Royal Carribean disloyal to loyal cruisers, how not to run a cruise line.

[Mick B]

Hi all,

There is a fine line here between giving us D+ members free benefits and giving those who have paid more for Suites their perks too.

Let's face it, it was only going to be a matter of time before things changed due to high amount of cruisers per ship that are Diamond and above.

 

I thinks the way to go here is to do the following (which has started)...

1) Rename all Concierge lounges to Suites lounges so we know what they are and who they are for. Allow Pinnacle members access to them but NOT to the Diamond lounge (to allow space in the Diamond lounge as Pinnacle also get their own overspill if too many Suites are cruising).

2) Only allow Diamond and D+ members access to the Diamond lounge to allow space (as above).

3) Takes points away from cruisers who have not cruised for over 5 years with RCL. Sounds drastic, but why give perks to people who don't spend that much time with the brand?

4) Remove certain food from both the MDR and Windjammer that is likely to go to waste in order to cut down the cost the cruise line.

 

Remember, it is important here that those of us that are not mega wealthy but like to cruise once or twice a year but still work can still can get rooms on the ship that we can afford. I am very worried at the moment seeing the amount of extra rooms being added that are fancy and expensive as if for stars and celebs that soon cruising will become something for the rich again like 50 years ago etc.

 

I don't think we should get too upset at the moment. Looking at the perks we get, I think it is still great value. I would bet that at some point in the next 5 years Diamond lounges become D+ lounges or worse, you need 340 points to get in them as RCL already have a few things you get extra at the 340 level so I would bet that may become a new tier. Hopefully by then anyone who is D+ and sailing yearly should have passed that mark by the time something happens.

 

Mick.

 

[Bloodgem]

20 hours ago, CruisingHogFan said:

Best post on this thread and true!  We usually book an upper suite one a year and balcony other times. We always buy drink packages, internet, casino,  etc. on the ship. I wish they would only allow suite guests in the suite area, lounges, coastal kitchen, and seat reservations for shows, no matter the C&R ranking to lower crowds. I would be ok not being allowed when I’m not in a suite even with my status.

 

Cruise lines need to take care of people that spend more money vs. someone who is just Diamond Plus because they always sail in an interior room with no onboard purchases….

This concept discriminates against passengers that require wheelchair accessible cabins. As most of Royals ships do not have wheelchair accessible suites.  On most ships the highest disabled cabin is a junior suite, which does not have access to the suites lounge and limited access to  coastal kitchen.

  

[Ocean Boy]

58 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

I don't need someone to turn down my bed at night.

Neither do I. However, I want the used towels, dirty dishes, and used glasses out of the cabin. And don't increase the gratuities just when you are about to decrease the level of service. 

[Lady Hudson]

I agree here about nightly service.  Don’t spend a lot of time here tidying up the room but give me fresh towels, take away the dirty dishes, etc.  I don’t leave wet towels lying around in my bath until the next day at home  -  I put them in the hamper.  Dirty dishes go in the dishwasher.  My standards of cleanliness shouldn’t go down because I am on a cruise.  

[Lady Hudson]

A few more thoughts.  My belief is that Royal needs both types of passengers — those that travel in suites and those who sail many times a year.  Both generate needed revenue.  Royal needs to be careful not alienate either group.  
 

Diamond plus is taking a hit right now with no CL/SL access, no priority boarding/embarkation, no special area in DR for breakfast (no waiting in line!).  These are just 3 things that I can think of off the top of my head that we enjoyed as D+ and are now gone.  I do understand the need for change but just saying be careful, Royal.

 

I know there is a lot of revenue generated by suites.  But consider the amount of money spent by cruisers reaching the top  C&A levels.  As many like to say — “My Pinnacle pin is the most expensive piece of jewelry I own.”  I don’t know the percentage of suite cruisers who return time and again but I am sure it is a lower percentage than the top C & A cruisers.

 

My two cents!!  Katherine 

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, Beeline Cruiser said:

 

Yes! We bring the money and they're SUPPOSED to give some of the rewards back to us! Royal is still and always will be my “home away from home” and I still can’t believe it’s downgrades.

Curious, are you Diamond or higher with Royal?

[Engineroom Snipe]

On 1/6/2023 at 8:06 AM, TwinMamainMN said:

Many of us steerage folks travel without being Diamond, Diamond Plus or Pinnacle. Somehow, we manage to enjoy our vacation despite the hardship of no access to the concierge lounge.

 

Yes, as we awake from our quiet Zen-like sleep in our windowless caves, we migrate from the center lower bowls towards the sunshine of the upper decks. The sun dawns as we smile from ear-to-ear and wander towards the Windjammer. It is a tough life in steerage.  😁  They took away my coal shovel years ago on the condition I would pay for a fare.  🤣

[Cruisin'allovertheworld]

On 1/7/2023 at 8:54 AM, PWP-001 said:

...If they wanted it badly enough, they'd find a way...

I have read up to this point in the thread and I just really, really needed to reply to this particular statement and sentiment.

 

Not everyone is actually able to always 'find a way'- you know that, right? That statement literally reeks of privilege and ignorance. There are many reasons that it may not be feasible for a person/people to cruise in order to maintain a status.

 

My husband and I live in Perth, Australia. In the next couple of years there is exactly 1 cruise departing from our nearest port (Fremantle). It is 18 nights from the 1st of March 2024 on Brilliance of the Seas.

First of all as my husband and I are 36 and working (him)/studying (me) that length of cruise may not be feasible. It would certainly rule me ineligible to study for the semester, delaying graduation etc etc.

An inside cabin (not my preference) is a little over USD$3,000.

 

The cruise finishes in Sydney. We would have to fly back (USD$200-600 per person dependant on dates for an economy seat).

 

Our other closest alternatives for ports are Brisbane, Sydney and Singapore.

 

Accommodation can vary between USD$100-300 per night in these locations.

 

Return flights vary between USD$250-450 per person at a low-season time of year per person for economy seats. Yes- in Australia it can be cheaper to fly return than one way.

 

Why not drive? The drive between Perth and either Sydney or Brisbane costs around USD$1,000 in fuel and takes 44ish hours- the equivalent of driving from Vancouver to New York on the quickest possible route.

 

A cruise (for us...and many others), whilst good value, is NOT inexpensive. USD$4500 (cost for inside cabin cruise, a night or two in a not-fancy Syd hotel, food while we're there and economy flights home) is equivalent to over AUD$6500 for 20ish days of holidays and the ability to keep our status.

 

The average wage in Australia is about USD$1030 per week.

 

If my husband was earning the average wage it would take him 6 and a half weeks (or over 12% of his annual pay BEFORE tax etc) to earn the money to pay for this.

 

We are fortunate that we are more flexible than most for several reasons-

 

1) My husband earns significantly more than the average wage.

2) We do not have children.

 

Check yourself and your privilege, please. It isn't as simple for everyone as it is for you.

[LXA350]

2 hours ago, Bloodgem said:

This concept discriminates against passengers that require wheelchair accessible cabins. As most of Royals ships do not have wheelchair accessible suites.  On most ships the highest disabled cabin is a junior suite, which does not have access to the suites lounge and limited access to  coastal kitchen.

  

 

There is nothing discriminating about that. RCL caters to all sorts of passengers including the ones requiring accessible cabins. They are not obliged to offer such cabins for each category as especially for the higher suites it will be very difficult to have enough demand for such. Find me any hotel where you will find accessible rooms in the highest suite categories, very likely you will not find one.

[Cigar King]

5 hours ago, Mick B said:

Rename all Concierge lounges to Suites lounges so we know what they are and who they are for. Allow Pinnacle members access to them but NOT to the Diamond lounge (to allow space in the Diamond lounge as Pinnacle also get their own overspill if too many Suites are cruising).

If Concierge lounges are to be renamed suite lounges, why would they allow Pinnacles into them?  Conversely, why would Pinnacles be excluded from the Diamond lounge, when they are the highest level in the C&A program?  I don't think this suggestion works.

[Cigar King]

5 hours ago, Bloodgem said:

This concept discriminates against passengers that require wheelchair accessible cabins. As most of Royals ships do not have wheelchair accessible suites.

I'm not in a wheel chair, but, to my mind, every Owners Suite is accessible.  

[Lady Hudson]

1 hour ago, Cigar King said:

I'm not in a wheel chair, but, to my mind, every Owners Suite is accessible.  

Don’t remember - do all Owners suites have showers that are wheelchair accessible?  That is a big factor for some folks.

[Cigar King]

1 hour ago, Lady Hudson said:

do all Owners suites have showers that are wheelchair accessible?

I'm not sure what is meant by wheelchair accessible.  I can tell you that all we have seen have had wonderful walk-in showers.  Here's a picture from Explorer earlier this year:  (Some ships are larger than this)

 

[time4u2go]

10 minutes ago, Cigar King said:

I'm not sure what is meant by wheelchair accessible.  I can tell you that all we have seen have had wonderful walk-in showers.  Here's a picture from Explorer earlier this year:  (Some ships are larger than this)

 

An accessible bathroom would have a ramp to get into the bathroom, and a shower that you could roll a wheelchair into.

[John&LaLa]

7 hours ago, Lady Hudson said:

A few more thoughts.  My belief is that Royal needs both types of passengers — those that travel in suites and those who sail many times a year.  Both generate needed revenue.  Royal needs to be careful not alienate either group.  
 

Diamond plus is taking a hit right now with no CL/SL access, no priority boarding/embarkation, no special area in DR for breakfast (no waiting in line!).  These are just 3 things that I can think of off the top of my head that we enjoyed as D+ and are now gone.  I do understand the need for change but just saying be careful, Royal.

 

I know there is a lot of revenue generated by suites.  But consider the amount of money spent by cruisers reaching the top  C&A levels.  As many like to say — “My Pinnacle pin is the most expensive piece of jewelry I own.”  I don’t know the percentage of suite cruisers who return time and again but I am sure it is a lower percentage than the top C & A cruisers.

 

My two cents!!  Katherine 

 

Saw this choker in Key West last week. Retail cost was $154,000 😇

 

18kt gold, 20 carats of sapphires, 7 carats of diamonds 

 

[smokeybandit]

Just now, John&LaLa said:

Saw this choker in Key West last week. Retail cost was $154,000 😇

 

How many did you get?

[nelblu]

8 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Neither do I. However, I want the used towels, dirty dishes, and used glasses out of the cabin. And don't increase the gratuities just when you are about to decrease the level of service. 

Bad optics.  Increase grats and less service. 

 

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

How many did you get?

 

Got them down to $36,500

 

Said I'd think about it

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Got them down to $36,500

 

Said I'd think about it

Impressive, I would say, "Not in my wildest dreams."  Kind of like those timeshare sells. I would say, "Sounds great but my credit score is about 520 and they are ready to take my house away from me." Their response, "Do you have a credit card?" I would come up with the most absurd responses and they would keep pursuing the done deal. Kind of scary. 😵 They just want a transaction and move onto the next mark.

[welshtiger]

On 1/6/2023 at 2:21 PM, robmtx said:

As a consumer, price increases suck. I will continue to spend, however, as price increases are across the board in every consumer sector.

 

As an investor, I appreciate the company's effort to decrease operating expenses. These changes help position Royal for the next generation of cruisers, and I expect more changes incoming to appeal to them. 

 

 

Exactly, cut costs , increase profits, I have no problem with profit, Just please stop the BS , dressed up as "we are here to help our loyal customers". In other words , dont urinate on my head and tell me its raining.

[HicksRA]

8 minutes ago, welshtiger said:

Exactly, cut costs , increase profits, I have no problem with profit, Just please stop the BS , dressed up as "we are here to help our loyal customers". In other words , dont urinate on my head and tell me its raining.

I agree. 
Rather than BS us with the “In order to enhance your cruising experience….”, be honest and don’t insult our intelligence.  
How about saying “As a result of skyrocketing fuel costs, increase in food prices and availability and massive debt incurred due to Covid, we are forced to reduce some benefits and increase prices in some areas”. 
I can understand and appreciate honest reasoning. 

[Beeline Cruiser]

10 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Curious, are you Diamond or higher with Royal?

 

One more cruise until Diamond and yes we're super excited about the Diamond Lounge!! It really looks like a special place and. a lot of fun.

[Lady Hudson]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Saw this choker in Key West last week. Retail cost was $154,000 😇

 

18kt gold, 20 carats of sapphires, 7 carats of diamonds 

 

Glad I am not buying that — pretty though it is!!

[Sunshine3601]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Saw this choker in Key West last week. Retail cost was $154,000 😇

 

18kt gold, 20 carats of sapphires, 7 carats of diamonds 

 

Is that a snake choker?

[Sunshine3601]

5 hours ago, Lady Hudson said:

Don’t remember - do all Owners suites have showers that are wheelchair accessible?  That is a big factor for some folks.

No, you would not be able to wheel into bathroom nor is there a seat in the shower.   And sink would be an issue for someone in a wheelchair to access.