Danitroline

Freedom is using it as well.

We received three calls after our June Allure cruise. 

3 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Royal IQ is only functional on Quantum class ships now.

 

Freedom would use the RCI App.  I don't think Freedom has the texting capability yet with the RCI App.

No RCL app for Freedom yet

We had a heating pad 3 weeks ago on Allure. I did not realize it was on the prohibited list. It was not confiscated.

On 7/7/2019 at 11:31 AM, CRUISINGCPA said:

Sounds like a slam dunk to me, we are not really a saucey family.  Maybe we'll try Ck on another night.  I have no issues with dining in the MDR - any meal I don't have to cook and clean up after is AOK with me😊

We were on Allure a few weeks ago and were very underwhelmed with CK. We wont bother with it next time.

Lobster in Chops was okay with the sauce but better with just the butter.

We agree with your first post - meh. 

Bijoux T. is actually a large chain. They are all over the place in the states. I last saw one in Las Vegas

NCL has gotten silly with their suite prices. They tout the " BOOK A SUITE-GET ALL 5 BONUSES!!!.

When we booked the Allure I had a deposit on one of the "Aways" on NCL. It was an H5 aft balcony which we have had in the past and was an itinerary we liked. It was 8200 as the price also includes the service charges on the "free" beverage package, dining package" . I didn't feel like leaving out of Miami so decided to check out Royal again and I am really happy that we did. Flying from FLL to BWI is easy; when we cruise out of Miami we have the added hassle of getting there from FLL.

I have also been noting an interesting tidbit on flights.  Unless is it overseas we have been flying Southwest. Cheap, good selection, no change fees , free baggage. 

For this trip we had to change our flight 2 weeks before the cruise from leaving out of Baltimore to leaving out of Atlanta.

It was the slightly cheaper to take Delta First Class ( with 2 free bags!!) than taking a Southwest flight . We have done this multiple times for fights we booked relatively 'last minute". Even though this was a short hop, after the drive from Gburg and then the flight  delays; that big, wide seat was amazing and our luggae tagged as 'priority " and first down the chute.

Not only was it  cheaper than Southwest, it  was cheaper than Delta's own economy class when you figure in the luggage fees. Yeet!

CHEF'S TABLE : ALSO KNOWN AS

"A NEWLY DISCOVERED CIRCLE OF HELL.",

" WANNA SHARE MY EDIBLES' and "

" HOW's YOUR FISH? TASTY? GOOD !LET ME TELL YOU HOW I PERFORMED MY 4th WIFE;'S C SECTION- NO, I'M NOT A DOCTOR- I'M A LAWYER"

Will comment on this later tonight or tomorrow.

If you have any questions about STAR treatment or Genies or the ship in general, hit me up! ( I'm so woke😉)

We did not visit the suite  sundeck, did not go to the pool and missed the ice show so cant say much about that. We saw all the other shows and ate in every specialty but Giovannis.Used the infirmary. Did not go to sports deck, flow rider or art auction. Forgot to even look at the pictures they took  of us. Didnt use Freestyle machines.

So- other than those things, ask away!!

Im not sure where I left off and dont feel like looking so l'll head off to a few Haven /Star Class comparisons.

Genie vs Butler:  NCL loses. While I understand that each butler on NCL has more suites to care for than the Genies; we have found them to be invisible most of the time. We had ONE outstanding butler on Getaway when we had suites that we outside of the Haven ( but still Haven class suites) . on e each NCL cruise we have been since the butler inception there will be a family or two that will be very "Extra" as the millenials say.

What does a butler actually do for an average family? Bring you a snack in the afternoon. Perhaps bring you cookies. We don't  have cocktail hours in our suites and the like so I have no experience in this area. 

Butlers on NCL can bring you cocktails but it is not included in the drinks package. Genie team gets those martinis right to the suite!

Our last butler was on Epic last summer. One of my boys ( adult)  was feeling awful when we reached Naples -  bad  headache, hypersensitivity to sound - and decided not to leave the ship. We gave him his imitrex and Aleve and he wanted to just sleep. He got sick at breakfast and we asked if his order could be brought to the suite. This was done. After making sure he was okay we ran off to Pompei. The butler who brought the breakfast  was not our  usual butler but he came back every 45 minutes to make sure our son was okay; when i thanked him later I noted he handed me a paper with our cell phone #- he asked my son for it in the event that we needed to get back to the ship quickly! 

(It turned out to be an ear infection which "cleared" when my son's ear drum perforated on the flight home several days later. Messy, messy )

This is actually our only memorable NCL butler interaction.

The Genies go to Butler school in England and receive a pin that looks similar to a Red Cross emblem  indicating  that they have learned to buttle the British way ( Fraisier Crane would be impressed!) 

One area where NCL wins is in the daily treats/ snacks. They were only provided on sea days to our suite. Remember - the Genie knows your schedule especially if you have excursions booked thru RCL which we did. We rarely purchase excursions thru the cruise line but it worked out well for us. Getting back from Jamaica excursion late and having had a NASTY lunch , an in-suite tidbit or morsel would have been appreciated. I do not know if this is the Genie's domain or not as I had our treats delivered by a galley staffer the first sea day.

Another glaring omission was the lack of fresh flowers and a fruit bowl in the suite. This was our first cruise on either line where we did NOT have fruit and flowers. I LOVE having the fresh flowers and a banana and some grapes. 

LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT!! 

Haven has better pens, hands down! Suites on Royal have plastic pens, Haven has nice silver metal pens that last a long time. the concierge gave me a handful when I asked for one. I have enough to last quite some time

The hair and body care amenities are a toss up-actually a slight edge to Royal simply because of the sheer size of the LOccitane bottles. Haven has  Bulgari and provide a 4 oz bottle the first day, any refills are the 2.5 small ones. This is not an issue unless you have three young adults showering every 12 minutes . I prefer a large bottle that i dont have to worry about becoming empty and leaves a large amount of shampoo and conditoner for me to toss in my luggage so that I can smell my cruise over and over when i shower

SIDE NOTE: One of my sons collected multiple Bulgari soaps as they were replaced. He would pop the wrapped ones in the drawer.  I asked him why he was doing this and he said he was just seeing how many bars he could collect over the course of the cruise. He ended up with quite a few and the steward was hip to his game and started leaving him extras. I was cracking up when we were unpacking at home and he had about 15 soaps from the ship and the hotels we stayed in in Rome.

He ended up selling the soap on Ebay for 8 bucks a bar. Yes, I'm mortified. 

For our Grand Suite the price and the Royal Up cost  the total was 6,300. We were not even bidding on the suite we received. We received a higher class than we bid on.

It was genuinely the nicest suite we have been in .

We booked in March of this year, received a PA discount and a few other ones; watched the prices and caught a $500 reduction prior to final.

We actually ended up paying LESS with the Royal up than we would have paid if we stayed in the Grand Suite and paid for drinks, specialties, etc. I had thought it was an even deal but was using the price of our upcoming Freedom trip by accident. 

I did not mean to desert this thread- been trying to play catch up at home and work! 

On 6/10/2019 at 9:27 AM, mac_tlc said:

When we had the cabana on Barefoot Beach, we were lucky enough to be in Star Class, so when our genie contacted us. I specifically requested cabana B2. We had 8 of us ranging in age from 59 to 1, so the easy beach access was important. 

 

I’ll post a link link to some pictures. 

 

mac_tlc

   We booked when we were Sky class , requested and recieved B2. This did not change after our Royal Up bid and subsequent upgrade to Sky class. We contacted the concierge 3 weeks prior to sailing

On 6/21/2019 at 3:34 PM, mommyof2monkeys+princess said:

Thanks!  I guess we are not eligible.  I am getting this message "Please ensure your sailing is within the next 30 days
Please ensure there are no errors in the information you entered"  There are no errors and we are within 30 days.  

Make sure your preferences allow for RCL promotional offers/emails. We were " not eligible" until I double checked this and saw I had not checked it. Within a few days we were "eligible", an email came after that. Landed an amazing Star suite for minimum/weak bid 5 days before sailing.

We have a Freedom cruise coming up in 6 weeks and we have been able to bid on upgrades without getting an email.

We aren't bidding but it is available for both the suites we have.

1 hour ago, reaton said:

Thanks for the review! We were in the Haven last summer on Epic. This summer we are sailing in a balcony on Allure. Since we purchased the unlimited dining plan, I was especially interested in your review of the specialty restaurants. DH LOVED Cagney’s so he is now VERY excited to try Chops after hearing your review. 

 We were on Epic the second week of June last summer. What a terrific cruise!! Their Haven lounge and restaurant are the best we have been in. I was very surprised to read a review of Chops from the same week we cruised Allure that HATED it!

We really enjoyed it! Te filet was amazing!

13 hours ago, RFerrington said:

We have been on 6 SC cruises and never have we been offered a bottle of wine....although I will also say that we are not big wine drinkers, either.

 

Truly, I don't see the difference between drinking 6 glasses (or whatever a bottle holds) of wine or 1 bottle of wine.  It's a full bottle no matter how you look at it.

The difference is that a glass of wine is included in the drink package and a bottle is not. If you only drink 1-2 glasses each there s still some left in the bottle. If you order a bottle you do receive a discount but it isn't "free". We even were offered the  bottle when I had one glass with our Tapas! They were very wine generous .

last week , yes!

We are taking Mom on her very first cruise in August to celebrate her 90th birthday. My husband and I have done the Mystery thing a long time ago and did enjoy it-I cannot remember what ship.

Questions : How is the meal?    Is the "mystery" fun ? We want this to be a great week for Mom and she is quite a mystery buff. There are 6 of us and its a bit pricey, but I dont want to waste the time and dollars if it is "meh".

THANK YOU!!

We ordered by the glass and were given the bottle to drink at dinner AND to take with us if we desired (or had not finished.) Never an upcharge.

Lets talk about FOOD!! AND SERVICE and an unknown Genie

Izumi- already covered. Service was excellent as were the rolls and sushi. RCL beats NCL for sushi by a lot.

Chops Grille: We ate here twice . Our waiter was Hamid and he was quite sweet and had a great sense of humor. With Star class you do not have an upcharge for the seafood towers, lobster- eat whatever you please. Both nights we had a tbele where one of us could "people watch" out in Central Park. We were surprised at how fast the service was- not quite Manhattan " get 'em in and out" fast, but actually a little speedier than I like. But it is a minor complaint as the food was delicious. I had read many Allure reviews and some complained about 3 hour meals and missing shows- we did not have this experience except at Chef's Table. It was 4 hours of my life I will never get back!!

The first evening we ate at 6:30ish and the place was pretty empty. The second time we ate at 7 15 and Chops was hopping!

Each table is given a complimentary pork belly that is fork tender and delish. Of course when the waiter brings it he says that it is a special treat just for your table but every table gets one.

Either way it is delectable. Both nights I had a filet with a lobster; they take the lobster out of the shell for you making it easier. It comes with a sauce which is tasty but the second evening I decided on no sauce so that I could have that Down East real lobster flavor soaked in butter. I was not disappointed. I rate this a "Do NOT Miss!!

The second night that we ate at Chops we witnessed the interactions of another Genie with a large family- maybe 8 people. This Genie I found a bit over the top  but I WAS eavesdropping. Actually the entire place was eavesdropping as the table was loud, allowing youngens to run around...yada yada. The Genie (who was male) seemed like he was playing a part in a stage production. A little too schmoozy for my taste. He lavished so many compliments on each member of this family that it almost seemed like mockery. But that is simply my opinion and I had indulged several glasses of a delightful red called Andrew Peace cabernet. And I have a feeling that over the course of the week the Genies can adjust their behaviors to the schmooze level each client requires. 

We are minimalists . With us you over schmooze, you lose.

QUICK COMPARE: Chops beats NCL's Cagneys hands down. Food is better. Very simple.

150 Central Park

LOVE this restaurant. Small menu in a small venue. Service was the best we received anywhere on the ship. ASK FOR CARLOS!! We met Carlos while he was hawking Basil Cucumber martinis and taking reservations in the promenade . Very refreshing and tasty martini! We told him that we had reservations for Friday and when we arrived the maitre d

told us that Carlos was waiting for us. He brought us two martinis while we perused the menu and ate their signature Parker House rolls . I had not seen the menu prior to our dinner there and was initially disappointed as there seemed to be many sauces on the entrees. We decided on a lamb Wellington and lobster thermidor . WOW! Both dishes were outstanding. 

My parents are from both from Maine and I have a cousin who is married to a lobsterman. I have always wanted my lobster unadulterated except for butter and lemon. Why mess with perfection? This mess was yummy!  The pace of dinner was just right . This was a memorable meal. Again we skipped dessert and found a sampler waiting for us in the suite later that night. This meal was an A+ all around.

STAR CLASS NOTE ( and I'm not sure if it applies to ALL suites /Pinnacles )

The deluxe beverage package is included. Anytime we ordered a glass of wine the waiter gave us the whole bottle. We were told at Samba that this was a perk of having a 'black card". The waiter/waitress would always ask if we wanted to take the bottle with us at the end of dinner or lunch. Maybe this is routine on RCL. I dont know.Sometimes I would have a glass of wine and the hubs a beer; still the bottle was offered "to go".

SAMBA GRILL

Samba is in a very distracting location. If you want a romantic or quiet setting this aint it. We really like the NCL version "Moderno"; I eat at Moderno for the salad bar and grilled pineapple.

We had reservations, of course but it took a bit to to us seated despite the restaurant being a perhaps 50%. After we were seated we had to eventually ask for a waiter. First a lady came by to introduce herself as our waitress/ meat giver . She never came back. We asked again and a very pleasant fellow came over and said "you're supposed to just go to the salad bar when you come in" We politely replied that we wanted to order a drink first. He took our order- two different wines- and we headed to the salad bar. The salad bar was very similar to the set up on Labidee with many of the same packaged salads. It also has pre-packaged desserts. Didn't eat much from the bar. 

When the waiter recognized our green card he came back and we received our meats. There is not a single one that I remember as outstanding. At one point the waiter was filling my water glass, knocked my wine over and it spilled all over the table and  floor.  I used my napkin to prevent my dress from becoming stained and asked him for something to put on the floor. To my bemusement the puddle of wine stayed under my seat for the rest of the meal.

This restaurant is a "SKIP NEXT TIME". The restaurant is in the Solarium and the Solarium is still in use. Including over-imbibers in a hot tub. we were seated almost under a stairway which was also distracting. 

CHEF's Table is for a post of it's own. I may need to consult our attorney before I write about it!! 😂

SABOR:

Small menu, delicious food, ate lunch here twice. Excellent service and drinks; one day we were able to watch a diving competition while we munched. 

VINTAGES

DO  NOT MISS THE TAPAS!

This is a lovely place . We had lunch here on day and were the only guests. We sat on a sofa , had multiple small plates and really enjoyed ourselves. Our waiter was chatty in a good way and we had a delightful time. Wish we had tried this restaurant earlier in the cruise. Highly recommend! The tapas menu has a wide range of delights; I was transported back to Barcelona!!!

DINNER AT COASTAL KITCHEN:

While I understand the desire for a smaller, intimate venue and maybe I understand why people clamor for CK- actually, I DONT understand!! Our dinner was not good. This dinner had followed not good lunch and not good breakfast so we should have gone elsewhere, but I HADto try CK for dinner. The service was really slow, the wait staff was just as confused as they were on embarkation day. Despite asking several times we never had a drink order taken so the hubs went over to the suite bar and got our cocktails. This action DID pique the interest of the maitre d who later came by and asked if we wanted another drink . 

I cant remember what husband had, i had a ubiquitous pasta with alleged veal sauce.

Meh.

There was an abundance of gold name tags at this meal. Everyone was polite.

Quick Compare: NCL Haven Restaurant again beats CK by a lot. Service and food are better in the Haven. However, the CK has a better view than the Getaway class ships.

Did we complain or mention anything to the staff? Nope. Not that big a deal . I read some posts where cruisers go to great lengths to discuss the food and the service with the chef and with everyone's boss. I m on vacation. I don't want to waste my time giving a dissertation on why the food was bad. I also don't like being fawned over after I complain about something. This has happened in the past and it is almost embarrassing. I can grab a bite elsewhere or ...just have another cocktail!!

MDR- Breakfast

Ate here once and it was awesome.

Suite Lounge SNACKS SPREAD

WOW!! Really nice variety, something for everyone. Great views from the lounge and restaurant but the lounge did get crowded. We took a plate and went back to our amazing suite. NCL does NOT have the pre-dinner snack spread like this- RCL hit a home run with this.

Cocktails at suite bar were excellent with fast and happy service. RCL wins the bar service over NCL simply because of the waiter who comes to the suite and asks for your order.

STAR NOTE: you can also call your Genie for drinks. We did not do this but Daniel did get calls with cocktail orders while he was hanging out with us. I dont know if he delivers them or if the bar staff does. This is a really nice perk especially if your suite is not on deck 17.

If i was in an ATS I might use the Genie for this especially after a day out on excursion or too much time in the sun. Way to go, RCL!

On 6/21/2019 at 9:24 AM, Davidlmc said:

LOL !!!! This is one of the best representation of some Pinnacles that I have ever read 

This dude wasnt a Pinnacle. He IS a major jackwagon. There is always a standout butt hat on every cruise; this guy is our official #1 of all time!!

On 6/19/2019 at 7:42 PM, truffles2 said:

Enjoying reading your take on this cruise.  We were on also.

We also arrived at the Embassy Suites rather late:  245 AM.....after many delays, gate changes, and finally a cancelled flight, but were able to get rebooked;  still not quite sure how!  You made out a bit better;  we had no luggage.  We did finally get our luggage/sent to the ship by Delta.  Everything inside was soaked! 

Ohhh- that is AWFUL!! Glad you made it to the ship- sorry about the luggage !!

That storm was something. There were times like when we reached Spartanburg SC and the visibility was 1 inch that i did not think we would make it to Atlanta in time for the flight despite giving ourselves a wide berth. 

JohnandLaLa is correct- silly life got in my way for a bit! 

I wont do an actual chronology because my flight of ideas makes it difficult..rough getting old!!

After our underwhelming CK breakfast  we decided to try room service the next day. Ordered the night before, called when it didn't arrive and they said they had not received any order. Re-ordered; waited...an hour..called back- was told they are busy . I could have just called Daniel but didn't want to be a whiner. We traipsed down one flight to the Windjammer. This was the first port day; Labidee, and I expected a mob scene. There was no mob, no scene and plenty of smoked salmon, lemons and capers ; granola and chocolate chips, grits ( we may be North of the Mason-Dixon line, but I consider us to be part of the Grit-Eatin' world!) eggs of many types as well as English breakfast, different indian and other Asian dishes, pancakes...and, of course, pans of bacon after bacon after bacon.

The staff was attentive and brought coffee and juice STAT when we sat down; the tables were cleaned right away;  and we had a nice window seat and an enjoyable repast.

LABIDEE:

We have not been to this locale since 1997 and it has changed a bit. We had ordered a beach front cabana which was perfect.

Daniel ad set up 2 times for escort to the beach; we chose the earlier on of 9:00 ish. The other families decided on the 10:30 time so we were alone. We walked right off, were met by a golf cart, drove to Barefoot where Roberto the " Genie of the Island to take care of all your pleasures" met us, gave us our wrist bands and took us to the cabana.

The water was absolutely amazing - blue and clear and soothing. We did try a Labadoozle but Im pretty sure there was zero alcohol in it. It was tasty but buzz-less. The bar on the island is very limited, so if you are looking for a Bahama Mama you will get a rum punch. With one of  those dang paper straws that cannot accommodate the viscosity of a frozen drink and dissolves as you use it . I forgot to grab a handful of actual straws prior to leaving for the trip but I suffered through the mushy tubes . At least they offer straws

l- last summer on Epic i was forced to drink Miami Ices with no straw- this will make one's teeth hurt!!! Yuck1

Our attendant also dug up some snorkel gear for us . The fins were neonatal size but the masks and snorkels were in good shape. After a bit of my own personal sanitizing we donned the gear and headed out to the red marker. There is a small , yellow airplane submerged at BB and it was a nice treat; not quite reminiscent of our scuba days, but we got a kick out of   There were many more fish than I expected so it was an added little delight!

There were 2 floats in the cabana and plenty of others spread about the beach. The beach began to become more populated around 11:00 and was a pretty fun gang. Lunch was an "upgraded" buffet for about an hour or so; there were shrimp and burgers and fish and chicken . there was Ceviche and several salad items that were individually packaged in plastic cups. This kept the amount of fly poop we ingested to a minimum as opposed to the old -style giant vats of communal pasta salad .

The lunch was tasty ; we brought our plates back to the cabana and POOF!! Daniel appeared to make sure all was well. he had some Ceviche with us and we had a nice chat.

Throwing caution to the wind we ran right back into the water after Daniel left despite it not being 30 minutes since we ate and floated peacefully . We were well greased with biodegradable , non-coral killing sunscreen . My husband wears the SPF sunshirts and a wide -brimmed hat ; he has had several basal-cell carcinomas and isn't taking any chances ( hence the cabana) . My skin tone is best described as " Elmer's Glue"  and I did not burn ! Others were not so lucky- I never cease to be amazed at all the adults with bright-red shoulders and backs. I get pretty riled when I see sunburned kidlettes but this trip it seemed to be the "grown -ups" who were in need of Solarcaine! 

Barefoot Beach has plenty of shade and loungers. I did not realize how large the whole Labidee complex was until we took a quick trip on a gold cart to the market just to check it out. There were loungers and clam shells as fr as the eye could see! It did seem a bit crowded but nothing like those old photos of Coney Island on the 4th of July The restrooms were clean and stocked. The market was  a 3 minute stop for us- we hopped off,went into the main building, walked out the other side and left. No one in the building spoke to us but outside there were legions  of orange-shirted sales reps who were very enthusiastic in their hawking of "made in china' merchandise.

This was a wonderful and mostly relaxing day. the crowd did get quite rowdy as the sun and alcohol did their magic-I am still sometimes amazed at the information people will share with strangers! Sure its a bit creepy listening to other's conversations, but none of these folks were what one would consider demure or quiet. This was also the first day that we encountered the International Champion of Cruising Blowhards, Boasters and Sociopaths. He was loud, he had a distinctive voice , the drunken millenials thought he was cool and flocked around him and I knew that we would be hearing a lot from him. And I was correct. 

 All aboard was 3;30, we could have stayed until sunset and been happy. Just bring your own straws!

The cost of the beach front cabana was $495; the over water were $650 or so - but Im not certain. The gal who told me was a bit under the influence of Senor Tequila. 

Suite guests and Pinnies have access to this beach and a golf cart is readily available to rush you off to other parts of the island to zip line or parasail or jet ski.

Where BB is lacking-

We have not been to Labidee in many years but have been to Coco Cay 2 or 3 times in the past 11 years. This was , of course, before it became Perfect Day . We rented cabanas back then and were provided with fresh fruit platters in the cabana along with the cooler of bottled waters and cookies. I could have used a slice o 'pineapple . We did have a cooler with Evian but no tropical treats. Yet still I live! 

11 hours ago, Lionesss said:

 

OMG

I had to memorize the Gettysburg Address for speech class in High School (circa 1972), and I respected it and loved it so much I do not want my parody to detract from its ever important meaning.

Thank You president Lincoln for your awesome gift of insight.

 

 

 

 

....Four score  and 7 hours ago the OP brought forth  to cruise critic, a new thread.......

 

conceived in ingenuity and created to the proposition, that not all threads are created equal.

 

Now, we are engaged in a waiting game, testing whether that this thread or any other thread so ingenious and so dedicated can long endure.

 

We are met on the great battle field of personalities .....and we come to lend our opinions.

 

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

 

To all the brave  women and men who struggled here with conflict ....the world will little note what we say here but it can never forget what is posted here.

 

That this thread under cruise critic shall share a new insight into cruising, and that the critics of the people, by the people and for the people shall not lock this thread.

 

Saying for a friend.

 

 

No offense from here! Laughing!!! 

14 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 Don’t worry everybody, the OP is from Gettysburg. They are just preparing their address. 😉

You win the interwebs tonight!!

RE: Genie questions and a few others

Daniel was professional AND friendly. We are very easy going and it was just the two of us; some of his other families were larger AND he had the King of Jackweeds as a guest as well. He was amiable from the get go, not overbearing , got things done in a flash. Several times he just chilled with us in our suite, chatting and having a beverage; other times we asked him to pull up a chair and have at least some pork belly or bread with us at dinner

He is SMART and quite interesting; has a great sense of humor and handles himself with grace.

The last evening of the cruise we found a lovely card; a gift for my husband, one for me and a small sculpture of a couple for both of us. 

I'm sure it is protocol, but he always visited us at dinner, came to our cabana on Labidee, left us messages to ensure all is going as planned. 

My husband had an injury the day before we were to drive to Atlanta. I emailed Daniel and he added a massage for embarkation day. We booked 2 excursions through RCL that we realized my husband would not be able to take and Daniel switched them out, got us the new ones in about 17 seconds. BAM

This was only our second cruise alone since our kids were born starting 20 years ago. We were booked on MSC Yacht Club as a family and had to cancel due to the kid's schedules. Our first cruise alone was on Getaway -NCL  3 years ago in an aft suite. The suite was lovely and large but NOTHING like the Owners Panoramic we had on the Allure. We have been in the Owners and the 2 Br Villas on NCL, the Walt Disney Suite on Disney 3 times and many 2BR Grand Suites ( formerly Royal Family Suites) on RCL. This one blows them away.

We did see the Crown Lofts and an Aquatheater; the Lofts are not as large as i had thought ( but I would still take one with an ocean view balcony) ; the Aquatheater has a giant balcony but the inside doesn't have the WOW factor of the POS. (That doesn't look right but I'm leaving it!!) I would not mind ANY of the suites on this beautiful vessel!

We loved this ship and i would stay in any cabin with an ocean view balcony. As long as I have the balcony and a comfy bed - Ill be fine. But this was a great treat!

Yes, i would absolutely sail Star class again if I could get a deal like we did on this cruise. After cancelling out the drinks , the specialty restaurants, the Chef's table and not having to pay  the daily gratuity, the cost for this elegant stay was about $200 more than we were already booked to spend on the Grand Suite. RCL credited all these things that we booked to our on-board account which was nice.

Would I pay 15K for the 2 of us for this suite? Not with 3 in college. If we were travelling with the kids and could get a 2BR suite that didn't break the bank and was Star class- absolutely! 

We are not really fussy but I must say that having everything done for us was extremely cool. Im still blown away by the laundry. I sent one of hub's dress shirts for pressing not realizing it had a tear in it. They sent it back with permission to still iron; they also repaired the tear. 

The bed and the other furniture were very comfortable. The pillows were like clouds. Everything was clean and shiny but still inviting as opposed to sterile. I would not have minded  few more pops of color, but that is a non issue.

I like the reserved seats for the shows with a caveat: For Blue  Planet you do NOT want to be in the front row as the visual effects look much better from the back of the theater. i had to leave to answer a frantic text from my kid about an injured pupper at home; as i re-entered the theater form the back I could see so much more detail and 

appreciate the effects much better than when i got back to my front row seat. Had to kind of crane our necks at times . And the doggo is fine now.

Having a full fridge was another great bonus. Cans of sodas and beer , champagne that seemed to regenerate, Evian in three different sizes. The coffee in the suite was better than the coffee in the restaurants; Starbucks drinks are included as a Star guest ! I did pretend i was a millenial and indulged in a skinny vanilla latte one morning.

I will write more tomorrow but wanted to mention final debarkation. We had a 9:20 am flight out of FLL. At 6:40am Daniel sent a porter who loaded our cases of clean clothes . This gentleman waited for Daniel to arrive at 6:45am; he walked us off the ship, dropped us at customs with the bags being handed off to an American porter ( the RCL porter could not go past a certain line and was accompanied by a gal from customs with a clipboard) , we practically waved through customs and were in a cab at 7:05 and at the airport with mucho time to spare. We would have been there sooner but there was an Uber app glitch so we had to take a cab; the cab drivers had a little spat which wasted a little time; but getting off the ship took less than half an hour . It was INSANE!

Have a great evening all! More tomorrow. Feel free to as any questions about any part of the cruise- suite, StAR or generic , it doesn't matter. We ate at every venue except Giovannis so I can answer food questions as well!

Our cruise was the Western - Labidee, Jamaica and Cozumel. Not the most exciting ports but we really didn't care. This was our first official-ish "Empty Nester" vacation with our youngest having graduated from HS the week prior to the cruise. He leaves for college in August, but I wanted to get a jump on all this 'the kids are all gone!" excitement.

( who am i fooling- I know how much I'll miss the last one out so decided to replace him with a basset hound puppy! Three kids- three bassets!!)