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I'm using the same strategy. Booked as far as I could right now, all in JS or above because I remembered back when they changed it. Raye, hearing that they grandfathered it for you is hope that they might do the same if they change it again.

We are starting to find that out as well. As of today actually when I was just at the their office this afternoon. Another of those shall we say non discussed facts. Travel agents have a lot more clout than I previously ever thought or imagined. I will be adding our travel agent to our Xmas card and gift list this year. Like the old adage goes : the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Just got an email that a new cruise planner sale for 30% off on-board prices has started. I'm seeing the following for my Anthem cruise in October: $42/night for the deluxe package (same as when I bought it last month) $18/night for refreshment package (ditto) $14.99/night for VOOM 1-device $28.48/night for VOOM 2-devices (last I saw was $30.38 pre-sale) Might grab the VOOM while it's on sale and I have the chance, since my new billing cycle starts on Sunday. On the other hand, I may wait. I'm sure there will be at least a July 4 and Labor Day sale between now and sail-away. VOOM is less critical to me this trip since it's so short; if needs be, will post-cruise blog instead of live blogging, and I didn't have any real intention of Periscoping this time around.

So, I know it's not necessarily RC related but just a reminder for those of us in the UK (or with access to the UK tv channels via the wonder of the internet) that the new series of Cruising with Jane McDonald starts tonight at 9pm on Ch5 ? I'm almost as excited for this as I am for my actual cruise! And by the time the series finishes, it'll be about time for my cruise ??

As Sabrina said, the value of having the Genie is really difficult to quantify. There are so many things that the Genie does that just make things easier. If it's not important that you don't have to arrive at the theater 20 - 30 minutes early to get a seat anywhere in the theater that you want to sit, or you don't feel you need a personal escort on and off the ship, you have no plans to have a party in your suite and you don't want to have an expedited line where you can use certain activities more readily than others (flow rider and zip line on the O class and I suspect, but do not know for sure that I Fly, Northstar and bumper cars will be the same on the Q class), then the Genie might be overkill. The "extras" that are included in the Star Class benefits are also not exactly directly comparable to the paid packages, either. I have heard MANY people say...."I will just buy the ultimate dining package, the Premium drinks package and the unlimited internet package and I will have the same amenities as the Star Class folks and save myself a lot of money". But this isn't exactly the case. For instance, the Star Class dining benefits allows you to eat anything on the ship (during normal operating hours), in the restaurant or in your suite - unlimited amounts. ALL of the upcharge items (with the exception of the wine pairing option at Chop's. Do they still offer that ? I haven't seen it in some time) are included whereas none of the upcharge items are included in the ultimate dining package. With the ultimate drinks package you can have unlimited drinks at the Starbuck's location (however the pastries are not included for some reason. Kind of odd...but...whatever). While the "rules" say that anything above the normal drinks threshold (probably $13 per drink on the O class ships) will be paid by the passenger, we have been on 4 SC cruises and never ever paid an over charge for a drink that exceeded the $13 threshold. Now granted, it is RARE indeed that we ever consume such an item (Dan occasionally asks for an upgraded Scotch but this is pretty infrequent) nevertheless, we have never ever paid anything extra for a drink when we were SC. Probably the biggest advantage for being SC over having the Premium drinks package is the fact that they will keep your suite supplied with water, juice, beer and soda whereas, the PDP does not include any drinks in the suite except for what you may be entitled to as part of your C&A benefits. When you go into Johnny Rockets, everything you want, as much as you want, including unlimited milk shakes, is included. If you go to Izumi hibachi, you can get anything you want, including unlimited sushi and all upcharge hibachi meal options. None of these "extras" are included with the UDP. As far as I can determine, there is nothing "extra" that you get with the unlimited internet amenity for SC. The Genie will make sure that you have any kind of snack that you may request, brought to your suite. While we aren't big snackers and we have never done this, I have heard and read of many pax who have a standing order to have some specific snack brought by on a daily basis. Sometimes it's as simple as fresh cookies at a certain time or it can be as elaborate as sushi from Izumi's or full meals from Sabor. If you wanted lobster brought to your suite every night it would be arranged (as long as it was during normal Chops operating hours). I had heard, in the past, that some pax asked for Starbuck's to be brought to them every morning but lately I read that they have stopped doing this so it may or may not be offered any longer. We aren't coffee drinkers so we never asked for this service. I can imagine that it's fairly inconvenient for someone to have to trot coffee all the way to aft to the ATS so I guess I understand why they have stopped this, if, in fact, they have. There's lots and lots that I haven't mentioned here, mostly in the category of "personal service" kinds of things but the question, as always, is: Is it worth the price they charge ? As with all things, this is a matter of personal preference. I will say that the price of SC has skyrocketed over the past 2 years. The price for SC has almost tripled since our first SC cruise in Feb. 2016. I'm sure that Royal is looking for the tipping point price (as high as they can charge where people will still buy) and apparently they have not yet reached it as the SC prices on Symphony are otherworldly. I have a SC suite on Anthem scheduled for March 2020 but the prices on Anthem seem to be lower than for any of the O class ships. This will be our first cruise on any Q class so I guess I will find out how they compare.

My "suite point" (pun intended) is under $1K/night. If I really shop around, I can get something like an L1 Loft for ~$800 per night. Star anything is usually almost double the expense for the same number of days. For me, the only way I'm ever going to sail in Star class is to add 2-3 people to the cabin. And they're going to have to be outside of my snoring radius ?

Called in for an October cruise I'd booked on Oasis in an L1 Sky Loft. Re-priced $672 lower. Ka-ching! My other two cruises after that have gone up in price since booking. Original fare: Cruise Fare $8654 BOGO NO REF DEP -$2127 MEM NO REF DEP -$150 Taxes, fees, and port expenses $113 Total Charge $6490 Re-price: Cruise Fare $8654 RES NO REF DEP -$635 BOGO NO REF DEP -$2114 DBUP NO REF DEP -$200 Taxes, fees, and port expenses $113 Total Charge $5818 Both $100 OBC.

Exactly. It wasn’t being promoted, but we were able to snag it for our October cruise on Grandeur. It never hurts to ask.

The best airport in the world is Changi Airport in Singapore! Not only is it neat, clean and well organized. Not only is the security quick, easy and common sense. The washrooms are very, very clean and the washroom attendants are proud of their work. The terminals are spacious and there is plenty to do. Shopping????......ummmm.....Orlando ain't got nothing on Changi. It is everything an airport should be....and you might be lucky and the new, $2 billion terminal might be open. It is by all accounts really something. Unexpectedly being held up at the Changi Airport for a couple hours is defiantly not a problem....enjoy!

She did not state the actual months involved. I wish i had asked her that much.

Oh geez!! I went to YouTube and looked it up....what was i thinking ?

Welcome to Gold!

They'll get it all back with the increase in price to Johnny Rockets.

@michelle -- Looks like you're going to be busy - I'll try not to pester you... .... ?. You are AWESOME!!!!! Mark

If you travel and book a regular cabin(not a studio cabin) you get double points when you travel solo as well. You start getting benefits right away. the points do not expire(not as of now anyways) and to be honest, the real perks IMHO are once you hit emerald level and then diamond and higher...