alexpress

On 2/17/2019 at 3:41 AM, MichaelinME said:

Got off the Freedom of the Seas a couple of weeks ago and the Diamond Plus cutbacks are so evident. Even including Pinnacles!!

Reserved seating for theater shows no longer exist, on Freedom of the Seas anyways. Studio B Ice skating shows are reserved seating for Suites only. 

No Diamond Plus or Pinnacle reserved seating like in the past, just last year we had this.  Royal seems to be catering to the Suite crowd and not there loyal repeat guests who frequent the ships. 

On another note, priority debarkation wasn't offered either, even though its still listed as a perk , along with reserved seating at shows was listed but gone. Priority tendering is gone also. In room Diamond Gift is now 3 cookies, LOL! 2 small bottles of water and 2 cans of soda or juice whichever is in your preferences.

Diamond/Diamond plus used to have a small section in the lido buffet, like chops or Giovanni's to sit in to bring your breakfast. Now that is only for Suite guests!

 

Its unbelievable how much Royal dilutes the membership in Crown and Anchor. No excuse for this.

More troubling is that I spoke to the Concierge lounge ambassador and he mentioned that there is talk to restrict Diamond members from the Diamond Lounges!! (overcrowding) 

As the ships go into drydock, the Concierge Lounges eventually will be Suite only lounges (renamed).  The Diamond Lounges will convert to Diamond Plus/Pinnacles only Lounge. Diamond members would no longer be admitted to the Diamond Lounge and will be able to only use there 3 Vouchers at any bar in the evening as there perk. This is ridiculous and unacceptable if its really going to happen.

 

What's with the drooling over Suite guests, that may only cruise once a year or two. All this catering to them, when Diamond/Diamond Plus and Pinnacles cruise much more often and keep there ships pretty full with repeaters.

 

Royal needs to stop this nonsense!! They are going to start alienating and losing the "bread and butter" cruisers on there ships in my opinion. 

What is the incentive to stay and generally pay more to cruise Royal? Just to get a few free drinks?!

 

Don't get me started about the other evident cutbacks in food quality and staffing, along with the barrage of nickel and diming. 

The selling of popcorn at the main theater shows is tacky also. $2.50 for a small bag and people chomping on this and spilling everywhere. No place to put your drinks, let alone eat popcorn! LMAOF

 

My 2 cents. 

We are Diamond + with 22 RCL cruises and are feeling pretty let down with quality of the "perks" these days.

Hi everybody. Just booked for this cruise. Only 17 weeks away.

Thanks but it had gone by the time i went t

 book.

Can anybody tell me about balcony 7724 on Oasis please.

I love the formal nights and have more than plenty evening gowns to bring...glad to hear that there will be two formal nights :)

 

Thank you for the help, it is sad the many people no longer enjoy "putting on the glitz". We wear casual clothing 95% of our lives, it's fun to dress up every so often.

Justy received a changed itinerary for Feb 4th.It's Martinique and not Dominica.

Glad you started this. I have not seen allot on jewel. I too had to change from adventure to jewel this coming Feb. Looking forward to reading comments. I like the smaller ships, so hoping not disappointed.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Was it your own choice to change ships? We are booked on Jewel for Feb 4th but as yet have not confirmed in the light of Irma. We have been on all the Radiance class ships since 2003 but we like each one for diffent reason.for different reasons. My favourite class of ship now is Voyager class and has been for a long time.

We are watching and waiting. We are booked on Jewel Feb 4th from San Juan for our 40th wedding anniversary. As we are from UK we are a tad wary about flights and hotels(yn)

I would choose Adventure just because of the size. It's our 40th wedding anniversary on Feb 4th and we had to book Jewel because Adventure was full. We've been on all Voyager class ships and all Radiance class ones. Any of them would be fine.

We did our first cruise in 2003 for our 25th wedding anniversary and cruised most years ever since at the same time usually Southern Caribbean. We are now booked on Jewel Of The Seas for our 40th anniversary on 4th Feb. Royal Caribbean has an embarkaton point away from the jetties but not sure if everything will be OK. We stay at the Intercontinental Hotel on Isla Verde near the airport and not heard about damage there but overall I think we will have to cancel because I don't half the cruise being sea days and that's the reason I probably won't ever go on anything bigger than a Voyager class ship.

I take it from your previous MSC sailings that you haven't experienced the Yacht Club yet. In that case, with all due respect, I don't think you really can have much of an inkling of what to expect. I've done YC on 3 previous occasions - what's being offered on Meraviglia surpasses them.

We have had butlers before on various other cruise lines and I'm sure I will have an idea of what to expect.

Beginning to get things ready for cruise on July 1st. We will be in Yacht Club De Luxe 16022. The ship looks gorgeous and the things people sre saying seems to corroborate that. This will be our fifth MSC cruise so we do have an inkling of what to expect. Really looking forward to it.

We've cruised from Marseille before, found it easier to go on the Eurostar and TGV, spending the day on the train rather than in airports :)

We fly from Leeds to Heathrow then Heathrow to Marseille which are 2 short flights but it takes nearly 6 hours to do it. Not too bad really when we live within sight of Leeds Bradford airport. A lot easier to get home. We've been to Marseille a few times on cruises but looking forward to three days there to see more and get a bit further.:cool:

We are joining Meraviglia from Marseille. Hell of a place to fly to from here. Barcelona's a lot easier to get home from. We only booked a couple of days ago and managed to get the last Yacht Club suite by a fluke apparently. We are staying In Marseille for two nights and then Barcelona for two nights. No need to rush at either end. This will be our fifth MSC cruise having been on Opera. Lirica and Orchestra twice. Not done the Yacht Club before but we are Diamond Plus with RCL so expecting something similar or maybe better.

Loved Radiance x have had a couple of boys so been off the ocean for a few years. This ship looks amazing, happy cruising and hoped you had a great anniversary

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Forums mobile app

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Forums mobile app

Hi. Just booked Meraviglia yesterday. Yacht Club Deluxe Suite on deck 16 from Marseille on July 1st

for 6 nights. Been on four other MSC cruises so looking forward to this one.

Our first cruise was on Radiance of the Seas in 2003 for our 25th wedding anniversary. We were hooked. The trip was down the Southern Caribbean islands from San Juan. Done it nearly every year since and already booked for next February. We are just looking at Cunard's Queen Victoria for a cruise in August.

Here is the template to use for a cabin review. Please review the definitions in Posting 1.

 

The data will be transcribed to a spreadsheet located at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iJDFCtotsFNUvSNFzZ3LXomW95WX7R0svO7JhGRBvpo/edit?usp=sharing,

 

One method of using using this template is to

 

• click on “Quote” at the bottom right of this page
  
• at the beginning of the text highlight and delete “

  ”
  

• at the end of the text highlight and delete “

Thank you for your help.

ShipMERALD PRINCESS

ClassGRAND

Deck CARIBE

Stateroom #C750

CategoryST KITTS SUITE

Port/Starboard/Bow/SternSTERN

Connects With Cabin #NO

AccessibleNO

QuietYES

Balcony SizeLARGE

ViewEXCELLENT BUT SLIGHT OBSTRUCTION

Privacy IssuesNONE

WindNO

SootNO

ProblemsNONE

Comments

We were on her in February. Nothing to complain about just great.

If you pick deck 10 you will be directly under the pool and buffet. You may or may not hear noise from this. Safer to be on deck 9 which is in between two decks of cabins.

 

The aft JS cabins have huge balconies and the cabin is very nice. I'd keep that one.

 

I also tried to book aft cabins in March for just 2 and they blocked me from doing that, but I was able to book the exact same cabins in December without a problem. I think they are only enforcing this rule during peak travel periods and March is a peak spring break month.

I just booked Liberty OTS 7708 aft corner cabin for 2 for may 25th. No problem.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1989282&highlight=category+changes

 

I guess it's not until the 2015 sailings, I thought it was all cruises that were booked after a certain date (in March?), (I think I am confusing it with the C&A and/or NCC changes, I'm new to RCCL and all these changes have my head spinning). Anyway, they are changing the categories and it looks like 2 people will not be able to book a room that sleeps 3/4, until much closer to the sailing date, giving the larger parties a chance for those cabins first. So, we will probably never experience 7408 or 7708 again, SO glad we already have it booked once more :)

 

A reason to REALLY enjoy it!

We are only 2

I like aft cabins. I've had them on Voyager, Serenade corner grand suite, Emerald Princess suite and Costa Atlantica corner. They are usually quiet because there should only be residents back there. It's very nice to sit and watch the wash and relax.

Watch those first cruises, they can become addictive. I won a cruise from my company in 1996. We have been on one or two a year since and will be on the Navigator mid May and mid October. As for packing, make a list of everything you take and then check everything you bring back clean. Those are items you can eliminate next time. We still overpack! Enjoy your trip!

I agree with the addiction. We did our first in 2003 for our 25th wedding anniversary on radiance OTS. I just booked our 25th cruise on Liberty OTS. No other holiday has yet come close.

I just booked 7708 on Liberty. I hope it's as good as everybody says:D