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3 hours ago, Kiki and The Noush said:

Just a thought - if you select traditional dining at the early time and don't show up, can't you just get in the MTD line when you want to?  I know someone will say that isn't fair because they are holding your table, but you could just pop into the MDR shortly after you board and release the table.  Just an idea.

No, you cannot. Either fixed seating or MTD. You cannot switch from one or the other as you please but you can eat in the buffet whenever you want. 
 

What I am unable to understand is how someone can endure service that is so bad that they can justify removing tips without making any effort to fix the issue. Poor waitstaff? Talk to the head waiter (that’s their job). I’ve done it and gotten good results. Unhappy with the room steward? Talk with the head of housekeeping. To just remove everyone’s tips is just looking for an excuse to be cheap IMHO. 

3 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

And what would be wrong with this?

Aside from the fact that you are asked to not leave anything on the balcony, if a rainstorm hits the bedding would be a mess. 

13 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

We were Platinum or Emerald (can't remember which) when we sailed Celebrity in 2017.  We were Select back then.  Since 2017 we became Diamond on Royal.  We were automatically upgraded to Elite on Celebrity.

 

Having said that, Celebrity has pretty poor perks for Elite compared to Diamond (and above) for Royal.  The happy hour is right overtop of dinner (unless you eat late).  You can't order elite drinks from the MDR, so if you want one you need to leave your table, exit the dining room, and find a bar.  The laundry can be nice but we've never used it on Royal or Celebrity.

 

Maybe some of the perks will be of some meaningful benefit to you, but it's almost useless to us.

 

The 4 drink vouchers and the 24 hours of wifi are far above any of the Elite benefits on Celebrity

I agree. Will be sailing X for the first time in many years soon and I was very disappointed in the Elite perks. We are doing early dining so would need to go find a bar to grab a drink and carry it to the dining room. Never used the laundry service on any cruise, never even used the laundry room on lines that have them. 
 

We had  cruised a couple of times on X but as soon as we turned Diamond received an email welcoming us as Elite, so they knew. 

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

Are they on the same cruise ship, one floor away?

 

I’ll ask what they have in Luminae.  Husband wants to go to Tuscan once.  I don’t think it’s worth $55 a person.

So your point is that you would like to have the food without having to pay for it? Good luck with that. 

4 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Your free bag of laundry?

Been on many cruises with the longest being two weeks and never felt the need to have laundry done. Others may appreciate it but it’s a wasted perk to me. 

13 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

The last I knew cabin mates of Elites were allowed to attend Elite events e.g. The Breakfast. They do not get benefits like a bag of laundry, internet discount, etc.

Good to know. I’ll check into that. 

18 minutes ago, hcat said:

That's a shame.  There are many useful benefits besides  the cocktails. Check the list and Cap Club paperwork you receive in your cabin.

 

Can't figure out,  if  Royal perks are much  better, what brings so many Royal Diamonds cossing over to X?

 

Many of the Elite events are very crowded.. among participants are Royal Diamond guests..

I’m at an age where I have no interest interest in all of the bells and whistles that RCI has to offer (my rock climbing, flowrider, etc., days are long past), so I do like the X product. Since my husband has passed I will be  cruising with a friend who doesn’t have status this time so I probably won’t be attending the special breakfast or the other events but we’ll see. 

On 3/31/2024 at 10:39 AM, Kellie in Texas said:

We were on a cruise pre-Covid and my husband saw a kid who was 7-8 years old putting the ice cream directly into his hand. Husband said "Hey, don't do that." Of course, the parents were nowhere to be seen. 

I witnessed this as well except that there were three or four of them. Never a parent in sight. 

I remember once leaving Bermuda (I think on Explorer). Had returned to the ship, showered and was sitting on the balcony reading as the ship set off when I heard screaming and suddenly the ship started backing up. I looked out and saw two young girls carrying shopping bags and running towards the ship. The ship actually backed up to collect them. Everyone was cheering them on. I’m guessing that they had hysterical parents on the ship. This was the only time I have experienced a ship backing up like this. I wondered if the parents were hit with a fine. 

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

Aren't those frozen? That could present a problem.

Will definitely be a problem. I had a friend in the hospital last year who asked me to bring her a pb&j sandwich. While I had the pb and j, I don’t keep bread in the house and didn’t want to buy a whole loaf so got her Uncrustables which was fine except they had to be consumed by the next day. 

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

Elite breakfast also includes mimosas, sparkling wine (champage) and bloody Mary's.

During 5 to 7 pm you can pick up enough free water and sodas to get you through the next 24 hours.

Internet minutes you can use any time any day - much more flexible than Royal's system especially on longer cruises.

One bag Laundry per person.

For me, personally, little of that works. Now that my husband has passed I’ll be cruising with a friend who does not have status so I doubt that I would be attending the breakfast alone.  I’ve been cruising long before bottled water became a “thing” so have absolutely no problem drinking the ship’s water. I don’t drink soda. I do enjoy an alcoholic drink with dinner and maybe in the casino or at a show - and I can use the four allotted drinks to “buy” my friend a drink if I want. The longest I’ve ever cruised has been two weeks but I’ve never felt the need to have my clothes boiled on the ship. On this particular cruise internet is included so being able to split the hours might be useful. 

1 minute ago, MCC retired said:

Yes , Early Elite Dinners are at a disadvantage with the 5-7pm free drinks ☹️

RCI Drink Coupons all day is a far better system for every Elite/Diamond 👍

Exactly on RCI I can have a glass of wine with dinner if I want. 

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Have a normal breakfast in the MDR / buffet and then head to the Elite Breakfast and have a cappuccino or mimosa. 

 

 

Thanks. I was referring to the 5-7 p.m., happy hour. 

4 hours ago, gold1953 said:

bring wine on board is for everyone

No drink coupons , just drinks from a limited list 5 to 7 pm most bars

All perks are listed on the website

So if you have early dinner the best you can do is grab a quick drink to go? Taking my first cruise on X and will be elite by virtue of my diamond status with RCI. So far I haven’t found anything I will be using with respect to elite benefits. 

12 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Kiddingly, I've complained on this board that in Royal's eyes a 13-year-old is considered an adult for fare purposes but does not accrue any adult benefits.  Heaven forbid if they saunter into the Solarium.🤣

Actually, they do accrue C&A points just like adults. Some areas are set aside for various age groups - I’m sure that they would have a problem if I were to saunter into the teen club to play video games. 

I assume you will hear shortly after a decision is made. Seriously, no one has a crystal ball as to how the current situation will play out and things can change one way or another. 

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That is Celebrity and not Royal where the cabin mate shares the benefits

Apparently Celebrity doesn’t do this anymore. I’m taking a Celebrity cruise for the first time in a number of years with a friend as my husband has passed away. I am elite with them by virtue of my diamond status here. They are quite clear that she cannot join me for any events. Actually, their perks are pretty pathetic compared to Royal’s. We have a drink package and WiFi with our group and I seriously don’t see any elite perks that I would use. 

1 hour ago, I Love RCI said:

If you ask the waiter to open the bottle in the restaurant, then they *may* sometimes charge the corkage fee. You can do what little britain said. We try to avoid the issue by opening the bottle ourselves in the room and then taking the bottle to dinner with us. We have not had a problem doing it that way, but YMMV. 

The corkage fee has absolutely nothing to do with who actually opens the bottle. It is something that is charged by a facility when you bring a bottle of wine that is otherwise sold by them. This is commonly misconceived. Having said that, I’ve yet to hear of anyone being charged this on a cruise. 

11 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

If there is a tender port you will get tender priority boarding. A few small discounts so there is some benefit to you being Elite but it is marginal. 

Nope, going to Bermuda. Even without a drink package, with early dining and the fact that one can only get drinks in a bar from 5-7 and not in the restaurant like with Royal, I’m still not seeing any perks with being Elite. 

I’m going on an X cruise in June which will be my first in many years. I will be Elite by virtue of my Royal status but quite honestly don’t see any benefits to this. The group I am going with includes a classic beverage and WiFi, taking early dinner so anything that takes place at 5:00 would not work. Have never used the laundry service and, frankly, wouldn’t trust having my clothes boiled. I really see no benefit in being Elite. Am I missing something?

8 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yes, excluding alcohol, Royal has two drink package options + the coffee card: 

 

- Soda package -- gives you unlimited soda served from a Freestyle machine.  Each person must buy a package.  Add 18% mandatory gratuity to the price.   A single soda onboard will cost about $3.50 + 18% mandatory gratuity.  

- Refreshment package -- soda + mocktails, smoothies, milkshakes, bottled water.  Each person must buy a package.   Add 18% mandatory gratuity to the price.  If you're purchasing individually, mocktails, smoothies and milkshakes run about $8 + 18% mandatory gratuity.  Bottled waters run about $3.  

- Coffee card -- Cruisers have reported mixed results with these cards; some bartenders take 1 punch /others take 2 punches for the same purchase.  This card is accepted at ship-based coffee spots /not Starbucks.  

 

To complicate the choices: 

 

- You're allowed to bring a 12-pack of soda (or other non-alcoholic beverage) onboard.  

- You can bring 1-2 sodas back on board after island stops.  They won't look twice at cans but will look at your screw-top bottles.  

- You can get basic coffee without cost ... hot or iced, whereas fancy coffees will cost about the same as Starbuck's or Duncan Doughnuts at home.  

- Water onboard is good /just pure as bottled water.  

- Instead of purchasing a package, some people choose to "create their own package" by figuring up what they're likely to spend on drinks and purchasing that amount in OBC (On Board Credit).  Some people find it easier to enjoy their cruise if things are all pre-paid.  

 

 

Since when does everyone have to purchase the soda package??? As far as I know, if one person purchases the alcohol package then everyone else in the cabin over 21 must also purchase it (or can call and purchase the refreshment package instead) but not everyone has to purchase the soda or refreshment packages. 

Typical ambulance chaser strategy - throw everything against the wall and hope some of it sticks. Gotta blame someone (certainly not the person who booked the excursion and jumped into the shallow water) so go for the one with the deepest pockets and you might get lucky. 

Look at it this way - if you were waiting patiently in the suite line and the person in front of you decided that it was okay to bring eight additional passengers who are not in a suite along with them to check in, how would you feel?

15 minutes ago, Minuet888 said:

I don't see this option anywhere on my cruise.  We have a few hours to kill and wouldn't mind it. Not much to do in New Jersey port from what I hear.

See post #6 - it cannot be done in the USA. 

13 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Since Elite Happy Hour is available in most bars on the ship she can be with you at those bars. Obviously she wont get free drinks but you can. That's the beauty of allowing Elite HH to be available at many bars as opposed to just one private lounge.

I am also Elite due to having Diamond status on Royal Caribbean and will be sailing with a friend who does not have status. I know that I can share my included drinks with her on Royal, but how would this work on Celebrity? Neither of us is a big drinker.