Suite Guests....Oasis..... Heads Up...Royal in the wrong direction

[Bakincakes]

So does RCI assume that all suite guests will be attending every show every time the show is offered?

 

Do they block off enough seats for all suite guests for every performance? Or do suite guests have to tell RCI which shows they are attending?

 

We've always made reservations for the shows we want to see. I have no idea if suite guests can just show up and be seated without letting someone know they are attending a show.

 

Unless RCI reserves the same amount of seats as there are suite guests and more suite guests show up than was anticipated then someone who is not staying in a suite won't have access to the show.

[Debde]

Busted!!!!! LOL-good detective work!!!:)

 

and again-all that are down on the suite guests here-wait until the loyalty program changes again. Saddle up for a real good ride there................:D

[praline3001]

What you have posted says that there are reserved seats for suite guests. That is still true. Where does it say that once those seats are gone that suite guests get first crack at all of the other seats too? I have no big fight in this battle. I am just trying to understand where it is that something was promised that is now not being delivered on. I have read the area on RCI's website that you provided a link to. I'm just not seeing this connection.

 

Here is the quote that fueled this debate:

 

Reserved prime seating in the main theater for entertainment shows

 

When you book a suite you aren't supposed to have to book your shows as well. In all other places where there is Concierge that is the case. If your in NYC they book you into any Broadway plays you want to see or dine at the best places. At Disney World, The Grand Floridian concierge staff will get you seating anywhere and time you want. If you think reserving for this little show is bad ... trying reserving stuff for a week at Disney HA HA...anyone who has done it knows what I am talking about :p

The Grand Floridian staff also reserves you a VIP spot for fireworks and shows. Its one of the huge selling points to paying the extra money.

 

Here is the wiki on what is considered concierge services in general:

 

In hotels, a concierge assists guests with various tasks like making restaurant reservations, arranging for spa services, recommending night life hot spots, booking transportation (limousines, airplanes, boats, etc.), procurement of tickets to special events and assisting with various travel arrangements and tours of local attractions. In upscale establishments, a concierge is often expected to "achieve the impossible", dealing with any request a guest may have, no matter how strange, relying on an extensive list of contacts with local merchants and service providers.

 

As you can see the RC concierge staff is mild compared to some resorts and upper scale hotels. When a person (who is familiar with concierge) books a concierge room they do so for those perks... not just the room. It makes your entire vacation easier and less stress to have someone else do all the work for you HA HA

if the concierge staff is promising (as a selling point) reserved VIP seating then they need to deliver it. Either that or take it off the menu LOL

 

Honestly, the RC concierge doesn't do a 1/4 of what most other places have their concierge staff do. Since the start of concierge services, those guest have always taken a priority to those who have regular rooms.

Debating THAT would be a world peace type of debate.

 

In other places it is nothing to see an hour long wait at a restaurant and have a family walk up to the hostess and are ushered right in (without reservations) leaving the rest of the people waiting longer. Is it right? That can be debated either way but its a global thing and not an RC thing.

[akcruz]

Let me try this a slightly different way. I think most of us are truly saying the same things, just the blinders are on due to a few choice words be bantied (sp??) about.

 

I agree that if you book a suite you should have some additional perks that go along with that. If Royal tells you that a specific perk is included when you book your cruise you should receive that perk when you sail. If for some reason that perk is taken away they better tell you so you can ajust if desired or they should compensate for that now missing perk.

 

There must have been some issue with the suite passengers coming in to shows without reservations (the old perk) that impacted the non suite passengers who did have reservations or this would not have been changed. Many of us on here were attempting to give scenarios that may have caused the policy to be changed, but all we got back was that can't happen, there are not that many, we wouldn't do that and on and on. Obviously something did happen or the perk would not have gone away.

 

As I stated above I believe suite passengers should get perks, but if it means I (a non suite passenger) make a reservation and then can't get into a show for whatever reason I am going to be upset. While it is a long shot again obviously something happened similar to this which caused the perk to go away.

 

Bottom line suite guests should have their perks, as promised, as long as us non suite passengers do not have what we also paid for taken away.

 

One last thing, it is different than an airline. The first class passengers have their separate lounge, separate seat, separate meals, etc. As long as they don't come take my measly bag of chips away from me because the first class passenger wants it I am fine with them having something I don't. Just don't mess with mine! It is also different than a restaurant, there they may get in before me, but I still get in.

 

And Baja, I do want to say please do come back again in the future to let others know when these things change, amazing how CC is a better means of communication that RC themselves.

[SingingPixie]

If the suite benefits list "reserved prime seating at shows" for suite passengers, then they are still offering what they promised. The issue is that there isn't enough "reserved prime seating" for suite guests in the event that an unusually high number of suite guests want to use it for a given show. In the past, it seems that if this happened, the suite guests were given priority access to the general seating as well, even if this displaced non-suite guests who had made a reservation. This I see as unfair.

 

It seems that now if a suite or non-suite guest wants guaranteed access to a particular show, he or she needs to make a reservation. If that guest wants to be more spontanteous than that, the suite guest still has a much greater chance of getting in "standby" because of the reserved suite seating- it's just that if that seating fills up, he's out of luck. I really do think this is a reasonable compromise.

[Cruzaholic41]

As I stated above I believe suite passengers should get perks, but if it means I (a non suite passenger) make a reservation and then can't get into a show for whatever reason I am going to be upset. While it is a long shot again obviously something happened similar to this which caused the perk to go away.

 

I agree something, somewhere (likely on Oasis) probably did happen. To guess what happened is nothing more than speculation. There are alot of repeat cruisers here on CC and many of us have sailed Oasis Class multiple times (6 myself). Has anyone here, with a reservation, ever been denied entry to the theater becauseof suite guests?

[praline3001]

It is also different than a restaurant, there they may get in before me, but I still get in.

I don't understand how the show is different from a restaurant? The turn over seating ratio is still the same as the show, less shows means longer wait for those who are in stand by.

 

At the same time, the show is ran almost every night on the cruise. So the suite guest may get in before you but you will still get in. There is no difference between them at all when you take into account the percentages.

 

Something else, I have not heard one person say they had reservations and were not allowed in due to the suite guest. Has this happened to someone on here that can relate the experience?

 

The only fact based (rather then speculation) statement were that people in the standby could not get in due to the number of suite guest.

 

family B is in a balcony room and in the standby line for the show

Family C is in the Royal suite and in the standby line. Who gets priority?

 

Nobody has come on here and said, " I had reservations for *X* show time

and even though I was there before the 10 minute grace period I was told I couldn't see the show because the theater was full. Then from there they would have to count up the number of suite guest in the audience compared to RC overbooking the show (giving out more reservations then they had seats..)

 

Nobody is taking regular room guest's rights/perks/reservations. If your in stand by then yes the suite guest should have priority which was the case.

[Ratpack]

I agree something, somewhere (likely on Oasis) probably did happen. To guess what happened is nothing more than speculation. There are alot of repeat cruisers here on CC and many of us have sailed Oasis Class multiple times (6 myself). Has anyone here, with a reservation, ever been denied entry to the theater becauseof suite guests?

 

 

That is the key question. From my experience, 6 cruises on Oasis/Allure, everyone who has a reservation has gotten a seat. And you know...if that did happen there would be many threads on here complaining about that. In fact it has been the exact opposite. People post on here saying if you don't have reservations it isn't a big deal because you can get in through the standby line.

 

The truth is...this perk did not impact non-suite guests. Taking it away does impact suite guests. What you are seeing on this thread are a few posters who don't sail in suites enjoying the fact that suite guests are losing a perk.

[jarz85]

How come non-suite people are allowed into the same venue as suite people to watch shows? The 'commoners' should watch from a window outside.

 

Seriously though, this thread should be locked sometime soon... it's going nowhere.

 

I like how people are doing detective work and investigating other posters, especially the part where 'I emailed the concierge to get a cabana on the 'suite only' part of the beach' yet a few posts earlier she said she never takes advantage of suite benefits.

[CruisinGerman]

Why would she even e-mail the concierge if she was in a JS and a Diamond, but not Diamond Plus member?

 

And the perks and two classes are not important to here ........

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[Ocean Boy]

That is the key question. From my experience, 6 cruises on Oasis/Allure, everyone who has a reservation has gotten a seat. And you know...if that did happen there would be many threads on here complaining about that. In fact it has been the exact opposite. People post on here saying if you don't have reservations it isn't a big deal because you can get in through the standby line.

 

The truth is...this perk did not impact non-suite guests. Taking it away does impact suite guests. What you are seeing on this thread are a few posters who don't sail in suites enjoying the fact that suite guests are losing a perk.

 

Oh brother.....:rolleyes:

 

Whatever the reason is that this is happening, I am quite sure that RCI does have a reason. And you have no idea what it is or who was being affected by the policy. RCI kicked the diamonds out of the CL lounge and we read about it for weeks. This, too, will pass.

[Bakincakes]

Seems a bit odd that RCI would get rid of such a benign perk for suite guests. Doesn't cost them(RCI) anything.

 

So there must be a reason for it...complaints from other pax?

 

Can't believe that some suit sat there and figured this was a good move..for no reason.

[Dave85]

I agree something, somewhere (likely on Oasis) probably did happen. To guess what happened is nothing more than speculation. There are alot of repeat cruisers here on CC and many of us have sailed Oasis Class multiple times (6 myself). Has anyone here, with a reservation, ever been denied entry to the theater becauseof suite guests?

 

Second attempt to reply to this, unfortunately lost everything I typed the first time. :(

 

No, but on my Oasis sailing I did personally experience the following (and wouldn't be surprised if this contributed to what happened): we had some difficult weather / sea conditions early in the week and several Aqua Shows got cancelled. They seemed to run out of time and ended up combining two show times into one. It was every bit as chaotic as you might imagine, and I posted about it on the boards somewhere back at the time.

 

(As an aside, I've been picturing the Aqua theater throughout this entire thread because I can't imagine someone who shows up at the main theater earlier than 10 minutes before hand not being able to find a seat SOMEWHERE in that large venue)...

 

I have no doubt that some people who had reservations didn't (at least) get a seat, although they let a lot of people just stand in the back. Its entirely possible, having combined two shows, that some people weren't admitted all together but I didn't go around taking a poll. This was Amy Fickert's first cruise as full contract Oasis cruise director and there were a lot of curious entertainment decisions made, although I can't really fault her because there really was some difficult weather (a showing of Hairspray was even cancelled!)... but I wouldn't be half surprised to find out that this situation occurred again and some people didn't get in.

 

Seems that the one thing that everyone can agree on is that something happened... I can't imagine someone on Oasis just woke up one morning and decided to arbitrarily get rid of this perk.

 

EDIT for further speculation: In the above situation that I experienced, I could easily see both bad scenarios playing out... a suite person showing up livid when they realized that they can't get a seat (even if he/she was admitted), and a non-suite person with a reservation getting kept out for crowd control purposes. Regardless of all the scary speculation and worst case scenarios expressed above, there's simply no way Royal's going to kick a non-suite passenger already sitting in a seat (in a non-suite reserved area, of course) out to accommodate a suite passenger... I doubt anybody will disagree with that, that would be a brdige too far. I'll be on Oasis again in May and will keep an eye out for any issues, although I don't expect any.

[alexkrn46]

I am presently in the Med, on MSC, I have to say MSC knows how to treat suite guests , you feel really special and pamper.

[akcruz]

I don't understand how the show is different from a restaurant? The turn over seating ratio is still the same as the show, less shows means longer wait for those who are in stand by.

 

At the same time, the show is ran almost every night on the cruise. So the suite guest may get in before you but you will still get in. There is no difference between them at all when you take into account the percentages.

 

Something else, I have not heard one person say they had reservations and were not allowed in due to the suite guest. Has this happened to someone on here that can relate the experience?

 

The only fact based (rather then speculation) statement were that people in the standby could not get in due to the number of suite guest.

 

family B is in a balcony room and in the standby line for the show

Family C is in the Royal suite and in the standby line. Who gets priority?

 

Nobody has come on here and said, " I had reservations for *X* show time

and even though I was there before the 10 minute grace period I was told I couldn't see the show because the theater was full. Then from there they would have to count up the number of suite guest in the audience compared to RC overbooking the show (giving out more reservations then they had seats..)

 

Nobody is taking regular room guest's rights/perks/reservations. If your in stand by then yes the suite guest should have priority which was the case.

 

 

Two things, first it is only 1 or 2% of the cruising population that comes to this board, so if they were not impacted you won't hear about it here. As I, and many others have pointed out, something happened to make them change the perk. What it is we don't know but something happened. Guess it was to one of the 98% of other cruisers :rolleyes:.

 

Second, the restaurant is definitely different. If I have a reservation at a restaurant I am not guaranteed I will seated and eat at whatever time I have booked but guaranteed I will get a table. If a "priority" individual comes along I may have to wait for a table, but I will get one.

 

With the shows, if I have a reservation for the 7 PM show I would expect to get a seat at that show. If suite guests without reservations come along and take that seat I will not get to use my pre-reserved seat. Yes, I may be able to go to another show, but maybe not. What happens if it is the last performance for the week? Or if the remaining shows are fully booked with reservations already? I could stand in line and hope to get in on stand by, but I might not be able to.

 

At the restaurant I am guaranteed a table, at the theater IF this situation happened I would not be.

 

One last time, I know this is somewhat of an exaggeration and may not be the actual reason but you need to see the other side as well. It is a possibility, remote maybe but still a possibility.

[Debde]

I am presently in the Med, on MSC, I have to say MSC knows how to treat suite guests , you feel really special and pamper.

 

My thoughts on this:

As far as Oasis/Allure-reservations, no reservations-I don't have a dog in this fight as I have not nor ever will sail either ship. So I don't get jumped on-reason being, the ports are horrid and the ship is not the destination for me.

 

As for MSC and the other luxury lines-I have looked into them and they do not fit me right now. Royal has that happy middle ground for me. My vacations are my time to spoil myself and family and RCCL does that for me but yet lets me be the casual cruiser and dine in the buffet with my shorts or jeans if I want. Those lines seem more of a formal setting and that is out for me.

 

I read what each line charges me for and book accordingly. I have my favorite suite perks and some have there's. After Voyager and being able to take my food into Portofino for brealkfast and lunch has me seriously thinking to change from a Briliance sailing to a Voyager class or up after that great perk.:o It's now my favorite and if I was to find out just before my sailing it went away-I'd be pissed. It is listed as something I paid for. Who am I or anyone on here to dis someone's preference on vacation ameneties they have purchased.?

[isdoo]

Kind Regards but I didn't even read your whole post because it seemed like alot of blah, blah, blah, from a pompous poster with a high post count....ie...Someone with a lot of time on their hands...hahaha!

 

If you think Royal Caribbean is anything but a mass market, middle of the road cruise line, even in a suite, then you need to look around. Get off your high horse. You are cruising with the masses on RCI and a suite only gets you more space and a few superfluous perks. Only in your mind are you sailing in an upper class cruise line. What a joke!

 

What a sad person!

[CruisinGerman]

I never said RCCL was an upper class cruise line, whatever that may mean.

 

However, someday why don't you pay for and sail in a Royal Suite on an RCCL ship and you will definitely see the difference in treatment and perks you get, without asking for any of it. It really is a completely different experience from sailing in other cabins.

 

So before you criticize it, why don't you try it so that you will know what it is really like.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[praline3001]

I am presently in the Med, on MSC, I have to say MSC knows how to treat suite guests , you feel really special and pamper.

 

Why do we prefer RC over the higher end cruise lines? Simple. KIDS.

Most of the higher end cruises do not have very much for kids to do. If I was traveling with just my husband (when we can boot out our 3 little leaches) I would LOVE to cruise on some of the higher end ships. For now we need a cruise line that has a ton of stuff for our kids to be able to do..as well as the adults. I could pay 20 grand for a Crystal cruise sailing and my kids could be sitting staring at the walls all day. True the service would be GAGA shock and awe but my kids would still be bored the entire time.

[A2Mich]

Gunther, you hit the nail on the head but some still won't get it. You made it too easy to understand. :)

 

Absolutely - some just don't get it.....:rolleyes:

 

In the past, it seems that if this happened, the suite guests were given priority access to the general seating as well, even if this displaced non-suite guests who had made a reservation. This I see as unfair.

 

It seems that now if a suite or non-suite guest wants guaranteed access to a particular show, he or she needs to make a reservation. If that guest wants to be more spontanteous than that, the suite guest still has a much greater chance of getting in "standby" because of the reserved suite seating- it's just that if that seating fills up, he's out of luck. I really do think this is a reasonable compromise.

 

This is EXACTLY the point.

 

I never said RCCL was an upper class cruise line, whatever that may mean.

 

Correct - you never did state that it was an upper class cruise line, only that it is a two class cruise line, but still not sure where that information came from.

 

I'm having an extremely difficult time finding in various RCI brochures and on their website, that if I "only" book an inside, outside, or balcony stateroom, that I am considered a "second class" passenger. When you find that statement, please let us know.:D

[A2Mich]

If you or anyone else chooses not to enjoy some or all of those perks then that is your right but for you to sit here and pass judgement is just ridiculous but I guess it makes you feel better to do so then go ahead.:rolleyes:

 

I believe I have repeatedly stated that the "elitist" and or "snob" comments DO NOT APPLY to everyone that sails in a suite - only to those that exhibit that behavior. If you're offended by the words "some" or "a few," which have repeatedly been said, then my guess is that you may be in that minority. I have read several posts on this thread from several suite, D+ members that have stated similar things along the lines of "I certainly won't deprive others of their right to enjoy...," or "I can understand both side of the story...."

 

That being said, there are a select few that are upset they have to play fairly, and "I deserve ____ because I paid more, even if it inconveniences others that have paid for their vacation." I guess it's up to you to decide if you are in the "elitist" MINORITY here or not.

 

I personally will probably never book a suite, as I work too hard for my money, and would rather spend less so that I can do more on my vacation, but I really don't see very many of the "perks" that would even interest me. I have no problem picking up the phone and making a reservation, if that's what is needed, as all passengers are being asked to do so to ensure seating is available. So I'm kind of at a loss as to what the original fuss is even about. A lot of the "perks" really are rather trivial, in my opinion, but realize that they are important to some guests, and that's fine. I don't feel the need to have a private lounge or a concierge to do things for me, but that's me. If that is important to some people, so be it. So for me, a suite would not be a wise investment of my money.

[praline3001]

Correct - you never did state that it was an upper class cruise line, only that it is a two class cruise line, but still not sure where that information came from.

 

I'm having an extremely difficult time finding in various RCI brochures and on their website, that if I "only" book an inside, outside, or balcony stateroom, that I am considered a "second class" passenger. When you find that statement, please let us know.:D

 

Now this is just getting plain silly.

 

Of course its a 2 class cruise line. They have rooms to book at 40 grand a trip and on the same sailing rooms for $399. Do you really think guest who stay in both staterooms have all the same amenities on board?! If so you must be very young and naive to the world lol

[praline3001]

I believe I have repeatedly stated that the "elitist" and or "snob" comments DO NOT APPLY to everyone that sails in a suite - only to those that exhibit that behavior. If you're offended by the words "some" or "a few," which have repeatedly been said, then my guess is that you may be in that minority. I have read several posts on this thread from several suite, D+ members that have stated similar things along the lines of "I certainly won't deprive others of their right to enjoy...," or "I can understand both side of the story...."

 

That being said, there are a select few that are upset they have to play fairly, and "I deserve ____ because I paid more, even if it inconveniences others that have paid for their vacation." I guess it's up to you to decide if you are in the "elitist" MINORITY here or not.

 

I personally will probably never book a suite, as I work too hard for my money, and would rather spend less so that I can do more on my vacation, but I really don't see very many of the "perks" that would even interest me. I have no problem picking up the phone and making a reservation, if that's what is needed, as all passengers are being asked to do so to ensure seating is available. So I'm kind of at a loss as to what the original fuss is even about. A lot of the "perks" really are rather trivial, in my opinion, but realize that they are important to some guests, and that's fine. I don't feel the need to have a private lounge or a concierge to do things for me, but that's me. If that is important to some people, so be it. So for me, a suite would not be a wise investment of my money.

 

I see your point but if you have never been concierge then how can you say its not worth the money? That is really being unfair.

 

For my family of 5 we had to book 2 regular rooms. There are no regular rooms that hold 5 people. In our party we had to pay the 1-2 person full rate for 4 people in our family in 2 seperate rooms even though 3 were minors. We booked 2 balcony rooms. As prices started coming down, we were able to book a full concierge GS that sleeps 5 for only 800 more (this included a raise in gratuities we pre paid, travel insurance and tax)

 

So for $800 more we get a ton more things offered to us..all 5 of us.

Now, keeping an eye on availabilites I was able to snag an Owner's suite yesterday. Again, for my entire family the cost was $800 more then what we paid for the GS.

 

So for a grand total of $1600.00 more then we paid for the 2 regular balcony rooms we get a HUGE room (575 sq vs the 182sq for the balcony room), a private master bedroom, a jacuzzi and full walk in shower in the bathroom. A 243 sq foot balcony complete with a full table and chairs. We have a suite attendant to take care of any request or problems we might have. We can order the full menu from the main dining room (only concierge guest can do this) so if we are tired, sun burnt and do not wish to dress up for dinner we can eat lobster in our PJ's.

 

Then we get all of the perks offered to concierge guest. Windjammer packed? So many ships have small Windjammers and you have to cruise for 10-20 minutes just for a table. At other times it is roped off due to being at capacity. Concierge guest can go to the lounge and eat without having to look for a tiny table somewhere.

Alcohol is served breakfast, lunch and dinner in CL free of charge.

Suite guest can have their formal attire laundered for free. They also get tours of the bridge free of charge.

I could go on and on and on..... was all of this worth the $1600 for 5 people on a 7 day cruise? For us ..YUP!

 

Take a moment and look up on your tube videos of "Royal Caribbean owner's suite". Would you be willing to pay $1600 more then you already have to stay in it for 7 days?

 

ETA: if you look up Allure of the Seas Owner's suite on youtube you will get a more accurate view of what we got.

[Cruising89143]

Absolutely - some just don't get it.....:rolleyes:

 

 

 

I'm glad that you finally admitted to this.

[Cruising89143]

I believe I have repeatedly stated that the "elitist" and or "snob" comments DO NOT APPLY to everyone that sails in a suite - only to those that exhibit that behavior. If you're offended by the words "some" or "a few," which have repeatedly been said, then my guess is that you may be in that minority. I have read several posts on this thread from several suite, D+ members that have stated similar things along the lines of "I certainly won't deprive others of their right to enjoy...," or "I can understand both side of the story...."

 

That being said, there are a select few that are upset they have to play fairly, and "I deserve ____ because I paid more, even if it inconveniences others that have paid for their vacation." I guess it's up to you to decide if you are in the "elitist" MINORITY here or not.

 

I personally will probably never book a suite, as I work too hard for my money, and would rather spend less so that I can do more on my vacation, but I really don't see very many of the "perks" that would even interest me. I have no problem picking up the phone and making a reservation, if that's what is needed, as all passengers are being asked to do so to ensure seating is available. So I'm kind of at a loss as to what the original fuss is even about. A lot of the "perks" really are rather trivial, in my opinion, but realize that they are important to some guests, and that's fine. I don't feel the need to have a private lounge or a concierge to do things for me, but that's me. If that is important to some people, so be it. So for me, a suite would not be a wise investment of my money.

 

And you haven't answered my questions yet. Have you been inconvenienced because of suite perks? How many shows have you NOT been able to enter on either ship because of this perk?