Diamond (Crown Lounge) Access

[BND]

10 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

I hear ya. With retirement closing in on us , I can see the opportunity for more frequent bookings , but not sure if it will ever lead to those kinda numbers . The only way I could realistically see a major increase in days at sea would be if moving were on the taqble 

 

Cheers .... enjoy every minute of it!

We sold our big colonial house this past spring after we bought the  house we're currently in (still a large home so we didn't give up a lot) in a 55+ community so we no longer have a mortgage.  I retired in 2020 and DH retires in about three weeks.  I'm 63 and he's 66 s we want to travel while we can.  We did 4 cruises this year (2 b2b's) and we're doing 6 (3 b2b's) in 2024.  Our CFP has been told how much money we require to maintain our current lifestyle.

Edited November 26, 2023 by BND

[cruisegirl1]

7 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

I understand what you're saying, but a D+ at 699 points only gets 1 more drink than a D at 80 points.  That is a bigger spread than P at 700 and D+ at 175.

 
 The Diamond  plus category actually has some additional benefits as points increase. 
m
 

 

[cruisegirl1]

12 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Yes click on the banner where it says welcome aboard. .. I posted a picture of the banner and what it said a week maybe ago. Lower half above the buttons at the bottom. 

 

Very few high loyalty last week. 19 pinns and few D+. Seems odd to me they say for the next 3 weeks the access is cut, and top 30 pinns. I'll be wanting to know how many each week coming up for them to do this. Imo not very high numbers. Ok took another picture .. though my check in has checked out, cant do safety briefing .

 

Many said they didnt know where it says welcome aboard was a link to info. ..

 

Thank you for posting this. That’s where I thought it was. I checked some cruises coming up in the next two weeks and I don’t see any restriction, YET. 

[BND]

1 minute ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 
 The Diamond  plus category actually has some additional benefits as points increase. 
m
 

 

True, there are things that aren't necessarily listed as well as things at 340 and 525 points.  On Jewel a few weeks ago for example we were offered a free galley tour.  We had our Cheers with an officer and our three gifts (wine), 

[BND]

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Splitting hairs but on allure I did the cheers with a officer and the rib eye was very tough. I did it 2 out of 4 times lately. Boarding harmony and if its the same tough steak I wouldnt bother, I'll leave.

 

Pinnacles got the fillet so it's not the same cheers with a officer. 

Everyone had the option of "filet" on Jewel.   Although, they're really not filets.  They're more like tenderloin..  A real filet you can eat the entire thing without running into any fat or connective tissue.  Not true for tenderloin.  Filet is a more expensive cut than tenderloin.  We actually had surf and turf (shrimp) offered for ours.  I'm allergic to shrimp so I ordered it without the shrimp.  So, it varies by ship mainly due to what the Hotel Director wants to spend.

[island lady]

15 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Do you get a eye fillet with eggs ? Is there a menu ? 🤔

 

Yes, there is always a menu...but not sure what an eye fillet is?  

[island lady]

9 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

To clarify:

 

A starts at 525 points

B starts at 340 points.  Is there an additional Suite/Pinnacle lunch?

C starts at 175 points.

 

And to clarify in modern times:

 

340 D+ lunch is separate from Pinnacle lunches.  Sometimes menu the same...but I have heard complaints from D+ friends that it is not.

 

Wine selections vary as you go up in points. 

 

And lately, the reserved seating for shows on some ships are full suites and Pinnacles only.  Seems to vary from ship to ship...as is common in all things RCI (Really Consistently Inconsistent).   

[island lady]

13 hours ago, BND said:

Our friends only wear them to events for upper tiers.  I have never seen a crew member give less service to someone because a Pinnacle was there.  Reality is, Pinnacles don't tip any better than anyone else and that's what the crew is looking for.  What we're looking forward to is the free internet lol.  Only 93 more points.

 

Congrats!  And perfectly stated!  🤗

[Tlbecker1]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Splitting hairs but on allure I did the cheers with a officer and the rib eye was very tough. I did it 2 out of 4 times lately. Boarding harmony and if its the same tough steak I wouldnt bother, I'll leave.

 

Pinnacles got the fillet so it's not the same cheers with an officer. 

Interesting.  We have had the filet on our last 6 cruises in the last 3 months.  We just got off of the Rhapsody and they had the most choices we have seen at a Cheers with an officer.  
 

1 more cruise for us to be Pinnacle and we start it tomorrow. 😀

[island lady]

9 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

I understand what you're saying, but a D+ at 699 points only gets 1 more drink than a D at 80 points.  That is a bigger spread than P at 700 and D+ at 175.

 

Though we have never, ever gone over our six per day... but that is just us. 

 

With the 3 free bottles of wine delivered to the cabin, the six free drinks per person each day, and the ability to bring on a bottle of wine each (which we don't do any longer)....I would need to start looking for the nearest AA chapter when we get home.  😮😉 

[Another_Critic]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Splitting hairs but on allure I did the cheers with a officer and the rib eye was very tough. I did it 2 out of 4 times lately. Boarding harmony and if its the same tough steak I wouldnt bother, I'll leave.

 

Pinnacles got the fillet so it's not the same cheers with a officer. 

CWAO on Liberty in Sept had a tough strip steak.  On Anthem in Oct they had a nice filet (I'm not Pinnacle).  Once again, it's RCI living up to their "name". 

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, bucfan2 said:

Got ya.  Thought you were in the crowd that let's all know they own the ship.  Took the bolded the wrong way.

CC needs a sarcasm emoji.  😄

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 
 The Diamond  plus category actually has some additional benefits as points increase. 
m
 

Correct, at 340 (Cheers with an Officer, 150% solo supplement, upgraded bathroom amenities, extra amenity) and 525 points (extra amenity, anything else??).  With that said, my rebuttal was regarding drink vouchers.

[Another_Critic]

29 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

And to clarify in modern times:

 

340 D+ lunch is separate from Pinnacle lunches.  Sometimes menu the same...but I have heard complaints from D+ friends that it is not.

 

Wine selections vary as you go up in points. 

 

And lately, the reserved seating for shows on some ships are full suites and Pinnacles only.  Seems to vary from ship to ship...as is common in all things RCI (Really Consistently Inconsistent).   

Thanks for clarifying that there's a separate P lunch.

 

Yes, wine selection (and quantity) varies at 175, 340, and 525.  Is there additional selections at 700 points?

 

So far 🤞 reserved seating for my sailings has been D+, suites, and Key.

[RFerrington]

I have been on ships where the reserved seating for the ice shows did not include D+ but that’s the only omission for D+ that I’ve noted.

[Cruising89143]

14 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

I hear ya. With retirement closing in on us , I can see the opportunity for more frequent bookings , but not sure if it will ever lead to those kinda numbers . The only way I could realistically see a major increase in days at sea would be if moving were on the taqble 

 

Cheers .... enjoy every minute of it!

We retired at ages 56 and 59. This was during the beginning of Covid. Once things settled down we cruised a total of ten times in 2022. We found out that was too much. Became boring to us. 🙂 This year we only cruised twice. Right now we only have two booked for 2024 but one cruise is a 14 night TA. We have been trying to get back to Europe for three plus years. Unfortunately Covid caused us to put things on hold. We go back and forth between Celebrity and RCI. We enjoy each for different reasons but both are great cruise lines. We don’t care about reaching a certain status or we would have stayed strictly with RCI to reach their top tier years ago. So in the end, we thought that we would end up cruising more in retirement years but this year was a normal cruise year. Will be interesting to see where we end up next year. 🙂

[doghog]

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

I have been on ships where the reserved seating for the ice shows did not include D+ but that’s the only omission for D+ that I’ve noted.

Sounds like another cut. 

 

We did a B2B March 2022 on the Explorer and we had reserved seating for the ice show and theater. We took advantage of the seating for the ice show as the seats were in a good location. Didn't sit in the ones in the theater as we didn't like the location of the seats.

Edited November 26, 2023 by doghog

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

I have been on ships where the reserved seating for the ice shows did not include D+ but that’s the only omission for D+ that I’ve noted.

 

6 minutes ago, doghog said:

Sounds like another cut. 

 

We did a B2B March 2022 on the Explorer and we had reserved seating for the ice show and theater. We took advantage of the seating for the ice show as the seats were in a good location. Didn't sit in the ones in the theater as we didn't like the location of the seats.

D+ seating was available on Liberty (ice/theater) in September and Anthem (theater) in October.

 

Liberty had 350 D+, 73 Pinns (also 575 D)

Anthem had 556 D+, 109 Pinns (also 766 D)

[island lady]

38 minutes ago, doghog said:

Sounds like another cut. 

 

We did a B2B March 2022 on the Explorer and we had reserved seating for the ice show and theater. We took advantage of the seating for the ice show as the seats were in a good location. Didn't sit in the ones in the theater as we didn't like the location of the seats.

 

Totally agree.  The reserved seating on Wonder was up in the balcony area.   Not a really great seating...IMHO..., and if you don't pay attention....the railing along the edge will block your view.  

 

We preferred the main deck seating.  

[Cruising89143]

I have never found the reserved seating that great in the main theater. Ice skating was much better. 

[Hogbay]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Yes, there is always a menu...but not sure what an eye fillet is?  

On Carnival they have a sea day brunch with steak and eggs , seeing chops is a steak house was wondering what s so great about their breakfast? If pin is even possible in my lifetime 🙂

[cruisegirl1]

7 hours ago, BND said:

True, there are things that aren't necessarily listed as well as things at 340 and 525 points.  On Jewel a few weeks ago for example we were offered a free galley tour.  We had our Cheers with an officer and our three gifts (wine), 

Galley tour?  Great.  Sailed Jewel in September and as far as I know - no tour was offered.  Would be great if tours were reinstated.  All I see the for a fee, all access tour. 

M

[Another_Critic]

1 minute ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Galley tour?  Great.  Sailed Jewel in September and as far as I know - no tour was offered.  Would be great if tours were reinstated.  All I see the for a fee, all access tour. 

M

A head waiter offered a galley tour on Anthem last month ... for $59!  😲

[cruisegirl1]

On Mariner last month, they had a combined D+(upper tier) and Pinnacle  - Cheers with an officer lunch.  I like the combined lunch. 

M

[cruisegirl1]

1 minute ago, Another_Critic said:

A head waiter offered a galley tour on Anthem last month ... for $59!  😲

The poster ( BND) wrote that it was a free galley tour. Nice!

M