Royal Caribbean Diamond Benefits 2024: Free Drinks & More!

Many of the top cruise lines have a loyalty programme, which lets you collect points for every day that you sail and reach rewards tiers for your future cruises.

And in 2023, Royal Caribbean updated the benefits that guests receive as part of their Crown & Anchor offering – and the Diamond ranking in particular is now very attractive.

In this guide, I’ll explain what you need to do to get to Diamond status, and what the perks are for reaching this tier for all your future Royal Caribbean cruises.

How Do You Get Diamond Status on Royal Caribbean?

Diamond is the fourth (of seven) tiers in the Crown & Anchor loyalty programme with Royal Caribbean. You need 80 points to reach this tier – you get one point for every night on-board in a regular stateroom, and two points for nights in a suite.

For most guests who stick to Interior, Oceanview or Balcony Staterooms, this means you’ll need to have cruised with Royal Caribbean for 80 nights before you reach the Diamond tier. If you book one 7-night cruise every year, it means you’ll reach the tier in 12 years.

Suite guests get there a lot faster because they earn double points. If you were lucky enough to book two 7-night cruises a year in a suite, you’d be at Diamond status within three years.

You’re automatically enrolled onto the Crown & Anchor programme when you start cruising with Royal Caribbean, and will accrue your points automatically.

It’s worth noting that you only move up a tier at the end of a cruise – so if you reach 80 points mid-way through a cruise, you’ll remain Emerald until the end of that sailing, and then move to Diamond in your next sailing.

List of Diamond Benefits

Here’s a look at all the benefits you get as a Diamond-tier member of the Crown & Anchor Society.

1. Free Drinks

One of the best new perks you get with the Crown & Anchor Society is free drinks for Diamond members and above. Diamond-tier guests can enjoy four complimentary drinks per day worth up to $14 each ($13 on cruises from Singapore). Starbucks and the Bionic Bar aren’t included in this offer.

This can add up – if you and your partner both are at Diamond Tier and you enjoy all of the free drinks every day, that could be $112 of free drinks daily between you – and as this video shows, that can really add up over the course of your cruise.

Diamond status also gets you a complimentary non-alcoholic speciality coffee with every speciality restaurant dinner that you book – again, excluding Starbucks.

2. Drinks Discounts

As well as the daily free drinks, guests at the Diamond tier can enjoy the following:

• 50% off any glass of wine, beer or soda – two coupons per sailing
• 20% off any glass of wine, beer or soda at all other times
• 50% off a Johnny Rockets milkshake – two coupons per sailing

Of course, if guests choose to book a beverage package instead then they won’t benefit from the discount on wine, beers and soda – the discounts on beverage packages only kick in at the next tier up.

The 50% off coupons are given to all Crown & Anchor members, regardless of their tier. The wider discount is only 10% for guests in lower tiers – Diamond is the only tier where that discount is 20% (higher tiers get a bigger discount).

3. Priority Main Dining Room Seating

A simple benefit, but a useful one – Diamond members are able to get priority access to the dining times of their choice for the Main Dining Room.

If you’re booking My Time Dining then this benefit is irrelevant but if you like dining at the same time each evening, being a Diamond member pretty much guarantees you’ll get the time you want.

4. Private Departure Lounge Access

All Crown & Anchor guests (regardless of their tier) can enjoy access to a private departure lounge before sailing, which includes a continental breakfast.

Of course, many guests on a Royal Caribbean cruise will have sailed with the line before and so this lounge isn’t exactly very exclusive. But the option to get a free breakfast on your sailing day shouldn’t be passed up.

5. Free Internet Access (For 1 Day)

Guests on the Diamond tier get one free Surf+Stream Voom internet package for one device, valid for one free day.

If you don’t plan on using the internet all that much, this is handy – you can use it for one day to check emails, upload photos and check in with family, before you switch off again. Or just get the benefit of having one of your paid internet days being free.

6. Exclusive Onboard Events

There are various events held on a Royal Caribbean cruise for Diamond members.

These include:

• Exclusive Top Tier event (for Platinum members and above)
• Priority waitlist for shore excursions and spa treatments
• Access to the Crown Lounge onboard
• Nightly happy hour

A couple of important points – you might seen the Crown Lounge referred to as the Diamond Lounge, but Royal Caribbean renamed it in late 2023.

Also, because there are more and more people reaching Diamond Plus and Pinnacle status, there’s a chance that Diamond guests may be refused access to the Crown Lounge for happy hour on your cruise – it all depends on the numbers. If there are too many Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members on your sailing, Diamond members lose this privilege.

7. Free Bingo and Casino Credits

If you enjoy games of chance, being a Diamond member does come with a couple of fun perks. You’ll get $6 in freeplay credits for the casino on the ship, and you’ll get 6 free jackpot cards when you buy a bingo package.

8. Laundry & Dry-Cleaning Discounts

Diamond members get discounted laundry services during their cruise. Guests will get $5 off any dry-clean or press service worth $25, and they’ll get a $10 discount on a $34.99 bag of laundry on cruises lasting five nights or more.

9. Stateroom Touches

There are a couple of nice stateroom touches for Diamond members on a Royal Caribbean cruise. You’ll get a robe to wear during the cruise (you can’t keep it – sorry!) and two bottles of water in your stateroom as a welcome gift. The bottles of water are a new addition from 2023.

If you need to make any phone calls from your stateroom phone, you can do so at the discounted rate of just $2 per minute as well.

10. Photo Discounts

Diamond-level members and above get 30% off any single photo (print or digital), photo package or photobook bought from the photographer onboard. This perk was updated in December 2023 – previously, you had to pay for something full price, and then you’d get 50% off your second purchase.

11. Spa Discounts

If you want to book a spa treatment for your cruise, you can do so with a 20% discount when you’re a Diamond-tier member on Royal Caribbean.

All Crown & Anchor Society members get a discount, but it’s 10% or 15% on lower tiers – only Diamond-tier and above get 20% off.

12. Royal Caribbean Product Discounts

The shops onboard your Royal Caribbean ship sell a wide range of goods, including luxury items and snacks. But they also sell Royal Caribbean branded merchandise.

And if you’re a Diamond member, you get 15% off all purchases of Royal Caribbean logo items when you spend $25 or more.

13. Lapel Pin

When you reach Diamond status, you’ll be sent a lapel pin which signifies your status. You can wear this with pride to show off your membership tier to other guests.

You’ll receive the pin onboard, but only on your cruise after you’ve reached the tier. So if you move from Emerald to Diamond mid-way through a sailing, your next cruise as a Diamond member will be where you get your new pin. You’ll have to wear the Emerald one for a little while longer!

14. Crystal Block

The Crystal block is a special gift given to passengers when they reach certain milestones. It’s the only perk that isn’t directly tied to a membership tier – you unlock it when you reach 140 points as a Crown & Anchor Society member, which is part-way through the Diamond tier.

You’ll get a new crystal block every time you earn another 70 points after that as well, but by then you will be in a higher membership tier.

The crystal blocks were updated in 2023 and are now be offered in full colour.

15. Exclusive Cruise Rates

Royal Caribbean advertises that there are special rates available for Crown & Anchor Society members. These rates are open to all members down to the Gold tier, so being a Diamond member doesn’t get you special discounts compared to lower tiers. But it is still nice to pay less for your cruise than someone new to Royal.

There are further discounts on Balcony Staterooms and Suites for guests at Platinum and above, so this also includes Diamond members too.

16. Loyalty Status Matching with Celebrity Cruises

One cool perk – if you aren’t someone who is a diehard Royal Caribbean fan – is the option of enjoying a Celebrity Cruises sailing and still enjoying membership perks, only it will be of Celebrity’s loyalty programme, the Captain’s Club.

Suggested read: Who Owns Celebrity Cruises?

Although a completely separate company, MSC Cruises also offers status matching. Diamond on Royal Caribbean equals Gold on MSC Cruises. Check out the MSC Cruises Status Match Chart for more info.

Youth Member Benefits

All guests who sail with Royal Caribbean become members of the Crown & Anchor Society – including kids. While a lot of the perks above are aimed at adult guests, there are a handful that are designed for younger cruisers too.

1. Half Price Ice Cream

Kids and teens can enjoy 50% off any ice cream purchase while on their Royal Caribbean cruise.

2. Internet Access

Young guests will get the same free day of internet as their parents – or the same discount as their parents get on their own tier. 

3. Buy-One-Get-One-Free Movie Rentals

Young guests are able to enjoy two movie rentals in their stateroom for the price of one.

4. Money Back on Arcade Spends

Whenever young guests spend money on arcade credits, they can earn money back to their onboard account. For every $15 in arcade credits purchased, $5 will be added back to the onboard account at the end of the sailing. For every $50 in arcade credits, $25 is added back to the onboard account.

5. Free Drinks

Diamond-tier young members get the same number of free daily drinks as their parents – four per day for the Diamond level. Of course, younger passengers can’t get alcoholic drinks, but they can use it towards mocktails or any sodas they want to enjoy.

Suggested read: These 9 Drinks Are Free on Royal Caribbean Cruises

Diamond Plus Benefits

Diamond Plus is the next tier above Diamond, and it’s a lot harder to reach. You need 175 points to get to this tier – that’s more than double the amount you need for Diamond status.

If you’re someone who cruises Royal Caribbean for life then you can definitely achieve it, but it will take some dedication.

As a quick guide, here are all the tiers and their points requirements:

Focussing just on Diamond Plus, here are the perks you’ll get if you manage to climb to the level above the Diamond tier:

• 25% discount on drinks
• Five free daily drinks worth up to $14
• Buy-one-get-one-free on speciality dining on nights 1 and 2 of your cruise
• 30% off Deluxe Beverage Packages
• 2 free internet days
• Priority seating at the theatre, ice skating arena and AquaTheater
• One free bag of laundry on cruises of 5 nights or more
• A personalised gift (one per household)
• Complimentary add-on spa treatments

And once you reach 340 points, there are a couple of extra perks too:

• A drinks event with a ship’s officer
• Upgraded bathroom amenities in your stateroom
• Single supplements for cruises reduced from 200% to 150%

Final Word

Getting to Diamond status isn’t easy, and probably won’t happen if you like to cruise with a lot of different cruise lines.

But if you’re someone who sails with Royal Caribbean exclusively (or with Celebrity Cruises as well) then it’s achievable – and the new perks for the tier do make your cruise a lot more special.

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