Crown & Anchor Program Revisions - join the merged discussions here

[mpdp]

I think that this news stinks.. I have booked several cruises in the Fall. Being so close to D+ this really affects us. I do feel that they should grandfather us in.

[Jumbiecruiser]

Hopefully Adam and company will tell the ones that are still not happy to go pound sand.

[texlatin1]

Very good point, Pete!!!!!!!!!!! :)

 

Hi Catnip, nothing to do with this quote, just wanted to say how hilarious your signature quotes are (the one about having a dog or children especially)! I hadn't read them earlier and just noticed them!!! Really funny!!! LOL!!!:D

[IMNiles]

While it's not quite giving us back what we lost, I think it's an entirely appropriate response to the situation, and I have to give RCCL credit for listening and responding with something other than "tough luck."

 

I can totally see why they couldn't just reverse the decision - after all, the CL crowding problem isn't going to go away on its own - and I think the nightly party with free wine and discounted drinks is an appropriate gesture. In fact, had I not already had the CL perk, I would have thought the new perk was really great, and I guess that's really the true measure. Would I rather have free drinks? of course! But am I hopping mad that it's only a discount? Absolutely not. The continental breakfast with concierge service will also go a long way towards restoring what was lost.

 

I agree with the posters that say that they may have to revisit this problem again when all those Diamonds become Diamond+. Since points and status never expire, they will always have this problem of growing ranks, unless of course they're counting on all of us dying off before there are too many. :) It's a sticky problem, and it may involve some tweaks to the way points are earned, but I think more likely it will require some kind of point sunset scheme. Perhaps points need to "fall off" if you don't keep them active by sailing every couple of years. Cruising isn't like flying, so you can't expect people to sail multiple times every year, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that if you don't sail for several years running, your status may be diminished. It will be interesting to watch future changes down the road to see what they come up with.

[Catnip]

 

Don't worry RCI refugees...HAL's stewards are VERY experienced in parking your scooters for you at night! LOL....:eek: ....:p

 

 

 

Where IS Bama's favorite smilie? You know, the one flipping the bird?

LOL!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

[Catnip]

Hi Catnip, nothing to do with this quote, just wanted to say how hilarious your signature quotes are (the one about having a dog or children especially)! I hadn't read them earlier and just noticed them!!! Really funny!!! LOL!!!:D

 

 

Thanks!!! I love Rita Rudner....she is hilarious!!!

[texlatin1]

I just got my letter -- guess they got through AOL easier or got to the "Z's" faster than I thought.

 

I wonder if one would be able to buy a glass of non-house wine or champagne with the 25% discount.

 

Hi Sherri,

 

I'm sure if you have a great wait staff in the lounge, they may be accommodating to your request. Wouldn't hurt to ask.:D

[amunhbuu]

Was there ever any doubt about that? :eek:

It certainly wasn't about the overcrowding, as there are plenty of lounges on each ship that could easily handle the past passengers every night.

 

Well, that was what the official email stated. Nothing about economics. All about overcrowding.

 

Like a previous poster stated, this feels very much like negotiations. ;) Ask for more than what you want so that you can "settle" to what you really want.

 

"Due to limited capacity, the Concierge Lounge has not been able to accommodate our growing membership, challenging our ability to provide the optimum experience for our guests. Therefore the Concierge Lounge will now be accessible to our suite and Diamond Plus guests only. Diamond Members cruising on Freedom class, Oasis of the SeasSM, and Allure of the SeasSM will continue to be able to experience exclusive access to a dedicated Diamond Lounge on these ships, which feature a complimentary 'happy hour' from 5:00-8:30pm daily."

 

 

[negc]

I guess that the truism about athletes: "When they say it isn't about the money, you can be sure of one thing: It's about the money." also applies to some cruisers:"When they say it isn't about the free drinks, you can be sure of one thing: It's about the free drinks".:rolleyes:

[negc]

I think that this news stinks.. I have booked several cruises in the Fall. Being so close to D+ this really affects us. I do feel that they should grandfather us in.

 

If you are that close, the inconvenience for you should be a short one. Overcrowding is already a problem in the concierge lounges. Grandfathering the current diamonds would do nothing to alleviate the problem and would only make it a permanent situation. This solution, while not perfect, at least gives them some time until they face the same problem again as more and more diamonds become diamond plus.:rolleyes:

[rogicoco]

i am happy with a new letter from mr goldstein. from the way i understand we will still be able to meet and mingle with people and have access to services cl provided. i am glad they listened and came to some sort of compromise.:)

[Coralc]

Hopefully, now with the change in the piggy backing of family members with cruise credits with tine it will help address some of the over crowding.

All I can say is thank you Mr. Goldstein for this fair compromise.

 

Did it say that, and I missed it? I think they should eliminate that particular option. And also the Celebrity reciprical.

 

I am actually happy that they listened to us, and I am fine with this compromise agreement. :)

[jillybabes]

I guess that the truism about athletes: "When they say it isn't about the money, you can be sure of one thing: It's about the money." also applies to some cruisers:"When they say it isn't about the free drinks, you can be sure of one thing: It's about the free drinks".:rolleyes:

 

Well said Bill :p

[Host Kewlguy]

Actually, Bill, for perhaps the first time, I am going to disagree with you.

 

It is like a labor negotiation. Workers ask for a 10% raise. Management counters with 2%. Workers are outraged. Demand 8%. Management counters with 6%. Final agreement: 4% - both sides feel that they gained over the other.

 

People (in this case, whining C & A members), need to feel that they "won something back."

 

If RC had offered this in the first place, there would have been just as much complaining. RC really HAD to "threaten" or announce that it was removing the whole deal, then "give in" to a 25% discount deal, to appease people.

 

People would have been INCENSED that their FREE booze was taken away and being replaced by a MEASLY 25% discount.

 

It's all about the psychology.

 

:)

 

Excellent analogy. I agree 100%. As I have previously stated the main goal was making the concierge lounge a more pleasant experience for the suite passengers. Royal will accomplished that goal while pacifying the diamond members.

[GEORGET]

Just like to say Thank you to all the fellow whiners out there.

 

If the letter is a climb down i am grateful. It proves they watch this blog and listened to our calls and emails.

 

One little thing why only house wine and Champagne as these are usually the same price as house beer and shorts? What about soft drinks? during happy hour.

 

Thanks again, power to the whining customers.

[missbogota]

I guess that the truism about athletes: "When they say it isn't about the money, you can be sure of one thing: It's about the money." also applies to some cruisers:"When they say it isn't about the free drinks, you can be sure of one thing: It's about the free drinks".:rolleyes:

 

Yes...now they are mad about only obtaining a 25% discount off of drinks!!! hahahaha! But they still say..."It is NOT about the free drinks...I just want to go the CL to visit with other travelers...They promised me". GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

 

All of you that are complaining should be ASHAMED of yourselves! Most people will never be able to take a cruise in their lifetime. How GREEDY has this world become???? People that complain should be So ashamed!!!!

[GEORGET]

Yes...now they are mad about only obtaining a 25% discount off of drinks!!! hahahaha! But they still say..."It is NOT about the free drinks...I just want to go the CL to visit with other travelers...They promised me". GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

 

All of you that are complaining should be ASHAMED of yourselves! Most people will never be able to take a cruise in their lifetime. How GREEDY has this world become???? People that complain should be So ashamed!!!!

 

if we had not complained we would not have got these new changes

[Gator0178]

I can live with this compromise. Free wine and champagne everynight, and concierge like services. I'm satisfied. Guess all of the letters and emails like mine worked!:D

[negc]

Actually, Bill, for perhaps the first time, I am going to disagree with you.

 

It is like a labor negotiation. Workers ask for a 10% raise. Management counters with 2%. Workers are outraged. Demand 8%. Management counters with 6%. Final agreement: 4% - both sides feel that they gained over the other.

 

People (in this case, whining C & A members), need to feel that they "won something back."

 

If RC had offered this in the first place, there would have been just as much complaining. RC really HAD to "threaten" or announce that it was removing the whole deal, then "give in" to a 25% discount deal, to appease people.

 

People would have been INCENSED that their FREE booze was taken away and being replaced by a MEASLY 25% discount.

 

It's all about the psychology.

 

:)

 

I don't think we are that far apart in our thinking. I am sure that any announcement would have met with a negative reaction but I am not prepared to believe that they made their "threat" in full anticipation of coming back with their "compromise" later on. I don't give them that much credit.:rolleyes: Besides almost everyone said "it isn't about the free booze", didn't they:eek: By the way I don't want you negotiating for me if the workers end up getting 4% when management offered 6% during the negotiations. ;)

[pcur]

Where, exactly have you encountered the overcrowding? You keep bringing this up over and over. We were on the IOS in December and Brilliance in February, different class of ship, different itineraries. Both had overflow lounges. There were nights on Brilliance when there were less than a dozen people in the overflow lounge.

 

I encountered overcrowding on the Enchantment last September, the Serenade last October, and the Brilliance in October 2005. It's been going on for years and getting worse every year.

[philnpen]

DW will have a glass of wine and I'll occassionally have a beer. Except since we are only low Diamond members we won't have a CL after Sept now. What we both will miss is the quick stop in the afternoon for a cappuccino. Unless we want to cruise with a small city on one of the huge ships that has a DL in addition to a CL. Why not give plain old diamond members a few reduced price coupons for some of the specialty coffee sold on board?

[Host Kewlguy]

While we knew the reaction would be negative, it has been more negative than we anticipated.

 

I did find this statement to be somewhat disingenuous. They knew full well the firestorm this announcement would create.

[pcur]

If you read my post, you will see that I go back to LL Bean, rather than shopping with a multitude of other online companies because they reward loyalty with coupons. I wanted the items but the coupon was a nice perk.It was enough to make me feel valued as a customer.

 

I bought cruises because I wanted to take them, I kept coming back to Royal Caribbean because once I had become Platinum, it made sense to continue with them so that I could obtain some extras.

 

They promised that "the more you cruise the more we reward you with benefits and extras" - just as it says today, if you look at the website.

The problem is that the perks and benefits they stated we were buying our way towards at the time we were purchasing cruises, have now been canceled.

Either your word means something or it doesn't. If you make a commitment to your customers to provide a certain benefit after 10 cruises, then don't be surprised if passengers are disgusted when you don't keep that commitment.

It bothers me if you change your 'promise' because circumstances change.

 

But, we are talking about a BUSINESS, not a person. They can change their product as they see fit. Yes, they will displease people who liked the "old" product, and yes, using your LL Bean analogy, they will alienate some customers who like the "frequent buyer" perks. However, supply and demand is not set in concrete: it's a fluid, almost living organism. Just because they stated it 5 years ago doesn't mean it's the same now.

 

It's like my kids when they were growing up getting upset with me because circumstances changed and what I told them a year ago isn't happening anymore.

 

I wish (not directed at you necessarily) people would not treat this situation like a personal insult. It's a marketing thing, and it didn't work out to their economic satisfaction.

 

Now, we all gotta decide if we still want to play marbles with them, or take our marbles (dollars) elsewhere.

[dougp26364]

I am very glad to see that RCI can react quickly to the concerns of their most loyal customers. For me, it was never about the free drinks. We don't drink much anyway. It was more about the social aspect and the availability of the conceirge. While it's not as good as it once was, I fully understand the need to provide a more upscale atmosphere for those spending the extra money to cruise in a suite. Imagine paying the extra money for a suite and looking forward to a nice relaxing conceirge lounge only to find it croweded elbow to elbow with people just haning out.

 

IMO, RCI has taken a huge step in the right direction and I'm very pleased with the moves they're making. I'm more happy to see that they're listening to their most loyal cruisers. This all makes me feel better about our two upcoming cruises and will likely be enough to keep our cruising dollars with RCI rather than branching out to find a new home for future cruises.

[raetay]

I agree with not wanting you people to do my negotiations. You buckled way too easy. Why couldn't they grandfather in the people who had already attained Diamond status? 25% off wine does it for you?