Crown & Anchor Diamond Plus cutbacks continue!

[rt1092]

1 hour ago, rimmit said:

 

As with any ship YMMV,  but we could always find A SEAT, albeit it might not be right by the piano in schooner or front and center in the theater,  but unlike schooner on the Oasis, we did not have to camp a seat 30 minutes prior to trivia starting to find ANY seat.  

 

We also never ever had to wait 1.5 hours for a seat at the MDR.  Longest wait ever was maybe 5 min for us arriving between 6:00-6:15 typically.  

 

That was just our experience, several times we have cruises her.  I hope you have a similar experience.  The windjammer can get a little busy right at noon,  but it was never awful finding a seat, and Park Cafe in the Solarium always had a seat we found for a change of pace.

 

The specialty dining stalkers are out in full force unfortunately.   Endless deals if you enjoy specialty dining.    

In the schooner bar it all depends on who is playing that night. I've seen multiple times on the Monarch, and the Freedom and even the Oasis. Where half an hour before doesn't get you a seat.

Recently on the Oasis they started reserving seats in the schooner bar for the star class. So that will add to the problem.

[Barbiegator]

6 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Don't pity poor Bella, she lives better with the neighbors than with us. 

 

 

[Barbiegator]

I recognize that view.live in cocoa beach at The Meridian.

[stickyshocker]

21 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

I agree.  I know many people who only take 1-2 big trips a year.  Those trips however are quite exotic, and thus These people are notably more well traveled than many Pinnacles who run the Caribbean circuit year round. 

 

Or some of those people happens to lurk here 😉 ..

that said, those two styles of travel are a beast of their own,  there are places( Scandinavia, Russia, Greek Isles etc..etc) that we prefer done with a cruise, and the others ( Middle East, East Africa,SEA and SA) by land. It is best to combine them  whenever possible.

 

Our encounter with Upper tier cruisers are mostly positive(we enjoyed their stories as much as they did ours) ,though they were a bit perplexed on how we’re able to bounce from cheap hostels to a Royal Suite, eating street food in a plastic stool to wine and dining at the CK ( hard to explain either).

That’s the good thing about travel, everbody has their own style and not everyone has the same experience.

Edited March 12, 2019 by stickyshocker

[rt1092]

5 minutes ago, stickyshocker said:

 

Or some of those people happens to lurk here 😉 ..

that said, those two styles of travel are a beast of their own,  there are places( Scandinavia, Russia, Greek Isles etc..etc) that we prefer done with a cruise, and the others ( Middle East, East Africa,SEA and SA) by land. It is best to combine them both whenever possible.

 

Our encounter with Upper tier cruisers are mostly positive(we enjoyed their stories as much as they did ours) ,though they were a bit perplexed on how we’re able to bounce from cheap hostels to a Royal Suite, eating street food in a plastic stool to wine and dining at the CK... 

That’s the good thing about travel, everbody has their own style and not everyone has the same experience.

Amen

[rimmit]

2 hours ago, rt1092 said:

In the schooner bar it all depends on who is playing that night. I've seen multiple times on the Monarch, and the Freedom and even the Oasis. Where half an hour before doesn't get you a seat.

Recently on the Oasis they started reserving seats in the schooner bar for the star class. So that will add to the problem.

 

I was being kind when I was talking about Schooner on Oasis.  We went 50 min. Early because the DW is a Friends fanatic and wanted to make sure we had seats.   We still didn’t have a seat.  Finally some people moved off the bar,  but we could still barely hear.   Schooner is way to small on the Oasis for that size ship.  When did the Star thing start?  It wasn’t there Feb 10-17th on the Oasis.  That will only make things notably worse.

 

I was mainly referencing trivia.  Obviously Matt Yee (love him or hate him) will draw a crowd and seats are gone fast.  The musician definitely makes a difference as does the trivia topic.  Still on smaller ships,  seating was typically a non issue.

 

25 minutes ago, stickyshocker said:

 

Or some of those people happens to lurk here 😉 ..

that said, those two styles of travel are a beast of their own,  there are places( Scandinavia, Russia, Greek Isles etc..etc) that we prefer done with a cruise, and the others ( Middle East, East Africa,SEA and SA) by land. It is best to combine them  whenever possible.

 

Our encounter with Upper tier cruisers are mostly positive(we enjoyed their stories as much as they did ours) ,though they were a bit perplexed on how we’re able to bounce from cheap hostels to a Royal Suite, eating street food in a plastic stool to wine and dining at the CK ( hard to explain either).

That’s the good thing about travel, everbody has their own style and not everyone has the same experience.

Surprised you do cruises to Russia.  Really you have St Petersburg and Petropavlovsk on the east and that’s about it other than a river cruise.   It’s why we just went to Russia on our own recently.  Cruising Russia is hard as there aren’t many ports.  

 

We are the same way.  All we need is a clean bed, some American Fast-food (preferably McDonald’s although any will do) and other than that we are good. I think people are shocked that some hostels are super nice,  much nicer than many three star hotels in the US.

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, rt1092 said:

In the schooner bar it all depends on who is playing that night. I've seen multiple times on the Monarch, and the Freedom and even the Oasis. Where half an hour before doesn't get you a seat.

Recently on the Oasis they started reserving seats in the schooner bar for the star class. So that will add to the problem.

 

If the Genie can reserve seats in the Public lounges, how long until they do that in the SL. 

 

There are around 30-35 genie pax on any given Oasis sailing. Definitely not that many window seats in the SL.

[HBE4]

56 minutes ago, rimmit said:

I was being kind when I was talking about Schooner on Oasis.  We went 50 min. Early because the DW is a Friends fanatic and wanted to make sure we had seats.   We still didn’t have a seat.  Finally some people moved off the bar,  but we could still barely hear.   Schooner is way to small on the Oasis for that size ship.

 

Not to throw the thread off topic - although it's been off-topic for some time now - the Oasis class has one of the worst layouts and location for the Schooner bar.

 

IMHO, of course.

[HBE4]

30 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

If the Genie can reserve seats in the Public lounges, how long until they do that in the SL. 

 

There are around 30-35 genie pax on any given Oasis sailing. Definitely not that many window seats in the SL. 

 

Easy....someone might accuse you of being trite 😉

 

[stickyshocker]

1 hour ago, rimmit said:

 

 

Surprised you do cruises to Russia.  Really you have St Petersburg and Petropavlovsk on the east and that’s about it other than a river cruise.   It’s why we just went to Russia on our own recently.  Cruising Russia is hard as there aren’t many ports.  

 

We are the same way.  All we need is a clean bed, some American Fast-food (preferably McDonald’s although any will do) and other than that we are good. I think people are shocked that some hostels are super nice,  much nicer than many three star hotels in the US.

Russia ( St.Petersburg) paired with Stockholm, Talinn, Helsinki is the cruise i meant and the only way we wanted to travel there, that said we might give it a try by land thru the Trans Siberian Rail in the future...

 

Most of the highest rated accomodations in some destinations ( e.g. Lauterbrunnen, Cotopaxi, Bangkok-Sukhumvit area etc..) are hostels. They had definitely upped their game (private bathrooms, free breakfast and toiletries, swanky interior design).

Hotels for us is now reserved if its close to the airport and we have an early flight the next day.... or Vegas.

Edited March 12, 2019 by stickyshocker

[xpcdoojk]

I remember Lauterbrunnen.... middle of the night goats and their damned Swiss bells dingling all night out of our old school house hotel.  A wedding below our building where an Emt had the bride taken to the wedding in an ambulance, and they carried the joined pair on a stretcher to the ambulance to leave for their honeymoon.  Our room was the “penthouse” on the top of this slightly worn wierd place.  Our single beds were in opposite sides of the room with a big open window for goat bells to ring thru.  I got in bed after a heavy Swiss dinner at a local establishment no more than 15 tables.  We climbed into the top floor of the “hotel” after a heavy meal with wine and veal and Rosti.  Yum.  Got into beds.  In the dark we couldn’t find the light switches, so we got ready for bed in the complete darkness, I quickly fell asleep, at some point a few hours later, I awoke with a pain in my forehead.  Rubbing my forehead with my fingers I encountered a sticky gooey mess.  My finger went to my mount, and I realized, I had gone to sleep with a chocolate on my pillow.

 

JC

 

Stickyshocker... you seem like a bit of a snob, but I kind of like your style

[stickyshocker]

1 hour ago, xpcdoojk said:

I remember Lauterbrunnen.... middle of the night goats and their damned Swiss bells dingling all night out of our old school house hotel.  A wedding below our building where an Emt had the bride taken to the wedding in an ambulance, and they carried the joined pair on a stretcher to the ambulance to leave for their honeymoon.  Our room was the “penthouse” on the top of this slightly worn wierd place.  Our single beds were in opposite sides of the room with a big open window for goat bells to ring thru.  I got in bed after a heavy Swiss dinner at a local establishment no more than 15 tables.  We climbed into the top floor of the “hotel” after a heavy meal with wine and veal and Rosti.  Yum.  Got into beds.  In the dark we couldn’t find the light switches, so we got ready for bed in the complete darkness, I quickly fell asleep, at some point a few hours later, I awoke with a pain in my forehead.  Rubbing my forehead with my fingers I encountered a sticky gooey mess.  My finger went to my mount, and I realized, I had gone to sleep with a chocolate on my pillow.

 

JC

 

Stickyshocker... you seem like a bit of a snob, but I kind of like your style

 

JC

 

Looks familiar? If not, there’s  one or more behind me where i took this shot.

Close to the train stn, Coop and the cable car that’ll take you up to Murren.

 

Apology for the Image quality, had a hard time downloading the photo from icloud straight to here..

 

btw... Not a snob, just a lurker and a hybrid cruiser.. No offense taken though

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by stickyshocker

[John&LaLa]

48 minutes ago, stickyshocker said:

 

JC

 

Looks familiar? If not, there’s  one or more behind me where i took this shot.

Close to the train stn, Coop and the cable car that’ll take you up to Murren.

 

Apology for the Image quality, had a hard time downloading the photo from icloud straight to here..

 

btw... Not a snob, just a lurker and a hybrid cruiser.. No offense taken though

 

 

Looks like a toy trainset

[alexpress]

On 2/17/2019 at 3:41 AM, MichaelinME said:

Got off the Freedom of the Seas a couple of weeks ago and the Diamond Plus cutbacks are so evident. Even including Pinnacles!!

Reserved seating for theater shows no longer exist, on Freedom of the Seas anyways. Studio B Ice skating shows are reserved seating for Suites only. 

No Diamond Plus or Pinnacle reserved seating like in the past, just last year we had this.  Royal seems to be catering to the Suite crowd and not there loyal repeat guests who frequent the ships. 

On another note, priority debarkation wasn't offered either, even though its still listed as a perk , along with reserved seating at shows was listed but gone. Priority tendering is gone also. In room Diamond Gift is now 3 cookies, LOL! 2 small bottles of water and 2 cans of soda or juice whichever is in your preferences.

Diamond/Diamond plus used to have a small section in the lido buffet, like chops or Giovanni's to sit in to bring your breakfast. Now that is only for Suite guests!

 

Its unbelievable how much Royal dilutes the membership in Crown and Anchor. No excuse for this.

More troubling is that I spoke to the Concierge lounge ambassador and he mentioned that there is talk to restrict Diamond members from the Diamond Lounges!! (overcrowding) 

As the ships go into drydock, the Concierge Lounges eventually will be Suite only lounges (renamed).  The Diamond Lounges will convert to Diamond Plus/Pinnacles only Lounge. Diamond members would no longer be admitted to the Diamond Lounge and will be able to only use there 3 Vouchers at any bar in the evening as there perk. This is ridiculous and unacceptable if its really going to happen.

 

What's with the drooling over Suite guests, that may only cruise once a year or two. All this catering to them, when Diamond/Diamond Plus and Pinnacles cruise much more often and keep there ships pretty full with repeaters.

 

Royal needs to stop this nonsense!! They are going to start alienating and losing the "bread and butter" cruisers on there ships in my opinion. 

What is the incentive to stay and generally pay more to cruise Royal? Just to get a few free drinks?!

 

Don't get me started about the other evident cutbacks in food quality and staffing, along with the barrage of nickel and diming. 

The selling of popcorn at the main theater shows is tacky also. $2.50 for a small bag and people chomping on this and spilling everywhere. No place to put your drinks, let alone eat popcorn! LMAOF

 

My 2 cents. 

We are Diamond + with 22 RCL cruises and are feeling pretty let down with quality of the "perks" these days.

 

[xpcdoojk]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Looks like a toy trainset

 

I think our hotel is in the center of the shot.  The place where the Swiss flag is, I think, is where we had dinner.  I love Rosti, could eat that every day, and I would probably weigh a 100 pounds more.  Our bedroom faced to the right out of the building, and that is where the goat corral was on the hillside and their damned bells.  To the left out of our window was a lovely little waterfall.  We were there driving DW’s 50th birthday present, and since the trunk was so tiny, we each had a small carry-on bag for 2-1/2 weeks and a tiny collapsible cooler that we would fill with something from a grocery store for the next days drive and lunch in some pristine mountain pass.  

 

My favorite little village nobody knows about wasn’t Lauterbrunnen it was Heilgenblut Austria that we discovered about 5 days into our trip.  Sitting on the deck overlooking this stunningly beautiful valley with the Grosglockner mountain on our right while drinking champagne and eating our favorite Mimmolette cheese from France.  That truly was a tiny bit of heaven.

 

BTW it was mouth and not mount.  Pretty yummy Swiss chocolate stuck to my face, and a happy surprise when I tasted my fingers.  My DW was appalled when I told her in the morning the story, and the chocolate was all over my pillow.  Appalled because I tasted the gooey mess without any idea what I was tasting.  I will dig out the picture later and post it here of the pillow.  

 

JC

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

BTW it was mouth and not mount.  Pretty yummy Swiss chocolate stuck to my face, and a happy surprise when I tasted my fingers.  My DW was appalled when I told her in the morning the story, and the chocolate was all over my pillow.  Appalled because I tasted the gooey mess without any idea what I was tasting.  I will dig out the picture later and post it here of the pillow.  

 

JC

 

Figured it was mouth.

 

What I didn't figure out was the ease in which you went straight to your mouth in the dark. 😱

 

Did I miss what the gift was. 

[Big_G]

9 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

If the Genie can reserve seats in the Public lounges, how long until they do that in the SL. 

 

There are around 30-35 genie pax on any given Oasis sailing. Definitely not that many window seats in the SL.

 

They don't already? Well then, I guess I won't waste my hard earned money on Star Class with all those Sky people taking up the window seats.

[xpcdoojk]

43 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Figured it was mouth.

 

What I didn't figure out was the ease in which you went straight to your mouth in the dark. 😱

 

Did I miss what the gift was. 

 

Very easy.

 

2 seater MB convertible

 

jc

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

Very easy.

 

2 seater MB convertible

 

jc

Sorry, looks like you shat yourself

 

SLK? Laura's had two of them over the years.

We had one of the first one's in Alabama. They were really unique back then. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by John&LaLa

[xpcdoojk]

Yes

Yes, the little chocolate moved around with me all night.

 

jc

[rt1092]

wrong thread.

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by rt1092

[nelblu]

6 hours ago, alexpress said:

We are Diamond + with 22 RCL cruises and are feeling pretty let down with quality of the "perks" these days.

 

 

If you think they are bad now, do you know what was offered 10 years ago.  Believe me, I'll take the perks RCL offers now.

[island lady]

19 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

As with any ship YMMV,  but we could always find A SEAT, albeit it might not be right by the piano in schooner or front and center in the theater,  but unlike schooner on the Oasis, we did not have to camp a seat 30 minutes prior to trivia starting to find ANY seat.  

 

We also never ever had to wait 1.5 hours for a seat at the MDR.  Longest wait ever was maybe 5 min for us arriving between 6:00-6:15 typically.  

 

That was just our experience, several times we have cruises her.  I hope you have a similar experience.  The windjammer can get a little busy right at noon,  but it was never awful finding a seat, and Park Cafe in the Solarium always had a seat we found for a change of pace.

 

The specialty dining stalkers are out in full force unfortunately.   Endless deals if you enjoy specialty dining.    

 

More great information.  Thanks so much.  🙂 

[rimmit]

15 hours ago, stickyshocker said:

Russia ( St.Petersburg) paired with Stockholm, Talinn, Helsinki is the cruise i meant and the only way we wanted to travel there, that said we might give it a try by land thru the Trans Siberian Rail in the future...

 

Most of the highest rated accomodations in some destinations ( e.g. Lauterbrunnen, Cotopaxi, Bangkok-Sukhumvit area etc..) are hostels. They had definitely upped their game (private bathrooms, free breakfast and toiletries, swanky interior design).

Hotels for us is now reserved if its close to the airport and we have an early flight the next day.... or Vegas.

 

One of my favorite cruises ever was the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, Finland and Russia.  Great ports.  

 

Hostels have upped the game considerably.   In my opinion, it’s just a stigma of being a hostel that has prevented them from charging more than they do. As they are incredible deals for the accommodations.

[frank808]

On 3/9/2019 at 6:16 AM, LMaxwell said:

 

Don't feel bad.  My hair still has natural color so I get the same dirty looks in the Diamond Lounge.  You can literally see people's veins burst if they walk in and Junior is in a chair having a soda. 

Had a very "nice" run in with a D member going into the D lounge this past Oct.  It was mind blowing to experience this sense of "entitlement".  I did and still laugh about it with my son 😂.