Crown & Anchor benefits - am I missing something?

[NJ&Ozzie]

23 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Really?  Probably depends on the F&B manager.  We had them every few days on the Jewel TA last month.

 

Hey Bob,

We were on Jewel TA too (did 6 B2B's).  Only received cookies 1st nite - no extra chef treats.  Which really is ok with us (usually gave them away). But amenities, etc. do not seem consistent, depending on ship & hotel director.   For our Nov. 17th- Dec. 8th cruises - no sail away parties (for anyone) & no wine offered at any consecutive cruiser lunches.  Pinnacles did get extra parties, teas, etc.  340+ lunch turned into a 6:30 pm dinner for D+ only at a large table in MyTimeDining with regular menu & only a couple of crew in attendance.  Very disappointing.

NJ 

[Clarea]

27 minutes ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

 

Hey Bob,

We were on Jewel TA too (did 6 B2B's).  Only received cookies 1st nite - no extra chef treats.  Which really is ok with us (usually gave them away). But amenities, etc. do not seem consistent, depending on ship & hotel director.   For our Nov. 17th- Dec. 8th cruises - no sail away parties (for anyone) & no wine offered at any consecutive cruiser lunches.  Pinnacles did get extra parties, teas, etc.  340+ lunch turned into a 6:30 pm dinner for D+ only at a large table in MyTimeDining with regular menu & only a couple of crew in attendance.  Very disappointing.

NJ 

 

That seems so odd that we were on the same TA and we got the Chef's Choice thing at least 3 times.

[NJ&Ozzie]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

That seems so odd that we were on the same TA and we got the Chef's Choice thing at least 3 times.

 

Apparently there were lots of inconsistencies on the Jewel this time.  After the new Hotel Director took over Nov. 5, things changed.  Sound of lots of pennies being pinched!!

NJ 

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

 

Apparently there were lots of inconsistencies on the Jewel this time.  After the new Hotel Director took over Nov. 5, things changed.  Sound of lots of pennies being pinched!!

NJ 

 

That part we noticed.  Much different than the TA the year before.  I think that HD was named Peter somthing.

[NJ&Ozzie]

15 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

That part we noticed.  Much different than the TA the year before.  I think that HD was named Peter somthing.

 

Completely different TA - no theme parties, etc. this time.   H.D. Peter Dimitrov (now on Oasis) was fantastic.  New H.D. is Maurice Andrades.   A number of people we talked to seemed to think he was trying to save money by cutting things out.  Goes to show how much difference a good H.D. can make.

NJ 

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

 

Completely different TA - no theme parties, etc. this time.   H.D. Peter Dimitrov (now on Oasis) was fantastic.  New H.D. is Maurice Andrades.   A number of people we talked to seemed to think he was trying to save money by cutting things out.  Goes to show how much difference a good H.D. can make.

NJ 

 

Agreed, and thanks for reminding me of Peter's name.  Everything was top notch on that cruise.

[payitforward]

On 12/20/2018 at 3:44 PM, stringbean10 said:

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to provide this information.

 

While I will never turn down free money, I am surprised to see these figures. 

 

I thought for sure there would be a percentage - like pinnacle is 30% off of the cruise - not a fixed dollar amount.  I find it bizarre the big savings is just $375 off on a 10-day balcony.  

 

For example, I am nowhere near pinnacle or a whale in the casino but have already been offered a free cruise by the casino team.  I thought the strategy would be "just get these people on the boat" for upper tier levels.  I've got to figure that people who reach pinnacle are people who have a large amount of time and disposable income to spend on board. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, the casino discounts do tend to be better. Why? Because they KNOW you spend money in the casino and want to get you back so you can spend more. Those in the upper tiers didn't get there by spending a fortune on every cruise. Many have "been there done that" when it comes to excursions, specialty restaurants, drink packages etc. They know how to cruise economically, and do. That's how they can afford to take so many.

[bobmacliberty]

We'll be Diamond after our May cruise.  I didn't expect to get there as quickly as we did.  We started cruising in 2005 on a 4 night Disney cruise with 2 kids who were 10 and 7.  Didn't cruise again until 2010.  We chose Royal since our kids had outgrown Disney at that point and Royal looked like (and was/is) a great family option.  We spend port days and dinners together as a family.  On sea days, and some evenings, the kids went in one direction and we went in the other.  The kids enjoyed some teen "freedom" and we enjoyed some time together without kids.  We greatly enjoyed that first Royal cruise but traded off annual land vacations and cruise vacations, so only cruised about every other year for the next few years.  As the kids left for college, my wife and I cruised more by ourselves and put the money that we would have spent on an extra room for the kids into a Junior Suite (and once a Grand Suite).  We did that for the nicer/larger cabin more so than for double points.  We've done 3 cruises in the last 15 months and have one each booked for 2019 and 2020.  The increase in frequency plus the double points in a suite jumped us to Diamond in 8 years without specifically trying to get there.

 

We still cruise Royal mostly because we like Royal.  We enjoy the younger more energetic feel (compared to some other cruise lines) and the wide variety of things to do.  We get the drink package so the free happy hour drinks won't help much (although I should probably look at bringing 2 bottles of wine onboard and then just paying by the drink...might save me a few bucks).  As we get older and have less interest in the variety that Royal has to offer, and kids on the ship become more a nuisance than a joy (get off my lawn! ), we may want to upscale to a different cruise line.  We may never get to D+ as I don't see us ever cruising many times a year, and we have many land trips on our bucket list.  Then again, I wasn't sure we'd ever get to Diamond.

 

My advice for what it's worth...give Royal a try.  If you like them the way that we do, and you can continue to find good itineraries at good prices, stay with Royal and let loyalty status follow.  If you don't like them, or see a better deal elsewhere, or just prefer more variety, try several different cruise lines.  In the end, as I think you've surmised, you pay a lot along the way to get to a loyalty level that adds small value (relative to what you paid to get there).  Enjoy the journey more than the destination.

[mommamiller04]

This will be our first cruise at Diamond level. I didn't realize we got so many things! For the 24 hours of free internet, is it a 24 hour period (like 7am Monday - 7am Tuesday), or is it accumulative, meaning I can use it a bit each day?

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, mommamiller04 said:

This will be our first cruise at Diamond level. I didn't realize we got so many things! For the 24 hours of free internet, is it a 24 hour period (like 7am Monday - 7am Tuesday), or is it accumulative, meaning I can use it a bit each day?

 

Continuous 24 hour period.