Elite...no Social hour, just drink vouchers

[NLH Arizona]

No not really. Us late seating diners complained because that was way to early for us to start drinking. We would never start at 4:00 PM. We usually don't get up there until after 5:30 PM. That would leave less than 1/2 hour to socialize.

 

Just wondering - RCL has their hours from 5:00 - 8:30 PM. Do their early diners complain about the time?

I'm confused, couldn't you continue to socialize after the cocktail party ends or do they kick you out of the venue?

[CruisingChick]

I'm confused, couldn't you continue to socialize after the cocktail party ends or do they kick you out of the venue?

 

You could continue, but most people leave to either go to dinner, or the show and I believe the servers leave the area also as they are reassigned to the MDR, theater, etc.

[NLH Arizona]

You could continue, but most people leave to either go to dinner, or the show and I believe the servers leave the area also as they are reassigned to the MDR, theater, etc.

I would just take it to another lounge with those that would like to continue, because as most have said, it is about the socializing, not the free drinks. Maybe because most leave to go to dinner or a show, is why Celebrity chose the time frame for the cocktail party. Edited August 28, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[CruisingChick]

I would just take it to another lounge with those that would like to continue, because as most have said, it is about the socializing, not the free drinks.

 

We love meeting others at the Happy Hour, have made some nice friends. Even bumped into one couple on our RCL Explorer Cruise in March (2014) that we sat and chatted with last May (2013) on Summit. What are the chances?

[Christine Frances]

No not really. Us late seating diners complained because that was way to early for us to start drinking. We would never start at 4:00 PM. We usually don't get up there until after 5:30 PM. That would leave less than 1/2 hour to socialize.

 

 

 

Just wondering - RCL has their hours from 5:00 - 8:30 PM. Do their early diners complain about the time?

 

 

Yes but that was your choice! It was originally supposed to be an event to socialize and meet other seasoned cruisers. It's up to you whether you wanted to drink or not. The fact remains that early diners only have a one hour time frame. I find it hard to sympathize with late diners that can spend two hours in the lounge and then complain "what are we supposed to do between 7 & 8" lol.

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

Yes but that was your choice! It was originally supposed to be an event to socialize and meet other seasoned cruisers. It's up to you whether you wanted to drink or not. The fact remains that early diners only have a one hour time frame. I find it hard to sympathize with late diners that can spend two hours in the lounge and then complain "what are we supposed to do between 7 & 8" lol.

 

 

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If it is too early for some to drink (I'm assuming they are talking about alcohol), couldn't one have a soda, virgin drink or water, so that they can sit and socialize or can't you get a non-alcoholic drink at the cocktail party.

[CruisingChick]

Yes but that was your choice! It was originally supposed to be an event to socialize and meet other seasoned cruisers. It's up to you whether you wanted to drink or not. The fact remains that early diners only have a one hour time frame. I find it hard to sympathize with late diners that can spend two hours in the lounge and then complain "what are we supposed to do between 7 & 8" lol.

 

 

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We never spend 2 hours there. We usually leave our stateroom between 5:30 - 5:45 PM to go the the Elite event and then leave the lounge around 6:45 PM to go to the show that starts at 7:00 PM - that's what we do between 7-8 - go to the show - no complaining from us. So we are really only up there an hour or so ourselves.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Can everyone try this

 

 

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[C 2 C]

Can everyone try this

 

That would kill Cruise Critic. ;)

 

It would sure shorten the conversation.

 

How many newspapers survive printing only good news?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

That would kill Cruise Critic. ;)

 

It would sure shorten the conversation.

 

How many newspapers survive printing only good news?

 

If it was only 24 hours, imagine how many posts they would get after that the 24 hours was up :p

[Chicago Boy]

Just received an email telling us there are too many Elites on our cruise and we will be given drink 3 vouchers each day to be used at any bar instead of the Captains Club Social Hour.

 

How was your experience using the vouchers?

 

TIA!

 

***

 

 

It's disappointing but I can see their point. On our Trans Atlantic last fall on the Equinox half the ship was Elite. To provide free liquor and munchies for over a thousand people every evening would soon become cost prohibitive, I should think. Not sure I am such a big fan of this kind of reward program. Personally, I would rather see quality service, excellent food and good prices all the way around. To be honest, we have never taken advantage of the complimentary cocktails. We would much rather go to the Martini bar before dinner and enjoy our drinks there. Enjoy your cruise. We are less than 75 days for our Trans Atlantic on Celebrity!

[SherriZ366]

What time are the 3 vouchers good for?

[CruisingChick]

what time are the 3 vouchers good for?

 

5 pm - 7 pm.

[SherriZ366]

5 pm - 7 pm.

Thanks -- we are thinking of booking on Celebrity (we are D+ on RCI so we have Elite). Too bad vouchers do not extend to 8 PM for those who like late seating.

[CruisingChick]

Thanks -- we are thinking of booking on Celebrity (we are D+ on RCI so we have Elite). Too bad vouchers do not extend to 8 PM for those who like late seating.

 

We have late seating and never found it a problem. The shows are at 7:00 PM, so we would get our final (3rd drink) at the Rendezvous Lounge at 6:55 PM and then go to the theater with drink in hand.

[Blue Lagoon]

Here's a thought..

 

Has anyone witnessed the Sky Lounge (or equivalent) being used to accommodate another large group on board (theme cruise, President's Cruise,or ?) during the Happy Hour?

[Orator]

Here's a thought..

 

Has anyone witnessed the Sky Lounge (or equivalent) being used to accommodate another large group on board (theme cruise, President's Cruise,or ?) during the Happy Hour?

 

Yes. On my last Connie cruise. They provided vouchers the last night only and opened Michael's Club to cruisers with the most points. It was a cruise or two prior to making Michael's Club private.

[pcur]

I'm trying to understand the differences in the two programs, RCCL and Celebrity. We are on the Equinox next year, followed by the Allure, so it will be interesting to compare the two happy hour programs. I just got off the Vision and used the pre-loaded drink vouchers on my card (I am D+/Elite).

 

One post above stated the person used their drink vouchers in the Elite happy hour lounge, so I'm wondering if this is a big difference from RCCL's program?

 

With RCCL, you can use your drink vouchers around the ship, PLUS go to the Diamond or Concierge Lounge and have additional drinks with canapes. Is this true with Celebrity?

[harz99]

I'm trying to understand the differences in the two programs, RCCL and Celebrity. We are on the Equinox next year, followed by the Allure, so it will be interesting to compare the two happy hour programs. I just got off the Vision and used the pre-loaded drink vouchers on my card (I am D+/Elite).

 

One post above stated the person used their drink vouchers in the Elite happy hour lounge, so I'm wondering if this is a big difference from RCCL's program?

 

With RCCL, you can use your drink vouchers around the ship, PLUS go to the Diamond or Concierge Lounge and have additional drinks with canapes. Is this true with Celebrity?

 

In a word, no.

[SherriZ366]

We have late seating and never found it a problem. The shows are at 7:00 PM, so we would get our final (3rd drink) at the Rendezvous Lounge at 6:55 PM and then go to the theater with drink in hand.

Thanks for the info.

 

Guess if we don't want to go to the show, we could get 1st drink at 6:55 PM and pay for a second.

[pcur]

In a word, no.

 

Thanks for the answer. That's a pretty big difference!

[C 2 C]

Thanks for the answer. That's a pretty big difference!

 

Similarly, 30 minutes internet on Royal translates to 90 minutes on Celebrity.

Each line has its benefits and not the main reason to cruise...

 

Oops... sorry .. perks on Celebrity at Z level are like a golden chain around my leg. They keep me on Celebrity with nothing appealing enough to make me want to stray... :D

[pcur]

Similarly, 30 minutes internet on Royal translates to 90 minutes on Celebrity.

Each line has its benefits and not the main reason to cruise...

 

Oops... sorry .. perks on Celebrity at Z level are like a golden chain around my leg. They keep me on Celebrity with nothing appealing enough to make me want to stray... :D

 

The D+ internet credit is now 45 minutes each. But, to have 180 minutes total between the two of us is great on the Equinox next year. I do an email blog to friends and family when we cruise, and an ipad photostream, so having more upload time helps.

 

It was interesting comparing things when we were deciding to take this Equinox cruise next year. It's sort of a b2......b with the Allure with 3 days in between in Fort Lauderdale.

 

I found the balcony bookings to be interesting. We get a one category upgrade to a 2C from a 2D, but still have an obstructed view. On RCCL we get a $325 discount on any balcony (booking more than 6 months in advance) for a 10 night cruise.

 

The happy hour differences are the other biggee. RCCL pretty much gives Diamond and above unlimited drinks for 3.5 hours every night, with appetizers.

 

There's other differences, but they aren't that important to me.

 

I'm just grateful to both RCCL and Celebrity for the freebies! :D

Edited August 28, 2014 by pcur

[CruisingChick]

The happy hour differences are the other biggee. RCCL pretty much gives Diamond and above unlimited drinks for 3.5 hours every night, with appetizers.

 

 

That's one thing we really did like about RCL is having 3 drinks loaded on our card and also a drink lounge from 5:00 - 8:30 PM. But it was not enough to lure us away from Celebrity totally. We found the food - especially lunch buffet and lunch in the MDR on Explorer to be very poor.

 

Maybe we just had a bad cruise, and we are booked on Liberty of the Seas for October 2015 so we will give it another shot. If food is not better on that sailing then we probably will not be booking any more RCL cruises.

 

We are thinking of trying Princess but then we would be the bottom of the barrel.

Edited August 28, 2014 by CruisingChick

[richsea]

Can everyone try this

 

 

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Does complaining about complaining count? If not, then I'd like to complain about old threads that keep on resurfacing as if they have not been beaten to death numerous times in the recent & not so recent past. Sometimes I think that we are mice running on a wheel......round & round & round........ yet I can't stop reading!:confused: