Will dl/cl lounges go away?

[CVU]

That one cruise credit got converted to 7 cruise points.

 

But we had 2 cruises of 5 days.......did they go to 7 points? We didn't nit pick over the change, it was a done deal. I think we may have had 2 Hawaii 11 nt trips? Oh well, plugging away a point at a time to get there!!

Edited July 20, 2014 by CVU

[Clarea]

But we had 2 cruises of 5 days.......did they go to 7 points? We didn't nit pick over the change, it was a done deal. I think we may have had 2 Hawaii 11 nt trips? Oh well, plugging away a point at a time to get there!!

Each old cruise credit got converted to 7 cruise points, plus some fudge factor number of points based on your total cruise credits. So if your 5 day cruises were 1 cruise credit each, then you would have received 7 cruise points for each 5 day cruise.

Edited July 20, 2014 by clarea

[dancinman66]

From aus I did it hard way as all our cruises were longer giving less conversion points

By fluke got a few d in d points but lots if cruises is how I got there

Now they brought extra points for sole occupancy

Wish I had that years ago

But good thing

Greg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Starry Eyes]

We have not cruised during double points in Dec. only taken long cruises of 7 days/nts or more or a B2B of a 5 day once or twice added on to a TA.

 

Take many cruises a year, most we try to do B2B because of the distance to fly to get to a port. Whole day of transit to get to FLL. Then hotels 2-3 nights before- depending on where we fly to. So, it is costly!!

Got our points the Hard Way!!!:)

 

Used to get 1 point for a Hawaii cruise of 11 nights! In conversion I can't remember how we fared in the end.

 

We are Reaching PC in Feb. so hopefully we have not worked hard to get there and have the benefits taken away!!!!:eek:

Been a cruise by cruise climb, some if the price was right in a JS.

So, some maybe easier if they live in Florida but others like us have had to do it the more costly way.

 

I also fly to cruise ports, and I know that no matter how one earns them, it is a lot of points to get to PC. My hat is off to all that reach it; I may or may not get there myself, but certainly it won't be soon.

 

I did not mean to imply that everybody making P soon was fortunate or prescient or point-motivated enough use past opportunities to gain more points. I only meant that some might have been able to do so. And if a substantial number had been able to do so, I wondered if perhaps there might be a bolus of such cruisers making P, after which the number might taper downward. That is just a question in my head; I have no access data to support or refute such a hypothesis. In fact, it could be that the double points for solos might actually increase the number of P's over time more than any of those past programs ever did.

 

I myself came out a little ahead in the conversion process (for me 13 fudge-factor points were enough to make up for some intermediate length cruises). And I did get to use D in D one year; schedule conflicts kept me away other years. And I have some JS/suite points. And I have a few solo points. I am in no way questioning how anybody earned their points to get to PC....all followed the program as written, so more power to them.

 

No matter how they got their points, I agree it would be a shame to see the PC members lose benefits. I hope it does not happen to you. then again, I do not wish to see substantial cuts to D or D+, though people know most every loyalty program changes a bit over time.

[cruisenfever]

But we had 2 cruises of 5 days.......did they go to 7 points? We didn't nit pick over the change, it was a done deal. I think we may have had 2 Hawaii 11 nt trips? Oh well, plugging away a point at a time to get there!!

Dayle, the old method was cruise credits.......

 

1 cruise credit for completing a cruise

1 cruise credit for cruises 12+ nights or longer (effective 1/1/2003)

1 cruise credit for booking a JS or higher (effective 1/1/2004)

 

The max number of credits for any 1 sailing was 3.

 

As Bob has said, those two 5 night cruises earned you 2 cruise credits and when converted you actually received 14 points instead of 10 points, one for each night you cruised.

 

On the other hand, your two 11 night cruises earned you 1 cruise credit each and when converted you got 14 points instead of 22 points, one for each night you cruised.

 

For your 5 day cruises you actually gained 4 points, but you lost 8 for your 11 night cruises.

Edited July 20, 2014 by cruisenfever

[travelgoddess1]

And I would like to make an additional point, as well. :) We have all cruised under the same Crown & Anchor rules -- some used them advantageously, for whatever reason, and some did not. No one got anything undeserved -- even the extra or fewer points during conversion were applied to everyone (I know, some will argue this particular point). To say we arrived at a particular point the "easy" way or the "hard" way is not relevant. It's all very subjectively applied, anyway, as to what is "easy" and what is "hard." (You don't have to repeat what was said, I read the posts.) :)

 

If it makes such a difference, we can all move to Florida and book suites with our airfare and hotel savings.:rolleyes: We choose to stay where we are, and bite the proverbial bullet.

 

(My comment was not directed to anyone specifically, however, I know the method of credits to point conversion was not popular with many.)

Edited July 20, 2014 by travelgoddess1
clarification??

[CVU]

Dayle, the old method was cruise credits.......

 

1 cruise credit for completing a cruise

1 cruise credit for cruises 12+ nights or longer (effective 1/1/2003)

1 cruise credit for booking a JS or higher (effective 1/1/2004)

 

The max number of credits for any 1 sailing was 3.

 

As Bob has said, those two 5 night cruises earned you 2 cruise credits and when converted you actually received 14 points instead of 10 points, one for each night you cruised.

 

On the other hand, your two 11 night cruises earned you 1 cruise credit each and when converted you got 14 points instead of 22 points, one for each night you cruised.

 

For your 5 day cruises you actually gained 4 points, but you lost 8 for your 11 night cruises.

Thanks Patti!

We win and we lose some. Just happy to be able to cruise!!:) Hopefully RCL doesn't upset their Loyals and we are all happy in the end of any changes.:D

[gmacruiser418]

I will apologize now for living near Port Canaveral and being able to take 3 night cruises on a regular basis. For this, I am sorry. I was born here, work here, and raised my son here. now, I am D+. I am not wealthy, nor poor. I am a middle class working person along with my DH. We started doing 7 night cruises after our son left the house and our responsibilities went away. Again, I'm sorry to have attained this level with ease.

 

But, on the other point, anyone could have taken b/b cruises 3/4 nights and earn 2 cruise points for 7 nights instead of 1.

[yogimax]

These kinds of threads can be dangerous and counterproductive!

 

They send a message to RCCL that its most loyal cruisers are expecting changes, and, in many cases, accepting them in advance.

 

I'm not! If there are changes, I fully expect to be grandfathered into the present reward system.

 

If RCCL wants to make changes for new folks, fine and good, but I for one expect that the cruise line will live up to the promises it has made to me as I have spent my money in good faith expecting the perks that have been promised!

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

These kinds of threads can be dangerous and counterproductive!

 

They send a message to RCCL that its most loyal cruisers are expecting changes, and, in many cases, accepting them in advance.

 

I'm not! If there are changes, I fully expect to be grandfathered into the present reward system.

 

If RCCL wants to make changes for new folks, fine and good, but I for one expect that the cruise line will live up to the promises it has made to me as I have spent my money in good faith expecting the perks that have been promised!

 

Had you attained Diamond status when the Diamonds were no longer allowed access to the CL in 2009? Well I had, and I do not remember being "grandfathered" in.

 

I, like you, are D+ now. They have given us the Diamond lounges, the complimentary 3 drinks a day loaded onto our sea pass card and the option to buy all you can drink packages. The D+ will lose access to the CL but will still have these other options. There will be no grandfathering.

 

The question is will the Diamonds lose access to the DL's? I do believe so and this is why they loaded the 3 complimentary drinks a day onto their sea pass cards. Will make the blow a little softer.

[rubrrick]

And I would like to make an additional point, as well. :) We have all cruised under the same Crown & Anchor rules -- some used them advantageously, for whatever reason, and some did not. No one got anything undeserved -- even the extra or fewer points during conversion were applied to everyone (I know, some will argue this particular point). To say we arrived at a particular point the "easy" way or the "hard" way is not relevant. It's all very subjectively applied, anyway, as to what is "easy" and what is "hard." (You don't have to repeat what was said, I read the posts.) :)

 

If it makes such a difference, we can all move to Florida and book suites with our airfare and hotel savings.:rolleyes: We choose to stay where we are, and bite the proverbial bullet.

 

(My comment was not directed to anyone specifically, however, I know the method of credits to point conversion was not popular with many.)

 

Karen, when the conversion came out, no one knew that Royal Caribbean would count 3/4 night cruises as 7 night cruises, or 10/11 night cruises as 7 night cruises.

 

Pete and you did not arrive where you are by taking any advantage of anything, as there was nothing known before Royal Caribbean changed the structure of going from cruises to points.

 

You have enjoyed cruising with Royal Caribbean, and have achieved a wonderful status of being among the 1% of the highest cruisers.

 

You don't need to apologize for anything. I tip my hat to the two of you. Continue to enjoy your cruises..........as age is getting to all of us!!;)

 

Rick

[LMaxwell]

This is a topic thrown around this forum recently by one or two higher profile members that when pressed for information act like they are the only ones that know the secret handshake and won't back up their claims. Until there is something concrete from the company and not unsubstantiated rumor this is a bunch of fantasy based garbage. If change comes, so be it

[rubrrick]

This is a topic thrown around this forum recently by one or two higher profile members that when pressed for information act like they are the only ones that know the secret handshake and won't back up their claims. Until there is something concrete from the company and not unsubstantiated rumor this is a bunch of fantasy based garbage. If change comes, so be it

 

Spot on with your remark!:) This subject, like others that have started as seedlings, and then somehow grown roots, based on rumors, many of which have been started by some high time cruisers, that know crew members that are sometimes guilty of starting these rumors, and I will admit, that in the past......going back a few years, I'm even guilty of posting something that was told to me....that did not pan out.

 

Today, I only post when I feel that either I can contribute something of knowledge, or acknowledge someone that I know to be truthful in their statements.

 

Rick

[dancinman66]

We can but wait and see with baited breath what the almighty are going to actually do

Time only will tell but I think the closing of the dl to d's is an option they may look at

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Starry Eyes]

On most on my sailings, the crowding seems pronounced for a relatively short time, maybe 90 minutes out of 24 hours. Why anger people by denying access to a nearly empty lounge at 10 am for fear of crowding for a short time later in the day? If they put a little thought into it, I think the company can deal with that busy time without flatly denying access to loyalty members. The vouchers alone might take care of it. If not, some smart scheduling maneuvers may handle the issue. At (or just before) the busy time, they could draw members to other venues with attractive options, while still allowing full day acces. I do not know if they'll do it, but I hope so. Carrots surely elicit less anger (and likely draw more profits) than sticks.

[yogimax]

Had you attained Diamond status when the Diamonds were no longer allowed access to the CL in 2009?

 

If you remember there was a trade off. What RCCL gave was a fleet wide nightly "Event." Ships without CL's now had a place for folks to gather and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine. At the time, there were a number of ships affected, such as Monarch and Majesty.

 

I guess my point is that threads like this do nothing to advance the ball but rather give RCCL a greater incentive to make negative changes.

[PLEIKU68]

I guess my point is that threads like this do nothing to advance the ball but rather give RCCL a greater incentive to make negative changes.

 

I completely agree with you, we are just giving RCL ammo. We need to turn this around completely, fight for longer "happy hours", say 4 pm to 10 pm. W need to be able to combine discount benefits., comp drinks in the casino, free meal in the specialty restaurants. Rise up and rebel ! :):)

[cello56]

There is SO MUCH more to the Diamond lounge then free drinks each evening. My DH and I are fairly new to cruising. We made Diamond in 3.5 years and are about 25% of the way to D+. We did NOT do this in 3 or 4 cruises as someone suggested! In fact, we will have cruise number 20 this November.

 

We love using the Diamond lounge throughout the day. Somedays we have breakfast in there. DH loves the coffee machine and makes several trips each day to use it. We often spend afternoons in the diamond lounge reading since it is quiet, and has a nice view.

 

While giving us three free drinks each evening is nice - and in fact we are thrilled for the times when we cruise with our best friends who are not Diamond - it in no way would compensate for denying us access to the Diamond Lounge.

 

We have been completely loyal to Royal. Never stepped foot on another line's ship. If they suddenly remove several of the benefits they have told us we will have by being loyal to them, then we will be very disappointed. At some point Royal is going to discover that you can't keep pulling the rug out from under people without having consequences. I would hate for them to start being known as the cruise line who reneges on their word.

[yogimax]

I guess my point is that threads like this do nothing to advance the ball but rather give RCCL a greater incentive to make negative changes.

 

I completely agree with you, we are just giving RCL ammo. We need to turn this around completely, fight for longer "happy hours", say 4 pm to 10 pm. W need to be able to combine discount benefits., comp drinks in the casino, free meal in the specialty restaurants. Rise up and rebel ! :):)

 

Yes! Well said!

 

I would like to see the three free drink coupons valid the entire day and not just from 5-8:30PM.

[Don Pedro]

If you remember there was a trade off. What RCCL gave was a fleet wide nightly "Event." Ships without CL's now had a place for folks to gather and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine. At the time, there were a number of ships affected, such as Monarch and Majesty.

 

I guess my point is that threads like this do nothing to advance the ball but rather give RCCL a greater incentive to make negative changes.

 

As I recall the diamonds were unceremoniously tossed, kicking and screaming, out of the CL and these boards erupted with posts from loyal royals who vowed to never set foot on another RCCL ship. The "event" was an afterthought to help pacify the wronged diamond members and was held on ships without a DL. Most diamonds considered this a somewhat of a victory and the mass exodus from RCCL didn't happen.

 

I think we are all concerned with what the future holds and can't help but wonder how long the free drinks will last when the chocolates, pens, slippers and other gifts have disappeared. We do know that there are more and more diamond and diamond plus cruisers and that eventually something has to give. It looks like the overflow lounges are a thing of the past and that perhaps the drink vouchers are a forethought to ease reaction to more changes.

 

Miami does a great job of keeping secrets so I guess we'll know when they decide to tell us. In the meantime it is fun to speculate.

[marci22]

Until there is something concrete from the company and not unsubstantiated rumor this is a bunch of fantasy based garbage. If change comes, so be it

 

You could say the same thing about 'what ship will replace majesty' or 'when will they start allowing shorts in the dining room'.

[LMaxwell]

You could say the same thing about 'what ship will replace majesty' or 'when will they start allowing shorts in the dining room'.

 

Not really. One is a question to spur a discussion based on logistics. Majesty's time is finite due to emissions and SOLAS regulations.

 

On the other hand you have members who WINK WINK NUDGE SECRET HANDSHAKE claim to know that the CL/DL format IS changing but when asked how they know they just play coy.

 

And I have a letter from RC regarding shorts. I will not share it on here.

[Don Pedro]

Not really. One is a question to spur a discussion based on logistics. Majesty's time is finite due to emissions and SOLAS regulations.

 

On the other hand you have members who WINK WINK NUDGE SECRET HANDSHAKE claim to know that the CL/DL format IS changing but when asked how they know they just play coy.

 

And I have a letter from RC regarding shorts. I will not share it on here.

 

Probably most of us know the CL/DL format is changing we just don't know when or how. As I said before Miami is good at secret keeping and rarely share their plans with the ship's waiters, bartenders and cabin attendants. There probably are few frequent cruises who can make good educated guesses based on some inside info but most of us are speculators.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Don Pedro

[topnole]

Let's face it, this is an issue of demographics and diamond and above growth. So many kids will be diamond and diamond plus by the time ever pay for a cruise on their own. This didn't happen 20-30 years ago or was very rare. Now it is common place as cruising is popular and more common for all income ranges. Moreover, prices for cruises are not much more than 20 years ago and the business models are now different. Rci doesn't make money off someone if they get a cheap inside cabin and don't spend a good amount on board (bar tab, casino, etc). I've met many that fit this profile only because they nearly bragged about it so I'm sure it is relatively common. Honestly, why would a company give hundreds in perks to customers they lose money off of. Totally different animal than hotels and airlines for lots if reasons. Eventually something will have to give as all the kids and young diamonds and above will be that level for decades to come. This doesn't happen for airlines, hotels, etc where it is yearly or based on what you spend (ie. new southwest air system where those that spend the most get the most points).

[akcruz]

Let's face it, this is an issue of demographics and diamond and above growth. So many kids will be diamond and diamond plus by the time ever pay for a cruise on their own. This didn't happen 20-30 years ago or was very rare. Now it is common place as cruising is popular and more common for all income ranges. Moreover, prices for cruises are not much more than 20 years ago and the business models are now different. Rci doesn't make money off someone if they get a cheap inside cabin and don't spend a good amount on board (bar tab, casino, etc). I've met many that fit this profile only because they nearly bragged about it so I'm sure it is relatively common. Honestly, why would a company give hundreds in perks to customers they lose money off of. Totally different animal than hotels and airlines for lots if reasons. Eventually something will have to give as all the kids and young diamonds and above will be that level for decades to come. This doesn't happen for airlines, hotels, etc where it is yearly or based on what you spend (ie. new southwest air system where those that spend the most get the most points).

 

I think this is the bigger issue looming in having too many Diamonds. Yes, a while back you could have taken the short 3/4 day cruises and racked up point pretty quickly, but that has been taken away.

 

Now that many are cruising, kids will be earning Diamond long before they every have to pay for a cruise on their own. My kids have yet to pay for a cruise but will become Diamond with us on their own merit. My oldest is now engaged, so as soon as she is married her husband will become Diamond (he is lowly ;) Gold now since he has been sailing with us as well), and guess what when they have kids, they will already be Diamond or higher. Not sure how to change this but I am sure they will figure something out.