Why book a suite? If too many Pinnacles?

[Teacher42]

Does any one have past information as to top Pinnacle passenger dates? Those dates to avoid booking a suite for fear of being crowed out of suite venues? Does anyone have an answer to my Title : Why book a suite to begin with if there are too many Pinnacles on board?

[Thorben-Hendrik]

Find Andy C and form a club!

[Teacher42]

Yes, a kindred spirit no doubt. We would like to know why they may be 'gluttons for such punishment' ? We just found out about this problem on these boards. We also booked a suite and found out it was a non-refundable when we changed the date and we were charged $200 this month for the change of date. On top of the threat of losing the $500 deposit which you so nicely replied to in our other post "BEWARE RCCL". Now we read about this Pinnacle brouhaha and the overcrowding of suite venues. We just started cruising again after a 20 year hiatus. We were cruised out ( a type of cruise burn-out) and were enticed back by the 'new'   'ship within a ship' concept.

[FLACRUISER99]

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

[grandgeezer]

The only time I've heard of people can't get into any suite venues is Junior Suites can use the suite dining room only if there are any table openings. Full suite guest get priority.

[Kteacher]

    We book suites because we like the size and layout of them. Have there been sailings when we couldn’t get a seat in the lounge? Yes, and we just moved to another space. We cruise to relax, so we try not to get too stressed out by what other passengers are doing.  

[parrotfeathers]

Other than a popular pinnacle date, I think you have to consider the ship too.  Maybe a month on a certain ship is more popular  than a month on another ship.  Some pinnacles have "favorite" ships.  It hasn't happened to me and it may be because I haven't sailed the mega ships or sailed on popular ships for pinnacles.

 

 

[ATG]

We are on Oasis now.  I have seen lots of Pinnacle pins.  But the suite lounge wasn’t crowded at 6:00 and there were lots of empty tables at CK even though it was filet night.

 

 

[Teacher42]

Dear All,  We are limited to only the mega ships offering the 'ship within a ship' concept sailing out of south Florida. We no longer fly. This Pinnacle phenomenon was not disclosed to us when we booked  a  Grand Suite on board the Allure this summer. We only found out from these CC board posters, that Non-Suite Paying Pinnacles  (NSPP) have precedence over actual paying suite guests, in every venue. The reserved theatre seating can be easily alleviated by adding another row, but the dinner seating time of one poster to these boards requested  a dinner time of 6:30 every evening (like we would REQUIRE), but had to wait because several NSPP showed up.

[Andy C]

It happened to us on our September '18 cruise on Harmony.  It is a real problem.  Some sailings can be worse than others.  Our mid December Harmony sailing was uneventful because there were very few of those entitled souls on board.  

 

Just be weary of off season cruises (i.e., September), transatlantic, the silly president's cruise, the 50th anniversary cruise, etc...  All other times you should be fine.  

 

I have no agenda save for the fact that I serve to warn others so they don't experience what we did.  Many of those on here who try to suggest otherwise have a vested interest in preserving a system that is broken and which has been discussed widely and extensively on these boards.  

 

Caveat Emptor!

[Colorado Babe]

I assure you, that a few non suite Pinnacle’s are not the reason for lack of seats for dining, theater seating, etc. 

[Teacher42]

Dear Babe, Then what do you suggest is the reason?  We did not experience any problem like this on another Suite Venue cruise line at any time during the 10 day cruise during Christmas week.

[Andy C]

3 minutes ago, Teacher42 said:

Dear Babe, Then what do you suggest is the reason?  We did not experience any problem like this on another Suite Venue cruise line at any time during the 10 day cruise during Christmas week.

 

That is easy to explain - you won't find many NSPP's on a Christmas cruise.  They like cheap cruises.  They swarm on cheap, off season cruises.  

[Teacher42]

Dear All, It is not fun being treated like a second class passenger at any time. But to be treated like one when paying top dollar for a suite during prime season cruise time is even worse.

[Colorado Babe]

4 minutes ago, Teacher42 said:

Dear Babe, Then what do you suggest is the reason?  We did not experience any problem like this on another Suite Venue cruise line at any time during the 10 day cruise during Christmas week.

I cruise at least 6 times a year and have never ever had an issue getting in the suite lounge, dining or seat in the theater. I suggest the following:

 

1. Go to the lounge after 5:30 dining. We usually show up at 6:00 pm. 

2. Work with the conceirge for dining

 

3. Get to the theater at least 15 minutes ahead of the show. 

 

Hope that helps. 

[Teacher42]

Dear Andy, Good answer. Thank you.

[Andy C]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Babe said:

I cruise at least 6 times a year and have never ever had an issue getting in the suite lounge, dining or seat in the theater. I suggest the following:

 

1. Go to the lounge after 5:30 dining. We usually show up at 6:00 pm. 

2. Work with the conceirge for dining

 

3. Get to the theater at least 15 minutes ahead of the show. 

 

Hope that helps. 

 

We did not have any issues getting into the lounge on our September cruise.  We forgot about window seats because they were all occupied by pins.  And the service in CK/SL was bad and we received many UNSOLICITED apologies from the bar staff, our waiter, assistant waiter, restaurant manager and both concierges.  They invited me to a meeting with several ship's officers and gave us a 50% refund as a future cruise credit as a result.

 

Royal has a serious NSPP problem.  They are aware of it.  It is extensively and well documented on these boards.  

 

I hope you don't have that experience so you don't feel like you totally wasted your money and your family's vacation time on a false premise of exclusivity.  

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Andy C

[Milwaukee Eight]

17 minutes ago, Teacher42 said:

Dear All,  We are limited to only the mega ships offering the 'ship within a ship' concept sailing out of south Florida. We no longer fly. This Pinnacle phenomenon was not disclosed to us when we booked  a  Grand Suite on board the Allure this summer. We only found out from these CC board posters, that Non-Suite Paying Pinnacles  (NSPP) have precedence over actual paying suite guests, in every venue. The reserved theatre seating can be easily alleviated by adding another row, but the dinner seating time of one poster to these boards requested  a dinner time of 6:30 every evening (like we would REQUIRE), but had to wait because several NSPP showed up.

 

It was I who had 630 Dinning time and NEVER was seated within 15 minutes of our reservation time. Once as long as 45 minutes. It was also I who found NO seats in the SL prior to our 630 Dinning on several nights. 

 

We have sailed Oasis, Allure, and Harmony (2x). It was only on 2018 Presidents Cruise where we had an issue. The other cruises we had no issues. On Harmony in April last year, we only had 7 P’s onboard. Don’t remember the breakdown on the other cruises but they were prime time so generally very few P’s. 

[chill6x6]

I have to admit CK was covered up after the first night on Oasis.  6PM MAY have been the most crowded time.  I have no problem with CK being covered up.  What I DID have a problem with was service decreased because there were so many eating there.  Solution, get more help!  And YES there WAS the most Pinnacles I have ever seen in my cruising days.  Probably wrong but it LOOKED like about 50% were.  But if I were Pinnacle I'd probably pick the ships with the most Pinnacle perks too!  BUT as a paying suite guest(OS), my service shouldn't degrade regardless of the number of Pinnacle guest on board which it DID.  So in response to this, I cancelled my next Royal Caribbean cruise and have no others booked which hasn't happened in a long time.  I DO have Celebrity, Holland America, MSC, and Princess booked.  So there's that.

[Andy C]

2 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:

I have to admit CK was covered up after the first night on Oasis.  6PM MAY have been the most crowded time.  I have no problem with CK being covered up.  What I DID have a problem with was service decreased because there were so many eating there.  Solution, get more help!  And YES there WAS the most Pinnacles I have ever seen in my cruising days.  Probably wrong but it LOOKED like about 50% were.  But if I were Pinnacle I'd probably pick the ships with the most Pinnacle perks too!  BUT as a paying suite guest(OS), my service shouldn't degrade regardless of the number of Pinnacle guest on board which it DID.  So in response to this, I cancelled my next Royal Caribbean cruise and have no others booked which hasn't happened in a long time.  I DO have Celebrity, Holland America, MSC, and Princess booked.  So there's that.

 

Celebrity is wonderful.  On Celebrity if you are Zenith and you don't pay for a suite you do not have access to the suite class amenities.  This is eventually what is going to happen on Royal.  Want suite perks?  PAY FOR ONE.  

 

Sorry this happened to you too.  Glad you piped up.  Many on CC who try to say these are just rumors (and call us liars) are themselves NSPPs.  

[Milwaukee Eight]

 

20 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:

I have to admit CK was covered up after the first night on Oasis.  6PM MAY have been the most crowded time.  I have no problem with CK being covered up.  What I DID have a problem with was service decreased because there were so many eating there.  Solution, get more help!  And YES there WAS the most Pinnacles I have ever seen in my cruising days.  Probably wrong but it LOOKED like about 50% were.  But if I were Pinnacle I'd probably pick the ships with the most Pinnacle perks too!  BUT as a paying suite guest(OS), my service shouldn't degrade regardless of the number of Pinnacle guest on board which it DID.  So in response to this, I cancelled my next Royal Caribbean cruise and have no others booked which hasn't happened in a long time.  I DO have Celebrity, Holland America, MSC, and Princess booked.  So there's that.

 

We lost the WOW factor last cruise and have nothing booked as well. Celebrity is an option. We are trying some land based vacations this year. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Milwaukee Eight

[chill6x6]

I suppose Oasis CK suffered by comparison  Previous cruise was on the Silhouette in a CS.   Never had better service anywhere than in Luminae.  Of course Michael's was a cooler full of help yourself and a bartender to make anything you wanted!  The kicker is the CS was only slightly more expensive than the OS but the CS included EVERYTHING!  Didn't have to beg for a select few beers/wines in SL during a set time frame.  CK felt more like an Aqua class Blu experience than a Luminae suite experience.  I should have tried the MDR on Oasis to see how much difference there was between it and CK.     

 

Now to give Royal credit...  Room service-A.  Deck chair availability-A.  Sundeck for suites-A.  Entertainment-A. Cabin attendant-A.

[LXA350]

On top of What was already mentioned. Since for very many Pinacles the main reason of cruising is the purpose of having figured out that it’s cheaper than their living costs on land, you will see very few of them, or only the real Pinacles who really became one because they enjoy cruising and seeing the world during holiday seasons such as Mid December to mid January, Easter, spring break, July, August and Thanksgiving

 

[lovescats5]

We have seen many P's over the course of our 3 cruises and they have been less than welcoming in most cases.  We solved the problem by booking a suite with a genie and then we get to do everything before them.  It is kinda like rubbing their noses in the dirt and when we meet nice ones we are gracious but when you meet the snobby ones it is fun to pull rank, so to speak.  We have seen, in most cases, that the suites do have the edge over the P's and this was on Oasis and Anthem.  We do cruise off season and pick times when there are fewer kids on board, which is not a problem for my granddaughter as she likes to meet new kids but not hordes of them.

[Milwaukee Eight]

I believe, if you poll the P’s, the majority don’t enjoy kids in the SL/CK.