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RCCL new Diamond Lounge Policy?

seeyakids

By seeyakids,
in Royal Caribbean International

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

Posted
Posted
Off topic of the D lounge, but since there are B2B - Muster comments I'll chime in.

 

Most of our recent cruises are B2B because we fly or drive 8 hours to a port. We don't have a embarkation port in our back yard. We try to take 7+7 night B2B but occasionally will do a 3+4 or a 4+5 night combination B2B. I would rather do a second muster in a week than return for a cruise a few weeks/months later. If I lived an hour or two from port, I suspect I might feel differently. Honestly it is no big deal to have 2 musters in one week. There is no real disruption. Muster takes all of 30 minutes, if that.

 

The repeat port is no problem either. Anyone who cruises frequently repeats ports, especially in the Caribbean or Bahamas. We still get off the ship, enjoy a local lunch, have a drink somewhere, enjoy a beach, whatever. Those who prefer to stay on the ship can have a nice relaxing day that costs $0. Seems like a win/win for everyone.

 

Because we have to fly or drive far to a cruise, we sail from more than just Florida ports and get to see other places.

 

I'll take a B2B and a second muster ANYTIME!

 

M

 

I totally agree...if you are flying to, or driving a long distance to, a port I would do more bang for the buck also (and have done when we do that).

 

John and I are local to PC and were talking about the difference of choosing a 7 night cruise or doing a B2B 3/4 night cruise (to bring it up to 7 nights) out of the same port.

 

Would rather do a full 7 versus a 3 and 4 combo...more ports less disruption and one less muster drill. All a matter of personal choice.

 

B2B 7 (14 nights) is fine with me. Just one muster for 14 and many ports...better choice...but that is just me. Would not do it for a 3/4 night.

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

Posted
Posted
I think that's too generic. They need some more specific name so that they can rename it to some other more specific name when they kick out D+ in a few years. I'd say in a few years it will be the Pinnacle Lounge.

 

Ahh..the carrot is getting closer and that much sweeter looking then. ;)

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

Posted
Posted
Then after upsetting D,D+ and P they will be sailing with half full ships,they will have to slash the price to fill cabins and give free drinks packages.

RC share price will plummet as people panic to sell their shares and no dividends will be paid.

 

LOL...and there you go...being even naughtier! Good one..that will ruffle a feather for someone that will take the bait. ;p;p

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davekathy

davekathy

Posted
Posted
Our favorite class of Celebrity ship. Kind of a cross between Radiance and Freedom class. Love the Equinox.

Since we are on a D Lounge thread - be aware that ( at least in the past) the free cocktails or cocktail area were not provided the first evening. Perhaps it has changed.

 

Enjoy the cruises.

M

 

 

 

We're not new Elite members. Nothing has changed. It's actually two evenings they don't do the Elite and above social hour (5 to 7:00 PM). First evening and then another evening (Senior Offices party) mid cruise.

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

Posted
Posted
I'm surprised they don't. Possibly one day.

 

That would sure be nice! Only two RCI ships here right now, the smallest and the largest, though EN is coming back for a short stint...then Mariner will be the permanent replacement. But that ship only does 3/4 night runs.

Do you remember when Explorer did a short stay for nine night southern Carib runs? I was hoping that would be the third choice versus the usual 7 and 3/4. Alas...did not happen even though that ship sold out each time. :o:cool:

 

Having a 7 or 9 night Celebrity ship would be perfect as a third on a full time basis! :hearteyes:

Alas..in a perfect world...sigh. :o

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nealstuber

nealstuber

Posted
Posted
Diamond Lounge is open 24/7 How can you extend the hours!

 

Do you mean the cocktail hours? Judging by what I read on CC, it seems that many stay there the entire cocktail hours - which is fine for them. Adding an hour or two to cocktail hour likely won't change folks hanging our there even longer ( which is also fine for them.

 

 

hint - use the 3 cocktail vouchers around the ship. Hardly any crowds, meet nice people, get good and fast service, change of scenery, enjoy a drink during a show, etc.

 

I also confess - I also like a free cocktail ( or two), but we don't rely on the lounge to enjoy the drinks.

 

M

 

 

 

Yes, I meant the cocktail hours where crowding becomes a problem.

 

Just finished our first cruise as D on Vision, crowding was not an issue there.

 

We enjoyed the drink vouchers a lot more on our aft wrap balcony then the other the lounge.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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davekathy

davekathy

Posted
Posted
That would sure be nice! Only two RCI ships here right now, the smallest and the largest, though EN is coming back for a short stint...then Mariner will be the permanent replacement. But that ship only does 3/4 night runs.

Do you remember when Explorer did a short stay for nine night southern Carib runs? I was hoping that would be the third choice versus the usual 7 and 3/4. Alas...did not happen even though that ship sold out each time. :o:cool:

 

Having a 7 or 9 night Celebrity ship would be perfect as a third on a full time basis! :hearteyes:

Alas..in a perfect world...sigh. :o

I hope mother nature is being nice to you right now.(yn)3 and 4 night cruises are way to short for us.

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bigeck

bigeck

Posted
Posted
Is that taken from the north side of the Firth of Forth?

It is. Taken from my balcony in Kinghorn looking over to Edinburgh

I have a golf range finder and it's 5 miles across from Kinghorn to Silverknowes GC.

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Redrobo

Redrobo

Posted
Posted
It is. Taken from my balcony in Kinghorn looking over to Edinburgh

I have a golf range finder and it's 5 miles across from Kinghorn to Silverknowes GC.

 

I have fond memories of that area, my dad was at Petrievie Castle and from our house we had a similar view. I have done some work at Crail and Knockhill, but not been north of the Boarder for some time.

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Blizzard54

Blizzard54

Posted
Posted
The C&A program is the reason we stay with Royal.

 

 

 

Have done most of the other lines, but they don’t have a Coastal Kitchen and Suite Lounge. It took us a long time to get to Pinnacle (18 years and easily $250k plus) so I fully intend to homestead here as long as the benefits hold out.

 

 

If someone books a suite, they spend maybe $4-10k, but they only do it a few times and are usually high maintenance guests. Unless of course they are on a mission for double points to get to Pinnacle. Those that have been with Royal a long time – RCCL knows they are going to get their repeat business. For the cost of a few drinks and bottles of wine they have a dedicated income they can budget on.

 

 

If the lounges get crowded, the best way to counter this is to build more ships. The more people that move up the ladder, the more RCCL makes, and more ships thus more revenue. Also, age attrition will start claiming some of the older top tier guests creating more room. It’s a fact.

 

 

People are always going to whine about something, and there’s a lot of somethings in this thread.

 

 

I will still enjoy the lounges and meeting with friends to solve the cruise industry problems :D. I truly enjoy the Concierges and bartenders more than a lot of the guests. They are the ones who make my cruise worth going on.

 

 

If the C&A benefits dwindle away, I would probably just do all-inclusives or head to another cruise line. For now, I like only having to pack a weeks’ worth of clothes and use my laundry perk. I like the 3 bottles of wine and the happy hours, along with the Suite Lounge, Coastal Kitchen, and Deck 17 forward. They feed me, make my bed, and provide drinks, snacks, free Internet, and entertainment. Can’t ask for much more. Great being retired and have no responsibilities.

 

 

They take that away and the $50-100k I now spend annually on travel will go elsewhere. I’m sure a lot of others would do the same. An incentive program is needed to keep people coming back. No incentive, why stay?

 

 

 

When Celebrity created the Zenith level – how many people jumped ship to Royal because of unattainable goals? We used to travel a lot on Celebrity until they did this. If I were CEO of another cruise line, I would offer a one year trial at my top tier level for other top tier people jumping ship. MSC will give you upgraded status for jumping ship. We just applied as we want options. I am really surprised that other cruise lines have not figured this out.

 

 

If you were the CEO would you jeopardize losing all the repeat business from Diamond and above over the cost of a few drinks, fatty snacks, and a few bottles of cheap wine?

 

Very well put.

 

We are members of several different cruise line past passenger programs. We had cruised with most of the other lines before our first Royal cruise. None of them had too much in the way of benefits in the old days. I believe it was about 1998 when Royal came out with the beginnings of their C&A program. Giving Diamonds access to the CL's was a big step above anyone else's programs. As we all know the program was such a success it overwhelmed the facilities. In hindsight they obviously set the bar too low. It is difficult when benefits get reduced but they may not have much choice. Even with some cut backs it is still overall the best program out there.

 

We are well on our way to Pinnacle and have very much enjoyed the ride. We will continue to sail with RCL but because of their limited routes will probably be branching out again.

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bigeck

bigeck

Posted
Posted
I have fond memories of that area, my dad was at Petrievie Castle and from our house we had a similar view. I have done some work at Crail and Knockhill, but not been north of the Boarder for some time.

You wouldn't know Pitreavie now. New houses and Sky offices.

I like Crail but it's the back of beyond. Still the same back roads through Anstruther.

Touring Cars still come to Knockhill though

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Redrobo

Redrobo

Posted
Posted
You wouldn't know Pitreavie now. New houses and Sky offices.

I like Crail but it's the back of beyond. Still the same back roads through Anstruther.

Touring Cars still come to Knockhill though

 

I was doing some driving work at Crail with Mitsibishi some great driving roads in the area. Volvo at Knockhill, did some Karting up there many years ago.

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bigeck

bigeck

Posted
Posted
I was doing some driving work at Crail with Mitsibishi some great driving roads in the area. Volvo at Knockhill, did some Karting up there many years ago.

They still have race days at Crail.

A lot of good memories at Knochhill. Volvo racing the R in the Btcc and I was at the corner when Tarquini rolled his Alfa.

A friend of mine, Brian Simpson is a mechanic up there, I think Butchart still owns it

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