In a Suite taking non Suite guests

[RCI Cruisers 004]

Hello, we are on Freedom in a couple months in a GS and are traveling with friends in an interior stateroom. We are also Diamond members and they are Gold . I have a few questions as to where we are allowed to bring them with us onboard. I have read they can go thru suite check in with us at the terminal , but its taboo to take them to the Diamond club or Concierge lounge. Im also guessing anything that requires the Gold card,such as Portifinos for breakfast or priority seating at shows is taboo too. Also I understand we can take them as a guest at Barefoot cabana's . Any help would be appreciated, and please don't be a hater. I'm not going to do what's not allowed or earned! Bob are you out there? You give great advice ! Thanks in advance !

[AF-1]

I believe the guests all have to be staying in the suites and have a gold sea pass. I have taken family members into lounge with me as guests and the concierge has not said anything. I told him they are family. Hope this helps.

[39august]

They might be able to join you in shows as the Gold card seating is opened up for others 10 minutes before the shows begin. Otherwise, you are correct that anything requiring a Gold card is not open for your friends, the exception being, as you noted, you can bring others into a cabana you have rented.

[Havingfun2010]

Hello, we are on Freedom in a couple months in a GS and are traveling with friends in an interior stateroom. We are also Diamond members and they are Gold . I have a few questions as to where we are allowed to bring them with us onboard. I have read they can go thru suite check in with us at the terminal , but its taboo to take them to the Diamond club or Concierge lounge. Im also guessing anything that requires the Gold card,such as Portifinos for breakfast or priority seating at shows is taboo too. Also I understand we can take them as a guest at Barefoot cabana's . Any help would be appreciated, and please don't be a hater. I'm not going to do what's not allowed or earned! Bob are you out there? You give great advice ! Thanks in advance !

 

 

I'm assuming they are just friends, and they chose the inside cabin. All the "perks" are yours and for anyone booked in your room. That includes check-in etc. Once they reach the same level as you, they will be able to enjoy those same perks, and now will have something to look forward to.

[Artemis908]

People on our ship a couple of years ago brought non-suite guests with them (that they had only just met on the ship) every single night to the lounge and the concierge didn't notice or say anything. Seemed to be pretty easy to bring guests as long as one person had a card.

[gerif]

People on our ship a couple of years ago brought non-suite guests with them (that they had only just met on the ship) every single night to the lounge and the concierge didn't notice or say anything. Seemed to be pretty easy to bring guests as long as one person had a card.

 

Depends on how well he was doing his job. If there were complaints, he could have lost it.

 

Guests are welcome at Barefoot Beach if you have a cabana, no problem. As for check-in, im going to say it depends on the port. At some, it works but at others we've experienced a worker with a clipboard noting what cabins were permitted to check in at that area. When we travel in a suite and DS with his family are not, we just agree to meet onboard - or we could also check in with them in the regular area. Same with shows, we all sit in the non-suite area.

[cb at sea]

They are certainly allowed as your guests in the cabana....as long as it's in your name. They are not entitled to the use of the lounges.

[stroh33]

I'm not trying to hijack your thread but I'd be curious if anyone had any experience with this on Oasis specifically

[spookwife]

Hello, we are on Freedom in a couple months in a GS and are traveling with friends in an interior stateroom. We are also Diamond members and they are Gold . I have a few questions as to where we are allowed to bring them with us onboard. I have read they can go thru suite check in with us at the terminal , but its taboo to take them to the Diamond club or Concierge lounge. Im also guessing anything that requires the Gold card,such as Portifinos for breakfast or priority seating at shows is taboo too. Also I understand we can take them as a guest at Barefoot cabana's . Any help would be appreciated, and please don't be a hater. I'm not going to do what's not allowed or earned! Bob are you out there? You give great advice ! Thanks in advance !

 

 

check in only. priority boarding is iffy.. may or may not be allowed.

 

all public access areas on board, nothing that requires proving status.. Lounges or reserved seating included

 

no experience with cabanas and who is allowed up to the max

[spookwife]

People on our ship a couple of years ago brought non-suite guests with them (that they had only just met on the ship) every single night to the lounge and the concierge didn't notice or say anything. Seemed to be pretty easy to bring guests as long as one person had a card.

 

 

this is not so easy to do these days especially since so many now have the access int heir own right.. they get crowded.

 

I am a great believer in the status quo.. if you have not earned the access, you don't deserve it.

[Hoopster95]

Hello, we are on Freedom in a couple months in a GS and are traveling with friends in an interior stateroom. We are also Diamond members and they are Gold ..... I have read they can go thru suite check in with us at the terminal , but its taboo to take them to the Diamond club or Concierge lounge.

 

I think it depends on the amount of C&A members on board and if the venues are overflowing...

 

You may remember the recent thread of an OP who was "kicked out" of the Viking Crown every night because he wasn't D+ (he was D) because this venue was used for D+ and suite members only every night.

 

I'm D, and have been told that only myself can enjoy the benefits of that C&A level, not a friend (ie. like someone you meet on the ship). Makes sense... with the further dilution of points and so many more D and D+ members, the venues will be overflowing more regularly. Having said that my girlfriend is Platinum... I brought her into the DL lounge on both Oasis and Vision this past year no problem. Two nights on Vision the DL lounge was very full so I used some common sense, grabbed a glass of wine they were handing out, and let the DL concierge know we would enjoy some quiet time just outside in the Schooner Bar with our wine rather than take up a table that a deserved D couple should have. It's only fair I believe. Just my 2 cents :)

[Camlott]

I'm not trying to hijack your thread but I'd be curious if anyone had any experience with this on Oasis specifically

 

Our experience on Oasis was mixed. Not allowed in suite check-in area, however they were allowed priority boarding. Never attempted the lounges, so can't speak to that.

 

Shows were mixed results as well, just depended on the person checking. They did allow guests at Hairspray, but not for the Aqua Theater show. Concierge provided passes for guests to share cabana at Barefoot Beach.

 

I would say it seems that Barefoot Beach cabana is the only sure thing, everything else seemed to be at the discretion of the person in charge of a given area and how full it is. We would have never argued if/when they said no because we understood the rules. I will say that there were always empty seats available in the suite areas each time a guest was allowed, so no other suite guests were denied a perk because of our guests.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

I'm assuming they are just friends, and they chose the inside cabin. All the "perks" are yours and for anyone booked in your room. That includes check-in etc. Once they reach the same level as you, they will be able to enjoy those same perks, and now will have something to look forward to.

 

Yes they are friends who did their own booking of the inside cabin. But we have joined reservations so we can do dinner with them. I know there won't be an issue not being able to have them join us at either the DL or CL. We like to get up early and hit Portifino's for breakfast and get a couple of cocktails before dinner at the lounges and they are late sleepers who get their fill at the bars till the wee hours.

[NanciRDH]

I'm sure non-suite guests not being allowed to check in with their suite friends for Oasis has something to do with how they organize check in and where the pre-printed seapasses are. We travelled in a suite connecting a balcony with the kids last summer, we were of course all allowed to go to the suite area, but our check in agent had to leave us and go to another area to collect the children's seapasses. By the time we were done with that, they had just announced boarding, so we were able to skip the suite waiting area and just walk onboard the ship.

[papaflamingo]

It is unlikely that they will be able to check in with you as they are not on your reservation. We are D+ and did Freedom over New Years. We were with our son and daughter-in-law who are only gold status. We booked the cabin with my son and I in one and my wife and daughter-in-law in the other to get the D+ discount for both. Since we did that, we had D+ on our set sail passes, and were allowed in the expedited security line and D+ check in line.

However on other cruises, we have been with friends without any expedited status. They went through their line, we went through ours, and we simply waited for them to catch up so we could board together.

As for the shows, we had a CL on Oasis. We found that the "reserved" seats really weren't in the best location. We went up their once and decided we'd rather not use them. So I think you'll find that you will find better seats elsewhere. If you get priority entrance, you don't have to go to the "reserved" section, just find good seats and save 2 for your friends.

As for the Concierge Lounge, the Concierge, Raul, is outstanding. However he will check for cards the first time you enter, and will remember you afterwards. So it's unlikely you can get them in the Concierge Lounge. We couldn't get our son and daughter-in-law in, and they're family. The lounge on Freedom isn't that big, and if everyone brought in 2 friends it would be overflowing.

Just go have a drink then meet your friends in a bar. You can also go to the Diamond lounge and get a drink and take it out to the bar in the Viking Crown lounge. That's what we did. Our son and daughter-in-law would get a table and buy drinks and we would join them. But a word of warning. I was not impressed with the Diamond Lounge or the concierge. It was overcrowded and understaffed. After a couple tries, my wife and I went to the Concierge Lounge. Much...MUCH nicer.

[cruisegirl1]

Generally there is no problem to check in all together - just all walk towards the suite line. Actually so many use the priority lines that at times, the regular lines are faster. You may be better off checking with in with your friends rather than asking for them to check in with you. As for boarding, if you checked in early and have to wait, we have seen them segregate suite/higher C&A from those with a lower membership or a first time cruisers. This will vary from port to port. Perhaps since it is just another couple, it won’t matter to the staff directing the boarding process.

 

As for the seating, in our experience, we've seen non suite turned away from reserved suite seating. BUT, you are not required to sit in the suite seating area. In fact you may prefer other areas of the pool or theater.

 

As for the lounges - I've never had personal experience of asking to bring a non suite non D+ member to the lounge. I did recently take a cruise with my grown daughter who was my cabin mate (non suite cabin). I am D+, she is D and she was denied entrance to the D+ lounge with me. This was my one and only time I asked to bring a cabin mate. Based on this experience I would imagine that you are correct in not expecting them to be allowed in the lounges. Quite frankly, I am surprised to read so many comments of folks bringing guests into the lounges.

 

Can’t tell you about the breakfast – I’ve never tried to bring guests in with me.

 

Finally , Yes, if you rent a cabana, you may list them ad one of your guests. If you do not rent a cabana, they cannot go with you to that beach areas.

 

Enjoy

M

[berylde]

Just read a post regarding priority check in.

On our last cruise we had a RFS and used the Suite check in area but since we were there at 11:30, all the regular check in lines were short.

 

The ship was late boarding (1:30 PM) and we waited in the general boarding area and embarked normally with everyone else (No problem)

 

My question---When RCCL advertises Priority check in, do they mean anything else besides a special line to check in?

[kc320]

Just read a post regarding priority check in.

On our last cruise we had a RFS and used the Suite check in area but since we were there at 11:30, all the regular check in lines were short.

 

The ship was late boarding (1:30 PM) and we waited in the general boarding area and embarked normally with everyone else (No problem)

 

My question---When RCCL advertises Priority check in, do they mean anything else besides a special line to check in?

---------------------------------------------

Depending on the port after check in you may be directed to separate seating areas before boarding...suites in one section...Pinacle, D+...etc...and then a larger general boarding waiting area...Port... Canaveral & Tampa were 2 ports that I have seen seperated waiting areas.

[NanciRDH]

Just read a post regarding priority check in.

On our last cruise we had a RFS and used the Suite check in area but since we were there at 11:30, all the regular check in lines were short.

 

The ship was late boarding (1:30 PM) and we waited in the general boarding area and embarked normally with everyone else (No problem)

 

My question---When RCCL advertises Priority check in, do they mean anything else besides a special line to check in?

---------------------------------------------

Depending on the port after check in you may be directed to separate seating areas before boarding...suites in one section...Pinacle, D+...etc...and then a larger general boarding waiting area...Port... Canaveral & Tampa were 2 ports that I have seen seperated waiting areas.

 

 

Miami and Ft Lauderdale have separate waiting areas too, with Ft Lauderdale being the nicer of the two. Comfy padded seats behind velvet ropes, lol! The rest of the terminal looked like typical airport seating with the linked together chairs. Lucky for us our longest wait was in the comfy seats. :D

[LetsGetWet!]

I did recently take a cruise with my grown daughter who was my cabin mate (non suite cabin). I am D+, she is D and she was denied entrance to the D+ lounge with me. This was my one and only time I asked to bring a cabin mate. Based on this experience I would imagine that you are correct in not expecting them to be allowed in the lounges. Quite frankly, I am surprised to read so many comments of folks bringing guests into the lounges.

Frankly, I'm surprised at that. I would think that if you're D+ and traveling IN THE SAME CABIN that your cabin-mate should be allowed to accompany you - I'm really surprised that wouldn't be allowed.

[berylde]

Nanci-

Last December we were in a RFS on the Liberty out of Ft. Lauderdale. Boarding was late (1:30 PM) and we all waited in the large seating area. Did not see the seperate area for Suite guests that you mention.

If we have a Suite again, I will inquire about it----------------

[cruisegirl1]

Frankly, I'm surprised at that. I would think that if you're D+ and traveling IN THE SAME CABIN that your cabin-mate should be allowed to accompany you - I'm really surprised that wouldn't be allowed.

 

Yes, in the same cabin. She walked in the door in front of me, sat down, ordered a soda ( she is not a drinker). I waited at the desk to formally ask permission for her to join me. Not only was she denied and asked to leave, the concierge made sure everyone in the lounge heard that I attempted to bring in a guest. I guess he was just following the written rules and I don't fault him. I just hope all guests are treated the same .

 

I know the rules, and my cabin mate - adult daughter is only Diamond and according to rules, not permitted in the lounge. We went in the lounge as I unexpectedly ran into cruise buddies at the pool and they suggested we meet for dinks.

 

 

 

M

Edited February 9, 2014 by cruisegirl1

[sharonlacey]

Has anyone that had a GS ever rented 2 cabana's at BB? My DD and parents will be coming with us and we are the only one's with a suite. We would like to treat them to Barefoot. Thanks for any help.

[LetsGetWet!]

Yes, in the same cabin. She walked in the door in front of me, sat down, ordered a soda ( she is not a drinker). I waited at the desk to formally ask permission for her to join me. Not only was she denied and asked to leave, the concierge made sure everyone in the lounge heard that I attempted to bring in a guest. I guess he was just following the written rules and I don't fault him. I just hope all guests are treated the same .

 

I know the rules, and my cabin mate - adult daughter is only Diamond and according to rules, not permitted in the lounge. We went in the lounge as I unexpectedly ran into cruise buddies at the pool and they suggested we meet for dinks.

 

 

 

M

That brings up an interesting question then - if one is D+, single but "in a relationship" then I guess if the two of you go on a RCI cruise together that your significant other will not be allowed to go to the lounge with you - which, quite frankly, is absurd!

 

I'd say you were treated very shabbily, if it were me I'd be following up and complaining.

[cruisenfever]

That brings up an interesting question then - if one is D+, single but "in a relationship" then I guess if the two of you go on a RCI cruise together that your significant other will not be allowed to go to the lounge with you - which, quite frankly, is absurd!

 

I'd say you were treated very shabbily, if it were me I'd be following up and complaining.

Would you also complain if you had access to either lounge, but upon arrival couldn't find a seat or a place to stand because of all the non-eligible guests that accompanied those that were eligible are now taking up space that you earned??!

Edited February 9, 2014 by cruisenfever