Stormy15

the concierge will lead you off as a group through private elevator and you will exit that elevator right where the gangplank is. if you are really lucky there will not be a very fierce wind and rain storm that morning. depending on how many people take advantage of this privilege, there could be many trips in the elevator to get everybody off.

Was this on Liberty? We got off yesterday and did not have to take the elevator. The concierge had us meet in the Schooner bar and took us all out a side door pretty close to where the cards are scanned to leave. We were pretty much able to go ahead of many people who were still in line from self assist. It was super easy.

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I detest buffets and will not set food in the Windjammer the entire cruise. Breakfast and lunch the rest of the cruise will be in Chops since we are in a suite, or the MDR. Since the cabins are not ready when boarding, we will have a nice lunch in Galveston before parking the car and we will head to the terminal around 2pm. The check in lines will be gone and we should be able to board right away and go straight to our cabin.

We just got off the Liberty this morning and breakfast and lunch for suite guests were actually in Giovani's instead of Chops. The food was very good.

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On Liberty now and my hubby forgot to pack his dress pants! For those who don't know, like us, you can rent black tuxedo pants for $35 for the entire week. Pretty good, I think! He has worn those for some of the nights but MTD told us they would not turn him away if he comes in his shorts. He did that yesterday without any problem.

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When did you sail?? Regular concierge might have been on vacation, but Diego has always emailed us a week prior when we have been in GS or OS.

 

 

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We had Diego in August 2013 and he did not email us prior to our sailing. He was great once we were onboard though. Did they start emailing after that time? We have received emails from 2 other concierges since then.

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Once we received an email a week before and the other time we did not hear from the concierge prior to sailing. Both concierges ended up being excellent on board.

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No...not talking about being in a designated group with a concierge at all not the same thing (I don't even think there were concierge's then)....My comment about the "Golden Ticket" was just a metaphor.....Sorry you misunderstood :)

Oh ok, sorry. I thought you were referring to the golden ticket as the gold card you get for being in a suite. [emoji4]

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Regardless...I think it's a bit rude...wait your turn inline just like everyone else. The only time we've gotten advance tender tickets (and that was years ago at a certain port)...I wasn't comfortable waving my "Golden Ticket" and asking everyone to step aside :rolleyes:

Did you go with the concierge? We didn't wave anything in front of others. We followed the concierge and she took us to where we were supposed to go. It is an actual benefit of being in a suite so I don't understand why it would be considered rude. We have been in suites sometimes and other rooms at other times. No big deal.

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Yes,we did. A couple nights the line was out the door we walked in showed the woman that was directing people to the waiters to be seated our gold card.we were seated immediately. One night she took us to our table herself. It's not written as a perk it's just something I learned from a passenger on one of our cruises.

This was our experience in a suite on Navigator as well. We were taken ahead of lines or if they saw our card they would send us right up to the podium by the door and we were seated almost immediately every time.

We begin our NAV Trans-Atlantic today and we have been told there will be close to 900 D, D+ and P traveling. The new restrictions to lounge access upsets many but it is perfectly logical from a crowd control standpoint. No one is going to embrace changes that removes benefits that were granted in the past but what other choice does Royal really have? Turn the entire main theater into a lounge every evening??????

What restrictions have you seen for lounge access on Navigator? Thanks!

Interesting, on our last few cruises I found the public areas, comfortable, not at all chilly. Not even in the night club did I see many women wearing thin cardigan sweaters. I had a light sweatshirt for the ice show when we went on Navigator a few months ago which was fine for that.

I personally was freezing on Navigator in August last year.

In Galveston this past August, the porter told us, and many others, to take our bags into the building and place them with tons of other bags. That was the first cruise that someone didn't actually take our bags from us. Very unusual but the bags made it to our cabin just fine.

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We found the same situation in the CL on the Voyager, Mariner and Navigator. Never could get a seat, and it was always the same lot there. They came at the start of the complimentary cocktails and stayed until the bitter end. We tried going early, or going late and it never made a difference. They just would not give up their seats for anyone. Found out that most of them were Pinnacles, many in inside cabins.

 

Really made DH mad since we paid the freight for the suites.

While we had the problem on Jewel we really didn't on Navigator out of Galveston. I think that was because we did Mytime dining. So our drop in times in the lounge may have been different. The P/D+, which were a pretty big group, were always in the right corner when we walked in but were friendly and seemed to say hi as people entered. They were not an intimidating group. That was not our experience on Jewel. Also the lounge was much smaller when we were on Jewel than Navigator.

I have never experienced lounge crowding in CL. I travelled in Suite Enchantment, Adventure, Indepdence and there has always been seats.

 

This thread keeps flip/floping so I am confused are Diamonds getting kicked out of all lounges and D+ get Diamond Lounge?

I have experienced lounge crowding in the concierge lounge. We were never able to get a seat when we were in a suite on Jewel. The same people were in them each time we went.

We were a bit late getting off on Navigator in Galveston last August. So, we walked off by ourselves without the concierge. As soon as a porter saw that our luggage tags said suite he took us to the front of the line and said priority, they have priority. He said some weeks there was a suite line and other weeks there wasn't but that suites/pinnacles still had priority. Does anyone know if this is still true in Galveston?

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My wife will be happy to hear about this. Self serve in the Windjammer huh?

 

 

 

She and one of our daughters will have the pop package, so this will be a very convenient way to get pop while hanging out on the pool deck.

 

 

 

Dan

Just so you know, on my Navigator cruise in August there were signs in front of those machines saying we couldn't serve ourselves and had to have a waiter do it for us.

Is the $50 per person or per couple?

It was for a couple but my hubby only met her once which I think was on about the 5th day. She actually called our room to check if he needed anything because she hadn't met him.

If it is a loyalty reward, I don't think they need to give guidelines on tipping. I suppose they could suggest it for suites, but what happens now with the genies? Do you still tip the concierge?

 

 

 

I do always tip the bar servers, but the amount I tip the concierge has varied, depending on how helpful/pleasant they were. Anywhere from zero to $75. Sometimes the concierge does things for you and chats and sometimes they are preoccupied with others most of the time. It is very variable.

 

 

 

I would guess that, on average, $50 for a week would be guideline-ish, if he was pleasant and helped you with a few problems.

Interesting that you would suggest $50 as a guideline. That is actually what we did but I read on another thread where people were suggesting minimum of $100. So, then I felt badly for the $50 I left the concierge on my last 2 cruises.

Great thread!! When DH and I were on a short 5 night NCL cruise we had an upsell to a penthouse. We loved our butler and gave him a great tip, but was horrified when talking to neighbors what they planned on tipping. Usually (not always) poor tipping happens because people aren't sure what's the proper amount to tip, AND because there's no real guidelines, some crew are under tipped. I was a waitress in my young adult years so I want to give the hardworking crew what they are due.

 

 

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I agree with this. I wish they would give guidelines for tipping concierge. I don't believe our cruise next neighbors tipped anything to either the concierge lounge bartenders or the concierge and seemed surprised that we were.

Your guess is as good as anyone's. They have bounced back and forth since the dry dock when the suite lounge was created.

 

 

 

Maybe you met me on your Navigator August cruise! I try to be helpful, friendly and not a D+ snob.;)

Maybe! We were on the August 23rd Navigator cruise and had Nadja as the concierge. [emoji4]

Onboard b2b Liberty now. Diamond plus did not get to go into suites lounge this past week, but have been told we can now go in tonight and next week.

 

 

 

Some weeks Diamond + are "allowed" entry to the new suite lounge, other weeks, they aren't. No rhyme or reason.

Do you think they are going to go back and forth with Diamond Plus or will they just stick with letting them in now? I have a suite for my next Liberty sailing but am not Diamond Plus or even Diamond yet. I enjoyed both the Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members we met in the lounge on our Navigator cruise in August. I didn't find the elitist attitude others have talked about but instead a wealth of knowledge.

Diamond

 

I have seen questions about access to the Suite Lounge and whether D+ has access or not. Well, I can say that unlike the Diamond Lounge, anyone can get into the Suites Lounge since there is no access control on the door. My 13 YO, who never met a door he didn’t try to open, verified this. Of course you would have to be able to bluff the concierge once you got inside that you belong there, but anyone can get in. From the time we peeked into the Suite lounge, it looked like a mirror image of the Diamond lounge on the opposite side of the deck.

From what I have read, Diamond Plus is no longer allowed in the Suite Lounge on Liberty. They just started restricting it to only Suites and Pinnacles this week.

They had formal night when we were docked late in Aruba but we enjoyed ourselves too much to go back on the ship early. Our tablemates told us lots of people had missed formal night that night. It was the 2nd formal night so it was lobster night.

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Purchase a SUITE, then you get to go to the CL...problem solved!

Not necessarily! We have cruised in suites where we can not get a seat in the lounge before.

Personally, I think kids should become their own level with whatever they have personally cruised once they turn 18. Being diamond as an adult but only having maybe been on one cruise or so doesn't make sense to me.

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