Disappointed Platinum Member

[katellynne]

I have no sympathy--you get what you paid for and/or earned--family members, friends, acquaintances etc who did not do either have no right to Platinum perks.

Not exactly. You can't quantify what a platinum designation actually costs. You could cruise on 10 3 days in an inside cabin OR you could cruise on 10 transatlantics in concierge. DCL would be smart to clarify that aspect of the different levels IMO. I also think that boarding together is something that should be accommodated for linked reservations. And I don't give a flip if that is 4 people in 2 cabins or 16. And there is a bit more to platinum boarding than just going before the cattle call of group numbers, they also have a little waiting area too. Maybe not as fancy as concierge but still!
We are a family of 10 going on a trip for my sons graduation and we won't be able to book excursions through DCL because my in laws have never cruised. So rather than risk sell out by the time they are able to book their excursions we are simply going to go through private companies. I would prefer to book through DCL. But even though 2 of us are platinum and 6 of us are gold we can't book for members of our extended party. Personally I think that is wrong. It is an extended family for goodness sake! No one is trying to get something they don't deserve, whether it is boarding together with no hassle or booking an excursion together.

 

[Hundredacre]

Not exactly. You can't quantify what a platinum designation actually costs. You could cruise on 10 3 days in an inside cabin OR you could cruise on 10 transatlantics in concierge. DCL would be smart to clarify that aspect of the different levels IMO. I also think that boarding together is something that should be accommodated for linked reservations. And I don't give a flip if that is 4 people in 2 cabins or 16. And there is a bit more to platinum boarding than just going before the cattle call of group numbers, they also have a little waiting area too. Maybe not as fancy as concierge but still!
We are a family of 10 going on a trip for my sons graduation and we won't be able to book excursions through DCL because my in laws have never cruised. So rather than risk sell out by the time they are able to book their excursions we are simply going to go through private companies. I would prefer to book through DCL. But even though 2 of us are platinum and 6 of us are gold we can't book for members of our extended party. Personally I think that is wrong. It is an extended family for goodness sake! No one is trying to get something they don't deserve, whether it is boarding together with no hassle or booking an excursion together.

I do not think this is fair. Probably half of the people traveling platinum have family or friends traveling with them who are not platinum. If all are given platinum benefits, there are exponentially more people using platinum resources. It is also not fair to other people who are platinum and never try to extend their benefit to other non platinum guests, family or not.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have had two and sometimes three cabins. At least one of cabins have platinum. We have never had a problem bringing us all up together to the platinum checkin and checking us all in together and getting a 1 boarding pass for all of us. I don't undrrdtsnd the issue. Also to get platinum benefits for all cabins just rearrange people so there is a platinum registered in each room. You don't have to sleep there. Just get additional Keys when you get on. Our travel agent does this for us all the time. That way every adult in each cabin gets a palo dinner and a bottle of Proseco.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Nothing like working the system!

 

[jestracker]

We have had two and sometimes three cabins. At least one of cabins have platinum. We have never had a problem bringing us all up together to the platinum checkin and checking us all in together and getting a 1 boarding pass for all of us. I don't undrrdtsnd the issue. Also to get platinum benefits for all cabins just rearrange people so there is a platinum registered in each room. You don't have to sleep there. Just get additional Keys when you get on. Our travel agent does this for us all the time. That way every adult in each cabin gets a palo dinner and a bottle of Proseco.

Question? We have 2 cabins booked, my husband and I in one cabin (platinum) and our son and his wife (first time cruisers) in the other. How do we go thru check-in at the platinum desk together so we can get on the ship at the same time? do I need to split us up on the reservations and put one in each cabin? This is the first time we have taken anyone with us on a cruise.

 

[bats]

Not exactly. You can't quantify what a platinum designation actually costs. You could cruise on 10 3 days in an inside cabin OR you could cruise on 10 transatlantics in concierge. DCL would be smart to clarify that aspect of the different levels IMO. I also think that boarding together is something that should be accommodated for linked reservations. And I don't give a flip if that is 4 people in 2 cabins or 16. And there is a bit more to platinum boarding than just going before the cattle call of group numbers, they also have a little waiting area too. Maybe not as fancy as concierge but still!
We are a family of 10 going on a trip for my sons graduation and we won't be able to book excursions through DCL because my in laws have never cruised. So rather than risk sell out by the time they are able to book their excursions we are simply going to go through private companies. I would prefer to book through DCL. But even though 2 of us are platinum and 6 of us are gold we can't book for members of our extended party. Personally I think that is wrong. It is an extended family for goodness sake! No one is trying to get something they don't deserve, whether it is boarding together with no hassle or booking an excursion together.

You are asking for something they don't 'deserve' (or are not entitled to). You're potentially taking spaces on the DCL excursions that Platinum members have the right to book first. It's one of the very few perks that Platinum members get, so I'm not sure why everyone else be allowed to have the same perks?

I must say though, that I cannot believe this thread started with someone complaining they may have to board the ship 10 minutes before/after someone else ... really? Is it really that big a problem?
We got married on board the Magic and took 56 people with us .. about 5 were platinum cruisers, but we didn't expect special treatment just because our ressies were linked. We were going to spend the next 14 nights together on board, so spending a few minutes apart in the terminal didn't make a jot of difference. I couldn't book Palo, excursions or anything else for them .. we were concierge too! It's just one of those things IMO.
DCL are clear on their policy as far as I am concerned ... newbies get pretty much nothing, silver get a lanyard, gold get something else and platinum get something else. Board together or within 10 mins of each other and enjoy the cruise!

 

[bats]

Question? We have 2 cabins booked, my husband and I in one cabin (platinum) and our son and his wife (first time cruisers) in the other. How do we go thru check-in at the platinum desk together so we can get on the ship at the same time? do I need to split us up on the reservations and put one in each cabin? This is the first time we have taken anyone with us on a cruise.

If you want to check in together, then yes, swap people (on paper) in the cabins. Some people report that they all check in together anyway, but I wouldn't rely on this personally.
If you want to book Palo for all of you, you'd be better off swapping too. Once you get on board, ask for an extra room key for each room. Bear in mind that you may be in different muster stations too, regardless of how close your staterooms are.

 

[over50visits]

All this advice about registering people in cabins where you have no intention of them staying so you can fool Disney into giving privileges (boarding, Palo, gifts) to non-Platinum members seems....wrong. We expect Disney to do right by us, and we owe them the same courtesy. Becoming platinum is fun, but feeling entitled to more benefits for your friends isn't right.

 

[katellynne]

All this advice about registering people in cabins where you have no intention of them staying so you can fool Disney into giving privileges (boarding, Palo, gifts) to non-Platinum members seems....wrong. We expect Disney to do right by us, and we owe them the same courtesy. Becoming platinum is fun, but feeling entitled to more benefits for your friends isn't right.

i don't agree with registering people into cabins just to gain privileges (free palo dinner, bottle of prosecco, early boarding or registering for excursions) but I do agree with extending benefits to family linked to your reservation and part of your party. I guess the downside would be you could link anyone to your reservation and grant them the benefits. But I am not feeling entitled to benefits I haven't earned, I am trying to book an extended family vacation for a special occasion. I don't feel that entitles me to anything more than I deserve, but just like someone mentioned with airline benefits if you buy and book flights together everyone gets to board at highest category. I actually don't care about boarding personally, everyone can walk on together at some point.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

On DVC Member Cruise, my roommate is silver, I am Platinum, we WILL be able to check in together, and board together, right?

Bobbi

Yes, if you're in the same room, checking in at the same time, you can use the Platinum check in desk. If your roommate is arriving at a different time than you, and checking in separately, he/she can check in at the regular Castaway Club desk, or the first time cruisers desk. On occasion the first time cruiser line is shorter than the CC line.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I asked why they had this policy. She said: "It would be unfair to other platinum members if you had a large group of, like, 16 people with you that you wanted to have check in under platinum."

That isn't a far-fetched argument, that would absolutely happen. I wonder if that is actually why they don't extend boarding time to linked staterooms though (they can't extend it to family because how would "family" be defined? Immediate relatives only? Does that extend past children and spouses to nieces, nephews, grandparents, fiances, etc?). I certainly get it regarding Palo and excursions, which would be full of nothing but platinums and their linked staterooms before anybody else got a chance to book anything. I have also been on one cruise that had so many platinum cruisers that they completely suspended early boarding for platinum (only concierge got it).