Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society has posted an update that it will stop offering a balcony discount for members that book a cruise less than six months out.

As of September 1, 2016, balcony and suite discounts that Crown and Anchor members are eligible for, will only apply to sailing’s booked more than six months out.  Royal Caribbean has offered a discount on balcony and suite staterooms to Crown and Anchor Society members that were at least a Platinum level member on all cruises, but this will now change a bit.

In the event a guest purchases an upgrade within six months of sailing, the Balcony & Suites Discount will be protected.

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean shared on their Facebook page a little more insight into why this change is occuring: "We've found that a large majority of our Crown & Anchor guests reserve outside of the 6 month window. For those who do not, we've noticed that, due to the lack of promotional combinability, it's more beneficial for our guests to take advantage of other promotions offered. We appreciate your honest feedback, and are using it to research ways to improve our Crown & Anchor offerings."

What do you think of this change in the balcony discount? Will this change what stateroom you book? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Royal Caribbean recently launched a new way to reward guests loyal to Royal Caribbean with upgrades.

Royal Caribbean will provide travel partners with a means for travel partners to provide upgrades to their clients at a reduced rate.

The new program began on March 16, 2016 and each week, Royal Caribbean will send travel partners an email with a list of your clients who are eligible for a reduced-rate upgrade on an upcoming sailing.  The email will include name, booking ID, upgrade category and upgrade fee.

Eligible Crown and Anchor Society members whose email address in Royal Caribbean's database and has given their permission to send communications, will also receive an email notification.  For all guests booked via travel partners, the call to action is to call their agent.

HOW TO SET YOUR UPGRADE PREFERENCES

All eligible Crown and Anchor Society members whose email is on file, regardless of channel booked, will receive the notification 24 hours after Royal Caribbean sends the email to the travel partner.

Upgrades are offered about 45 days prior to departure date.

The upgrade fee cost is per stateroom.

If an upgrade is from a balcony to a Junior Suite, the Crown and Anchor Society members will not receive the additional point per night.

Royal Caribbean is offering double Cruise Points for guests sailing in Royal Suite Class accommodations on Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas this summer.

This means guests can earn 4 points per night on qualifying cruises.

To qualify for the double cruise points, guests need to register their booking at www.royalcaribbean.com/DoublePoints.

Guests can also combine this offer with the BOGO GETTER deal.

Bonus Cruise Points Offer is applicable to individual bookings of Royal Suite Class staterooms made Dec 4-31, 2015.

Bonus cruise points promotion applies to Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas sailings departing May 1 — August 31, 2016.

Royal Caribbean has opened membership in its customer loyalty program, the Crown and Anchor Society, to all guests, even if they have never taken a Royal Caribbean cruise.

The new policy went into effect on June 11, 2015 and allows any guest to be able to enroll online, onboard or by calling the Crown & Anchor department.

Until this change, Royal Caribbean required guests to complete their first cruise before signing up.  With this new change, Royal Caribbean is making it easier for new cruisers to not only join the program, but become engaged in everything Royal Caribbean.  Guests that become new members before their first cruise will receive newsletters and information on select previews as well as receive access to promotional sales.

Regardless of when or where new members were enrolled, new members need to allow 10-14 days after the end of their fi rst cruise to see Cruise Points posted to their Crown & Anchor account.

Once enrolled in Crown and Anchor Society, new members can log into their My Cruises account and will see they have zero cruise points.  Guests will also receive a welcome email informing them of their Crown & Anchor number. No tier name or description will be displayed.  Additionally, members with zero points won’t be able to access Refer-A-Friend, Cruise History, Upgrade Preferences, and Gift Preferences.

Royal Caribbean is working on a new inclusive amenity program for passengers that book a suite aboard select Royal Caribbean ships.

Speaking at cruise3sixty, the conference sponsored by Cruise Lines International Association, Royal Caribbean senior vice president of sales Vicki Freed made the announcement that would expand suite-only perks beyond the exclusive restaurant, Coastal Kitchen, offered on several ships.

"We really want to make it a wow," Freed said. "The announcement should come this fall to roll out in 2016."

"It will include private areas just for suite guests and a more inclusive vacation experience," she said, declining to reveal more at this time.

But she noted that Royal Caribbean ships have many more suites than people might realize.

"We have more suites on our ships than any one all-suite ship has," she said. "People would not normally think of Royal Caribbean as being top-heavy with suites, but Oasis and Allure of the Seas have 260 suites in six categories."

Once you become a member of Royal Caribbean's customer loyalty program, Crown and Anchor Society, and embark upon another cruise, you will start getting invitations to special events and parties just for you.

These parties are special ways Royal Caribbean likes to recognize its repeat customers and offer them complimentary beverages, share upcoming news about the ship and answer questions.

What happens at these parties?

Usually you are greeted by the ship's officers as you walk in and served complimentary cocktails and snacks while you mingle with other guests.

After a little while, there's a speech or two given by officers such as the loyalty ambassador, hotel manager and even the Captain.  Which crew members speak varies from ship to ship and sailing to sailing.

How do you get invited?

Royal Caribbean will offer a few parties each cruise for Crown and Anchor Society members of each level.  

Royal Caribbean will deliver an invitation for each party to your stateroom to let you know of the event.  On newer ships, such as the Oasis-class, the invitations are electronic and will arrive in your television's message inbox.

How many events are there per cruise?

Royal Caribbean will hold a number of events, usually a general event for all Crown and Anchor members and then smaller events for members of higher status in the program.

The main event is the Crown and Anchor Society Welcome Back Celebration, which is a general celebration of repeat cruisers.

After that, there can be other events for Platinum and above members.

The exact number of events and which events that are held will depend on the sailing.

Do I have to go?

No, these events are optional and your attendance has no consequences.

Why should I go?

There are two really good reasons to go to these events.  First, it's one of the rare opportunities on a Royal Caribbean ship to get complimentary alcoholic beverages.  The wait staff will come around with plenty for everyone and it's quite easy to get multiple drinks per event.

Second, the speeches by the staff can give you insight into upcoming changes onboard that ship as well as fleet wide.  It's also a good opportunity to ask questions about changes you may have read about online or just wanted to get clarification of.

Some speeches are more interesting than others but the free drinks and opportunity to meet other Royal Caribbean fans can be fun and the entire thing rarely lasts more than 60 minutes.

Royal Caribbean is inviting its Crown and Anchor Society members to sail aboard an annual traditon of a member cruise. This year the member cruise is a 12-night fall foliage cruise from Quebec City on Serenade of the Seas on September 25, 2015.

The Crown and Anchor member cruise offers members-only events and activities, surprise parties exclusive benefits, and the opportunity to socialize with other Crown & Anchor Society members.

The 2014 members cruise sailed to the Baltics and North Sea recently and for those that like to sail with other Royal Caribbean fans, the member cruise can be a popular choice.

Recently Royal Caribbean began a new policy of offering complimentary drink vouchers per night to select levels of Crown and Anchor Society members to help offset congestion in its Diamond and Concierge lounges.

How does these new complimentary drink coupons work?

Three drink vouchers per day will be applied to each eligible Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club members corresponding SeasPass card to be used to get a free drink at bars on the ship.

One drink may be redeemed at any one time.

Who is eligible for the drink coupons?

Guests who are Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club members.

When can I use the drink coupons?

Between 4:30pm and 8:00pm

Which drinks are available with the coupons

Spirits

• Bacardi Rum
• Bailey's Irish Cream
• Tanqueray Gin
• Finlandia Vodka
• Dewar's White Label Scotch Whiskey
• Jameson Irish Whiskey
• Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey
• Jose Cuervo Gold Tequilla
• Courvoisier VS Cognac
• Sandeman Port Wine

Wines by the glass

• St. Martin Chardonnay
• Zonin Pinot Grigio
• Beringer White Zinfandel
• St. Martin Cabernet Sauvignon
• St. Martin Merlot

Beers

• Budweiser
• Miller Light
• Amstel Light
• Corona
• Heineken

Can I still go to the Diamond Lounge if I use these coupons?

Yes, Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members can continue to enjoy all the amenities in the Diamond Lounge.

Where can I not use the complimentary drink coupons?

Drink vouchers may not be redeemed in the dining room, specialty restaurants, room service or Windjammer.

Are the drink coupons available on all cruises?

Not yet. Royal Caribbean promises they will be rolled out by Fall 2014 but already a number of ships are offering it, including Navigator of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean has begun a new policy of offering complimentary drink vouchers per night to select levels of Crown and Anchor Society members to help offset congestion in its Diamond and Concierge lounges.

Emails are starting to go out to Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club members who have an upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise booked to alert them about this new policy.

The SeaPass card of each eligible Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club member will be loaded with three drink vouchers for each night of the sailing. Vouchers expire daily. Drinks vouchers are not valid in the main dining room, the Windjammer Café or in specialty restaurants. 

It's widely believed this new policy of offering drink vouchers is an attempt by Royal Caribbean to offset crowding in its Diamond and Concierge lounges.

This new policy will be rolled out to the entire fleet by Fall 2014.

Which ships are offering it right now is in flux, but we know that at the latest Freedom of the Seas will by July, Navigator of the Seas by September.

Royal Caribbean launched today its newest discount cruise program for Crown and Anchor Society members, dubbed Crown and Anchor Society Exclusive Rates. 

The Crown and Anchor Society Exclusive Rates replace the Crown and Anchor Society Savings Certificates and offer lower on select cruises directly from the Crown and Anchor Society section of the Royal Caribbean web site.

The new Crown and Anchor Society Exclusive Rates offer discounts on select cruises. Travel agents can apply Crown and Anchor Society Exclusive Rates for any customer.

For guests, this new programs means discounts are applied instantly instead of having to do math to see what the discount will be.  The aim of the new program is to simplify discounts for guests.