Platinum traveling with non-platinum question?

[linga]

I'm Platinum and it's my friends first cruise.   

 

Will we have to board separately?  Can I bring her to the Cocktail Party (if they still have those)?   Just curious what happens when your roommate is a different level.  Thanks for any insight! 🙂

[Rayefan]

42 minutes ago, linga said:

I'm Platinum and it's my friends first cruise.   

 

Will we have to board separately?  Can I bring her to the Cocktail Party (if they still have those)?   Just curious what happens when your roommate is a different level.  Thanks for any insight! 🙂

If you both are in the same room, then yes, you will go on board together.  I just did this and since we both had 1 piece of luggage each I put one of my luggage tags on hers.  Then both pieces arrive at the same time.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Rayefan

[firefly333]

47 minutes ago, linga said:

I'm Platinum and it's my friends first cruise.   

 

Will we have to board separately?  Can I bring her to the Cocktail Party (if they still have those)?   Just curious what happens when your roommate is a different level.  Thanks for any insight! 🙂

Yes you can bring one guest to the party

[jsglow]

And if your REALLY nice, you will minimize her packing by adding her laundry to your bag.  The world needs nice people, doncha think? 🙂

[Guest BasicSailor]

32 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Yes you can bring one guest to the party

You may need to express this to the staff aboard the ship at the time of cruising, they failed to get the memo 🙃

 

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, linga said:

I'm Platinum and it's my friends first cruise.   

 

Will we have to board separately?  Can I bring her to the Cocktail Party (if they still have those)?   Just curious what happens when your roommate is a different level.  Thanks for any insight! 🙂

If the invitation says "And Guest" to the party, yes,  You can board with her if you have the same arrival times and boarding groups.  Your friend can have Platinum perks when they earn them

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

And if your REALLY nice, you will minimize her packing by adding her laundry to your bag.  The world needs nice people, doncha think? 🙂

That is of course if you like your clothes to be washed in hot water.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, BasicSailor said:

You may need to express this to the staff aboard the ship at the time of cruising, they failed to get the memo 🙃

 

Not sure what you mean. I've cruised and brought a newbie friend and never had a issue bringing a friend to parties.,last carnival at brunch a diamond guy invited a couple from our table to the party. Never heard of it being a issue.

[klfrodo]

I've always boarded with my non-platinum guest.

[Guest BasicSailor]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Not sure what you mean. I've cruised and brought a newbie friend and never had a issue bringing a friend to parties.,last carnival at brunch a diamond guy invited a couple from our table to the party. Never heard of it being a issue.

It's not an issue, Infact it's a free for all as they don't even bother to look at the invitations.

[CarolSW]

Our first Platinum cruise was this most recent New Years’ Eve sailing of the Dream. The Plat/Diamond party was in the entertainment lounge at the back of the ship, and there was no one checking invitations at the door.  Party was full, drinks were being served but no appetizers.  There was actually a young lady in a uniform directing the waiters to service ALL the attendees, making sure everyone had the beverages of their choice, especially those without a seat in the Standing Room Only event.  This was in slight contrast to our experiences at the Diamond party on Royal (before pandemic) where invitations WERE being screened at the entrance. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by CarolSW

[BallFour4]

Here are our experiences for a cruise in late November from here in Galveston.

 

There were five couples and my wife and I are platinum. We had a 10:30 Arrival Time and Boarding Zone A01 slot. Our friends had the same Arrival Time and a later Boarding Zone. We waited for them, and they were called a few minutes after our group.

 Once we boarded, and being told our cabin was ready we were met at the Speedo Deck elevator area by a crew member that screened our documents for priority and we put all our friends carry-on luggage in our cabin that was ready when we boarded at 11:20AM. We had lunch done, the new muster drill checked off and were walking around the Breeze for an impromptu tour by noon.
 

To your second question, we've been platinum for a long time and this is the first time the Past Guest Party invitation said "You And One Guest." It was at 5:00PM the last sea day, and was in the main show theater. There were servers everywhere, and lots of drinks and no appetizers. The entire party was around thirty minutes.

 Hope that answers your question. Know peoples experiences vary by cruise and ship. We sail again this spring from here in Galveston and to Alaska this summer. I'm curious to see what has changed.

 

.

Edited January 13, 2022 by BallFour4

[BallFour4]

11 hours ago, Rayefan said:

If you both are in the same room, then yes, you will go on board together.  I just did this and since we both had 1 piece of luggage each I put one of my luggage tags on hers.  Then both pieces arrive at the same time.

That's the best tip so far on this thread!

 

.

[evandbob]

5 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

It's not an issue, Infact it's a free for all as they don't even bother to look at the invitations.

Very true.  Back in my early sailing days, the staff would collect the invite cards, put them in a drum, and then have a drawing for prizes (bottle of wine/champagne/ spa discounts, etc.).  The winners went up on stage and had a picture taken with the Captain and officers.

 

This was later changed to giving recognition to the cruiser with the most sea days on Carnival, the oldest and then the youngest cruiser.

[Cruise, J.D.]

3 minutes ago, evandbob said:

Very true.  Back in my early sailing days, the staff would collect the invite cards, put them in a drum, and then have a drawing for prizes (bottle of wine/champagne/ spa discounts, etc.).  The winners went up on stage and had a picture taken with the Captain and officers.

 

This was later changed to giving recognition to the cruiser with the most sea days on Carnival, the oldest and then the youngest cruiser.

 

Yep. On our recent cruise they didn't even ask to see the invitations. I didn't know they weren't doing the drawing anymore.

 

The invitations did include a guest.

[evandbob]

5 minutes ago, Cruise, J.D. said:

 

Yep. On our recent cruise they didn't even ask to see the invitations. I didn't know they weren't doing the drawing anymore.

 

The invitations did include a guest.

The last drawing I attended was for folks who guessed how many jellybeans were in a jar, match up a baby picture with an officer, guess what ship is in the picture.....etc.

 

I stopped going to the past guest parties (I don't drink alcohol) and now just attend the Captain's Diamond party or brunch.

[linga]

Thank you everyone for the great info!!  I appreciate it!  🙂

[SNJCruisers]

Stopped going to those gatherings years ago.  They are now about 30 minutes long on the last sea day around 400-500.  Just when people are getting ready for dinner or packing. Another cost cutting measure.

Much better back in the day when it was held earlier in the week, was about an hour long and you could get what you wanted to drink.  Of course this was prior to Cheers, so this gathering combined with the Captains party were the only times you could get free booze.  Besides the champagne at the art auctions and the free samples they sometimes gave out at the duty free shop.

[Elaine5715]

13 hours ago, CarolSW said:

Our first Platinum cruise was this most recent New Years’ Eve sailing of the Dream. The Plat/Diamond party was in the entertainment lounge at the back of the ship, and there was no one checking invitations at the door.  Party was full, drinks were being served but no appetizers.  There was actually a young lady in a uniform directing the waiters to service ALL the attendees, making sure everyone had the beverages of their choice, especially those without a seat in the Standing Room Only event.  This was in slight contrast to our experiences at the Diamond party on Royal (before pandemic) where invitations WERE being screened at the entrance. 

That is why the Diamond events are better quality and the Platinum/Diamond Party is a fight to get a drink and a carrot stick.

[Guest BasicSailor]

16 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

That is why the Diamond events are better quality and the Platinum/Diamond Party is a fight to get a drink and a carrot stick.

It was getting packed pre covid, soon to be increased with this new influx of Diamond members. The Diamond event just got crashed.😲. They're just waiting on covid to leave the scene.

[Buffettfan 225]

On 1/13/2022 at 6:47 AM, BallFour4 said:

That's the best tip so far on this thread!

 

.

We are both Platinum and combine our Senior parents to one with each of us and get extra key at guest services or reissue them. Gets priority to board as a group. Also some of their laundry may get into our bag to be done 😉 p.s. if checking luggage use the tags platinum receives so bags are together when retrieving after cruise. If need more tags just ask.