First Trip as C&A Diamond

[TriCoachCruising]

We just achieved Diamond in C&A, posted today. :) DW and I are doing our first B2B in October on Allure. For the experience Diamond members, what are your recommendations for best use of the new perks, especially on B2B?

 

It will be our 8 & 9th cruise, the first week with a couple that are not Diamond, second week just DW and me.

[Clarea]

We just achieved Diamond in C&A, posted today. :) DW and I are doing our first B2B in October on Allure. For the experience Diamond members, what are your recommendations for best use of the new perks, especially on B2B?

 

It will be our 8 & 9th cruise, the first week with a couple that are not Diamond, second week just DW and me.

Go to the Diamond Lounge early. Introduce yourselves to the Diamond Concierge.

[island lady]

And there will be a printed list in your cabin as you check in that has your new coupons

loaded onto your sea pass card. Lots of nice perks there! :)

 

Enjoy, and congrats! :)

[TriCoachCruising]

Thanks for the info, we are looking forward to it. It's our 15th wedding anniversary. We are in the same grand suite for both weeks, wanted to do it right for DW.

Edited February 24, 2016 by TriCoachCruising

[Grandma Dazzles]

Even though you are on a B2B RC treats them as two completely separate cruises. You will probably have a free luncheon at a specialty restaurant on embarkation day of your second cruise. A nice perk and available to all B2B cruisers, not just diamond.

 

Your friends will not be able to participate in diamond perks with you, e .g. Diamond lounge. You will have three free drinks each loaded on your Seapass card each evening that you can use in any bar, but not in the dining room. So at least you can take advantage of that with your friends. They are available the same time as the diamond lounge cocktail time. The drinks are not cumulative, so if you don't use them, you lose them.

 

There will be a full list of perks in your stateroom. They are loaded on your Seapass card. You get a completely new Seapass card for the second week, so a new set of benefits.

[BillOh]

We just achieved Diamond in C&A, posted today. :) DW and I are doing our first B2B in October on Allure. For the experience Diamond members, what are your recommendations for best use of the new perks, especially on B2B?

 

It will be our 8 & 9th cruise, the first week with a couple that are not Diamond, second week just DW and me.

 

2016 is the year of the new Diamonds! Or so it seems to be 65 days till my first Diamond cruise. If they find me too blue collar for the Diamond Lounge we may do a few drinks on the rising Tide before our 2nd seating dinner.

[Richst48]

Thanks for the info, we are looking forward to it. It's our 15th wedding anniversary. We are in the same grand suite for both weeks, wanted to do it right for DW.

 

What kind of cabin are your friends in? Since you are in a grand suite you will have access to the suite lounge and coastal kitchen.

[TriCoachCruising]

Grandma Dazzles, thanks for the great info. We will use it wisely, fortunately our friends traveling with us won't mind us doing things without them. They are in a junior suite so should be able to do dinner in Coastal Kitchen with us at night. We may use the 3 drinks loaded on the Seapass card to meet for drinks before dinner.

[TriCoachCruising]

2016 is the year of the new Diamonds! Or so it seems to be 65 days till my first Diamond cruise. If they find me too blue collar for the Diamond Lounge we may do a few drinks on the rising Tide before our 2nd seating dinner.

 

Congrats! Enjoy your cruise.

[impatientlywaiting]

Take dollar bills for tips in the Concierge Lounge. The 3 drinks loaded on your SeaPass card don't apply in the Concierge Lounge either! We're not big drinkers and didn't think we'd take advantage of the Concierge Lounge but we ended up there every evening before dinner and sometimes after dinner too!

 

You each get a free 8 x 10 photo in the gift shop. So we got the photo taken when we boarded the ship and also the first night at dinner.

 

Another perk is the discount on laundry.

[blackshirt]

We've now completed two cruises as D. To me, the D lounge is the best perk but since you'll be in a suite, you will have access to the CL as well. I'm not sure which lounge is better on the Allure, so check them both out. If you are in second seating for dinner, the best time to head to the lounge is about 15 minutes before the first seating, that is when all the first seating lounge guests are leaving. You still have enough time for drinks before the show and if they aren't too strict, they'll refill your drink and let you take it to the show. If not, just give yourself enough time to stop at a bar on the way to the show and use one of your 3 free drinks.

[poz222]

Congratulations... Enjoy the new perks! We Will be cruising on the Allure for the Halloween cruise with you! Have you signed up for the M&M yet? I know they are planning some fun stuff. I'm looking forward to dressing up for Halloween! See u then!

[TriCoachCruising]

Take dollar bills for tips in the Concierge Lounge. The 3 drinks loaded on your SeaPass card don't apply in the Concierge Lounge either! We're not big drinkers and didn't think we'd take advantage of the Concierge Lounge but we ended up there every evening before dinner and sometimes after dinner too!

 

You each get a free 8 x 10 photo in the gift shop. So we got the photo taken when we boarded the ship and also the first night at dinner.

 

Another perk is the discount on laundry.

 

Wow...we aren't big drinkers either but sounds like a number of opportunities available. We always take a lot of dollar bills to tip servers, so we will be prepared. The discounted laundry will be nice since we are on board for 2 weeks.

[Merion_Mom]

Take dollar bills for tips in the Concierge Lounge. The 3 drinks loaded on your SeaPass card don't apply in the Concierge Lounge either! We're not big drinkers and didn't think we'd take advantage of the Concierge Lounge but we ended up there every evening before dinner and sometimes after dinner too!

 

You each get a free 8 x 10 photo in the gift shop. So we got the photo taken when we boarded the ship and also the first night at dinner.

 

Another perk is the discount on laundry.

 

 

Just to clarify:

 

The photos are in the photo gallery, not the gift shop.

 

If you go into the gift shop looking for your photos, they will look at you like you have eight heads.

 

;)

 

:)

[emen822]

Was so happy to take my first diamond cruise but didn't get to enjoy the lounge as much as I could have because my roommates (my two sisters) are not diamond. I went in there twice for drinks (first and last day) and other times I used the vouchers. The bartender in the lounge made me a long island iced tea the first day (since I saw it on a menu posted on cc before I left - but did not see it listed anywhere else on the ship). But I could not get any other bartender to make me one with the vouchers. Maybe it was just the ship, maybe the rules have changed but I didn't press the issue.

 

I DID enjoy the perk of using the concierge to take us down to tender at Grand Cayman. And my sisters were able to enjoy that perk as well. :D

 

I didn't know about the free picture so I guess I will learn things as time goes on. But I did get my pin in the room lol.

[Clarea]

Was so happy to take my first diamond cruise but didn't get to enjoy the lounge as much as I could have because my roommates (my two sisters) are not diamond. I went in there twice for drinks (first and last day) and other times I used the vouchers. The bartender in the lounge made me a long island iced tea the first day (since I saw it on a menu posted on cc before I left - but did not see it listed anywhere else on the ship). But I could not get any other bartender to make me one with the vouchers. Maybe it was just the ship, maybe the rules have changed but I didn't press the issue.

 

I DID enjoy the perk of using the concierge to take us down to tender at Grand Cayman. And my sisters were able to enjoy that perk as well. :D

 

I didn't know about the free picture so I guess I will learn things as time goes on. But I did get my pin in the room lol.

This is not uncommon, we see this mismatch between drinks allowed in the lounge and drinks allowed via the vouchers all the time. It's possible that another bar would have made the drink for you.

[hipster1]

Congrats on making Diamond! If you are a coffee lover, the coffee machine in the lounge is GOLD! You can get espresso, cappucino, lattes, or machiato...they also have Decaf! ( self serve) This is open 24/7. Another perk we have enjoyed is coming back to our cabin, and a plate of goodies was waiting for us. We just got off the Adventure, and on Valentines Day, we had a plate of truffles, chocolate covered strawberries,and other nibbles. Last year on the Allure, a plate of cookies.

 

Bob, your right about the bartender mismatch. In the Viking Lounge, when they took our cards, they swiped out a reciept to sign! In the other lounges/bars, they just took the cards, swiped, nothing to sign.

 

Oh, each ship might be different for your internet perk. On the Adventure, we got 24 consecutive hours FREE. This worked great for the last day at sea. Internet was actually pretty decent. On the Allure, we got $$ off for a package for the week.

 

Ali

[TriCoachCruising]

Was so happy to take my first diamond cruise but didn't get to enjoy the lounge as much as I could have because my roommates (my two sisters) are not diamond. I went in there twice for drinks (first and last day) and other times I used the vouchers. The bartender in the lounge made me a long island iced tea the first day (since I saw it on a menu posted on cc before I left - but did not see it listed anywhere else on the ship). But I could not get any other bartender to make me one with the vouchers. Maybe it was just the ship, maybe the rules have changed but I didn't press the issue.

 

I DID enjoy the perk of using the concierge to take us down to tender at Grand Cayman. And my sisters were able to enjoy that perk as well. :D

 

I didn't know about the free picture so I guess I will learn things as time goes on. But I did get my pin in the room lol.

 

Glad you enjoyed your time. I will keep that in mind about the Long Island Ice Tea as I do occasionally order one on the ship. I will not expect it though, it will just be a nice perk if I get it with a voucher. Didn't realize the tender perk with Diamond but understood I should have access as a suite guest.:)

[TriCoachCruising]

Congrats on making Diamond! If you are a coffee lover, the coffee machine in the lounge is GOLD! You can get espresso, cappucino, lattes, or machiato...they also have Decaf! ( self serve) This is open 24/7. Another perk we have enjoyed is coming back to our cabin, and a plate of goodies was waiting for us. We just got off the Adventure, and on Valentines Day, we had a plate of truffles, chocolate covered strawberries,and other nibbles. Last year on the Allure, a plate of cookies.

 

Bob, your right about the bartender mismatch. In the Viking Lounge, when they took our cards, they swiped out a reciept to sign! In the other lounges/bars, they just took the cards, swiped, nothing to sign.

 

Oh, each ship might be different for your internet perk. On the Adventure, we got 24 consecutive hours FREE. This worked great for the last day at sea. Internet was actually pretty decent. On the Allure, we got $$ off for a package for the week.

 

Ali

 

Thanks for the tip on the coffee, DW is a coffee drinker and will love this option.

[emen822]

Congrats on making Diamond! If you are a coffee lover, the coffee machine in the lounge is GOLD! You can get espresso, cappucino, lattes, or machiato...they also have Decaf! ( self serve) This is open 24/7. Another perk we have enjoyed is coming back to our cabin, and a plate of goodies was waiting for us. We just got off the Adventure, and on Valentines Day, we had a plate of truffles, chocolate covered strawberries,and other nibbles. Last year on the Allure, a plate of cookies.

 

Bob, your right about the bartender mismatch. In the Viking Lounge, when they took our cards, they swiped out a reciept to sign! In the other lounges/bars, they just took the cards, swiped, nothing to sign.

 

Oh, each ship might be different for your internet perk. On the Adventure, we got 24 consecutive hours FREE. This worked great for the last day at sea. Internet was actually pretty decent. On the Allure, we got $$ off for a package for the week.

 

Ali

 

 

Yes - the coffee machine was great and easy to use. You are your own barista!

 

As far as the internet, I went down to guest services to inquire about the perk (this was on Wednesday night, my cruise was ending on Saturday). It was either 24 hours free or $40 off a package on one device They explained to me that I was better off waiting until just after midnight because on Thursday they offered a package for the two remaining days for $40 (which meant it would be free for me!) so I had wifi for the rest of the cruise and surprisingly, it worked really well on my iPhone.

 

 

Glad you enjoyed your time. I will keep that in mind about the Long Island Ice Tea as I do occasionally order one on the ship. I will not expect it though, it will just be a nice perk if I get it with a voucher. Didn't realize the tender perk with Diamond but understood I should have access as a suite guest.:)

 

I'm not a big wine drinker so I was looking forward to the Long Island Iced Tea and he made the best one I had all week! The other nice drink I had in the lounge was a rum punch. :) Enjoy the perks! Took me 11 years to get to use that special card to open up the door! :D

[TriCoachCruising]

Yes - the coffee machine was great and easy to use. You are your own barista!

 

As far as the internet, I went down to guest services to inquire about the perk (this was on Wednesday night, my cruise was ending on Saturday). It was either 24 hours free or $40 off a package on one device They explained to me that I was better off waiting until just after midnight because on Thursday they offered a package for the two remaining days for $40 (which meant it would be free for me!) so I had wifi for the rest of the cruise and surprisingly, it worked really well on my iPhone.

 

I believe since we are cruising in October 2016; we will fall under the new Suite Class that starts in May 2016; our internet should be free with a Grand Suite which is the Sky Class under the Suite new program.

[flowers44]

DH and I are another New Diamond Member in 2016. We are looking forward to our perks on our cruise in August. Love these threads that point out the perks to us "Newbies."

[Shocked91]

I will reach diamond this year and my mom and dad will go diamond+.Looking forward to the new perks being diamond.How much more is the diamond+ discount for a cabin?

[Clarea]

I will reach diamond this year and my mom and dad will go diamond+.Looking forward to the new perks being diamond.How much more is the diamond+ discount for a cabin?

D+ is only $25 more balcony discount than D.

 

However, D+ will also have an amenity to choose for each cruise thereafter, things like beach towels, tote bags, wine, sparkling water, etc.

[TriCoachCruising]

Congratulations... Enjoy the new perks! We Will be cruising on the Allure for the Halloween cruise with you! Have you signed up for the M&M yet? I know they are planning some fun stuff. I'm looking forward to dressing up for Halloween! See u then!

 

Look forward to meeting you on the cruise. Will sign up for the M&M.