Star class

[orville99]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Probably because STAR customers generally don't have a problem paying for an OTW Cabana😉

And Star customers only exist on Oasis and Quantum class ships, but all classes of ship visit Coco Cay. 

[John&LaLa]

12 minutes ago, topnole said:

Yeah. He asked the genie as I recall but they couldn’t change it.  This was early in the SC era.  So there were weird things

like this.  
 

We had one weird thing once but I can’t remember.  I’m not gonna get bothered by a few bucks on a cruise when I’m spending that much to enjoy a week off.  Just not worth it.  I also remember some perks were totally changed by our second or third star class trip.  Is what it is as they say. 

 

I recall that Thermal Pass went away

[topnole]

16 minutes ago, orville99 said:

And Star customers only exist on Oasis and Quantum class ships, but all classes of ship visit Coco Cay. 

That is true. But the same situation was true for Labadee all these years, but they created a private suites area.  
 

Honestly that can go both ways.  Since

only some ships have SC why not have a few easy perks to implement.  The floating mat is one example.  Of

course the other argument is it would be too much to cater to such a small group that isn’t even on all the ships.  
 

Again, I’m not complaining.  I just find the differences strange.  One would hope there are operational or strategic reasons, but with RCI implementation of things can be very inconsistent for no logical reason (other than bad management at a particular level of the organization).  

[topnole]

48 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I recall that Thermal Pass went away

Yeah.  And they changed the flowrider benefits at least a couple different times.  First it was skip the line. Can’t recall his name (Pez I think), but he is a pinnacle and hogged the flowrider a bunch and they ended the way that perk was implemented sometime after. 
 

Then we went SC the next year and we got 15 minutes to ourselves on the flowrider several mornings which was awesome.  Then they stopped that and went back to a priority line on the opposite side of the normal line which was weird and didn’t really help much given the way they implemented it.  From what I read on CC, all these changes varied depending on the ship you were on.  
 

After getting the morning sessions the one time, the next time we went SC I was so excited to get in a 15 minute morning session multiple days only to learn that perk was gone.  We even had the same genie as before, but she couldn’t make it happen.  For someone that flowrides, that was a let down for me.  
 

I’m sure they have changed other perks too and now with Covid I’m reading about some changes like the daily bar cart with craft drink (never cared for that anyhow).  Im sure 95% of it will be the same, so I know it will still be great.  
 

 

[topnole]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Maybe it's in the cards as they expand the island

I’m thinking not for the reasons in your cabana comment.  I guess if enough complaints came in.  But if you haven’t been to Labadee, you wouldn’t ever know there used to be a Suite benefit on their private island/beach.  So only more experienced Royal cruises would even know to voice an opinion.   

[RFerrington]

The unlimited thermal spa pass is the one amenity that comes to mind for SC perk reductions.  I am not a spa lover but Dan loves the steam and sauna.  Now it's just 1 visit which is more than enough for me (I don't even use that one visit, most of the time) but Dan does miss it.  That perk elimination made absolutely NO sense to me.  It cost them nothing.  I think it has to do with the fact that most of the spa services are contracted services and not managed by Royal personnel.  I suspect there was some pushback from the vendor that caused that amenity to go [mostly] bye-bye. On our first SC cruise after they made that change, our Genie told Dan that he could visit the spa as often as he wanted and that he (Genie) would remove any charges that were incurred.  Since that time, no mas.

 

Neither of us a flow riders so I wasn't even aware that the priority for that venue had changed.

 

As for the roving drinks cart, for whatever reason, we have never ever even seen the cart.  There was only a limited variety of drinks on it anyway so we probably wouldn't have even used it.  On our last SC cruise (Oasis Dec 2019) the Genie asked if we wanted the drink cart to visit us and we told her "no".  So I guess they still have it/use it from time-to-time but I don't think it was ever all that popular.

 

Does anyone know if SC gets the "extended" ($$) North Star experience ?  My guess is "no" but I don't know for sure.

[cruisinelmo]

When in the Star Class what type of beverages are stocked in the refrigerator? Is beer and wine included? 

[RFerrington]

1 hour ago, cruisinelmo said:

When in the Star Class what type of beverages are stocked in the refrigerator? Is beer and wine included? 

Water, soda, juice (all non-alcoholic drinks), beer are all complimentary. As much as you want.  Wine is extra $$.  Liquor is complicated but they strongly discourage you ($$$) from having hard liquor in your suite.

 

Having said that, you can have wine and liquor brought to your suite in individual drinks.    It doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is what it is.  Wine and liquor drinks are subject to the drinks price threshold.  If you order an expensive glass of wine (for example) you will probably be charged the excess over the per-drink limit.

[vacationlover_mn]

I’m confused on what is included in Star Class on Odyssey.  Some of the things you guys mention, don’t appear in what I see online- like free beer in room, free wine delivered.  Can anyone list out what all of the recent amenities are?  Trying to determine if we should upgrade from grand suite, and drop UDP and boozy drink package…

[orville99]

16 hours ago, topnole said:

That is true. But the same situation was true for Labadee all these years, but they created a private suites area.

Not really. On Labadee, Barefoot Bay was a perk for anyone in a full suite. The OP's suggestion was that the Coco Beach Club should be a perk just for Star Suites - which is just a tiny slice of the full suite population. 

Not even close to the same situation.

[lovescats5]

Just off Anthem and for SC you got one session for 1 hr on the flowrider.  This was in the morning on the last sea day so it was chilly.  Also SC gets one 2 minute iFly session, which it used to be 1 minute.  The rest of the passengers pay for iFly, it is something like $50 for 2 minutes.  We were on North Star one time, which I think is what is now the new deal and we did go over the sides.  This was also during one of the last sea days (we had 2).  So things have changed for SC on Anthem from what they used to be.  The only thing you could do multiple times, for free, was bumper cars which is one of the things we love to do.  Maybe they will change some of those things again in the future but once something has a cost associated with it makes it hard to go back to free.

[John&LaLa]

16 hours ago, cruisinelmo said:

When in the Star Class what type of beverages are stocked in the refrigerator? Is beer and wine included? 

 

@Ocean Boy

 

We had Red Stripe, Newcastle, Powerade, Red Bull, Pellegrino, Evian, etc. Cases of it, every flavor imagineable.🤣🤣

 

We also got Beringer, but had to ask Genie to supply it. If ordered through bar, they charged. Eventually charge was removed

[topnole]

16 hours ago, cruisinelmo said:

When in the Star Class what type of beverages are stocked in the refrigerator? Is beer and wine included? 

Yes.  What ever you request.   I asked for my two preferred beers and there was never less than a 12 Pack of each at any time during the week.  I had to tell them to stop delivering for a day or two to drink the over supply.  😂

 

champagne and wine were also available.  I don’t recall the selections, but you could certainly get as much of the house type brands.  There were probably choices a step up of house as

well.  I just don’t recall.  

[topnole]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Not really. On Labadee, Barefoot Bay was a perk for anyone in a full suite. The OP's suggestion was that the Coco Beach Club should be a perk just for Star Suites - which is just a tiny slice of the full suite population. 

Not even close to the same situation.

I didn’t see anyone suggest coco beach club should be a star class perk?  Did I miss that comment?
 

The main point is why the difference between Labadee and Coco Cay for any suite perk and why the stark difference between on board getting everything plus the kitchen sink for star class, but on the island you get absolutely zero perk as star class.   

[topnole]

14 hours ago, RFerrington said:

Water, soda, juice (all non-alcoholic drinks), beer are all complimentary. As much as you want.  Wine is extra $$.  Liquor is complicated but they strongly discourage you ($$$) from having hard liquor in your suite.

 

Having said that, you can have wine and liquor brought to your suite in individual drinks.    It doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is what it is.  Wine and liquor drinks are subject to the drinks price threshold.  If you order an expensive glass of wine (for example) you will probably be charged the excess over the per-drink limit.

We had wine bottles sent to our room in prior SC trips.  Did this change recently or is this just ship to ship differences?   We’ve been SC a few times on oasis and allure.  

[topnole]

14 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

I’m confused on what is included in Star Class on Odyssey.  Some of the things you guys mention, don’t appear in what I see online- like free beer in room, free wine delivered.  Can anyone list out what all of the recent amenities are?  Trying to determine if we should upgrade from grand suite, and drop UDP and boozy drink package…

Financially the biggest difference is tips included (but then it is typical to tip the genie at least several hundred).  So maybe that saves a bit or costs more depending how many in your cabin.  
 

Specialty restaurants included and beverage package included.  That is ballpark $1000 value for 2

people.  But some may not use or care for or use all of those perks.  So I do the financial comparisons with that in mind.  
 

For us, one time it was only a couple thousand more over a sky class suite to go SC.  It was a no brainer to me because the genie makes everything convenient and the perks save you money elsewhere.  Showing up 5 minutes before showtime and being escorted to the front row is priceless. Not only that, the genie waves over the bartender and you never have an empty glass during the show.  Plus,

you will almost certainly have a more preferred or bigger cabin if star class. There are so many little things that we

loved when SC.  It is often worth it.  Sometimes the prices are insanely high, but sometimes they are at a level more reasonable (relatively speaking).  

 

[orville99]

22 hours ago, kneadsdough2cruise said:

Quick question....is the Coco Beach Club included if you are Star Class??  Thanks for your help.....

 

21 hours ago, topnole said:

To add to that, I don’t think there is anything extra provided for star

class or suite (sky) class like there was in Haiti.  Whatever the reasons, it always seemed weird they would have a suites only area in labadee but not on coco cay.  
 

 

17 minutes ago, topnole said:

I didn’t see anyone suggest coco beach club should be a star class perk?  Did I miss that comment?
 

 

And yet you were the first one to respond to that specific question.

[RFerrington]

15 minutes ago, topnole said:

We had wine bottles sent to our room in prior SC trips.  Did this change recently or is this just ship to ship differences?   We’ve been SC a few times on oasis and allure.  

As far as I am aware (we’ve been sailing SC from the beginning of the program) wine by the bottle has never been included.  Nice that they provided than to you but I think it was probably a favor.  We’re not wine drinkers so I’ve never asked.  We usually have at least 1 complimentary bottle of champagne but never asked about wine.

[topnole]

16 minutes ago, orville99 said:

 

 

And yet you were the first one to respond to that specific question.

So are you suggesting that the OP asking if it is a perk is the OP arguing it should be a perk?   I personally see a huge difference between asking if something is a perk versus suggesting it should be a perk?  
 

Yes, I was the first respond to that specific question.  And yes it was a simple question.  No less, no more.   How you turned it into something else is very confusing.  

[topnole]

19 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

As far as I am aware (we’ve been sailing SC from the beginning of the program) wine by the bottle has never been included.  Nice that they provided than to you but I think it was probably a favor.  We’re not wine drinkers so I’ve never asked.  We usually have at least 1 complimentary bottle of champagne but never asked about wine.

Maybe it was just champagne.  I don’t drink wine other than by the glass at dinners and my wife doesn’t drink enough to need wine bottles in the room.  
 

So I’m pretty sure we didn’t order what was in the room.  Perhaps it was

for being D+ or maybe it was just a bottle in there at the beginning.  But I seem to recall having a bottle of something always being chilled all week.  Even when we aren’t star Class bottles sometimes show up in our room so maybe it was for other non Star Class reasons.  

[orville99]

21 hours ago, topnole said:

My other reply aside, it is kind of weird that when in star class they give you everything onboard and reserve the best seats in the house for you.  But when on their island you get absolutely zero perk.  Nothing as far as I know.  
 

You’d think they might at least throw in free floating mats or a small reserved area for star class on one of the nice beach areas.  At least something.  They could do a few things that wouldn’t increase marginal costs by a penny.  It might reduce revenue, but I doubt it and the point of star class is all inclusive. If the issue is revenue loss, why even give half the onboard perks like all specialty dining included.  It is supposed to be close to everything included, so why not add a few perks on the island.  

 

21 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Probably because STAR customers generally don't have a problem paying for an OTW Cabana😉

 

19 hours ago, orville99 said:

And Star customers only exist on Oasis and Quantum class ships, but all classes of ship visit Coco Cay. 

 

21 minutes ago, topnole said:

So are you suggesting that the OP asking if it is a perk is the OP arguing it should be a perk?   I personally see a huge difference between asking if something is a perk versus suggesting it should be a perk?  
 

Yes, I was the first respond to that specific question.  And yes it was a simple question.  No less, no more.   How you turned it into something else is very confusing.  

I can understand why you are confused. I'm not. I was clearly responding to a specific statement by John, which you conflated into something else. Perhaps reading the entire discussion related to the question will help you clear up your fuzziness.

[RFerrington]

22 minutes ago, topnole said:

 Perhaps it was for being D+ 

Yes !  This gets my vote.

[topnole]

21 minutes ago, orville99 said:

 

 

 

I can understand why you are confused. I'm not. I was clearly responding to a specific statement by John, which you conflated into something else. Perhaps reading the entire discussion related to the question will help you clear up your fuzziness.

Yeah well you quoted stuff that has zero to do with anyone claiming that coco beach club should be a perk for

star class.  Where exactly did John, or anyone else, claim coco beach club should be a perk for star class as you state in post #35?   This is the only confusing part, because I see nothing in this thread where someone is suggesting the beach club should be a SC perk.  I guess if you aren’t confused, you could easily quote where someone stated that because I sure can’t find it?  

[topnole]

31 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Yes !  This gets my vote.

I’m gonna order some wine next

time find out for sure.  Even the unlimited beer to the room isn’t listed clearly in the SC literature.  

[topnole]

4 hours ago, RFerrington said:

Yes !  This gets my vote.

And as you know, so many folks show up at your door during the week to bring something it gets hard to track what and why.  😂😂😂