Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor benifits changes

Ray Goldenberg wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:49:28 -0400, "Tom K"
wrote:

IMO they'd be better off giving the Zenith a
major spiffing up and moving her back to Bermuda.

Hi Tom,

FWIW, Celebrity's Zenith was swapped to Pulmantur for the Azamara
Journey a few years ago.

The Azamara Jouney was a fantastic ship to take to Bermuda. When we were
on the Journey it was still a work in progress, but still very
enjoyable. I would like to see the Journey or other "R" class ship back
in Bermuda again.

sue

Warren wrote:
On Mar 29, 12:41 pm, "Tom K" wrote:
I think you'll love Oasis, but be rather disappointed in Grandeur. I
wouldn't go on Grandeur again.

As much as I liked Explorer and Adventure of the Seas, I actually like
Legend of the Seas much more (eldest sister in the same class as
Grandeur). Yeah, the ice show is spectacular. And it's fun to sit in
Johnny Rockets (since I take advantage of the freebie C/A coupon). But
there's a JR around the corner from my office and a couple of subway
stops from home so it's not a novelty. If I didn't have the C/A coupon
I probably wouldn't bother.

What I like about the Vision class ships is that when you are inside
the ship there's glass everywhere that lets you see the ocean and
horizon. You can watch a sunset from a bar stool inside the ship. If
there's one complaint I have about the Voyager class is that when you
are inside you're pretty much insulated from the ocean from most
lounges along the Royal Promenade. You have to make a point of going
outside to feel like it's a ship. I also felt that it was easier to
meet people on Legend and then keep bumping in to them again
throughout the ship. On the Voyager class you might never see someone
you meet again due to the numbers of passengers and the vastness of
the ships. Finally the solariums on the Vision class are far superior
to the Voyager class since they have the magrodomes.

The Vision class ships still feel like "ships." The Voyager class feel
more like a resort that happens to take you somewhere new each day.

We have been on the Splendor and the Rhapsody and will be on the
Grandeur in Jan. 2010. We have always liked the layout of this class of
ship and as you say, the solariums are great. I love getting a lounge
chair with thick padding that looks out at the ocean and having the
grill nearby if we want some food. The Vision class of ships are very
relaxing and peaceful.

sue

Tom K wrote:

"Sue Mullen" wrote in message
...

I do not think Princess is declining, just for some reason there were
problems on the Crown Princess sailings out of San Juan.

sue


If it varies that much, who knows what the problem was. But it turned off a
large group to the point where they wouldn't go on Princess this year.
Instead we're going to try HAL - and we're not even "old".

That's music to my ears. LOL

Ermalee

When an
experience is so negative that it turns away a group that can range from
50-100 people... that's a problem. Sue even had a problem with the Purser's
desk people. They were mean and nasty. She had to call the US shore-side
office to straighten a problem out that the purser's desk people were giving
her a hard time about.

You liked your sailing. We hated a lot of things about ours. But they
wouldn't even acknowledge the issue at the time. They were combative about
it. Something's wrong there.

And I do think Princess is declining. From out Ocean Princess sailing back
in 2000, to Dawn the next year, to Grand a few years later, to Crown 2 years
ago... there was a definite decline. In food and service. And cleanliness.
But that's my opinion. I raved about Princess back in 2000. No more. I
view Princess as an acceptable option for an itinerary that I want to do,
not as a Preferred Cruise Line like I view Cunard and Celebrity. And it
doesn't have the great Voyager class ships that Royal Caribbean has.

--Tom

Charles, here is what is happening on the dining room.
We are just off the Independence of the Seas in December 2008.
The waiter now brings out the food on carts instead of carrying trays.
Now they can bring more servings at one time.
RCL has increased the waiter workload and given each waiter more tables.
Our waiter was working at lightning speed and because of the workload he was
not able to interact with anyone other than taking the order, and each night
it was at least 30 minutes before we saw the first dish arrive.
The waiters were telling us that many passengers were skipping dining all
together and using the Windjammer alternative dining instead for the entire
cruise. When that happens, they did not receive tips for the empty table.
Also the selection of food at the dining room evening meal was plain and
lack luster. There was a much better selection and variety at the
Windjammer. We just wrote a 3 page letter to RCL telling them we are
thinking of switching back to Princess over the Crown and Anchor Diamond
member downgrade, etc.. We then wrote a letter to Princess asking if they
will apply our 15 RCL cruise credits to our Princess's Captains Circle
account, if we cruise solely with Princess for now on. We also think we
discovered RCL President Richard Fein's email address. We sent an email to
. The email did not come back as some other did, so we
assume that is a good address. We also sent and email in addition to our
letter to That is a good email address for crown
and anchor. It is one thing to cut back it is another thing to take away
what passenger work hand and log for to attain Diamond status.
G&V
Port Saint Lucie Florida

G&V
"Charles" wrote in message
d...
In article , G&V
wrote:

Charles, it looks like they are eliminating the happy hour for Diamond,
unless you are booked on the overpriced Freedom Class ships. RCL's
dining
room service was abysmal on our last cruise in the Independence of the
Seas.
We are thinking of jumping ship and going back to Princess.

Right, Diamonds will no longer have the happy hour, expresso machine,
or breakfast in the CL on ships that do have Concierge lounges, and no
Diamond lounges. On Freedom Class or Oasis and Allure where there is a
Diamond lounges they will still have those loyalty perks. As far as
dining room service, I think you could have that problem on any ship or
cruise line, it depends on who you get as dining room staff.

The lounge access was something no other cruise line has had. I think
the issue that upsets many Diamonds and also Platinum's that were
booking cruises to get to Diamond status is the take away. And also
that without the CL access the Royal Caribbean loyalty program is ho
hum. So now you have to be Diamond Plus or in a suite to get CL access
and who can trust that they won't take the Diamond Plus access away in
a year or two. They have set the expectation now that they could take
away the perk before one makes that level. On Princess you get a nice
internet package and at the next level free laundry.

--
Charles

I really think this is a major mistake - with budgets tightening, which
inevitably affects the product negatively, why remove a significant
point of differentiation between Royal Caribbean and it's competition. I
have eight cruises on both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity so I have not
yet achieved Diamond status (I booked a Sky Suite for next week on the
Summit in order to finally make it) --- Obviously, I'm not pleased with
this development and realize that the reasons for my loyalty are
diminished. So I will start looking at, and seriously considering,
Princess, HAL and others. It never fails to amaze me how Companies shoot
themselves in the foot continuously. In the middle of a severe
recession, with the pressure to "grow the business" with huge new ships
to fill and finance, screwing over the loyal core of its customers makes
absolutely no sense at all --- if the lounge is crowded, great !!!
EXPAND IT !! Sorry for the rant, but realized that I just entered the
Nation of Why Not Go to the Competition"

Bill Wright


Tom K wrote:
"Sue Mullen" wrote in message
...

Tom K wrote:

I haven't been on Celebrity since they gave up the Bermuda run. The
Bermuda run was the thing that also generated interest in other Celebrity
ships doing other itineraries. Without that continuation hook, I became
more interested in Cunard.

Without Celebrity doing Bermuda, RCI that became an acceptable
alternative since we got the Diamond access privileges. The itinerary
stinks (2 days as the wharf), but the Diamond lounge became a social
gathering place... a place to make friends. It kind of softened the blow
of Zenith being gone. And like I previously said, the concierge could
book tee times at the local golf courses.

With HAL coming to Bermuda, and losing the Diamond Lounge privileges, we
might find ourselves moving away from RCI and going with HAL more.

I've already moved away from Celebrity (not that I dislike them, I just
never seem to book them anymore). Now RCI could be next. Not sure if
the Royal Champion team will be too happy to hear that?
Tom, the Celebrity Summit will also be doing a 7 day Bermuda cruise
starting in 2010.

sue

Sucky itinerary though... 3 days in King's Wharf, 3 days at sea. HAL will
do the good itinerary, with Hamilton and St. Georges IIRC.

Susette said her district manager called and complained they weren't getting
much booking volume for the Summit, and that the TA's complained that they
wanted a ship in Bermuda and now they're not filling it... and Susette said,
but your itinerary sucks. IMO they'd be better off giving the Zenith a
major spiffing up and moving her back to Bermuda. You want Hamilton and St.
Georges. Not 3 days at the Wharf. I think Celebrity made a strategic
mistake abandoning the Hamilton/St. Georges Bermuda run.

--Tom

Good idea!

When everyone is a VIP. No one is a VIP!

The Conccierge lounges are far too crowded.

Gadget

In article , Tom K
wrote:

It was also the sailing when the waiters wouldn't
give out salt and pepper shakers in the buffet, and would take them right
out of your hand if you had one. The crew and staff were mean and nasty.

That was because of norovirus. To prevent the spread of it they had
paper packets instead of shakers. And the crew may have had a difficult
sailing, the sailing before ours because of a norovirus outbreak. So it
may have affected their disposition our sailing. I had been on Crown
Princess in the summer and the crew was very good then.

If you go back to Princess, let us know if they're declining overall, or it
was just that ship in particular.

Tom, we have the same ship...Crown Princess...booked this July :-)

--
Charles

In article , Sue Mullen
wrote:

We enjoyed our Crown Princess sailing so much that we cruised on the
Emerald Princess, just the two of us, in Jan. '08. Again the food was
excellent as was the service and the crew was very friendly and helpful.

Was the Emerald the cruise you booked with the credit you received for
having to put up with a large beam in the middle of your balcony?
Certainly an odd design element.....

--
Charles

In article , Tom K
wrote:

And I do think Princess is declining. From out Ocean Princess sailing back
in 2000, to Dawn the next year, to Grand a few years later, to Crown 2 years
ago... there was a definite decline. In food and service. And cleanliness.

I think the cleanliness was fine. THey are cleaner than Royal Caribbean
or Celebrity. I do think they decided to go down a half notch to draw
more mainstream mass cruisers and compete more with Royal Caribbean
than Celebrity and HAL.

--
Charles

In article , Sue Mullen
wrote:

That of course doesn't say why your food was not good.

The two best food nights in the main dining room we went to the
specialty restaurants. That skewed the impressions of the food downward
in my opinion.

--
Charles