Royal Caribbean Conciege Lounge Crowding

Just back from a seven days on Freedom of Seas. It is a beautiful ship and

we loved everything about our suite experience except the Concierge Lounge

evening cocktail hours.

Every evening the lounge was crowded with Diamond+ and Pinnacle Crown

and Anchor ( most of them wear their pins) members. They gather in large

groups, rearrange the furniture and carry on in a loud and boisterous manner

from start to finish. Suite guests are frequently faced with SRO or some

make-shift seating in a corner.

Am I sailing on the wrong ship or this common on other Royal Caribbean ships?

I have seen this in the Diamond Lounges on various ships.

The "pin wearers" can be quite annoying.

They actually 'Take Over' the place and don't want 'outsiders'!

BTW; I am Diamond, and a few points from D+

won't be wearing the ribbon....you are welcome to join us.

:rolleyes:

I not only see this in the CL but the DL too...we're D+ but keep a low profile and quietly to ourselves in the lounges.

On one recent cruise we made the mistake of getting to the lounge early one night and sat in one of their seats/area...We overheard (easily) that some weren't happy.

So, we made a point of getting there early a few more nights :D.

The 'Pin Wearers' took over the central area of the CL on our Adventure Baltic cruise.

I can live with a bit of superiority if you have made D+ but it was the goading of other mainly suite guests that they were in there on the cheapest inside cabin and we'd paid for suites etc etc that irritated me.

The higher levels of C & A really seems to bring out the worst in some people....

I not only see this in the CL but the DL too...we're D+ but keep a low profile and quietly to ourselves in the lounges.

 

On one recent cruise we made the mistake of getting to the lounge early one night and sat in one of their seats/area...We overheard (easily) that some weren't happy.

 

So, we made a point of getting there early a few more nights :D.

Same here, If we were early enough I deliberately sat my family right in the middle of where our 'pin wearers' liked to sit :)

The 'Pin Wearers' took over the central area of the CL on our Adventure Baltic cruise.

 

I can live with a bit of superiority if you have made D+ but it was the goading of other mainly suite guests that they were in there on the cheapest inside cabin and we'd paid for suites etc etc that irritated me.

 

The higher levels of C & A really seems to bring out the worst in some people....

Funny, I've been on many cruises and have NEVER heard this type of conversation. I've spoken with many lovely people in both the concierge and diamond lounges and have no idea of their C&A status or their particular accommodations.

Strangely, in contrast to the original post, we went to the CL two nights on a recent Freedom cruise. The first night there was a nice size crowd, but still a few seats. The second time, we were the only people in there .

These Diamond-Pinaccle bashing posts seem to surface every few weeks or months. I don't know why.

M

Funny, I've been on many cruises and have NEVER heard this type of conversation. I've spoken with many lovely people in both the concierge and diamond lounges and have no idea of their C&A status or their particular accommodations.

 

Strangely, in contrast to the original post, we went to the CL two nights on a recent Freedom cruise. The first night there was a nice size crowd, but still a few seats. The second time, we were the only people in there .

 

These Diamond-Pinaccle bashing posts seem to surface every few weeks or months. I don't know why.

M

I'm hopefully not bashing Diamond or Pinnacle, I'm very close to reaching Diamond so I'm looking forward to joining the ranks.

Equally though just because the guests I refer to in my post were D+ I don't think it is an excuse for boorish behaviour.

In my experience in some guests, a small minority I'm sure, the higher levels of the C & A does go to people heads and it brings out the worst in them.

Since becoming Diamond and will be D+ on our upcoming cruise, we have never experienced any of the indicated behavior. Maybe we have been lucky. On our last cruise on the Allure there were Pax that hung together as a group in the D lounge, but that is to be expected especially if they know/cruise together.

The 'Pin Wearers' took over the central area of the CL on our Adventure Baltic cruise.

 

I can live with a bit of superiority if you have made D+ but it was the goading of other mainly suite guests that they were in there on the cheapest inside cabin and we'd paid for suites etc etc that irritated me.

 

The higher levels of C & A really seems to bring out the worst in some people....

I'm hopefully not bashing Diamond or Pinnacle, I'm very close to reaching Diamond so I'm looking forward to joining the ranks.

 

Equally though just because the guests I refer to in my post were D+ I don't think it is an excuse for boorish behaviour.

 

In my experience in some guests, a small minority I'm sure, the higher levels of the C & A does go to people heads and it brings out the worst in them.

From the way I read your posts, you are, indeed, bashing the "Pin Wearers" as you so dismissively call them. Boorish behavior comes in all shapes and sizes and you can find it in both first-time cruisers and top tier level cruisers. (Yes, you can even find it in Suite Guests.) Frequent cruisers are many times an outgoing group, and have made friends on past sailings. It is only natural to want to gather together and have a cocktail.

It has been my observation that if something is free (like cocktails), it will draw a crowd.

Just back from a seven days on Freedom of Seas. It is a beautiful ship and

we loved everything about our suite experience except the Concierge Lounge

evening cocktail hours.

 

Every evening the lounge was crowded with Diamond+ and Pinnacle Crown

and Anchor ( most of them wear their pins) members. They gather in large

groups, rearrange the furniture and carry on in a loud and boisterous manner

from start to finish. Suite guests are frequently faced with SRO or some

make-shift seating in a corner.

 

Am I sailing on the wrong ship or this common on other Royal Caribbean ships?

We never use the CL in the evening on Freedom. It is too small, indeed gets very noisy, and does not have a view anyway. We only use the Diamond lounge on the Viking Crown deck. On Explorer we simply sat at the VCL bar with that great sweeping view and used our drink coupons. The coupons came out as a way to alleviate the crowding.

And yes, I do wear my pin. Was told by crew members that they really enjoy seeing us

wear it as it shows we are loyal, and proud to be sailing with them.

Some suite guest just don't get it , that arn't C&A members.We enjoy going to DL/CL & meeting people.

on the new ship they have one for suite guest only. We 've never been in a suite above JS & that doesn't count. But happy & blessed to be able to cruise & meet some interesting, wonderful people

I wear my Diamond Plus pin when I remember (which is not too often) but I'll be Pinnacle next year and will wear that one. :)

I've experienced that problem with suite guest! I have seen them come in with their entire family and do the exact thing that the D+ and Pinnacle are accused of doing. They have on shorts and flip flops and bring in their children who are going up to the food and using their fingers to get food!

So... guess it depends on the crowd at the time on the ship.

I have seen this in the Diamond Lounges on various ships.

The "pin wearers" can be quite annoying.

 

They actually 'Take Over' the place and don't want 'outsiders'!

 

BTW; I am Diamond, and a few points from D+

won't be wearing the ribbon....you are welcome to join us.

 

:rolleyes:

I wonder why any D+ or P would want to go to the CL on Freedom?

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I wonder why any D+ or P would want to go to the CL on Freedom?

 

 

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We never use the CL in the evening on Freedom. It is too small, indeed gets very noisy, and does not have a view anyway. We only use the Diamond lounge on the Viking Crown deck. On Explorer we simply sat at the VCL bar with that great sweeping view and used our drink coupons. The coupons came out as a way to alleviate the crowding.

 

And yes, I do wear my pin. Was told by crew members that they really enjoy seeing us

wear it as it shows we are loyal, and proud to be sailing with them.

We only have one experience with the CL (Indy) and found this observation to be true: it was very small, very crowded and dark. Yes there were a lot of folks from the upper echelons of C&A in attendance but still, for a ship that size, the CL was far too small. :(

Two years ago we sailed in a GS on the Jewel and are doing so again this January. We are just short of Diamond so we are not novice cruisers. It seemed, based on our conversations with those in the CL, that the bulk of the people in the CL were D+ & Pinnacle members. We met and talked to several different people throughout the cruise all of whom were very nice. That is not to say that there were not the groups of people who were very much into their "status". They did seem, however, to mostly congregate among themselves so we never really talked to them. This, of course, is a very small sample so your mileage may vary.

I will NOT be wearing a Pinnacle pin if I ever make it to that point. Seems pretentious to me.

I just got off Liberty and the DL was great. Some nights there were no seats so I'd just grab my snack and head back to the Viking Crown. Most nights there was plenty of seating and lively atmosphere.

I wonder why any D+ or P would want to go to the CL on Freedom?

They might like the Concierge in the CL better.

They might like the Concierge in the CL better.

Ahh..that's true. ;)

He is one of the best! I just go in to see him during the day just to be a pest. :p

Always a "hot button" topic, but I think the CL should be for suite guests only - as it was originally intended. :eek: :D

Dan.

Always a "hot button" topic, but I think the CL should be for suite guests only - as it was originally intended. :eek: :D

 

Dan.

Actually, it wasn't "originally intended" for suite guests only. It was open to Diamond and suite guests when the CLs debuted. This was before the Diamond Plus category was split off from Diamond, and CL access was deleted from Diamond benefits.

While suite guests may have paid a premium over some D+ guests, IMO D+ guests have "earned" their way into the CL through the many cruises and $$$ spend over time with RC. As for "pin wearers"...why not wear the pin? They have earned it.

We're suite cruisers and have never met any not-so-nice Pinnacles and D+. They've always been welcoming and friendly. I agree with a few that the CL on the Freedom Class is too small but it's first come first served. If it's full we just move on. If it's not, we don't plant our asses there for the full three and a half hours. :D

Am I sailing on the wrong ship or this common on other Royal Caribbean ships?

Oasis is currently the first ship that is re-vamping the lounges and there will be no more CL soon. Just a suite/pinnacle lounge and diamond lounge for D and D+. This has been reported here, and often from those just off the ship.

I'll bet this is the future for some other ships too. Especially since the 3 drink voucher came available, so for now-you might want to look at sailings on Oasis after February. [at least I think that's when it officially closes]

I have come across the attitude you speak of but not often. There is an overcrowding issue for sure on some ships. I believe this is a work in progress for Royal that they are trying to improve on so the future is probably going to be very different for what lounges actually are and offer.

Actually, it wasn't "originally intended" for suite guests only. It was open to Diamond and suite guests when the CLs debuted. This was before the Diamond Plus category was split off from Diamond, and CL access was deleted from Diamond benefits.

.

I'm not quite sure that is correct and I'm sure those cruisers who have been traveling way longer then me will jump in on that statement.