jessandtwo

We used them for 9 of 16 of my family who went on a cruise 2 weeks ago.  Very easy except when you don’t get emails with the Zoom info and need to contact them.  Had that happen on about half of the people.  First group we did 4 at a time, very easy, second group all 5 did theirs individually.  Worked great for our group.  Was quicker and cheaper than the in person testing we did through tent test at the hotel for the other 7 people in our group.

I’d use them again but the wait if you need help is very long.

While these are probably more expensive options, you asked about suites and my mom uses a scooter when traveling, and they were in the Owners Panoramic (Star class suite) and her scooter fit fine thru the doorway in that room.  My sister was in the Grand Panoramic and I was in the Star Loft and the scooter also fit in both of our rooms.  The Star Loft has stairs to the bedroom so that probably wouldn’t be an option for you.

I don’t think the scooter fit in the bathroom in any of the suites mainly because I believe there are a couple steps into the bathroom in the Panoramic Suites which may be an issue for you.

The Royal Loft has one bedroom/bathroom upstairs along with one downstairs, so that might work for you, if you are traveling with other people who could use the upstairs bedroom.

We’ve always booked 1718 but we wouldn’t hesitate to book 1720 if it was the only one available.  We booked 1718 originally because it was the only one available for our date and now we just keep booking it because we liked it, so why change.

As for the other suites not being available, are you just looking on Royal’s website?  I have seen all the other suites available (except maybe the Royal Loft) during summer 2020 on Oasis, but I use a travel agent site.  On Royal’s website some of the Star class suites don’t show available because you have to call in when there is only 1 room left in a category and all those Star class rooms are considered their own category, which means there is only ever 1 available, so you need to call in or look on a travel agent site.  I also know 1718 is available for some weeks during summer 2020 because I’ve been looking at booking it or one of the Panoramics.

Good luck!

For an anniversary, if just the 2 of you, I’d definitely do one of the suites on 17 on Oasis class.  Deck 17 is so quiet and relaxing.

As for the suites, here is a generalized breakdown:

The Grand or Owners Panoramics are only on Allure and Oasis.  They have smaller balconies than the other Star class suites but they have hot tubs on the balconies and the bedroom is not lofted.

The Star Lofts will be 2 stories with a lofted bedroom and a large balcony.

Then there is the Royal Loft which has a wrap around balcony with a hot tub with 2 bedrooms, one is lofted and a living room.  

On the Symphony there will also be a family suite, but that’s really for families with kids, it has a bunk room, slides, etc in it.

The other Star class suites that are not on deck 17 are the 2 bedroom aqua suites which look out over the Aqua Theater.  Then there is the 4 bedroom villa suite which is on Harmony/Symphony only.

Star Class is awesome.  Almost everything is included and the Genie will make all your reservations, reserve you seats at shows, and basically help you with anything you need on the cruise.

You should look at videos of the different suites on YouTube so you can get a feel for what they are like.

Star class will spoil you. 

I’m the OP and we paid about $8000 for 4 of us last summer, which was honestly a great price.  I hope I find a similar deal in the future.  We booked same cabin for this summer on Allure, and we are definitely not paying $8000 this summer. 

As for back stage things, our Genie took our teenage sons back stage to meet the cast of the shows.  No charge for that.  

I vote Crown Loft.  Deck 17 is very nice.  The lofts are nice because you get the 2 full bathrooms and separate space with the loft.  Being close to the suite lounge and costal kitchen is very nice.  Hallways are extremely quiet.  We didn’t find it hard to get places from that deck.

Yes we were Star class last summer on Oasis and have one on Allure this summer.  Totally spoiled us.  

You do not need to prebook any shows, the Genie will get you reserved seats. The only thing ours couldn’t reserve seats for were things like the marriage show and the comedy show in the main theater.  But anything that had tickets they reserve your seats for you.

We were pretty low key, but if there is anything you want to do on the ship, like tour of bridge, etc, the Genie can arrange it.  

If you want specific food/drink items in your cabin ask in your precruise email with your Genie. They can magically make things like diet Dr Pepper show up in your room.

My biggest advice is  don’t be afraid to ask.  If there is something you are wanting or expecting and the Genie didn’t anticipate your need, ask.  They will try to make your wishes/wants come true but they aren’t always good at mind reading.

3shar you are welcome.  I had no idea either, we live in Texas and normally cruise out of Galveston and their “adult” comedy shows always have kids in them so we didn’t know any different.  

Have a great cruise, Star class is wonderful.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask me.

4 minutes ago, gerif said:

Why would anyone ask their genie to break rules for them and possibly get in trouble? Getting kids into venues where they would otherwise be allowed is a different story altogether. 

I will say we did not ask the Genie to break the rules.  She is the one who had scheduled us for the comedy club.  On our activity sheet she gave us on our boarding day it said “Adult Comedy Show”. As it was our first time on Oasis class we had no idea that there was an age restriction, we thought it was a statement saying there was adult content like the comedy shows in the main theater on the other ships.  Once we were in the club, was the first she said to us let’s see if he could stay.   We felt bad she got in trouble but we honestly didn’t know.  I’m assuming since she planned on all of us going that in the past she’s done it for other guests.  And I know that on our same cruise another Genie took his teens to the show because our Genie told us and said we could try again if we wanted.  We declined.

Last summer on our Star class cruise on Oasis, my one son turned 18 on the last day of the cruise and my other son was a few months shy of 17.  Our Genie got us seats in the comedy club, and said we could see if the youngest could stay,  but as we were waiting the Genie was called out of the venue and when she came back she said that our 16 year old had to leave.  They let our oldest stay but she couldn’t get anyone to approve our 16 year old, I think she actually got in trouble for letting him in.  (We had no idea that 18 was the minimum age to be in there, we though it was just a thing to say it would have adult language/content.). She felt bad that he couldn’t stay with us so she then took the 16 year old to the headliner show and let him meet the singers, got pictures with them and brought him back to us at the end of the comedy show.  

We now know that it is age enforced and this summer we won’t even ask the Genie to let him in or my nieces who are not 18.

Depending on ship or Genie you may have a different experience. 

Yes it is included.  If you accidentally get charged for it your Genie will remove it from your bill.

I haven’t stayed in the crown loft but have stayed in the Star Loft and were given tours of the crown lofts by our Genie.  (We wanted to see the size difference). We did not feel any vibrations in our suite from being up on deck 17 and actually loved being on that floor.  The convenience of the lounge and coastal kitchen and the quietness of the hallways was a big plus.   I don’t remember anything having Velcro on it, but it doesn’t mean there wasn’t Velcro.

 If you want an ocean view you’ll definite want to stay in the L1.  The L2’s do look over the sports deck and their balconies will be nosier and not very private but you don’t hear anything in the room.  Our children like the view from the L2’s but my husband and I like the privacy of the L1’s. 

On Oasis last summer our Genie said Comedy Club was not a guarantee because venue was small but as long as we were flexible she’d get us in.  Which she did.  I’d tell your Genie on their welcome email that you’d like to go to that one evening just to be on safe side.

As for the traveling cart, they come around to each suite within a specified time frame every afternoon.  They have a specific list of drinks they serve, but I think if they have ingredients on the cart they’ll make you what you want.  We wanted to try new drinks so they made us different ones every afternoon we were in our suite.

We have not been in both, but had 1718 this past summer on Oasis.  We had our two teenage boys (17 & 16)  with us. 

My husband and I loved the privacy/Ocean view of the balcony on 1718.  An older couple was in 1722 and they hated their balcony because it was too loud for them during the day.  I think our boys would probably have enjoyed the people watching from that balcony better than staring at Ocean.  

The downstairs had plenty of room for my sons and we even had a rollaway brought in so they didn’t have to sleep in the pullout together.

The only downside I found to the cabin was that there is only a sheer curtain upstairs (no privacy curtain) separating the loft from the downstairs and so my boys felt like they had a lack of privacy when trying to change downstairs.

All in all, I’d book it again, and am actually trying to find a date that works for us in the near future.

You really can’t go wrong with either of them.

You should get one internet code per person booked in the star class suite. So you can give one of those codes to the babysitter if you would prefer. And then have one less code for the people in the suite.

Joyce has been around for awhile. She was on vacation right before we had her on Oasis and she replaced Smitha who is now on vacation.

She is awesome with kids. My teenage son formed a great bond with her. They are still in touch.

Have a great time. It was so exciting getting to the terminal and seeing Joyce for the first time!

Also since you are in a Star Loft you’ll probably have Marva as your suite attendant. She is the best! Enjoy

We had Joyce in June when we were in Star loft 1718. She was awesome. We met Hannah also. She is also very nice. She went out of her way to make sure we were taken care of if we weren’t with Joyce at the time. Have fun!

Let me know if you have any question.

Just got a really awesome deal on the star loft suite on Oasis for this June. It’ll be my husband, myself and our 16 & 17 year old sons. Our 17 year old will turn 18 on the cruise and will have just graduated high school.

We live in Texas so normally we cruise out of Galveston so this will be our first time on an Oasis class ship. We have cruised in suites before but this will also be our first time with the Star class on Oasis.

Any tips, advice, things we should know about would be really great.

Oh my gosh, I’m so excited.

Have they fixed/replaced the machine on Liberty? When we were on in the fall there wasn’t a machine at all in the Diamond Lounge. There was one in the Suite Lounge but nothing in the Diamond Lounge. They did have carafes of coffee available but no machine. We were told it had been broken for awhile.

I’m assuming it’s been fixed but haven’t heard definitely from anyone who has sailed recently.

Hope I didn't come across as rude when I said it was on the 5 day not the 2 day track. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't showing when I knew I had seen it earlier. I've been watching it becaue of travel plans and when I couldn't see it on the above link, I couldn't figure out why it had disappeared. So apologies if I was short or rude. I shouldn't post late at night!

To the OP, hopefully it won't cause any problems for your ports. I have had itineraries altered due to hurricanes in the past and honestly it was no biggie for us, but I understand that for some people with specific plans for a port (like weddings, etc) it can be a very big deal. In the instances where we've had changes we've had either an alternate itinerary (like they'd do the Roatan/Costa Maya route instead of Grand Cayman/Jamaica) or they reversed the order of the ports (like instead of Cozumel being first it ends up last). They will tell you as soon as they know if they have to alter the itinerary.

Are you driving or flying?

It is not showing up on the NOAA 2 day forecast because it isn't expected to develop in the next 48 hours, but if you change to 5 day it shows up there.

There was a thread about it here a month or so ago, and then cruise critic had a story about it. http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7808

Where was this original notice you mentioned? I never knew anything about it until I saw it here!

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/LTYA_News/17056800_Nonrefundable_FAQ_News.pdf

Where was this original notice you mentioned? I never knew anything about it until I saw it here!

My understanding from the original notice of the non-refundable deposit is all grand suites and above and all guarantee cabins only have non-refundable deposits starting on July 1.

I have a cruise booked for August 2018. Today I decided to upgrade because of the current sale. I went from a junior suite to a grand suite. When I called the D+ desk the agent told me that going to a GS would mean a non-refundable deposit. I argued with her because I was doing a ghost booking and it plainly told me the deposit was fully refundable up until April 28, 2018. She tried to tell me that the refundable and non-refundable options were for junior suites and lower, that for GS and higher there was not any option, it was non-refundable. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was on hold for over 10 minutes. She finally came back on and said that her supervisor had to ask their supervisor and they finally realized the new policy does not go in to effect until July 1st. So, mine is still refundable.

 

I guess we will have to wait until after July 1st to see if she was correct about GS and above always having non-refundable deposits.