RCCL new Diamond Lounge Policy?

[TYMAN]

Just an hour till SL opens on Oasis.

 

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You guys are killing me! [emoji23]

 

 

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[island lady]

Just an hour till SL opens on Oasis.

 

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Yes...that's right!! Cheers Lady O!! :D

[katgrl]

We are Pinnacle now for over a year and have seen the Diamond and Diamond plus numbers grow to become unmanageable over the past few years. The plan was to move Diamonds out of the lounge when the voucher plan was first started. There would have been plenty of complaining, but RCCL would have had an answer by issuing the vouchers to be used in any bar on the ship during happy hours. Now things have gone from bad to worse as many cruises have hundreds of diamonds and pluses. As always there are many rumors as to what will happen. My prediction is that nothing will happen except for what is occurring now. The lounges are getting smaller and smaller with overflow disappearing from ship to ship. RCCL will simply say you have a lounge and you have your vouchers.

But to stir the rumor mill, and that is about all it is, an unnamed Hotel Director mentioned a plan being considered is to have a drink credit dollar amount put on cards instead of a voucher. The credit could be used to buy whatever you like each night at menu prices and the tip would be applied at 18% as well. The tip issue is big for the hard working crew who serve hundreds of diamonds and Pluses and are rarely tipped appropriately. Remember 18% is $1.80 for a ten dollar drink. Honestly do you leave 3 dollars or more when you get a drink for you and your companion?

[island lady]

We are Pinnacle now for over a year and have seen the Diamond and Diamond plus numbers grow to become unmanageable over the past few years. The plan was to move Diamonds out of the lounge when the voucher plan was first started. There would have been plenty of complaining, but RCCL would have had an answer by issuing the vouchers to be used in any bar on the ship during happy hours. Now things have gone from bad to worse as many cruises have hundreds of diamonds and pluses. As always there are many rumors as to what will happen. My prediction is that nothing will happen except for what is occurring now. The lounges are getting smaller and smaller with overflow disappearing from ship to ship. RCCL will simply say you have a lounge and you have your vouchers.

But to stir the rumor mill, and that is about all it is, an unnamed Hotel Director mentioned a plan being considered is to have a drink credit dollar amount put on cards instead of a voucher. The credit could be used to buy whatever you like each night at menu prices and the tip would be applied at 18% as well. The tip issue is big for the hard working crew who serve hundreds of diamonds and Pluses and are rarely tipped appropriately. Remember 18% is $1.80 for a ten dollar drink. Honestly do you leave 3 dollars or more when you get a drink for you and your companion?

 

I drink the house Pinot Grigio, and DH has his beer. We tip a 1.00 a drink per person each time. 10.00 Beer?? :confused:

[Biker19]

. 10.00 Beer?? :

 

Not till next year.

 

 

 

 

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[Milwaukee Eight]

We are Pinnacle now for over a year and have seen the Diamond and Diamond plus numbers grow to become unmanageable over the past few years. The plan was to move Diamonds out of the lounge when the voucher plan was first started. There would have been plenty of complaining, but RCCL would have had an answer by issuing the vouchers to be used in any bar on the ship during happy hours. Now things have gone from bad to worse as many cruises have hundreds of diamonds and pluses. As always there are many rumors as to what will happen. My prediction is that nothing will happen except for what is occurring now. The lounges are getting smaller and smaller with overflow disappearing from ship to ship. RCCL will simply say you have a lounge and you have your vouchers.

But to stir the rumor mill, and that is about all it is, an unnamed Hotel Director mentioned a plan being considered is to have a drink credit dollar amount put on cards instead of a voucher. The credit could be used to buy whatever you like each night at menu prices and the tip would be applied at 18% as well. The tip issue is big for the hard working crew who serve hundreds of diamonds and Pluses and are rarely tipped appropriately. Remember 18% is $1.80 for a ten dollar drink. Honestly do you leave 3 dollars or more when you get a drink for you and your companion?

 

 

 

You make a very good point that I don’t believe has been addressed. The FREE drink don’t include a gratuity like a purchased drink. We get the drink package which includes the grats and tip on top of that. We generally ask for upgraded alcohol and use our SeaPass to buy even in the Lounges

 

I have seen many come into the lounge and drink several FREE drinks and leave nothing for the bartender. Even those that tip a bit, seldom tip the 18% mentioned.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

I drink the house Pinot Grigio, and DH has his beer. We tip a 1.00 a drink per person each time. 10.00 Beer?? :confused:

$8 white sin and $8 vodka cranberry, sometimes a $7 beer

 

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Edited February 22, 2018 by John&LaLa

[grapau27]

You make a very good point that I don’t believe has been addressed. The FREE drink don’t include a gratuity like a purchased drink. We get the drink package which includes the grats and tip on top of that. We generally ask for upgraded alcohol and use our SeaPass to buy even in the Lounges

 

I have seen many come into the lounge and drink several FREE drinks and leave nothing for the bartender. Even those that tip a bit, seldom tip the 18% mentioned.

 

 

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$1 a drink from me because i acknowledge they are free drinks.

[frank808]

We are Pinnacle now for over a year and have seen the Diamond and Diamond plus numbers grow to become unmanageable over the past few years. The plan was to move Diamonds out of the lounge when the voucher plan was first started. There would have been plenty of complaining, but RCCL would have had an answer by issuing the vouchers to be used in any bar on the ship during happy hours. Now things have gone from bad to worse as many cruises have hundreds of diamonds and pluses. As always there are many rumors as to what will happen. My prediction is that nothing will happen except for what is occurring now. The lounges are getting smaller and smaller with overflow disappearing from ship to ship. RCCL will simply say you have a lounge and you have your vouchers.

But to stir the rumor mill, and that is about all it is, an unnamed Hotel Director mentioned a plan being considered is to have a drink credit dollar amount put on cards instead of a voucher. The credit could be used to buy whatever you like each night at menu prices and the tip would be applied at 18% as well. The tip issue is big for the hard working crew who serve hundreds of diamonds and Pluses and are rarely tipped appropriately. Remember 18% is $1.80 for a ten dollar drink. Honestly do you leave 3 dollars or more when you get a drink for you and your companion?

 

Also the p numbers are growing larger and unmanageable also. It is not just the lowly d+ and lower numbers growing larger. This is a testament that Royal has a very good loyalty program. They keep us coming back cruise after cruise.

 

Wife has a water $3 and I order a screwdriver $13 and the waiter gets $2 per round. I give extra on the last night to the servers that have made my cruise exceptional.

 

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[John&LaLa]

Also the p numbers are growing larger and unmanageable also. It is not just the lowly d+ and lower numbers growing larger. This is a testament that Royal has a very good loyalty program. They keep us coming back cruise after cruise.

 

Wife has a water $3 and I order a screwdriver $13 and the waiter gets $2 per round. I give extra on the last night to the servers that have made my cruise exceptional.

 

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Where are you seeing a $13 screwdriver? They should be $8 even with Absolut

 

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[TYMAN]

I tip $1 per drink for the two of us, then I give envelopes ($20 per) on the last night to all who served me that week in the lounge. Yes, there are quite a few who don’t tip, and it’s a shame, but my in laws and my family always do and sleep well at night.

 

 

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[frank808]

Where are you seeing a $13 screwdriver? They should be $8 even with Absolut

 

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Maybe the last time i bought it was $12 something for my wife and I with tip. It has been a while thanks to diamond lounge happy hour.

 

 

 

 

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[frank808]

I tip $1 per drink for the two of us, then I give envelopes ($20 per) on the last night to all who served me that week in the lounge. Yes, there are quite a few who don’t tip, and it’s a shame, but my in laws and my family always do and sleep well at night.

 

 

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We do the same on 7 day cruises. I was a regular at guest services last week getting $1 bills. This week guest services let's me get forty $1 bills at a time.

 

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[TYMAN]

We do the same on 7 day cruises. I was a regular at guest services last week getting $1 bills. This week guest services let's me get forty $1 bills at a time.

 

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I like using the ticket/cash machine in the casino. Put in a $100, get out 5 $20’s. Put in a $20, get out 4 $5’s. Put in a $5, get 5 singles. It’s the “slot” machine that pays every time! [emoji23]

 

 

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[Milwaukee Eight]

$1 a drink from me because i acknowledge they are free drinks.

 

 

 

You understand that a $1 tip on FREE drinks with no gratuities included is about 12.5% tip and not the 18% they are accustomed too?

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

Maybe the last time i bought it was $12 something for my wife and I with tip. It has been a while thanks to diamond lounge happy hour.

 

 

 

 

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I had a cranberry and vodka in On Air and it was $7.95 plus tip. Absolut.

 

I got one with my punch card and they used Grey goose

 

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[John&LaLa]

You understand that a $1 tip on FREE drinks with no gratuities included is about 12.5% tip and not the 18% they are accustomed too?

 

 

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It's just easy. And with the volume they turn in there I'm sure it's plenty.

 

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[davekathy]

You understand that a $1 tip on FREE drinks with no gratuities included is about 12.5% tip and not the 18% they are accustomed too?

 

 

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A little something is better than nothing! :rolleyes: It's a free drink. It doesn't matter what the same drink cost at other times of the day or evening.

[LMaxwell]

You understand that a $1 tip on FREE drinks with no gratuities included is about 12.5% tip and not the 18% they are accustomed too?

 

 

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They get a $1 per drink from me even when my wife asks for water or a diet soda. You're overthinking this.

[frank808]

I like using the ticket/cash machine in the casino. Put in a $100, get out 5 $20’s. Put in a $20, get out 4 $5’s. Put in a $5, get 5 singles. It’s the “slot” machine that pays every time! [emoji23]

 

 

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Haha that is the same feeling I get when using those change machines on Oasis or allure. Unfortunately they as not available on serenade and freedom.

 

Makes me feel like I "won" in the casino when I walk out with the same amount of money I walked in with [emoji16][emoji16]

 

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[KansasK]

Totally agree. And I think that may be why they have such a tiny little DL in "the bilge" on deck four on Harmony. :o:eek: Trying to get the D's to just go elsewhere to use their drink vouchers.

 

We looked at the location of the Diamond Lounge on the Harmony and just went to other bars during Happy Hour time. One nice alternative was the Trellis Lounge in Central Park. After dinner, there was often an acoustical guitarist playing in the background. We tried the Schooner Bar before dinner, but half of the time there was a game of some sort underway and we went to one of the bars on the Promenade. When nothing was underway in the Schooner, we liked sitting and watching the Promenade. We did not miss the Diamond Lounge, and have found on most ships that it is too crowded to find a place to sit. On the Liberty, they let people from the Diamond Lounge overflow into the Viking Crown Lounge bar area. They did this on the Navigator, too.

[cruisegirl1]

We tip $1-2 per drink regardless of where we get that "free" drink. If we find ourselves frequenting a particular bar at the beginning of the cruise, we give an additional tip mid week to the bartender.

 

in my limited sample ( just don't spend hours at the bar) I rarely see cash tips. And, the few times we are in the DL, we also rarely see anyone tipping. Perhaps they tipped at a different time other than when they ordered or received the drink. If we are in a small group, it seems we are the only one tipping. Tipping exception- I see lots of tipping at the casino bar.

 

So, while we got on to tipping, we (of course) tip for room service. A few times we've been in the cabin when an evening/C&A amenity or the third C& A gift is delivered. I often give a small tip. Weird, as I rarely eat the evening amenity so I am tipping for something I didn't order and often ends up in the trash. Thoughts about tipping if one is in the room when an unordered item is delivered?

Thx

M

[tugboat]

We do the same on 7 day cruises. I was a regular at guest services last week getting $1 bills. This week guest services let's me get forty $1 bills at a time.

 

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Frank on the Vision a few weeks ago it was hard to get more than 5 singles from guest services or the casino at any time.

 

 

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[tugboat]

Haha that is the same feeling I get when using those change machines on Oasis or allure. Unfortunately they as not available on serenade and freedom.

 

Makes me feel like I "won" in the casino when I walk out with the same amount of money I walked in with [emoji16][emoji16]

 

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Our machine on the Vision was broke most of the week

 

 

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[cruisegirl1]

We looked at the location of the Diamond Lounge on the Harmony and just went to other bars during Happy Hour time. One nice alternative was the Trellis Lounge in Central Park. After dinner, there was often an acoustical guitarist playing in the background. We tried the Schooner Bar before dinner, but half of the time there was a game of some sort underway and we went to one of the bars on the Promenade. When nothing was underway in the Schooner, we liked sitting and watching the Promenade. We did not miss the Diamond Lounge, and have found on most ships that it is too crowded to find a place to sit. On the Liberty, they let people from the Diamond Lounge overflow into the Viking Crown Lounge bar area. They did this on the Navigator, too.

 

 

Shhhhh-you are giving away our trellis bar secret. :p

 

That is our "go to" bar most every evening on oasis. Nice music, quiet although many folks are strolling through, usually nice weather.

 

M