Will the Harmony be as big a disaster as the Liberty?

[pdrcruiser]

In the diamond lounge? Just got off the 9/11 Liberty sailing. There were over 500 D, D+ and P's on the ship. The diamond lounge was deplorable. Dirty plates and glasses stacked on tables, no service, had to stand in a long line for drinks, hot, crowded and loud lounge, food not being replinished, it was not a pleasant experience. Jorge (DL concierge) said Miami would not do anything about it. We told him we were going on the Harmony TA and his response was "good luck". He said he knew there were 122 Pinnacles on the cruise so I am anticipating close to 1000 diamond and above. I just hope they are planning to accomodate that many and have a plan in place.

[troykahack]

In the diamond lounge? Just got off the 9/11 Liberty sailing. There were over 500 D, D+ and P's on the ship. The diamond lounge was deplorable. Dirty plates and glasses stacked on tables, no service, had to stand in a long line for drinks, hot, crowded and loud lounge, food not being replinished, it was not a pleasant experience. Jorge (DL concierge) said Miami would not do anything about it. We told him we were going on the Harmony TA and his response was "good luck". He said he knew there were 122 Pinnacles on the cruise so I am anticipating close to 1000 diamond and above. I just hope they are planning to accomodate that many and have a plan in place.

 

A plan, a plan for what? Isn't there numerous bars and lounges on Harmony? Are they all deplorable? Is the Diamond Lounge a restaurant during cocktail hours? Who is loud?

Edited September 21, 2016 by troykahack

[cruisinfanatic]

In the diamond lounge? Just got off the 9/11 Liberty sailing. There were over 500 D, D+ and P's on the ship. The diamond lounge was deplorable. Dirty plates and glasses stacked on tables, no service, had to stand in a long line for drinks, hot, crowded and loud lounge, food not being replinished, it was not a pleasant experience. Jorge (DL concierge) said Miami would not do anything about it. We told him we were going on the Harmony TA and his response was "good luck". He said he knew there were 122 Pinnacles on the cruise so I am anticipating close to 1000 diamond and above. I just hope they are planning to accomodate that many and have a plan in place.

diamond lounges are crowded on all ships. You get 3 drink vouchers, use them somewhere else

[TheTruthCanHurt]

I just dont understand the love of the "lounge"

You get the free drinks loaded onto your card so you can get them at any bar.(almost)

The food they serve there is not good.

and there are never very many seats ( crowded or not)

 

I go in during the day or early in the morning to get expresso and thats about it

[FOXTROT]

Why would you keep going there? On our 8-28 sailing it was crowded. We grabbed a drink & left. We never went back.

[ramja96]

I guess some people are just too good to mingle with us folks from steerage .... :rolleyes: j/k

[pdrcruiser]

They need a plan to accomodate all these people if they are going to offer this as a perk for a repeat level of customer. And yes, we do use the drinks on our card at the other bars and no, they are not all deplorable, I never said they were, I just said the Diamond lounge on the Liberty last week was deplorable. No, the diamond lounge is not a restaurant during cocktail hours but they do offer snacks and hors d'oeuvres that are quite good at times but can be low quality as well. It was a very small space and they had as many tables packed in there as they could and with everybody talking (and the drunker ones yelling) it was very loud and hard to have a conversation. I am glad some use it to get an expresso but we like to visit with old friends we have seen on previous cruises, make new friends on this cruise and talk with the concierge about new things with the company. On this cruise it was not enjoyable. That's all I'm saying.

[spookwife]

There are too many diamonds and diamond plus for ANY ship to be able to accommodate them in a Lounge any more. That's why they instituted the vouchers, who's is by far the one perk that deemed most important by those surveyed.

 

For those that proclaim that they like hanging out with like minded people: hello, any public space will do. Just make arrangements to meet at X Lounge.

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

I guess some people are just too good to mingle with us folks from steerage .... :rolleyes: j/k

Gave me a chuckle, thanks.

 

If the diamond lounge is crowded we just use the drink vouchers in the Schooner Bar. OP, expand your horizons [emoji14]

 

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[pdrcruiser]

After the second day we quit going and just used our free drinks at the other bars. Had a great time mingling with the folks from steerage. Melvin and Armi were fantastic in the R Bar.

[Beachammo]

I guess some people are just too good to mingle with us folks from steerage .... :rolleyes: j/k

 

That's where most of the Diamond and Diamond plus are coming from......

[Dscomp1]

We've been diamond for a while now and just see no real point in the lounge. We buy the drink package so have no need for the drink vouchers. Next cruise we are diamond plus and will probably still not use the lounge-we hang out in the schooner bar, much more fun!

[silentbob007]

I certainly do not enjoy shoehorning into a small room. While I'm curious how the Harmony TA will handle the numbers, I'm already planning a quest to find a pre-dinner venue.

[troykahack]

I can see people now showing up early just to get a seat in the Diamond Lounge, if they are not already doing it....

 

Just rename all the bars the Diamond Lounge but make sure the general public can have a drink too.....

 

It is not something that is promised and can be taken away at any time, at RCCL desecration.

[Doug S]

Getting a lot of negative flak, but I guess you had to be there to understand. You are not just whining about having a hard time finding a seat. It was a total hot mess. I also bailed after 1 drink on day 2. Gave it a quick look after a bad day one and saw that it was not gonna get any better. Just a mosh pit in there. And yes it was annoyingly loud. Some just have to hold court and shout over others to be heard. Like you, I also spent some time in the schooner, but Boleros ended up being our bar of choice.

 

We've been on several cruises as a diamond, and the DL is usually an enjoyable time before dinner. Staff talk with you and you can chat with other experienced cruisers in a relaxing atmosphere. None of that this cruise - by far our worst DL experience, but it did not ruin our time. We accepted that this cruise the DL was a waste of time, and moved on.

 

What I do not understand is the fascination of some folks with getting a seat in there and camping out all night. I thought it was supposed to be a relaxing before/after dinner experience, not an all nighter. Like its a weird competition. I went in for a coffee for DW at about 3:30 one afternoon and some were already staking out their territory for the evening. One guy even said he had to watch his weight so he just stayed in the DL and grabbed snacks and skipped the MDR. Like those 4 plates of tapas and 8 free drinks you get are some kind of diet plan...

 

I guess I am on both sides of this fence. When it is not crowded the DL is our favorite place to kick off the evening. When its a mad house like last week, we had a great time at a different venue and left the DL to the hardcore, gotta-be-in-there-no-matter-what-and-score-some-free-drinks folks.

[spookwife]

Ambiance is a product of the clientele. We have experiences where we were completely snubbed because we dared to access the CL via having booked a suite instead of being D+ and we have been welcomed with open arms . Same exact ship, same Concierge. Less than six months apart.

 

 

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[RFerrington]

It is not something that is promised and can be taken away at any time, at RCCL desecration.

 

Sorry. I couldn't resist this one.

 

I'm sure you meant to say "discretion". The spellcheck made a rare and insightful correction !

[rbschultz]

We used to go to the Diamond lounge, but once we started getting the free drink vouchers we started just going to the Schooner or casino bar.

[wolfganghowell]

The DL, CL and SL on the ships change weekly. I know the concierge gets a list with how many D, D+, P's and suites are onboard. It's a shame they can't bring in extra help on the sailings that have large amounts of people. We prefer the SL and CL due to the usual screamers, whiners and pontificators who hold court in the DL. There's always one. ;) We've been very fortunate, I've never seen this crowding that many others experience. We must have good luck. We also generally show up after early dinner and only stay around 45 minutes or so.

 

I have heard horror stories about the TA's though.

[amster65]

Maybe there should be diamond only cruises, then they wouldn't have to mingle with the poor folks at all. They can just hobnob with there own kind. Just sayin.:D

[ptf2009]

Why would you keep going there? On our 8-28 sailing it was crowded. We grabbed a drink & left. We never went back.

 

Same with us....we walked in, got our glass of wine and went to dinner.

[troykahack]

Sorry. I couldn't resist this one.

 

I'm sure you meant to say "discretion". The spellcheck made a rare and insightful correction !

 

Yep, you got me on that one, I plead guilty.... Sorry

[internetwhiz]

They are planning multiple venues with food and drink for Harmony TA. Both Oasis and Allure have done TA's. On Oasis TA in the fall 2014 these were the numbers. They did a pretty good job with it:

 

1067 diamond

811 D+

40 pinnacle

[ATG]

We were on Freedom last week and both CL and DL were very crowded. We like the CL and met several fascinating couples. We like to chat with people we don't know and learn about them. Since Freedom is leaving PC this fall, there were a lot of experienced cruisers who seemed to be taking one last Freedom cruise before it moves. If it was crowded, we did go to the Schooner Bar, so it was not a big thing. I agree, the food is just okay, but a piece of cheese and carrots and celery go well with a glass of wine.

[linkerbink]

Maybe it depends on the ship and/or itinerary? My sister and I were on the Jewel out of Rome this summer and we ALWAYS got a seat in the Diamond Lounge. The lounge was very small, about 6 or so small tables. It seemed to be the same people every day. We just wanted a quiet place to enjoy a glass of wine and to watch the scenery. We also went to the lounge on the Anthem and while that lounge was larger, we again never had a problem with a seat. Maybe it was because we always went just before dinner?