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Diamond Lounge Disaster - A Voyager Class Sob Story


Crism
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Currently on Adventure. The last time we were onboard her, pre-dry dock 2015, we had an absolute BLAST! Bar inside the lounge, outdoor seating, great service...

 

Flash forward to 2018/2019....I've attached a photo of the 5pm drink line. Outdoor seating? ELIMINATED. They've frosted over the beautiful glass doors and replaced it with rock wall sign ups, which was closed! What's on the other side of Deck 14? AN EMPTY SUITE LOUNGE. There's not a soul in the "redesignated" outdoor seating. Diamond Lounge door has a rope in front of it so you can't get out. This cuts the size of the lounge in half and there's NO OVERFLOW lounge. There's ONE (rude) DL server and 2 (fantastic) bartenders who are working their TAILS off! We're tipping well! We feel bad!

 

Unfortunately, Mariner is the same way! (Even worse...no bar setup in the DL!) Navigator's dry dock will move her DL into the Deck 5 Dungeon. RIP Navi's DL. Can't vouch for Voyager or Explorer, but I'm sure everything's going this way. Which one will they mess up next?

 

So Royal...why not give your most loyal cruisers back the outdoor space? I'm even OK with rock wall sign ups there... but have some outside seating set up during the cocktail hour and close the rock wall? The Suite side is EMPTY. Talk about a wasted outdoor space! Can your Diamonds please have it back?

 

Signed,

 

A Sad Diamond-Plus-Member-After-This-Cruise

20181208_165848.jpg

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8 minutes ago, Crism said:

Currently on Adventure. The last time we were onboard her, pre-dry dock 2015, we had an absolute BLAST! Bar inside the lounge, outdoor seating, great service...

 

Flash forward to 2018/2019....I've attached a photo of the 5pm drink line. Outdoor seating? ELIMINATED. They've frosted over the beautiful glass doors and replaced it with rock wall sign ups, which was closed! What's on the other side of Deck 14? AN EMPTY SUITE LOUNGE. There's not a soul in the "redesignated" outdoor seating. Diamond Lounge door has a rope in front of it so you can't get out. This cuts the size of the lounge in half and there's NO OVERFLOW lounge. There's ONE (rude) DL server and 2 (fantastic) bartenders who are working their TAILS off! We're tipping well! We feel bad!

 

Unfortunately, Mariner is the same way! (Even worse...no bar setup in the DL!) Navigator's dry dock will move her DL into the Deck 5 Dungeon. RIP Navi's DL. Can't vouch for Voyager or Explorer, but I'm sure everything's going this way. Which one will they mess up next?

 

So Royal...why not give your most loyal cruisers back the outdoor space? I'm even OK with rock wall sign ups there... but have some outside seating set up during the cocktail hour and close the rock wall? The Suite side is EMPTY. Talk about a wasted outdoor space! Can your Diamonds please have it back?

 

Signed,

 

A Sad Diamond-Plus-Member-After-This-Cruise

20181208_165848.jpg

Does not look that crowded at all!😱

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7 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Oasis.

Ugh...was on Allure last month. That one is already a disaster. Upstairs was being used for Chef's Table. Talk about a loud, unpleasant dinner. I wouldn't be too happy if I paid for that!

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So sad to see this. We'll be on Adventure in May and was looking forward to the DL on this ship mainly because of the outdoor space. We'll just use our 3 drinks elsewhere (which is what RCI wants, I'm sure). The only way to get anything special on RCI now is to sail as Suite guests or Pinnacles.

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Looks like the dl on freedom and explorer with outside sitting still available for now.  On explorer it never got to more than 15 people in there during happy hour.  It was a early july Alaska cruise and there were maybe 40 d and d+ members on that cruise.  

 

On freedom it was a lot more crowded than that during happy hour.  Line went to entry door and around the concierges desk and down the seats by the window.  Still went to dl as it was a lot more friendly and way better view than the cl on freedom.  

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I'm far from a cheerleader for Royal. But I'll bet that photo was taken when they started serving. If you have 75 people and 3 servers you are going to have to wait for your drinks. Somebody is going to be last. After the first onslaught it calms down a bit and the wait won't be so long. 

We can go in either lounge but prefer the DL because of the people. 

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1 hour ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Disaster?  Hmmm

Agree...The OP should just consider the world we live in today and what's going on and what has happened to us on the west coast (fires) to better understand the meaning of  the word "Disaster".

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Navigator has not had the Dungeon ( nightclub) since her last major drydock, now cabins on deck 3 and Sabor on Deck 4 next to the Schooner bar unless they are going to turn a revenue venue into the DL which I doubt.

I know Navigator is due for another major drydock next year but I have not searched for the new deck plans to see where the Suite lounge is going to be , Izumi is currently in the area where SL is on Adventure. 

All I can add is 3 drinks vouchers loaded on seapass cards are there to be used during cocktail hour for a reason, use ‘em or lose ‘em.

 

 

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41 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

Navigator has not had the Dungeon ( nightclub) since her last major drydock, now cabins on deck 3 and Sabor on Deck 4 next to the Schooner bar unless they are going to turn a revenue venue into the DL which I doubt.

I know Navigator is due for another major drydock next year but I have not searched for the new deck plans to see where the Suite lounge is going to be , Izumi is currently in the area where SL is on Adventure. 

All I can add is 3 drinks vouchers loaded on seapass cards are there to be used during cocktail hour for a reason, use ‘em or lose ‘em.

 

 

 

They can put the SL where the DL is now, and move the DL to the Connoisseur Club on deck 5.

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This is very similar to the other current first world problem D lounge thread. If the lounge is crowded use the free drink on your card or buy a drink package. Why do people insist on complaining about the D Lounge? I cannot see the logic of standing in line for a free drink k when you can get the same free drink somewhere else on the ship. 

 

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6 hours ago, Crism said:

Ugh...was on Allure last month. That one is already a disaster. Upstairs was being used for Chef's Table. Talk about a loud, unpleasant dinner. I wouldn't be too happy if I paid for that!

 

We did chefs table on allure and loved it there. Found the setting to be wonderful and not loud at all. 

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I didn't know the outside seating area was gone on Adventure. I really enjoyed it on Freedom. I am a bit disappointed to read this. I also wasn't too happy to see the coffee machine has set hours of operation. I wonder what the chances of either of these things changing are before January.

 

And, yes, I know both of these things are first world problems. Most things related to multimillion dollar cruise ships are.

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5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I didn't know the outside seating area was gone on Adventure. I really enjoyed it on Freedom. I am a bit disappointed to read this. I also wasn't too happy to see the coffee machine has set hours of operation. I wonder what the chances of either of these things changing are before January.

 

And, yes, I know both of these things are first world problems. Most things related to multimillion dollar cruise ships are.

 

Sailed Freedom 15+ times in PC.  Never wanted to go to the outside area.  To hot , to windy, to humid. Service was an afterthought. 

 

Also wasn't a fan of being inside when the automatic doors opened up and messed with the micro climate inside. 

 

I guess that's why we're different 

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