Are RCCL Removing Conceirge Access for Diamond Members? - Opinions please

[isdoo]

If I had booked a suite on that sailing, then I would really have been annoyed,

 

Why as you would still have access to the CL?

 

As posted elsewhere I think that diamonds should not be allowed into the CL (unless they are in a suite) - not fussed if they have a separate area or not (will think the same when I am a diamond very soon).

[AFT_LOVER]

We had the Concierge Lounge on Jewel OTS almost 3 years ago. That was the first & last. We then had a TA on Brilliance & everyone was told the Lounge was for SUITES ONLY. The Concerige felt bad for us, so brought coffees for us to enjoy. He was later removed. 6 months later on Freedom we got one in a seperate room with a lady & her computer to book cruises. But the coffee machine was there for us but half the Diamond's keys didn't work in the door. But we let them in. Then we had Radiance which had a plastic 3 gallon container filled with regular coffee with paper cups, sugar & powdered creamer. Coffee was cold in 30 minutes. Last cruise for us...........

 

 

I have recently returned from a Christmas and New Year Cruise in SE Aisia on the Legend of the Seas.

 

As a Diamond member, one of the pleasures for me cruising with RCCL is the Concierge access.

 

Many ships have dedicated lounges and some have had other rooms such as the Library converted.

 

Imagine my horror when arriving to be told that the library had been ths agconverted back into a public room only 2 weeks earlier on the Legend.

 

I spoke with the Guest Services Manager, who appologised by offering a single bottle of wine. Although he also stated that the removal of Concierge facilities for all non suite guests (Diamond and Diamond+) will be rolling out fleet wide from January. This fact was confirmed later in the cruise by the F&B Manager.

 

Has anyone else heard or experienced this withdrawal of Concierge access and what do you think about it?

[Cruising89143]

We had the Concierge Lounge on Jewel OTS almost 3 years ago. That was the first & last. We then had a TA on Brilliance & everyone was told the Lounge was for SUITES ONLY. The Concerige felt bad for us, so brought coffees for us to enjoy. He was later removed. 6 months later on Freedom we got one in a seperate room with a lady & her computer to book cruises. But the coffee machine was there for us but half the Diamond's keys didn't work in the door. But we let them in. Then we had Radiance which had a plastic 3 gallon container filled with regular coffee with paper cups, sugar & powdered creamer. Coffee was cold in 30 minutes. Last cruise for us...........

 

Brenda, you failed to mention that you were on member cruises that had a LARGE amount of Diamond and D+ members on board. That is why they limited the CL to suite guests only and opened up the satellite lounge for Diamond and D+ members . Many reported back that they had no issues on those cruises at all and that RCI handled it well.

[torpeedo]

We have had wonderful experiences on all of our RCI cruises with the concierge lounge/diamond status. Never have we been denied access. That includes the Jewel, Radiance, Explorer, and Mariner. On the Jewel we had access all day. During the evening the lounge we closed and moved up to the Hollywood Odyessy which was wonderful and very comfortable. On the other ships we had access all day and evening. They did open a satellite bar in one of the lounges in the evening but you were note excluded from the CL and had a choice. We have had wonderful service from all the concierge's and their staff. This wonderful service and Diamond benefit is why we keep coming back to RCI and abandoned all other cruise lines. If it went away we would need to re evaluate all of our upcoming cruises. We don't want to but would if this happened.

[isdoo]

So would you stop cruising with RCI because you lost the concierge or because you couldn't have a free drink? (not trying to be awkward, just curious as to the reason)

[Pacruzer]

I can confirm that they are presently working on a new program that will only allow DPlus and suite guests into the Cocierge lounge. They are working on a way of compensating Diamond members as a trade off. i just met with My Royal Dsm and she is Diamond and at their sales conference in Vegas this was brought up. They will not make any changes till they have a good trade off for the Diamond people like two drinks per person per night by way of coupons ect..It is most definitly in the works

[CruiseKeeper]

So would you stop cruising with RCI because you lost the concierge or because you couldn't have a free drink? (not trying to be awkward, just curious as to the reason)

 

 

No, I probably would not stop cruising on RCI altogether. I would just have to look at other cruiselines as well when I plan a cruise taking all things into consideration. Taking a CL away would level the playing field for me when cruise planning. IMO it's not just the drinks, we do enjoy all aspects of concierge service.

[torpeedo]

For us it's the private lounge for breakfast with cappacino. The Concierge makes all your reservations for you at Chops or Portofino and you recieve your ice show tickets. The concierge books your shore excursions for you as well. He will also assist with any special needs or dining room arrangements. You can come in for a coffee in the afternoon and sit in relative quiet. The Concierge also has DVD's for you to watch in your cabin. The evening cocktail hour is a very nice perk and enjoyable to meet other passengers in the lounge. Many make lasting friendships there. Overall it's a benefit afforded to loyal passengers of the cruise line. Take this all away and it evens the playing field with other cruiselines that are defintely more price competitive.

[reggierail]

I'm curious how many would cancel their reserved cruises if RCI implemented a change such as this.

 

We would go for the most reasonable costing cruise line if we didn´t have access to the Lounge. This is why we stay with RCCL!!!

 

Had an e-mail today confirming that Diamonds have access to the Lounge.

 

Only problem I have ever come across with the Lounge, is on the Brilliance. But if I don´t have access on our forthcoming B2B´s, I will go down to deck -3000 and pull the plug and sink the d***n thing!!!:D:D

 

They may and probably should, restructure the number of cruises required to reach Diamond. But if they don´t grandfather in the present members, there will be a riot!!! However, in this economic climate, I think that they should leave well alone, as it does encourage people to cruise. And the cost of a few drinks is well worth it for the Company to encourage customers to cruise more.

 

Why as you would still have access to the CL?

 

As posted elsewhere I think that diamonds should not be allowed into the CL (unless they are in a suite) - not fussed if they have a separate area or not (will think the same when I am a diamond very soon).

 

Being D+, the Concierge privileges are an important part of my choosing to sail RCCL. If those perks are removed I would seriously consider other cruise alternatives.

 

Reggie :(

[madforcruising]

Reminds me of a case I read in first year of law school - Jarvis Swan Tours. The guy bought a vacation, the brochure said it was going to be fabulous etc - and it turned out not to be what he was promised at all. Sued, Won. (UK case, Lord Denning). This line of cases are called "spoiled vacation cases". While I know RCI reserves the right to change things, I still wonder.... it just seems so unfair and one sided for them to change things after people have booked under the assumption that they would get something else.

 

Not very good for customer service is the days with aging demographs, and the highest concentration of wealth in the older demographic, IMHO.

 

 

Well but in this case with the removing of the CL on the Legend for Asia we shouldn´t forget one thing. To my knowledge RCCL never said anywhere, online or in their printed brochures, that Legend of the Seas even as a CL. Yes we on CC know that it has been there in the place of the Card Room and I myself enjoyed Diego as the Concierge in there, but RCCL never promised it to be there at all.

[xpcdoojk]

Brenda, you failed to mention that you were on member cruises that had a LARGE amount of Diamond and D+ members on board. That is why they limited the CL to suite guests only and opened up the satellite lounge for Diamond and D+ members . Many reported back that they had no issues on those cruises at all and that RCI handled it well.

 

Careful, Gordon.:D Trust me on this!:D

 

jc

[madforcruising]

Careful, Gordon.:D Trust me on this!:D

 

jc

 

I have to second this

[mustangjoe]

If you go back about a year ago, there was board started that had RC restructuring all of the tiers from gold thru D+. Nothing has changed as of this time. Will it in the future? Who knows? Until I know that it has actually changed or the benefits have changed, I'm not going to worry about it. Life is too short and there are more important things to worry than the CL. I will just continue to cruise and book more cruises with RC

[voyager70]

I remember this being discussed a while back and the way I thought the new policy would work (if and when it occurs) would involve new Diamond C&A members only, ie. if you're already Diamond under the current system you won't lose access to the CL.

[reggierail]

One of the reasons I expedited my upgrade to D+ was in the hope that when and if they did a restructure I would be grandfathered in. :rolleyes:

[negc]

I do agree, we had flown from UK to Singapore in the knowledge that we would be looking forward to using the CL as we had on her sister ship the Splendor just 4 weeks earlier. To only find out after boarding was a real punch in the gut

You state that the CL on the ship was converted back to a card room for your cruise and concluded from that fact that diamond members were no longer going to be given access to CLs fleetwide. That's a bit of a leap in logic, isn't it? Was there a CL for suite guests on your ship and if not, should we assume that their access to the CLs are also going to be eliminated? It is already late January so the reports that this action was going to be implemented throughout the fleet beginning January 1st is already behind schedule.

I don't know what eventually will happen but I am not as prone as some others to believe that every imaginable bad thing that might happen will happen. Just because something can happen doesn't mean it will happen.:rolleyes: Frankly I am a bit disappointed by the reaction of some who "knew something like this was going to happen".

I enjoy the benefits of the concierge lounge but I enjoyed my RCI cruises before we had concierge lounges or access to them and I believe that, in the unlikely event that they are eliminated, I will continue to enjoy my cruises. If I don't I suspect that the elimination of the lounges won't be the reason.

[GMoney]

I don't know what eventually will happen but I am not as prone as some others to believe that every imaginable bad thing that might happen will happen. Just because something can happen doesn't mean it will happen.:rolleyes:

 

This seems like a bit of hyperbole. I don't think anyone here is saying "every imaginable bad thing that might happen will happen." But maybe I'm missed something, so feel free to provide an example.

 

Frankly I am a bit disappointed by the reaction of some who "knew something like this was going to happen".

 

I feel this way because 1) the need for change is blatantly apparent and unavoidable (IMHO, of course) and 2) because I've been told it's going to happen and I choose to believe those people. That doesn't mean it's guaranteed lock stock and barrel; it just means the change won't surprise me. Feel free to be disappointed, but I think there's plenty of room for multiple viewpoints here.

[fb0075]

The card room will be turned back into the CL on the Sha/Rome segment--

per MANY sources at RCCL--

FRANK

[CanTex]

CL access isn't a deal breaker for us, but it sure is one of the things that weighs in RCI's favor when we're comparing cruise options. Take away or cut back the tangible loyalty perks like this and it gets more and more difficult for us to favor RCI based on the intangible differences.

 

If this latest rumor comes to fruition, we will most certainly re-examine our upcoming and future cruises. What is most disturbing is having no certainty about the product I'll receive in the future for a booking made today. Yes, the contract of service allows RCI all the freedom to withdraw perks, reduce services and introduce service charges, but this is getting ridiculous...

[negc]

This seems like a bit of hyperbole. I don't think anyone here is saying "every imaginable bad thing that might happen will happen." But maybe I'm missed something, so feel free to provide an example.

 

 

 

I feel this way because 1) the need for change is blatantly apparent and unavoidable (IMHO, of course) and 2) because I've been told it's going to happen and I choose to believe those people. That doesn't mean it's guaranteed lock stock and barrel; it just means the change won't surprise me. Feel free to be disappointed, but I think there's plenty of room for multiple viewpoints here.

 

I may have expressed myself poorly Patrick, but it does seem to me that everytime this rumor resurfaces, there is a kneejerk reaction by some to believe it unequivocally without weighing the credibility of the source of the rumor. My only reason for posting was to suggest that we might wait until we have more solid evidence before believing everything we read on these boards. This thread for example cites an instance involving the reconversion of the CL on the Legend of the Seas to a card room during its time in Asia and cites this as proof that Diamond and Diamond Plus members are about to lose CL access fleetwide. Nowhere does he mention that if the CL on the Legend was turned into a card room, suite guests were also without CL access nor does he warn that a similar fate awaits suite guests on the rest of the ships in the fleet.

Neither you or I know with certainty, what will happen in the future and it may well turn out that your view that it is almost inevitable is correct. If so, you won't be surprised and I will be disappointed. It won't be the first time that you were correct and I was wrong.;) :)

[familyof4cruising]

It would make no sense since there are now Diamond concierge lounges on all the new ships! We are D+ and enjoy the benefits of this. If the benefits for loyalty to the line are changed and no longer have Diamond lounges or concierge services for loyal patrons, we would seriously consider changing to other less expensive cruise lines. Simple as that.

 

I agree with you. I am debating on cruising with RCI or NCL next Feb. We enjoy going to the lounge. If we are paying more to cruise on RCI then we want the perks that we always enjoyed. I am sailing RCI in April I hope we are still allowed access.

 

The lounge is a huge perk to have as a Diamond member.

[Cruise Advice]

RC seems to be removing all enjoyable aspects of cruising from there ships. Bad customer service, poor food, just simply put "Wasted Money". And I am a Diamond Plus member. I cruise somewhere between 3 and 6 times per year and have eliminated RC as an option.

[endymion6942]

I had heard a rumor about this on my December trip on the Brilliance.

I spoke with the Loyalty Ambassador and she told me she had heard the same rumor, but her email to the home office stated that RCI had no intention of doing this.

I personally think that the C&A people/ship Loyalty Ambassacor will be the last to know.

 

Besides the obvious, those people are booking cruises and shooting for Diamond level will rethink their plans if RCI is taking away all the perks.

[kidless]

Besides the obvious, those people are booking cruises and shooting for Diamond level will rethink their plans if RCI is taking away all the perks.

 

My thoughts exactly, DH & I have just started sailing RCCI last May, we are so impressed with the perks they give returning guests we strive to get up to the higher levels, we reached Platinum after our cruise in September and are hoping to hit Diamond by the end of this year. :D

We will be very disappointed if the perks that our attracting us to get there were taken away. If they are taken away before we got there, it would effect our decision making on deciding what cruise to take. :(

[Cruising89143]

RC seems to be removing all enjoyable aspects of cruising from there ships. Bad customer service, poor food, just simply put "Wasted Money". And I am a Diamond Plus member. I cruise somewhere between 3 and 6 times per year and have eliminated RC as an option.

 

Amazing. Three posts on CC and all three negative against Royal Caribbean. :rolleyes: