Midwesterner4Water
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Posts posted by Midwesterner4Water
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Which ship were you on out of curiosity. We are leaving the 24th on the empress with a casino comped room. Says complimentary drinks while gaming and all we had to pay was the fees. Do you actually have to be playing for free drinks or can we sit at the bar in the casino as well?
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Anthem OTS
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We just returned on a sailing on RCCL. The long rumored changes to Club Royale have come and they have tightened up considerably.
Changes to the club as seen on our recent sailing, are noted below.
-No onboard rebates
-Casino host has no ability to comp specialty dinners. None, it's been taken away from them. Pay for the dinners on your account, and you have to wait until the end of your cruise and then they decide if they will comp you based on your play at the very end.
-We were told that the threshold for a $300 folio credit was an expected loss of $6,000, after which they would give you 5% of expected loss, this was a 5 night cruise. Up until that point, $0 is comped.
-According to Club Royale, future cruises do not get a set discount, i.e. $750 off. You must call and ask about a specific sailing to find out, and the discount will be based on availability.
--To be fair, all drinks in Casino were comped.
What this amounts to, $5,000 expected loss = nothing more than drinks and the casino points. If you pass $6,000 in expected loss, you can add $300 (5%) to that. There is future cruise credit, which is an unknown.
Maybe the previous program was too generous, though there was rarely a sailing when I didn't cover, and then some, the comped cost of the room. In my opinion this has swung too far.
Will I still cruise, of course!
Will I still play in the casino, where the odds aren't great to begin with, that remains to be seen.
Has anyone else had experience with the new Club Royale (or Celebrity Blue Chip) changes?
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We were on the cruise. Many of us booked the cruise in April of 2013. At that time, there was no mention of what was being done in Drydock other than a mechanical checkup and a facelift for carpeting, etc. We had NO IDEA of the extent of the construction when we booked. Heck, I don't even know if RC knew how much they were going to do to the ship, else they would have scheduled more than two weeks to complete it.
This cruise was not a tragedy. However, I'm D+ and it was my first transatlantic. The staff appeared to have no leadership to get additional activities scheduled, offered free movies, and they could have made us comfortable the almost four hours we stood in the promenade and in lines onshore to debark. We were not offered water, soda or anything and our Seapasses didn't work. I asked some of the RC staffers to get us water or drinks to be told that they couldn't but none bothered to ask a supervisor.
The lack of care and communication were the biggest issues. We had a good time onboard with friends and out CC group had lots of functions. Was not a tragedy at sea, but many things transpired that are just not the norm for RC.
We had no problem getting a drink. The solarium bar was pretty empty and we had drinks loaded on our Seapasses.
Those who are critical of us don't seem to be those who sailed with us. The unregulated crowd pushing at the doors of Southampton terminal was unlike anything I had seen. It was dangerous.
On other cruises, customs agents board the ship and cruisers file through the dining room showing their documents. I have no clue why that was not done in UK.
Finally, Oasis-class ships should never be deployed in cold weather environments. This ship isn't built for that, but it's wonderful in the caribbean.
I will take the 20% offered. However, I think we are very entitled to it. Not my worst cruise ever, and not tragic. Some of it was just great. I'll close with a quote from Lincoln: most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be. There are always some people who choose to focus on being unhappy. If this sailing was the worst tragedy someone has in their life, they don't know it but THEY ARE BLESSED!
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Well said Karen,
My partner and I cruise regularly; we also both have roles in our 9-5 jobs that require anticipating and planning for contingencies.
The boarding in Southampton was indeed downright dangerous over 1000 people pushing to one door...and this in the UK, one of the most polite places on the planet! The port staff is contracted by the cruise line. Without the cruise lines there is no cruise terminal, RCCL should take ownership and responsibility for utilizing a terminal that could not handle the crowd. End of story.
What is most bothersome is that this dangerous situation could have been easily handled with a single person seeing that the customs process would delay boarding, and a few dozen yards of movable barriers, the kind right inside the doors of the terminal, or I'm sure in a storage cabinet on the ship, being placed outside. A single queue, even one that was 7-8 feet wide, running in a long line down the side of the terminal would have brought order and fairness to the situation.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and this one was terrible. RCCL knows the value of a first impression, that's why they spent millions on a custom terminal in Fort Lauderdale.
No one planned for what if embarkation was delayed? When the course was altered due to weather, no one thought, should we have more trivia in more bars, or movies, or (Cue the $$$, Bingo). The ships and activities operated on a Caribbean schedule, and as a result indoor activities were under planned, again, with no backup planning.
On top of this was the failure of the IT systems for all who boarded in Southampton.
A ship this size staying manageable depends on delicate crowd management and dispersing passengers around the ship. A small bit of backup planning goes a long way, there was little to no thought of, or mobilization of, alternate plans when we took a northerly course.
Moral of the story, have a backup plan.
...and yes, my feeling is that an unsolicited credit of 20% of the base fare paid is fair.
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Thanks for the pics. Casino wasn't busy on TA, I did see that, but it was just another closed pit. Didn't strike me as anything out of the ordinary.
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We were in the Oasis TA Westbound after dry dock, we are Club Royale members and met the host, no mention of any VIP area or changes. There didn't appear to be any changes.
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From the current Terms & Conditions for the OBC Rewards: "OBC is combinable with standard/full fare rates and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Reisdents, Military, police/fire).
OBC is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, weekly Sales Events, net Rates, Crown & Anchor Discounts, Shareholder Benefits or Next Cruise offers, promotions, or benefits."
To elaborate on what utwofan noted, it does not appear that ANY benefits are combinable with anything other than a full fare. This includes of you are a member of their casino club and have any discount through them. (Club Royale) I have a sailing booked and received a modest discount through Casino Royal off the posted rate, but could not redeem MyVegas points for any rewards since I was on a discounted rate.
Additionally, MLife member perks (such as a specialty dinner if you are Gold) are also not valid if you are booked on anything other than full fare.
So all in all, it looks great in the marketing, but is essentially worthless. Save your MyVegas points for buffets and shows in Vegas.
(Your experience may vary, RCCL is notorious for every rep giving a different answer.)
Offers received from Club Royale (Royal Caribbean)
in Cruise Casinos
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Thanks for sharing.
Hubby and I will eb on SY Feb 26 to March 5, Maybe we'll run into you!