WHY the big goal to become Pinacle ?? ..

[mo&fran]

18 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Well that's pretty sad.  I read that to mean that most of the Pinnacles they see in PC are not very nice.

Maybe she had a string of bad ones that day. Most of the Pinns I have met are pretty low key individuals.  But I have seen some that look like they think  they are pretty special. Like walking around the pool deck  during the day with the pin attached to their tshirt for all to see.  I don't want to be that person. 

[sowhat]

39 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Well that's pretty sad.  I read that to mean that most of the Pinnacles they see in PC are not very nice.

We unknowingly  booked Allure of the seas president's  cruise in  2016.
While  on board a number of pinnacles with their pins on, very  rudely  informed  us that we were  not  allowed  in  any C&A lounge.
This made us feel unwelcome  when pinnacles look down at us minions.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

LOL...good memory you have!  😉   Nope, "Diamond Dolly"...Bucky's little stuffed Dolphin, has a Diamond pin, D+ pin, and one of the star class pins from the Alaskan railroad.  She does not have enough points to make it to Pinnie yet.  😄 😄 

DW has a walker she has nicknamed Winnie. Winnie wears the pins, making her Pinnie Winnie Walker😇

Now I wonder if I can take her as a dependent on my tax return😂

[alfaeric]

4 hours ago, vjmatty said:

 

No vitriol from me.... I bow in solemn reverence whenever I see a Pin-pin.

I’ll wear my special ring for you to kiss. 

[xpcdoojk]

On 8/8/2022 at 6:00 AM, BND said:

I know you meant the CL, not the DL lol.  As D we only ever had the D event and then the DL.  As D+, we've had CL on Vision class and still did on EN this past Apr and July, but the CL isn't any different than the DL except it's smaller.  But, by the time we made D+ several years ago, a lot had changed.  I honestly don't remember when we hit D or D+, except I know we were D on our last couple of Explorer cruises out of NJ because of the D event held up in the game room off the VCL which was all glass and hot.

Only time I was able to access the CL was on the Radiance in 2018 (we are D+) and it was a blessing, as the DL was packed to the max.  Most of the other ships, we could have accessed it were too full of Pins and they closed the CL access to us.  

 

We will likely never reach Pin, but who knows when we retire, may discover we hate our future Airstream and the National Parks.  Otherwise, at 1 to 2 cruises a year, it will take another 20 years.  If I tire of the FlowRider, I would go back to the itinerary first way of cruising.  Although, I appreciate the C&A benefits very much.

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

On 8/8/2022 at 6:31 AM, little britain said:

3 weeks on solo grandeur got me 98 and b2b on voyager got me 78. It quickly adds up! 

I keep telling DH that he will reap the rewards of my selfless hard work in November.

 

You are a very good wife.  Doing all of that selfless work for him.  😆😆

 

jc<——— your friend

[xpcdoojk]

On 8/8/2022 at 9:15 AM, firefly333 said:

Lol you keep cancelling cruises we both are on. I'd be glad to give them to you. 

Book my cruises!  I rarely cancel.  I will drink your extras!😆

[xpcdoojk]

On 8/8/2022 at 9:32 AM, twangster said:

 

In fairness Voom usually works, it just isn't what people expect anymore.  If a time traveling cruiser teleported from 2015 to the worst ship in the fleet for internet today, that time traveler would likely think Voom is great while half the people who bought it for the same cruise would be complaining. 

 

We changed while Voom did not.   I'm sure in a another few years Royal will do something about it.  

Don’t worry, fairness is not his thing.  🤪

[xpcdoojk]

On 8/10/2022 at 12:17 PM, island lady said:

 

Bucky wears his only for events, or formal night.   Me, I try to wear it when I can, and am sometimes actually shocked at unexpected doors that become open to us.  

 

If wearing my pin annoys the paranoid types...then yes...my job is done.  😄 

I am not big anti of wearing the pin.  I just can’t imagine wearing the name badge.  That one I will never do.  If I did it wouldn’t have my actual name on it.  🤣

 

 

[John&LaLa]

On 8/7/2022 at 2:12 PM, reallyitsmema said:

 

Some people like to wear cheap nametags.

 

That cheap nametag opens a lot of doors. 

 

That's a fact😇

[John&LaLa]

On 8/7/2022 at 2:12 PM, sowhat said:

Pinnacle  does not mean nothing these days.
With double  points, there are new pinnacles  on each sailing across  the fleet

 

 

Plenty of value, why so sour?

[John&LaLa]

On 8/7/2022 at 7:00 PM, Vibe said:

There was a time when the Crown and Anchor program was updated. Any past cruise already taken that was less than 7 days (example: 3 and 4 day cruises ) were automatically pushed up to 7 points.  Many retired Floridians who were jumping on those short cruises for cheap prices, sometimes as low as a $100 per person suddenly got a large point increase pushing up their Crown and Anchor status significantly.

 

FWIW, at the time of the conversion, there were under 200 Pinnacles in total. I kinda equate your reasoning to an urban myth.

 

What really swelled the ranks was the bonus point for solo cruisers

[John&LaLa]

On 8/7/2022 at 7:30 PM, BND said:

Yes, that's when they updated the entire system and added Emerald which cost us making D by one cruise,.  There were a lot of Floridians who did very short cruises, including cruises to nowhere who didn't have as many nights as others.  One point for 7 nights, one point for 2 or 3 nights.  They had to fix it.  There were a lot of deals for those short voyages.  So, their 700 points aren't what our eventual 700 points will be.  We've only done 3 cruises of less than 7 nights (5 and 6) and actually did more 10+ nights than anything else.  But for longer cruises before the change we got an extra point.  Our RCI cruises (27 or so) have all been in a JS or GS except one, so we've paid a bit to get the almost 500 we have.

 

They used to do short cruises out of CA as well back then😉

[Vibe]

2 minutes ago, John&amp;LaLa said:

 

FWIW, at the time of the conversion, there were under 200 Pinnacles in total. I kinda equate your reasoning to an urban myth.

 

What really swelled the ranks was the bonus point for solo cruisers

That conversion probably pushed may people higher up in Diamond Plus getting them closer to eventually becoming Pinnacle

[ReneeFLL]

On 8/9/2022 at 8:38 AM, FamilyCruiserUK said:

As a platinum member( i think thats how we introduce ourselves) i will prob never get to pinacle and tbh im not really bothered. Yes freebees always good but i enjoy the cruise experience and locations. So if i get a better deal elsewhere than royal i will try out that company. ,😁

I don’t think I have ever met anyone who introduced themselves as being platinum.

 

On 8/9/2022 at 3:56 PM, yogimax said:

Is living in Florida a "strategy?"

 

Seriously, RCCL should reward those of us who have to pay to fly 1000 miles or more to get to a cruise.

If it’s a strategy then we should thank the Navy for that since that’s who got us here in the first place and the airlines for keeping us here.
 

On 8/9/2022 at 7:53 PM, bonsai3s said:

Holy canoli!!!...SummerBeee, we've flown to just about 90% of all our cruises...don't even want to think how much we've spent on airfare...but not complaining. Life is short...we love to travel...just happy to be cruising again.

 

Responded recently (Ask a cruise question - New Cruisers) to a question on farthest embarkation we had to fly to...here's a few we've done:

- San Francisco to Istanbul.

- SF to Sydney.

- SF - Beijing (Tianjin)

- SF to Dubai.

- SF to Bangkok (Laem Chabang)

-SF to Argentina

- SF to Santiago, Chile...relatively short flight but got stuck in traffic for 7 hours on the way to the port.

- SF to Venice, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, and next week to Copenhagen.

 

* I've never worn my Pinnacle pin. 

How in the world did you get stuck for 7 hours? Wasn’t there a way around it? Ugh, I hate bad traffic!

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[John&LaLa]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:21 AM, Toddcan said:

Pinnacle just happens. It's the journey, and not the destination. 

 

When it happens... - cool - enjoy the perks. But cruising "to get to pinnacle" probably isn't a thing until you are a handful of points away. 

 

For us, the Pinnacle push started close to 100 points out. Booked about 8 JS's over 3 months

[John&LaLa]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:25 AM, Jimbo said:

Free Wifi really gets you nothing since half the time the Wifi doesn't work correctly...All free Wifi does is save you from visiting guest relations desk and asking for credit when your Wifi wasn't working. Time  and Aggravation Saver.

 

Huh, I wonder how all my Live reviews ended up getting posted🤔

[John&LaLa]

On 8/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, HBE4 said:

 

You can always live on a cruise ship but you can't cruise in a second house. 😇

 

Houseboat or Land Yacht😉

[John&LaLa]

On 8/8/2022 at 4:48 PM, orville99 said:

Before Covid hit we actually priced out what it would cost to book a 52 week B2B on Brilliance😇, and it was actually less expensive to do that than what it would have cost if we went into a local assisted living facility instead. At some point, a cruise ship will become our second home.

 

Must be a swank assisted living facilty to exceed the cost of 52 weeks in a suite

[John&LaLa]

On 8/9/2022 at 8:55 PM, topnole said:

I’m not disagreeing with you.   In fact I think we are saying the same thing.  Everyone is different and we all have our different reasons.  I’m simply saying that a lot of pinnacles don’t just one day become pinnacles because they only cruised and enjoyed the journey (as was stated by a prior poster).  While they have obviously enjoyed the journey, many strategize a lot to either get there quicker or make it happen.   And I’m more than certain many are cruising a lot more than they would have in 2022 for all the extra points.  So I absolutely believe many engage in behavior they wouldn’t have otherwise to get more points and this gain ground in a given level of stays.  
 

Again, there is nothing wrong with this. I’d find it odd if people didn’t work the system to get the most out of it and I’m sure we have all done it.  But to claim all pinnacles or any other high status just cruise and one day it just happens is silly.   For many, there is a lot of attention and time put into maximizing points along the way.  It is most certainly an end game for some or many.  
 

But with all that said, I still think we agreeing with each other.  It would be somewhat irrational for someone not to care and not strategize.   One can also enjoy the journey while doing that.   I’ve done both.  

 

Our 2021 and 2022 trips in total are nowhere near as prevalent as 2018 and 2019 individually. But we are getting more points temporarily

[John&LaLa]

On 8/10/2022 at 11:57 AM, twangster said:

The truth is I only pursued Pinnacle so I could access the Suite Lounge without booking a suite. 😱

 

 

JK!!!!

 

We solidified our decision to push for Pinnacle after the first meal we enjoyed in CK on Allure in 2016. That also coincided with Oasis coming to PC the following year. 

 

Sadly, CK changed and it's no longer the draw it was when it first came out😪

[John&LaLa]

6 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

I am not big anti of wearing the pin.  I just can’t imagine wearing the name badge.  That one I will never do.  If I did it wouldn’t have my actual name on it.  🤣

 

 

 

You can request whatever you want

 

Within reason 

 

I'd like to do a license plate type of name for fun

[topnole]

15 minutes ago, John&amp;LaLa said:

 

Our 2021 and 2022 trips in total are nowhere near as prevalent as 2018 and 2019 individually. But we are getting more points temporarily

You are pinnacle, so there obviously isn’t any need for you to do anything other than enjoy your newscastle in the SL when you decide to cruise. 😀😀.  🍺

 

But I’m sure many d/d+ are cranking out cruises to get to pinnacle and enjoy that free internet and SL with you.  One would hope Royal has done the math on this, or benefits at many levels may have to change.  Only so many pinnacles can’t fit in a suite lounge for example.  
 

 

[brillohead]

24 minutes ago, John&amp;LaLa said:

You can request whatever you want

 

Within reason 

 

I'd like to do a license plate type of name for fun

I'll have to get "brillohead" on mine! 🤣

[John&LaLa]

16 minutes ago, topnole said:

You are pinnacle, so there obviously isn’t any need for you to do anything other than enjoy your newscastle in the SL when you decide to cruise. 😀😀.  🍺

 

But I’m sure many d/d+ are cranking out cruises to get to pinnacle and enjoy that free internet and SL with you.  One would hope Royal has done the math on this, or benefits at many levels may have to change.  Only so many pinnacles can’t fit in a suite lounge for example.  
 

 

SL really not a draw anymore now that voychers are required.

 

My Newcastle week occurred while sailing in a CLS. Not sure I could make that request as a lowly Pinnacle