wdwkings

The room in the video (10322) on Quantum is a Sky class room. This is likely a one off situation, that the gentleman that posted the video did not mention. It looks like he is giving a tour of the room and not really discussing Star class. Likely this was a "perk" that was extended to the guest in compensation for some changes. There are reports, that a travel agent I know verified, of Star class room bookings that got messed up and those guest were booked into Sky class rooms but still got the genie service. Likely they received all of the perks of star class and maybe some other compensation. We had a similar situation on a Star class booking out of Sydney that got switched to Queensland (but ended up being cancelled due to COVID), so although rare, it has happened in the past. Moral of the story (this post) don't expect a genie in that room.

it is easy, demand for the product. The more ships in port and the larger that those ships are, the more demand for the excursion. Very simple logic of supply and demand. Only so many helicopters, a specific number of seats on each aircraft and only so many pilots to do the excursions, so once they are booked, they are gone. Each cruise line will book a number of spots because they know that if they have 4,000 guests on that sailing, then they can expect a certain number of guests based on historical data from prior sailings. They will lock those excursions in place, even if no one has purchased that excursion, yet. It is basically locking the reservation in place for the cruise and locking out the general public, or a direct booking. I'm always a fan of booking directly and we have done that on a number of occasions. Coming into Juneau at 1 pm, especially if there are lots of ship/people there for the day, decreases a single persons ability to negotiate a spot and price.

We booked directly, don't know which one since my wife did that, and it was great. We were the first trip of the day. The cruise line excursions used the same company but were later. The issue with your port day is that you don't arrive until 1pm. That later arrival might impact availably to book something. Before going down the rabbit hole of looking at booking directly, I would check how many ships are in port. If there are a number ships in port that day, definitely book with the cruise line,

There are lots of reasons that a cancellation might happen. Unbelievable amounts of cancellations happened a few years ago and we had at least three. even further back I heard that Costa cancelled itineraries on their Concordia ship. 😶 Just kidding about that to some degree. In reality there are three things that impact possible cancellations - ship issues, business issues, or hotel issues. Hotel - a sailing is booking a hotel essentially so there can be limitations on accommodations. At times charters impact some sailings. These should be the easiest to get notification and some kind of adjustment but likely there may not be much in compensation. Business - in the end the cruise line is in business to make money. If something doesn't make sense a company can make changes to itineraries. There are many things that might change where a ship will stop, usually they do not impact a full sailing but it is not unheard of. Sometimes changes can happen very late but that is usually to a single port, a major change usually happens further out. Again, it is likely notification and changes happen further out. It is unlikely to get major compensation in these cases but it is likely to get some and your travel agent might be able to negotiate a better deal if they are knowledgeable. Ship - these are typically the latest notifications and most problematic. Anyone who owns a boat knows that things happen, even to these big ships. While usually it is not common, things still happen. Even a working ship may have other issues, inspections can be failed, that might change a sailing. Expect minimal or late notice on ship issues. Compensation is usually going to happen but the cruise line will try to minimize what they do offer.

I'm not saying the program is the greatest (or that it is even any good) but why not take advantage of the offer to status match if you are going to do an MSC cruise.

We have done these a few times and like it. You will get a letter the day before confirming your day bed from the excursions. You will also have a notice in the app. Bring the letter to the check-in desk near the day beds and they will check you in, give you wristbands and go over some details with you. Your name will be noted on one of the chalkboards on a corner of the bed so you can find which bed you are assigned without them but still need to check in.

I'll stick with my analysis from your other post on another thread. Happy planning!

There is an option for a welcome aboard bottle of wine or bubbly for the Star class guest. Also certain C&A levels get a welcome bottle as a perk. Here is the current list from the Allure-

Assuming you are kidding. Just in case - Genie…. ….magic.

With the risks of lawsuits, it maybe tougher to circumvent height and weight restrictions. With a rather high profile death of a guest that was not within the rides limits in Florida, the likelihood is it might not be allowed. If the excursion is something through the cruise line, probably less likely to be overlooked. A local operator might be willing to look the other way more than corporate Royal Caribbean would allow. To that point, if you do try and are not allowed by Royal’s staff they are just following the rules from corporate.

We had done Star Class before and are again very soon. While some things have change a bit over the years the “rules” are pretty much the same. As for what you are requesting, just share what you like and how you like to have your day play out with the genie and they will make the magic happen. (See what I did there?). Since this sailing is pretty close, just have a chat on with them when you meet and they will work with you. There isn’t much that they can’t work out with short notice, but just remember some late or last minute request might be harder to fulfill. On Ovation in 2019 our genie had a family emergency and was removed the afternoon before our sailing. They flew another in last minute and we still did fine, just chatted each day to work out what we wanted to do, outside of what was already scheduled. There are some specifics that they cannot get around, like whole bottle requests, in room, be it wine or spirits are a purchase item. Yes, there are discounts but even then there might be a more cost effective way. Genies are notorious for snack deliveries, so a simple request for some pre-dinner snacks and maybe a glass of wine would be right up the alley. Not sure if the Quantum class still has the afternoon drink cart post COVID, but they did come around the suites in the afternoon since the lounge is so far, not like the CK/lounge on the Oasis class. (At least they did while we were on Ovation in 2019.) Happy sailing!

This is too funny with some of the responses. 🤣 We have done some staterooms under the public decks on different ships and different lines, including an Owners Suite on Freedom. For the most part all, including deck 10 on Freedom which was also very close to the elevator bank, have been pretty quiet. There might be some occasional noise but typically nothing problematic. The most noise from outside any stateroom was actually probably on DCL. One was from kids goofing around on the stairs and another was deck chairs being moved around, but both were limited occurrences.

I have done a massage on day one on two lines, Royal and Disney. Best to start things by relaxing, right? Both were fine, no noise or issues from tours. On Royal, it was on the Oasis so a similar layout, and the treatment rooms are a deck below the spa entrance on that class of ship. Most of the welcome activities are up on that entrance level so minimal traffic. With the gym above, I would be more concerned about noise bleeding from above during an exercise class with any rooms that are underneath that specific area.

If you are looking specifically for info on the Symphony, only since the tours have resumed, the pool is pretty small right now. Over the next few months you might get more feedback, since they really have only resumed in the past week. If you are familiar with Matt’s blog about RC, he did a review this week on his tour aboard Mariner. Agree with others that it is a good option for a first time cruiser, or someone has never done one. Some aspects may not be as interesting, but everyone should find parts interesting, especially the bridge.

Ditto, on the above statement. Thanks for the fun and informative thread, hope you had a great time and congrats on the anniversary! Safe travels home.

Sorry was watching pztv. Bye @lioness

Following this great thread now, and about to watch you sail out on the port cam too. Have an awesome cruise!

Looks like you might have been our next door neighbor on our CLS RoyalUp. We got the room right above the zip line landing. Have to say it was more fun than I thought, could see all activities, most of the aqua theater and views out to the ocean. Glad we did, not that I’ll ever pick one outright but now I know the aft/sports deck veranda is not that big of a deal.

We got a Royal Up to the CLS on Harmony in May, knowing that aft facing was a risk. We would never book one but I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Especially in the morning, it didn’t seem like it impacted being out on the veranda. In the afternoons there was a bit more noise and action. Just resorted to more people watching and it was OK. Inside the room, no real noise or issues and having that two story suite was worth it. So unlike the OP’s make or break issues, were there things that were less attractive, yes, but were those issues the worst things in the world, no. Complaining about upgrades to suites, even JS, really is a first world problem.

Buyers remorse.

The pool decks will have blankets and towels for use. That is likely the pics you see of people bundled up in blankets. I guess you could bring one back to the room for use p, but if you are not using the couch as a bed there should be some linens, likely under the bed, you could use.

AOS? Adventure, Anthem or Allure. Guessing Allure since that was one of the first with a Starbucks. It is not the only one these days. Earlier in this thread someone mentioned that Starbucks was being used on the ships in the cafe. We heard that rumor, I think back in March on the Wonder. Have not been able to verify since then but the products in the cafe and Starbucks should be very similar.

Need or want, is my view. There are quite a few factors that could be impactful. We have done two different cruises to those areas and did have some Euros and Pounds. The currency was really for small purchases or the odd chance that someplace did not take cards. For us the majority was all on credit cards. Many have good conversion rates, so double check those policies as you evaluate the need to get local currencies. The main factor should be how much time you expect to be away from the ship or ship based excursions. If you are doing time before or after the cruise, have a long port time or overnight port, or are considering an excursion not booked with the cruise line those all might increase the need of local currencies.

@thethreeofus glad to hear you got the upgrade. It looks like your other questions were answered. Have fun!

The program is pretty straightforward as a way for passengers to upgrade and for Royal to maximize revenue. The program is run by an outside organization. If @twangster finds this he can provide some more in depth on that front. You should always book a stateroom that is acceptable to you and not count on an upgrade. It is an easy process to submit your bid online and see what happens. Chances of an upgrade can vary but will increase if the cruise is not sailing at or near capacity. If there are limited rooms available then even a max bid may not be helpful. We have recently had a successful bid just slightly over the minimum. So it is really more about what is available and how many bids there are as opposed to purely how much you bid. If you are successful in moving up to suites you will have full access to all the perks. The only exception is the double points. If you are on a Oasis or Quantum class and get up to Star you will even have the genie and all the perks, otherwise expect lounge access and concierge services. Hopefully that gives you a quick overview and answers the suite question, have fun and good luck with the bid.