karl_nj

Yeah, I'll do that more on my next Celebrity cruise. Especially now that the happy hour happens on the first night too; on my last cruise I ended up buying a bottle of wine at dinner the first night (using the 20% discount) and then kept doing that the rest of the cruise. Maybe I'll feel less weird about it if I start bringing my free glass of wine from day 1. And I agree, the 'free' wine choices aren't bad. I was happy with the sauvignon blanc they were pouring on my last cruise. I also noticed that some of the wait staff were more generous with giving me free drinks outside of the CC happy hour times (and outside of the happy hour menu), which I certainly appreciated.

Yeah, good to get that setup just in case; if they find a nice sailing on a Radiance Class ship with a good itinerary maybe they will want to check it out. And they should get the 4 daily drink vouchers they qualify for!

I'm not a Pinnacle, but I think they will understand that they may or may not have access. This is how it works for their access to the Suite Lounge and Suite Restaurant on Royal. Not ever Pinnacle has access, sometimes it's based on the number of C&A points they have... the least Pinnacle Pinnacle can get shut out: 8_Access to Coastal Kitchen is reserved exclusively for guests staying in qualifying Suites. Pinnacle Club members also have the opportunity to enjoy meals in Coastal Kitchen, subject to availability. Daily reservations are required and can only be made with the Maître d’ once onboard. In situations where the number of eligible Suite & Pinnacle Club guests on a particular sailing exceeds the intended venue capacity, access for Pinnacle Club members will be restricted to the top guests onboard, as determined by their cruise points, and extended to one other non-Pinnacle Club guest staying in the same stateroom. The exact number of top guests who receive access will be determined on a per-sailing basis, depending on the venue’s capacity. Eligible Pinnacle Club members will be notified of their access on the first day of the cruise. 17_Access to the Suite/Concierge Lounge is reserved exclusively for guests staying in qualifying Suites. Pinnacle Club members may also enjoy access to the lounge, subject to availability. In situations where the number of eligible Suite & Pinnacle Club guests on a particular sailing exceeds the lounge’s intended capacity, access for Pinnacle Club members will be restricted to the top guests onboard, as determined by their cruise points, and extended to one other non-Pinnacle Club guest staying in the same stateroom. The exact number of top guests who receive access will be determined on a per-sailing basis, depending on the venue’s capacity. I assume this is how it will work for Zenith on Royal also.... a "Pinnacle" with 0 C&A points is going to be at the end of the line....

Yeah, they will match to Platinum (not Emerald. not that there is a big difference) right now, if they enroll in C&A and get the linkage setup correctly. And then once they hit Elite in CC then they should show up as Diamond in C&A. I use the same username/password to login to the Celebrity and Royal Carribean websites. The technical term is "single sign on", but this basically makes it easier for the RCL group to link your C&A and CC numbers together in their computer system. I do wonder how this is going to all work with the Sliversea system though, since that match is new.

I totally agree that Celebrity has fewer kids, but I'm not sure that is a negative even if you are traveling with kids. My wife and I just turned 50, so we still have a high school age teen at home. Celebrity seemed to work really well for her age group, there were enough teens onboard to find some friends, and the activities in the teen club were engaging enough to keep them interested. But the lack of kids around in general was very nice; especially since our previous cruise was on Disney Wish! (friends our ours picked that one...) Of course, it all depends on the sailing, the other kids going to the club, and the mood of your kid that week, and what activities your kid is looking for (e.g. no water slides on Celebrity... but I also remember when there were no water slides on Royal!) In general, we have found Celebrity works pretty well for a family vacation. I get the feeling it would work better than a line like Holland America.

Yes, the free drink package for Zenith is way better than the 6 "all day" drink vouchers for Pinnacle, but I have found that the 5 vouchers for Diamond Plus or 4 vouches for Diamond are more useful than the CC happy hour, especially if you have early seating dinner. I also felt weird about taking my 'free' glass of wine to the dining room, though I should probably just get over that.

Yeah, it is a little confusing. That is still true though; I think they are just trying to explain that you don't get the "points" of your matched level, just the level. If you totally give up on one line and move to the other, you still will need to earn all the points to move up. But if you do keep sailing both lines, and you end up moving up a level on one line, you do move up on the other line. As an example, I matched from Royal to Celebrity when I was at the Platinum / Select level years ago. And once I moved up to Diamond in Royal, my level on Celebrity automatically and immediately moved up to Elite. It's less of a "status match" and more of a "status linkage".

It literally means one specific thing. Here are the C&A benefits: crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf (royalcaribbean.com) "Personalized gift/amenity (per household)25" https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/cas-amenities-jan-2024-final.pdf Basically, you don't get to pick a free bottle of wine for your cabin; what you can pick is based on the number of C&A points you have, and you would have 0 C&A points if you never sailed on them before and just used the status match.

Royal Caribbean Group Introduces New Loyalty Status Match - Royal Caribbean Group Royal Caribbean Group Loyalty Status Match Program - Royal Caribbean Group

CC Elite Plus will now match to Diamond Plus, starting next month C&A literally calls them vouchers, even if they are electronic: _Each day of the cruise, Diamond members receive four (4) complimentary drink vouchers, Diamond Plus members receive five (5) complimentary drink vouchers, and Pinnacle Club members receive six (6) complimentary vouchers up to $14 in value ($13 on Singapore sailings and $15 on Australia sailings). These vouchers can be used at any time and at any bar onboard or onshore at our private destinations. Drink vouchers may also be used toward a discount off the purchase of any bottle of wine — 20% off bottles over $100 and 40% off bottles under $100. Every time a drink voucher is redeemed, a zero-dollar ($0) receipt will be provided and must be signed. Youth members will receive the same daily allotment of complimentary vouchers as their parents of the same tier and may be used toward the purchase of non-alcoholic beverages (including mocktails). All drink vouchers reset daily at 5:00am and are redeemable until 4:59am the next day. Excludes Starbucks, Bionic Bar, and Desserted Milkshake Bar.

Yes, you would get an extra voucher since you aren't just matching to Diamond (4 vouchers) but match to Diamond Plus (5 vouchers) You may also have a better chance of getting access to the Crown Lounge; they now block Diamond on some sailings

It just automatically happened

Ah that is interesting, they are doing a match for the lowest level now too. In the past they didn't match until you moved up to the 2nd level. No that you get much at that level. But yes, it's less of a "status match" and more of an "account linkage" that gives you reciprocal benefits in each separate program, equivalent to the level that you have the most points in. You might as well link them now.

Points don't transfer, just status. But if your status increases on one line, then it should increase on other lines. When I was Platinum in C&A, I was matched to Select in CC. When I moved up to DIamond in C&A, CC automatically moved up to Elite in CC. This is not a new status match, the only new bit is extending this past Elite/Diamond (and adding Silversea), so I wouild expect it to keep working as it did before.

Nope

Yes, I can certainly understand the confusion for those not familiar with the C&A Diamond+/Pinnacle benefits.

It does specifically say "Status match members": Status match members will only be permitted to access the Retreat Lounge when not staying in the Retreat based on availability and at the sole discretion of Celebrity Cruises

Which Pinnacle benefit are you specifically upset about? The Pinnacle "amenities"? That refers to this: cas-amenities-jan-2024-final.pdf (royalcaribbean.com)

That isn't exactly what it says... it says Diamond Plus/Pinnacle "amenities", which is basically a free bottle of wine. The other Diamon Plus benefits are still in play

Correct -- but my understanding is that although some cruise ships call in the summer, the whole reason why Bar Harbor wanted cruise ships in the first place was for the post labor day 'shoulder season' in the fall. To extend the tourism season beyond the summer, and into September and October.

I know this is an older thread, but just back from Celebrity Reflection and wanted to add a datapoint. Before my cruise I did a search and was a little confused about the 'conflicting answers'. I received the 20% discount on every bottle I ordered, it was not limited to one time use.

When they report to stockholders they say 100% is when they have two passengers in each room, so 100% is going to be 5610 passengers (2805 rooms x2). If they do ever hit 7600 passengers on a spring break/summer cruise they will be able to claim 135% full.

The hours have gotten worse, but the buffet hours have never been great on Royal. I noticed this even on my first Royal cruise years ago, compared to lines that basically have the buffet open almost 24 hours a day. On Royal I guess they expect you to go to Cafe Promenade, but they have cut back on the number/quality of items there recently. I feel this is an issue with the industry moving to 'my time dining'—was easier to schedule things when there were just two seatings, and you either did show and then dinner, or the other way around. Disney still works this way, and I agree the showtimes work better. All the mainstream lines have switched to this, but I believe the more 'premium' lines are keeping twice a day. For now, at least. You still get this on lines like Disney and Celebrity. In any case, I feel all of your points are valid, and I agree all these little things do add up. Personally, I also just like being on a ship, at sea, so for me taking a cruise will still trump an AI, but I can certainly see why not everyone would feel that way.

I think you bring up a lot of good points, though I do want to mention that little kids do sail for "cheaper" with KSF, because once that kid hits age 13 the parent pays all of the extra costs you mention, plus whatever 3rd/4th passenger fare royal is charging for that sailing. Sometimes cheaper to buy a 2nd room, if there are any connecting rooms still available (though often those cost 'extra' also) Transparency in pricing is an issue in many industries in the US (the whole "resort fee" nonsense in hotels comes to mind) but I do wish that companies stopped with this nonsense. It would be wonderful if we should just see the price, with all taxes, fees, and service charges included. I was visiting Paris earlier this year, and it was so refreshing to go to a restaurant and have the price on the menu actually end up being the price you charged. Service and VAT was included in the price. Crazy concept.

Oh, I wonder if that is why there is no more buffet during bunch at Palo on DCL. I thought it was just a cost cutting thing, but perhaps it is more to it.