WannaCruise

I think it also depends on the cruise director. 
Prior to covid Royal had excellent cruise directors who really love the job.  Post covid there have been cruises where I've had to ask myself how did this person become the cruise director they are horrible at this job.  Cruise director in my opinion is one of the most important jobs on the ship and I get the job can become monotonous week in and week out but excellent cruise directors first and foremost really love their job and know how to keep it fresh every cruise.  While cruise directors who are just biding time waiting for the next opportunity to move up the corporate ladder can at time allow things to run stale and it comes across in activities, their morning show even just seeing the cruise director around the ship you can tell the ones who absolutely love their job vs the ones who are just there waiting for their next opportunity.  
In my opinion its not just the love and marriage game show its also shows like The Quest which is now the Crazy Quest.  I know early on in the cruise whether or not I'm going to The Quest and it all depends on the vibe I get from the cruise director on day 1, day 2 of the cruise.  

We hardly even notice the CD these days. I really do think we're in our own little bubble with our boring/relaxing routine (which we obviously enjoy).
I will say it was pretty hard not to notice Ricky Matthews on Wonder last month though. That guy has some energy!

For me…once you’ve been to a few of them…you feel as though you’ve seen them all!  Almost always same or very similar questions.  Just not entertaining enough to sit through.

Keep in mind that GTY rooms can only be booked as non-refundable.  For that reason, we don't book them but if non-refundable is ok, then it's a good way to save money (well, in most cases as per your post).  I've seen that too the odd time where the GTY is cheaper than a selected category.  It's just based on inventory and dynamic pricing.  
Wow...that's great that you got assigned an ocean view even though you booked GTY interior.  I would think that is rare.
If you do book the GTY room, once you have your room assigned, if you don't like the location, you can move to another available room as long as it is the same category code.

Day 7: Sea day! All 4 of us get motion sickness yet we had no issue at all on this cruise. I packed half a Rite-Aid “just in case” and we used nothing. The lozenges came in handy for Yen who had developed a very scratchy voice. 
After CK this morning we had the Star flowrider - there was only one session for the whole cruise which was a little disappointing. Marcus was too short to ride so it was just the 3 of us and just one other guy so we did get about 5 goes each. Was great fun but we thought the instructors should have gone over a few things beforehand - it was impossible to figure out what progressions they were asking you to do whilst riding. 
We legged it from the flowrider to Jamie’s for the cupcake class where we made a frog. It was nice to do a quieter, craft activity and everyone had fun. Our fave waiter was there to look out for us too. I believe this one isn’t actually included for Star but we were not charged. 
Yen had booked Andrew for a whisky tasting so I took the kids to Schooner Bar for trivia. This was our first time being in a gen pop area. It was virtually impossible to get a drink. It would have been quicker to message yen the order and have a totally different bar deliver it. Most of the people in the bar looked like they should have been cut off hours earlier. We did semi ok in the trivia and then headed back to the seaplex for the escape room. Yen had organised a private session for us as the kids are both under 12 and no other Star Class passengers had signed up. Andrew got lost after his whisky tasting (he was the only person on the tasting) but eventually joined us. The kids were great at it, especially Marcus who loves math. The adults couldn’t have done less and the staff member was laughing at us the whole time. We didn’t finish 😂 
Dinner back at Chops - Andrew and I both had lobster which was fantastic. Sonic Odyssey wasn’t on until 8:30 so we went back to the room to shower to save time later. By this time Andrew was half asleep from the whisky tasting and the dinner wine but he managed to make it to the show. He then slept through the whole thing. We loved Sonic Odyssey - it was well worth the later night.
 
 Day 8: last day at sea. After breakfast in CK we did the galley tour which was really interesting. Our CK maître-d took the tour. It was interesting to hear how long serving some of the staff are - it’s so rare these days to see people working for the same company for 15-30 years so RC must be doing something right. 
 
After the galley tour we did a few more rounds of bumpers and then the laser tag which was crazy fun. Andrew got the high score and I came third, the teenage boys on the other team were livid. The laser tag was supposed to be Star only but nobody other than us had signed up. Yen said her other 2 rooms didn’t really do activities and when we saw Jade she said the same. 
 
We headed back to the room as the kids wanted to do some art for the tip envelopes and go and give them out. Marcus and I went to Jamie’s for lunch so he could give Kadek his tip and drawing and Jordan and Andrew went to Izumi. We found our room attendant and apprentice on the way back so the kids could give them their tips. 
 
When got back to the room we had a lovely cake waiting. Yen had organised a thermal suite day pass for Andrew and I so we went to the suite sun deck for a while and then left the kids to run out the rest of their arcade credit. The thermal suite was dead quiet so felt like a private oasis.

The kids had organised a pizza and banana split delivery with Yen for their dinner as they didn’t want to come to Wonderland and had asked Bagus to leave the bed out so they could watch Five Nights at Freddy’s. Off we went to Wonderland which was fine but very much a one and done for us. 
 
When we headed back the kids had just finished their movie and had lots of stories to tell us. Wijaya had come to clear away the afternoon snacks and had made them some lovely origami animals, Yen had popped by to deliver some gifts (kissing mugs for us, shark blanket tails for the kids) and Bagus and Iskander gave them a mini towel animal workshop when they were doing turndown.
 
Day 9: Disembarkation. We had a later flight so stayed on for as long as possible. There was no room service which we didn’t realise so Yen bought our coffee order. We would have told her not to worry if we’d known! We had a late breakfast in CK. I haven’t said much about the CK service, our main server generally seemed very distracted. She missed items and forgot entire meals loads of times and she called me Melissa more than once…
Yen came to meet us at 9 to walk us off. Disembarkation was seamless and we were off by 9.30 and in a taxi to the airport. In a full circle moment it was pouring rain again in Brisbane. 
 
I got rather teary saying goodbye to Yen. She was just amazing and was the perfect fit for us. Overall the Star experience exceeding our expectations. We very much did the cruise for the kids but turned out that we also loved it. The kids were so well behaved the entire time and really seemed to grow in confidence and got a little bit of independence. 

I found the blogs so helpful as a new cruiser so a big thanks to everyone who posts about their travels 


 

Ship: Quantum of the Seas - Easter sailing 
Room: Grand Loft Suite with genie Yen 
Itinerary: Brisbane > Noumea (New Caledonia) > Mystery Island (Vanuatu) > Port Vila (Vanuatu) - 8 nights
Who: Andrea, 43; husband Andrew, 43 and kids Jordan, 11 and Marcus, 8. This was our first ever cruise. We would definitely go again but only in Star Class (where are my fellow suite snobs at?). 
We flew from Melbourne to Brisbane at 8:00 with no delays, arriving just before 10:00. In an Uber on the way to port and found the Star Class banner by 10:30. A short delay behind the B2Bs but all checked in and through security with Pier genie Elliott by 10:45 where we met our genie Yen. 
Straight to Vintages after muster for a drink and run down with Yen to tweak the itinerary a little. We received white WOW bands instead of purple as they had run out of purple a couple of sailings back. 
Room was ready by 11:30 and full of snacks, drinks and bottle of Moët for sail away. Sadly the weather in Brisbane was dismal and was grey, gloomy and raining. We didn’t meet our room attendant until the evening. 
We had lunch at Coastal Kitchen which was very quiet before heading off to explore the ship before the crowds really kicked in. There were 4900 people on the sailing including 1300 kids. Due to the weather we didn’t taken many pics on embarkation day. 

We went back to the room for sail away which was spot on 4:30pm and then headed back to Coastal Kitchen for dinner. The line for the Windjammer went all the way to the stairwell. After dinner we headed to the headliner comedy show where Yen had drinks waiting for us. The comedy left a bit to be desired so we headed off early to get an early night. 
Day 2: First sea day was action packaged for us. Breakfast at Coastal (we didn’t set foot in the jammer or the MDR the whole time), bumper cars, rock climbing wall, ifly, suite sun deck, lunch, back to the sun deck, Star Class bridge tour then dinner at Jamie’s. 
Jamie’s was easily our favourite specialty restaurant, both the food and the service were top notch and there were lots of options for the kids. Our Jamie’s server ended up being our favorite person on the ship other than the genie. No show tonight as I didn’t think Sequins and Feathers would be appropriate for the kids. 
 
I read a lot of Australian naysayers saying that nobody dressed up for any of the themes nights. Garbage! Almost everybody was dressed up for formal night in some capacity and looked fantastic. 

This trip was a flash in the pan. It was wonderful.  We get off the boat  in an hour and must wait til tonight for a flight.  Connections to PDX are not always convenient and we must take what we can get.
I was thinking, we don't take advantage of most of the perks available with out C&A and casino status.  Laundry is one of these perks.  I tried it for the first time on this cruise and it worked!  I may be onto something new.  
Thanks for coming along with us on this cruise.  My wife cruises to Alaska with a friend in July, and then we will do the same cruise together in September.  We both received very decent cruise certificates on this cruise, so now we've got to start planning all over again.🤩

Had to make this borderline obnoxious post somewhere… woohoo!  🎉 💎+

We're pretty easy going, but found the food in the MDR on Wonder (a couple weeks prior to you) was very good overall.  It's probably the best since covid that we've experienced, almost on par with what it was beforehand.  And agree with what was said...the lobsters were small but very good.

Both very similar ships, but I would choose Symphony since it has Hairspray and Flights vs Effectors 2 and Voices on Wonder.  Think Symphony is still my favorite ship overall (with Wonder probably right behind).
Both amazing ships though so you can't go wrong.  

Both very similar ships, but I would choose Symphony since it has Hairspray and Flights vs Effectors 2 and Voices on Wonder.  Think Symphony is still my favorite ship overall (with Wonder probably right behind).
Both amazing ships though so you can't go wrong.  

And finally I made it to an open deck..

That's exactly where we stayed pre-cruise when we were on Wonder 2 weeks before you.  Very convenient with nice beach in the back (we got there too late to enjoy but still nice).  Went to a great grill for dinner a short walk away (forget the name but really good food and service).  We even had the front desk guy be our uber driver to the port the morning of the cruise.  (He asked at check in).
Enjoy your cruise.  Looking forward to hearing about your experience on Wonder.  We loved the ship!
 

First of all, it is windy and the boat is rocking and rollin.  In spite of this,  the ice skaters put on a tremendous show.

That's exactly where we stayed pre-cruise when we were on Wonder 2 weeks before you.  Very convenient with nice beach in the back (we got there too late to enjoy but still nice).  Went to a great grill for dinner a short walk away (forget the name but really good food and service).  We even had the front desk guy be our uber driver to the port the morning of the cruise.  (He asked at check in).
Enjoy your cruise.  Looking forward to hearing about your experience on Wonder.  We loved the ship!
 

That's exactly where we stayed pre-cruise when we were on Wonder 2 weeks before you.  Very convenient with nice beach in the back (we got there too late to enjoy but still nice).  Went to a great grill for dinner a short walk away (forget the name but really good food and service).  We even had the front desk guy be our uber driver to the port the morning of the cruise.  (He asked at check in).
Enjoy your cruise.  Looking forward to hearing about your experience on Wonder.  We loved the ship!
 

I agree...the location works well with crowds. I also like how Wonder's ELF has dessert.  The chocolate one is so decadent and yummy.  I've only ever seen dessert there at Wonder and Symphony's version.  i.e. not on Oasis, Navigator, Odyssey and I'm sure other ships I've been on have an ELF but don't remember offhand.

It's a great perk, and makes a good cappuccino or latte (or expresso or americano).  Just note that you can't change the milk (i.e. it's milk vs if you want almond or soy milk if lactose issues) and you can't get flavors.  We went most mornings but sometimes I used a voucher instead at Cafe Promenade for a cappuccino with baileys or an iced coffee.  

Now I’ll have to go back, lol. I kept meaning to try them & had the caramel flan but not the chocolate.
I’ve been deprived. The only other ELF I’ve tried is on Allure and that’s not a real one; they just stuck the ELF food into Mini Bites or whatever that venue was so it’s not a great fit & has very long lines.

I agree...the location works well with crowds. I also like how Wonder's ELF has dessert.  The chocolate one is so decadent and yummy.  I've only ever seen dessert there at Wonder and Symphony's version.  i.e. not on Oasis, Navigator, Odyssey and I'm sure other ships I've been on have an ELF but don't remember offhand.

Just saying a quick hello here, first time in about four years. I just booked the 12-night Odyssey sailing in Jan 2025, which is an itinerary I've been wanting to do kind of since I first started sailing with Royal in 2018 and learned about it. Seemed like a nice way to celebrate turning 55. 🙂
To everyone I haven't spoken with in all these years, hope you've been well!

Currently sitting at MCO waiting for our flight home after getting off Wonder. Think we left her in pretty good shape for you. Beautiful ship with so much to do. Have a wonderful cruise!  Looking forward to hearing about your adventures. 

Congrats on making Diamond!  Recent Diamond member here too.
I'll echo what others have said.  The two biggest perks are free  Cappuccinos or Lattes in the Crown Lounge, and the 4 free drink vouchers.  Your call if you tip, but we ended up taking out a bunch of $1 bills from the bank before we left so we could tip the bar or theatre servers for the drinks.  (You can also tip right on the bill if you want).
Also...we used to pass on getting our pictures taken by the Royal photographers, but now we stop often.  Then on the last night, look through them (they show on the app now) and pick the best ones (one per adult diamond member).
Another thing I loved on our recent Wonder cruise was the Backstage Tour.  I'm a big theatre fan and this tour was really neat, especially seeing backstage.  It's for Diamond and above (although they didn't even check our Sea Pass cards).  I guess it depends on the ship though as on Odyssey it  was just a talk with theatre staff.
We don't get internet on the ship as like to disconnect, but a free day is a nice bonus too for those that use it.
Enjoy your cruise!

Watch for the 10 Drink Card.  We had it on the cruise before you....popped up around day 3, which is earlier than I remember in the past.

Watch for the 10 Drink Card.  We had it on the cruise before you....popped up around day 3, which is earlier than I remember in the past.