Elite...no Social hour, just drink vouchers

[TourDeCruise]

We're just off Millenium where we had vouchers. The server told us that vouchers will be fleetwide very soon. I've always had my suspicions that this would happen so that the lounge could then be for elite+ and zenith

 

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That is good news for us (probably not for everyone though) providing Elite+ members also get vouchers too or at least some better wines/drinks. Hopefully with a fleet-wide voucher system, Elite/Elite+ members would be able to choose from the Classic Drink package versus the limited Elite drink menu and be able to carry wine to dinner if desired.

 

When you were on the Millennium, did the server say if the vouchers would be for Elite and Elite+? Or only Elite but not Elite+. Zenith members get the drink package, so if Elite+ members don't get vouchers, hopefully they will be able to choose from the Classic Beverage package menu or at least get some better wines/drinks. It would be nice to go to a less crowded Elite+/Zenith lounge, but we like to carry a glass of wine to dinner which the current voucher system, but not the Elite lounge, allows.

 

When we return from our Reflection TA in mid-May, I will report on our voucher system, but as ghstudio suggested, how it is done on the various ships and sailings is not consistently applied.

 

Are they paper vouchers and are there cabin# or names on them?

 

Yes, they are currently paper vouchers and the names are on the vouchers along with the date (3 vouchers per person/per day with the specific date) and I think the cabin number too. Until the servers got to know us, they asked for our sea pass card to compare against the vouchers. They were good from 5-7pm each evening, except for embarkation day and for the evening of the Senior Officers' Party. At least that is the way it was on the Eclipse and Century when we got vouchers. I anticipate that in the future if the voucher system is implemented fleet wide, that the vouchers would be paperless (along with other coupons) and coded to your sea pass card.

 

Kathy

Edited April 21, 2014 by TourDeCruise
Answer about paper vouchers

[GigemAggies]

Has anyone pointed out that the vouchers are only valid from 5 to 7 pm. So for those people who think their 123 Go package is wasted, think again.

[npb]

This is disappointing news that they only allow you to select from a limited list of drinks with the Elite vouchers. We'll be on Summit in June, it's our first cruise as Elite and we did not get the drink package under 123 (I took the OBC) since I figured that the 3 vouchers would be more than enough, but my wife and I both enjoy frozen drinks like Coco Loco or Strawberry Daiquiris. The Summit Bermuda cruises haven't started yet, so I'll have to see what people report when they get back.

 

Frozen drinks have never been available at elite events.

[GigemAggies]

Has anyone pointed out that the vouchers are only valid from 5 to 7 pm?. So for those people who think their 123 Go package is wasted, it's not.

[MisterBill99]

Has anyone pointed out that the vouchers are only valid from 5 to 7 pm?. So for those people who think their 123 Go package is wasted, it's not.

I know it's 5-7 (and we're eating at 6, so it's really 5-6) only. But my wife and I rarely drink on a cruise, although we would a bit if it were free. The 123 drink package isn't really free because I was able to get $200 OBC instead of taking it. I'll have to post in some of the May Summit Bermuda roll call threads and see what people report is being done on those cruises.

Edited April 21, 2014 by MisterBill99

[CruisingChick]

They were good from 5-7pm each evening, except for embarkation day and for the evening of the Senior Officers' Party. At least that is the way it was on the Eclipse and Century when we got vouchers. I anticipate that in the future if the voucher system is implemented fleet wide, that the vouchers would be paperless (along with other coupons) and coded to your sea pass card.

 

Kathy

 

With all the complaints about Celebrity becoming more like Royal Caribbean, here's one place where I wish they would. The Diamond Event on RCL ships is held from 5-8:30 pm and it's every evening - even embarkation day and also when they have their past passenger event.

 

One of the pluses from our recent Explorer cruise in March.

[jagoffee]

We're just off Millenium where we had vouchers. The server told us that vouchers will be fleetwide very soon. I've always had my suspicions that this would happen so that the lounge could then be for elite+ and zenith

 

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No way IMO. I cannot even imagine that Celebrity would remove the benefit of the VIP lounge for Zenith members. I believe they already receive a free drink package.

 

I would think that the voucher system is more expensive than the cocktail party since more people participate. Therefore the conversion to vouchers is a cost increase. It might make more sense for Celebrity to vary the voucher options for Elite+. Probably more about a cost increase avoidance than a cost reduction.

 

Perhaps a more inclusive drink policy is being planned?

[upwarduk]

I know it's 5-7 (and we're eating at 6, so it's really 5-6) only. But my wife and I rarely drink on a cruise, although we would a bit if it were free. The 123 drink package isn't really free because I was able to get $200 OBC instead of taking it. I'll have to post in some of the May Summit Bermuda roll call threads and see what people report is being done on those cruises.

 

The Classic beverage package in valued at more than $200( I suppose depending on the length of the cruise) The Celebrity web site quotes $56.35 per day. I gave up $150 OBC for it.

Edited April 21, 2014 by upwarduk

[MisterBill99]

The Classic beverage package in valued at more than $200( I suppose depending on the length of the cruise) I saw $475, but that was for 14 nights and I gave up $150 OBC for it.

I know what the price of the beverage package is (~$40 per day) and that the cost is more than the OBC. The question is, what is it worth to me. For me, on a 7 night cruise, I decided that $200 OBC was worth more.

[ghstudio]

With all the complaints about Celebrity becoming more like Royal Caribbean, here's one place where I wish they would. The Diamond Event on RCL ships is held from 5-8:30 pm and it's every evening - even embarkation day and also when they have their past passenger event.

 

One of the pluses from our recent Explorer cruise in March.

 

No, you probably don't want them to be the same...RCL only gives you a discount on drinks...celebrity gives them to you for nothing during the event.

 

It's unlikely that celebrity will move to a discount vs a free plan....if they wanted to do that change, they would have announced in concurrently with the recent change in levels. They could conceivably add benefits to elite plus, but I don't think they will take away anything.

[CruisingChick]

No, you probably don't want them to be the same...RCL only gives you a discount on drinks...celebrity gives them to you for nothing during the event.

 

Not on our recent Explorer cruise. We got 3 free drinks per day from 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM loaded on our SeaPass Card (not any drink but from a select menu) that we could redeem at ANY VENUE, plus at The Mahjarrat Lounge we could get free wine, champagne and soda from 5-8:30 PM or use one of our drink vouchers. We thought it was great.

[ghstudio]

Not on our recent Explorer cruise. We got 3 free drinks per day from 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM loaded on our SeaPass Card (not any drink but from a select menu) that we could redeem at ANY VENUE, plus at The Mahjarrat Lounge we could get free wine, champagne and soda from 5-8:30 PM or use one of our drink vouchers. We thought it was great.

 

That does sound like a better program...any venue would include in the dining rooms as well another plus. OK...I'm with you, that would be a good change :)

[Starry Eyes]

No, you probably don't want them to be the same...RCL only gives you a discount on drinks...celebrity gives them to you for nothing during the event.

 

It's unlikely that celebrity will move to a discount vs a free plan....if they wanted to do that change, they would have announced in concurrently with the recent change in levels. They could conceivably add benefits to elite plus, but I don't think they will take away anything.

When discussing Royal Caribbean, one must be careful to distingish among ships.

 

Ships with a Diamond lounge (a higher and higher % of the fleet as lounges are added during drydocks) offer a variety of free well drinks and mixers as well as free soda, house wine, and sparkling wine in the D lounge (and/or an overflow lounge). Vouchers on such ships have similar or a few more choices.

 

Ships without a Diamond Lounge (and on a voucher-less sailing), offer Diamond members free soda, house wine, and sparkling wine at the "Diamond event" each evening. Other drinks are discounted at the event.

 

When vouchers are offered on ships without a Diamond lounge, reports are that the list of options expands, similar ro ships with a DL. Vouchers trials are relatively new thing on Royal Caribbean, so voucher policies may vary or evolve.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Starry Eyes

[TourDeCruise]

No way IMO. I cannot even imagine that Celebrity would remove the benefit of the VIP lounge for Zenith members. I believe they already receive a free drink package.

 

I would think that the voucher system is more expensive than the cocktail party since more people participate. Therefore the conversion to vouchers is a cost increase. It might make more sense for Celebrity to vary the voucher options for Elite+. Probably more about a cost increase avoidance than a cost reduction.

 

Perhaps a more inclusive drink policy is being planned?

 

No, it wouldn't make good business sense to downgrade a Zenith benefit so they have to hang out with us Elite+ members! lol. Or confuse matters where Zenith members get one benefit and Elite+ members get a reduced benefit while socializing in the same lounge. However, currently some of the Zenith members elect to get their better drink at Michael's Club or elsewhere and then come to the Elite lounge where they have friends they want to see.

 

What did you mean or have in mind about "It might make more sense for Celebrity to vary the voucher options for Elite+"?

 

Not on our recent Explorer cruise. We got 3 free drinks per day from 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM loaded on our SeaPass Card (not any drink but from a select menu) that we could redeem at ANY VENUE, plus at The Mahjarrat Lounge we could get free wine, champagne and soda from 5-8:30 PM or use one of our drink vouchers. We thought it was great.

 

That would be nice - I like the longer hours as we could return to visit with friends whom we might have missed earlier because we went to dinner early. We have a Serenade of the Seas cruise booked for next year and our friends on that cruise are all Diamond/Diamond+. Something to keep in mind if the longer hours continue.

 

Kathy

[If only]

Maybe I will never get to attend an event in the lounge then, we have had vouchers since we have been Elite!

 

On our March cruise on the Eclipse we had the voucher's but they still had the lounge for the Elite & Elite+. We still went to Sky lounge & had hors d'oeuvres with our drinks & we just handed the server a voucher. Exactly the same as before only with vouchers.

[jagoffee]

No, it wouldn't make good business sense to downgrade a Zenith benefit so they have to hang out with us Elite+ members! lol. Or confuse matters where Zenith members get one benefit and Elite+ members get a reduced benefit while socializing in the same lounge. However, currently some of the Zenith members elect to get their better drink at Michael's Club or elsewhere and then come to the Elite lounge where they have friends they want to see.

 

What did you mean or have in mind about "It might make more sense for Celebrity to vary the voucher options for Elite+"?

 

I was just speculating that Celebrity might make the Elite+ coupons more valuable. For instance the Elite coupons might be good for an item on the current drink list or up to $8 (Classic) and the Elite+coupons might be good for all drinks up to $13 (premium).

 

In the meantime I will continue to be pleased and get the free drink package whenever I can. On my next TA (no drink package) I will partake of the benefit.

[ghstudio]

I was just speculating that Celebrity might make the Elite+ coupons more valuable. For instance the Elite coupons might be good for an item on the current drink list or up to $8 (Classic) and the Elite+coupons might be good for all drinks up to $13 (premium).

 

In the meantime I will continue to be pleased and get the free drink package whenever I can. On my next TA (no drink package) I will partake of the benefit.

 

That's actually a brilliant idea...and easy to implement. (in the interest of honesty though, we're elite + so perhaps there's a bias).

[deise17311]

With the drink coupons, can you use them anytime? In dining room? Or only during certain hours? Thanks!!

 

 

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[bigbenboys]

With the drink coupons, can you use them anytime? In dining room? Or only during certain hours? Thanks!!

 

 

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No, No, Yes and only at certain bars. Start time is 5pm to ? Richard

[warmwinds]

When we would go buy our own drinks in a lounge before dinner, and we weren't finished at the dinner bell, we would often carry them to the dining room. They would meet us at the door with a tray (ever notice most of the waiters hanging around to escort people have trays?) so we would be more comfortable getting to our table.

 

I realize you were not supposed to take them out of the elite lounge regular event (and we never did that), but I'm not sure why you can't carry an elite voucher-gotten drink out of one of the approved lounges (if your cruise has that, not the elite gathering).

 

Maybe this has been asked and answered before, so please indulge me, I've been away and the elite threads are sooo long. Thank you.

[ghstudio]

When we would go buy our own drinks in a lounge before dinner, and we weren't finished at the dinner bell, we would often carry them to the dining room. They would meet us at the door with a tray (ever notice most of the waiters hanging around to escort people have trays?) so we would be more comfortable getting to our table.

 

I realize you were not supposed to take them out of the elite lounge regular event (and we never did that), but I'm not sure why you can't carry an elite voucher-gotten drink out of one of the approved lounges (if your cruise has that, not the elite gathering).

 

Maybe this has been asked and answered before, so please indulge me, I've been away and the elite threads are sooo long. Thank you.

 

If your cruise uses coupons, you will have no problem taking a glass of wine from the bar into the dining room. We did that almost every night on our ta that used vouchers.

[warmwinds]

Thanks.

[TourDeCruise]

With the drink coupons, can you use them anytime? In dining room? Or only during certain hours? Thanks!!

 

 

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No, No, Yes and only at certain bars. Start time is 5pm to ? Richard

 

5pm to 7pm, usually in all lounges except Martini Bar, Molecular Bar, Michael's Club, speciality restaurants, and the main dining room.

[MAHA]

Why is it that the drinks are only from 5-7 PM when late seating dinner isn't until 8:30 pM? We like to have some wine before dinner, but not as early as the times listed. What is there to do after 7 PM until dinner? On Royal, we are Diamond and will get Elite benefits on Celebrity. WE usually go to the Diamons lounge an hour before dinner for a few glasses of wine before dinner.

Wish they would change the times.

[ECCruise]

Why is it that the drinks are only from 5-7 PM when late seating dinner isn't until 8:30 pM? We like to have some wine before dinner, but not as early as the times listed. What is there to do after 7 PM until dinner? On Royal, we are Diamond and will get Elite benefits on Celebrity. WE usually go to the Diamons lounge an hour before dinner for a few glasses of wine before dinner.

Wish they would change the times.

 

Its better than it used to be. When introduced, the Elite Benefits ended at 6PM. All in all, we like it as-is, but we always do Select dining.