Crown & Anchor Diamond Plus cutbacks continue!

[Ourusualbeach]

14 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

To the best of my knowledge, Oasis still has the large two story Diamond lounge, or al least  it was there in December.  And, it is EMPTY most every morning. The biggest bottleneck is  maybe 3 people in line for specialty coffee. 

 

M.

Correct.  Both Oasis and Allure still have the 2 story lounge.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[grapau27]

39 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

Let me add, both D & D+ lost a great Diamond Lounge; when Oasis converted the prior Concierge/Diamond lounge, into the Wonderland Specialty Dining Room.  Now that's a truly sad loss!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is how I remember Allure in 2015.

Harmony in 2016 had Wonderland restaurant and DL was in an enclosed room on deck 4.

[LMaxwell]

On 2/17/2019 at 1:40 PM, Captain Billy Bob said:

The loss of benefits to C&A members is the result of a small group abusing the program. On our recent cruise the was a group of between 12 to 16 who commandeered a section of the CL every night. One of the group would arrive before cocktail hour move chairs to their preferred area  and reserve them for the rest of their friends. Every night for 12 nights from before 4:30 till after 8:00. It's always a small group that ruins it for the rest of us.

 

What did they ruin?  What did they abuse?  Do you know if they took advantage of any other benefits or perks?  How do YOU know they were there from before 4:30 until after 8:00 unless you were there as well also "ruining" it for the rest of us?  

 

Quit blaming guests when the company cuts back.  It's all about profits.  

[HBE4]

46 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

Let me add, both D & D+ lost a great Diamond Lounge; when Oasis converted the prior Concierge/Diamond lounge, into the Wonderland Specialty Dining Room.  Now that's a truly sad loss!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But it's a big gain in revenue producing real estate for the vast majority of passengers that are not D/D+.

 

 

[grapau27]

42 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Grapau27 - Not sure I understand the issue.   Are you saying that you will look to other cruise lines because  the dedicated lounge for free cocktails, specialty coffee, continental   breakfast,   a nice place to relax and  concierge services,  has been changed  on some ships from 2 choices ( locations)  to one choice?    Many ships only have a suite lounge and a D lounge, and therefore just one choice for the D/D+ amenities.     Have you sailed on any of those ships?     On some ships, the diamond lounge is nicer than the concierge lounge, or one concierge may be more accommodating than the other.    Or  simply   use  the three drink vouchers and get a cocktail  just about anywhere on the ship.    I know  when someone  in disenchanted  and decides to give up the services of a company, there is usually no getting them back.  I wish you luck and good travels.  

 

For me, the particular lounge location/look/name  is certainty not as important as the serveries and amenities provided.   Perhaps it is not a huge issue because we don't spend much time there.  Morning coffee, sometimes continental breakfast any maybe  two nights on a seven night cruise.  Never the first night!

 

 

again,  best wishes.

 

M

 

 

 

RCL will always be my number 1 choice but when replying to another poster about D+ cutbacks I said it was only 1 reason why we decided to look elsewhere.

 

 

Our cruise on Independence in May will be our 50th and we have sailed on most RC ships.

Personally I prefer the DL but on our last RC cruise we used our Diamond vouchers in Boleros and Champagne bar.

We are top Princess loyalty and very high P&O loyalty through cruises we previously did.

We booked Princess for 16 nights to Hawaii because RC didn't do that itinerary.

We booked a 15 night transatlantic on P&O as it finishes in Southampton England rather than mainland Europe.

We booked another 7 night P&O from Southampton as dates and itinerary suited.

38 nights in total.

Thank you for your best wishes.

Graham.

Edited March 5, 2019 by grapau27

[xpcdoojk]

48 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 

Quit blaming guests when the company cuts back.  It's all about profits.  

 

 

Ok, people will agree to quit blaming the quests as soon as you quit complaining about profit.  Without profit there are no cruises. No diamond lounge, no free drinks, no free food, no free shows, no voyages to wonderful places and many other wonderful thing that goes along with a cruise.  

 

Complaining about a company making a profit is like complaining that the sun came up.  Without the sun we all die.  Without profit every company in the “real” world goes broke.  There has to at least be the speculation of future profit in order to sustain a real company, such as Amazon or Tesla.  

 

However, many guests should be complained about.  Chair Hogging, butting in line, out of control unmonitored children, over drinking leading to drunk boorish behavior, etc.

 

It truly is all about profit and thank goodness it is.  Because when it becomes about something else, I promise you it will suck.

 

jc

 

 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

22 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

 

Ok, people will agree to quit blaming the quests as soon as you quit complaining about profit.  Without profit there are no cruises. No diamond lounge, no free drinks, no free food, no free shows, no voyages to wonderful places and many other wonderful thing that goes along with a cruise.  

 

Complaining about a company making a profit is like complaining that the sun came up.  Without the sun we all die.  Without profit every company in the “real” world goes broke.  There has to at least be the speculation of future profit in order to sustain a real company, such as Amazon or Tesla.  

 

However, many guests should be complained about.  Chair Hogging, butting in line, out of control unmonitored children, over drinking leading to drunk boorish behavior, etc.

 

It truly is all about profit and thank goodness it is.  Because when it becomes about something else, I promise you it will suck.

 

jc

 

 

You forgot illegal smokers and those crazy-run-you-over drivers (strollers). 🤣

Edited March 5, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[Biker19]

23 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

It truly is all about profit and thank goodness it is.

Things look good at RCCL: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/884887/000088488719000017/rcl-20181231x10k.htm

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, grapau27 said:

I believe some members posted on a thread that Rhapsody CL concierge prevented D+ members entering and even ejected some who were in already 

Fortunately to date this seems to be the only report of D+ not allowed in a CL.

 

Happens all the time on Pinnacle heavy cruises like repositioning 

[Milwaukee Eight]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Happens all the time on Pinnacle heavy cruises like repositioning 

Royal should rename all Diamond Lounges the Pinnacle Lounge and limit all SL’s to Suite Guest only. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

7 hours ago, grapau27 said:

I believe some members posted on a thread that Rhapsody CL concierge prevented D+ members entering and even ejected some who were in already 

Fortunately to date this seems to be the only report of D+ not allowed in a CL.

We’ve had similar but different issues with water downed perks. We stay in GS and on our last cruise, of the 7 nights, about half the time no seats available in the SL prior to dinner. We were never seated at our CK reservation times. Once nearly an hour late. No access to lunch (CK) on boarding day. We typically had 4-6 cruises booked at any one time. Currently, we have no cruises with Royal booked. 

[grapau27]

14 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Royal should rename all Diamond Lounges the Pinnacle Lounge and limit all SL’s to Suite Guest only. 

What would you suggest happens to D and D+ if the DL was a PL?

[grapau27]

8 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

We’ve had similar but different issues with water downed perks. We stay in GS and on our last cruise, of the 7 nights, about half the time no seats available in the SL prior to dinner. We were never seated at our CK reservation times. Once nearly an hour late. No access to lunch (CK) on boarding day. We typically had 4-6 cruises booked at any one time. Currently, we have no cruises with Royal booked. 

The fact you currently have no Royal cruises booked suggests you think like I do regarding your RC loyalty.

On numerous occasions I have sympathised with Suite guests regarding your concerns.

An upgraded Loyalty Lounge for P and D+ allowing Suite guests an exclusive lounge seems the way forward with Diamonds having 3 free drinks and 1 speciality coffee in any bar at any time during the day.

[Milwaukee Eight]

7 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

What would you suggest happens to D and D+ if the DL was a PL?

Drink vouchers. 

 

In an an ideal world, keep the DL, limit to D/D+, create a PL, limit to P’s. SL for Suite Guests. I don’t think Royal would even consider removing revenue space to add a loyalty lounge. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

7 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

The fact you currently have no Royal cruises booked suggests you think like I do regarding your RC loyalty.

On numerous occasions I have sympathised with Suite guests regarding your concerns.

An upgraded Loyalty Lounge for P and D+ allowing Suite guests an exclusive lounge seems the way forward with Diamonds having 3 free drinks and 1 speciality coffee in any bar at any time during the day.

Actually, I really could care less about loyalty to any one cruise line. We pay for a product/experience and expect it to be delivered. When they fail to do this, we make other choices. 

 

I don’t understand the attachment of D+ to P’s. The points from D+ to P is huge. 

 

If most of the D+ perks are gone, it would be easy to merge them together as Diamonds. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Milwaukee Eight

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I don’t understand the attachment of D+ to P’s. The points from D+ to P is huge. 

 

If most of the D+ perks are gone, it would be easy to merge them together as Diamonds. 

A   D+ could have 699 points 

A   P could have 700 points.

It is possible that 1 point separates the 2 tiers which is not huge.

A.  D on 80 points and

A.  D+ on 699 points is HUGE.

[Milwaukee Eight]

2 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

A   D+ could have 699 points 

A   P could have 700 points.

It is possible that 1 point separates the 2 tiers which is not huge.

A.  D on 80 points and

A.  D+ on 699 points is HUGE.

175-700 is HUGE. 

[grapau27]

5 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

175-700 is HUGE. 

Diamond maximum is 174.

Diamond+ maximum is 699.

This is HUGE.

[Milwaukee Eight]

4 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Diamond maximum is 174.

Diamond+ maximum is 699.

This is HUGE.

But based on your reasoning a D+ could have 175. 700-175 is HUGE. 

 

And P’s can have many more points as there is NO MAXIMUM. 

 

Again, still don’t understand the obsession to attach D+ with Pinnacles. On average, the points are not nearly the same. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Milwaukee Eight

[nelblu]

11 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

A   D+ could have 699 points 

A   P could have 700 points.

It is possible that 1 point separates the 2 tiers which is not huge.

A.  D on 80 points and

A.  D+ on 699 points is HUGE.

 

When RCL introduced other tiers eg. Emerald, there was a rumor of a "Black Diamond" a tier between D+ & Pinnacles.

[grapau27]

Just now, Milwaukee Eight said:

But based on your reasoning a D+ could have 175. 700-175 is HUGE. 

Maybe in the future a new D+1 tier of 450 points might be the answer to our reasoning.

BTW hope you had a nice vacation in Israel John said you were touring there.

Graham.

[cruisegirl1]

11 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

175-700 is HUGE. 

Yes, and that is one reason for all the nice P perks.  It is relatively easy to get to D+, not so much for P.   It was told to me ( a few years ago)  that P was a significant jump, and  there will always be a huge gap from D+ to P .

 

M 

[grapau27]

5 minutes ago, nelblu said:

 

When RCL introduced other tiers eg. Emerald, there was a rumor of a "Black Diamond" a tier between D+ & Pinnacles.

Something I would wholeheartedly agree with and loyalty benefits to match.

To some reaching Pinnacle is an unachievable goal but an intermediary tier would give some something to aim for.

Edited March 5, 2019 by grapau27

[sisocialworker]

1 hour ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Royal should rename all Diamond Lounges the Pinnacle Lounge and limit all SL’s to Suite Guest only. 

yep...lets talk about Pins..where is Andy C

[Milwaukee Eight]

9 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Maybe in the future a new D+1 tier of 450 points might be the answer to our reasoning.

BTW hope you had a nice vacation in Israel John said you were touring there.

Graham.

Yes. We had a great time in Israel for 12 days. We are doing other vacations. Already spent 4 days in NOLA as well and heading back again. A trip to NYC is in works too. So there are other things to enjoy outside of cruising. 

 

We got exactly what we paid for and more on our tour. 

 

I was also in the dog house for a week so timing was good. Lol

 

Thanks

Edited March 5, 2019 by Milwaukee Eight