Crown lounge happy hour

[runner2013]

Hi all,

Is there still a happy hour type thing in the Crown lounge every night with free drinks during that time?

We just reached diamond and  know we receive 4 drink coupons each day,  but weren't sure if the hh still existed or was replaced by the coupons .

Thanks

[gumshoe958]

4 minutes ago, runner2013 said:

Hi all,

Is there still a happy hour type thing in the Crown lounge every night with free drinks during that time?

We just reached diamond and  know we receive 4 drink coupons each day,  but weren't sure if the hh still existed or was replaced by the coupons .

Thanks

Happy hour still exists with canapés but no free drinks. You have to use your vouchers.

 

Also beware that on some sailings Diamonds aren’t allowed in the lounge between 5pm & 8pm, typically those with high numbers of top tier guests.

 

Edited February 28 by gumshoe958

[leaveitallbehind]

4 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Happy hour still exists with canapés but no free drinks. You have to use your vouchers.

 

Also beware that on some sailings Diamonds aren’t allowed in the lounge between 5pm & 8pm, typically those with high numbers of top tier guests.

The vouchers are pre-loaded daily on your SeaPass card but are recorded by the bartenders in the Crown lounge as well as any bar on the ship.  No more unlimited Crown Lounge drinks.  (Hasn't officially been for some time with the vouchers).

 

Diamonds are no longer permitted in the Crown Lounge during the cocktail hour.  They can (and must) however use their vouchers at any other bar on the ship (other than the Bionic Bar) during those hours. It is now a lounge reserved during those hours for D+ and Pinnacle - regardless of numbers on board.  D's still have access to the Crown Lounge and the Concierge at any other normal lounge and Concierge hours during the day.  And this is on all sailings, not some, and was being enforced on our recent NYE Oasis cruise.

Edited February 29 by leaveitallbehind

[Marlin girl]

Above statement about “all sailings” is not true.  Yes, some sailings are D+ and higher, but it depends on the number of D+ and higher guests that particular sailing has.  We have been on a couple cruises within past 60 days, and Diamonds were allowed in as others in this thread have stated.  Again, it all depends on how many D+ and Pinnacles are on board.

[sgmn]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

Diamonds are no longer permitted in the Crown Lounge during the cocktail hour.  They can (and must) however use their vouchers at any other bar on the ship (other than the Bionic Bar) during those hours. It is now a lounge reserved during those hours for D+ and Pinnacle - regardless of numbers on board.  D's still have access to the Crown Lounge and the Concierge at any other normal lounge and Concierge hours during the day.  And this is on all sailings, not some, and was being enforced on our recent NYE Oasis cruise.

Currently on Spectrum. Diamonds welcome at all time, even during happy hour.  Was also welcome on Serenade last September.  Very much depends on how busy and how many diamonds and above on board. 

Cruise by cruise basis 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

The vouchers are pre-loaded daily on your SeaPass card but are recorded by the bartenders in the Crown lounge as well as any bar on the ship.  No more unlimited Crown Lounge drinks.  (Hasn't officially been for some time with the vouchers).

 

Diamonds are no longer permitted in the Crown Lounge during the cocktail hour.  They can (and must) however use their vouchers at any other bar on the ship (other than the Bionic Bar) during those hours. It is now a lounge reserved during those hours for D+ and Pinnacle - regardless of numbers on board.  D's still have access to the Crown Lounge and the Concierge at any other normal lounge and Concierge hours during the day.  And this is on all sailings, not some, and was being enforced on our recent NYE Oasis cruise.

Strange. We are D members and received a letter inviting us in during happy hour last week. 

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

The vouchers are pre-loaded daily on your SeaPass card but are recorded by the bartenders in the Crown lounge as well as any bar on the ship.  No more unlimited Crown Lounge drinks.  (Hasn't officially been for some time with the vouchers).

 

Diamonds are no longer permitted in the Crown Lounge during the cocktail hour.  They can (and must) however use their vouchers at any other bar on the ship (other than the Bionic Bar) during those hours. It is now a lounge reserved during those hours for D+ and Pinnacle - regardless of numbers on board.  D's still have access to the Crown Lounge and the Concierge at any other normal lounge and Concierge hours during the day.  And this is on all sailings, not some, and was being enforced on our recent NYE Oasis cruise.

Not true. Diamonds are still allowed in the Crown Lounge at any time except for cruises with a high number of Pinnacles and Diamond Plus. Hopefully I will reach Pinnacle before the Crown Lounge starts excluding D+s on certain cruises. 

[SEA DOGY]

We are Elite + on Celebrity. Can we get in the Crown lounge. TIA 

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, SEA DOGY said:

We are Elite + on Celebrity. Can we get in the Crown lounge. TIA 

You would be Diamond on RCI.  You may or may not be allowed during happy hour, but are welcome at other times.

[happy cruzer]

Anyone have recent pictures of the Crown Lounge offerings during HH?  Thanks.

[Mick B]

Hi,

I am D+ and will be forever as at my age and with the current amount of time on board the ships each year, I worked it out roughly that I would not turn P until I am around 106. Given most members of my family do not get past their mid 70s I won't hold my breath. I am expecting RCI to introduce a new tier around the 340 mark (possibly called "Crown") and I should pass that mark soon, as I expect just about every perk under it to be removed within 5 years due to the way the new team in charge are operating. However, one thing I am not going to do, or fall for, is booking loads of cruises I don't want to do in JS and GS just to get to that mark as the extra cost of doing so far outweighs the cost of the perks involved. Nice try though RCI if that's your gameplan here.

 

It is a real shame that RCI have gone down this route of excluding Diamond members from the recently named Crown Lounge depending on the number of D+ and Ps as it is impossible for anyone to plan a cruise in advance that would sail with low numbers given the fact that so many people (me included) took advantage of the double points, and double double points for a JS and higher a few years back.

 

I could understand it if all Diamonds were barred full stop or just during the HH during every cruise, because then they would know where they stand, but this way just seems a bit wrong to me.

After all, now there is no free drinks and you have to use your vouchers, what are RCI actually achieving here. 

I remember when you could get completely tanked up during the HH and it used to be jammed and they have to close off another area as an overflow. But on my last several cruises since Covid, the DL, sorry, Crown Lounge as not been very full at all during the HH on the ships I have been on, and on some occasions we have sat in for many hours with no-one coming in, other than to speak with the concierge. This is probably because you can use your vouchers at any bar and share the drinks, so some may do just that, use the vouchers to buy friends and family a drink instead of leaving them to go to the Crown Lounge.

However, I still believe as a D, D+ and P C&A member, we should have the choice to go to the lounge at ALL times if we choose to want to.

 

Mick.

 

[cruisegirl1]

The restriction of the occasional   Crown lounge HH access for diamond filters down often when Pinnacle members are totally restricted from the suite lounge. On some Cruises only the top 30 (or fewer) point pinnacles  are allowed in the suite lounge. All the other pinnacles on board are designated to use the crown lounge for any lounge use. With the pinnacles, diamond plus, and diamond, that could be well over 1000 passengers on any particular cruise having crown lounge access. The limited seating dictates that somebody has to be limited  during cocktail hour. At this time, Royal chose to allow the highest point passengers to have access to the Crown lounge and limit restrictions of those with fewer points.

 

Just as many pinnacles have no knowledge or guarantee if they will have access to the suite  lounge on any given cruise, the same would hold for any potential diamond happy hour restriction. One finds out once on board. It is not a big deal.  
 

m

 

 

Edited February 29 by cruisegirl1

[leaveitallbehind]

Well from all of the contradictory posts I guess my information regarding the restrictions to Diamonds with the Crown Lounge access is incorrect.  I apologize for what now appears to be inaccurate information.  However this is how it was explained to us on our NYE cruise when Diamond level friends of ours who were sailing with us were denied access during the cocktail hour.  And what seemed unusual about that was the lounge was never more than half full, but perhaps that was the reason.  But it didn't seem to be because of an excess of D+ and PInnacle.

 

Again, I don't like conveying inaccurate information and appreciate the experiences provided by those who challenged it.  Live and learn.

Edited February 29 by leaveitallbehind

[mizLORInj]

So we've never gone to the lounge during happy hour on Royal (we've been doing Celebrity and MSC lately).  Not even sure we knew this existed and we were just happy to have our drinks wherever and whenever.   So, since our drinks are loaded on our sea pass cards, is there a reason to go to their HH in the Crown lounge?  (didn't it used to be called Viking lounge?)   🙂  Please enlighten me.   Haven't sailed on Royal since 2022 so I seem out of touch!  

 

[TeeRick]

We went to the Crown Lounge on Symphony a couple of weeks ago.  Once, briefly.  It was windowless / dark.  There are so many better choices to use our 5 drink coupons on this ship at least.  Yes the old days of free drinks for 3 hours in a Diamond Lounge are gone for D, D+ and P.

 

Other than drinking, I recognize three attractive things about the Crown Lounge during HH.

1) Decent hot and cold appetizers.

2) The chance to connect with other experienced RCCL loyalty cruisers to swap stories.

3) Dedicated concierge 

[alfaeric]

7 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

 

3) Dedicated concierge 

Don’t need to go to happy hour to use them. They are there other hours than just happy hour. 

[TeeRick]

4 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Don’t need to go to happy hour to use them. They are there other hours than just happy hour. 

Yes.  I did not mean to imply that the concierge was available only in HH.  But he/she is definitely there during these hours.

[leaveitallbehind]

4 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Yes.  I did not mean to imply that the concierge was available only in HH.  But he/she is definitely there during these hours.

They also typically have published daytime hours as well.  Of this information I am certain....LOL

Edited February 29 by leaveitallbehind

[SilkySal]

26 minutes ago, mizLORInj said:

So we've never gone to the lounge during happy hour on Royal (we've been doing Celebrity and MSC lately).  Not even sure we knew this existed and we were just happy to have our drinks wherever and whenever.   So, since our drinks are loaded on our sea pass cards, is there a reason to go to their HH in the Crown lounge?  (didn't it used to be called Viking lounge?)   🙂  Please enlighten me.   Haven't sailed on Royal since 2022 so I seem out of touch!  

 

No, the Viking lounge is for all cruisers, regardless of status, unless it's blocked for a private function. The now "Crown" lounge used to be the "Diamond" lounge, which is a closed off area in the Viking lounge, as well as another closed area, which is the "Suite" lounge. On Adventure of the Seas, the Viking lounge has been renamed the "Blue Moon" lounge. Confusing for out-of-touch cruisers! Hope that helps!

Edited February 29 by SilkySal
add

[mizLORInj]

11 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

No, the Viking lounge is for all cruisers, regardless of status, unless it's blocked for a private function. The now "Crown" lounge used to be the "Diamond" lounge, which is a closed off area in the Viking lounge, as well as another closed area, which is the "Suite" lounge. On Adventure of the Seas, the Viking lounge has been renamed the "Blue Moon" lounge. Confusing for out-of-touch cruisers! Hope that helps!

ok. Thanks.   It was called Diamond Lounge last time I was on Adventure, so good to know that it's changed.  There were only 1 or 2 people in there and the concierge was never there when we were, but we didn't go in often. 

I love the Viking lounge with all those windows.  We were on MSC Meraviglia and it has something similar--we kept calling it the Viking Lounge and seasoned fellow cruisers knew what I meant when I said "we'll see you later in the Viking lounge" though MSC calls it Sky Lounge, not to be confused with Celebrity's Sky Lounge.  😁

[doghog]

33 minutes ago, mizLORInj said:

So, since our drinks are loaded on our sea pass cards, is there a reason to go to their HH in the Crown lounge?  

No reason at all. That's all on you. But we do and always have enjoyed the lounge. We like having a couple of pre supper drinks and a lite snack in the CL before heading to the MDR. We like having our  drinks loaded on our Seapass cards for the other times of the day and evening around the ship. 

[SilkySal]

FYI - If anyone will be going on Adventure soon and, if you enjoy an excellent Old Fashion, make sure to ask Alfie in the Crown (formerly Diamond) Lounge to make them for you!! DH says that he makes the best ones!! Cheers!!

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Well from all of the contradictory posts I guess my information regarding the restrictions to Diamonds with the Crown Lounge access is incorrect.  I apologize for what now appears to be inaccurate information.  However this is how it was explained to us on our NYE cruise when Diamond level friends of ours who were sailing with us were denied access during the cocktail hour.  And what seemed unusual about that was the lounge was never more than half full, but perhaps that was the reason.  But it didn't seem to be because of an excess of D+ and PInnacle.

 

Again, I don't like conveying inaccurate information and appreciate the experiences provided by those who challenged it.  Live and learn.

You bring up an interesting point that I haven’t seen RCI address during a cruise. Just because a cruise has a lot of Ps and D+s, does not mean they will all be going to the CL frequently. Just my two cents opinion, but if the CL wasn’t being heavily used like it was on your cruise, RCI should consider opening the CL to Ds during HH for the remainder of the cruise. 

[doghog]

3 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

You bring up an interesting point that I haven’t seen RCI address during a cruise. Just because a cruise has a lot of Ps and D+s, does not mean they will all be going to the CL frequently. Just my two cents opinion, but if the CL wasn’t being heavily used like it was on your cruise, RCI should consider opening the CL to Ds during HH for the remainder of the cruise. 

Agree.

 

Making the decision pre cruise based on bookings is ridiculous. I've read other CC post the same experience as @leaveitallbehind witnessed.  The CL HH should be first come first serve like it always has been. Too bad if we get there and there aren't any seats. We'll go somewhere else then. 

[Another_Critic]

7 hours ago, Mick B said:

I remember when you could get completely tanked up during the HH and it used to be jammed and they have to close off another area as an overflow. But on my last several cruises since Covid, the DL, sorry, Crown Lounge as not been very full at all during the HH on the ships I have been on, and on some occasions we have sat in for many hours with no-one coming in, other than to speak with the concierge.

 

I've been doing transatlantics and the Crown Lounge is usually full during HH.  And they have added overflow either for "everyone" (D and above) or just for Pinnacle.