RCCL Crown lounge

[alfaeric]

13 minutes ago, toad455 said:

The Happy hour unlimited free drinks from 5pm-8pm is gone for all ships, correct? I remember on the Jewel in 2019, some people would get trashed during those 3 hours. The liquor also appeared watered down during that time frame.

All ships, yes, unlimited, no.  You get an allocation based on D (4), D+(5), or P(6).  

 

And if you are worried about the liquor being watered down, you can go to any bar- since the number of drinks you get is the same everywhere.

[BridgeMates]

1 hour ago, alfaeric said:

All ships, yes, unlimited, no.  You get an allocation based on D (4), D+(5), or P(6).  

 

And if you are worried about the liquor being watered down, you can go to any bar- since the number of drinks you get is the same everywhere.

Can I use my drink vouchers for wine in the DR?

[RFerrington]

9 minutes ago, BridgeMates said:

Can I use my drink vouchers for wine in the DR?

Yes

[CntPAcruiser]

On 1/22/2024 at 5:21 AM, sgmn said:

They have a good free coffee machine which is open from very early in the morning.

There's continental style buffet breakfast, pastries, breads, ham, cheese, cereals etc. 

Happy Hour, between 4-8, there's a hot and cold hors d'oeuvres buffet, but if there's a lot of Diamond and up members on board, they sometimes exclude Diamond during these hours. 

In the old ships where it's in the Viking Crown lounge it's a nice quite place (except during HH) out of the sun to sit and watch the sea go by.

There's a concierge there to help with any problems or queries like a mini guest services.

Most people use their Diamond and up free drink vouchers so no $$ spent.

The ships officers often come by to chat during HH, which can be interesting.

Finally, as in any lounge you can meet interesting people.

 

2 hours ago, toad455 said:

The Happy hour unlimited free drinks from 5pm-8pm is gone for all ships, correct? I remember on the Jewel in 2019, some people would get trashed during those 3 hours. The liquor also appeared watered down during that time frame.

 

We enjoy the free coffee machine as well as having a place to meet others who cruise often. Usually it's very pleasant, either as a quiet space during the day or as a place to meet like-minded people in the evening. That was not the case on our last cruise, surprisingly, since a large group of pinnacles took over through the entire happy hour and commandeered most of the seating, with the concierge's blessing. That really ruined the lounge's vibe. But otherwise it's always been enjoyable.

 

It's also a good place for a quick breakfast or snack, since they have one of my favorites, the smoked salmon, throughout the sailing, as well as cookies most other times throughout the day. My DH loves the dipped strawberries as well.

 

I can't say as we've ever noticed many officers stopping in to chat on most of our cruises. That would be nice, actually.

 

We dd have a few cruises in the pre-COVID days with the all-you-can-drink happy hours. The new system is more to our benefit, as my husband doesn't drink alcohol, but enjoys the virgin drinks he can get with his vouchers. And I like being able to spread out my drinks throughout the day. It's also nice to have access to the full range (almost) of spirits and wine, instead of the old short list of what was available in the lounge.

 

Never got the impression that the liquor was watered down. Back in those days, they had a small bar setup right in the lounge with a dedicated bartender or two, and you could really customize your drinks, within the limitations of a very limited spirit menu. The vodka, scotch, whiskey, and gin weren't much to write home about, but they offered cognac and port, among other things. We rarely left the lounge for dinner without a drink or two for the road. Many times, when they took over part of the Viking Crown Lounge (back in the day) as more Diamond Lounge space, if you got to know the bartenders, they would make almost anything you wanted, and now you can pretty much get that with the vouchers.

Edited January 28 by CntPAcruiser

[CntPAcruiser]

45 minutes ago, BridgeMates said:

Can I use my drink vouchers for wine in the DR?

 

A few tips regarding wine by the glass. The MDR has a slightly different selection from some of the other venues on board, and I got tired of what they had on offer within the voucher price so I started getting my wine on the way in to dinner. Another issue was that they would either not charge the voucher to the right account between me and my husband, or they would not run the charge through until later and it would create discrepancy a between how many vouchers were actually used versus how many were available. More than once I had to go to guest services to get things fixed or remove a charge that shouldn't have been. Fair warning to be specific whose voucher you are using, and even then sometimes they would screw it up. 

[cruiseguy1016]

1 hour ago, BridgeMates said:

Can I use my drink vouchers for wine in the DR?

 

Yes, you can. However, we have found "bar service" in the MDR to be slow. We always stop at a bar on the way to the MDR and grab a drink to bring with us.

[aubreyc1988]

3 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

Yes, you can. However, we have found "bar service" in the MDR to be slow. We always stop at a bar on the way to the MDR and grab a drink to bring with us.

I concur. I guess they might have to go far to the bar or something, but bar service (for us) has always taken ages when ordered in MDR. We just get a drink right before entering. I feel a little bad since the bartender is always like "ohhh you have one already" but most of the time it is slower than our food, and usually the wrong drink.  

[cruise1957]

On 1/22/2024 at 2:07 PM, island lady said:

 

I am only getting one point a night on the cruise I am currently on.  😉 

And it is a great cruise, following your posts there and loving all the photos and info. Hope it keeps going after you get off in LA.