I don't disagree with any of that but it's still a restriction. It's still not cool. 

[OCSC Mike]

34 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

what’s the big deal?

Some of us enjoy the happy hour snacks. They have been very good at times in my experience.

[RCIfan1912]

Also I have to say that ships are absolutely enormous. Make a diamond/Diamond plus club and then a dedicated Pinnacle club. There, solved. Honestly Pinnacle should have a much better club anyway. 

[Montemy2419]

@Bruin SteveThe  date at the beginning of the article shows: Modified Date: Oct 16, 2023, so it may have been an older article but it was just updated yesterday.

[tonyfsu21]

39 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Some of us enjoy the happy hour snacks. They have been very good at times in my experience.

I would certainly call their bluff, nobody is checking cards at the door. If the snacks are a deal breaker then just walk right in like you own the place. 

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I would certainly call their bluff, nobody is checking cards at the door. If the snacks are a deal breaker then just walk right in like you own the place. 

It's not THAT important to me but I do enjoy popping in to see what they have.

[Bruin Steve]

3 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

How does one loose drink vouchers when they are loaded automatically and daily onto your sea pass?  

All sorts of ways.  Often, we've suspected plain, old-fahioned computer glitches.  But, more likely, often, the bar server doesn't take your card, they merely ask you your cabin number.  So, someone walks into a bar and orders a drink...they state, either by accident, or possibly on purpose, the WRONG cabin number--and it happens to be YOUR cabin number.  The bar gives them a drink...and charges it to YOUR vouchers.  Or, perhaps the bar server writes the cabin number wrong--and someone else's drink gets charged to you.  We've been charged vouchers for drinks served in bars we never visited--and during port hours when we've been off the ship on an excursion somewhere.  We've also been charged double vouchers for the same drink-likely due to bartender error.  And we've also had ALL of our vouchers disappear before we've even had a single drink that day--that happened to us on Navigator several days on one cruise--and Guest Services checked our accounts on their computer and had no record of ANY drinks ordered--the system just kept deleting vouchers.

[SweetPea]

2 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Also I have to say that ships are absolutely enormous. Make a diamond/Diamond plus club and then a dedicated Pinnacle club. There, solved. Honestly Pinnacle should have a much better club anyway. 

I would support this in that my 3 experiences being a suite guest sailing in Sept x2 and early May, pins tend to take over the suite lounge and camp out there during HH. I've told Royal 3x now that this cheapens their suite experience, but clearly they don't see it that way. I don't begrudge pins their due benefits, but combining suite perks and loyalty perks waters down the perk for everyone. I'm not sure what the cutoff is (I've heard 30? 50?) for there to be too many pins onboard to have them not use the lounge, but even 30 can overwhelm an Oasis suite lounge. Of course you never know which pins are in suites and which aren't, but sitting in large circles all wearing their pins and acting like they're holding court isn't great optics, especially for a first time suite guest who just wants to enjoy a single cocktail before heading for dinner. 

Our last cruise on Oasis is sending us back to the Haven where (novel concept), you have to book the Haven to use the Haven. 

[AlmondFarmer]

3 hours ago, Matt said:

There's many other descriptive words you can use

I suggest Malarky.

And for those of you having a hard time determining if another passenger is Pinnacle, be patient, they will likely tell you. 

[tonyfsu21]

2 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

I suggest Malarky.

And for those of you having a hard time determining if another passenger is Pinnacle, be patient, they will likely tell you. 

There’s always the pin as well. I am certain to get flamed for saying this but the pin is obnoxious. I wouldn’t be caught dead with that Pinnacle pin on. I don’t want that kind of attention. 

[Montemy2419]

@tonyfsu21I wore a name tag for years while working as a waitress. There is no way being retired I would ever wear one to show off my status, not that I will ever reach that level.  We have been on one President's Cruise and never will again.  The higher level loyalty level were so obnoxious and there were so many in scooters on the cruise.  One lady just simply ran over my husbands foot without a concern at all.  Another lady jumped on her scooter to find her battery dead so she just took another one since the rentals are all keyed alike. Symphony was a beautiful ship and we loved the ship.

[RCIfan1912]

57 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

There’s always the pin as well. I am certain to get flamed for saying this but the pin is obnoxious. I wouldn’t be caught dead with that Pinnacle pin on. I don’t want that kind of attention. 

To the extreme, I agree. 

[tonyfsu21]

25 minutes ago, Montemy2419 said:

@tonyfsu21I wore a name tag for years while working as a waitress. There is no way being retired I would ever wear one to show off my status, not that I will ever reach that level.  We have been on one President's Cruise and never will again.  The higher level loyalty level were so obnoxious and there were so many in scooters on the cruise.  One lady just simply ran over my husbands foot without a concern at all.  Another lady jumped on her scooter to find her battery dead so she just took another one since the rentals are all keyed alike. Symphony was a beautiful ship and we loved the ship.

I think the world stops spinning when a scooter riding Pinnacle guest boards any ship. The sense of entitlement is completely out of hand. 

[RCIfan1912]

To fair I'm sure the majority of Pinnacle members are invisible. It's just the few arrogant ones stand out. I'm not here to hate on Pinnacle members. I wish I could cruise enough and in suites to get to that level. I would be absolutely invisible as I am now. The only way you would know is if counted the number of free drinks I got per day.

[barjpoe]

Should Royal offer scooter races - one lap around the running track. Fastest scooter gets a sign saying 'I'm the fastest'

[Reigert2008]

13 hours ago, bretts173 said:

More and more cruisers aging and getting to Diamond level than ever before. Something has to give. You can't just add additional space that the general cruising public can't access, there is already enough exclusive area. Happy if they just keep a small room with a coffee machine and the concierge.

I agree.  I've only been on 2-3 cruises since turning Diamond and I don't understand the "Allure"  of hanging out in the Diamond Lounge.  I pop in a few times during the day to get coffee, but that's it.  There are far better places to hang out on the ship.  If they did something to allow unlimited espresso coffee at the coffee shop, or gave us a few extra daily vouchers, I'd never even go by the lounge.  We have a sailing next year on the Explorer and the lounge is in such an inconvenient place, I may not even make it there for coffee. 

And as for limiting access from 5-8 PM, that's dinner and show time for most people, so I wonder how many people are turned away for "only" being diamond.  

[Reigert2008]

59 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I wish I could cruise enough and in suites to get to that level

I think this is part of the overall problem, not @RCIfan1912 in particular, but the earning rates.  We all know the "loopholes" to get those extra points, which was all fun and games when we earned them, but now we're hitting the limits.  I'm all for getting what we've earned, but maybe Royal should change it so that you only get 1 point per night as the standard rate and not do the doubles for single cruisers, gaining a suite, etc...  They could then offer up double points promotions when they need to fill the ship and it could be done on a ship by ship, sailing by sailing basis.  

[tonyfsu21]

10 minutes ago, Reigert2008 said:

I think this is part of the overall problem, not @RCIfan1912 in particular, but the earning rates.  We all know the "loopholes" to get those extra points, which was all fun and games when we earned them, but now we're hitting the limits.  I'm all for getting what we've earned, but maybe Royal should change it so that you only get 1 point per night as the standard rate and not do the doubles for single cruisers, gaining a suite, etc...  They could then offer up double points promotions when they need to fill the ship and it could be done on a ship by ship, sailing by sailing basis.  

I think they could put a bandaid on the situation by adding another daily drink voucher for D and D+. Problem solved. 

[Reigert2008]

48 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I think they could put a bandaid on the situation by adding another daily drink voucher for D and D+. Problem solved. 

Agreed, the extra voucher really wouldn't cost them anything.  We never use all of our vouchers in a day.  I'd like for the vouchers to be for the whole cruise and not expire each day, since you'll have some days where you don't use them all and other days where you may need extra. For a 7N sailing, Diamond would get 28 vouchers to use, which means we would probably stop buying the soda package.  Once we turned Diamond, we went from the Refreshment package to the soda package, so we could still get our "fancy drinks" for the shows and around the pool and not waste a voucher on a soda.  We also like the Powerade and sparkling water options in the Freestyle machines

[Riley]

I put my little gold pin on if I have to deal with something at Guest Services or if 'm going to the designated Pinnacle area, mainly to help the staff out as otherwise they're stuck trying to card people at the entry: the Safari Lounge was designated "Pinnacle Only" for happy hour on a recent cruise due to about 300 Pins.  Another cruise there were four of us so we were on our own in the Diamond Lounge.

I don't usually wear it otherwise, partly because it's not my style and partly because every time I do some obnoxious dude in the elevator just has to make a comment about it.

*rolls eyes*

[RCIfan1912]

I think they should really make diamond and below work the engine room for a certain amount of hours each cruise. It's only fair. We are the peons. 

[OCSC Mike]

19 minutes ago, Reigert2008 said:

Diamond would get 28 vouchers to use, which means we would probably stop buying the soda package

You can always use the vouchers you say you don't use on unopened cans of soda and keep them in your cooler. If not cold enough, you can get a glass of ice when you want to drink them. Just a suggestion.

[tonyfsu21]

25 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

You can always use the vouchers you say you don't use on unopened cans of soda and keep them in your cooler. If not cold enough, you can get a glass of ice when you want to drink them. Just a suggestion.

This is exactly what we do. 

[Xaa]

40 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I think they should really make diamond and below work the engine room for a certain amount of hours each cruise. It's only fair. We are the peons. 

Over a couple hours in a lounge, this is how you feel?

They have limited space and capacity issues.  That's the reality.

You shouldn't feel like a peon, but you should feel entitled to less than those at Diamond Plus and Pinnacle.  That's who gets that access in those hours.   They earned it.  If a day comes when it can only be Pinnacle,  so be it.

There are so many better places on the ship to spend those hours.

[OCSC Mike]

11 minutes ago, Xaa said:

There are so many better places on the ship to spend those hours.

Which of those have the DL CL snacks?

Just because you personally prefer to spend your time elsewhere doesn't mean others do. That's like me telling someone who enjoys gambling there are better places to spend their time than the casino. Not very constructive, IMO. Everyone has their own preferences.

[Xaa]

I get preferences Mike, but what I wrote was in response to likening the few hour restriction to being a peon.

To answer your question, the Windjammer has plenty of food for everyone's taste in those hours.

No snacks doesn't equate to peon.

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, Xaa said:

To answer your question, the Windjammer has plenty of food for everyone's taste in those hours.

WJ usually opens at 6pm on the ships I've been on and I've never seen items like the HH snacks I like in WJ.

I think the peon comment was a bit of hyperbole but that poster can speak for themselves.