Crown & Anchor Program Revisions - join the merged discussions here

[Cruzaholic41]

This is where some of us disagree. I'm not interested in a discussion. What I'm interested in is posting my displeasure, in the assumption that RC is monitoring this thread.

 

Well then you are going to have to find a way to get over it. These are discussion boards and this thread is labeled as a discussion. There are going to be opposing opinions whether you like it or not. If you do not want to be flamed, do not flame those who disagree with you.

[grand isle joe]

Well then you are going to have to find a way to get over it. These are discussion boards and this thread is labeled as a discussion. There are going to be opposing opinions whether you like it or not. If you do not want to be flamed, do not flame those who disagree with you.

 

 

BRAVO!....BRAVO!.....well said...let us keep things on a respectful keel.

[beachbuzzard]

Well then you are going to have to find a way to get over it. These are discussion boards and this thread is labeled as a discussion. There are going to be opposing opinions whether you like it or not. If you do not want to be flamed, do not flame those who disagree with you.

 

I have to agree with this. There have been similar comments at times about why the "whiners" (I belong to that gang, even though I don't think I've whined) haven't stopped posting yet and gone away, etc. That was equally as wrong. It is a forum and there will (and should) be opposing points of view.

[CruiseKeeper]

I still have not received notice on the changes. Does this mean they don't apply to me????:rolleyes:

 

Nice try Vicki. :D

[xpcdoojk]

Well...I just got my notice from BOA that my interest rate on my RCCL credit card was going from 9.99% up to +/- 14.99% (variable). I know the economy is tight and people have much bigger problems.... but I am very conservative and this was a special "perk" I allowed myself because of my love for cruising...

 

It's like I applied/played by the rules and now they are changing all the rules

~~~~Rate change / Diamond benefits changed -

(where else can you get white-chocolate strawberries on the ship except CL)

 

Still trying to decide if I should "jump ship" or stay loyal! (RCCL cruise is $1300 more than other line - same week and same itinerary 2/10)

 

Just venting~~~~~~ Thanks. :(

 

RCI doesn't set your credit card rates, that would be the card issuer, Bank of America. If you don't carry a balance the interest rate doesn't matter and if you do the perks will be consumed by the interest payments and more.

 

jc

[Ocean Boy]

I apologize completely and understand as my Senator is Harry Reid. :eek::eek::eek:

 

Don't feel too badly. Almost all of us have one of those to be proud of.;)

[Aquahound]

Well then you are going to have to find a way to get over it. These are discussion boards and this thread is labeled as a discussion. There are going to be opposing opinions whether you like it or not. If you do not want to be flamed, do not flame those who disagree with you.

 

Well said. This is good advise for all sides of the discussion.

[trafficlaw]

Well then you are going to have to find a way to get over it. These are discussion boards and this thread is labeled as a discussion. There are going to be opposing opinions whether you like it or not. If you do not want to be flamed, do not flame those who disagree with you.

 

Agreed -- Personally, I enjoy a lively debate.

[fred and di]

Hi, I'm Fred and I am a whiner. That being said, I have not posted previously on this topic, but I do have a couple of thoughts on the topic. Firstly, with 17 RCCL cruises under our belts, 230 shares of basically worthless RCCL stock, and the ever popular RCCL credit card, you can most likey surmise that we are perk/discount shoppers. BUT, we have paid for every one of those perks/discounts. Now, to our fellow whiners: With the present day media circus, looking under rocks to provide spectacular newsy stories, do you think that some well worded letters to 60 Minutes, or Dateline, would provide some spotlight focus on RCCL and their so called "Loyalty Program"? I don't think RCCL would be interested in that kind of publicity. I know, they can do as they please and take perks away, and we can spend our money elsewhere, but what my wife and I truely long for is RCCL as it used to be a long time ago, when it meant something to cruise with them. We are hurt by the fact that our patronage means absolutey nothing to them. We want our cruiseline back!

[hellosailer]

Agreed -- Personally, I enjoy a lively debate.

 

Really? Can't say I've noticed:D:D

 

Where's the photo then?

[ChipLondon]

Policies do change. And, we may also be assuming 'facts not in evidence'. "They" stated that the original intent of the Concierge Lounge was 'for the suite passengers'. That may be what was in someone's head, but I don't see it on paper. At least using the info available in front of me. I have in front of me my original application for the C&A. It has a 1/02 date on the form (January 2002). There are three levels ... no Diamond Plus ... Gold, Platinum, and Diamond ... and a note "Current Silver members will be automatically upgraded to Gold."

 

"The benefits improve at each level. The more you cruise the more you get." And it clearly states under "Diamond - Cruise Vacation Benefits, Concierge Service on select ships." I know a couple of the Vision class ships have been retro-fitted with a CL, but I don't know when. Otherwise, the first ship that I know of that was designed and built with a CL was the Radiance ... maiden voyage 3/10/2001. So it would appear, that if the CL was ever exclusively for the suite passengers, that policy changed in nine months or less. The only thing that is clear is that the Concierge Lounge is a benefit that RCI "intended" to use as "bait" to attract (unsuspecting) customers. That is "bait" as in "bait and switch.":mad:

 

By the way, there are no 'disclaimers' on the form ... only, "Complete Terms and Conditions available on request." Gotcha!

 

 

GOTCHA NO, NO, NO "Concierge service on select ships", that is still the fact, the attendant in the Diamond lounge is still a Concierge, and therefore still offered on select ships to Diamond members.

[trafficlaw]

Really? Can't say I've noticed:D:D

 

Where's the photo then?

 

Hmmm...thought I added a photo to my profile under the avatar setting. Still nothing ?

[sealord]

GOTCHA NO, NO, NO "Concierge service on select ships", that is still the fact, the attendant in the Diamond lounge is still a Concierge, and therefore still offered on select ships to Diamond members.

 

Touche' ... the old "select ships" trick. They just 'deselected' the ships that my family and friends like to sail upon, and left 'selected' those mega-ships that we don't really appreciate. I don't really like shopping malls, so when you put one in the middle of my 'ship', I don't consider that a plus. As far as putting Central Park on the ship ... well, I've been to the real one many times. I wonder if they will include the muggers and the homeless people. There is such a thing as losing sight of the 'forest'. On the USS Hornet Museum where I work as a volunteer, we work very hard to make sure it remains a 'ship', and does not become a 'museum'. The ship is the artifact. Some of us prefer to cruise on 'ships', which is not to say also that everyone is certainly entitled to their own preference. Our family is slightly suspicious that the real issue here is an attempt to 'steer' their C&A folks on to the 'big' ships so they can fill them up and make them profitable. Remember what Henry Ford said, "They can have any color they want so long as it's black." Telling your customers 'where' to 'go' has never worked very well. They will 'go', but probably not 'where' you want them to go. Since I am now 'cubic zirconia', my intention is to 'go' in the other direction, and check out the other lines that have smaller more intimate cruising experiences.

[bhughey]

Touche' ... the old "select ships" trick. They just 'deselected' the ships that my family and friends like to sail upon, and left 'selected' those mega-ships that we don't really appreciate. I don't really like shopping malls, so when you put one in the middle of my 'ship', I don't consider that a plus. As far as putting Central Park on the ship ... well, I've been to the real one many times. I wonder if they will include the muggers and the homeless people. There is such a thing as losing sight of the 'forest'. On the USS Hornet Museum where I work as a volunteer, we work very hard to make sure it remains a 'ship', and does not become a 'museum'. The ship is the artifact. Some of us prefer to cruise on 'ships', which is not to say also that everyone is certainly entitled to their own preference. Our family is slightly suspicious that the real issue here is an attempt to 'steer' their C&A folks on to the 'big' ships so they can fill them up and make them profitable. Remember what Henry Ford said, "They can have any color they want so long as it's black." Telling your customers 'where' to 'go' has never worked very well. They will 'go', but probably not 'where' you want them to go. Since I am now 'cubic zirconia', my intention is to 'go' in the other direction, and check out the other lines that have smaller more intimate cruising experiences.

 

I've always preferred the Radiance class sized ship to the Voyager class... I've never sailed on the Freedom and have no plans to sail on the Oasis. While there are plenty of bells and whistles I am sure, I like the feeling of a classic ocean-liner more so than an amusement park at sea. Seems RCI is really trying to push passengers to the mega-ships.

[Scoobydobe7]

Touche' ... the old "select ships" trick. They just 'deselected' the ships that my family and friends like to sail upon, and left 'selected' those mega-ships that we don't really appreciate. I don't really like shopping malls, so when you put one in the middle of my 'ship', I don't consider that a plus. As far as putting Central Park on the ship ... well, I've been to the real one many times. I wonder if they will include the muggers and the homeless people. There is such a thing as losing sight of the 'forest'. On the USS Hornet Museum where I work as a volunteer, we work very hard to make sure it remains a 'ship', and does not become a 'museum'. The ship is the artifact. Some of us prefer to cruise on 'ships', which is not to say also that everyone is certainly entitled to their own preference. Our family is slightly suspicious that the real issue here is an attempt to 'steer' their C&A folks on to the 'big' ships so they can fill them up and make them profitable. Remember what Henry Ford said, "They can have any color they want so long as it's black." Telling your customers 'where' to 'go' has never worked very well. They will 'go', but probably not 'where' you want them to go. Since I am now 'cubic zirconia', my intention is to 'go' in the other direction, and check out the other lines that have smaller more intimate cruising experiences.

 

I agree with your observation on this issue. :)

[ws1965]

I was shocked to get the email from RCCL about all the changes. Are you kidding me?? We just reached Diamond status on our last cruise and was looking forward to the Diamond benefits. Now we cant use the concierge lounge? How much does RCCL think we're gonna eat/drink?

 

The other issue I have is with the "balcony credit" not being combined with the savings certs or the pre-cruise bookings. It infuriates me when I get the savings certs in my email or regular mail when RCCL KNOWS I cant use them! Why would I use a $50 or $100 cert when I can get a $200 diamond balcony credit?? To me this is false advertising.....and at least a tease. "Here are coupons but you cant use them!"

 

And now RCCL are going to nice and dime their customers? Its not like they are the only cruise line...they should encourage people to book with them...not discourage them.

 

We did book two cruises for next year before all these changes took place. We are seriously considering cancelling both cruises and rebooking with Norwegian.

[gagirl7143]

I've always preferred the Radiance class sized ship to the Voyager class... I've never sailed on the Freedom and have no plans to sail on the Oasis. While there are plenty of bells and whistles I am sure, I like the feeling of a classic ocean-liner more so than an amusement park at sea. Seems RCI is really trying to push passengers to the mega-ships.

 

I agree completely!

[cruzendude]

I've always preferred the Radiance class sized ship to the Voyager class... I've never sailed on the Freedom and have no plans to sail on the Oasis. While there are plenty of bells and whistles I am sure, I like the feeling of a classic ocean-liner more so than an amusement park at sea. Seems RCI is really trying to push passengers to the mega-ships.

 

Last I checked RCCL didn't sail any classic ocean liners, you may want to look into Cunard though as they are about the only ones that do..either that or do a pre cruise stay on the Queen Mary in Long Beach!:D

[lv2cruisgrl]

I still have not received notice on the changes. Does this mean they don't apply to me????:rolleyes:

 

We have not received one either....we found out from our TA:(

[ws1965]

We get those same coupons and thank you letter everytime we come home from a cruise and we're D plus and sail in a suite! lol :D We get the 50.00/ 75.00 or the 50.00/25.00 ones but I could never use them because of the expiration dates, my cruises were all booked already so I always tossed them. As you stated we could use them in 2008 as we were allowed to combine every benefit including shareholders. Probably not the brightest business decision on the part of RCCL when you think about it but it was GREAT for all of us while it lasted:)

 

I've traded RCCL stock for a long time but not at present and I did very well with it. I bought it to make money which I did, the OBC was just an extra benefit. The market has always been risky and many stocks have cut or lowered dividends and I have no idea how much longer they will give OBC for RCL stock at this point in this economy.

 

So for my last few cruises I only used my Next Cruise OBC and my RCCL visa which can be combined with anything and I had 450-700 OBC on each cruise which is better then what I would get from shareholders/savings certificates when we could combine it so I do know my RCCL benefit only gets better the more I use my RCCL Visa especially on RCCL purchases such as cruises as I get even more points:D I use that card for everything and pay it in full every month so it doesn't cost me anything and points add up fast. RCCL does not need to send me coupons either so they can save that money on postage :)

 

 

My husband also received the letter and "worthless" coupons from Adam GOldstein. We were VERY MAD when we were told we couldnt combine them with our balcony credit. THEN WHY SEND THEM TO US???? Wouldnt you think the vice president would know whats going to happen when his "loyal" guests try to use them? The other thing we were told that was uncombinable was our stock holder credit. My husband owns over 500 shares of RCCL and they wont give him a $100 credit???

[hcat]

Touche' ... the old "select ships" trick. They just 'deselected' the ships that my family and friends like to sail upon, and left 'selected' those mega-ships that we don't really appreciate. I don't really like shopping malls, so when you put one in the middle of my 'ship', I don't consider that a plus. As far as putting Central Park on the ship ... well, I've been to the real one many times. I wonder if they will include the muggers and the homeless people. There is such a thing as losing sight of the 'forest'. On the USS Hornet Museum where I work as a volunteer, we work very hard to make sure it remains a 'ship', and does not become a 'museum'. The ship is the artifact. Some of us prefer to cruise on 'ships', which is not to say also that everyone is certainly entitled to their own preference. Our family is slightly suspicious that the real issue here is an attempt to 'steer' their C&A folks on to the 'big' ships so they can fill them up and make them profitable. Remember what Henry Ford said, "They can have any color they want so long as it's black." Telling your customers 'where' to 'go' has never worked very well. They will 'go', but probably not 'where' you want them to go. Since I am now 'cubic zirconia', my intention is to 'go' in the other direction, and check out the other lines that have smaller more intimate cruising experiences.

 

One of the best posts on the topic!

 

"Official Diamond Demotee"

[hcat]

My husband also received the letter and "worthless" coupons from Adam GOldstein. We were VERY MAD when we were told we couldnt combine them with our balcony credit. THEN WHY SEND THEM TO US???? Wouldnt you think the vice president would know whats going to happen when his "loyal" guests try to use them? The other thing we were told that was uncombinable was our stock holder credit. My husband owns over 500 shares of RCCL and they wont give him a $100 credit???

 

When is the next stockholders mtg & where?

[CP3o]

My husband also received the letter and "worthless" coupons from Adam GOldstein. We were VERY MAD when we were told we couldnt combine them with our balcony credit. THEN WHY SEND THEM TO US????

 

I suppose it helps you calculate the real "value" of diamond. If you are using a 200 discount b/c diamond on a cruise you would have gotten a 100 discount even if not diamond, being diamond is "worth" 100. That can buy you and hubby a steak on 3 nights! :-)

[NavarreCruiser]

Im sailing on the enchantment on 18 they just posted our meet and mingle party date and time. Its on a port day at 10 am !!! There are over 100 CC's signed up. Ive never had it on a port day like this. Are M&M next on the chopping block ??? How many people are going to show up if most of them are doing excursions ?

 

Good Morning txbear, I think you might want to check the info about your m&m. Although I am not currently happy with RCCL I couldn't believe they would be that stupid. I checked their schedule for m&m parties and there is only 1 scheduled for The Enchantment OTS and it is for a 4/19 sailing with the party scheduled for 4/21, a sea day.

[Andy C]

I was shocked to get the email from RCCL about all the changes. Are you kidding me?? We just reached Diamond status on our last cruise and was looking forward to the Diamond benefits. Now we cant use the concierge lounge? How much does RCCL think we're gonna eat/drink?

 

The other issue I have is with the "balcony credit" not being combined with the savings certs or the pre-cruise bookings. It infuriates me when I get the savings certs in my email or regular mail when RCCL KNOWS I cant use them! Why would I use a $50 or $100 cert when I can get a $200 diamond balcony credit?? To me this is false advertising.....and at least a tease. "Here are coupons but you cant use them!"

 

And now RCCL are going to nice and dime their customers? Its not like they are the only cruise line...they should encourage people to book with them...not discourage them.

 

We did book two cruises for next year before all these changes took place. We are seriously considering cancelling both cruises and rebooking with Norwegian.

 

Exactly my sentiments. That is why from now on I refer to myself as a CUBIC ZIRCONIA member of the CRAP and Anchor Society.

 

On a side note I already purchased two direct round trip tickets from Miami (where I live) to Paris with the money from the Liberty OTS cruise that I cancelled for the very same week. Royal Cheapribbean Cruise Line and racking up points as a CRAP and Anchor member are no longer a priority for me - and no longer will be.

 

P.S - DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME COLLECTING MORE CRAP AND ANCHOR POINTS BECAUSE IT IS INEVITABLE THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THE GOAL POST FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY. Cruise on every other line you've not cruised on and enjoy!