Zero to Hero - Neighbor made Diamond in a month

[closecruiser]

Always love reading these kinds of posts.

[twoontheisle]

Good for him. As an aside, there are 2 fashionable gentlemen cruising for 6 straight months on the Adventure of the Seas when we cruised in Feb. ,12 out of San Juan. Saw them again on the Mediterranean Serenade itinerary in August '13 and were scheduled for 3 months.

 

We did a T/A on AOS in April 2013, and they had been on there for 10 months. To make it MORE amazing....they were in a GS, and also had the GS right next door to them to hold all of their "fashionable regalia"..... And you know how elaborate those were. Like Sigfried and Roy.

[emeraldcity]

This evening I ran into an older gentleman at the community clubhouse who lives seasonally where I live. I had not seen him in a while and knew part of his winter snowbirding meant cruising, usually to somewhat exotic locations or on smaller ships. So I asked him how this winter was treating him and about his travels and he said he had just made Diamond on RCI. I said that's great, I did too; I just went on my first cruise as a Diamond member, first time on a RCI ship was 1992, blah blah.

 

I asked him how long it took him....a month. He booked 4 cruises in a row on Oasis as a single in a GS. He said they offered him a cheapo deal on an OV cabin so he decided to stay a 5th week and gave up the CL access but had access to the Diamond lounge. He went from 0 cruise points (Had never sailed with RCI) to now had 98 points (by my calculation.

 

I don't even want to KNOW what it costs to travel as a single in a GS for a month. I asked how he liked it and he said "Oh, it was very nice." Gotta love it. I asked why five weeks on a ship and he said he was intrigued to see all the shows and everything on the ship, as opposed to world traveling. Said it took him about 3 weeks at a casual pace to see and do everything and then 2 weeks just relaxing and didn't bother to disembark at ports. I asked how he liked the ports and he said "Jamaica is a lovely port to sit in the Solarium of the ship at"

:D

 

I guess you can't die with it...

 

What a great story. Thank you for sharing. It's incredible that someone who has sailed so much, had never sailed RCI before. Makes you wonder if he steered clear of mass market sailing.

[Fran&Tom]

We also sailed last year with these gentleman on the AOS- and you are correct about their dress! Now we were told they actually have an inside cabin??

Was also told they do not fly so take the TA across and back again. Wouldn't mind trying if around Europe for a summer season! But also would like to switch ships doing different agendas. What a dream!

Fran

[Kcjarvis]

Good for him. As an aside, there are 2 fashionable gentlemen cruising for 6 straight months on the Adventure of the Seas when we cruised in Feb. ,12 out of San Juan. Saw them again on the Mediterranean Serenade itinerary in August '13 and were scheduled for 3 months.

 

HAHAH You call them fashionable???? I met them on AOS in Dec. Gotta love the tiger print jackets and spray tan

[Choozin Croozin]

Good for him. As an aside, there are 2 fashionable gentlemen cruising for 6 straight months on the Adventure of the Seas when we cruised in Feb. ,12 out of San Juan. Saw them again on the Mediterranean Serenade itinerary in August '13 and were scheduled for 3 months.

 

I remember those guys. Interesting gentlemen. :D

[SeaRaptor]

We met a guy on Radiance in March who had been on the ship at least two months and said he was booked up through June 2015. He had to get off the ship at that point to renew his passport.

 

He had sold his house and was having his mail delivered to his folks' place, so it was clear he was either semi-retired or taking a good long break from work. He didn't seem old enough to be completely retired -- he did take the sea kayak excursion with us -- but had sailed enough to have Concierge Club access with us, so he was at least Diamond Plus.

 

I suppose if you were a solo cruiser doing inside cabins, that kind of stretch could be more affordable than the cost of living in some places... and it's not as if you need to spend a lot of time in your room unless you just want to.

[chellecruise12]

Very interesting..Thx for the post!!

[matj2000]

Nice for him but for my money, I would have chartered a private Cat in the BVI for 2 weeks including open bar, all meals, and gone to all the smaller remote islands. ;)

 

Exactly...

[UNV-IT!!!]

No one has a picture?

[lady_cruiser]

.........if I had to stay on the same ship, repeating the same itinerary, eating the same meals...

I agree with you. That is the only thing I hate about B2Bs. It would be nice if every other week the menu would change.