Minors losing their Diamond status…

[BND]

8 hours ago, RobInMN said:

Yes, I understand all that, and don't necessarily disagree with you, but where do you draw the line? Right now, there is no line, it goes on forever. Anecdotal evidence says that once granted a status, D or D+ specifically, you never seem to lose it, and can, in turn, grant it to many others. Pretty sure there's even been evidence that Pinnacle from a spouse is never taken away if the Pinnacle spouse passes, and the Pinnacle status has been passed onto the spouse's new spouse. I believe that reported evidence says that the only status actually removed is Pinnacle from kids.

My idea for solving this is would be that everyone in the same family group gets the status of the highest earned status of a member of the group for that cruise. Be that Gold or D+. Pinnacle may be different, I'd have to think about that. Maybe everyone else just gets D+? 

Let's say you're D+ now, and your daughters are both D. In my plan, that would mean that your entire travel group, including SIL and daughter's BF would enjoy D+ status while they travelled with you. If your daughter and SIL traveled alone, they would both be D. 

If your oldest breaks up with her BF, and he goes on a cruise with his new GF, they would just be Gold or Platinum or whatever status he earned on his own.

Right now, if you get your daughter's BF Diamond status (which they will surely do as they reside at the same address), he would keep that status forever (unless he earns enough on his own to go D+ or above), and even grant that to his new GF or wife or whatever, and then their kids if they have any. It's pretty ridiculous if you think about it.

Under my plan, that could also apply to a situation we have coming up next year. My wife & I are D+. Her sister and BIL are possibly Platinum, maybe even just Gold. We are travelling together for a 2 week Panama Canal cruise next spring. My plan would would allow our whole group to enjoy our D+ status during that cruise.

Sure, the drinks and other things don't amount to much for RCL And in the grand scheme of things probably isn't even noticeable to RCLs bottom line. I completely agree that family groups travelling together should be able to stay together and not be split up by status. and I think that was the original intent to the policy. But there's a principle that just doesn't seem right when it's infinitely and permanently transferrable. If someone earns D+ while their kids are still under 18, that D+ status is inherited generation to generation forever. It's like a family trust fund or something. And lthere's no accounting for divorces or breakups.

What do you consider a "family group"?  What if someone is bringing their "family" on a cruise for a anniversary celebration and they have 50 people in their group?  By your logic they should all get the highest status.  I don't get this idea that people would have to hang out "in the hall" as drinks are now loaded on seapasses and can be shared.  A lot of people never go in the lounge either.  We've traveled with friends who were gold on RCI back about 8 years ago when they gave the 3 coupons in addition to free drinks in the lounge.  DH and I would go to the lounge for 1/2 hour or so and grab a drink and snack and then we'd meet our friends for pre-dinner drinks and share our coupons.  We have friends who do that with their family members all the time.  There has to be a limit.  Everyone who says "it's just one more person", well, it's just one more for YOUR group, but it could be a few hundred on the large ships.  

Edited May 20, 2023 by BND

[lovescats5]

• So my granddaughter is D+, she sailed for every one of those points.  But she has always taken her teddy bear so teddy bear is also D+.  Now if teddy bear goes on another cruise and brings her new mate can we go to loyalty ambassador and get the new teddy bear D+ status?  Just asking for a friend.  Not sure how I feel about people getting status just because they sail once with parent.  Somehow it doesn't seem fair that we have to get on the ship to get the status and a child just has to sail once to get the status.  But they still need their points to reach a different level.  And, yet we cruise because we love to and the points are an added bonus.
•  

[billslowsky]

15 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Sorry but not sure I agree when a child who gathers point while traveling with parents and then is an adult now gets a spouse to have full points too.

not sure that is really fair.

It doesn't work that way with adults either.  I have Diamond because my wife has more cruises than I do.  But if I cruise solo, I am Diamond but the points I accrue really don't get us closer to D+.

[fpcruiser]

I remember reading a while back that the poster put down their boyfriend/girlfriend as having the same address(living together), they weren't living together. She then got Royal to change friends status to her status. Abuse of system, yes. Now suppose couple are no longer a couple. Newly appointed Diamond member has new significant other and has their status changed to Diamond. How far could this abuse go on?

[Bruin Steve]

I cannot believe all of the posters here who don't think my son-in-law should get Diamond status so he can enjoy benefits with his wife (who has "EARNED" Diamond status by virtue of actual cruises sailed--and sailed at high season rates in balconies and suites...even if WE paid the fares for her).  Why?  Just because they think it somehow hurts THEIR Diamond benefits...

 

Seriously?  Crown & Anchor means very little...The cruise line can change or take away benefits ANY TIME...and they have.  As Diamond Plus, up until very recently, I received a couple of free beers or sodas in my cabin each cruise, now it's just water.  I received a free "gift" like a beach towel or a tote bag, now it's just a cheap bottle of wine.  You really think they downgraded the benefits because of a few spouses granted status?  Doubt it.  Those perks were per cabin, not per member.  It is purely budgetary and they have options.  Do you know how much those four or five drink vouchers costs them?  They may charge $10-14 per drink, but their cost is around fifty cents per drink.  They could give EVERYONE five drink vouchers a day and just raise the prices a few dollars a night...and NOBODY would notice.

 

Crown & Anchor is just marketing.  Give away a few minor items and blend it into your overall pricing...and people think they are "special"...and they book more cruises.  So, if YOU run a cruise line, do you want MORE potentil customers to feel they are special?  OR would you rather have FEWER customers thinking they are MORE special?  Which sells more cruises?

 

Over at Celebrity, BTW, we've been Elite Plus for a LONG time.  The basic perks used to be...A dedicated lounge, Michael's Club, with free unlimited drinks and appetizers each night pre-dinner, a large number of free internet minutes, two free bags of laundry per person...and a lot more.  First, they took away Michael's Club (made that the Suite lounge)...and moved the drinking hours to the much larger sky lounge...then they took that away and made it a couple of vouchers.  Of course, the excuse was they had to...too many Elite members...

 

Why did they suddenly have so many Elite members?  It WASN'T because of extending Elite status to spouses.  That is just a drop in the bucket.  The reason the Elite numbers exploded?  "Reciprocity" extended to RCCL Crown & Anchor members!  Yup...Automatic status for customers of a cruise line with 26 ships many that carry up to 6,000 passengers per cruise looking to book on a cruise line with 10-12 ships, none of which carry as much as 3,000 passengers.   We are talking about numbers of potential RCCL customers that dwarfed Celebrity's existing Elite numbers.  

 

Of course, you might ask, why do that?  Easy.  It's a LARGE NUMBER OF NEW POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS!  You really think the cruise line wants to pass that up just to keep the lounges the way they were and the few current passengers happier?

 

And, of course, Celebrity, not that long ago, started marketing "All-inclusive" fares as the default.  So, if you pretty much have to buy unlimited drinks and wifi, what value is left in Elite perks?  Well, we get those free laundry bags.

 

And, seriously, Crown & Anchor or Captains Club should NEVER be the reason any of us cruise.  We cruise to be treated well, to be fed, to be entertained and to travel to interesting places.  MOST of the loyalty perks can be purchased for a very small amount of money.  If they give them away, it's because they're making that money back...from you.  Buy the cruise you want, pay the price they ask.  All Crown & Anchor can really do is to keep your experience SMOOTH...and, for us, that means, when we've booked three balconies for six family members and, considering the LARGE amounts of money we've put into (and continue to put into) Royal Caribbean's coffers, they can make things perfectly smooth for us--including letting us bring all six of us into the Diamond Club and Crown & Anchor events. 

 

[twangster]

30 minutes ago, fpcruiser said:

I remember reading a while back that the poster put down their boyfriend/girlfriend as having the same address(living together), they weren't living together. She then got Royal to change friends status to her status. Abuse of system, yes. Now suppose couple are no longer a couple. Newly appointed Diamond member has new significant other and has their status changed to Diamond. How far could this abuse go on?

 

Abuse is wrong.  It always has been and always will be.  All that's needed if they are concerned about abuse is to find a way to enforce it.  Asking to see a DL at check in.  "Let's make sure your address is correct in the system."   Of course that slows down the check in process.   

 

If the abuse gets bad enough then they may have to deal with.  

 

I've heard of people who use a friend to earn an unjustified military discount at Lowes.  That too is abuse. 

 

Some people can't help but to scam the system.    

 

 

 

[Bruin Steve]

46 minutes ago, fpcruiser said:

I remember reading a while back that the poster put down their boyfriend/girlfriend as having the same address(living together), they weren't living together. She then got Royal to change friends status to her status. Abuse of system, yes. Now suppose couple are no longer a couple. Newly appointed Diamond member has new significant other and has their status changed to Diamond. How far could this abuse go on?

And you and your spouse can divorce as well...

What should a cruise line do?  Maybe run a records search on everyone's marriage status, then audit financial records and only grant Diamond Status to the one who actually earned the money to pay for the cruises?  Maybe they should require everyone to show up at check-in with a notarized and certified copy of a marriage license and an affidavit from a County Registrar's office testifying that no divorce or separation papers have been filed?  Maybe they should require everyone to show up at the pier with proof that they, individually, actually cruised and paid for each and every cruise that went into their C&A status?

 

BUT, DO THEY CARE?   AND SHOULD THEY?  It's MARKETING.  They give away a few low-cost freebies and people book more cruises.  Costs them a few bucks a cruise...and they more than make up for it in cruise fare, gambling, gift shop purchases, shore excursions, spa treatments, etc.  Some people book becase they don't get the perks and want them.  Others book to try to move up to higher levels of perks.  Others book because they get the perks and think they're worth more than they are.  IT WORKS.  If it works for you as well, why do you care who else gets it? 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Bruin Steve

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

If it works for you as well, why do you care who else gets it? 

Cue the "but I can't get a window seat because of all the ill-gotten Ds in the DL" posts........

[graciekelli]

I'm sorry if I made this confusing.  I just used the title from the prior post that closed because I commented on some questions about Diamond status as kids, but now an adult married to a never cruised before spouse and I just wanted to let you all know what happened on their cruise.  Not trying to be decieving or "clickbait" geez....

[cruiseboy89130]

9 hours ago, twangster said:

Averaged over 30 or 40 cruises the typical distribution I saw was gold at 43%, platinum at 19%, emerald at 9%, diamond at 18%, diamond plus at 10% and pinnacle at 1%. 

Our last TA had 30% below D 40 % D+ 25% P 5%

[twangster]

2 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Our last TA had 30% below D 40 % D+ 25% P 5%

 

Like I said...

 

A president's cruise and other non-typical cruises like a transatlantic may deviate but those are relatively few cruises compared to the bulk of cruises such as the Florida 3/4 or 7 night cruises that dominate the industry.  

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by twangster

[BND]

8 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

I cannot believe all of the posters here who don't think my son-in-law should get Diamond status so he can enjoy benefits with his wife (who has "EARNED" Diamond status by virtue of actual cruises sailed--and sailed at high season rates in balconies and suites...even if WE paid the fares for her).  Why?  Just because they think it somehow hurts THEIR Diamond benefits...

 

Seriously?  Crown & Anchor means very little...The cruise line can change or take away benefits ANY TIME...and they have.  As Diamond Plus, up until very recently, I received a couple of free beers or sodas in my cabin each cruise, now it's just water.  I received a free "gift" like a beach towel or a tote bag, now it's just a cheap bottle of wine.  You really think they downgraded the benefits because of a few spouses granted status?  Doubt it.  Those perks were per cabin, not per member.  It is purely budgetary and they have options.  Do you know how much those four or five drink vouchers costs them?  They may charge $10-14 per drink, but their cost is around fifty cents per drink.  They could give EVERYONE five drink vouchers a day and just raise the prices a few dollars a night...and NOBODY would notice.

 

 

I see you don't like the answers you are getting.  I didn't realize that you get to control how others feel.  Also, if C&Ameans "very little", then why are you so wound up about it?

[RobInMN]

9 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

I cannot believe all of the posters here who don't think my son-in-law should get Diamond status so he can enjoy benefits with his wife (who has "EARNED" Diamond status by virtue of actual cruises sailed--and sailed at high season rates in balconies and suites...even if WE paid the fares for her). 

I don't think anyone has said anything of the sort. The older daughter's BF might be a different situation.

I am in 100% complete agreement that a person should be able to share their higher C&A status with their spouse. And I also have no problem with a minor child being able to share their parent's status when they are traveling as a family. And I think most people are also fine with that.

Further, I am fine with the daughter's BF sharing the D status while on the cruise, or even as long as they are married. 

The problem I have, and some others appear to agree, is that the way RCL runs it, you never, ever loose that higher status. Whether you are now an adult and traveling on your own, or got divorced or what have you. And not only that, you can bestow your "unearned" status on others. For instance, once your daughter's BF is granted D status, he will forever have D status (or above), even if they break up. Not only that, but let's say this is the only cruise you do with him and they break up. He then takes his next cruise with a different GF, the loyalty ambassador will grant her your daughter's D status just like he got it from her. And if they break up, she can do the same. It's infinitely transferable.

There was another long thread a couple summers ago. I am pretty sure there was a Pinnacle that got their Pinnacle status from their spouse, the the spouse died. They kept the status, and now were bringing a new date/finance/spouse on their first cruise, that individual was going to get the Pinnacle status. Even though RCL's own C&A T&Cs says that Pinnacle has to be earned. The other situation that was brought up multiple times was a couple that earned D+ while their kids were minors, so their kids got D+ (unearned). They passed it onto their spouses (yeah, ok, fine), but then their kids were automatically D+ on their first cruise since kids share their parent's status, even if the parents never earned it themselves. The system as-is is ripe for abuse.

That's what I was trying to solve with the my idea that everyone in the family group travelling together shares the the status of the highest C&A member of the group, but only during that cruise.

It's temporary for the cruise and not a permanent grant. If there is a divorce or break up, they revert to their earned status. Also, once children become adults and travel on their own, they revert to their earned status, and their kids only share their earned status.

Take this situation for instance. Someone posted once how they turned D while their daughter was 21, and their son was 17. On the next cruise the son shared their D status, but the daughter was stuck at Platinum. He got 4 drink vouchers and she didn't. My idea would solve this.

We were still Platinum when my daughter turned 18/19. She is now 23, she's Platinum on her own. We are cruising with her and her BF this fall. They live together, and we will probably have him status matched to her Platinum (not that it really matters). It would be nice if we could all share our D+ status since we will be on Allure, and that is suppose to be the nicest Diamond lounge in the fleet. But since they won't be able to go in, We probably won't do anything other than just peek in one day.

 

 

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

We are cruising with her and her BF this fall. They live together, and we will probably have him status matched to her Platinum (not that it really matters).

Make sure you cancel BF's status match if they break up.  😄

[firefly333]

57 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

I don't think anyone has said anything of the sort. The older daughter's BF might be a different situation.

I am in 100% complete agreement that a person should be able to share their higher C&A status with their spouse. And I also have no problem with a minor child being able to share their parent's status when they are traveling as a family. And I think most people are also fine with that.

Further, I am fine with the daughter's BF sharing the D status while on the cruise, or even as long as they are married. 

The problem I have, and some others appear to agree, is that the way RCL runs it, you never, ever loose that higher status. Whether you are now an adult and traveling on your own, or got divorced or what have you. And not only that, you can bestow your "unearned" status on others. For instance, once your daughter's BF is granted D status, he will forever have D status (or above), even if they break up. Not only that, but let's say this is the only cruise you do with him and they break up. He then takes his next cruise with a different GF, the loyalty ambassador will grant her your daughter's D status just like he got it from her. And if they break up, she can do the same. It's infinitely transferable.

There was another long thread a couple summers ago. I am pretty sure there was a Pinnacle that got their Pinnacle status from their spouse, the the spouse died. They kept the status, and now were bringing a new date/finance/spouse on their first cruise, that individual was going to get the Pinnacle status. Even though RCL's own C&A T&Cs says that Pinnacle has to be earned. The other situation that was brought up multiple times was a couple that earned D+ while their kids were minors, so their kids got D+ (unearned). They passed it onto their spouses (yeah, ok, fine), but then their kids were automatically D+ on their first cruise since kids share their parent's status, even if the parents never earned it themselves. The system as-is is ripe for abuse.

That's what I was trying to solve with the my idea that everyone in the family group travelling together shares the the status of the highest C&A member of the group, but only during that cruise.

It's temporary for the cruise and not a permanent grant. If there is a divorce or break up, they revert to their earned status. Also, once children become adults and travel on their own, they revert to their earned status, and their kids only share their earned status.

Take this situation for instance. Someone posted once how they turned D while their daughter was 21, and their son was 17. On the next cruise the son shared their D status, but the daughter was stuck at Platinum. He got 4 drink vouchers and she didn't. My idea would solve this.

We were still Platinum when my daughter turned 18/19. She is now 23, she's Platinum on her own. We are cruising with her and her BF this fall. They live together, and we will probably have him status matched to her Platinum (not that it really matters). It would be nice if we could all share our D+ status since we will be on Allure, and that is suppose to be the nicest Diamond lounge in the fleet. But since they won't be able to go in, We probably won't do anything other than just peek in one day.

 

 

Are you the one who posted you dont like the matching of status for family living together but you have a 2 week panama cruise with friends so for your convenience you want them to be able to status match to you just for those 2 weeks. So because it suits your cruise plans you want your friends to match during your cruise .. but not someone elses SO?

 

I can remember not yet diamond and couldnt go into the diamond lounge with my cabin mate. That wasnt fun, but that's how it was onboard we were told. And we shared a cabin .. but your friends who are not sharing a cabin you want them granted your status during a cruise. 

 

Talk about a bad idea imo. So one D with 10 friends? Or 25? Where would the limit be with your plan where friends of yours shared your status during a cruise. Any pinnacles want to be my friend? How would a friend be verified? 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

6 hours ago, RobInMN said:

I don't think anyone has said anything of the sort. The older daughter's BF might be a different situation.

I am in 100% complete agreement that a person should be able to share their higher C&A status with their spouse. And I also have no problem with a minor child being able to share their parent's status when they are traveling as a family. And I think most people are also fine with that.

Further, I am fine with the daughter's BF sharing the D status while on the cruise, or even as long as they are married. 

The problem I have, and some others appear to agree, is that the way RCL runs it, you never, ever loose that higher status. Whether you are now an adult and traveling on your own, or got divorced or what have you. And not only that, you can bestow your "unearned" status on others. For instance, once your daughter's BF is granted D status, he will forever have D status (or above), even if they break up. Not only that, but let's say this is the only cruise you do with him and they break up. He then takes his next cruise with a different GF, the loyalty ambassador will grant her your daughter's D status just like he got it from her. And if they break up, she can do the same. It's infinitely transferable.

There was another long thread a couple summers ago. I am pretty sure there was a Pinnacle that got their Pinnacle status from their spouse, the the spouse died. They kept the status, and now were bringing a new date/finance/spouse on their first cruise, that individual was going to get the Pinnacle status. Even though RCL's own C&A T&Cs says that Pinnacle has to be earned. The other situation that was brought up multiple times was a couple that earned D+ while their kids were minors, so their kids got D+ (unearned). They passed it onto their spouses (yeah, ok, fine), but then their kids were automatically D+ on their first cruise since kids share their parent's status, even if the parents never earned it themselves. The system as-is is ripe for abuse.

That's what I was trying to solve with the my idea that everyone in the family group travelling together shares the the status of the highest C&A member of the group, but only during that cruise.

It's temporary for the cruise and not a permanent grant. If there is a divorce or break up, they revert to their earned status. Also, once children become adults and travel on their own, they revert to their earned status, and their kids only share their earned status.

Take this situation for instance. Someone posted once how they turned D while their daughter was 21, and their son was 17. On the next cruise the son shared their D status, but the daughter was stuck at Platinum. He got 4 drink vouchers and she didn't. My idea would solve this.

We were still Platinum when my daughter turned 18/19. She is now 23, she's Platinum on her own. We are cruising with her and her BF this fall. They live together, and we will probably have him status matched to her Platinum (not that it really matters). It would be nice if we could all share our D+ status since we will be on Allure, and that is suppose to be the nicest Diamond lounge in the fleet. But since they won't be able to go in, We probably won't do anything other than just peek in one day.

 

 

I understand your concern, but is it really that much of a problem?  I mean, does anyone on here really know how many "non-diamond" diamonds there are on a cruise?  

 

Next, under your suggestion, you'd be relying on Royal IT to be able to track people getting status then losing status.

 

Last, as has been asked multiple times now, how many get this "temporary" status in a 'travelling group'?  That could actually end up being more people than the "non-diamond" diamonds on a given cruise. 

[A&L_Ont]

21 hours ago, twangster said:

If the abuse gets bad enough then they may have to deal with.  

 

Some people can't help but to scam the system.    

You got it. That’s why alcohol drink packages had to be purchased by both adults in the room. 

 

20 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Cue the "but I can't get a window seat because of all the ill-gotten Ds in the DL" posts........

Moving them to the lower decks with no windows helped to resolve that. 😉

Edited May 21, 2023 by A&L_Ont

[LobsterStalker]

On 5/20/2023 at 7:21 AM, twangster said:

Pre-gold is always the largest.  Folks who have sailed Royal before is always the single largest group on board.

Unless I'm reaading that wrong , these 2 statements don't make sense together ...

[twangster]

35 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Unless I'm reaading that wrong , these 2 statements don't make sense together ...

 

Good catch

 

Folks who haven't sailed Royal before is always the single largest group on board.

[RobInMN]

12 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Are you the one who posted you dont like the matching of status for family living together but you have a 2 week panama cruise with friends so for your convenience you want them to be able to status match to you just for those 2 weeks. So because it suits your cruise plans you want your friends to match during your cruise .. but not someone elses SO?

 

Talk about a bad idea imo. So one D with 10 friends? Or 25? Where would the limit be with your plan where friends of yours shared your status during a cruise. Any pinnacles want to be my friend? How would a friend be verified? 

My wife's sister and BIL. So family, not friends, and so not all that dissimilar to the OPs concern. I also said it would be nice. I'm not making a big deal about it. Plus, I've said all along, I'm perfectly fine with an SO sharing status during a cruise. My issue is with them being granted it permanently. 

 

Yes, 25 people in a family group would be an issue. My idea is just that, an idea. It's not a fully fleshed out policy. I'm sure something could be figured out that makes sense.

 

Again, family group, not just a bunch of friends.

 

6 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Next, under your suggestion, you'd be relying on Royal IT to be able to track people getting status then losing status.

 

Last, as has been asked multiple times now, how many get this "temporary" status in a 'travelling group'?  That could actually end up being more people than the "non-diamond" diamonds on a given cruise. 

If status is granted temporarily for a cruise, then Royal IT doesn't have to keep track of guests loosing status due to breaks ups, divorce, or even worry about when they turn 18 (which they have their age anyway).

 

Like I said above, this is just idea, it's not a fully fleshed out policy. Yes, like all policies, their needs to be a limit.

 

Right now, RCL's current policy has zero limits. That's the problem.

 

Just trying to figure out something that accomplished the same goal of what I believe the current policy is trying to due, while eliminating 2 major areas of abuse.

 

[Ourusualbeach]

7 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Next, under your suggestion, you'd be relying on Royal IT to be able to track people getting status then losing status.

Celebrity does it and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them and most of the IT is shared.

[BND]

3 hours ago, twangster said:

 

Good catch

 

Folks who haven't sailed Royal before is always the single largest group on board.

No, not always.  I've been on several cruises where the C&A members Gold and above totaled more than the first timers.

[VernRDH]

So our DD was Diamond under 18 because we were Diamond. On her cruise with her father at age 19, she was Emerald. And stayed Emerald until rightfully earning Diamond last year.

So no, it doesn't always work the way everyone says. 

No we did not argue it with C&A, she made it the hard way, she will likely make Pinnacle in her lifetime, daddy and mommy alas will not☹️

[LobsterStalker]

44 minutes ago, VernRDH said:

So our DD was Diamond under 18 because we were Diamond. On her cruise with her father at age 19, she was Emerald. And stayed Emerald until rightfully earning Diamond last year.

So no, it doesn't always work the way everyone says. 

No we did not argue it with C&A, she made it the hard way, she will likely make Pinnacle in her lifetime, daddy and mommy alas will not☹️

You wouldn't have had to argue it ... merely point it out 

 

Cheers

[twangster]

46 minutes ago, VernRDH said:

So our DD was Diamond under 18 because we were Diamond. On her cruise with her father at age 19, she was Emerald. And stayed Emerald until rightfully earning Diamond last year.

So no, it doesn't always work the way everyone says. 

No we did not argue it with C&A, she made it the hard way, she will likely make Pinnacle in her lifetime, daddy and mommy alas will not☹️

 

I've seen enough reports like yours to know it's not always the way that people claim as "policy" (which it isn't).  In many cases it's been reported when appealed to HQ it is turned down. 

 

It seems once a call on the field is made, it's very unlikely to be overturned under review.