CAS Changes

[PH8]

This one was a popular one huh? :p Seems to have taken the place of a 14 Nighter I took about a decade later.... One credit? Should have been 2 for the number of nights, right? Good thing I still have the original manifest from that sailing....

 

Guest Name Date Of Departure Ship Name Itinerary/Comments Credit Value

KENNETH ROBERTS 05-Nov-1970 1

wonder what the significance of Nov 5,1970 is.........I was still in high school then.....sure wasnt cruising..

[rubrrick]

wonder what the significance of Nov 5,1970 is.........I was still in high school then.....sure wasnt cruising..

 

And, on that date, I owned the Piper Dealership in Hawaii. Those were fun days.........and taught me a great way to go broke........in a hurry.....but that was later.........like 1980!

 

Kathy..........you look younger than you claim to be.

 

Of course.........it does not hurt to hang around a few of us "old farts" that makes you look like the "Queen of the Ball"!:);)

 

Rick

[bilyclub]

I've got a 05-Nov-1970 too... must be the date for lost credits.

[cruisin4kicks]

Can't believe I actually started at the beginning and read every one of these posts. This also made me go back and count how many cruise days we have accumulated. Below is our totals...

 

Cruise Credits - 42

Cruise Days - 201

Suite Days - 48

Total Cruise & Suite Days - 249

 

I've come to the conclusion based on a bunch of other posts on this thread that we are pretty low on the D+ food chain. Have no idea what's going to happen or when, but it really was an interesting read.

 

On another topic, hope everybody's holidays are happy ones.

 

Tim

[Host Kewlguy]

Why would it be worthless? Haven't you ever been in the Diamond Lounges on the Freedom Class and the Oasis/Allure? They are lovely and spacious lounges and we have had hot appetizers and drinks of all kinds. They are every bit as nice as any CL I have ever been in when cruising in a Suite.

 

It looks like the plan is to equip some of the older ships with Diamond lounges. They are not doing that just because of the Diamonds, my guess is because they want to make the D+ less unhappy with the new change. But again, I KNOW nothing, this is just an educated guess.

The Diamond Lounges may be more attractive than the majority of the Concierge Lounges but at least in the Concierge Lounge I'm assured of finding a place to sit. This is usually not the case in the overcrowded Diamond Lounge.

[HERnME2]

My estimate had been 50 to 100, Karen, so I'm in the right ballpark!

 

But if you spread that over the fleet and over the year, it will still be rare to find a Pinnacle passenger on your cruise. It's not really going to affect anyone or anything.

 

 

This is exactly what I was saying,,,, I would hope those of you eligible would be treated to fantastic perks,, You certainty are deserving.. But again I don't think we would find you in great numbers to often..Surly not enough to take over the CL on any given cruise.:p Anyway I do think the gap between D+ and Pinnacle is to large ,,,, Most of us could never even think/dream about it..:)

[LBcruzman]

That's too easy JC. I still can't wait to hear all of the foot stomping and shouts of people stating that they're leaving RCI for good over the changes if and when they do happen. It will be fun to watch.

 

Have fun on your upcoming cruise. Sounds like a good one.

 

I think you will be underwhelmed and not entertained. The changes won't be that significant and for those that it is, it will be because they earned their former credits on short cruises. Not too much to argue about and not too many who will come to their defense.

 

Hope you get your JOLLY'S in some other way. HOHOHO!!!!

[Albert Ross]

This one was a popular one huh? :p Seems to have taken the place of a 14 Nighter I took about a decade later.... One credit? Should have been 2 for the number of nights, right? Good thing I still have the original manifest from that sailing....

 

Guest Name Date Of Departure Ship Name Itinerary/Comments Credit Value

KENNETH ROBERTS 05-Nov-1970 1

I think you'll find that the double credits for cruises over 12nights and double credits for JS and above weren't introduced until 2003/4. So this is right that you only have 1 credit.

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

Apart from changing credits to days and overhauling the tiers and associated benefits, there is one change that very few people seem to be mentioning.

 

I was told by the concierge on our last two cruises (very recent) that the Diamond+ guests will no longer be allowed in the Concierge Lounge as of mid-January 2011.

 

Whether or not they will be given another venue to go to was not the topic of our discussion, but rather that the CL was going to be only for Suite Guests and, from what I now gather, the new top tier Pinnacle level.

 

I am not going to judge whether or not this is fair to the Diamond+ cruisers. What I did notice on our last cruise was that the Concierge Lounge filled up with Diamond+ passengers at 4:30 p.m. waiting for "happy three and a half hours" to start at 5:00 p.m. They stayed in their seats until 8:30 p.m. drinking and socializing, thus making it extremely difficult for other guests to even stop in the lounge for one drink before or after dinner.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[Bruin Steve]

I've got a 05-Nov-1970 too... must be the date for lost credits.

 

I've got TWO credits for that date...

I have always attriobuted that to a couple of Viking Serenade cruises they're missing from a bit later on...

 

I think the significance of that date is this...from Wikipedia:

 

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was founded in 1968 by Anders Wilhelmsen & Company, I.M. Skaugen & Company, and Gotaas Larsen, Norwegian shipping companies. The newly created line put its first ship, the Song of Norway, into service two years later.

 

So, it appears that may be the date of the FIRST Royal Caribbean cruise (which, of course, most of us weren't really on)...

 

I think they know we all cruised with them SOMETIME...they likely have records of us "joining" Crown & Anchor or maybe just being added to their mailing list...but, in those days, they may have had no reason to track credits...So, they arbitrartily just added it into the database that we were "on" that November 5, 1970 cruise...

 

Of course MY recordkeeping is just as bad as theirs...if not worse...

I have no way of proving what cruises I was on back in the 80s or 90s...In fact, I don't even remember when, what or how many cruises I went on in those days...That's why, in my signature line here on cruise critic I add the line "...others I've likely forgotten"...

 

I think the accounting here for many of us is so arbitrary that any change in system will be a major accounting headache...Realize that for some, they will need to go back and reconstruct day by day cruise history for 40 years!

 

Personally, I think changing from cruise credits to "nights" isn't worth the headaches...

Any system is arbitrary...as all cruises aren't "equal", neither are all "nights"...I've got cruise "nights" I've paid next to nothing for--last minute specials on off-season sailings on older hard-to-fill ships...and other cruises where those nights were very costly--brand new Mega-ships in their maiden season during the "high" travel season or cruises taken over the New Year's holiday...

 

I really don't think there's any material purpose served in getting that precise...

 

Just thinking, if they really wanted to change the system to "nights", they could also have just arbitrarily converted ALL current points into 7 "new credits" each, then gone to a one night per credit system here on out...certainly would have made things easier in the long run...Say, for example's sake, you had 20 current "points", that would convert to 140 "new points", putting you 35 points away from Diamond Plus...and, from here on out, you would earn those next 35 new points at a rate of one point per one cruise night...

 

I think, otherwise, they will soon learn how many people they have credited with that unknown length November 5, 1970 cruise...

[twocc's]

We agree there is too much of a gap between D+ and Pinnacle in this idea. There needs to be a few levels in between the two levels to encourage people to strive for higher levels. That would probably make people in the 300, 400, 500, etc. levels happier.

 

Charles and Connie

[marci22]

We agree there is too much of a gap between D+ and Pinnacle in this idea. There needs to be a few levels in between the two levels to encourage people to strive for higher levels. That would probably make people in the 300' date=' 400, 500, etc. levels happier.

[/quote']

 

They don't need a new level in between: a Pinnacle would be a certain type of cruiser. They are not cruising to get to the next level, whatever it is.

[mommabean]

They don't need a new level in between: a Pinnacle would be a certain type of cruiser. They are not cruising to get to the next level, whatever it is.

 

You are right. There's not a whole lot of difference between 24 cruise credits needed now for D+ and 100 cruise credits needed now for the free cruise. They have just given it a name.

 

Only 700 days at sea is probably a more appropriate number than 750 assuming the average cruise length is 7 days. To count this way is probably better so that people aren't getting a free cruise based on doing 3 and 4 day cruises.

 

Of course we are still clueless as to if any of these alleged changes are going to take place as predicted.

 

Gina

[mommabean]

The Diamond Lounges may be more attractive than the majority of the Concierge Lounges but at least in the Concierge Lounge I'm assured of finding a place to sit. This is usually not the case in the overcrowded Diamond Lounge.

 

The only time I was on a ship with both this was exactly the case. Allowing the D+ into the CL actually relieved the overcrowding in the DL. Only before early dinner seating were both lounges filled completely. After early dinner the CL cleared out.

 

Gina

[beachbuddy]

The Diamond Lounges may be more attractive than the majority of the Concierge Lounges but at least in the Concierge Lounge I'm assured of finding a place to sit. This is usually not the case in the overcrowded Diamond Lounge.

 

Tony, I think the overflow rooms (when they had them) had more people going there than the CL because the CL is so closed in on most ships (if I remember right, Radiance Class CL's had windows, however, the room itself is very tiny). Even when we could use the CL, we chose not to because it's to small, no windows and we found the overflow areas to be more open and welcoming and lots of winows. We have yet to be in an overflow area that was over crowded and I know you and some of my friends were on a cruise that was outrageously overcrowded, but I think that's because the "C" did not control the crowd and it was overrun by people that didn't belong there.

 

I still think that RCCL has just used that over crowding excuse to exclude us Diamonds and strip us of the benefit. As a matter of fact, the Diamond Event that we went to was pretty much empty every night and all it did was separate us Diamonds from our Diamond+friends - it certainly takes the pleasure out of cruising with a group of friends when you can't hang out together before dinner and have a drink together. Now that they are going to change the numbers to reach the next level, it would take us forever to reach that amount of sea days whereas others have met them with way less days. When they changed the rules to take access away from Diamonds, they didn't grandfather any of us. I think present Diamonds should of been grandfathered when they changed those rules, but I honestly think if they want to cut down they need to strip members of people's familys that have a D or D+ level and have only cruised a few times. Why should they get access to something they don't deserve and I can't get access because RCCL messed up when they started giving out all those levels. The only time I used to go into the CL was in the afternoon to grab a cappacino. Tony went in the morning to fill our coffee mugs but honestly, we didn't even like the coffee so he threw it out and filled our mugs at the Promenade Cafe which in my opinion had the best coffee on the whole ship.

 

Our next cruise is on Celebrity and we're considered Elite on their ships and will be able to hang out with our D+ friends who are also cruising on Celebrity with us.

 

Will this stop us from cruising on RCCL? No........not at all, but what they did does leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Just think how you would feel if or when they decide to leave D+'s at their level but strip them of the CL. I hope they don't for my friends sake but they did it to us and I wouldn't put it past them to do it you guys too and leave the CL to suites and pinnacle level (some of my friends may be pinnacle level already so it won't affect them).

 

Hope you and your family had a great Christmas! Get ready for the snow storm on it's way! YUK!!

 

Patty

[FLACRUISER99]

So.... how was that cruise that many of us took on 05-Nov 1970? :rolleyes::D I don't seem to recall it...but I do have one listed in my history. I guessed it was for a Viking Serenade cruise, which is missing. So I didn't even include it in my counting. :)

 

Your calculations are spot on Ellen! Adding up our nights and dividing by 7 gives us the exact same number of credits that we presently have. And that includes a mix of longer, and some 7 nights, and a couple of short ones. :)

 

Fun to talk about, but it's one of those things that we have no real control over. And we will be fine under either system. :)

I have one listed 06-Dec-2006 that is also for a missing Song of Norway Cruise I think!

[Debde]

The Diamond Lounges may be more attractive than the majority of the Concierge Lounges but at least in the Concierge Lounge I'm assured of finding a place to sit. This is usually not the case in the overcrowded Diamond Lounge.

 

Only been on a few cruises with CL access and never found a seat. Being assured of finding aseat in the CL seems a little-well, misleading comment.:confused:. No-I'm wrong-in the AM and afternoon-absolutly!!!;)

Leaned on the concierge's desk last trip. They had to open up the yacht club area for overflow-[i think that's what they call it]. Overflow means crowded. Never set foot in a D lounge but everyone says they are crowded. Besides-most will probably say its not crowded in hopes Royal reads this and actually believes them!!:p

 

Personally-I'd love for them to do away with most 'lounge' offered places to drink and possibly-drink coupons or able to purchase liquor and deliver to your stateroom option.

[Karter]

Since many times the lounges are overcrowded why not make the CL for suite and pinnacle guests, the diamond lounge for D+, and have a diamond event for the diamonds like they do on ships without a lounge? This would solve the overcrowding and make D+ special again.

[xpcdoojk]

Well if nothing else this board has sparked lots of interest.

 

If I were to look for a flaw in what’s proposed it would be in the separation between D+ and Pinnacle.. Pinnacle would be unattainable to most, But maybe that’s the plan. The number of pinnacle would be so small when spread over the rcl fleet that I would think most cruise’s you would never have even one on board.. So how would that be a factor in who would be allowed in the CL..

 

I am one that does not cruise rcl for what they can do for me. I cruise because they are my line of choice, When first we started with them we had no idea of C&A but just liked the in-between. Lines like Carnival or Seaborne are to extreme for us,, One is to young and the other to old, The people..

 

Some are saying they will jump ship.????? I really don’t understand that thought, but I will respect it..

We also cruise other lines like Celebrity and Princess when the itinerary dictates..

 

We just love to cruise and will continue no matter what the perks..

 

Looking forward to meeting many of you on future cruises.

 

Hi Larry and Cheri, saw you posting, and had to say hey! I am off to New Zealand Again, Wednesday, no kite dragging this time. :D

 

jc

[ckrobyn]

I was on the Freedom last month staying in a GS (and I am also D+).

 

We found a seat with no problem every night in the CL. I was shocked to find out that I was one of only 33 Diamond Plus members onboard :eek: I don't know, but I thought that was a pretty low number considering there were almost 4000 passengers on that sailing.

 

Like everyone else, I have worked hard to get to D+ and I would be pretty miffed if they took my CL priviledges away :mad:

[wg6530]

Since many times the lounges are overcrowded why not make the CL for suite and pinnacle guests, the diamond lounge for D+, and have a diamond event for the diamonds like they do on ships without a lounge? This would solve the overcrowding and make D+ special again.

 

Please tell me you are just joking. that idea would take a lounge away for the diamonds, again. Granted, the diamond lounge is only present on newer ships but D could select those ships if a lounge is important. D's are a larger group than D+ and many D are still smarting from the loss of CL. And the Diamond lounge is actually named for the Diamonds. If you are serious, your suggestion would create many hard feelings and would, therefore, undermine the concept of a loyalty program. If your suggestion was tongue in cheek, it is kinda funny.

Some sailings have relatively few D or D+ cruisers (like my two recent Splendour of the Seas cruises), so it doesn't much matter where they put people.

some sailings will have a large number of D and D+ cruisers. It seems to me Royal should try to make these cruises special. Instead of an "overflow" room that sounds second class, they should have a wonderful competing nightly event many people would want to attend whether D or D+. Maybe theme nights in a nice lounge ( I am not as creative as RCI event planners, but something like Sangria and tapas, margaritas and Mexican snacks, nicer beers with tailgate fare, sparkling wines with terrific entertainment). whatever goes over well without too much labor.

[mommabean]

I was on the Freedom last month staying in a GS (and I am also D+).

 

We found a seat with no problem every night in the CL. I was shocked to find out that I was one of only 33 Diamond Plus members onboard :eek: I don't know, but I thought that was a pretty low number considering there were almost 4000 passengers on that sailing.

 

Like everyone else, I have worked hard to get to D+ and I would be pretty miffed if they took my CL priviledges away :mad:

 

The occasional suite guest likes to repeat over and over that the CL is always crowded in hopes that Royal reads this and believes them. :p

 

The reality is that Royal doesn't need to read these threads to know. They have the actual numbers. And the numbers of D+ guests are more often low than not. I've been on a ship 25% of the past year and this has been my experience.

 

I don't believe they have a need to remove CL access from D+, they just need to slow down how people get there and making it a days at sea count will do just that.

 

Gina

[booze brothers]

Giving out coupons will never work. People would be passing them around, some will find a way to beat the system if possible.

 

Being D+, I have to admit, I'm spoiled. I love the concierge but would be happy having D and D+ in the same lounge together as long as they didn't JUST serve Laturd. LOL

 

I try to book my cabin close to the concierge. Love the short walk to get our coffee in the morning and drinks in the evening.

 

Will be anxious to see how you compare X to RCL Patty.

[PH8]

You are right. There's not a whole lot of difference between 24 cruise credits needed now for D+ and 100 cruise credits needed now for the free cruise. They have just given it a name.

 

Only 700 days at sea is probably a more appropriate number than 750 assuming the average cruise length is 7 days. To count this way is probably better so that people aren't getting a free cruise based on doing 3 and 4 day cruises.

 

Of course we are still clueless as to if any of these alleged changes are going to take place as predicted.

 

Gina

The thing is many of the 100+ cruisers did indeed get that far with short cruises........I don't understand why they will automatically get to be Pinnacle?? Right off the bat,there will be over 100 Pinnacle cruisers......some with 750 or more,yet some will have considerably less.:confused:

[booze brothers]

Gunther, You had a bad experience with people taking advantage of the concierge. Believe me, it's not always like that. I know we have discussed this before.

 

There will always be people abusing the system, that's what got us in trouble in the first place.

 

I don't really care how long someone sits and drinks in the concierge but you are right, others should be able to have seats when they visit. I like the idea of having extra chairs in the lounge. Now you can pull up a chair and join your friends.

 

mimi