NO LONGER PERMITTED TO BRING GUESTS TO THE COASTAL KITCHEN FOR DINNER ON THE ALLURE

[Milwaukee Eight]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Limiting folks, or allowing exceptions. 🤔

 

 

Restricting anyone from bringing anyone that wasn’t a P or Suite Guest. 

[HOSKI]

15 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I would think if the daughter was sailing by herself in another cabin...she would not have been a minor.  

Actually no because minors can be right across from or next to their parents.  My question was actually for minors not adult children. 

[Arzeena]

On 5/15/2019 at 12:53 PM, island lady said:

 

Thanks...we are taking it very hard.  She was my little angel baby, did not quite make it to 16.  She is the picture on my Avatar.  Miss her terribly.  Cancer sucks.  

Sorry to hear that.

[island lady]

22 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Sounds like TA or long Med cruise is long overdue 

 

Could not get anything decent on a TA for end of 2020.  Very frustrating.  😞 

 

Soooo...I did something even better.  46 night B2B2B2B on Serenade doing Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, and ending in Hawaii Spring of 2021.  😉 Plus added another leg on PR trip on Vision this January.  🙂  Still waiting to add another leg on Serenade in May 2021 when dates are released.  

 

Might have to end up putting the "land yacht" up on blocks.  😄 

Edited May 17, 2019 by island lady

[island lady]

22 hours ago, molly361 said:

Now if they would only stop allowing those darn Pin's in there!!!!😇🍸

 

LOL   😄 

[island lady]

9 hours ago, HOSKI said:

Actually no because minors can be right across from or next to their parents.  My question was actually for minors not adult children. 

 

That statement was for John (STANMELB), who was talking about a couple in a Suite that could not bring in their daughter who was" in a regular balcony cabin".   Not your kids in the cabin across from you.  

Edited May 17, 2019 by island lady

[TeeRick]

A couple of years ago we were allowed 2 guests on Anthem in the CK if we cleared it with the Maitre 'D first the day before.  I guess this new policy is required if the CK's have become very crowded.  Perhaps RCCL could look into what Celebrity does with their suite restaurant Luminae.  You can bring guests if you are a suite passenger if you pay extra for them.  $30pp dinner, $20 lunch, $10 breakfast.  Again must arrange in advance and subject to availability.  In general non-peak dining times. But still cheaper than a specialty restaurant. That would help if you are traveling with another couple or family not in a suite.  At least you have an option.

[island lady]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

A couple of years ago we were allowed 2 guests on Anthem in the CK if we cleared it with the Maitre 'D first the day before.  I guess this new policy is required if the CK's have become very crowded.  Perhaps RCCL could look into what Celebrity does with their suite restaurant Luminae.  You can bring guests if you are a suite passenger if you pay extra for them.  $30pp dinner, $20 lunch, $10 breakfast.  Again must arrange in advance and subject to availability.  In general non-peak dining times. But still cheaper than a specialty restaurant. That would help if you are traveling with another couple or family not in a suite.  At least you have an option.

 

I don't think it is so much with just paying extra for your guests...it's the size of CK and the limited amount of seats available.  With the crowding, RCI is looking to keep full suite pax and Pinnies happy.  Guessing it won't be long until JS pax won't have access either.  Their sea pass cards won't work in the door anyway.  

[Milwaukee Eight]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I don't think it is so much with just paying extra for your guests...it's the size of CK and the limited amount of seats available.  With the crowding, RCI is looking to keep full suite pax and Pinnies happy.  Guessing it won't be long until JS pax won't have access either.  Their sea pass cards won't work in the door anyway.  

I can see that coming on select cruises. On ours, guests in GS couldn’t get a reservation all week, no times available. 

[davekathy]

On 5/15/2019 at 9:03 AM, island lady said:

 

Awww John...only Pinnies and Junior Suites?  Can't I get in as well just sailing in a lowly GS and not Pinnie?  😉 😄

 

Hope you are having a fantabulous cruise...say "Hi" to Sandy for us.  We board Mariner on 6/3...little trip before heading up to Maine.  BTW...very sad news (for me anyway).  "Miss Kitty" passed away last Friday.  😞 

Pat, I'm sorry to hear of Miss Kitty's passing. She was part of the Royal DS family. 

[poncho1973]

This is great news!

[DShock]

GREAT NEWS!!  Glad RCCL steps up on stuff like this!

[TeeRick]

5 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I don't think it is so much with just paying extra for your guests...it's the size of CK and the limited amount of seats available.  With the crowding, RCI is looking to keep full suite pax and Pinnies happy.  Guessing it won't be long until JS pax won't have access either.  Their sea pass cards won't work in the door anyway.  

Yes CK is limited in dinner seating in particular so what might they do?  1) They could eliminate Jr Suite guests entirely. Might not solve the problem since this is already being practiced by current prioritization. 2) They could just make it all suite guests (including Jr Suite) and exclude pinnacles. That would cause an uproar here I'm sure! 3) They could go Star Class only or Star Class plus Pinnacles.  Maybe that would be acceptable.  But Star Class already gets unlimited specialty dining so maybe another solution is to eliminate Star Class!  Just have them go to specialties for dinner.  That is kind of outta the box but why not?  4)It seems the most logical solution might be to add specialty dining deep discounts or outright free comps to those suite guests that cannot get a reservation in CK on any particular evening.

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I can see that coming on select cruises. On ours, guests in GS couldn’t get a reservation all week, no times available. 

 

So that's once out of 5 times that you saw a problem🤔

 

I'll bet guests in a GS could have gotten reservations if they had bothered to book in advance. 

[John&LaLa]

39 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Yes CK is limited in dinner seating in particular so what might they do?  1) They could eliminate Jr Suite guests entirely. Might not solve the problem since this is already being practiced by current prioritization. 2) They could just make it all suite guests (including Jr Suite) and exclude pinnacles. That would cause an uproar here I'm sure! 3) They could go Star Class only or Star Class plus Pinnacles.  Maybe that would be acceptable.  But Star Class already gets unlimited specialty dining so maybe another solution is to eliminate Star Class!  Just have them go to specialties for dinner.  That is kind of outta the box but why not?  4)It seems the most logical solution might be to add specialty dining deep discounts or outright free comps to those suite guests that cannot get a reservation in CK on any particular evening.

 

On any given night, at least 100 Sky/Star Class guests can not eat there, regardless of weather a single JS or Pinnacle is in there. It's just not big enough. (The kitchen and the staff, not just the actual tables)

 

BTW, I was told by some Star Class guests that they like SL and CK for the views. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by John&LaLa

[lovescats5]

So now you guys want to kick the highest paying rooms on board out of the CK.  What a great solution.  It is listed as a place for Star Class so maybe the rest of the suites and Pinnys should just go someplace else for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  We pay to be able to use the CK by paying for Star Class.  Or maybe, the other suites should book the CK before they sail and maybe they will be able to eat there.  We do not always eat at a specialty restaurant because we like the view from the CK and we like to have some meals there.  Since RCI is taking some Star Class rooms and turning them into Sky Class rooms maybe we should complain about that.  We almost booked a Sky Loft on the Anthem for Star Class and when we sailed it had been changed into a Sky Class.  That would really have made me mad.

[Milwaukee Eight]

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

So that's once out of 5 times that you saw a problem🤔

 

I'll bet guests in a GS could have gotten reservations if they had bothered to book in advance. 

The Guests were first time GS cruisers and where unaware of booking in advance. The letter from the Concierge is not clear that you should do so. 

 

To your first statement. Yes, of the 5, first time we sailed in the Pinnacle rich season. Most other times were in season. 

 

Regardless, Royal should have handled the high numbers much better than they did. 

Edited May 18, 2019 by Milwaukee Eight

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

The Guests were first time GS cruisers and where unaware of booking in advance. The letter from the Concierge is not clear that you should do so. 

 

To your first statement. Yes, of the 5, first time we sailed in the Pinnacle rich season. Most other times were in season. 

 

I guess Checker and Mohammed dropped the ball then. Did you let them know their letter is inadequate?

 

Pinnacle season runs from September to May now

Edited May 18, 2019 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

7 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

The Guests were first time GS cruisers and where unaware of booking in advance. The letter from the Concierge is not clear that you should do so. 

 

To your first statement. Yes, of the 5, first time we sailed in the Pinnacle rich season. Most other times were in season. 

 

Regardless, Royal should have handled the high numbers much better than they did. 

 

I thought they did a good job with what they had to work with. But we dont go up there 24/7. It's not intended to be used that way. There was so much other stuff going on anyway.

 

FWIW we only do CK dinner about 3 times a week. I do like going up there to play cards in early afternoon 

[Milwaukee Eight]

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I guess Checker and Mohammed dropped the ball then. Did you let them know their letter is inadequate?

It says Reservations required for CK Dinner but they assumed they could make them once onboard. I knew better, but didn’t matter as we were never seated at or near or reserved time. Once 45 minutes late. We had two P’s take our reserved seats one evening. They were told nothing was available and saw the empty table that was just cleaned for us, then said something like, we will just sit there and took the table. We were told they were P’s and they had their badges on. 

 

No we didn’t as with experience we learned to make them in advance (reservations). 

[Milwaukee Eight]

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I thought they did a good job with what they had to work with. But we dont go up there 24/7. It's not intended to be used that way. There was so much other stuff going on anyway.

 

FWIW we only do CK dinner about 3 times a week. I do like going up there to play cards in early afternoon 

We didn’t complain. I guess we should have as I heard some Suite Guest got a full fare FCC because of the Suite Experience on this cruise. 

[A&L_Ont]

M8 and John I’m OK with “Pinnacle Season”.  I not good with RC Hosted Sailings such as The Presidents Cruise. I’d avoid it like the plague as well as the sailings on each side of it. It wouldn’t matter if I was in a suite or Pinnacle. It is just not my thing.

 

I'm not really sure what I’d do if one of my fall cruises happened to become a special event sailing.  I do know that I would be looking for alternative sailings. 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

8 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Pinnacle season runs from September to May now 

And I thought it was 75 to 90!🤔😋

[TeeRick]

11 hours ago, lovescats5 said:

So now you guys want to kick the highest paying rooms on board out of the CK.  What a great solution.  It is listed as a place for Star Class so maybe the rest of the suites and Pinnys should just go someplace else for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  We pay to be able to use the CK by paying for Star Class.  Or maybe, the other suites should book the CK before they sail and maybe they will be able to eat there.  We do not always eat at a specialty restaurant because we like the view from the CK and we like to have some meals there.  Since RCI is taking some Star Class rooms and turning them into Sky Class rooms maybe we should complain about that.  We almost booked a Sky Loft on the Anthem for Star Class and when we sailed it had been changed into a Sky Class.  That would really have made me mad.

My post was just throwing out a set of ideas and options for discussion here.  You focused on one idea that I admitted was "out of the box".  I did conclude that the best way (IMO) to handle CK overcrowding is to comp any suite guest in specialty dining if they could not get a CK reservation.  Particularly since they paid already for CK in their nightly rate.  

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

M8 and John I’m OK with “Pinnacle Season”.  I not good with RC Hosted Sailings such as The Presidents Cruise. I’d avoid it like the plague as well as the sailings on each side of it. It wouldn’t matter if I was in a suite or Pinnacle. It is just not my thing.

 

I'm not really sure what I’d do if one of my fall cruises happened to become a special event sailing.  I do know that I would be looking for alternative sailings. 

 

I get it, that would suck.