Are platinum members always allowed in elite lounge?

[grapau27]

19 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Platinum, Elite and Suite guests on Grand.

Only around 8 cocktails available at $6.99 all other drinks at regular bar prices.

Elite,Suite and Platinum only.

[geoherb]

On our Royal and Regal cruises, they've had it in Club 6 or the Vista Lounge depending on how many PES passengers are on board. On the Crown's transatlantic this fall (with over half the ship qualifying), they held it in the Vista Lounge most nights. The two nights of the Captains Circle parties, they moved it to Skywalkers. 

[Daniel A]

A poster who is currently on a Regal cruise stated on a different thread that the lounge is now elites only - no platinums in the Elite Lounge.  States there is a 'reception' for elites and platinum.

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, Daniel A said:

A poster who is currently on a Regal cruise stated on a different thread that the lounge is now elites only - no platinums in the Elite Lounge.  States there is a 'reception' for elites and platinum.

I just don't believe it. 

I'm guessing that the 'reception' their referring to was probably a repeaters party and the lounge is always as it had been. For Elite, Suites and Platinum and if it's not crowded they'll turn a bling eye & also let everyone else in. 

[Daniel A]

9 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I just don't believe it. 

I'm guessing that the 'reception' their referring to was probably a repeaters party and the lounge is always as it had been. For Elite, Suites and Platinum and if it's not crowded they'll turn a bling eye & also let everyone else in. 

I wonder if anyone else currently on that cruise can confirm or debunk it.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, Daniel A said:

A poster who is currently on a Regal cruise stated on a different thread that the lounge is now elites only - no platinums in the Elite Lounge.  States there is a 'reception' for elites and platinum.

 

Hardly likely to be accurate.

[polmcs]

I’m on the Royal right now and the lounge is open to Platinum, Elite and Suites. We had the beef tartare right at the beginning of the cruise. Tonight is Stilton which is more up my street, though I did try the tartare. I like my steaks “still Moo-ving” so no issues with raw for me.

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Hardly likely to be accurate.

I hope you're right.  Is anybody out there on Regal now and can check this latest rumor out?

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

I hope you're right.  Is anybody out there on Regal now and can check this latest rumor out?

Why do you think it would be any different than the Royal Princess?

[Daniel A]

2 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Why do you think it would be any different than the Royal Princess?

Two reasons: First,  the person who posted this most recent comment is on the Regal right now and second, it seems that some policies are not consistent from ship to ship in this fleet.

[MissP22]

8 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Two reasons: First,  the person who posted this most recent comment is on the Regal right now and second, it seems that some policies are not consistent from ship to ship in this fleet.

We've sailed almost all of Princess ships and have yet to find one that doesn't allow Elite, Platinum & Suites into the lounge.

I have yet to see anyone checking levels when entering. Although I suspect that the discount might not apply if you aren't at least Platinum.

[Daniel A]

20 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

We've sailed almost all of Princess ships and have yet to find one that doesn't allow Elite, Platinum & Suites into the lounge.

I have yet to see anyone checking levels when entering. Although I suspect that the discount might not apply if you aren't at least Platinum.

That's been my experience too.  It just gets me thinking when in the space of one week, I read someone getting off the Star saying no more platinums and then yesterday I read someone who is now on the Regal saying the same thing.  I'm hoping as was said earlier that those posters didn't read the cover on the invitation and misunderstood the inside message.

[pablo222]

5 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Hardly likely to be accurate.

Whether or not a post is accurate depends entirely on whether or not one agrees with it.

 

[caribill]

Historically, when the lounge was first introduced, it only for elite and suite passengers.

 

Being a new thing and also at that time being many less elite passengers than there are now, attendance was often low. It was then that Princess started inviting platinum status passengers to also attend.

[OCruisers]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

Historically, when the lounge was first introduced, it only for elite and suite passengers.

 

Being a new thing and also at that time being many less elite passengers than there are now, attendance was often low. It was then that Princess started inviting platinum status passengers to also attend.

 

The above is very true.  There were very few there until platinums were included.

[MissP22]

22 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

The above is very true.  There were very few there until platinums were included.

The few time we're gone there still seems to be few people attending. Maybe now with the increased hours it'll be different. 

[Thrak]

We just did a 14 day TA with a lot of Elites. They did the Elite reception on two different days and I "think" it was actually 4 separate receptions. The P/E/S deal was never very full.

[Carolina Cruisers 2]

On 11/20/2019 at 3:27 PM, satxdiver said:

We just disembarked from the Star.  The lounge was an elite lounge and only elite received the invitation/program.  Suite had their own lounge so I was told.  Can you crash the door - most likely.  There were 383 elite aboard according to the Captain Circle lady.  Most nights there was someone watching the door.  

 

Yes they told us the secret Elite handshake. 😎

 

I've been Ellite for years.   Never heard of Elite handshake.  Are you joking?

 

[nocl]

Was the person on the Royal Platinum and was denied entry?

 

The person on the Star was Elite and was going by the sign?

 

The sign often says Elite Lounge, even though it is also for Platinums.

 

If Platinums were being denied we would probably be seeing a lot more posts.

[Cuedon]

And to anybody else who may have been briefly thrown off... this thread was two years old, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some policy changes given events since then.

[Carolina Cruisers 2]

5 minutes ago, Cuedon said:

And to anybody else who may have been briefly thrown off... this thread was two years old, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some policy changes given events since then.

 

Yes,  I did notice.  I have friends cruising now so maybe they will update on what is happening at this very moment.  

[Steelers36]

The thing is - contrary to the thread title - it is a PES Lounge (Platinum/Elite/Suite.  Not really a lounge at all - just a place setup for some late afternoon noshing before dinner.  We normally pass.

 

That said, there is a Concierge Lounge on Royal Class ships, but that is for Suite guests only and is available all the time.

[jondfk]

We've been on several transatlantics which attract very high numbers of Elites and Platinums.  Still, we've never encountered any resistance to entry.  To the extent there were door checkers they seemed to be assigned to help finding free tables more than any sort of streaming.  That said, the slight discount on drinks and the food spread are hardly anything to be excited over either positively or negatively IMHO.  

 

I have been excited by a couple of YouTube videos post restart showing a greater array of food on offer, with, of course, staff to serve and/or pre plated portions.  Both of these later changes are most welcome as I've witnessed stomach churning behavior from more than a few PES passengers in the past.  I could do without watching folks rooting around the shrimp bowl for the perfect prawn . . . an absolute change for the better!

[beg3yrs]

7 hours ago, Carolina Cruisers 2 said:

 

I've been Ellite for years.   Never heard of Elite handshake.  Are you joking?

 

While I didn't originally say it, I'm pretty sure it's a joke.

[Hlitner]

I read this thread with some degree of amusement.  There are few more boring places to be then the Princess "Elite" lounge during the cocktail "discount" time.    Lets face it, why would most of us bother dragging ourselves to a cocktail party where we are able to get a small discount on a small selection.  The other issue is that many Princess cruisers have a drink package so they have no real motivation to go to the Elite functions.   I am not knocking those who enjoy this kind of thing, but on our upcoming 20 days on the Enchantment you will not find DW and I ever at those pre dinner Elite functions.  But you will find us at another friendly bar somewhere on the ship.

 

One mild criticism I have long had about Princess is just how lousy the benefits are for Elites.  We do appreciate the free laundry/dry cleaning on longer cruises.  But a slight discount on a few cocktails might be compared to Celebrity or RCI where comparable levels get 2 hours a day of free drinks (and some nice snacks).  And the new Internet packages take away much of the value we used to get from lots of free Internet minutes.    Oh, I did forget about the free mini-bar set-up (only once per cruise).

 

Hank