New DP perk-any first hand accounts yet??(BOGO speciality restaurant)

[cbtravel1]

I am Diamond + but I travel solo, I wonder how this coupon will work in this instance?

[cruisenfever]

I find this interesting in several ways.

 

First off, my memory isn't as good as it never was, but I thought the last 3-4 cruises we were on this year had coupon books that were identified as "Diamond/Diamond Plus". Will there be new books for each level now?

 

I don't know how having it first-come/first-served is unfair. How else would you do it? Even if you could book pre-cruise, once the seats are gone, there are no more to be had. If the benefit is for the first night, then by definition it is capacity controlled/limited. I suspect bookings made pre-cruise will not have the voucher honored.

 

Now there is another reason to board as early as possible, but remember, you can't "officially" get to your cabin to get the voucher until 1:00 (now people will be busting another rule to get theirs early). And, just in case your luggage doesn't get to your cabin before dinner, you need to dress appropriately or have something nicer than typical travel clothes or the "dress-code police" will be all over you. :eek:

 

Patti, you are spot on - many people will take anything as long as it's free (even if they didn't really want it). I suspect the restaurants are normally under-utilized on the first night and they are probably expecting to get them more fully booked. I hope this doesn't escalate into a war between D+ members to get the limited seats. If this is how it is, I expect some unhappy posts in the near future.

 

As far as a perk that doesn't cost them much, if it saves me $25-30, I don't care if it costs them a dime.

Bob, each tier within C&A now has their own book with their own coupons.

 

The problem with it being fair is that what happens if a cabin attendant doesn't deliver the books to the cabins that he is taking care of at the same time that his friend that is taking care of cabins on the other end of the hall does or the cabin attendant on a different deck does.

 

Everyone should have an equal opportunity to take advantage of the coupon. If RCI is going to offer the coupon on all cruises to all D+ as an added benefit then all D+ should have the opportunity to take advantage of that benefit if they so chose to on the night specified.

[cruisenfever]

You mean like those that go on back to backs and get upgraded to the Royal Suite. Like that would ever happen.:D

Actually, Serenade does that for their consecutive cruisers now. You are offered a BOGO for the first night of the second cruise and they alternate restaurants for each cruise.

[tinkerme1]

Reading with interest the "BOGO" coupon for D+. Is it possible that you can't pre-book the specialty restaurant because they will place you at a table with other D+ members and don't want to create havoc with the booking process? Generally, there are less than 250 D+ on a cruise and the specialty restaurants hold how many? 200? Just a thought.:D

[bob278]

Bob, each tier within C&A now has their own book with their own coupons.

 

The problem with it being fair is that what happens if a cabin attendant doesn't deliver the books to the cabins that he is taking care of at the same time that his friend that is taking care of cabins on the other end of the hall does or the cabin attendant on a different deck does. Good point

 

Everyone should have an equal opportunity to take advantage of the coupon. If RCI is going to offer the coupon on all cruises to all D+ as an added benefit then all D+ should have the opportunity to take advantage of that benefit if they so chose to on the night specified.

I would agree that it would be nice if all D+ could have the opportunity, but it could work out to be impossible if the demand was too great. And would it be fair to the other passengers who might really like to go on the first night only to find out that D+ people filled the restaurant at half price?

 

I guess the only way to ensure that each D+ member had the opportunity would be to allow one voucher per cruise (but that isn't what this benefit is).

 

Looking forward to seeing you in September......

[barbie5401]

Are the new books - individual now, Gold, Platinium, Diamond and one for Diamond Plus !

[EVALUATOR]

Are the new books - individual now, Gold, Platinium, Diamond and one for Diamond Plus !

 

They are supposed to be. They have not made it to the ships with them yet.

[katiel53]

I am Diamond + but I travel solo, I wonder how this coupon will work in this instance?

 

My guess, and it's only a guess, is that it will work like other promotions of Royal Caribbean. My dad travels solo also. On most of our cruises, he travels along with us and on several of our cruises RCI had a promotion that gave a dinner for two at no charge in either Chops or Portofino as a booking bonus.

 

He was only allowed to have dinner one time, not two times. He didn't get any lower price or anything. So, I guess it won't be a benefit to you unless you invite someone else to go along with you. No provisions are made for the solo traveler.

[truffles2]

If it's free,it's for me..:):)

 

I don't know....but prime rib almost trumps "free"

[cbtravel1]

My guess, and it's only a guess, is that it will work like other promotions of Royal Caribbean. My dad travels solo also. On most of our cruises, he travels along with us and on several of our cruises RCI had a promotion that gave a dinner for two at no charge in either Chops or Portofino as a booking bonus.

 

He was only allowed to have dinner one time, not two times. He didn't get any lower price or anything. So, I guess it won't be a benefit to you unless you invite someone else to go along with you. No provisions are made for the solo traveler.

 

Wow, that would really stink if I lost out. It would even be nice if they only charged me half of the premium cost for my dinner.

[Janet524]

Someone on one of my roll calls brought up an interesting point in that maybe they figure by offering it on the first night it won't be used by many due to fatigue from traveling.:eek:

 

If that's the case.........then why offer it at all?

 

Because then they can say, "We made this great offer and very few people took advantage of it. So, now we're going to eliminate the offer." This way, they (think they) look like they really tried to give a great benefit.

[cruisenfever]

Because then they can say, "We made this great offer and very few people took advantage of it. So, now we're going to eliminate the offer." This way, they (think they) look like they really tried to give a great benefit.

I think you will find that there will be many people taking advantage of this Buy One Get One Free offer......fatigued or not.;)

[John Henry on CC]

I find this interesting in several ways.

 

First off, my memory isn't as good as it never was, but I thought the last 3-4 cruises we were on this year had coupon books that were identified as "Diamond/Diamond Plus". Will there be new books for each level now?

 

I don't know how having it first-come/first-served is unfair. How else would you do it? Even if you could book pre-cruise, once the seats are gone, there are no more to be had. If the benefit is for the first night, then by definition it is capacity controlled/limited. I suspect bookings made pre-cruise will not have the voucher honored.

 

Now there is another reason to board as early as possible, but remember, you can't "officially" get to your cabin to get the voucher until 1:00 (now people will be busting another rule to get theirs early). And, just in case your luggage doesn't get to your cabin before dinner, you need to dress appropriately or have something nicer than typical travel clothes or the "dress-code police" will be all over you. :eek:

 

Patti, you are spot on - many people will take anything as long as it's free (even if they didn't really want it). I suspect the restaurants are normally under-utilized on the first night and they are probably expecting to get them more fully booked. I hope this doesn't escalate into a war between D+ members to get the limited seats. If this is how it is, I expect some unhappy posts in the near future.

 

As far as a perk that doesn't cost them much, if it saves me $25-30, I don't care if it costs them a dime.

Many years ago, we ate in Portofino on Explorer at a greatly reduced pp cost on the first night.

 

They *have* experimented with this before.

 

Bookings are apparently VERY light on Night #1.

[cruisenfever]

I would agree that it would be nice if all D+ could have the opportunity, but it could work out to be impossible if the demand was too great. And would it be fair to the other passengers who might really like to go on the first night only to find out that D+ people filled the restaurant at half price?

 

I guess the only way to ensure that each D+ member had the opportunity would be to allow one voucher per cruise (but that isn't what this benefit is).

 

Looking forward to seeing you in September......

Another good point..........are they going to close the Specialty Restaurants on the first night and make it a Private Party for D+ only?:D I think we are in for another "trial and error" period on the part of C&A.

 

September can't come soon enough.:)

[cruisenfever]

Many years ago, we ate in Portofino on Explorer at a greatly reduced pp cost on the first night.

 

They *have* experimented with this before.

 

Bookings are apparently VERY light on Night #1.

Now they are dealing with D+ Members..........which, to some, the word entitlement is the operative word.:(

[PH8]

 

The problem with it being fair is that what happens if a cabin attendant doesn't deliver the books to the cabins that he is taking care of at the same time that his friend that is taking care of cabins on the other end of the hall does or the cabin attendant on a different deck does.

Maybe one would NOT need to have the voucher in hand when they book(but of course,would need it when the bill came)......

[marci22]

I don't think everyone would take advantage of a BOGO specialty. It's still 20-25 bucks, and we see how people hate to spend $4.95 to eat at JRs. (yeah I know people will say, "well it is different than JRs", but $ is $)

[Bobal]

See, they thought of you guys across the pond before us.:D

 

Unbelievable - the first time that's ever happened ;):D

 

Perhaps it's only availabe to us people across the pond ;)

[critterchick]

I don't think everyone would take advantage of a BOGO specialty. It's still 20-25 bucks, and we see how people hate to spend $4.95 to eat at JRs. (yeah I know people will say, "well it is different than JRs", but $ is $)

 

I tend to agree with you. We prefer to dine in the specialty restaurants because we're sick of the hubbub in the MDR. On our recent Radiance cruise we went to Chops on the first night and had the place to ourselves.

 

The problem with booking online in advance is that you have to pay for both parties. If you cancel the day of the booking you are subject to paying a $10 cancellation fee. So the "free" dinner would actually be a $10-15 dinner, unless you have a sympathetic manager.

[ccruisequeen]

I read this wrong--I thought DP stood for Disabled Person (I could USE some perks!:rolleyes::D )

[hooked-on-travel]

I'm just a simple Diamond (and a new one at that), but wouldn't all you people who live in FL and cruise every other week :D (jk) have a spare booklet from your last cruise? You'll have the coupon before others even get to their cabin. Meaning, last cruise you (as a couple) got two books. You can only use it one night, so the coupon in the second book wasn't used. Or do you travel with family who aren't DP so you each take a mere diamond as a guest. (and work our the dollars with the other couple later.) Seems like there's a whole scenario with the second coupon nobody's discussing. It's all academic to me since I'm 15 away from DP and don't sail with any (or even know any in the real world.) But I thought that angle might be interesting to discuss.

[bob278]

And, in my not-so-humble-opinion, the word "entitlement" is the most dangerous word in the English language (and a prime reason for many of the problems our country faces).

 

I'm just a simple Diamond (and a new one at that), but wouldn't all you people who live in FL and cruise every other week (jk) have a spare booklet from your last cruise? You'll have the coupon before others even get to their cabin. Meaning, last cruise you (as a couple) got two books. You can only use it one night, so the coupon in the second book wasn't used. Or do you travel with family who aren't DP so you each take a mere diamond as a guest. (and work our the dollars with the other couple later.) Seems like there's a whole scenario with the second coupon nobody's discussing. It's all academic to me since I'm 15 away from DP and don't sail with any (or even know any in the real world.) But I thought that angle might be interesting to discuss.

 

And there's another aspect that will end up being trial and error and/or the subject of unhappy posts.

[CptSticky]

I am Diamond + but I travel solo, I wonder how this coupon will work in this instance?

I hope you are really hungry.

[I Church]

That was one of the perks given to us by our TA (when we booked a new cruise today from the CC brochure for D+), a dinner at a specialtiy dinning room. No day was specified so I wonder if that is a good perk or whether we would have gotten it anyway since we are Diamond +. The other choice was a free spa (one per cabin). I guess we will see how this plays out.

 

Irene & Mile

[EVALUATOR]

I'm just a simple Diamond (and a new one at that), but wouldn't all you people who live in FL and cruise every other week :D (jk) have a spare booklet from your last cruise? You'll have the coupon before others even get to their cabin. Meaning, last cruise you (as a couple) got two books. You can only use it one night, so the coupon in the second book wasn't used. Or do you travel with family who aren't DP so you each take a mere diamond as a guest. (and work our the dollars with the other couple later.) Seems like there's a whole scenario with the second coupon nobody's discussing. It's all academic to me since I'm 15 away from DP and don't sail with any (or even know any in the real world.) But I thought that angle might be interesting to discuss.

 

Maybe the will smarten up and get rid of the printed books and program the coupons to the sea pass cards. They programmed the Concierge Lounge and Diamond lounge access on the sea pass card on the Freedom last week. Maybe it is a sign of things to come. The grocery stores know if I buy a bag of potato chips on a loyalty card. Why can't RCI figure out that system.

 

No more books. No more wasted printing. No more holding, or swapping unused coupons. Good for them.

 

No more extra room keys, No more back to the room for the coupon books, or carrying them around all the time. Good for us.