TeeRick

There seems to be an unnamed loyalty level at 340 pts.  Between D+ and P.  They had an invited event on our cruise a few weeks ago for D+ members, but it was for 340 pts and above.  I can see that in the future being an entry requirement for the Crown Lounge perhaps.  Why not just name this level something else like D+340 or P-WannaB?😁

I seem to recall that Celebrity Edge had a sewage order on its first few sailings in the shops area of all places.  But they figured it out and fixed it.

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

Are you sure about this? Just asking because we were on the same cruise and the letter from the Crown Lounge concierge didn't say anything about Ds not being allowed in. We didn't actually go so I don't know if we would have been turned away at the door or not.

We got a letter left in our room inviting us as D+ but I don't honestly remember any more of it.  Nobody was at the Crown Lounge door checking.  Just card access.  I think I recall a sign on the first night saying D+ and P only.  My memory on this hazy.  With our 5 drink coupons apiece, we didn't bother with the dark and crowded Crown Lounge when we had better options almost anywhere else on the ship.

A library?  What's that?😀

Just looked at my Sea Pass card from our Symphony cruise a few weeks ago.  It says Diamond Plus on it.  When going into the Crown Lounge there was card reader access to open the door.

14 hours ago, SEA DOGY said:

Full suite ? dos it means there is half ? Partial suites ?

Kinda confuse TIA 

 

Royal Suite Class has three levels (Sea, Sky and Star) on the larger ships (Oasis-, Quantum- and Icon-Class).  Many people refer to Sky and Star Class levels as full suites. Sea Class is Junior Suites with fewer benefits.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-rooms/royal-suite-class

If sailing a suite on an older/smaller Royal ship, you come under the Royal Caribbean Suites Program.  Again, a Junior suite has fewer benefits.  On these ships, there is no Coastal Kitchen suite restaurant.

https://highseascruising.com/royal-caribbean-suite-perks/

14 hours ago, Orange jeep said:

I thought I read that “Diamond” access to Crown Lounge during happy hour is ship by ship as to access for “Diamond” status.

 

is there a way to see on app if I’m sailing on Symphony of Seas on 3/23/24…or will I see a letter when I get to cabin regarding this.

 

Wondering if anyone sailing on this ship in last month and would know.

 

Thanks

We did Symphony Feb 10 cruise.  The Crown Lounge was D+ and P.

27 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Not "leaving"  like @Jam0610 but cutting cruises with Royal to two a year. So far I have been able to get good price points on those cruises but future cruises on the newer ships are not going to happen. I think my cruises will fade as they retire the older smaller ships that I enjoy.

 

I know there are many cruisers who adore the newer ships but that style is most probably a one and done for me just to say I tried it.

 

I am exploring other travel experiences with the monies I do not spend on additional cruises.

Yes we have gone down significantly in our number of cruises - but still do once a year on Royal or Celebrity.  But we go all in on that one cruise and really enjoy it!

Ahh the Duck Hunt is interesting.  I did not know much about it until we found several hiding on our Symphony cruise a few weeks ago.  A nice kid in the elevator explained it to me.  A source of fun for a number of cruisers.  It used to be find a dollar in a book in the library.  But most have been eliminated!

16 hours ago, kruzerci said:

Exactly how I felt last week on Allure. We hadn’t been back on Royal in over a year (after 2-5 cruises per year since 2000) and decided to give it another go after a couple disappointing cruises. It was in poor condition, the crowd was appalling, food and service blah. 
 

We have started doing upscale resorts (Baha Mar last month, JW resort in November) instead of cruises and when we cruise stick to the upscale lines, which are now more the experience Royal used to offer. 

Sounds like you are done with Royal.  

We too have mixed in a number of land-based vacations in addition to cruising- which we have reduced since the pandemic and the resulting prices and service reductions.  This has been a pleasant change for us.  In addition to resorts/hotels, we rent a beach house for a month now -  cheaper than 1 week in a suite on Royal and Celebrity.

@IAMGPW with all due respect - the newer of the RCCL ships have been built as floating amusement parks and you should expect them to be full of kids and families.  In my experience Celebrity has far fewer kids if you want a quieter ship.  

4 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Don’t need to go to happy hour to use them. They are there other hours than just happy hour. 

Yes.  I did not mean to imply that the concierge was available only in HH.  But he/she is definitely there during these hours.

We went to the Crown Lounge on Symphony a couple of weeks ago.  Once, briefly.  It was windowless / dark.  There are so many better choices to use our 5 drink coupons on this ship at least.  Yes the old days of free drinks for 3 hours in a Diamond Lounge are gone for D, D+ and P.

Other than drinking, I recognize three attractive things about the Crown Lounge during HH.

1) Decent hot and cold appetizers.

2) The chance to connect with other experienced RCCL loyalty cruisers to swap stories.

3) Dedicated concierge 

22 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Years ago we spread our RCCL wings on a Carni Ecstacy cruise which was glaringly horrid, filthy ship, terrible service and swore off them for good.  That's never happened on Royal.  But we just booked a Voyager B2B with Carnival Jubilee in a couple weeks and I'm honestly excited about giving them another try.  This newest ship is eerily similar to Icon.  Luckily I'm not a very picky cruiser, just happy to be at sea again.

Have fun and please come back here and report.  Thanks!

There are negative threads like this for every cruise line here on CC.  If everything is this bad, why are there record bookings announced for the RCG cruise lines like RCCL and Celebrity?  and other cruise lines too?  Must be something right going on.  People are focused on prices vs a few years ago.  Hyper-Inflation kicked all of us in the butt in every area of our lives.  Including vacations.  

Anyway- just recently back from a cruise on Symphony.  It was honestly wonderful.

Just off Symphony.  Dined in CK 5 nights.  Most men wore casual long pants and a nice shirt.  I actually do not recall shorts and/or tees at dinner.  Just to "fit in" if that is important at all, no shorts would be my recommendation, even if RCCL does not enforce any dress code.  BTW, almost nobody dressed up for the two Formal Nights in CK. 

17 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Exactly...and I have been a senior for years; however, both of us love a calming energy, but not so much that everything is slow-moving without a sophisticated vibe.  Our Caribbean cruise was exactly this, but now we are sticking with Europe/AUS/NZ...we just had no idea, as hadn’t cruised the Caribbean in decades, but now we know and have learned our lesson the hard way.  A good friend of mine felt the exact same way, but I didn’t listen very carefully.  I loved Beyond, so that’s why we booked...wrong!  I need more than just the ship experience!  Europe is not for everyone, but it is for us...we also cruised Royal in the beginning too, having so much fun!

We really enjoyed the entertainment on Royal too.  On an O-Class ship like Symphony the entertainment, bar and dining options are exceptional.  That is why we like Royal in the Caribbean.  For longer destination/ itinerary-focused cruises we do Celebrity, but really looking now at Silversea. 

Hi @WrittenOnYourHeart nice to hear about your Anthem cruise.  Mrs. TeeRick and I also jumped to the dark side and went over to RCCL second week of February on Symphony, an even larger ship (5500 passengers) than Anthem.  We have also been on Anthem a few years ago.  I think Anthem has a number of features shared with Edge-Class.  What do you think?

Our Symphony cruise (in a Crown Loft suite) was really very enjoyable with great service and food (Coastal Kitchen- like Luminae).  We booked another RCCL cruise on Indy next year (Canary Islands) in a Grand Suite.  As we are D+ on RCCL we get pretty much free drinks (5 per day each) in addition to the ones included in the Suite Lounge.  So a good deal for us anyway.  All in, less expensive than Sky Suites on Celebrity.  We also are looking to do Beyond or Ascent soon on Celebrity.  Back and forth between the lines works for us.  There are some very nice folks on the RCCL board here on CC too.

12 hours ago, JP350 said:

Flight on Symphony hands down. Loved the show and the history. (I am biased through because I'm a pilot 😉) I know this is unpopular, but I didn't like Mamma Mia or Cats all that much. Hairspray was good through and the shows on the other ships have always been solid, but other than UP in the Air nothing has stood out. 

We also really enjoyed the ice show on Symphony called 1977.

A few years back we really enjoyed Chicago - forget which ship.  A few weeks ago on Symphony we saw Hairspray and it was mediocre IMO.  Dragged on in spots and was overall too long.

Ship - Symphony of the Seas

Sail Date - Feb 10, 2024 (8 nights)

Ports-  FLL, Aruba, Curacao, Labadee, FLL

Deck - 17

Stateroom # - 1714

Stateroom Category – SKY Class - Crown Loft Suite

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? Yes- very quiet.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No.

Balcony View - Excellent.  No obstructions.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? -  Normal CL Balcony size

Was wind a problem? -  No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? -  N/A 

Any specific problems with this cabin? -  First Floor bathroom - shower leaked a bit

Any other comments? -  The 17th Floor CL Suites are excellent overall.  Great access to Coastal Kitchen, the Suite Lounge, Concierges, etc.    Almost a private little quiet enclave on this enormous ship.  Service was excellent.

8 minutes ago, CHolliwood said:

 

Hi TeeRick, did you ask for your D+ drink when ordering?  Curious on if they automatically look for it, or do you have to specify.  Thanks!

I did notify them at times but it was always on my Seapass card and I never got charged.  If perhaps that happened (it didn't) I think Guest Services would remove it.  They only time to notify the bar staff is to tell them which Seapass card to charge if you and your spouse (cabin mate) have different amounts of coupons later that day and you want to use one account vs the other.  It is all pretty easy and seamless!

4 hours ago, George C said:

As long as X customers continue to pay 4 to 5k for a sky suite I doubt that they will come down . I think many cruisers will pick MSc yacht club over celebrity suites many will stay with X.

Sky suites on X are getting their butlers back soon.

8 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Assuming you mean C&A, tier level has no impact on boarding time or process unless you're Pinnacle.

Or you will get check-in any time if you have a suite.  Or earlier check-in if you buy The Key program.

On 2/21/2024 at 11:52 AM, OCSC Mike said:

Not sure what this has to do with the discussion of Wonder dining suddenly appearing sold out for multiple cruises. People with Wonder cruises booked for the next 8 months didn’t coincidentally book a ton of dinners in the past 24 hours. It’s clearly something unique going on.

Yes agree.  I was just adding a comment to the discussion (in case it was useful to some) that people could also book onboard the ship if necessary.