KatnBob

No, no. You have it all wrong. Stop cruising now before you are transformed into one of them. Our biggest fear now is becoming pinnacle. :rolleyes: It has taken all the fun out of cruising.

 

OK, actually it is more fun. The PC can be some of the most entertaining on board for various reasons. ;)

 

Gina

NO..NO. It must be fun being a Pinnacle from the ones I have seen. You have not paid

anything extra but now you a top-drawer freeloader. It is just NOT Fun for the suite

cruisers.

While these stats are interesting, RCL doesn't alter these numbers when the D+ or Pinnacle either passes on or is no longer cruising due to many reasons. There are many top tier who cruise the American markets, but if you go to the Asian markets, you see much fewer. It makes for interesting chatter though. There will come the day when RCL decides that it is time to change or eliminate the recognition program which will really destroy their passenger loyalty. I hope that never happens but for those of us who have cruised for many years and seen all of the take- backs that have happened along with the price creeps upward for the cruises it is a bit sad. Having said that, a cruise is still the best escape in the world and we love it.

I am ready for Royal to take-back some of the loyalty program largesse. I just wrote a

letter to Michael Bayley, President and CEO, advising that I refuse to book another suite

on Canavral based Oasis until I hear has done something about the Pinnacle problem. They

have over-run the suite venues. They are often possessive, loud and boisterous....making

the suite experience less than pleasant.

I wonder what the odds of being on a cruise with Pinnacle members would be. We were on a cruise last September with the famed "Super Mario". Oh, he was on Allure with us also. He cruises almost continuously. I'm certain he is a Pinnacle member.

On our November 27th cruise on Oasis, in one hour I counted 18 Pinnacles in the

Suites lounge. There are so many of them they take over the venues which are supposedly reserved for suites.

Good to know about the White Zin, I don't usually drink it. I do know the red house wine will peel paint!

 

We were stopped at the wine table on our Princess cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale last year. First time for that.

GEEZ! Forgot your passport on your last cruise! We did ,too. No way could we board the ship. Cruise line folks were nice about it....told us where to go to re-claim our luggage. Went to the directed location at 11:30 AM. It was a great location. At 4:30 PM, we had a great view of Freedom of the Seas sailing away with our bags. We agree...never again.

Uh-oh, I blew the protocol again! The preceding post was intended for Bill OH.

Congratulations for attaining your Diamond.

Hey, good to see you are still lurking in the forums. Have not seen any of your posts since

you got rid of that fractured diamond and completed the journey to the "promised Land"

What happens if you and your partner go through security at different times and each

has a carryon with two bottles of wine?

Super Mario was a recent news item in our little hometown newspaper here on the Treasure Coast of Florida.

Mario actually lives aboard RCCL cruise ships. He has a condo but seldom uses it. Aboard ship, he uses inside cabins but daily routine keeps him in the public areas most of the day. The article mentioned he has already booked 50 weeks on Freedom of the Seas starting with the move to Fort Lauderdale in November.

If I ever become a widower, I plan to be Super MarioII or something similar. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/editor/smilie.gif

If the loyalty programs continue to hold sway as they have done in the past few years, it may come to that. The Suite lounges installed on some of the ships will only be a temporary solution as the number of advanced loyalty members continues to grow. Overcrowding will continue to be a problem.

Because of peculiar circumstances, mentioned earlier in the thread, we are

suite people. Even if our guests are eligible for SL admission, we find it much

more enjoyable to entertain in our suite. I do not mind being the bartender for

the evening and, true, we do have to add some bar supplies in addition to

what we bring on board but the ambiance of in-suite entertaining is worth it.

In short, your scheme is a great idea but just a little premature.

HAPPY SAILING!

With all the changes discussed throughout this thread, we will not be surprised if dear old

Freedom of Seas gets a Suite Lounge. This could easily be done by converting the existing Diamond Lounge to Suites and Pinnacles only. The DL needs to be relocated and expanded to accommodate the ever increasing number of Ds D+s....Anyone have any inkling of changes for FOS?

After some reflection, I feel

I should apologize to John and Ray who expressed negative comments about my

description of suite life aboard Oasis of the Seas.

Suite life is not for everyone and the few perks provided are not worth the

additional cost of the eligible suites. Certainly, suites are not a requisite for

enjoyment of your cruise.

Addiction to the suite life is a very personal thing. In my case, I have recurrent prostate cancer with probably three years of additional life expectancy so I am going to enjoy the suites. I fly business class when it is available. I like the lounges at the airports. I stay on the Concierge or Club floors at hotels. I am leasing a penthouse on one of Florida's beautiful beaches. I bought a Cadillac which will last me the rest of days.....and I seriously considering resuming my enjoyment of Cuban cigars.

In short, it may be rubbish to you guys but I am going to enjoy it as long as

I have the wherewithal to do so.

This our farewell to this thread. It has been a pleasant experience and we have enjoyed reading your comments.

Happy cruising to all......even that "refined" gentlemen who said my post was rubbish.

We think it depends on the ship and its home port.

We recently completed two cruises on Oasis of the Seas sailing from Fort Lauderdale. Compared to most of our previous Royal cruises, this was like cruise heaven. We did our pre-dinner cocktails and night caps in the Suite

Lounge which was never crowded. There were two full fledged Concierges always available. The bar staff were great and remembered our favorites. Decor is modern with interesting after dark lighting effects.

We took all our meals in the Coastal Kitchen which is restricted to suite guests. Coastal Kitchen is actually an extension of the Suite Lounge so the bar service is continuous. The dining area is like an upscale restaurant and is well staffed. After our first dinner, we decided not to look any further and made a standing reservation.

The other suite perks were also enjoyable......reserved seating at the

theaters, visiting with the ships officers in the Suite Lounge and the little

goodies that turned up in our suite. Departure day was the fastest and easiest we have experienced. We were escorted off the ship by both

Concierges and our luggage was waiting at the entrance to Immigration.

On a large ship, this kind of service is golden.

The experience described above is vastly different from the cruises we took from Port Canaveral. Central Florida has a large population of retirees including a horde of Diamond+ and Pinnacles. They pretty much take over

the areas considered suite perks and has a tendency to de-value the suite

benefits due to the crowding of the facilities.

Hopefully, your $18,000 dollars is committed to a cruise on a ship that has

the type facilities we described above.

I am about to spend $18,000 USD on a cruise and actual wonder how much of the time of the concierge that should buy...

On the one hand I'm not too worried about changes due to being P but on the other hand we have lots of cruises coming up sailing with friends that are D+ and we love to hang with them in the CL. So now maybe the DL and crowding? Also, my brother just made D and we will be sailing with him on his first post D cruise so also a little concerned with any changes there. It does feel a little strange with him just turning D as he is the one who got us into cruising but he has spent time on many different cruise lines and we sort of focused.

Ps and D+s hanging out with friends in the Concierge Lounge all evening long is what

rankles the suite passengers. We loved Freedom of Seas but this was so bad we gave up and now use Oasis as our favorite cruise ship.......Suite Lounges are wonderful!

We felt sorry the FOS Concierge. He tried to find seats for everyone but the friends

visiting friends grabbed every empty chair and added it the clusters. We never did

determine when these people eat dinner, if they do. We saw people standing outside

the door to the lounge waiting for someone to leave....which was futile.

It sounds like RCCL is making some sene changes which are long over due.

Song we heard the choir do on our recent Dawn repo cruise was I will follow him. This was originally done by Little Peggy March. The song was also used in the first Sister Act movie with Whoppi Goldberg

Hey, thank you so much. I have the melody in my head, I may as well add the words.

The repo was a great cruise although we found some of common areas a little on the cool side, temperature-wise. That is sometimes a problem for some of us really old folks.

On a recent NCL Dawn cruise, I happen to be reading my book in an area where the choir practice was taking place. After the practice was over the music was still with me. Now days later, it is even more so. I had not paid attention to the lyrics and have no idea of the words that

go with the music but it was beautiful.

Can someone help me identify the song title and writer?

On a recent NCL Dawn cruise, I happen to be reading my book in the same area that choir practice was taking place. After the practice session was over I found the music was staying with me. I had not paid attention to the lyrics and have no idea of the song titles. Days later, the music is still in my head and it is beautiful!

Can someone help me determine the name of the piece and the writer?

My wife should have been a CPA. She will know how many drinks we had in the CL during the seven day cruise, what the going price is in the other bar venues and how much gratuity is added to the bar drinks. If automatic gratuity is 18 per cent at the other bars, that is what we give the CL bartenders on the last night of the cruise.

We have always been pleased with the services in the CL and we do not b feel the need to tip in advance or by the drink to try to get some sort of advantage over the other guests

Hey, thanks for your kind response!

for crying out loud, the op asked a simple question! Maybe op was in a suite and did use the cl and maybe it was crowded with diamonds and pinnacles...is that so far fetched?

 

Sent from my kfthwi using forums mobile app

Actually I was confused by the OP's question. Diamond C&A members have not been in the CL for the past 6 years or so. Perhaps the OP's last cruise was back then. I have to assume that the OP was in a suite if he/she had CL access.

 

OP - I can't answer your question about the lounge, but perhaps someone on board now or in the next weeks can get you some info. I would expect that all venues will be open by the end of August, if not sooner. Just for info - In our recent experiences on the Freedom, it seems the D lounge is more crowded than the CL.

 

 

enjoy

M

My error! Apparently the lapel pins I see in the Concierge Lounge are on Diamond Plus

members......not Diamonds.

There are no Diamonds in the CL and secondly the Pinnacles are few and far between. Thirdly my last half dozen cruises this year on various RCL ships there was basically a CL that was half full each and every night....:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I would guess you have not been on Freedom Of Seas in the last couple years.

Right. Since we are really old cruisers and figure each cruise might be our last, we have been splurging on the suites.....mostly on Freedom of the Seas. From the current posts,

I see I need to make a distinction between Diamond and Diamond Plus.

Yep......Atrium.....third building north fr5om Cumberland Milk Store.

Anyone have information pertaining to the re-opening of the Diamond Lounge

on Freedom of the Seas. The last thing I saw a photo of a sign advising

"Closed Until Further Notice". My Aug 30th cruise will be my first cruise as a

Diamond and I was hoping to get some relief from the crowded Concierge

Lounge which is frequently over-run with Diamonds and Pinnacles. Someone

suggested an alternate lounge for Diamonds might be available.