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Diamond lounges are over capacity and guests are being turned away

auntiedodo

By auntiedodo,
in Royal Caribbean International

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cruisinghawg "Live from...." Rare

cruisinghawg

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Yes...used to be the nicest CL in the fleet.  Was changed to the DL when they added the SL.  Original DL was tiny lounge just over the promenade...with cocktails served in Blaze before conversion.  

Yep I remember now. We weren't diamond when it was there.

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fred30

fred30

Posted
Posted (edited)

Eventually 90 percent of the people sailing in the off season will be Diamonds or above.  The lounges 

and priority treatment will be meaningless.

Better get used to being just like everyone else.

 

 

Edited by fred30
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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, cruisinghawg said:

Yep I remember now. We weren't diamond when it was there.

 

We were fresh new D+ at the time.  Loved the sit down (albeit limited) hot breakfast and lunch they served in the original Oasis CL.  Complimentary wine and beer with lunch!  😄  Must have been precursor to the new SL invention.  Bye bye nice CL.  😪

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FishOn55

FishOn55

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Once again...timing.  Go in after first seating.  Many larger ships are ripping out the CL, and adding the suites lounge..which now puts  Ds and D+ in one lounge.  More and more baby boomers coming on, retiring..and cruising more often.  Ranks of Ds and D+ are swelling.  So what do the larger ships do?  Take out the CL.  😮 Down one lounge.  😞 

 

Currently on Oasis and Blaze is open for DL overflow.  

Just off Symphony last Saturday. Over 1000 D and D+ on our sailing. They opened up the Attic for overflow every night. No problem with seating...we did go 7:00 or later. 

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cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted

 Don’t passengers realize that they can go to any bar on the ship and get the same drink? No crowds, no chair hogs , and on the plus side you might meet some very nice people.  Or, just go at a different time when the room cleared out.    Why would anyone want to pile into Blaze when you can have a lovely drink in a bar in Central Park,  on the boardwalk, on the promenade, at the pool etc.  Hey, oasis even allows you to use drink vouchers in the dining room.   

 

 

 Yes, I think complaining  about an overcrowded room with free drinks is the best thing to do.  If I ran a company, and gave away something for free, and people complained about it, I would probably stop giving that thing away.    Oh yeah, that’s right, RCCL used to give away hats, but people complained,  other welcome gifts that people didn’t like them, chocolate but people complained that it wasn’t tasty, a gift basket but people complained it had too much paper waste.  So, as any good executive would do, they got rid of the things that made the people complain. And how about that, no one is complaining about bad chocolates, free gifts they don’t one, too much paper in a gift basket.  You get the picture. 

 

Sorry for the rant. 

 

M

 

 

 

 

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PCWalton1

PCWalton1

Posted
Posted

We are on little Vision with 700 Pinnacle, Diamond Plus and Diamond. The Pinnacles (90) are sharing the CL and Viking Crown Lounge with the suite folks. I have not heard of any fist fights yet.

The rest of us are using the Diamond Lounge with the Some Enchanted Evening Lounge and so far so good. Plenty of seat between 6:30 and 7:00 when we arrive. Plenty of tasty appetizers too

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GTO-Girl

GTO-Girl

Posted
Posted

We just got off the Navigator on Sunday.  They had to utilize the Viking Crown Lounge every night just for the cocktail hour.  They had someone stationed at the entrance to make sure no one else got in and there were still times there were no seats available.

 

It was crazy....

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cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

It’s probably just a matter of time until the unlimited drinks in the DL are eliminated and it’ll be strictly 3 free drinks per happy hour no matter where you get them. 

Well that will certainly end the complaining about crowds!

 

Doesn't anyone get it.  RCCL is not interested in loyal passengers who suck up free  cheap drinks - RCCL is going after first  time  cruisers who buy the drink package,  buy  ship excursions,  buy photos,  buy specialty dining packages, buy   trinkets etc.  

 

I am sure we will see a decrease in loyalty benefits across the levels.  In fact the D+ BOGO  first night dining  is often  worthless as a benefit.  I bought a First Night Done Right ( that was available to all passengers) and our first night specialty dining will be  less than if we used the D+ BOGO voucher.

 

 

M 

Edited by cruisegirl1
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twangster "Live from...." Rare

twangster

Posted
Posted (edited)

It's like boarding a plane in a hub city for a major legacy airline... more than 1/2 the plane is top elite so when they call priority boarding more than half the plane boards.  It isn't elite if the majority is elite.

 

Instead of getting rid of benefits they should change the thresholds levels.  D = 200, D+ = 400.  That'll get the numbers down a bit. 

 

Also stop giving kids their parent's status.  Those 'kids' aren't kids anymore.  Now they are in their twenties sucking up my free drinks!

 

Edited by twangster
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ckrobyn

ckrobyn

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, twangster said:

Also stop giving kids their parent's status.  Those 'kids' aren't kids anymore.  Now they are in their twenties sucking up my free drinks!

My 22 year old kid has sailed on at least 25 cruises - she is D+ in her own right. Also, she doesn't drink, so you're safe! :classic_biggrin:

 

Edited by ckrobyn
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xpcdoojk "Live from...." Rare

xpcdoojk

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I am not having any problems.  Glass of Sauvignon Blanc in my hand right now.  😉 

 

My wife would be thrilled to hear that.  We couldn’t get Savingnon Blanc in the DL or CL on the Ovation in 2017 (except a couple of times when the concierge snuck some in) on the Radiance in September 2018 or the Symphony November 2018.  

 

JC

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ONECRUISER

ONECRUISER

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, auntiedodo said:

Our D+ friends can’t get into the lounge or the overflow lounge because there are hundreds and hundreds of Diamond and Diamond plus on board, so many there are officers stationed outside to turn people away.  It seems to me it’s time to have Diamonds get their drinks on their cards and have the lounge for D+.  Royal doesn’t seem to have a clue how to resolve the problem!

Been more common last 4-5yrs, more so on longer, Repo or Holiday cruises. Lot of time Crown

lounge becomes Diamond overflow or they have had only Diamond plus in Diamond lounge, Diamonds have to get drinks at other Bars. 20yrs ago was no Diamond Lounges, we'd have 6-8 Diamonds at most on a good cruise, didnt have Pinnacle or Diamond Plus back then. Me, I made Diamond in 90's and only been in a Diamond Lounge 2 times, but my kids Diamond Plus like me and do the Diamond Lounge...

Edited by ONECRUISER
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ONECRUISER

ONECRUISER

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Well that will certainly end the complaining about crowds!

 

Doesn't anyone get it.  RCCL is not interested in loyal passengers who suck up free  cheap drinks - RCCL is going after first  time  cruisers who buy the drink package,  buy  ship excursions,  buy photos,  buy specialty dining packages, buy   trinkets etc.  

 

I am sure we will see a decrease in loyalty benefits across the levels.  In fact the D+ BOGO  first night dining  is often  worthless as a benefit.  I bought a First Night Done Right ( that was available to all passengers) and our first night specialty dining will be  less than if we used the D+ BOGO voucher.

 

 

M 

Actually I get the most out my Status, been on Royal 30+ yrs and get more now, even more then 10-20yrs ago. I almost always sailing Royal, Solo 80-100+ nites a yr without the Single Supplement been saving thousands a yr. Most Loyalty programs are not what they were in the past, same everywhere. Don't like the program, the bottom dollar you pay for it, just go somewhere else...

Edited by ONECRUISER
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frank808

frank808

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, island lady said:

We are on Oasis now.  Just attended the upper tier at the usual Aqua theater venue.  There are over 400 Ds and over 200 D+.  Not that unusually high.  Blaze is open for overflow.  Timing is everything, so if you go in just after first seating 5:30...there are plenty of seats available.  

 

Drink vouchers available all over the ship and at many, many bars on this big floating city.  No one is going to go thirsty.  😉  

 

Agree that that is about norm for oasis class.  Lucky they opened up blazes as allure last month did not have overflow and the numbers were about the same.

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