Turning Diamond soon, just excited

[Clarea]

24 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I too will be a diamond member after our january b2b cruise.  Question.  If you go to diamond lounge for free cocktail during happy hour do you still get the 3 free drinks on your sea pass that you can use in mdr or speciality restaurant during the specified time?

 

Yes.

[8dimsum]

Happy to read your enthusiasm!  I have been away from RCCL, too busy cruising on 2 other lines that have west coast sailings.--  May have to rethink another RCCL cruise to up status to Diamond.

[Sunshine3601]

Great. Thank you.  I like to have cocktail before dinner then usually have one during dinner 

[fern1214]

I too am reaching Diamond on my cruise in November. It would be nice if we could use the benefits right a way. Oh well, I'll just have to book another cruise.

 

Happy Cruising everyone!!

[davekathy]

14 minutes ago, fern1214 said:

I too am reaching Diamond on my cruise in November. It would be nice if we could use the benefits right a way. Oh well, I'll just have to book another cruise.

 

Happy Cruising everyone!!

Now you'll have something new to look forward to on a future cruise. 

[FionaMG]

6 hours ago, fern1214 said:

It would be nice if we could use the benefits right a way.

Agree. We made Diamond on day 3 of a 9-day cruise. Unfortunately it would not have been cost-effective for us to do a short cruise beforehand. 

[4774Papa]

We love the Diamond happy hour that runs from 5-8:30.  Love ordering wine in the MDR (as long as before 8:30).

We have never had to pay for alcohol on Royal because of the Diamond HH.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

9 hours ago, fern1214 said:

I too am reaching Diamond on my cruise in November. It would be nice if we could use the benefits right a way. Oh well, I'll just have to book another cruise.

 

Happy Cruising everyone!!

Ditto.

[KeywestK]

On 10/11/2019 at 10:18 PM, dplusd said:

Some of the perks we enjoy most...1. continental breakfast in the Diamond lounge each morning, 2.  The lounge for a quiet place during the day and the complimentary drinks and snacks at night, 3.  Free 24 hours of Internet, 4. Three complimentary drinks on your sea pass each day for use throughout the ship during evening cocktail hours, 5. One free photo.  6. the balcony discount.  7. Access to the Diamond concierge for help with any problem during the cruise.

 

Since turning Diamond it is hard for us to cruise other lines and we really enjoy Princess as much as Royal.  Congratulations!

Love all of the above, plus we enjoy going into the lounge during the day for a cappuccino. 😊

[ILCTCRUISER]

On 10/12/2019 at 10:13 AM, tomservo said:

 

Is it any different/better than what you can order from room service or get from the Windjammer? Or just a nicer place to enjoy it?

We occasionally stop at WJ and put together a plate and then head to DL or CL.  Much quieter.  And the specialty coffee machine.  Food may not be the warmest, but it also cools off rather quickly when we do eat in the WJ.

[Cruise for vacation]

On 10/12/2019 at 5:56 AM, FionaMG said:

Congratulations! 

I can totally understand your excitement. We will be newbie Diamonds on our upcoming Thanksgiving cruise on Adventure and are very excited too. Six weeks to go! 

We will be turning Diamond on our Thanksgiving Cruise on the Jewel. Looking forward to the perks..

 

congratulations to everyone!

[JAMESCC]

On 10/11/2019 at 9:54 PM, CruiseMomTX said:

Were going on the Symphony Oct 26th, Halloween sailing and will turn Diamond.  We know that we won't actually get any benefits until our (booked today) Dec 1st sailing on Oasis.  So just getting excited and starting to research & see what benefits we get and what the Diamond lounge on Oasis will include, etc..  Maybe we should book a quick short cruse before the Symphony to get Diamond sooner, lol.  We are going with my parents on both cruises and they will not be Diamond so I'm sure we won't worry too much with the lounge but will at least check it out.

Congrats! We are just 16 points away, and after Oasis next May we will be only 9 away. Planning a 9 day just to get there and then we'll be Diamond going forward. I know people say not to get too excited about crown and anchor steps or perks we are excited to go Diamond. 

[screenname2004]

We will turn diamond after our Dec cruise. A question about the free 24-hr internet. Normally, we buy VOOM Surf + STREAM for one device when it is on sale. Will it be cheaper to use the two free 24-hr internet and buy a pass to cover rest of the cruise?

[Clarea]

41 minutes ago, screenname2004 said:

We will turn diamond after our Dec cruise. A question about the free 24-hr internet. Normally, we buy VOOM Surf + STREAM for one device when it is on sale. Will it be cheaper to use the two free 24-hr internet and buy a pass to cover rest of the cruise?

 

Here are the onboard prices so you can do the math yourself:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2691879-voom-pricing/?do=findComment&comment=58309354

 

[MadamG2U]

I will be turning diamond on my last day of my upcoming Oasis cruise in December.  I am so excited that I made it and will enjoy the perks on my Navigation of the Seas cruise in March.

[Betsynh]

This is all so helpful! We booked a 5-day Junior Suite to Bermuda in summer 2018 to get to Diamond, which transferred to “Elite” on our Celebrity Edge cruise and later Infinity Adriatic. We’re now back on Royal as first-time Diamond on the Brilliance in January. Celebrity offered 2 drinks between 5 -7pm, so we wound up grabbing wine on the way to dinner and a water bottle for the fridge for the following excursion. Will be interesting to see how to two compare. It seems like Royal is more flexible, and will be fun to try to lounge. Hoping the breakfast espresso bar offers cafe mocha!

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Betsynh said:

This is all so helpful! We booked a 5-day Junior Suite to Bermuda in summer 2018 to get to Diamond, which transferred to “Elite” on our Celebrity Edge cruise and later Infinity Adriatic. We’re now back on Royal as first-time Diamond on the Brilliance in January. Celebrity offered 2 drinks between 5 -7pm, so we wound up grabbing wine on the way to dinner and a water bottle for the fridge for the following excursion. Will be interesting to see how to two compare. It seems like Royal is more flexible, and will be fun to try to lounge. Hoping the breakfast espresso bar offers cafe mocha!

 

Not really mocha, but there are hot chocolate packs you can add to a Latte

Edited October 13, 2019 by John&LaLa

[Sunshine3601]

I will be diamond after our b2b in january.   Can use diamond benefits on our april cruise.  I usually buy the cafe card online but if the diamond lounge serves latte or capuccino anytime of day that would be great.  What kind of coffee do they serve?

[John&LaLa]

9 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I will be diamond after our b2b in january.   Can use diamond benefits on our april cruise.  I usually buy the cafe card online but if the diamond lounge serves latte or capuccino anytime of day that would be great.  What kind of coffee do they serve?

 

I'm guessing the Seattle Best that they serve in Cafe Promenade. 

 

You can make 

Latte

Espresso 

Cappuccino 

Macchiato 

 

Edited October 13, 2019 by John&LaLa

[Sunshine3601]

Excellent.  I like Seattle much more than starbucks.   Thank you!!

[sandycruzr]

I too will

be turning Diamond on my next cruise.  I have a b2b booked for December and really wanted to get to Diamond before then. 

Here is the most cost effective way I found to get points:

I booked a solo cabin on Monarch of the Seas (5 nights earned 10 points) $429 all in with free gratuities and $50 obc from TA

PLUS 

Empress of the Seas for November 8 nights for $469 all in plus once again paid gratuities and $ 100 obc 

 

Great deals and fun cruises!

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Betsynh said:

This is all so helpful! We booked a 5-day Junior Suite to Bermuda in summer 2018 to get to Diamond, which transferred to “Elite” on our Celebrity Edge cruise and later Infinity Adriatic. We’re now back on Royal as first-time Diamond on the Brilliance in January. Celebrity offered 2 drinks between 5 -7pm, so we wound up grabbing wine on the way to dinner and a water bottle for the fridge for the following excursion. Will be interesting to see how to two compare. It seems like Royal is more flexible, and will be fun to try to lounge. Hoping the breakfast espresso bar offers cafe mocha!

No Celebrity offers unlimited drinks during the CC HH from 5 to 7 PM. Both in the Sky Lounge and on your Sea Pass cards to enjoy at other lounges/bars. 

[Betsynh]

Thanks for the clarification davekathy. We’re not big drinkers, so that was my recollection... but they did cut us off at 7pm, which was a bummer since we chose early dinner.

 

[xpcdoojk]

Congrats

[ZiggaZagga17]

For us we find the 'Free Photo' probably one the best perks of being Diamond and above!

 

We have our pictures taken at the usual places, especially on formal nights and then choose 1 each ( sometimes it's forgotten you get one EACH) and then peruse the gallery and choose our 2 favourites.

This is of course enhanced on B2B cruises where we do exactly the same the cruise after - we cruise B2B more often than single cruises - so having a minimum of 4 free high quality pictures to take home from different times/different outfits is most definitely a valuable perk in our book!