Drink Vouchers for Diamond, etc.

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

+1. We would definitely look at other Cruise lines if the Diamond Lounge was not available. Having said that I’m not keen on the Diamond Lounge on the bigger ships. Went on Symphony in its inaugural year and the lounge with no windows and buried in the depth of the ship was impersonal although the Concierge did her best the layout was not conducive to chatting to other guests and the whole experience of a windowless room was a bit depressing.

 

And yet, it's still packed to the gills😉

[John&LaLa]

9 hours ago, Biker19 said:

We won't know till June when some of the other ships besides Quantum start sailing.

 

What are the respective start dates for the upcoming ships?

[John&LaLa]

11 hours ago, pcur said:

The covid changes are 4-6 drinks on your card to be used ANYWHERE on the ship ANYTIME of the day or night, and RENEWS each day.

 

It's a good perk, IMO.

 

We can only hope that's the case😉

[Biker19]

19 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

What are the respective start dates for the upcoming ships?

Odyssey is the first week in June, then Adventure and Vision later in the month, with Jewel and Anthem afterwards.

 

Cruise Industry News put together a whole list of RCI ship locations.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Biker19

[FionaMG]

9 hours ago, yogimax said:

Doesn't compare to a dedicated lounge to sit, relax, meet new friends, enjoy.

 

Then add the unlimited snacks, cappuccino and drinks... no way 4 anytime drinks compares

I guess it depends. We didn't use the lounge much on our one and only diamond cruise and we don't drink alcohol except for a very occasional glass of beer or wine so the ability to get, say, freshly squeezed orange juice at breakfast and fruit juices or smoothies from the Vitality Cafe at different times throughout the day would be far more valuable to us than happy hour with its very limited menu. 

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I guess it depends. We didn't use the lounge much on our one and only diamond cruise and we don't drink alcohol except for a very occasional glass of beer or wine so the ability to get, say, freshly squeezed orange juice at breakfast and fruit juices or smoothies from the Vitality Cafe at different times throughout the day would be far more valuable to us than happy hour with its very limited menu. 

 

Some folks can't see the forest for the trees😉

[3kidsncats]

Will be interested to see if they do a similar arrangement for suite guests as far as drink vouchers.  The coffee and happy hour benefits were part of our decision making process to upgrade to a GS over buying the drink package.  Since our friends are in a Jr suite, having drink vouchers would work great for us to be able to just join them at various bar venues before dinner.  I would definitely want at least two coffee vouchers if the coffee machine ends up not being available.  

[John&LaLa]

6 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

Will be interested to see if they do a similar arrangement for suite guests as far as drink vouchers.  The coffee and happy hour benefits were part of our decision making process to upgrade to a GS over buying the drink package.  Since our friends are in a Jr suite, having drink vouchers would work great for us to be able to just join them at various bar venues before dinner.  I would definitely want at least two coffee vouchers if the coffee machine ends up not being available.  

 

On Empress, which had no lounge, they gave suite pax the same 3 voucher benefit as Diamond and up C&A members.

 

FWIW, it seems the Singapore ship kept SL open

[3kidsncats]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

On Empress, which had no lounge, they gave suite pax the same 3 voucher benefit as Diamond and up C&A members.

 

FWIW, it seems the Singapore ship kept SL open

I’m sort of expecting to not know until we get there, given the regular adjustments we deal with these days.  We are sailing in August, so will pay attention to the earlier sailings, but also know things can and will change along the way.  I’m sure either way will work, vouchers would just be easier on this particular trip, so hoping that’s what is offered over the traditional happy hour

[Retired LEO]

46 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We can only hope that's the case😉

 

12 hours ago, pcur said:

The covid changes are 4-6 drinks on your card to be used ANYWHERE on the ship ANYTIME of the day or night, and RENEWS each day.

 

It's a good perk, IMO.

Totally agree. This would be outstanding. 

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

And yet, it's still packed to the gills😉

It was fairly quiet on our Symphony cruise.

[nelblu]

5 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

+1. We would definitely look at other Cruise lines if the Diamond Lounge was not available. Having said that I’m not keen on the Diamond Lounge on the bigger ships. Went on Symphony in its inaugural year and the lounge with no windows and buried in the depth of the ship was impersonal although the Concierge did her best the layout was not conducive to chatting to other guests and the whole experience of a windowless room was a bit depressing.

Oh my goodness, can't get no satisfaction😄

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, 3kidsncats said:

Since our friends are in a Jr suite, having drink vouchers would work great for us to be able to just join them at various bar venues before dinner.

Since JR suites never had access to a lounge for drinks I doubt that they would get drinks loaded on their card. 

[2chiefs]

17 hours ago, Ashland said:

If the lounges aren't open..I'll miss the happy hour snacks...one/two drinks in the lounge is enough for me.

I would also miss the camaraderie with other frequent cruisers as well but I'm sure we'll meet friends elsewhere though.

[2chiefs]

13 hours ago, yogimax said:

Doesn't compare to a dedicated lounge to sit, relax, meet new friends, enjoy.

 

Then add the unlimited snacks, cappuccino and drinks... no way 4 anytime drinks compares

Agree

[3kidsncats]

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Since JR suites never had access to a lounge for drinks I doubt that they would get drinks loaded on their card. 

Who said anything about them getting drinks loaded onto their card?  I said if WE (my husband and I) had drinks loaded onto our cards as suite guests, WE could meet up with our friends at other bar venues on the ship.  

[Ourusualbeach]

10 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

Who said anything about them getting drinks loaded onto their card?  I said if WE (my husband and I) had drinks loaded onto our cards as suite guests, WE could meet up with our friends at other bar venues on the ship.  

Sorry, misunderstood your post

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, 3kidsncats said:

Who said anything about them getting drinks loaded onto their card?  I said if WE (my husband and I) had drinks loaded onto our cards as suite guests, WE could meet up with our friends at other bar venues on the ship.  

The 3 pre-loaded drinks on your card have been around since before covid...and the reason is your situation above. No more trying to sneak friends into the lounges....not that that's something you would ever have done.

[John&LaLa]

19 minutes ago, Ashland said:

The 3 pre-loaded drinks on your card have been around since before covid...and the reason is your situation above. No more trying to sneak friends into the lounges....not that that's something you would ever have done.

 

But suite pax almost never got vouchers.

 

Unless ship had no lounge, or they were C&A qualified

[taglovestocruise]

9 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

The “depth of the ship?”  The Diamond lounge is on the entertainment deck. It is adjacent to Jazz on Four, across from the Comedy Club, in between the Ice Rink and the Theater and not far from the Casino. One dining room is also on that deck.  Never considered the entertainment hub and dining room to be in the “depth of the ship”. 
 

Yes it has no windows, but most of the venues on an Oasis Class ship have no windows. 
 

The company provided a lounge with all the amenities, yet some passengers are not satisfied. Wonder if a lounge on deck 4 with no window is better than no lounge at all?  
 

Many on CC  agree that  when US cruising resumes there will be changes to the Loyalty and/or Suite lounges. No one knows what the changes might be. 
 

m

14 nights on Symphony in 2018 and I still refer to the Diamond Lounge as being moved to the dungeon.  The two story DL on Oasis and Allure was a great place to hang out..  DL was so crowded on Symphony that Jazz on 4 and the Attic were used every night for overflow.  Pinnacles were given Dazzles for HH.

[3kidsncats]

12 hours ago, Ashland said:

The 3 pre-loaded drinks on your card have been around since before covid...and the reason is your situation above. No more trying to sneak friends into the lounges....not that that's something you would ever have done.

It was my understanding that the preloaded drinks had to do with the volume of D/D+ and Pinnacle guests on a given cruise as a way to handle overflow, not people trying to sneak others in.  Even though you don’t know me, and I take the last portion of your comment as intending to be snide, you are correct — I would never try to sneak someone in, or abuse the benefit.  Not sure why being happy that we may be able to skip going to the lounge entirely equates to trying to cheat, but that certainly seems to be how some people think.

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

14 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

14 nights on Symphony in 2018 and I still refer to the Diamond Lounge as being moved to the dungeon.  The two story DL on Oasis and Allure was a great place to hang out..  DL was so crowded on Symphony that Jazz on 4 and the Attic were used every night for overflow.  Pinnacles were given Dazzles for HH.

I agree. We did feel DL on Symphony was dungeon like. RCI tried to give it an outside vibe by putting some virtual screens on the wall but give me a diamond lounge up in the Viking Crown any day. Enjoyed using the drinks vouchers in the Lattice Bar in Central Park though. 

[Lady Hudson]

My thoughts - if there is a limited capacity allowed in the lounges because of social distancing, the additional drink vouchers would help to keep diamond and above folks happy.  But I would hate to see the lounges diasppear through all of this.  As a sometimes solo traveler I like the lounges to meet up with people.  Katherine

[Lorey2007]

On 4/23/2021 at 8:41 PM, pcur said:

The covid changes are 4-6 drinks on your card to be used ANYWHERE on the ship ANYTIME of the day or night, and RENEWS each day.

 

It's a good perk, IMO.

New to Diamond would this include soda and bottled water?

[davekathy]

9 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

New to Diamond would this include soda and bottled water?

They currently are so I would say yes if the CAS only has drinks loaded on our SeaPass cards when cruising first resumes with no CAS DL HH. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by davekathy