Erosion of Diamond Plus benefits?

Just returned from a 7 nighter on the Navigator and would like to share a few observations and perhaps get some feedback. It'd been 1 1/2 years since our last trip - this being partly due to what we feel has become a less enjoyable vacation experience with RCI over time. I'm sure that many of you will consider these to be trivial peeves and in a way they are - however, once you've become accustomed to certain perks, their absence tends to become more conspicuous.

Peeves:

Port's priority embarkation line was longer than the regular lines (possibly due to guests heeding RCI's request for staggered check in times) - might as well get in the shorter ones.

There used to be a welcome aboard platter waiting in the stateroom with wine and assorted food items. Waiting for us this time was a small bag of cookies and miniature novelty bottle.

Other D+ perks (ie. robes) had to be asked for rather than provided.

Diamond breakfast area gone.

Internet use - 2 free days sounds good until you realize that they need to be used in 24 hr. blocks whether you need that much continuous time or not. After those 2 days, it's pay time. With the old coupon books (which were still in use on our previous trip), you were given 45 minutes which could be used bit by bit as needed until it was gone.

We would be charged each time for all the D+ perks used (ie. internet, washday) that had previously been covered by coupons. The codes are supposedly programmed into the Seapass card, but it didn't work for us. I needed to go to the Loyalty Ambassador each time to clear it up, with the final charge coming too late to deal with.

Platinum/ Diamond event gone.

1 complimentary Johnny Rockets visit gone.

Perks:

LA did a great job of fixing all these issues.

Much better variety of beverages in Diamond & Concierge lounges.

All said, it is my feeling that RCI's obsession with the bottom line has become much too obvious. We have found other vacation spots that offer all of these perks and then some to even first time guests, making this somewhat lame carrot that RCI dangles in front of their repeat customer's noses look rather pathetic. We're wondering what others feel about their D+ experience: perhaps this is unique to this ship - we'd never been on it before.

I do not think you are being picky. We, too, have found the same issues. It is so disappointing to be loyal to a cruise line, and when we finally reach the status of Diamond plus, the rug is pulled out from under you.

I see it this way too...as it took a while for us to become D+ and now not so + feeling...

I am very unhappy with the internet change also if this is how it is now, as it wasn't on our most recent cruise in March...we had the 45min each...why can't RCI just leave somethings alone :(

I am in complete agreement with your observations. Stand alone, these perks don't seem like much especially if you have not earned them with your loyalty or paid for them with your cabin category, but the cumulative effect of many, many cuts is disappointing.

RCL is devaluing the experience to appeal to people who expect, and are satisfied, with less in order to maintain a low price. Containing cost and keeping prices in control is a worthy objective, but if you have earned or paid for the perks, reducing them is frustrating.

So far, Celebrity and HAL have found a way to provide very nice benefits for loyal passengers and suite guests and keep prices reasonably competitive for a good quality experience.

I'm a rookie D+ so my opinions are not fully formed. I've always found my D benefits' application varied widely from ship to ship.

Priority embarkation varies from port to port. Almost all of the time, the lines for all C&A members were the same or as you experienced worse.

Your welcome aboard platter may require you to update your D+ preferences on RCI's web site. We got all of our preferences plus an additional 6 bottles of water. Chocolate covered strawberries and snacks arrived during the cruise.

Internet usage is a new problem for everyone. I agree, using your time over the cruise was preferable to the present method. But you may be able to talk your concierge club ambassador to apply all 4 coupons to a full cruise plan.

We have always written the coupon # on the wash and fold receipt. Coupon redemption is the fault of the ship.

Our last cruise had no JR so I can't speak to free, but we have always got a Diamond BOGO shake.

The vouchers were a huge gain in my book.

I see your point, but I don't think it applies strictly to D+.

We're fine with it. We don't use the internet. We buy drink packages and don't visit the lounge. We get a bottle of champagne, which we put it up as an extra prize for the slot pull. I like to have robes and bottled water, and we can visit the lounge anytime for coffee and cookies. And the laundry bags are appreciated.

I understand your point, and why you might miss certain benefits. I feel we are treated well by Royal Caribbean. It is a loyalty program. There are so many Diamond Plus people, that it is not a particularly special passenger class to be in anymore. :D

There has been no free coupon for JR's for a long time. I think it has been at least 3 years of B1G1F milkshake. On our last cruise, a lady said that on her last cruise (14 years ago) the cruise line transported them to the airport for free, and the "internet" was also free. I sort of wonder about people's memories and recollections.

We're fine with it. We don't use the internet. We buy drink packages and don't visit the lounge. We get a bottle of champagne, which we put it up as an extra prize for the slot pull. I like to have robes and bottled water, and we can visit the lounge anytime for coffee and cookies. And the laundry bags are appreciated.

 

I understand your point, and why you might miss certain benefits. I feel we are treated well by Royal Caribbean. It is a loyalty program. There are so many Diamond Plus people, that it is not a particularly special passenger class to be in anymore. :D

 

There has been no free coupon for JR's for a long time. I think it has been at least 3 years of B1G1F milkshake. On our last cruise, a lady said that on her last cruise (14 years ago) the cruise line transported them to the airport for free, and the "internet" was also free. I sort of wonder about people's memories and recollections.

Me too. We've been cruising RCI since 1987 and have never had "free" internet (only coupons for so many minutes), transport to the airport (unless you paid for transfers) or welcome aboard platter and wine in our cabin upon embarkation (have had the box, now bag of goodies and an individual bottle of wine/water/beer as a Welcome Aboard amenity).

Yes.....benefits are changing. One that we really like is the addition of 3 vouchers on our Seapass to use for cocktails during CL hours at any bar.

Yes.....benefits are changing. One that we really like is the addition of 3 vouchers on our Seapass to use for cocktails during CL hours at any bar.

I agree - it's a nice improvement and makes up for a lot of the trinket type things that are gone.

I'm not diamond, but I don't cruise with RCI to advance my rank and get freebies. I cruise with them because I enjoy the ships and destinations. There seems to be far too much complaining about "perks" any more. If the lack of perks ruins a cruise, there are other lined available.

Just returned from a 7 nighter on the Navigator and would like to share a few observations and perhaps get some feedback. It'd been 1 1/2 years since our last trip - this being partly due to what we feel has become a less enjoyable vacation experience with RCI over time. I'm sure that many of you will consider these to be trivial peeves and in a way they are - however, once you've become accustomed to certain perks, their absence tends to become more conspicuous.

Peeves:

Port's priority embarkation line was longer than the regular lines (possibly due to guests heeding RCI's request for staggered check in times) - might as well get in the shorter ones.

There used to be a welcome aboard platter waiting in the stateroom with wine and assorted food items. Waiting for us this time was a small bag of cookies and miniature novelty bottle.

Other D+ perks (ie. robes) had to be asked for rather than provided.

Diamond breakfast area gone.

Internet use - 2 free days sounds good until you realize that they need to be used in 24 hr. blocks whether you need that much continuous time or not. After those 2 days, it's pay time. With the old coupon books (which were still in use on our previous trip), you were given 45 minutes which could be used bit by bit as needed until it was gone.

We would be charged each time for all the D+ perks used (ie. internet, washday) that had previously been covered by coupons. The codes are supposedly programmed into the Seapass card, but it didn't work for us. I needed to go to the Loyalty Ambassador each time to clear it up, with the final charge coming too late to deal with.

Platinum/ Diamond event gone.

1 complimentary Johnny Rockets visit gone.

Perks:

LA did a great job of fixing all these issues.

Much better variety of beverages in Diamond & Concierge lounges.

 

All said, it is my feeling that RCI's obsession with the bottom line has become much too obvious. We have found other vacation spots that offer all of these perks and then some to even first time guests, making this somewhat lame carrot that RCI dangles in front of their repeat customer's noses look rather pathetic. We're wondering what others feel about their D+ experience: perhaps this is unique to this ship - we'd never been on it before.

I agree with you 100%. The sad thing is that I think even more cuts are yet to come. RCL has been implementing numerous cut backs trying nickel and dime their passengers to a profit. The only way this is going to change is to leave and cruise other lines. I think you will likely find better values on other cruise lines even without any D+ benefits. If the RCL business model depends on repeat business from long-time cruisers and we start to move to other cruise lines, RCL will need to reconsider these cuts to C&A benefits. If their business model depends on attracting many first time cruisers from the US and many foreign markets, it won't matter if C&A members leave. Unfortunately for D and D+ members, I think the business model looks better with new cruisers because new cruisers typically spend more on high profit extras such as pictures, drinks shore excursions, etc.

Don't let all of the cheerleaders bother you. they want to convince themselves they are making a good value choice with RCL, so they ignore the cut-backs or they tell you it's not a big deal.

Depending on the region or your family, Princess or Carnival may be good choices.

i agree with you 100%. The sad thing is that i think even more cuts are yet to come. Rcl has been implementing numerous cut backs trying nickel and dime their passengers to a profit. The only way this is going to change is to leave and cruise other lines. I think you will likely find better values on other cruise lines even without any d+ benefits. If the rcl business model depends on repeat business from long-time cruisers and we start to move to other cruise lines, rcl will need to reconsider these cuts to c&a benefits. If their business model depends on attracting many first time cruisers from the us and many foreign markets, it won't matter if c&a members leave. Unfortunately for d and d+ members, i think the business model looks better with new cruisers because new cruisers typically spend more on high profit extras such as pictures, drinks shore excursions, etc.

 

Don't let all of the cheerleaders bother you. They want to convince themselves they are making a good value choice with rcl, so they ignore the cut-backs or they tell you it's not a big deal.

 

Depending on the region or your family, princess or carnival may be good choices.

lol

Hey, I hate to disagree but I enjoy the perks. Much of the stuff mentioned by the OP was indeed trivial. C'mon, a nightly FREE cocktail hour? Just that one benefit makes it worthwhile.

Do I care if it takes me ten minutes to get on the ship or 20? No. Get over it.

If it takes a quick visit to the Loyalty Ambassador to get my wine, no problem. Get over it.

Do I care about robes? Not really.

Johnny Rockets? Seriously?

The internet would be the only one I would care about, but I want to see what the new policy really is.

As I said, the nightly cocktail time trumps all this trivial stuff!

Don't let all of the cheerleaders bother you. they want to convince themselves they are making a good value choice with RCL, so they ignore the cut-backs or they tell you it's not a big deal.

 

Depending on the region or your family, Princess or Carnival may be good choices.

I don't think ignoring the cutbacks in the D+ loyalty program makes me a cheerleader. We just don't particularly care. We buy the drink packages. So we don't care about 3 free drinks. I would like to socialize in the lounge, but DH doesn't like to change out of shorts and flip flops, so we rarely go. And they are too crowded.

So I don't know if that was directed at me, or you just like to post clichés, but you are wrong.

They aren't necessarily a good value, but the cruise line suits us. So we sail with them.

Just returned from a 7 nighter on the Navigator and would like to share a few observations and perhaps get some feedback. It'd been 1 1/2 years since our last trip - this being partly due to what we feel has become a less enjoyable vacation experience with RCI over time. I'm sure that many of you will consider these to be trivial peeves and in a way they are - however, once you've become accustomed to certain perks, their absence tends to become more conspicuous.

Peeves:

Port's priority embarkation line was longer than the regular lines (possibly due to guests heeding RCI's request for staggered check in times) - might as well get in the shorter ones.

There used to be a welcome aboard platter waiting in the stateroom with wine and assorted food items. Waiting for us this time was a small bag of cookies and miniature novelty bottle.

Other D+ perks (ie. robes) had to be asked for rather than provided.

Diamond breakfast area gone.

Internet use - 2 free days sounds good until you realize that they need to be used in 24 hr. blocks whether you need that much continuous time or not. After those 2 days, it's pay time. With the old coupon books (which were still in use on our previous trip), you were given 45 minutes which could be used bit by bit as needed until it was gone.

We would be charged each time for all the D+ perks used (ie. internet, washday) that had previously been covered by coupons. The codes are supposedly programmed into the Seapass card, but it didn't work for us. I needed to go to the Loyalty Ambassador each time to clear it up, with the final charge coming too late to deal with.

Platinum/ Diamond event gone.

1 complimentary Johnny Rockets visit gone.

Perks:

LA did a great job of fixing all these issues.

Much better variety of beverages in Diamond & Concierge lounges.

 

All said, it is my feeling that RCI's obsession with the bottom line has become much too obvious. We have found other vacation spots that offer all of these perks and then some to even first time guests, making this somewhat lame carrot that RCI dangles in front of their repeat customer's noses look rather pathetic. We're wondering what others feel about their D+ experience: perhaps this is unique to this ship - we'd never been on it before.

Embarkation in Galveston is poor for priority unless you get there early. That is a port issue that is long standing and will hopefully be resolved when new terminal is finished.

Regarding the D+ large bottle of wine, did you select in your preferences prior to sailing and select where to deliver? There is one area to select the mini bottles of wine and a seperate area for the full bottle of wine which you can have delivered to either the cabin or restaurant. If you don't make a selection it won't get delivered. The snack gift boxes have been around for some time now.

No Erosion in perks for me. Actually I like the new Internet perks much much better and it´s a way bigger value to me than the old ones. Also the three Drinks anywhere are great as well.

Could not agree with you more.....

But we are D+, and always stay in a GS....and we were never "In it" for the perks....so I don't notice them all that much.

That is not the reason we take our annual cruise vacation.....

I'll go out on a limb and say the whole C&A Tier system should be scrapped....implement something else....but whether you're Gold or D+...who cares? And what are you getting for that large investment to get there....they should give you a free cruise...or points towards one.

Priority boarding...seems like everybody has it now? I prefer it to be strictly for Suite Guests and D+....

Only perk we enjoy is reserved seating area at the pool and theater..but that's about it...and on some ships it's good and others it's non-existent.

We are pretty close to making Diamond Plus, but we decided that we were not going to be held captive by a loyalty program, so we have sailed HAL recently and are planning to sail Princess again. Also, we like Celebrity and longer cruises, so it will take us years to get to Diamond Plus where if we sailed exclusively with Royal, we would have been Diamond Plus last year....

We were disappointed in some of the changes, but then we love the change where you can go to the Crown & Anchor Diamond lounge for a drink and also have on your sea pass 3 drinks loaded each night and thus not be restricted to just the lounge.

We now focus on other aspects of the cruise and the benefits are a plus if we use them. We did not even use internet last cruise other than to book our return flight check-in for boarding passes.

There used to be a welcome aboard platter waiting in the stateroom with wine and assorted food items. Waiting for us this time was a small bag of cookies and miniature novelty bottle..

On your last cruise a d+ member must have canceled last minute. We got upgraded at the pier and we had his chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting for us. We got those two more times that week

I am in complete agreement with your observations. Stand alone, these perks don't seem like much especially if you have not earned them with your loyalty or paid for them with your cabin category, but the cumulative effect of many, many cuts is disappointing.

 

RCL is devaluing the experience to appeal to people who expect, and are satisfied, with less in order to maintain a low price. Containing cost and keeping prices in control is a worthy objective, but if you have earned or paid for the perks, reducing them is frustrating.

 

So far, Celebrity and HAL have found a way to provide very nice benefits for loyal passengers and suite guests and keep prices reasonably competitive for a good quality experience.

Of course just when I make platinum :( I have been looking around and see other lines having similar issues. I am not loyal to any line but have been building my points to get the extra benefits and now they are going down hill so I will now choose my cruises according to price and itinerary. What I don't get is why can Celebrity keep loyal to their customers but RCCL won't? Aren't they owned by the same company? And why would I pay Celebrity pricing on an RCCI cruise when RCCI cruises don't even compare in quality?

No Erosion in perks for me. Actually I like the new Internet perks much much better and it´s a way bigger value to me than the old ones. Also the three Drinks anywhere are great as well.

I tend to agree with you. I rather like the new internet policy. Getting 24 hrs in a row gives me enough time to get done what I have to accomplish. I usually save it for near the end of the cruise so I can clean up my e-mail and get the airline check in done. Under the old way it seemed like most of my time was used up with bad connections and slow speeds.

I really like the three drink vouchers. Our last cruise on Indy was the first one where we had this. It was so nice to be able to get a drink anywhere we wanted to be and not be confined to a crowded lounge. In my mind this is a much better perk than candy on my pillow or a free visit to Johnny Rocket's.

The DL on Indy was very nice for having a light breakfast, the coffee machine was always available. Ice show tickets were painless to pick up in there. The outdoor seating area is in a very nice location with good ocean views. It is a nice location to hang out for awhile if you want a quiet place just as long as you avoid it during happy hour.

The priority boarding line greatly shortened our check-in process at pier 29 in Port Everglades.

As far as "platers" of stuff to eat being placed in the cabin, I guess it is a "nice touch" but with all that I eat around the ship the last thing I really need to to walk into our cabin and find more stuff to eat. I have never had to ask for a robe. It has always been in the cabin. But if I had to ask I wouldn't find it to be an imposition. They are not asking me to go down to the linen room and pick it up myself.

I understand that different things are important to different people. But I feel the perks that are important to me have some real value. I don't need "nice touches". Even though some of the stuff RCI does sometimes makes me scratch my head, the bottom line is I still very much like the product and the ships. I guess that is why I continue to book my vacations with them.

Of course just when I make platinum :( I have been looking around and see other lines having similar issues. I am not loyal to any line but have been building my points to get the extra benefits and now they are going down hill so I will now choose my cruises according to price and itinerary. What I don't get is why can Celebrity keep loyal to their customers but RCCL won't? Aren't they owned by the same company? And why would I pay Celebrity pricing on an RCCI cruise when RCCI cruises don't even compare in quality?

Says who? It all depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. We have sailed both lines. I prefer RCI. It is a better fit for what we enjoy on a ship.

Just returned from a 7 nighter on the Navigator and would like to share a few observations and perhaps get some feedback. It'd been 1 1/2 years since our last trip - this being partly due to what we feel has become a less enjoyable vacation experience with RCI over time. I'm sure that many of you will consider these to be trivial peeves and in a way they are - however, once you've become accustomed to certain perks, their absence tends to become more conspicuous.

Peeves:

Port's priority embarkation line was longer than the regular lines (possibly due to guests heeding RCI's request for staggered check in times) - might as well get in the shorter ones.

There used to be a welcome aboard platter waiting in the stateroom with wine and assorted food items. Waiting for us this time was a small bag of cookies and miniature novelty bottle.

Other D+ perks (ie. robes) had to be asked for rather than provided.

Diamond breakfast area gone.

Internet use - 2 free days sounds good until you realize that they need to be used in 24 hr. blocks whether you need that much continuous time or not. After those 2 days, it's pay time. With the old coupon books (which were still in use on our previous trip), you were given 45 minutes which could be used bit by bit as needed until it was gone.

We would be charged each time for all the D+ perks used (ie. internet, washday) that had previously been covered by coupons. The codes are supposedly programmed into the Seapass card, but it didn't work for us. I needed to go to the Loyalty Ambassador each time to clear it up, with the final charge coming too late to deal with.

Platinum/ Diamond event gone.

1 complimentary Johnny Rockets visit gone.

Perks:

LA did a great job of fixing all these issues.

Much better variety of beverages in Diamond & Concierge lounges.

 

All said, it is my feeling that RCI's obsession with the bottom line has become much too obvious. We have found other vacation spots that offer all of these perks and then some to even first time guests, making this somewhat lame carrot that RCI dangles in front of their repeat customer's noses look rather pathetic. We're wondering what others feel about their D+ experience: perhaps this is unique to this ship - we'd never been on it before.

Says who? It all depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. We have sailed both lines. I prefer RCI. It is a better fit for what we enjoy on a ship.

My boyfriend and I are those type that talk with the person/persons sitting next to you on the tour bus etc. I can't even tell you how many people we have spoken with in ports where there was a Celebrity ship and the RCCI ship in it that said they made the switch and don't even look back for a second. If just one couple would have said it then yes, I would chalk it up to personal preference but I have been hearing it on different cruises for the past few years.

I have often thought that our friends over the Pond get much better deals than we do. This has also been commented on over time. Now looking back I see all the problems this has bought with it. More Cruise Ports, more Sailings, more incentives, and way better prices than us Brits could ever wish for, yes add ons make price variations.

Now it has come to the fore front, that for all your benefits and ease of hopping on and off Ships, you feel your are being treated worse. Its just not true there are so many over the Pond with amazing Cruise points, had amazing Cruises that you are now bursting at the seams.

When we Sailed on the Oasis Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Members out numbered Cruisers from this side of the Pond, Diamond Lounges just are not big enough so now they resort to offering allotted free drinks per day.

I wonder what the percentage of American Cruisers fit into this category compared to us Brits.

Enjoy your Cruising, its not there forever.

Liberty experience:

Priority embarkation line -our check in was bad. Asked for D+ line. Sent us to regular line. Couldn't find our cards -they were on other side of warehouse in the priority check-in bins. Took the time to add a credit card. Never appeared onboard, had to wait at GS, again.

Waiting for us this time was a small bag of cookies and miniature novelty bottle -we had almonds and cookies in a simple bag. Didn't miss the extra packaging of the old offering. Mini wine bottle was a chardonnay 'bottled exclusively for RC". It wasn't good. Large bottle D+ amenity delivered correctly to each cabin.

Robes -steward brought them to our rooms.

D breakfast -forgot to check

Internet -loved it. Our coupon was good for two 24 hour periods, each D+. (our D member had one 24 hour period) You can actually log in anytime you want, and then you are good to go for 24 hours. So start at 10am one day and you get to go to 10am the next day. Then you can start your other 24 hours anytime you want. With 2 D+ in the room, you can be on the internet for a good long time. It was great not having to keep checking your minutes. We were all able to check our emails and we didn't even use all the coupons in our D+ party of 4.

Free laundry bag -we had to ask the steward for the bag, but it was done with no problems.

P/D event -There was a Top Tier Event on our Day 3.

JR -that has been gone for a long time. I do miss it a bit.

Beverages -loved this too. We would go to D lounge for happy hour, then we still had 3 coupons left to use for the night. My sons really liked the freedom of getting their drinks out of the lounge. And we all used the cappucino machine throughout our cruise.

It's too bad your coupons did not work for you as they should have. I had some questions which were answered by our D concierge, Anis (Liberty) and everything worked well.

We also got a free C&A towel in one cabin as a "C&A Giveaway" gift. It is very nice.

Have to say that I rated C&A benefits highest on my survey. Between the coupons and our concierge, we felt valued as D+.