Officer dinner / behind the scenes ship tour perq Q

[cdnsteelman]

A very simple question - in all my cruises as plat / plat plus I've never taken advantage of these two perqs and I'm considering it for my upcoming Escape sailing. Looking for first-hand experience, can my non plat / plat plus travel buddy (same booking / stateroom) join for either / both or are these "per member" benefits? The T&C on the benefits page doesn't provide clarity.

[FLAHAM]

I was told "no" on the ship's tour when I inquired at the CruiseNext desk.

[SeaShark]

The benefits chart is clearly marked. Benefits that are marked "(per stateroom)" can be enjoyed by other guests. If not marked, these are only available to the specific latitudes member.

[cdnsteelman]

25 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

The benefits chart is clearly marked. Benefits that are marked "(per stateroom)" can be enjoyed by other guests. If not marked, these are only available to the specific latitudes member.

Except that's not what I see... I see some benefits marked "per member", some marked "per stateroom", and others not delineated one way or the other. As such, after doing my research, I decided to ask for first-hand experiences as shared by @FLAHAM (which I appreciate with thanks).

 

My guess is that tour is per member and the dinner is per stateroom.

 

I appreciate your taking the time to answer.

 

Happy cruising all,

Jeff

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, cdnsteelman said:

A very simple question - in all my cruises as plat / plat plus I've never taken advantage of these two perqs and I'm considering it for my upcoming Escape sailing. Looking for first-hand experience, can my non plat / plat plus travel buddy (same booking / stateroom) join for either / both or are these "per member" benefits? The T&C on the benefits page doesn't provide clarity.

It never hurts to ask CruiseNext. 
 

We have had teens on the BTS tour who are not platinum members. 
 

We have had non-P+ members join the dinner with the officers. 

[Love my butler]

3 hours ago, cdnsteelman said:

A very simple question - in all my cruises as plat / plat plus I've never taken advantage of these two perqs and I'm considering it for my upcoming Escape sailing. Looking for first-hand experience, can my non plat / plat plus travel buddy (same booking / stateroom) join for either / both or are these "per member" benefits? The T&C on the benefits page doesn't provide clarity.

The dinner with an officer will almost certainly include an invite with your room mate.  Getting an invite to the BTST is up to the cruisenext manager.  If they are not busy or you are friends with the manager, chances are you might also get your buddy into the tour.  Used both perks multiple times with/without non-plats.

[TrumpyNor]

The Behind the Scenes perk for Platinum Latitude members are normally for Platinum members only, as it is often a very popular perk. But the CruiseNext people some times make exceptions, so you just have to ask them.

 

Regarding the Platinum Dinner with an Officer perk - the invitation will most definitely include your travel companion as well. This dinner is NOT for Platinum members only, ALL  passengers on board can apply to participate, and may (or may not) receive an invitation. Only difference is that as a Platinum member you are "certain" to get chosen to participate. This dinner is certainly not as "exclusive" as it used to be - and who "your" hosting officer will be is just a lottery, it may in very rare cases be the Hotel Director (now called General Manager) or it may be the shop manager or the CruiseNext manager, or any manager type you can find in between.... The dinner itself is just a regular "choose from the menu" dinner in one of the main dining rooms , but it usually comes with some great wine....

 

Edited November 14, 2019 by TrumpyNor

[snorklinbarb]

8 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

The Behind the Scenes perk for Platinum Latitude members are normally for Platinum members only, as it is often a very popular perk. But the CruiseNext people some times make exceptions, so you just have to ask them.

 

Regarding the Platinum Dinner with an Officer perk - the invitation will most definitely include your travel companion as well. This dinner is NOT for Platinum members only, ALL  passengers on board can apply to participate, and may (or may not) receive an invitation. Only difference is that as a Platinum member you are "certain" to get chosen to participate. This dinner is certainly not as "exclusive" as it used to be - and who "your" hosting officer will be is just a lottery, it may in very rare cases be the Hotel Director (now called General Manager) or it may be the shop manager or the CruiseNext manager, or any manager type you can find in between.... The dinner itself is just a regular "choose from the menu" dinner in one of the main dining rooms , but it usually comes with some great wine....

 

Just to avoid any disappointment, Dinner with the Officers is "certain" only for Platinum Plus and Ambassador.  You're right though that anyone can join the lottery and usually there are Platinums in attendance. But the "guarantee" doesn't kick in until PP.

 

That said, we've enjoyed many.  Go for it!

 

[cdnsteelman]

59 minutes ago, snorklinbarb said:

Just to avoid any disappointment, Dinner with the Officers is "certain" only for Platinum Plus and Ambassador.  You're right though that anyone can join the lottery and usually there are Platinums in attendance. But the "guarantee" doesn't kick in until PP.

Thanks - I'm P+ and had understood that as well.

 

To all that took the time to respond and share experiences, I'm grateful for your insights.

 

Happy cruising all,

Jeff

[KeithJenner]

My experience:

 

We took our son on the behind the scenes tour once, when there were very few platinums onboard. We have enquired a couple of other times and were told no, but once was specifically because he was under 18, rather than him not being platinum (he would actually be P+ if he had any status anyway). Recently I have seen a couple of occasions where people had brought friends along and they were turned away. Once I think that the CruiseNext staff had said for someone to come along in case they could fit them in, but they couldn't.

 

We have never requested the dinner with officers, but once got an invite anyway. It didn't specify whether it was just for the two of us or also included our son, so I went to ask and was told the invite was for the whole cabin, not just the ones with status.

[Greenpea2]

For the Dinner with an Officer, are they groups at each table? Big groups, small groups, just the cabin mates and an officer?

[BirdTravels]

It is group dining. And the inclusion of a non-P+ or Ambassador diner is at the discretion of the General Manager’s office. It is not “certain”.