WHY the big goal to become Pinacle ?? ..

[orville99]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Must be a swank assisted living facility to exceed the cost of 52 weeks in a suite

We priced out a balcony cabin

[John&LaLa]

37 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We priced out a balcony cabin

 

Why ever for? You only book suites.

 

My fathers ALS is $3500 a month. And FWIW, no cruise ship is comparable for the care he gets. There is no Assistance on a cruise ship😉

[orville99]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Why ever for? You only book suites.

Just to look at a minimum accommodation so we could do a reasonable comp to the local facility. A balcony comped out at virtually the same cost as the independent living option in the facility for the two of us. Were we to actually make the decision to do this somewhere down the road, we would re-price the comps with a JS and GS as our baselines.

[topnole]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

SL really not a draw anymore now that voychers are required.

 

My Newcastle week occurred while sailing in a CLS. Not sure I could make that request as a lowly Pinnacle 

Probably true.  One cruise I was on I got to know the SL bartenders pretty well.  Whatever I wanted I got.  But both of them made it a point to tell me on numerous occasions that I could have it because I was in a suite and not pinnacle.  Their disdain for pinnacles was quite evident.  In fairness, there were a ton of pinnacles on this cruise so I’m sure they were annoyed at how much busier they were due to that.   I’m sure that sounds far fetched but it did happen.    Once or twice they made negative comments about pinnacles.  I was really pretty shocked because how did they know if any of them were my friends and of course it is simply bad customer service to complain to customers.   I’m sure they were just frustrated and venting, so I tried not to feel upset that they were venting dirty laundry to me.   I think one was about to go off contract.  
 

On that cruise they were running low on a lot of things like Diet Coke in the can for example (which I would get each day).  So they would only give those to suite guests I guess and give fountain soda in a glass to pinnacles.  Or they may be out of a certain beer, but always found one for me.  As I recall they opened a different location for pinnacles too, but they all mostly kept frequenting the SL/CK.   It was a problem for sure and Royal knew it. They were in a bind.  Piss off hundreds of pins or ruin the SL/CK experience for the cruise.  They choose not to ruffle the feathers of the pinnacles.   Unexpectedly, we got a huge future cruise credit after that cruise.   

[topnole]

24 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Why ever for? You only book suites.

 

My fathers ALS is $3500 a month. And FWIW, no cruise ship is comparable for the care he gets. There is no Assistance on a cruise ship😉

Yeah, a lot of people make the assisted living comparison, but bartender medicine isn’t quite the same a full healthcare.  Not exactly an apples to apples comparison.   With that said, it would be quite easy to live on a ship in retirement.   With a budget, I’d imagine a lot of average income folks could easily afford it if they choose that path.  Now doing it in suites is an entirely different story.   I’m probably going to be in the 6-8 per year range with 2 of those being transatlantic cruises.  That will be just right for me.  

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, topnole said:

Now doing it in suites is an entirely different story.  

Choosing a suite over a balcony really depends on which ship you decide to sail. The suite benefits (other than cabin size and closet space) on a Radiance class ship (which we used for our comps) really doesn't justify the additional cost. On an Oasis or Quantum class ship, the suite benefits would make a difference that would need to be "priced in" to the comps.. 

[island lady]

19 hours ago, molly361 said:

Well that's pretty sad.  I read that to mean that most of the Pinnacles they see in PC are not very nice.

 

Sad indeed.  😞 

[island lady]

18 hours ago, orville99 said:

DW has a walker she has nicknamed Winnie. Winnie wears the pins, making her Pinnie Winnie Walker😇

Now I wonder if I can take her as a dependent on my tax return😂

 

LOL!!   

 

I carry my "pet" which is George the Bilge rat...bought after a lot of teasing waiting for JS GTY to be assigned.   CC members on our roll call decided I was going to be assigned a cabin in the bilge...I told them I would take George as my cabin attendant. 😄  

 

BTW....we were assigned a GS two days before the cruise....George rode in style for that one.  😉 

[island lady]

16 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

I am not big anti of wearing the pin.  I just can’t imagine wearing the name badge.  That one I will never do.  If I did it wouldn’t have my actual name on it.  🤣

 

 

 

Ours has only our first names...Bucky (name on his pin) is a nickname...his real name is Allen.  😉 

[island lady]

18 hours ago, mo&fran said:

Maybe she had a string of bad ones that day. Most of the Pinns I have met are pretty low key individuals.  But I have seen some that look like they think  they are pretty special. Like walking around the pool deck  during the day with the pin attached to their tshirt for all to see.  I don't want to be that person. 

 

I am guessing she simply noticed the rude Pinnies.   It was only by accident she realized we were Pinnies...since we were not wearing our pins at the time.  

[island lady]

17 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Only time I was able to access the CL was on the Radiance in 2018 (we are D+) and it was a blessing, as the DL was packed to the max.  Most of the other ships, we could have accessed it were too full of Pins and they closed the CL access to us.  

We will likely never reach Pin

 

We appreciate the 7 drink vouchers...happy hour is now any hour, at any bar...and we like to have that "hour" a bit earlier.  We "bar float" before our early dinner...which means no crowds when we get happy.  😄 

 

Rarely use the lounges now, except for morning coffee.  The crowds and seat saving in those lounges were definitely getting old quickly.  

 

And BTW...never say never.  😉 

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

Rarely use the lounges now, except for morning coffee.  The crowds and seat saving in those lounges were definitely getting old quickly.  

We have used the lounges exactly twice since the restart, and on both occasions left after one drink. They are definitely not what they used to be. I think the S in SL now stands for sourpuss.

[island lady]

10 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Houseboat or Land Yacht😉

 

Land Yacht sold...now enjoying a less stress Summer stay in Maine in VRBO rentals.  🙂 

 

Happy we did not buy that second home up here...too much to worry about having two homes to take care of when we cruise.  😮 

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

Yeah, a lot of people make the assisted living comparison, but bartender medicine isn’t quite the same a full healthcare.  Not exactly an apples to apples comparison.   With that said, it would be quite easy to live on a ship in retirement.   With a budget, I’d imagine a lot of average income folks could easily afford it if they choose that path.  Now doing it in suites is an entirely different story.   I’m probably going to be in the 6-8 per year range with 2 of those being transatlantic cruises.  That will be just right for me.  

 

The challenge with full time ship living, is many months are affordable, but all 52 weeks adds in a ton of expensive trips to include. 

 

 

[island lady]

9 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

SL really not a draw anymore now that voychers are required.

 

 

Ditto to that.   Vouchers were a wonderful change for us...loving them.  🙂  

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Choosing a suite over a balcony really depends on which ship you decide to sail. The suite benefits (other than cabin size and closet space) on a Radiance class ship (which we used for our comps) really doesn't justify the additional cost. On an Oasis or Quantum class ship, the suite benefits would make a difference that would need to be "priced in" to the comps.. 

 

For a couple, full time ship living would likely need more room than a 160 sqft balcony cabin. 

[island lady]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Choosing a suite over a balcony really depends on which ship you decide to sail. The suite benefits (other than cabin size and closet space) on a Radiance class ship (which we used for our comps) really doesn't justify the additional cost. On an Oasis or Quantum class ship, the suite benefits would make a difference that would need to be "priced in" to the comps.. 

 

I didn't have a choice on WC.   Suites were strictly reserved for those booked on all four legs.  We only have 2 legs booked.  😞 

 

Have not cruised in a regular balcony cabin in years.  😮  Will be very cozy for 62 days at a time.  

[John&LaLa]

23 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Ours has only our first names...Bucky (name on his pin) is a nickname...his real name is Allen.  😉 

 

Laura's LaLa only pin was a mistake. Original pin included last name. 

 

When I requested a replacement, I asked to make sure it said LaLa, and that's what they did.🤣

 

FWIW, I'm not a fan of the new pins. Old font was much better.

[island lady]

9 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We have used the lounges exactly twice since the restart, and on both occasions left after one drink. They are definitely not what they used to be. I think the S in SL now stands for sourpuss.

 

😆😅🤣

[John&LaLa]

15 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

We appreciate the 7 drink vouchers...happy hour is now any hour, at any bar...and we like to have that "hour" a bit earlier.  We "bar float" before our early dinner...which means no crowds when we get happy.  😄 

 

7🤔

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Laura's LaLa only pin was a mistake. Original pin included last name. 

 

When I requested a replacement, I asked to make sure it said LaLa, and that's what they did.🤣

 

FWIW, I'm not a fan of the new pins. Old font was much better.

 

Definitely agree.  Our first pins were not secured in the box, bouncing around in the UPS truck smashing against the Stratum in the kit.  They were badly scratched and dinged, plus had our last names on it, which I specifically noted not to.  

 

LA (super sweet lady) on EX saw my pin and insisted she reorder them for us (Bucky wouldn't wear his).   She made sure they were correct...and they were.  🙂

 

Agree...the old pins are much nicer.   In fact everything the new promo company (Bamko I think is the company) puts out is less quality and takes soooo long to get to you.  

[orville99]

11 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

For a couple, full time ship living would likely need more room than a 160 sqft balcony cabin. 

True. If I remember correctly, we used the "spacious" OV Balcony for the comps which is a bit larger ~200 sqft. Again it was just for cost comps, not for comfort comps.

[island lady]

5 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

7🤔

 

Oops...got ahead myself there.  😄 

 

Oh well, we rarely ever make it to the full six per person anyway.  😉 

[orville99]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

7🤔

Somewhere between 3 and five, they lost count🍹

[John&LaLa]

7 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I didn't have a choice on WC.   Suites were strictly reserved for those booked on all four legs.  We only have 2 legs booked.  😞 

 

Have not cruised in a regular balcony cabin in years.  😮  Will be very cozy for 62 days at a time.  

 

FWIW, they really weren't reserved, they were all booked during the 3 or 4 month presale.

 

Those that cancelled were sold to folks on waiting lists. Eventually the waitlist was closed down.

 

Now some of the prime balconies were only available to full trip folks. That's why Laura had to give up her aft balcony when she changed to leg 1 only this spring.