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I’m really surprised that the crew member would think it was ok to tell anyone that they needed to move - star class or not. If that passenger wanted to sit with her party so badly, she should have gotten there when they did, or the whole party should move to where there is enough seats to accommodate them all. Looks like there was plenty of room in the back. I hope Sunil educates her.

Booked on first 2 sailings. Not sure I am going on second sailing yet, but we shall see

Day 3 continued: We had plans to go ice skating, but with the inclement weather they switched the days of the ice skating show and the aquatheater show. Since the ice skating show was now going to be on Day 3, open ice skating was moved to day 4. The ice skating show was at 8pm for vaccinated only and then 10pm for everyone. This made 0 sense to me why you would have the only show that kids could attend so late, but I don't make the rules. We took the kids to play on the lucky climber, to ride the carousel, and to play on the piano stairs. At this point, Christian and Sophia told us they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean instead of with us to watch 1977 (ice skating show). We dropped them off at Adventure Ocean, and Steven, Kat, Nyssa, and I all headed to Studio B for the show. Sunil was there waiting for us with reserved banners on our seats. Again, the first open row was the third row to allow social distancing between the cast and audience. We asked Sunil for a blanket for Kat and Nyssa, and he headed off to get one. About 10 minutes later, some people showed up and tried to join their party who were also sitting in the third row. This was a party of people that was so large they would have taken the entire row. The ones that showed up five minutes before the show went and told one of the crew members that she wanted to sit with her party. The next thing we know that crew member came up to us and told us she might need our seats. Steven and I looked at her like she was crazy and told her no that our genie saved us these seats. She looked confused and walked off. I'm guessing it was another crew member not knowing what Star Class is, but Sunil was flabbergasted when he returned with the blankets and we told him what happened. My guess is he will be educating them in what Star Class is. We really appreciated the blankets as Nyssa and Kat fell asleep within 10 minutes. The ice skating show was great. The cast did an amazing job and we really liked the music that was used in the show. After it ended, we picked up the kids from Adventure Ocean and called it a night. Lucky Climber: The banners show the seats that you can't sit in to allow for social distancing plus you have to put two seats between parties: 1977:

Day 3 continued: After picking up the kids, we made another Starbucks stop and the kids were hungry, so we called Sunil and asked him if we could go on and head to Hooked Seafood. Our reservation was at 5:30pm and it was 5pm. We didn't realize that it didn't open until 5:30pm, but Sunil still called the restaurant and they got us in early. This definitely made us feel "Star Classy." When we arrived all of the staff were absolutely wonderful and friendly. Sunil had arranged for Osden to be our server and he did a great job. While checking in on us, Sunil said he always tells the restaurant manager who he wants serving us, and so far, everybody he has picked has been phenomenal. As I said earlier in the blog, we weren't even planning on eating Hooked initially for dinner, but I'm so glad we did. The food was way better than we expected, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes seafood. Despite our last minute plan to go early, the waiter still brought out pizza, macaroni and cheese, and fries to occupy the kids as soon as we arrived. Sunil has done a great job making sure this is arranged at every restaurant. Osden told us not to worry about appetizers that he was bringing us one of each to try. I tried the Maryland Crab Cake, and it was delicious. I got Sophia to try a bite, and she ended up ordering one of her own after trying a bite. I also got the clam and crab chowder, and it was pretty good but I'd probably skip it and get two crab cakes next time instead or opt for something different. For my main course, I had the whole Maine lobster, which was a lobster tail that was stuffed with crab and topped with Gruyere cheese and then baked. It was very tasty, and I will order it again next time I go to Hooked. Steven does not like seafood, which is one reason we had planned on skipping Hooked for dinner but even he enjoyed it and wants to go back next time we are on a ship with Hooked (it's on Symphony and Navigator only). For his meal, he had the fresh hand-tossed salad with grilled chicken and a messy fish sandwich without cole slaw, so in other words a fish sandwich (but it still came with the bib). We shared a coconut cream pie and the kids had chocolate decadence brownies. We were very full by the time we got dessert and only planned on having a bite of it, but like the rest of the meal it was so good that despite being full we made extra room and finished it too. Hooked Seafood:

Booked!!! HUGE shoutout to my TA @StephanieH for getting me this booking!

We always do this to have something to munch on a we get ready in the morning. We like to refer to them as "breakfast appetizers." Happy Cruising!

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/09/15/royal-caribbean-redeploys-wonder-of-the-seas-fort-lauderdale-instead-of-china Sooo...when is the new Group Cruise announcement

Welcome to Club 17!

I guess with all the new contracts they haven't had time to train them on SC. But also it really grinds my gears when entitled people expect others to honor their request. This is not the first blog I have read where people have disregarded the rules for shows. Also yeah most of those island are mad sketchy and the locals live like paupers.

Day 3: This was another sea day with the regular breakfast in the balcony this time I swap my espresso with latte as the espresso comes too cold. The juice of the day was carrot with ginger. At the morning I had to work , I had to do some candidates interviews using video call which mean I had to shave in my vacation morning. The video call went well the Voom supporting it nicely. Post the call I had to connect to some customer site but there was some issues with my two way authentication so had to spend another hour with the support. Thought maybe to ask Sunil to take care of it (he is a genie after all) but just the thought of heaving RCL IT near my laptop gave me the chills. During the time I had to work , my spouse went to catch some sun and bring up the steps count (our excuse for eating so much and feel it's OK) finally the issue got resolved and I could continue enjoying the vacation for now. We went to watch the flow rider and visit the solarium as it was started to be cloudy. Although not so hungry (comma food alert) we went to playmaker , our waiter suggested for us to seat outside which we kindly declined as we saw the clouds. Yap we had the same waiter @Tiffeven got , I asked for draft beer got a can , we asked for some silverware we got them 15 minutes later. Anyway we ordered the nachos which were very good , some chicken tenders and the onion rings as it looks good in the pictures . It started to rain outside very hard and after few minutes it's statrted to rain on our table ,let's just say I hope the people that built the playmaker roof did not design the ship haull I did not ask to fill my cup, thank you. We moved to another table while waiting for the campfire cookie which took 20 minutes to come , we should have asked for it at the beginning of the meal , the cookie was awesome. It continue to rain for a while so we went to contribute for you RCL revenue and catch some rest later. We later went to Harry Potter trivia , wow I did not know so many Harry Potter fans are on the ship most of them are far from being childrens , the place was packed. Apparently it's not enough to visit Universal and ride the different attractions in Harry Potter world to be able and answer most of the questions. We did not want to go to any restaurant so we asked Sunil to bring us few salads and we got the sea weed salad from Izumi and some goat cheese salad. After the light dinner we went to see the ice show, it was great to be able and come at the last minute and enjoy the show from the best seats , the show as always was excellent, I just always worries the drones will decide one day that they had enough and will go into the crowd (mmm , she'll I add any RCL IT joke here , naaa I think we had enough for one post). Post the ice show we went to check if we are missing anything around the ship to pass some time before going to the silent party Hush !. It was packed but anyone who wanted could get inn and grab the headphones. It was funny to see how everyone sync to the same channel after a minute or so. It was also fun to take off the headphones from time to time just to hear how it's sounds without them. So we took some drinks ( must for me before dancing) and dance although most of the time I was busy to make sure my spouse is not taken a video of me so I will be another family dinner main joke and yes she tried.

Matt, have you been on EVERY cruise since the restart???

My mom was made for Star Class. My brother and I are way more laid back and indecisive and we really don't care. I mean we will obviously reap the benefits by joining her no questions asked. I can effectively get most of the benefits that are of use to me by getting the drink and dining packages and booking in a Grand Suite (Suite Lounge and CK access, larger room and double points) and still get out cheaper than Star Class. But if the difference is really close..why the heck not. I'm also scouring for a deal. With that being said, anyone interested in a January Harmony sailing with us?

You can still micromanage your cruise with a TA. You can still plan ALLLLL the fun stuff. If there’s a sale, just drop them an email to check your price. No need to call 6 times and get dead air. Seriously next booking go with a TA (obligatory shout out for MEI and Sharla in particular)

Looks like crew exercises with tenders. Or could it be Coast Guard inspection? Will miss her when Allure is the big girl in town.

DANGIT! I'm pretty sure my dance card is full - I don't know where I could fit one of these in. DANGIT DANGIT!

AMP'd to make her debut in Galveston. Seems like perfect timing. Fingers crossed....now to move my Symphony of the Seas April to Wonder

I make and service all of my future bookings myself. When I need to call for any reason, I usually do it first thing in the morning. I have had several frustrating times in the afternoon where I listen through all the messages, press the different numbers (it would be so much quicker to be able to bypass all that and just press ‘0’ for an agent) only to get to the final message about the call being recorded for accuracy and training…then hearing one phone ring and then….nuttin’. But those instances have been very few and far between. Also, I have been fortunate to never have had a connection bad enough to cause me to hang up. Virtually all of my interactions with RC agents (when we finally connect) have been very satisfactory and pleasant. All have been knowledgeable or quick to check with a supervisor when they didn’t know an answer. But…if I wasn’t lucky enough to be able to spend so much time and effort on my own…I would definitely hook up with a good TA. I’ve been on these forums long enough to see how customers are very happy with MEI.

So how are things down under ? News coming out seems a bit grim...just wondering if all is well.

It was very nice meeting you. We've only met two people from RCB so far: you and @AshleyDillo. It is so neat reading someone's blog, and then running into them onboard.

Day 4: Today was the first port stop (St. Maarten), and Steven and I intended to go to Maho Beach. Steven did his morning run around the track, and then I went to the gym where I noticed some of the crew were doing safety drills in the gym. After the gym, I headed back to the cabin for breakfast. Again, they had set it up with a tablecloth. I went with a healthier breakfast this morning and was enjoying my hummus and celery and fruit, when it started raining and the wind picked up. The next thing you know our plates started flying off the table. We gathered up everything as quickly as we could and brought it inside. With the weather as bad as it was, we ruled out Maho Beach. We called Sunil and asked for recommendations of things to do on the ship with the kids since the weather was so bad. The only thing open that would interest them was Adventure Ocean and they were asking to go, so we got ready to leave. Before we could leave, Sunil showed up to the room with a ship-wide scavenger hunt to entertain the kids. They were already set on Adventure Ocean, so we headed there, but we plan on doing the scavenger hunt if we have time. By the time we dropped them off, it had stopped raining so we decided to head to Maho Beach after all. We got to the taxi, and the guy talked us out of going. He said it was slower than usual and he recommended going a different day. We were ok with this since we go back in November. Later, we found out the real reason was most of the taxi drivers didn't want to go to Maho after the bad weather because they didn't want to get stuck. We took a taxi from port to downtown. We made the mistake of asking to go somewhere downtown that was where the locals shop and eat. Next time, we'll stick to the touristy area, as what we saw was not what we expected from an island paradise. Then, we got lost and wandered around until we eventually found the touristy area. We did a little shopping, stopped for ice cream and ham croque monsieur, and then visited the yoda guy museum. The price for the museum is $15 per person. If you buy something or go through the museum he will take a picture with you otherwise you are out of lucky. We decided we'd walk back to the ship instead of taking a taxi. It was longer than it looked but not too bad, and we passed a cheese shop on the way, so we stopped and got some goat cheese for Sunil. I asked on the Star Class facebook page before the trip for gift recommendations for Sunil, and someone mentioned that he liked goat cheese. Turns out they were right. He was super excited when we gave it to him. He has been great, and we were very happy to get something for him as much as he has done to make our trip special. Getting back on board was a breeze, there wasn't any crowds and you have to quickly pull down your mask when they scan your seapass card when getting back on the ship, so they can match the picture they have of you with your face. While in St. Maartin, you have to wear a mask when entering stores or using public transportation but not outside. Breakfast: Grandeur was beside us: Some of what we saw where we got dropped off (definitely not what we were expecting): A different view of the island: Ham Croque Monsieur from Happy Days Cafe in St. Maartin: Yoda guy museum: Steven and me:

Yes, mostly - although there were times on Ovation when we couldn't get near a bar because they were so crowded and used the Bionic Bar instead. We actually did hang out there and talk to the crew who serviced the machines. They were so sweet and usually got ignored. When it was time to pass tips around at the end of the cruise, we gave each of them a tip and thanked them. They were so excited that someone thought of them.

Although I invariably find price drops before my MEI TA, she is quick to get it taken care of for me. Today for instance, found an added military discount for my Explorer cruise in October 2022. Saved $579. Mindful of the several hour time zone difference, Emily got back to me with the new invoice very quickly.

I’m on the 9/26 and will post them from the ship

I knew I liked your Mom when I met her two years ago! Lol That whole story cracks me up because it is totally something Hubby and my parents would do.

Now, now... had it been the requested Fiji water it would have been headed back home.

At least you have the argument that you were flying. We had almost an entire suitcase full of treats for the crew so it was mostly empty and we had the room but still. She refused to take the case of bottled Evian water because the bottles were almost out of date

LOL! Phew! I thought we were the only ones! And by "we" I mean "hubby".

The saddest day of the cruise came way too early. I had my last in-room espresso from the Lavazza machine and finished shoving the rest of my stuff into my suitcase and zipping it up. The first call I even heard in the room was that they were debarking luggage tag numbers 1 through 33. By 8:30 they had all the numbers called and kept making announcements that all numbers had been called and to GTFO the ship. We still hadn't heard from Alan but they didn't page our name, so no harm done. Alan rang the doorbell promptly at 9:15. He had a crew member with the luggage cart and they followed us the entire way off the ship, even going so far as to put the luggage cart into the elevator with us so we had eyes on it at all times. Alan was able to walk us up to Passport Control where we had to say our final goodbyes to him. He told us to keep in touch with him, add him on Facebook, etc., so now we don't have to feel creepy about all the cyberstalking we did before the cruise Our luggage cart was handed off to a porter. The machines stared deeply into our eyes and cleared us through. We didn't have to stop at Customs to talk to anyone. If there had been a line or a crowd to get off the ship, the Genies can bypass all of that but since we left so late there was nothing. We were in our car and on the way probably 15 minutes after leaving our room. And thus ends the best Star Class experience for us to date! When I get back to an office with a real scanner I will get the Cruise Compasses all scanned in and sent to @Matt to add to the website.

Day 4 - St Martin. Today we got to our first port. The weather refuse to cooperate even when I waved our card at it , I guess it's color blind. We started with our breakfast outside but few moments after the rain and the wind started so I grabbed the tray and tried to run inside , results was my poor mimosa shattered on the balcony floor. Later we heard more noises of falling plates and other things , I thought we left something on the balcony but it was our neighbors from upstairs. Near us the old Grandeur of the seas was docking and there were doing some maintenance on it. She looked very rusty and sad, I think Royal should not dock a vision class side by side with Oasis class , make me think about our Rhapsody cruise next year , is it really the right thing We had a late shore excursion so my spouse organized with Sunil some spa treatment which she said that was very good , I stayed a while in the cabin working and later went to check how is the Starbucks today. By the way , it seems RCL have some agreement with the island government and the Casino was opened during the full day. For lunch we asked Sunil if there is any Thai food and he said he will organize something so we got to our room a TomKha soup (which was some spicy soup but not a TomKah) a green curry dish which was good and some cooked vegetables . It was nice meal. We then went to the peer to join our shore excursion which was the afternoon Oriental beach . Weather was still cloudy but at least the rain stopped. After 20 minutes ride we got to the beach , we got our beach chairs and the guide opened a rum pounce station , which had Rum , some juice , ice and lots of glasses , you could drink as much as you wanted. It was not a real good day for swarming so we stayed and rest untill we decided to take a long stroll on the beach which was nice. The sand is very soft near the water and every step we took we left a big foot print , I still do not know if it's the sand or it's the B2B endless food , I voted for the sand. After few hours we got back to the port, guess what , at the minute the buss entered the port the sun came out and it became a lovely day. We got back to our cabin to get organized for dinner. Today our dinner was in Hooked which I think is an hidden RCL gem hide ubder the shade of Chop's. We had a very good waiter name May and we started with some bred , shrimp cocktail and fresh oysters. That followed with some salads , captain plate and surf and turf. Everything was very good including one vodka oyster shoot I ordered. So far I think it was our favorite.

Day 5: Usually I message Sunil exactly what we want delivered for breakfast the next morning, but last night I told him the same thing as yesterday morning. Of course, it was not exactly the same thing. Steven didn't get his jalapenos in his eggs or his hot sauce on the side and I didn't get my celery (I dip it in hummus). There was also a few other slight inconsistencies in the meal, but it was still good. I think I will just stick to listing out our breakfast order each morning instead as that seems to work better. After breakfast, we dropped off the kids at Adventure Ocean and Royal Babies and Tots and headed into port. St. Thomas was already much prettier than St. Maarten, and we were excited to get off the ship and explore. We had three hours of Adventure Ocean scheduled, so we were limited on what we could do in port. We still were undecided on Skyride to Paradise Point or Mountain Top, but the first person we saw selling excursions was a man selling Island Tours that including Mountain Top that was about two hours long, so we figured it was meant to be. It was $25 per person, and it was informative and allowed us to see some pretty views of the island. The last stop was Mountain Top. We were only there for a short time, and between the view and the gift shop, I wish we could have spent more time there but it worked out since we were limited on time anyway. After the tour, we headed back on the ship and getting back on board was a breeze with no lines which we appreciated since it had just started raining really hard. While in St. Thomas, you are required to wear a mask even outside whether you are vaccinated or not. I saw people getting told to pull up their masks multiple times. They didn't say anything if you took it off for a quick picture, but anything longer than that, they would. Overall, we really liked what we saw of St. Thomas, but there was a lot we didn't get to, so we look forward to coming back. St. Thomas:

Booking with my MEI agent right now as I type this! Woooooohooo!!!

Officially booked for March 18th! $500 less than my March Harmony! WOOT!

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/09/14/royal-caribbean-will-now-allow-kids-under-the-vaccine-eligibility-age-go-back-back That's the first protocol reduction that I recall. That said we're entering a time of year where a lot less kids are doing a single cruise, non the less b2b

True LOL …… BUT I was about to make final payment on my December 18 cruise today before I received the email. I’m glad I saw it first …….. even though Myself and my spouse are vaccinated ……. We will NOT be letting out 9 year old son be vaccinated ……… so if it’s approved for 5 to 11 yo by then, and RCL requires it for that age group by then ….. we will be cancelling all our cruises from that point on ……… so I'm glad I don’t have to give them any more money until November 18 when I will know what the deal is

I’ve got Sharla on it now to move my March Harmony to March Wonder

Final: Royal is definitely NOT going to test at the port and if the tests don't arrive you should make arrangements to be tested in the FLL area or get ahold of other tests.

If nothing else maybe I'll be offered a cheap upgrade while they have me on the phone

There are no Star cabins available! Could I do it without needing therapy later?

The obvious answer is to cancel Mariner and hang out for the extra day and join us!

Our sailing is Oct. 24th and we joined a FB Roll Call page. I'll attach the pics for days 1-4 I can't wait to see the rest!!

This is great information. We have been stressing about this very point, researching CVS locations in Miami. It looks like all the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place, and we can leave Australia and do our series of cruises and now knowing Royal will be able to take of the tests for the cruises we have a day in-between

I agree. Even if we weren't Star Class, I would be offended if someone asked me to give up my seats for someone who barely made it to the show in time. The people in the front rows are either ones who paid for the perk (Star Class or suites), earned it through being a loyal member (like Pinnacles getting to arrive at the theater earlier than most guests), or those who got to the theater early enough to get a good seat and then waited for the show. Like you said, there was plenty of other empty seats, but some people just have some nerve.

I sailed on Celebrity a few weeks ago. There was 1 ferry to Blue Lagoon with 3 or 4 different types of excursions. You had different wrist bands based on what you were doing. Some of us were just beach, some VIP beach, some animals, etc. They had sections of the beach for just cruise passengers. On my beach area, the animal excursion guests went to the animal excursion first and then were brought to the beach afterwards.

Someone knows what they are talking about! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/can-i-book-back-to-back-cruises-at-this-time

Some things I have noticed on the cruise. They are very strict about wearing masks indoors and everyone who is vaccinated needs to have their bracelet on when leaving the room and they are checking. I like knowing this is being taken seriously. There are vaccinated only venues and you have the choice to keep your mask on or take it off. For Windjammer, Main Dining Room and Coastal kitchen reservations are either recommended or required. For Windjammer, we have only eaten breakfast once there and did not make reservations. As many have posted, they serve you at the buffet and if you order a fresh omelet or eggs they give you a number to bring to your table and they deliver it to you. As far as our Genie Derick, he is amazing! I went to guest services today to get a new card as mine wasn't always working. Within 2 minutes of me being there he came down and told me he can take care of anything. After getting my new card he made sure it worked down at the casino where I was having the most problems. I mentioned to him that I love the navy royal caribbean masks and he said he would smuggle some for us Tonight is Hibatchi and will try to take some pictures.

This is the hardest thing for me and my brother to wrap our heads around. My mother has absolutely zero problems with it, though. Our Genie said it makes their job so much easier when you are specific in asking for things. You aren't being high maintenance or demanding at all when asking for what you want. If you don't ask you can't be upset that they didn't read your mind. And that makes sense to me now. I used to think they were there to orchestrate the entire experience, but we got a lot more out of it when we actually gave the Genie something to work with.

There should actually be a public service warning on those door hangers. Something like…Warning! Having morning coffee and pastries delivered to your cabin so that you can sit and consume them on your balcony while the ship glides through the water can be extremely habit forming and result in your becoming hopelessly addicted to cruising!

disposable paper 3 layer masks, if you ask you cabin steward will also get you some more, but I brought my own, if they catch you with out one they will go get one for you. Really not as bad as I thought it would be, only really need when traveling from location to location. Flying was worse with the extended time of wear.

If your son is less than 18 years old then absolutely he should be D+ due to your status and his relationship to you. If he is older than 18, he would be whatever your status was when he turned 18.