BubbaBoat

Great point. Then what does he do with suite balconies that are larger?  

That it takes an Act of the Captain to approve something so frivolous 

2 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Oasis class balcony partitions can be opened but it is at the discretion of the Captain.

Hilarious.

1 minute ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

I have never seen a divider removed. The ones I have seen opened are two parts and one of the parts slides open. Do you have a particular ship you are inquiring about? Or, will you plan your cruise based on the ship and the ability to remove the divider.

I was thinking of any of the Oasis Class Ships.  Hoping it could be opened up so my wife and I can share balcony space with my 2 adult kids and thus take a 60 sf or larger balcony and double the size

A quick question on having two balcony rooms together on a cruise...Can RCL remove the divider in between balconies?  We'd like to book side by side balcony staterooms and open the balcony area.  Not interested in having a door in between the staterooms but are interested in having the partition removed.

What ships have that capability?  If possible, can they do this with an oversized balcony and regular balcony stateroom, as well?

I'd actually go see the world instead of just pop in for a glimpse.

On 5/5/2020 at 9:08 PM, liberiben said:

Thanks for the info. Most likely only the 2 of them would use it. My Mom and I would eat in the restaurant. Good to know though for an expectation standpoint. 

I think it sounds like a great plan.  I do travel for business more than I'm at home...except for this year, of course 😄 My guess is I'll probably have to start travelling again come this time next year.  I'm really looking forward to having to do nothing on our May cruise.  Quite frankly, dining on a cruise ship can become an extreme pain in the rump.  First of all, the restaurants serve average food, at best...Chops Grille is maybe like that of an Outback Steakhouse.  Not close to Ruth's Chris or Morton's where you'll get USDA Prime beef and nowhere near like experiencing a very nice restaurant in any of the cities you'll be visiting on your cruise.    In fact, the view from your Suite will be far superior to that of the restaurant, as you are guaranteed an ocean view. The cruising experience and atmosphere is all about the themeing.  The service IS outstanding, the food average, and crowds themselves can drain you.  More times than not, I'd rather serve myself and have a nice view versus sitting in a restaurant and being dependent of waiters, any day.  Furthermore, having to get dressed for dinner is the bane of my existence.  I'm on vacation, damn it. The real reason why I'm excited to have our Genie is to help eliminate the herding sensation that comes with cruising.  Waiting in line is not my idea of vacation...I'm hoping our Genie can take care of that.  I do think cruising is a great way to identify cities and regions that you'd like to return to and actually spend multiple nights exploring.  There's no way to immerse yourself in the culture of foreign lands, especially if you're only going to be there for less than 12 hours.  Quite frankly, these folks that do nothing but cruise haven't really even seen the world.   I also believe that cruising is a great way to unwind and rejuvenate yourself, if you let it.  For me, I look forward to doing nothing but letting the stress meld away.  I too will be staying in a 2 bedroom Aqua Theater Suite in May, maybe on the same cruise you are planning...I plan to be rubbing that Genie bottle as much as possible.  Right now, I just hope our Magic Genie can get us all back to cruising again.

26 minutes ago, ryanbarckley said:

We absolutely LOVED having a genie. People often express some concern with having a person like that be too intrusive but we found our genie was the perfect level of present without being intrusive. Below are some of the things he handled for us:

 

1. escorted us on board on boarding day (I had messaged him ahead of time that my girlfriend was unaware we had a suite and wanted it to be a surprise. She had never been on a cruise, so she didn’t know anything). He came up to us waiting in the lounge and said there had been an “issue” with our room and he needed to bring us there. 
2. we took part in a cabin crawl and he arranged some snacks to be there when everyone came through.  

3. He made whatever dining reservations we wanted. He always came and visited us at dinner each night to check in and make sure we were all good. 
4. he helped with any issues we had on board (we got charged for something we shouldn’t have, he removed it for us. One day our formal clothes had not arrived in time for dinner, so we called him and they arrived shortly). 
5. He arranged seating for us at any of the shows (not always front row, he said they get us seats where they think is best depending on the show - they can also get us seated wherever we prefer though). 
6. He arranged to have whatever food sent up to our room whenever we wanted. We had breakfast delivered a couple times, and one night I asked for some creme brûlée’ for dessert. 
7. He arranged our tours on the bridge, and they galleys. 
 

any questions you have let me know! I’m happy to answer.  

Thanks Ryan!  How far in advance did you give your Genie notice for things like shows, dining reservations, and excursions?  Also, when ordering in room dining is it from the Main Dining Room, Specialty Restaurants or just the Room Service menu?  

Super excited to add this care free component to our journey.

Hoping we can get some advice on how to utilize our RCL Genie.  How have you put your Genie to work?  Apparently we receive in room dining, do we rub our lamp and the Genie appears ready to take our order?  What type of experiences do they assist with?  How do we get the most out of our Genie?  We're hoping to sail on HOTS in May.

I was wondering what time you got back to the ship from the Glacier Excursion? How did you get to/from Mendenhall Glacier? Was it worth it to go the Mendenhall Glacier or would you have preferred to just walk around town?

 

I was also wondering if anyone has taken either the Chinese Lantern Tour of Butchart Gardens or regular Butchart Gardens Tour and how much time was spent at the gardens on either tour?

We are on the Solstice over the 4th of July Holiday..as far as the Gardens go, we don't arrive until the evening in Vancouver and gardens will be closed.

In either the Penthouse or Royal Suite, what are the sleeping arrangements for 4 adults? My wife and I, plus our two adult children.

Hilarious...They already have my money...The cruise we would rather go on is going to cost more yet they don't want to deal with it. "very sick, perhaps die" - LMAO

So freaking corporate. Oh well, Western Caribbean it is...I aint complaining ;)

We've booked two cruises this summer. One to Alaska and one to Western Carib. Both have been full paid for. We would like to change Western Carib to Europe. What change fees are we looking at or options do we have? Thanks!

No I haven't and don't think I will. I'm sure their availability is super limited and I'd hate to have dining issues...It really isn't worth it to us to have a suite.

I just received my MoveUP upgrade email for Solstice. We have two cabins in Aqua Class and have upgrade bidding options on 3 suites. The 3 suites are Sky, Celebrity and Royal. What's strange is when I look at availability on the cruise, it shows that there is only one suite available and that's a Royal Suite.

Another thing I am concerned about, if I bid and win on only one upgrade of my two cabins, I wonder if it forces the other 2 in my party (my adult children) to have to eat at Blu while we would have to eat at Luminae????

CHECK THAT...I just went on to the X website and now notice there is no availability at the Suite level...So why on earth are they providing 3 suites to bid on utilizing the MoveUP bidding program?

I can't thank you all enough for your insight. This info has been extremely helpful. I'll definitely share some posts during the trip. We're extremely excited

Awesome Aurora! Thank you.:D

Another question, while eating at any restaurant can I simply order a glass of wine, beer or a cocktail at no charge thanks to my premium beverage package? I'm sure there are some Super high end cocktails or wines that are not on the package, but for the most part, can I order a glass of zinfandel with din din? Is it designated on a list somehow?

Thanks for the advice everyone. My bad...I din't mean to convey that we weren't going to take advantage of shore excursions, I don't plan on booking my shore excursions through the cruise ship ;p

Haven't gone on a cruise in over 28 years (Song of Norway RCL). Our 30 year anniversary is coming :hearteyes:. I've booked two cabins in Aqua Class on the Solstice to Alaska. I chose the Go Best Package which includes $150 OBC, Paid Gratuities, Internet Access and Premium Beverage package.

I am thinking about using everyone's $150 OBC on Specialty Dining Packages. However, we have Blu access so I am not sure if I am going to really need to utilize a specialty restaurant more than 1 or 2 nights on the 7 night cruise. The dining package gives you a discount on the regular nightly cover charge for the specialty restaurants. I have seen posts that state discounts to the various cover charges are also offered on the ship. A few questions:

Should I hold off on the package and try and get a discount at Murano while on the ship?

Because most of my alcohol and beverages are included, where else would I be spending $$$ on the ship? Can I get a glass of wine or two or three at dinner without ordering a bottle of wine? If not, we could order a bottle with dinner and use our OBC.

Furthermore, we're not into Spa treatments, photos, or cruise line booked shore excursions.

It's my understanding that we are allowed to bring two bottles of wine onboard per stateroom. Can I consume those in my cabin without a corkage fee? Is the corkage fee of $25 in the restaurant still accurate? Does a normally priced $30 bottle of wine cost more than $55 on the ship?

What about snacks...Ice cream at the Gelateria ...Latte at the coffee shop...Do they charge you extra for those items?

What about room service...late night snack...breakfast, etc....Do they charge you extra for those items and the service?

Lastly, the Go Best package provides Prepaid gratuities. What do these gratuities include? Restaurant staff, room service staff, maid service, bar staff, etc?