As long as they keep the free drinks on the sea pass card, I am good. 😂

@a_goblue2023

Ай бұрын

Same, that’s the best perk by far. Had it for 2 weeks in Europe. 4 drinks a day * 4 passengers is over 3000$ in savings

@rickh6963

Ай бұрын

My wife just booked a Virgin cruise, they gave us a $350 on board credit EACH for being Diamond Plus on RCL. That will buy a few drinks!!

@a_goblue2023

Ай бұрын

@@rickh6963 virgin and RCL match?

@infidel71308

Ай бұрын

@@a_goblue2023 Virgin is matching almost everybody right now to try and win market share. RCL does not match Virgin though.

@tinaingles4640

Ай бұрын

@rickh6963 we hit Diamond plus after our cruise in Nov. May have to test the status match with Virgin.

The thing I like about the Crown Lounge is that if You go at the right time it is a quiet place with comfortable chairs to relax and read

A highlight of our day is going into the Crown Lounge for the appetizers and a drink prior to going to dinner.

Let the chips fall where they may - if the lounge is crowded, it's crowded, and attendance will self-adjust as fewer people decided to use it. Another idea, have Crown Lounge happy hour on the outdoor suite deck. When I was on Allure, the suite deck was always empty and I was usually the only person up there. The bar there wasn't even staffed.

We are about to turn Diamond and the drink vouchers are all I really want. People in FB groups, however, seem super angry at those of us entering that tier, and I'm tired of it. Why can't we all be happy for each other? I had 1 double points cruise along the way - that's it. I have a right to be here.

@carolinah2857

Ай бұрын

I really do not understand why people is so angry is not like they give you the points for free. You spend the same money and time cruising to earn the benefits.

The crown lounges are too dang small. That’s the problem, not the number of people in the tiers.

@bodyloverz30

Ай бұрын

That's because they removed the two story ones, to make them into pay dining.

I enjoy the Diamond lounge personally it has taken many years to get to Diamond status and i go there to relax, get some quiet time, beat my husband at Uno AND to meet other folks. I hope they maintain the lounges in locations with views and I agree with others it is nice to use drink vouchers all over the ship too. My suggestion- give an option for another lounge for Diamonds if you are going to cut out Diamonds from 5-7 from the Crown lounge. We also have worked hard to pay for many trips to get to this level too.

Royal has to be very careful not to devalue the upper tier of the Crown and Anchor Society. Removing benefits tends to erode loyalty perhaps even more than adding them builds them.

@jamesh1641

Ай бұрын

They have been eroding perks for 20 years in the tiers and adding back trivial ones. Cruising is at all time records. So don’t convince yourself that they view it the way you think.

@vamoscruceros

Ай бұрын

If everyone's in the top tier, no one is.

I think the lounge was nice while it lasted, but it’s time for Royal to renovate the spaces into some other attraction open to the public (or use if for storage) and offer more monetary benefits for being a c&a society member, (more free drinks, free specialty resturant and room service vouchers etc.)

@skyysurfer

Ай бұрын

What I have seen of them they don't look that special.

Hey Matt! Diamond Plus member here. I see no change needed. We used to frequent them often for the Happy Hour drinks. But once they put the drink vouchers on the SeaPass card, I have no reason to go to the Lounge. My wife will go there occasionally to get the specialty coffee or tea. But that is about it. We may pop in just to take a peek or if by chance we need some assistance from the concierge. The Lounges on the older ships, especially the Voyages class, were nice. They were up on the higher decks and had outdoor access. On the newer ships they seem like they put the Lounges in the worst place on the ship. You get no water view. Like being in the basement, stale! I used to think an additional tier was needed between Diamond Plus and Pinnacle as that is quite the gap between the two. But as you said, as time goes on people will graduate to the next tier and that does nothing for space problem. Maybe if they allowed the top tier (Diamond Plus and Pinnacle) to have the top tier membership on Celebrity, that would get some of the top tier folks off of their ships and on to Celebrity ships. I know, wishful thinking! Appreciate you.

My wife and I are almost at the Diamond tier, so I really hope they don't do anything that is going to screw that up for us. It's taken us quite a few years to get this far and we are really looking forward to the new benefits!

@missmarlene8893

Ай бұрын

Us too. Only need 9 points to go diamonds

@joannenardi4234

Ай бұрын

Same - 11 for us

@askphillissia

Ай бұрын

3 for us

@corrosive69

Ай бұрын

same for us... need 6i think

@texansfan2286

Ай бұрын

We are Diamond members and hope they raise the tier requirements.

I’m a recently new diamond member, my wife and I visited the lounge on our last Grandeur cruise to see what it was like. I really didn’t see the value of it. We do enjoy the vouchers. I would give members the choice of continued lounge option or new option of free Wi-Fi for entire cruise. In this day and age most lodging offers free Wi-Fi.

@BillyRussell-mq2qx

Ай бұрын

It's sorta hidden on Grandeur and out of the way of anything .

The older ships like Rhapsody of the Seas were never overcrowded in my experiences. They also had great floor-to-ceiling sea-views! With the daily 24-hour vouchers, Diamond guests and above can enjoy complete flexibility of time and venues throughout the ship, eliminating the previous need to go to the Diamond Lounge for the complimentary drinks. This also lessens the number of persons in the lounge per hour. Also noteworthy is that the Diamond Lounge is available 24 hours a day! At least, a quieter place on any ship and also a place to get teas, coffees and cocoa 24/7. They could certainly do repurposing of some lounges or conference-rooms as pop-up Diamond and Pinnacle Lounges whenever a particular sailing is having a large number of high-tier guests.

@901BluesGuy

Ай бұрын

I just got off of Rhapsody and am sitting in the San Juan airport ready to fly home as I type this. We had a 8-night a cruise and visiited the Crown Lounge everyday (morning and evening) and it was never crowded. We were typically there around 8:00am and around 5:30pm and were often the only ones in the room.

One thing to counter the growth is the increase of berths- with Icon and Utopia, there are +10% more berths starting this year. That being said, with the coupons, we rarely end up in the lounges anymore. So between the new ships spreading people out and the coupons, seems like there are some things in place to moderate the crowding.

Provide a collection of benefits and let people pick a quantity of them. For example here are 5 possible benefits at this tier, you can pick 2 of them. Add new higher tiers where you can unlock more of them. Most will pick stuff like the free drink or wifi access that doesn't tax the ships areas. Less will pick access to crown lounge.

As a diamond member i love the robes, and the drinks

@williamwatson689

Ай бұрын

RCLs cutbacks will, in the long run, further ruin the cruising experience.

@jamesh1641

Ай бұрын

Drinks in the robes. 😊

I like the free drinks. But if I am not able to get into the crown lounge due to overcrowding I would be happy with a free specialty restaurant voucher on my cruise.

@jjl2290

Ай бұрын

New benefit for Diamond Plus BOGO speciality restaurant discount on day 1 & 2

As a pretty new cruiser on RC (I'm about to go on my 3rd cruise), selfishly, I wish they should offer MORE perks for Platinum and Emerald that are great for cruisers, but don't cost them very much money. Things like free bottles of water in the cabin upon arrival or one free drink per cruise. Chocolate covered strawberries are pretty easy and cheap to make, but everyone up-charges them like crazy, so that might be nice to add to higher level staterooms at embarkation. Other $0 perks to consider would be priority access to dining options or online early access to excursions. I don't see how they can do anything different with the lounge other than bump regular Diamond out and then give them some cool perks to replace them. They have to have a ton of data about what the most popular purchases are for all of the levels, that hopefully they use to make the perk program better. And while they're at it, I'd love if The Key was actually worth it!

@LukeofAllTrades.

Ай бұрын

Yeah, platinum and emerald are almost worthless. One free drink a day would be cheap, not take up any space, and would show appreciation for being loyal.

I just hit Diamond Plus on my last cruise and I'm super excited. But honestly, almost every cruise I've been in, the Diamond Lounge was always inside of the ship without any view or anything. Honestly, I try to not spend any time in it unless it had a view of some kind.

Just achieved Diamond, love the vouchers!

The drinks are nice - and the new voucher system is amazing, but as a solo cruise guest the main thing I value is meeting other guests at Happy Hour in the lounge. Everyone is so welcoming, and willing for others to pull up a chair and share a drink with them. I really hope they would extend Happy Hour access to solo guests.

Increase the required points for both Diamond and Diamond Plus, but do what Carnival did when they increased the point requirement ... give people a chance to obtain status within one year. This allowed those folks getting close to a new level the opportunity to achieve that level under the old point requirement. Seemed to work well for Carnival. Also, there should be a new status level between Diamond Plus and Pinnacle; maybe at the 400 point level. Certain benefits at 360 are available, but it is not the same as achieving a new status designation. Both my kids made Diamond Plus before their 18th birthday; thus making them dedicated Royal Caribbean cruisers. However, they (and I) were very disappointed when suite lounge access was taken away; especially on Quantum class ships. If more benefits are taken away, I'm not sure how "dedicated" we will remain.

They can add all the edible, drinkable perks to the card, but maybe keep the specialty coffee or water in the lounges for those who really like to socialize. I'd be happy to have any of those perks added to my card and be redeemable anywhere on the ship or private island and not worry about going to a lounge during restricted hours.

Reached Diamond last fall and have enjoyed the Diamond Lounge in the morning for coffee. The rest of my crew usually sleeps later. So having a quiet place for coffee is a huge plus.

Either way, I think those who have a history with Royal Caribbean should be grandfathered in I think there are plenty of other areas that they could easily set up for a special breakfast and evening cocktail hour If they do take away some of the benefits, I would like to see them replace those benefits with better discounts on either cruise fares or beverage packages or something like that. Or even dropping the single supplement fee some would make me happy. Not gonna lie I’d be really pissed if they got rid of some of the benefits I’ve paid into over the years.

We were Royally screwed us over. We booked a double C&A points cruise, that they subsequently cancelled, but would honour the double points on the rebooked cruise. They cancelled our rebooked cruise and advised our travel agent that they'd honour the double points on our next cruise. After finally having the third cruise the double points offer wasn't honoured. Our Travel Agent spent 6 months to get an answer from Royal. There's no way they'll honour the double points despite Royal being responsible for the cancellations. Not happy with Royal.

@meddyven

Ай бұрын

Their integrity has really gone in the dumper. My cruise in May, may be my last on the line. Everyone should be treated as a valued guest. The industry can collapse just as quickly as it ascended. Royal and all other lines are heavily in debt, so they really don't have any leverage.

@Crazyuncle1

Ай бұрын

I have nothing against family cruise vacations but kids sail free must cost them a pretty penny and it’s not wise to pull back on benefits for the retirees and adults who put them where they are.

Add a dedicated Pinnacle lounge - P’s Only Then Crown lounge - 💎 & 💎+ only. Suite Lounge - Suite Guests only (No Pinnacle’s, unless in a full suite. We are almost Pinnacle, tbh as long as we have our vouchers all is good. 🍹

It’s always the same with loyalty status... companies beg for your loyalty but never want to give the same appreciation back... always looking for a way to give less ... loyalty programs have become diluted IMO and it will get worse

Most of the higher level cruisers are too snobby for us in the lounges anyway so we like our free drinks at any bar more

We are diamond plus with 329 points. With the gap being to far to achieve from Diamond plus to Pinnacle we have moved to sailing on other cruise lines to build our status with them. This way we have a choice of cruise lines. There are also cruise lines that recognize your status from one cruise line to another. In the last couple of years we have found that there are so many diamond and diamond plus members that Royal really only cares about those that have that little pinnacle pin on their lapel.

We'll be Diamond + next February. Was restricted as a Diamond on a recent cruise, not being allowed in the lounge after 5PM due to the number of + & Pinnacle members on board. What bothers me about the lounges though is that on the Oasis class & Icon Class, the lounges are down in deck 4, no windows, feels like a dungeon in there! We enjoy the views from the smaller ships lounges, which is a great place to relax, read a book, have a coffee. Wish they would change the location on these larger ships.

@PatrickWagz

Ай бұрын

Your views here echo what I have noticed about Royal for the past few years. They have shifted their focus from catering to their older, loyal cruisers to younger families on shorter itineraries. Your example of moving the Crown lounge from typically the Viking Crown on older ships down into the little, window-less dungeons is a great example. Also, putting all the new ships with all the bells and whistles on the shorter 3 & 4 night sailings to attract the new cruising families, while putting the old ships on longer sailings which are typically full of the more retired folks.

@chippertpa

Ай бұрын

@@PatrickWagz Patrick, WE ARE some of those "retired folks". We've cruised on quite a few different ships in their fleet, and we always do 7 days or longer, as it doesn't make sense for us to drive down to south Florida for a short 3/4 night cruise. My comment on the Crown Lounge was more an observation than a complaint. I typically grab a nice coffee there early morning, chat with others so inclined, maybe read a bit. I won't be reading however on the lounges down on deck 4, as there are places with much better views throughout most ships. This is only happening on Oasis class and Icon, I've never seen this on any of their other ships. So I wish they would change it on the larger ships, but it certainly isn't a reason I would stop cruising with Royal. Overall, we love Royal and will continue to cruise with them.

I think they should look at the NCL Platinum and above perks like free laundry and the restaurant vouchers... I'm Sapphire on NCL and diamond on RCCL and do appreciate the 4 drink vouchers, but the NCL free laundry and 2 restaurant vouchers are something I would not mind seeing RCCL doing (maybe in lieu of lounge access and keep it for the highest tiers).

The double points promotion to get cruising accelerating again after the pandemic has made the CAS member top tier numbers unsustainable now. I was told by a Spectrum OTS crew member they had an 18 year old guest sail with them on continuous back-to-backs for six months. That was enough cruise points to get them to Pinnacle (two points per night single occupancy, times two for the promotion = 4 points per night). To go from zero to Pinnacle in six months as an 18 year old who will now enjoy Pinnacle benefits for life is incredible. On Ovation now there are four guests who have just made it to Pinnacle (99 Pinnacle members are on the ship). Some of them did it in less than seven years. There is a tsunami of new Pinnacles on the way. Royal has to do something about it.

@clbert7460

Ай бұрын

It took me 8 years to reach Pinnacle (not counting two years of COVID) as I sail primarily solo. But RC paid for most of those complementary cruises via the casino.

@brodricj3023

Ай бұрын

@@clbert7460 How is it that complimentary cruises earn cruise points?

Instead of the Hor D'oeuvres in the crown lounge, have a special Diamond and above menu in the MDR that has exclusive appetizers, an entrée and dessert.

@user-iz7kf1te5y

Ай бұрын

No. I don’t want it to take 2 hours to eat.

Loyalty must be earned. Doesn’t sound like they’re doing enough to keep it.

@PatrickWagz

Ай бұрын

Bingo. I (and other Crown and Anchor members I've spoken with) have started looking at other cruise lines. And, let me say, I was quite pleased with the 3 I've tried in the last year. And, will be checking out some additional new lines.

There should not be any loss to anyone who has already obtained diamond status or higher of benefits. Maybe use a larger venue for the qualifying statuses or spread out the happy hour for the crown lounge among several lounge locations

I was just on Odyssey and the crown lounge was pretty much empty. We go in a ton for espresso.

@carson2687

Ай бұрын

I was also just on odyssey! You’re right, I am only gold with 15 points, so I couldn’t go in, but you can peak in a little bit through the music hall by the pool tables and I almost never saw more than one or two people in there.

@HappilyEverYady

Ай бұрын

@@carson2687 Literally empty most of the time. Hope you enjoyed the cruise.

@carson2687

Ай бұрын

@@HappilyEverYady I did, it was great. I loved the Odyssey! Wish I could climb the loyalty ranks and cruise more often, but I’m landlocked far away in Utah and still young with not a lot of disposable income. Hoping to get an Alaskan cruise booked on Quantum for 2025 though!

i don’t care about the lounge enough provided RCI compesates the removal of access with some other shipwide perk. i.e. discounts on wi-fi or additional coupons such as free spa visits, specialty dining voucher.

i'm not shedding a tear for Royal, they have been raising base fares and cutting costs on dining and staffing. They will still pay their bills. This is certain

EMERALD is an odd level. Change EMERALD to 80 cruise points, bump up DIAMOND to 170 cruise points, and bump up Diamond+ to 340 cruise points. On Ovation OTS at this moment there are 1000 Diamond or higher members onboard, it's ridiculous. Diamond are denied access to Crown Lounge 5-8pm due to over crowding.

@maries7058

Ай бұрын

Almost D+, it's taken so long to get there, I hope they don't do that. We've never gone to the lounge during those hours anyway but love going in before cabins are ready and in the am.

Personally, I'm more than happy with my 5 drinks uploaded on the seapass card & going to bar of my choice

I was so looking forward to access to the Costal Kitchen as a D+ but just as I achieved it they took it away. Very unhappy! That is a lot of loyal cruising to achieve that level when you’re not retired nor living in a port city. We have to fly to cruise.

Is the crowding in the lounge a product of larger ships? I ask because we usually sail on the smaller ships and the lounge is never crowded when we visited. That said, I can do without the lounge, but they better not take the drink vouchers. I don't even use all 4 of them, but it's what we value most on board with regard to the benefits.

@dennisblazey3315

Ай бұрын

On smaller ships I think the saturation level of Diamond and above in the total passenger load is probably the biggest driving variable about lounge access - and on smaller ships saturation level will be mostly driven by itinerary. For example, on the westbound Canal transit sailing for Serenade in '23, there were MASSIVE numbers of Diamond and above (including Super Mario) because of 2 factors - it was a canal transit and because Serenade was then heading out on the World Cruise after completing the eastbound transit back to Miami. As a result, the Crown Lounge was closed to Diamond members during the blackout period. I was told by some fellow passengers that even then the lounger suffered from overcrowding simply because there were so few passengers that weren't upper tier. Same was apparently true on the eastbound transit back to Miami because so many "well-cruised" passengers were doing "back-to-back" transits as a prologue to their world cruise sailing.

The bigger ships have a specific area for Suite & Pinnacle members. They shouldn't be allowed into the Diamond lounge too.

We are Diamond and recently experienced the Diamond lounge limitation between 5 and 7pm on Symphony. We were fine with it because we would not usually go there during those hours. We're normally eating dinner at that time. If RCL limited people during my morning coffee time, then I would be creating a scene.

I’m not sure how I feel about all of this. One of the main reasons we kept cruising on Royal was for the loyalty program. This July will be our first cruise as Diamond. I was excited about it, but now I’m not so sure

The Crown Lounge on Vision of the Seas hardly ever has snacks. The last several months, I cruise about once a month, even the coffee area of the room hasn’t had disposable cups, tea bags, and even some days no coffee in the hopper. I’ve quit going altogether, what for? I can get the same snacks at the cafe and the same tea at the Windjammer

I’d be in favor of diamond members getting an extra 1-2 drink vouchers & maybe a speciality lunch & no lounge access & leave lounge for plus & upper levels .. it give diamond loyalty something well reducing capacity in lounge & gives incentives for people to reach upper levels still. Problem solved & minimal cost. A free drink extra drink so 5 for diamond + a speciality lunch on sea day but no club access.

@flawoodsy

Ай бұрын

This is what I was thinking would be fair but I would miss the specialty coffee for sure.

@Stoic_Cpt

Ай бұрын

@@flawoodsy me too but I can use my extra drink voucher for that & the bonus of a speciality restaurant during sea day is a nice perk & getting those perks well working my way up to diamond + benefits is all the better. Cost to royal is minimal & solves club access problem fleet wide. Some will be disappointed but sail more

Also, we recently tried out Celebrity. Since they matched our RCL status, we could get drinks for free but only during the 5-7pm time slot. We didn't like that when compared to RCL's method of drink coupons on your seapass. For that reason we probably will not be sailing on Celebrity in the future.

as a new diamond member based in Australia my first cruise as a diamond on ovation of the seas in march 2024 there was no crowding in the crown lounge , which was great.

I like the vouchers and as long as they don't get rid of that, I am agreeable to limited hours. The snacks in the evening are nice but if I suddenly could not get them on a particular sailing then not really an issue or just keep snacks other than cookies in there all the time. Limiting my access altogether would be the issue. I like grabbing a coffee and a cookie anytime. As for the "happy hour"...maybe on a heavy loyalty club sailing move it to a larger venue where snacks can be set up or passed around.

They need to give people MORE so they aren’t so reliant on what little they have

Pinnacles and D+ have paid a lot of money to get to those statuses and should be rewarded. I do think at some point they should shift to another brand under the Royal umbrella to experience another type of cruising as well as keeping with the same style they have become accustomed to. The variation in itineraries and cruise lengths fit their cruising profile better than the shorter family oriented vacations Royal is shifting towards. For those that remain, a dedicated space on one of the sun decks should be made available. A room in the lower decks is hardly inviting for guests to visit, which likely contributes to the lack of usage. The best use of space I’ve seen was on the Spectrum and how the silver lounge is used. I do think the process should include two spaces, one for Diamond and another for D+ and Pinnacle.

As a emerald member, i think thats how you have to start every sentence by stating your level, i feel the perks could be designed better. For example we will be diamond soon with our booked cruises and we dont drink, so not interested in the four free drinks. Maybe you should be able to pick your benifits, have a list and you choose which ones you wish to apply to your sailing. Id pick x number of meals in a speciality restaurant over free drinks for example.

@PatrickWagz

Ай бұрын

interesting idea, i can see your point.

@bill3143

Ай бұрын

FYI: you can use your free drinks for specialty coffees, mocktails, soft drinks, etc. It doesn't have to be just alcoholic drinks. Enjoy!

We're now boarding our double platinum executive express plus senior gold card members in line 1.

We just had this happen on a recent cruise. On that sailing, we were still diamond. We received a letter in our cabin, saying that we were not permitted to use the Crown Lounge. I was really disappointed. I look forward to making friends and having good conversation. It's too big a perk to just take away like that. If i can't count on my perks, why should I be loyal? We have a 33 day Princess cruise booked for November.

Loyalty goes both ways. Also, find another area to expand its lounge experience in the evening.

Working my way up to Diamond this year, I would love to see benefits in lieu of the lounge. Have an event on the cruise compass that is self-lead to get the social aspect. Provide a choice benefit on your sailing vs you get everything on this list. I would pass up discounts on the spa and photo purchase if I received an extra day of internet or extra Diamond drink per day.

Don't put your faith and trust in a corporation. Stay loyal to yourself. Shop around. You have options. ❤

Give us the option to decline crown lounge access in exchange for 2 extra drink vouchers.

Royal Caribbean seems to be allowing the problem to work itself by doing 2 things. First, keep raising their fares, even prices for their older ships are sky high. Second, knocking back quality and selection of food in the MDR. We are Diamond Plus with Royal, but we've ventured over to 3 different cruise lines in the last 12 months. And, let me tell you, one of the only things bringing us back to Royal is the 5 daily drink vouchers. Otherwise, I'm not sure we would ever be back. It seems they have really changed their focus from the cruise line they were 10-15 years ago.

@bodyloverz30

Ай бұрын

I'm Diamond Plus and am doing my Panama Canal Honeymoon cruise on Coral Princes. Princess Premier package includes room service, specialty dining, top shelf drinks up to $20, wifi. Plus my Reserve JR Suite, comes with its own dining room. Royal does not offer anything comparable, under a full suite!

I think for the social "see and be seen" aspect of the diamond lounge... why not have a diamond lounge event for diamond members in a lounge onboard. Rotate the lounge so you're not essentially moving the diamond lounge to the schooner bar permanently. Have someone checking badges at the entrance to the lounge, and have canapes and special drinks in addition to the diamond lounge itself. Remove cocktails from the diamond lounge but have the cocktails be at the roaming lounge. From like 4p to 6p have the roaming lounge be open to the diamond club eligible folks to spread out the crowd, and to make it so that particular lounge isnt inaccessible during the prime after dinner drinking period. Its not the best option, but I just cannot see how these loyalty programs with lounges will be tenable in the long term. Eventually that lounge will close or become Pinnacle only because there will be no room for all of the people, and the space converted into more cabins or a paid venue, something that will generate revenue for the cruise line.

@dennisblazey3315

Ай бұрын

What you are describing is similar to how Celebrity handles its nightly top tier Happy Hour for Elite and above. For example, on long-haul cruises like transatlantic repos nightly Happy Hour (actually about 2 hours in duration) is staged/hosted in a closed off upper deck lounge. Pass cards are checked for admission, drinks are free, finger food is circulated by servers, and members socialize. If you don't want to go to the event, you can still access your free drink perk at any bar on ship during that time period. Just show your pass card.

My husband and I are Diamond Plus and have witnessed RCCL removing a lot of the loyalty perks. We were just on Wonder and were surprised at how things continue changing. Yes....now delated to the bottom deck of the ship rather than the beautiful window views. Of course, they USED to have the Viking Crown Lounge (not to be confused with the Crown Lounge) but decided that the VCL wasn't used enough and they could make more money through turning it into suites and restaurant for suites. The only thing that we use is the drink package....and we only have one or two drinks a day...IF that. I would actually prefer a coffee package of maybe a couple of specialty coffees a day....not the one in the Crown Lounge. We actually rarely used the Crown Lounge anymore. The other thing is the internet package, which is GROSSLY overpriced. You have free WiFi in almost every hotel these days. There are spaces on the ship that are STILL not being utilized so turn one of those into one of the upper tier spaces. They could have used the suite restaurant for that and still used part of that area as a VCL.....which was a trademark for RCCL.

@GLOCKDPLUSFlowriders

Ай бұрын

We use our drink vouchers for coffee, teas, and orange juice

@susanagonzalez5553

Ай бұрын

You can use your five drink vouchers (as a D+ member) to get specialty coffees from Cafe Latte-tudes, Cafe Promenade, or Windjammer bar - just not at Starbucks!

On one of the cruises which was mariner of the sea there was too many crowd and anchor members, so what they did is at night they closed the Viking lounge, which is right by the crown and anchor or diamond club and use that as a overflow area and it worked out very well

I am soon to hit Diamond. I like the perks they are offering. I almost always stay in a suite so I have experience with that lounge. I enjoy having a spot to talk to the concierge and to sit outside my room in another quiet space. The over crowding just means to me to not hang out there when it’s crazy.

The drive to go to the crown lounge was killed by the drink package 10 years ago. IMHO they should make the cocktail hour a daily rotation through specialty restaurants. It would allow them separate the groups, but also provide exclusive experience and low key advertise to book a restaurant reservation. I have come across a lot of diamond and above people who have never even walked into a single specialty restaurant on any ship.

I reached Diamond+ quickly because of the double points offered during the cruise restart. I only go to the Crown Lounge when it's not crowded. Nice place to read. I don't obsess about the snacks since there's plenty of food on the ships.

when they changed the program to count nights instead of cruises, I had booked my first cruise on the oasis, expecting to be diamond status. But becuase of the change, I was not diamond, because my previous cruise was only 3 nights. So I ended up taking another 3 night cruise just so I would be diamond for the oasis cruise. I live in Fort Lauderdale, so in those days going on a three day weekend cruise cost me less than staying home. So I went a lot. I went on the Majesty of the seas weekend cruise out of miami 24 times, it usually cost from $200 to $500 to go by myself. I also levelled up on carnival on the 3 day weekends on the fascination and imagination, but those ships were crappy and their perks not so great. But I love the ocean.

I think they should look at a separate Pinnacle lounge.

As far as access to the lounge goes, offer different perks to any member willing to give up access. There are several great options for this. $25 OBC, free specialty coffee vouchers, one of the cheaper specialty restaurants. You could make it dependent on your status. Treat it like airlines do when they are over booked, just ask for volunteers. I don' t think that they would have to offer much.

I like the honesty in “members go there to be seen” tells me all I want to know about the kind of people in there……I’ll stick to the fan tail with a goombay smash

On Ovation at the moment Royal are on the hook for 5000+ free drink vouchers per day. That is cutting into their beverage package sales. I'm not going to buy a beverage package if I'm already getting four or five free drinks per day. The generosity of the program is becoming unsustainable.

@maries7058

Ай бұрын

That could be the real issue! Although we still buy the refreshment package every time and have never used all our daily vouchers and I've spoken to others that don't use all the vouchers.

@brodricj3023

Ай бұрын

@@maries7058 Ovation is now on an 18 day transpacific Sydney to Hawaii. Royal are on the hook for 5000 free drinks per day to the 1000 D, D+ and Pinnacle guests who are on the ship. That is about $1M worth of free drinks, and only as far as Hawaii. They still have to get to Seattle. D can't get in Crown Lounge 5-8pm. The top tier event had to be done in Royal Theater because 270 is not big enough to fit everybody in. Something has to change.

There are so many people taking the weekend cruises and moving up the Loyalty Program quicker. It works if you live near a port. Unlike myself…landlocked in Ontario Canada!

I know you briefly addressed this in your video, but they really do need to add a tier into that huge gap between Diamond Plus and Pinnacle (call it the PIC level...Pinnacle in Training, LOL) and put it at the midway point at 340. Too many tiers? Loose the Gold and Emerald tiers. That makes each tier about double the point level of the prior one.

As a fairly recent Diamond member, i am not concerned with the Crown Lounge. there is so much food on a cruise that I can easily do without the hors d'oeuvres and there are plenty of places to sit with friends. We like the four free drinks very much! Now, how about a very simple perk that everyone will appreciate: a reduced fare or some shipboard credit?

Just made Pinnacle in February ‘24. I liked the options for a few snacks when I had access as Diamond+ so was happy to keep it as a member of the Pinnacle Club. But I prefer being able to get drinks around the ship throughout the day; makes more sense to me. (It’s scary that I recognize some of the bartenders😂)

I will stick with celebrity for now

My husband and I are not big drinkers, but we like being able to have our free drinks anywhere on the ship, and at Coco Cay. We like the early dining, so we generally don't have time to go to the lounge, and I prefer a drink at the show because it fills me up too much right before dinner.

The only reason we go to the crown lounge is for coffee

If the lounge is inaccessible during a sailing allow special coffee vouchers as well. I can do without the rest of the lounge amenities.

We got the “letter” on our last cruise! I have to admit it made me mad! We didn’t want to go every night but no nights at all! I’m like you it took us years to get there! We enjoyed the appetizers! And I get up really early and the coffee is not turned on anyway! I have a feeling RC is hurting itself between the higher prices of the cruises and the limited included venues to eat on smaller ships! We have 3 more cruises booked after that we shall see!

One thing that Royal can do is add perks over and above the top tier Pinnacle level. They need to look at things cruisers are paying for and add them to the perks for free when certain levels are reached. Things like once a cruiser gets to 900 or 1000 points, free gratuities, or a free specialty restaurant dinner, or free admission to the adults only place on Coco Cay, free wifi for the whole cruise, free phone service for the whole cruise, etc.

While we stop in the lounge a few times a trip, we rarely stay long, especially on the big ships where they are inside. I like the ones with windows. That said, it's a space that is frequently empty other than a few hours a night, so for RC It's not a good use of space. I like the drinks on my card, and a few of the other perks, we are 2 cruises away from D+

We have never been in the Crown Lounge when is crowded! We only go twice a day to get expresso coffee!

Take out the chairs and have the lounge just be grab and go for food, coffee and concierge services. That would sustain all top tiers including Diamond. We usually grab appetizers and then sit in the adjoining larger lounge anyway (Viking Crown or Music Hall etc). Drinks can be ordered there.

@brodricj3023

Ай бұрын

But all the oldies need somewhere to sit.

@baneeny1

Ай бұрын

@@brodricj3023 I’m saying they can sit in the Viking Crown etc which is generally right outside the door. Carry snacks out there.

@brodricj3023

Ай бұрын

@@baneeny1 On the Quantum Class ships the Crown Lounge is usually at the entrance of Royal Theater, there is nowhere else to sit.

This problem could be partially (if not wholly) solved by offering a cognizable fixed discount (e.g., 40% off for diamond and 50% off for diamond plus) on the Deluxe Beverage Package or individual drinks as an alternative to vouchers (just brainstorming). That would greatly reduce the demand for complementary drinks during happy hour in a singular location.

was on WOTS last September, the Crown was empty every time I visited

I'm interested to see if Royal and Celebrity merge loyalty programs and what comes of that. Honestly I wouldn't mind them getting rid of the overcrowded lounges and maybe offer discounts for maybe the specialty dining restaurants/package. Maybe like 5% discount (on top of whatever discount is being offered via the cruise planner) on a restaurant or UDP? There really is no solving the overcrowding with the amount of Diamond and above members cruising besides getting rid of the lounges.

It’s a tough situation for them to manage with the lounge (the drinks solution was a great call). Perhaps more on current occupancy? We have AI video for grocery store shopping without checking out, why not AI video for monitoring occupancy of a room. Too many people? Can’t admit more. This would make it so the option is still there, you’d just have to go when it’s not full

I definitely took advantage of the Double and Quadrouple points. I will be taking my 5th cruise on Royal in August and will hit Diamond Status. I cruise solo so it is definitely nice to get the extra points.

@winterwhitechocolate

Ай бұрын

Holy Cats! Quadruple points! How did you manage that? I heard of the triple points, but not quadruple.

@LifeOfRiles

Ай бұрын

@@winterwhitechocolate In jan 2022, It was a rescheduled cruise from covid and I had an Aqua theatre Suite 2 bedroom - Star class on Symphony. Not sure if that was the reason but got 28 points for 7 day cruise.

I have been cruising since I was a teenager. On average, I've been on about 1 cruise a year, and I'm still working my way toward diamond+. My wife and I have been getting a little burnt out of RCL, and starting to play with the idea of working our way through another cruise line because we feel, not only has royal become a little stale, but they keep removing perks, and moving the goal post.

If there program is seeing that much growth and as much it would hurt the higher up loyalty members maybe create one more higher level and also increase the amount of days it takes to reach each status. It would knock people back a bit but offer people that are affected a one time cabin upgrade or a 40%-50% Future cruise credit as a thank you for being understanding.

RCCL should create a new class between diamond + and Pinnacle. Additionally, the Crown Lounge should be larger to accommodate more people. Maybe, RCCL could add a free appetizer to the evening meal for people who cannot get into the Crown Lounge

We love the diamond lounges on the older ships but frequently skip them on the newer ships because they feel like you’re sitting in somebody’s basement. A nice basement, but a windowless basement nonetheless. I think sticking them on deck 4 will prevent over crowding as I’d rather use my drink vouchers elsewhere and sit on my balcony.

@suave-rider

Ай бұрын

perhaps they need virtual balconies

At this point they'll have to dedicate an entire deck for Diamond, D+, and Pinnacle

We were almost 3 1/2 weeks on the Jewel of the Seas in the last 4 weeks, doing a b2b and Transatlantic. We are Diamond plus and the crown lounge was flooded every day with people !!!! Hords of loud mouth Pinnacles were spending their whole day there. It is a small, dated lounge and often we weren't able to find a seat to just enjoy a coffee, not to even think of spending some time there with a book to read! The host tried her best to please people with space, but when there simply is no space - what can you do? In the end we only enjoyed the laundry package, the 2 days free WiFi/person and the free drinks which are some of the perks of Diamond plus. The rest you might as well forget.

@PatrickWagz

Ай бұрын

Don't forget about the free photo, and the 6 bucks of free play in the casino!! haha!

@m.m.4645

Ай бұрын

@@PatrickWagz yes! And I won 60 Cents in the casino🤣🤣🤣

Have a top 3 lounges. Let each tier still have different benefits in the lounges. Or open up conference rooms for the larger tiers. There not used that much.

Never understood why I received quadruple points on my 2022 Oasis cruise. I was solo with a large group, booked in 2021 and upgraded to the panoramic view. I went from regular to platinum, which got me MGM Rewards Pearl status.

I took a cruise years ago during a double points event. Suddenly my extra points from that cruise were missing. Tried for months to get them back but Royal refused. They made so many excuses which were all insane (like the extra points were actually my parents... Who I don't live with, I was an adult when I cruised, and my double points cruise was years before their first cruise). Somehow my brother still has the double points. I have two more cruises with Royal and I'm done. Loyalty means nothing to them. We are only sailing with a different line that has incredible benefits and require significantly fewer cruises.

I'm Diamond Plus, and have not been able to enjoy the Diamond Club on any of my three most recent trips. There is nowhere to sit. I gave up. I've also given up on Royal Caribbean as my line of choice. Between the new menus being a significant downgrade, my requested amenity not being delivered (or an explanation of why they didn't), and the issues with the Diamond Lounge, I've shifted to other lines. I was planning on chasing the 340 point level (the unofficial tier between D+ and Pinnacle) for the reduced single supplement, but I can't see a point in it. They'll just pull back on that like they did with the other perks.