kongpup

 

After we passed under the Gold Gate Bridge, I had assumed it would be rather quick to clear local authorities and have the chance to get off the ship.

Hey, you found Ursula! She's in the hat facing camera (probably my shoulder on the left).

Upachaya Retreat in Roatan doesn't have a minimum. They offer kayak/snorkel or boat/snorkel trips. Not much for drinks, though - just local beer.

As this thread seems to be winding down, I'm going to close out by thanking everyone for their input and opinions. It would appear that we have 3 groups - those who are somewhat dissatisfied with the direction that RCI is headed with D+ benefits, those who believe that D+ members are whiners for complaining about the benefits that they've paid into for a long time, and those who love RCI unconditionally and could care less about the benefits. My closing 2 cents:

Several posts brought up the nightly cocktail events and how they pretty much trumped any other benefits. Agreed - the new policy is much better and for some it may be all that they're looking for in a cruise. That said, we have found similarly priced vacation options where complete beverage service (alcoholic & non) is included in the base price and available at all venues 24 hrs. a day, so I can't say that RCI is really going to any great lengths here. When we first started with RCI, C&A didn't exist and wouldn't for quite some time. Everybody received the same great service with welcome aboard niceties in their staterooms and outstanding meals in the MDR - you didn't need to pay extra for a special dining experience. These are the things that kept us coming back and the degradation of which I refer to as the "erosion" in the title of this post. Do we NEED little amenities such as welcome baskets, robes, & chocolate coated strawberries in order to enjoy our vacations? Of course not. These are just the small things that a good business provides to loyal customers to show that they are appreciated and to give them the feeling that they are being welcomed back. If it has come to the point where customers don't care about this, I'm sure that RCI and it's shareholders will consider that to be a good thing - it would even appear that they're counting on it.

We were told by the stateroom attendant and LA that Texas law prohibited wine in the staterooms (even though the mini bottles were there?!), and that our ordered bottles would arrive the following sea day. Didn't happen and were then told that the mini's were it. (apparently Texas rescinded the law for a day).

We have been on many cruises and it still happens to me. It is called "Mal de Debarquement Syndrome" and can easily be researched online. :)

Nice find, Karen. I looked it up and some of it fits nicely for me (fortunately not the most extreme symptoms). It seems to last for almost the same amount of days that I was on board.

The benefits flyer says "2 days of free internet or $59.50 off a package." I have no idea if you can split the days or not. :)

You can split the days - each day must be used as a continuous 24 hr. block.

It is a "full" bottle of wine not a "mini" bottle of wine. My only question is did you or did you not go online to C&A and actually choose your preference for your onboard gifts?:confused:

We did (as we always do). We ordered a nice bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel. Goes for about 8 bucks in our neck of the woods.

Then why did you get a "mini" bottle of wine and not a full size bottle???? :D

That's a very good question, my friend - the powers that be (concierge & LA) pretty much shrugged their shoulders and said that's the way it is now. Kind of the whole point of this post.

Please re-read my post, I think you misunderstood my point. The Concierge can be talked into giving you unlimited Internet for the entire cruise. First set-up an unlimited account, then go to the concierge and ask that all coupons be applied together. It should be enough to cover, it was for me on my last TA.

Thanks, Steve - we'll give it a shot next time.

I'm sometimes pretty amazed at the level of snobbery I see on these boards. We cruise for the fun, time with family and the time away from work. We're far too busy to worry about free drinks, vouchers, robes or even priority boarding. Really? Some of you people actually stress out over waiting in line like the rest of us riff-raff? Next you'll be asking for elevators reserved for D+ members.

 

I'm not usually one to reply to these posts (I'm definitely not D+), but I do see a lot of these posts where people are complaining about how they weren't indulged and made to feel special or elite during their cruise based on some loyalty program. Get over yourselves, loosen up a bit and have fun.

What a GREAT idea with the elevators! I'm putting that in our special D+ suggestion box next time!

Have to say that I rated C&A benefits highest on my survey. Between the coupons and our concierge, we felt valued as D+.

They were definitely the highlights of our cruise as well.

are fine and much better than competing lines...As far as the laundry issue, well check you seapass account everyday. If you waited till the last nite and didn't get the credit well that's on you, sorry. You had to 'ask" for your robes, how unfair!:rolleyes: You go online as a D+ and that's how you get your bottle of wine or whatever else you choice as your onboard gift. That is how it's done now. Sounds like you just weren't aware of how the perks work now, hopefully you will be up to speed for your next cruise.:)

Trail, thank you so much for your valued and informed opinion:rolleyes:. We've been doing this for a while and have a pretty good idea of how the system works, but - a mini bottle of cheap wine is still a mini bottle of cheap wine. Perhaps you didn't read the entire post (that can be such a bother!), but I did mention that these issues may sound trivial. The robes were but one issue of several. The point is that RCI supposedly goes to these lengths in order to make their high tier members feel welcomed back - I feel that they came up short on this particular cruise.

Internet usage is a new problem for everyone. I agree, using your time over the cruise was preferable to the present method. But you may be able to talk your concierge club ambassador to apply all 4 coupons to a full cruise plan.

Yes, you can apply all 4 coupons to your cruise plan. However, my business needs require me to check in for a couple of minutes each morning, so I need that availability every day. ATT has a cruise ship package that seems to be better priced than that offered by the ship, but I wasn't fully aware of the new RCI policy before leaving.

Yes.....benefits are changing. One that we really like is the addition of 3 vouchers on our Seapass to use for cocktails during CL hours at any bar.

I agree - it's a nice improvement and makes up for a lot of the trinket type things that are gone.

Just returned from a 7 nighter on the Navigator and would like to share a few observations and perhaps get some feedback. It'd been 1 1/2 years since our last trip - this being partly due to what we feel has become a less enjoyable vacation experience with RCI over time. I'm sure that many of you will consider these to be trivial peeves and in a way they are - however, once you've become accustomed to certain perks, their absence tends to become more conspicuous.

Peeves:

Port's priority embarkation line was longer than the regular lines (possibly due to guests heeding RCI's request for staggered check in times) - might as well get in the shorter ones.

There used to be a welcome aboard platter waiting in the stateroom with wine and assorted food items. Waiting for us this time was a small bag of cookies and miniature novelty bottle.

Other D+ perks (ie. robes) had to be asked for rather than provided.

Diamond breakfast area gone.

Internet use - 2 free days sounds good until you realize that they need to be used in 24 hr. blocks whether you need that much continuous time or not. After those 2 days, it's pay time. With the old coupon books (which were still in use on our previous trip), you were given 45 minutes which could be used bit by bit as needed until it was gone.

We would be charged each time for all the D+ perks used (ie. internet, washday) that had previously been covered by coupons. The codes are supposedly programmed into the Seapass card, but it didn't work for us. I needed to go to the Loyalty Ambassador each time to clear it up, with the final charge coming too late to deal with.

Platinum/ Diamond event gone.

1 complimentary Johnny Rockets visit gone.

Perks:

LA did a great job of fixing all these issues.

Much better variety of beverages in Diamond & Concierge lounges.

All said, it is my feeling that RCI's obsession with the bottom line has become much too obvious. We have found other vacation spots that offer all of these perks and then some to even first time guests, making this somewhat lame carrot that RCI dangles in front of their repeat customer's noses look rather pathetic. We're wondering what others feel about their D+ experience: perhaps this is unique to this ship - we'd never been on it before.