stevekc

We've done the grand suites 4 times and the Crown Lofts many more.

We (obviously) prefer the CL well over the GS.

The Crown Lofts have....

2 bathrooms for an easy starter.

Great location on deck 17 which is exclusive, quiet and wonderfully proximate to Coastal Kitchen

which is fabulous for espresso machine and tasty breakfast pastries, not to mention a short walk to dinner.

Huge WOW factor in cabin with spectacular views from anywhere in the room looking out the balcony.

TWO very attentive suite attendants as opposed to one in the GS, therefore they can do a better

job with your cabin in less time. 

Bear i mind the views and the quiet rooms are best on the side cabins, not the ones overlooking the sports deck.

But I would still opt for a Crown Loft with a sports deck view over any grand suite.

If the expense is reasonably achievable for you I would recommend doing it.

Steve

While riding the wave this morning, noticed the testing of the stack lowering. 
Interesting process which the main stacks retract down and the scrubber stack (on the right) folds back. 
Will be pretty cool to watch the ship pass under the Verrazano Narrows bridge for those onboard. 
Steve

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 One thing to keep in mind is that they reserve B1 and B2 for the star class guests and they also will have priority on any waterfront locations.  So if you were sailing on a ship that has those levels of amenities that is something to consider. 

As others have advised, communicate with the concierge asap. 

I would select the panoramic suite certainly based upon the location on the ship.  When we had the two bedroom aquatheater suite we found it to be a very long way off. There was only one room attendant and you will have two up on deck 17. The noise from the aqua theater was certainly there at night but it was never bothersome however.  

We've never stayed in the panoramic suite, however we have done the crown lofts and star lofts and really enjoy the service level and seclusion up on 17. 

  The other consideration is how many people you have in your party. You will have two bathrooms with the aqua theater suite.  I don't know how many bathrooms are in the grand panoramic? 

  Regarding the star class service I would just make sure that you communicate what you really want to your Genie.

 Either way sounds like you have some wonderful choices to make!

Good luck,

Steve 

We were on Allure in January and March and noticed the smoking area by the bar on the suite sun deck. 

Wasn't ever an issue.

We did seem to remember that this smoking section wasn't on Oasis or Harmony,  we hope to find out soon about Symphony. 

Hope this helps. 

Steve

15 hours ago, driftersdream said:

Thank you so much for the positive feedback.  We leave in 6 days!  I can't wait.  Do you recall if they offer luggage valet on Allure at the new terminal?

They don't offer valet through the Miami airport we were told when leaving the allure February 3rd. 

I thought they had in the past, however not for sure. 

I do know they still offer the program at Lauderdale and Canaveral still. 

Steve

 Depends greatly upon what ship you're planning on sailing.

And then what is your budget regarding said rooms as there are suites with multiple bedrooms & bathrooms and then suites with a bigger space than a balcony cabin and sleep four and only have one bathroom.

Answer those questions and that will give people more information to give better advice.

Steve

3 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

A private hour on the flowrider without instruction is $345.00.

Steve

 

I just booked this for my Ovation cruise from Sydney to Honolulu.  Figure, I would buy the internet anyway, and if I get 5/7 of 15 days, that would be 10 Unicorn hours.  How much does it cost to rent the flowrider for an hour.  If I only get 5 Unicorn hours it has already paid for itself.  It was 19.99 per person on our cruise.  The DW will not appreciate the unicorn hours, but it can’t always be about the DW.😈🏄‍♂️

 

jc

We used London Heathrow Cars for transportation for 3 from the airport to Southampton and the return as well.

Our cruise was on the Navigator in May of 2017.

Trouble free service and the driver met us with signs by the luggage claim and gladly stopped at market so we could pickup some bottled water and other items.

They sent the same driver to pick us up for the return.

The price was just a few pound less than what Royal charges for their shuttle and obviously more personal, private and enjoyable.

Good luck!

Steve

It's been hit and miss for us with the concierge reaching out to us over the last 8 or so cruises.

Depending upon which ship you're on you can email them

Allure of the seas is al_concierge01@rccl (dot com)

You can fill in the 1st. two letters of the ship and figure out the rest.

Oasis is OA_concierge01@rccl (dot com)

Harmony is HM_concierge01@rccl (dot com)

Steve

For SteveKC!

 

Thanks Rick.

Did you brave the cold and get on the wave at all this week and

did you ever get to CP150?

Well Rick I have to say I've truly enjoyed this thread with all the great photos and the shots at all the port stops.

And I've patiently waited over 30 pages in and have to say the photos from the sports deck have been woefully lacking. No rock climbing, zip-lining or any shots of you (or random strangers) riding either of the two Brand New Flowriders!

Would also be nice to have a shot of the flowriding schedule for the week to share with all the wave nuts out there.

Isn't there a wipeout bar up there you could visit in between sets?

Just a thought.

Steve KC

They've shown movies in the Royal Theater in the front of the ship.

The seats are more comfortable and with it being an indoor theater it makes for a more

realistic cinema like experience.

When we were on in February they showed Wonder Woman.

That is an area where Disney ships have the advantage with a dedicated theater for movies.

Hope there will be an enjoyable film shown when you're on-board.

Steve

Is it any drinks at Starbucks? My son is a carmel mocha frapacino addict and my wife's is passion tea. Me, whatever the coffeemaker spews is good. Also, do they use the Starbucks app where they can scan your smartphone?

Yes they can use the app and if they are unable to scan it, they will retrieve your card number from it to run the charge.

However all the teas, coffees, frappucinos and espresso drinks are included with star class, so I can't imagine you needing to pay.

They now also have included the popcorn at the aqua-theater and the main theater and the comedy show.

Also the in-room movies that were (included free) as part of the initial roll-out of star class and then discontinued are back for free again!

This was on Harmony a few weeks ago (with the star class).

However I was on Oasis in February and paid with my Starbucks app when I got coffee as that wasn't a star class cruise .

I'm sure a good time will be had by all!

Steve

Only coffee as in lattes or are the blended coffee drinks like fraps included? Do they even offer that at the Starbucks on board? Also I saw in your later picture cans of soda. Do you get cans when ordering around the ship or just fountain sodas included? I know it'll obviously be cans left for our use in the cabin. Thanks!

Not to steal Andrew's thunder, however Starbucks on-board pretty much have every drink that is available on land and they are all included on Star class.

However none of the pastries or food items are included.

That's pretty drastic...I mean where else can you find anything to eat on a cruise ship?:')

Steve

Wow, that's a lot of frozen precipitation to have to remove!

You certainly will be much happier to be riding on top of it as opposed to shoveling your

way out from under!

Have safe travels tomorrow and here's to hoping you'll find the extreme (spring break) unicorn on the port side wave!

Steve

We brought an 8 pack of Gatorade on-board Oasis in February and had it just tagged by itself to

go right to our stateroom.

Well the porter wouldn't take it because it wasn't in our bag. And wasn't overly nice about it.

We had no problems doing the exact same thing on the Navigator in Southampton.

So we put it right on top of our roller day bag and brought it right with us no problem, however it was a bit of a pain lugging until we could get into our cabin.

I'm sure you'll have no problems getting to your stateroom.

Steve

We always arrive between 10:30 and 10:45 and rarely even have time to sit in the suites & pinnacles area before they call boarding.

Pretty much the same on Harmony, Allure and Oasis at both Port Everglades and Port Canaveral.

However be aware you might be delayed if they have had issues with Noro the previous voyage and have to perform a deep clean, or if they have a Coast guard inspection.

We will be boarding the Harmony two weeks from today and hoping for a smooth and simple embarkation.

Here's to hoping for the same for you!

Steve

Where does UBER pickup at MCO

We were picked up just outside the baggage claim floor.

Also in answer to your previous question, we used the regular Uber.

There were only two of us and we had three suitcases, and a flowboard bag (short surfboard).

Our cases are two medium sizes and one small and we put the cases in the trunk and the board bag in the backseat with my wife.

In fact back home we had a ride to the airport in a Mustang GT and made everything fit just fine.

If you get the Uber app on your smartphone, you can precheck rates for your trip at the times you need to travel if you are a week or further out.

I checked the two previous Saturday nights and the rates were around the same each week.

Uber does use surge pricing (based on demand) and Saturday evening is a pretty slow time.

However the morning trip to the ship , demand was (obviously) a little higher, however we've always preferred to go on our own and not have to wait for multiple parties traveling to multiple ships.

Good luck.

Steve

We just flew into MCO (Orlando) on February 3rd. and took an Uber to our hotel close to Port Canaveral (Cocoa Beach) at the same time in the evening. The price was 47.98 and was clean, comfortable, and private obviously.

We then took an Uber to the ship the next morning for $9.49 and had a similar experience.

Certainly a lot less than a car service and much more comfortable (and significantly cheaper) than an airport taxi.

Good luck with your trip!

Steve

My only tangible experience is the waterfront (beach cabana) seems to have increased from $395.00 to $420.00 . at Barefoot Beach

Do any of you have any 2018( current) pricing information ?

TIA,

Steve

Hubby and I are leaving on Oasis in October. We were wondering if anyone has stayed in star loft 1718....It’s the room we are booked in. I was hesitant to splurge but it will be our anniversary gift to us.

Also...do the star amenities include the upgraded menu items I am seeing on the menu for the main dining room are included??? Lobster etc....

We had 1718 and truly loved it. In fact we prefer it over the other star loft as the upstairs layout is much more accessible and less cluttered and we appreciated the privacy of not overlooking the sports deck.

You should have no problem getting anything you want to eat while in the star class program.

We actually never ate in the main dining room as we enjoyed the specialty dining locations as well as Coastal Kitchen.

Enjoy,

Steve

Has anyone ever organized, or been involved in, an Amazing Race style scavenger hunt onbaord?

 

I’m interested in creating something for our next cruise on Explorer but just want to know if the crew have any problems with something like this? Or what challenges I might expect.

 

If anyone has any advice or experience please let me know.

We were on Navigator of the Seas in May 2009 and they were doing it with the cruise line and it was in the compass. Being fans of the show we signed up right away with our family of 4.

There were only around 8 teams that signed up and it was a real blast!

We had to have one (different each time) team member do things such as climb the rock wall (for a time) shoot free-throws (number completed in 30 seconds) stand up on the flowrider (for at least one minute).

Also answer many random trivia questions about the ship and the cruise line. We found out about each quest when we figured out the answer and arrived at the destination using clues. We traveled from deck 3 to deck 16 and went from bow to stern on that ship.

Then when completed, you raced to the finish line and were checked in by time.

They used a combination of when you finished as well as your performance in all the sports and questions to determine who won.

If memory serves correctly, we finished around 5th. however received the silver medal (2nd. place) overall as we had done well on the challenges.

We were running around the ship and stairs and elevators like mad folks, and apologizing profusely to the people we were continuously overwhelming because "WE ARE IN A SERIOUS RACE" !

We saw the staff member who ran the race a few years later on the Allure and asked about the competition and why we hadn't seen it on any subsequent cruises.

He told us he was trying to get it organized on the Allure, however was doubtful he would get permission because of the potential liability.

A real shame, because that was one of the best activities we ever participated in listed in the compass. :(

Hopefully this will give you some ideas about things to incorporate into your race though!

Good luck,

Steve

Quite possible.

 

The thing is, when I book Star Class I ask my TA to confirm, before I book it. When I get the conformation I check that it is Star Class and file it away once it is printed. If RC reduces the Star Class and it is gone for a sailing I have booked I will do the following. Demand a price adjustment, to a price which my SLS used to be before the Genie program existed. If they won’t do that, then I will see about cancelling my reservation and getting my non-refundable deposit back as they reneged on their promised sale of goods.

 

In all honesty we would stay in our chosen cabin as prior to Star Class we had stayed in it over 15 times. We love the location and size, and know it’s lowest and highest prices prior to Star Class.

 

When we stay at All Inclusives we get butlers Suites and are getting used to the Genie perks with RC. If Genies are gone we might try NCL for the Haven, or Celebrity and go with a Butler Suite. In reality I love the space of the large cabin. This June we have the RS booked on Radiance for a Alaska Southbound sailing and it is more than I have ever paid for the RLS. That being said I know we will survive on our own. We have our dinners booked and shore excursions are too.

Royal could be in big trouble with your future bookings if NCL or Celebrity would add flowriders!:D:D:D:D:D

Steve