Letter to Diamond Members (Merged Threads)

[texlatin1]

RCI continues to build bigger ships that are really not needed at this time and because of that they find themselves in the position they are in today. Without any consideration for it's loyal customers that come back for sailings year after year it has decided to treat us like strangers and thinks that it's ok. We did not ask them to make it bigger nor better. We were happy the way it was. Because they made the mistakes, they expect us to pay for it. :eek:

 

I hope that we, loyal Diamond members banned together and show them that we can be just as ungrateful as they are by taking our next cruises with the many other cruise lines that are out there. Afterall, RCI was never the cheapest cruise line to go on, and if we start looking around, most of us loyal Diamond members will finally realize that and so will Mr. Goldstein (President and CEO of RCI). :rolleyes:

 

The disgrace of all this is the overcrowding factor that is being pushed on us when the truth of the matter is the bottom line...25% off is an insult, and the belly wash of wine and champaign that will be served they can truly keep! I know I say "thank you but NO THANK YOU" to Royal Caribbean! :cool:

 

:confused:

[drummond]

Whilst no one in the UK has even received the original mail, let alone the updated mail, I assume there are lots of Brits out there who are still unaware of the changes, and the changes to the changes.....

 

I have only read about them on CC.

I applaud RCI for taking note of the feedback and giving us Diamonds a 'sort of' CL back.

I only drink champagne so I am quite happy with the selection, and bearing in mind most CLs are in windowless locations I hope we get a nice room with views to enjoy our complimentary drinkies in.

 

So Thank You RCI from me ........but will we still get the canapes.....?!

 

C&A have confirmed to me that hors d`oeuvers will not be served in the diamond lounge ! !

[CruiseKeeper]

C&A have confirmed to me that hors d`oeuvers will not be served in the diamond lounge ! !

 

Bummer, sometimes it's nice to have a little some-some to wash down the La terre. Just a joke, relax.... :D

[MrPete]

Mr. Pete,

 

I totally agree with you!!! I'm not so sure it's an appropriate title for this thread either.....LOL

 

Well, if anything, the title has become the butt of jokes on the internet (and more :eek: .)

[negc]

I don't see this as much as "meeting in the middle" as it is delaying the original plan. Did anyone notice the "happy hour" is from 5pm to 8pm. Isn't that when most people are at dinner? As a shareholder I see my perks evaporating slowly.

Your complaint about the times for the "happy hour" under the new proposal is a bit puzzlineg.:confused: The hours that you refer to are basically unchanged from the current "happy hours" in the CL, and few people will be at dinner during that entire time period. The purpose of the happy hour is to allow guests to have a few drinks before they go to dinner and this arrangement manages to provide the same opportunity under the new system as it did under the current one. As a stockholder, I would rather see the value of my stock rise than worry about a shareholder credit, which incidentally is still available until or unless the benefit is removed at the annual meeting. It is not stackable, meaning that it can't be combined with such things as the diamond or platinum balcony discount, but again in these times of a difficult economy it can certainly be argued that allowing people to combine perks ad infinitem doesn't bode well for the company's financial status and thus the value of its stock. Certainly the compromises don't restore everything but that is usually what happens when a compromise is reached. Some look at a glass and see it as half-empty, others of us see it as half-full.:)

[jbond]

If you gave two drinks to each Diamond/Diamond Plus cruiser on a seven day cruise it would cost $2100 for 300 cruisers.

Well, not exactly. You are conveniently forgetting that if the 300 cruisers didn't get their free drinks they just might buy them in a ship's bar. Two drinks at $7.50 each times seven days times 300 cruisers come out to be $31,500. It's not the cost of the free drinks, it's also the cost of the lost revenue. Using your numbers, that could be a total cost of $33,600, It mounts up over a year, like over $1.5M.

 

Surprising how on the original, now closed, post, many people claimed that they enjoyed the CL for the atmosphere and the opportunity to share a glass of wine or champagne with fellow cruisers. Now it's just pig swill wine and rot gut champagne. I guess you can't please everyone.

[texlatin1]

 

Surprising how on the original, now closed, post, many people claimed that they enjoyed the CL for the atmosphere and the opportunity to share a glass of wine or champagne with fellow cruisers. Now it's just pig swill wine and rot gut champagne. I guess you can't please everyone.

 

Wow jbond, I was just thinking the same thing! After all the hoopla that was made about none of this being about the free drinks, just looking back at several of these posts it most certainly is about the free drinks! Previously it was about, as you mentioned, being able to go in to the CL to mix and mingle or for early morning coffee or a quiet retreat! Now it's all about only having a 25% discount on alcohol and "chumpagne and cheap boxed wine" (as another poster referred to it). Now I'm not saying that everyone who previously had greiveances feels this way but you just have to read back a bit and see who those persons are and most likely, they were the ones who 1st claimed it was not about the free drinks.:rolleyes:

[Latvish]

I was happy to see the new changes but I understood the previous policy.

 

Those that are saying as shareholders they should get more.

 

Well what if you were a shareholder with the Big 3. Your shares would be only worth a few cents. Feel lucky that you have what you have. Look at the economy. Luckily you have the money to invest. I have lost close to $100,000 in Mutual funds in the past year. So if I can get a free glass of wine I am happy.

 

My company raises its prices and I have to pay the same as the rest.

 

Its what companies do to break even.

 

25% off drinks is better than full price.

 

If you want the perks then get a suite.

 

As far as grandfathering in. Where do you draw the line? Your gonna make someone mad either way. I have a ways to go to get D+ but its not going to make me change lines because I lost a perk. I dont cruise for perks I cruise for the fun and the relaxation. To meet new friends and reunite with old friends.

 

Enjoy your vacation.

 

Its for the reason that so many complain that I dont think I would ever go on a Members cruise. There would be too many complainers.

 

Just be lucky they are trying to give a little. They could easily change the rankings and make Gold from 1-10 Platinum from 11-20 Diamond from 21-30 and D+ 31 or more

[MrPete]

After all the hoopla that was made about none of this being about the free drinks, just looking back at several of these posts it most certainly is about the free drinks!

 

Of course it's about the free drinks, but most were not being honest.

 

Read over and over these "patrons" just wanted a place to schooze with "their kind". :eek: (yeah, OK)

 

If I were a D member, I would have been complaining about the free drinks. Not being one, I've just been reading this evolution of human nature as a interesting pyschological thread.

 

It has played out as expected.

[CruiseKeeper]

Wouldn’t it be more fair to point out individual posters that said they would enjoy wine or champagne before dinner and are now referring to that wine and champagne as pig swill or rot gut than to paint all posters with the same brush?

 

Many posters are happy with the compromise.

 

I posted my joke above because someone imagined only house wine would be available. We won't know until September what they will serve.

[jbond]

I don't believe I painted all posters with the same brush. Certainly you were not included in my comment. Those that are now condemning RCI for supplying below standard beverages (in their opinion) know who they are, and as they say, if the cap fits, wear it.

[CruiseKeeper]

I don't believe I painted all posters with the same brush. Certainly you were not included in my comment. Those that are now condemning RCI for supplying below standard beverages (in their opinion) know who they are, and as they say, if the cap fits, wear it.

 

Thanks for the clarification. :) I'm just feeling sensitive over this. The loudest posts are sometimes the only ones that are remembered. Some people still aren't happy and I'm okay with that. Their feelings, their choice.

[sealord]

C&A have confirmed to me that hors d`oeuvers will not be served in the diamond lounge ! !

 

After 'sleeping on' Goldstein's most recent 'publication', I decided that the RCI revision to the "enhancements" is not adequate. There are some attractive features, but they have still substantially denegrated the benefits 'earned' by the Diamond people using the 'overcrowding' excuse as the reason. I have sent the following E-mail to Mr. Goldstein.

 

Dear Mr. Goldstein:

 

Although your revised "enhancements" are clearly a step forward, they are

also clearly inadequate for a number of reasons. I will list them for you:

 

1. The 'reason' for the change in the Concierge Lounge benefit was given to

be "crowding". Your "VIP" party proposal for Diamond members is clearly a

solution to the "crowding". You have not solved the issue of 'reciprocity'.

Diamond members were promised the Concierge Lounge benefit after 10 cruises,

therefore the "VIP" party should have the same "benefit" as the Concierge

Lounge, if we are to accept it as a proper substitute for the 'advertised'

Diamond level Concierge Lounge benefit. That would of necessity include

complimentary "cocktails" not a 25% discount, and it would include the same

'snacks' that are served in the CL. It would include the coffee machine

with specialty coffees throughout the day. Your proposal still 'reneges' on

the bargain we made when we signed up for the C&A 'program'. We signed up

for the steak, and you are now offering us hamburger ... and we have to pay

for the hamburger.

 

2. If I had known these changes were forthcoming, or that I was going to

need more 'cruise credits', I would have cruised differently. For example,

I would never have gone on that 'eleven' day Panama Canal cruise in

December. I would have taken something twelve days or longer to get the

extra cruise credit. I would not have tried out the Celebrity Infinity. I

would have done another double credit cruise on RCCL. When you are striving

for those 'credits', which take a very long time to accumulate, you are

counting on the integrity of the offer. RCI has shown that 'they' don't

understand the concept of 'integrity'. These are some of the possible

changes I would have made in my cruising 'profile'. In reality, if I knew

that it was going to take 24 credits to get what RCCL said I could have at

ten, I would not have been cruising RCCL, or certainly not to the exclusion

of other lines that might have been more convenient or economical. RCCL got

my business under 'false' pretences.

 

3. RCCL has demonstrated that 'they' have no reservations about 'raising

the bar' when it comes to the advertised benefits. So why should we believe

that even the 'new' benefits will be there when we 'get out there'? You

offered benefits that required a major commitment from your customers, and

now RCCL has decided to not uphold their part of the bargain. Many

customers, including me, have started to become wary of the Royal Caribbean

Visa/Royal Points program as well. Many of us will be using up those Royal

Points while we still can, and canceling the card. Actually, I just

discovered that, in spite of the fact that the written words say you get

double points for charges made to Royal Caribbean International, my charges

made on Celebrity do not get double points. The 'words' do not say charges

to RCCL get double points, they say charges to RCI get double points. I

would call that another 'integrity' failure.

 

If the benefits to the Diamond Members are not restored in 'equal kind' to

what they were prior to these changes made necessary due to 'crowding', RCCL

will have failed to restore the 'trust' and 'loyalty' of some of their best

customers. These revised 'enhancements' are definitely a step forward, but

they were in response to 'two steps' backward. At that rate I should be

back the Crown and Anchor "Gold" in no time at all.

 

Still :mad:

[jewelinthesand]

Just got this e-mail:

 

Thank you for your e-mail regarding your benefits. We apologize for any delay in our response. You are a valued member and we appreciate you taking the time to write us regarding your comments, suggestions and concerns. You will be happy to hear we have recently made some new adjustments. Please see the below letter to our members from Royal Caribbean International President, Adam Goldstein.

Dear Crown & Anchor Diamond and Diamond Plus Members,

I am writing to provide you with an update regarding the recent changes to our Crown & Anchor Loyalty Program.

Let me begin by thanking you for being loyal customers of Royal Caribbean International. These are remarkable times economic challenges, new modes of communication, amazing new ships and so many other changes that impact our lives at every turn. Especially in these times, we appreciate your loyalty as our Crown & Anchor Diamond and Diamond Plus members.

As you may know, we recently announced a number of changes to our Crown & Anchor Loyalty Program. Many of our Diamond Members have expressed considerable unhappiness about the change in eligibility for access to our Concierge Lounges. While we knew the reaction would be negative, it has been more negative then we anticipated. This underscores how phenomenally passionate our most loyal customers are about their Royal Caribbean experiences. We believe one of our strengths that inspires such loyalty is our ability to learn from others and especially from our Crown & Anchor customers. With this in mind, I will comment on the change in eligibility regarding our Concierge Lounges and also inform you of some new enhancements that will improve your experience onboard our ships.

Our decision to limit access to the Concierge Lounges was based on the unfortunate but inescapable fact that we cannot deliver an acceptable experience in lounges that were never designed to handle so many people. We regret that the crowding in our Concierge Lounges prevents us from delivering the experience we intended. It also prevents us from being able to grandfather in Concierge Lounge access for existing Diamond level members. We deeply regret having to restrict this access, but we are committed to delivering an exceptional Concierge Lounge experience. Having said that, we realize we should have provided more notice of our decision, which carries such consequences. To that end, we will delay the implementation date for the change in eligibility from July 1, 2009, to September 1, 2009.

Before I address the additional initiatives we will implement, I would like to summarize the physical or hardware status of our fleet as it relates to Concierge Lounges and Diamond Lounges, taking into account all 22 Royal Caribbean International ships that are now open for sale.

Five ships (our Freedom class and Oasis class) have both the Concierge Lounges and Diamond Lounges. We are excited about the Concierge Lounge overlooking the Boardwalk and the Diamond Lounge overlooking the Royal Promenade on our forthcoming Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Five ships (Monarch of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas, Vision of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas) have no Concierge Lounges and two ships (Splendour of the Seas and Legend of the Seas) have limited Concierge Lounges.

Ten ships have Concierge Lounges but no Diamond Lounges (Enchantment of the Seas, as well as the ships in our Voyager class and Radiance class). While we dont currently have plans to add Diamond Lounges to these ships, we will look for opportunities to invest in Diamond Lounges as we go forward.

The strong response from our Diamond members regarding our recent changes demonstrates how much the Concierge Lounges are valued and we clearly should honor that response. The feedback we have received from Diamond members fall primarily into one of the three following categories:

Preserving the social aspect the ability to meet and mingle with other members

Maintaining free or reduced price drinks

And, access to concierge-type services for ice show tickets and other activities

In order to address the first two interests for Diamond members, outside the Concierge Lounge, effective September 1 we will offer them a dedicated VIP private party in one of our bars or lounges. This may be held in the Viking Crown Lounge, or any other bar or lounge designated by the ship. In this dedicated area, from approximately 5 to 8 p.m., we will offer complimentary wine and champagne and happy hour discount of 25 percent off all other beverages. This will be offered every day of each sailing and will replace our recently announced one-time per-cruise special Diamond party.

Additionally, we will offer a new continental breakfast from approximately 8 to 10 a.m. in one of the rooms adjacent to the main dining room onboard. During these morning hours, a crew member will be present and will provide services such as obtaining ice show tickets, and other assistance. We believe these changes will address the primary desires our Diamond members have expressed. These enhancements will be instituted on all our ships that dont have a Diamond Lounge today.

A number of Crown & Anchor members have placed the Concierge Lounge issue in the context of a perceived sequence of cutbacks that taken together have reduced the quality of the product we offer. We take these comments seriously. I am pleased to inform you that in 2009 we are seeing one of the most meaningful year-over-year improvements in our guest satisfaction ratings in memory. Apart from the obvious Independence of the Seas entering the fleet, Empress of the Seas and Sovereign of the Seas leaving the fleet and Oasis of the Seas soon to join systemic improvements such as My Time Dining, our suite enhancements, the new debarkation process, and numerous smaller initiatives are being very positively recognized by guests, travel agents and the media.

While we understand not everyone is happy about every change taking place in our fleet, we appreciate your loyalty to our company and we sincerely hope you will continue to choose Royal Caribbean International. It gives us no pleasure to hear from aggrieved Diamond and Diamond Plus customers. Our goal is to earn your advocacy and your return to our fleet by providing you with truly memorable vacations and by recognizing and rewarding your loyalty.

Our mantra at Royal Caribbean International, besides delivering the Wow, is continuous improvement. We constantly strive to find the right balance, so our product evolves in ways that our guests, especially our most loyal guests, are comfortable with. Our ratings and most communications we receive indicate that the balancing is working. However, occasionally we stumble and when we do we try to react quickly. This may be such an instance. We are committed to earning the faith you place in us. I hope the additional enhancements explained in this letter demonstrate our commitment.

Thank you very much for being our customer and for your loyalty to Royal Caribbean International.

Sincerely,

Adam M. Goldstein

President and Chief Executive Officer

Royal Caribbean International

Crown & Anchor Diamond and Diamond Plus Members, we look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon.

Sincerely,

Cara Scott

Crown & Anchor Society

 

 

 

while i think this is great that they actually listened to the members, etc, what they are doing now for the diamond members sort of contradicts the reasons they gave for the change to begin with. if the only reason is space issues which is what they are saying, then now that they are going to give diamond members a daily area from 5-8pm with free wine and champange, why only 25% off other liquor? in the coincerge lounge it is all liquor, and top shelf at that, that is free so why would they skip that and only offer it at 25%? i think the real reason is obvious - because they don't want to spend the money. it takes 10 cruises, or less if you have a suite which costs way more money, to become diamond so the diamond passengers have spent alot of money to get to that level and the perk of free drinks in the evening should not have been taken away from them.

 

i think it really hurts the diamond members that are already at that level. it only stings people just about to become diamond. they should have grandfathered in all the present diamond members and they could have just gone to this place on the ship from 5-8pm and had the same as they had in the coincerge lounge before.

 

JMHO

[SherriZ366]

Now the "Diamond" members get to take over a lounge from 5-8pm every night of the cruise but everyone else loses access to that lounge which would have been open to all passengers during that time! How does this resolve the problem?

 

The overflows lounges for the D/D+s have already been occuring. They take over the card room in the Viking Crown or the disco (which is closed at that time) or one of the Viking Crown lounges on the Radiance class ships that is not used pre-dinner like Hollywood Odessy (might be a cigar bar after dinner). So lounges that people go to pre-dinner like the Schooner Bar, Boleros, Vintages etc. Olive or Twist are not closed off. We were in the disco on IOS as there were 200+ D/D+s in Jan. Some IOS cruises had as many as 700 D/

D+s.

[Allaboutsailingrc]

I just checked my Crown & Anchor Society membership card.

Fine print: Royal Caribbean reserves the right to change this program.

Is that so difficult to understand?

[jbond]

It would include the coffee machine with specialty coffees throughout the day.

Not all CL's have the coffee machines, so this "omission" would be in line with those CL's.

The 'reason' for the change in the Concierge Lounge benefit was given to be "crowding". ........ That would of necessity include

complimentary "cocktails" not a 25% discount,

Maybe the 25% discount is part of the "overcrowding" solution. Charging for Johnny Rockets certainly worked to alleviate the crowds there.

why only 25% off other liquor? in the coincerge lounge it is all liquor, and top shelf at that, that is free so why would they skip that and only offer it at 25%? i think the real reason is obvious - because they don't want to spend the money.

In the CL the free liquor was limited to very simple drinks. In many CL's it was just "rocks" drinks. I also think that the real reason is obvious, but it's not that they don't want to spend the money, it's that they want you to spend the money.

[anchoras]

The way I see it, Royal is attempting damage control, they have given the least amount possible in attempt to appease the masses.

 

I will most certainly write to Mr Goldstien, thanking him for the attempt, however, the way I see it, you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.

[Hornet84]

My wife and I are newly minted RCI Diamond members. We are taking our first RCI cruise as Diamond members on 4/19/09 from Colon, Panama on the Enchantment of the Seas. I did not view the original letter from RCI negatively, because I had never experienced the current Diamond member perks. I am glad to see that RCI has made adjustments based on Diamond member feedback. I believe that it shows they care about their loyal customers and loyalty is something you don't see too often anymore in society as a whole. Good for RCI and I expect to enjoy this upcoming cruise very much.

[mommamd]

If I book a Grand Suite on the Enchantment 4 d cruise do I get 2 cruise credits? I drink a lot of wine from 5-8pm and could use Diamond status Pronto. (LOL)

[sealord]

I just checked my Crown & Anchor Society membership card.

Fine print: Royal Caribbean reserves the right to change this program.

Is that so difficult to understand?

 

Very easy to understand. That is why it is called "fine print". It is a tool that is often used with 'malice of forethought' to deceive using the "large" print.

 

"The customer reserves the right to change their cruise line." And that fine print is why Mr. Goldstein is trying to do "damage control".

[Cruisingjer]

The irony in this whole kerfuffle is, it was all about giving out free drinks for Royal and all about getting free drinks for diamond cruisers.

 

Royal wanted to generate more revenue, it was never a space issue and Diamond members really wanted free drinks, not to be able to mingle with others.

[gsb]

I just checked my Crown & Anchor Society membership card.

Fine print: Royal Caribbean reserves the right to change this program.

Is that so difficult to understand?

 

I see. That makes it right. We give in and pay 75% for our drinks, they take away and get our 75%. Nice compromise or meeting in the middle?

I don't think so.

[jmcal123]

Undeliverable how much energy is spent on bitching about this... Go to another cruise line if you feel the need, but i hope none you Negative Nancy's are on any ships I plan to take!

[MrPete]

Undeliverable how much energy is spent on bitching about this... Go to another cruise line if you feel the need, but i hope none you Negative Nancy's are on any ships I plan to take!

 

Undeliverable energy is not a healthy thing. :rolleyes: