Diamond status: No free laundry or free Internet minutes?

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

is it 4 drinks per day?

 

if so, why would any Diamond or above buy the drinks package?

 

Many cruisers have alcohol issues. That is why they cruise. Cruises make over consumption easy. They don't have to drive home. 

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

is it 4 drinks per day?

 

if so, why would any Diamond or above buy the drinks package?

D=4, D+=5, P=6 per day. No carryover. Use them each day or lose them. 

 

Personal preference. 

[smplybcause]

5 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

is it 4 drinks per day?

 

if so, why would any Diamond or above buy the drinks package?

 

It can depend on the cruise. For instance on the weekend cruises my friends and I don't get off at Nassau so we're drinking all day on the ship. Not including abandoning a drink because it's not good or got warm, 10 drinks before late dinner wouldn't get you drunk (10 drinks over 9-10 hours) and you'd still drink more at night. The equation is even more favorable adding in bottled water, etc.

 

But a 7 day cruise? Depends. If it's 4 sea days (including private islands) a good price might make it worth it because you get water, soda, smoothies too. But if it's say 5 port days you'd have to get wasted each night to make the drink package "worth it" when you have the free drinks. 

[fstuff1]

Can you get bottled water as one of your 4 drinks?

and can you bring bottled water on board on embarkation day?

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by fstuff1

[mek]

6 hours ago, davekathy said:

That wasn't the question concerning a gratuity. 

After reading further responses, I now understand your question.

[smplybcause]

10 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

Can you get bottled water as one of your 4 drinks?

and can you bring bottled water on board on embarkation day?

 

I don't see why not, kind of a waste unless you won't drink at least 4 alcoholic drinks that day. 

 

You can carry on the 12 bottles per stateroom. So you could choose water. 

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

Can you get bottled water as one of your 4 drinks?

and can you bring bottled water on board on embarkation day?

 

Yes you can get water with your 4 C&A drinks. Yes you can carry on 12 bottles of water at the embarkation port. You also can share your daily allotted 4 C&A drinks with others. 

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

Easiest way to score free laundry in mainstream cruising is to get 200 nights on Holland America, or 4-Star Mariner.  Works really well for us since we cruise mostly the longer cruises on HAL.  Pretty easy to accumulate points on HAL since they give you extra points for on-board spending.

 

We waste our RCI D & D+ vouchers because we don't do alcoholic beverages, only diet sodas.

[LilBlackDress]

9 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

Can you get bottled water as one of your 4 drinks?

and can you bring bottled water on board on embarkation day?

 

You can bring 2 bottles of wine (750 ml) and a 12 pack (17oz) of any non alcoholic beverage on embarkment day per cabin

Edited October 5, 2021 by LilBlackDress

[cruiseguy1016]

2 hours ago, LilBlackDress said:

You can bring 2 bottles of wine (750 ml) and a 12 pack (17oz) of any non alcoholic beverage on embarkment day per cabin

 

10 hours ago, Oak Hill Cruisers said:

Easiest way to score free laundry in mainstream cruising is to get 200 nights on Holland America, or 4-Star Mariner.  Works really well for us since we cruise mostly the longer cruises on HAL.  Pretty easy to accumulate points on HAL since they give you extra points for on-board spending.

 

We waste our RCI D & D+ vouchers because we don't do alcoholic beverages, only diet sodas.

 

Why is that a waste? The vouchers are for free drinks, not necessarily alcoholic drinks. You get free diet sodas, your beverage of choice.

[LilBlackDress]

25 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

 

Why is that a waste? The vouchers are for free drinks, not necessarily alcoholic drinks. You get free diet sodas, your beverage of choice.

Did you have a question for me? 

[read2learn]

On 10/4/2021 at 8:07 AM, mek said:

Thats good to know.  We don't sail until January, but I think I'm going to like the new system.  My husband takes meds and he can only have an occasional drink, so I can use his to get a couple of sodas to make back to the room.  4 drinks a day works for me.

You can also use it for bottled water. Being able to use it for water and sodas was nice because kept the refrigerator stocked with the unused vouchers at the end of each day. 

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

4 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

 

Why is that a waste? The vouchers are for free drinks, not necessarily alcoholic drinks. You get free diet sodas, your beverage of choice.

Well, not a total waste.  We drink only one diet coke each per day while on cruises.  So we're not getting much 'value' compared to drinking several alcoholic drinks per day.  So the drink vouchers aren't much of a perk for us.  We do enjoy quiet time in the Diamond Lounges.

[long time lurker]

On 10/4/2021 at 3:05 PM, ampurp85 said:

If the drink is over $13 then they charge the extra amount plus gratuity on the whole drink. So a $14 drink becomes $16.52 and the overage is $3.52.....however this is a thing with RCG. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won't. Depending on the bartender they might charge you nothing, $1 or the whole $3.52.

 

Also when I become diamond in Jan. I will still be getting either the soda or refresher package, if not staying in a suite. I won't ever drink more than 3 alcoholic drinks in a day but I needs a smoothie, some PowerAde and a couple of Cokes. 

I have not been on Royal since 2019, but will be Diamond from Celebrity next time I sail.  With the new voucher system, 4 drinks is sufficient for pre-dinner drinks and wine with dinner, but I will want coffee, orange juice, and water during the day. How does it work if you have the refreshment package.  Do you tell your server “use my package?” Or do they know if it is already covered?  I don’t want to “waste” my vouchers.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, long time lurker said:

Do you tell your server “use my package?”

Yes, you'll have to tell them to charge it to the package.

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, long time lurker said:

I have not been on Royal since 2019, but will be Diamond from Celebrity next time I sail.  With the new voucher system, 4 drinks is sufficient for pre-dinner drinks and wine with dinner, but I will want coffee, orange juice, and water during the day. How does it work if you have the refreshment package.  Do you tell your server “use my package?” Or do they know if it is already covered?  I don’t want to “waste” my vouchers.

I would specify.

 

[fstuff1]

On 10/5/2021 at 4:36 AM, LilBlackDress said:

You can bring 2 bottles of wine (750 ml) and a 12 pack (17oz) of any non alcoholic beverage on embarkment day per cabin

 

thx!

bringing a 1.5L bottle of wine and a 12pack of 16oz water

[LilBlackDress]

5 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

thx!

bringing a 1.5L bottle of wine and a 12pack of 16oz water

if its a single bottle of wine, I am not sure they will accept it 

[late2cruisin]

I think they specify that it has to be a standard 750ml. bottle of wine. I wouldn't try it  with a 1.5L bottle. Just bring two standard bottles. (The wine will stay fresher too!)

[davekathy]

53 minutes ago, late2cruisin said:

I think they specify that it has to be a standard 750ml. bottle of wine. I wouldn't try it  with a 1.5L bottle. Just bring two standard bottles. (The wine will stay fresher too!)

 

1 hour ago, LilBlackDress said:

if its a single bottle of wine, I am not sure they will accept it 

We have brought on at the embarkation port two 1.5L bottles of wine for a few of our B2B Caribbean cruises. But I also wouldn't tell anyone it's ok to do it

Edited October 7, 2021 by davekathy

[LilBlackDress]

2 hours ago, davekathy said:

 

We have brought on at the embarkation port two 1.5L bottles of wine for a few of our B2B Caribbean cruises. But I also wouldn't tell anyone it's ok to do it

We typically park at the port so it would just go back to the car... If I were to try! 

[davekathy]

29 minutes ago, LilBlackDress said:

We typically park at the port so it would just go back to the car... If I were to try! 

Lucky you. 👍🍷

[tiger-91]

On 10/4/2021 at 1:28 PM, fstuff1 said:

 

is it 4 drinks per day?

 

if so, why would any Diamond or above buy the drinks package?

Depends on how much you drink. Figuring each drink is $13, then you'd have to drink  five alcohol drinks to equal the typical $58 pre-cruise sale price. (or more if you wait and pay the discounted $82 onboard price) so with the four, five or six vouchers you'd have to figure you're drinking nine, ten or eleven alcohol drinks EVERY day to come out even. 

 

a better route, for some, is the wine and soda you can bring on board, the discounted "by the glass" beverages (if offered), cheaper daily drink specials, martini classes, whiskey class, beer class, hahaha 

[WindinmySails]

I think as time has gone by the loyalty program has changed.  I remember on my second cruise, we got a picture frame from Royal as a gold...now on my third cruise with Royal, we'll get basically nothing.

[brillohead]

12 hours ago, tiger-91 said:

Depends on how much you drink. Figuring each drink is $13, then you'd have to drink  five alcohol drinks to equal the typical $58 pre-cruise sale price. (or more if you wait and pay the discounted $82 onboard price) so with the four, five or six vouchers you'd have to figure you're drinking nine, ten or eleven alcohol drinks EVERY day to come out even. 

 

a better route, for some, is the wine and soda you can bring on board, the discounted "by the glass" beverages (if offered), cheaper daily drink specials, martini classes, whiskey class, beer class, hahaha 

I don't get the booze package myself (classic soda is all I need), but wanted to point out the flaw in your thinking.  

If someone gets a latte and a fresh-squeeze orange juice and a bottle of water in the morning, and a smoothie for a mid-morning snack, they've already used up their four vouchers without having a drop of liquor. An expresso after dinner would use up a fifth voucher.  

Four $13 cocktails/wine/whatever and a bottle of beer would break even on the DBP at that point. 

What would work better financially for people who do smoothies and foo-foo coffee drinks as well as booze drinks would be to get the Refreshment package and use that for sodas, bottles of water, smoothies, and coffee drinks, then use the 4-5-6 vouchers for the boozy drinks every day.  You'd just want to specify to the server that you want to use your package for the non-alcoholic drinks, so your vouchers would be available for the booze.