ScooterScott22

Aren't humans suppose to try to get like 8 drinks (or cups) per day of hydration? The 4 drinks per day is a Diamond level perk and not attached to the suites. So just assuming that you were meaning to inquire if you would have access to the happy hour time with free drinks. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-the-suites-program

Enjoy the sailing and Star Class!!!! The simple answer to you questions is yes, just let the Genie do the planning. That is one of the bonuses of having the Genie. They should have access to pretty much anything you like and can adjust accordingly even while on the ship. There are some caveats that you may want to do some planning, since most of us like to control things a little more. - If there are any "must haves" like Chef's Table or Hibachi especially on a certain night , you can book those (or any restaurant) ahead of time in the planner and the Genie will work with that reservation. - If you like to do some planning and want to have your dining requests, which restaurants and which day and time, you can share that with the Genie when they email. They will set everything up as close to your request as possible. - They will be coordinating your shows and other events so sometimes it might be helpful to defer to them since they are the ship experts to some degree. If it is a more routine sailing, they will know the best times and days for the different venues.

Yes, rumors but I am also using the fact that the Golden Room shows on the deck plans on Royal's website. Pretty good indication to me that this is planned. It may not happen but there are some other minor changes on other decks if you click into the deck plan dates post April 19th, 2024. The earlier dates are consistent with being in the US market. The Diamond Lounge is present in both of the 2023 and late '23 - early '24 layouts that Royal is sharing. If that was one of the other deck plan websites, might be more questionable. Since it is Royal, seems more plausible. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/quantum-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2225/04

Thanks, I have the whole fleet, this is filtered down to Quantum. It may not be completely accurate since it was created over a year ago and I believe they might be changing one of the quick counters as she moves back to the Asia market.

@jeffmw just wondering what perks you are comparing the Crown & Anchor too? There are quite a few different programs out there and I would say that the majority don't really have all that great of perks until you get to the highest tiers and even then they might have limited application to a specific individual. The cruise lines are hampered by the fact that they started all their programs with a "no renewal" policy unlike other travel programs. That means they have no real way to purge the demand of perks other than by people dying or not using their product. It makes sense that they would limit the amount of perks until someone establishes a brand loyalty. I have been traveling for work for years and have Platinum with American and Delta, A+ with Southwest, Diamond with Hilton, similar with Marriott, Hyatt and IHG, Executive Elite with National, Presidents Circle with Hertz, and on cruises - Royal - Diamond, DCL - Platinum, and MSC - Diamond. Most of the perks are not that exciting in any of these programs, except for the upgrades with flights. On the programs with renewal periods some of the services provided can be helpful and some of the "carry over" from year to year is beneficial but as for real gifts or free stuff there is not much.

Wondering if it is really not available, or just some sort of IT or timing issue. There are a couple of thoughts about why they simply might not offer it but, that would be a little surprising. Maybe they would have to make deep discounts for that since the variety is less on Quantum and it is a longer sailing. Maybe some of the changes they have planned as the ship moves to the 2024 layout for the Asia sailings has something to do with it. Could be supply chain issues for that itinerary has an impact on numbers they think they can accommodate and they are controlling bookings. We are doing the Honolulu to Vancouver in a few weeks and even though they are different itineraries the UDP was available. We are doing the 10 days and really couldn't bring ourselves to do the UDP. The variety and the value for the cost doesn't seem to make sense. The pay/specialty don't really see be the strongest lineup for the Quantum class for a longer cruise. We love the specialty dining and having the UDP, but it doesn't seem to make sense for our sailing. We did Star class on Ovation for 12 nights a few years ago and things started to get a little repetitive even with doing a few dinners in CK.

There can be some noise under pool deck or other common areas but it usually isn't too bad and is pretty transient. There can be some times that it might be intrusive but it was very limited in our experience. The usual cause was teens being teens. We have done the Owners Suite on Freedom and Concierge 1 Br on DCL Magic that are under the pool decks. We also have done some upper forward suites that were under other common areas. If you look at most of the ships, Royal and other lines, that pre-date the Oasis Class design it is most common for the suites to be at the highest deck with staterooms. This usually put them under the pool deck. For Royal expect that most suites from Vison class up to Radiance class will have a similar suite situation. Even the Oasis and Quantum classes have a few suites below the pool deck but those do disperse the suites to other areas better.

Many of us are planners and the Genies like to have somethings worked out ahead of times, but one of the biggest perks of Star Class is spontaneity. If you decide that you don't want to do something that was planned, or do want to do something that wasn't, usually it will be worked out for you. You will be getting to chat with you genie about your day and adjust plans the day before and day of, as needed. It really is nice to find something that you really want to do and be confident that the genie will adjust plans accordingly, no worrying about not getting to do something just because you didn't set it up in the cruise planner months ago.

I'll be completely honest that my wife does that part. I give some suggestions to her but I cannot tell you numbers since I do not know. We rarely, if ever, have done a max bid. The other thing is we are usually starting from a free or discounted cruise offer, so upping the bid over the minimum is not uncommon and not as painful. Our process for last years win from a Boardwalk balcony to a CLS went like this. She told me the different categories above our stateroom. I made a quick list and based on my perceived value of each stateroom (sq ft, perks, etc) gave her a per person dollar amount that I thought was fair. Some of my estimates were less than the minimum so I think she might have entered the min. There were a few that were in the middle range. Was completely surprised to see the CLS because I think our strongest bid was on the Grand Suite. And Congrats on the RU win!!!!

Not really sure since we have only done Chef's Table on our Star Class sailings. Pretty sure there is a flat fee with the wines and a different flat fee if you opt out but I think that the cost difference is only like $20. Maybe someone else can confirm. I have heard reports of people getting non-alcoholic/non-wine pairings with courses, they match some other drink to the course .

Here is the CLS sofa - Regular - Pulled out- These pics were taken just about 1 year ago on Harmony so should be pretty much unchanged.

Some good info here - https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/ravenna-port-261 It discusses some of the details around Royal and porting at that location.

We got our third RU out of four try's since the re-start.

Hey gang, it must be getting close to the cruise!!!! Royal ups are happening. Might be time to start the countdown.

What is the debate about? Happy to share some of our experience. It seems that WhatsApp is the more common method of communicating with the Genie these days. We used it this past September with Genie Jay sailing in 1740 on Allure and it worked well. The other Genies were using that same method. Have had it for a number of years but really mostly use it for some friends that live internationally. It seems to be a little better for texts out of the US so guess that's why it is used. The only issue that might be noted is if you don't have the app yet or if you don't have your notification settings correct. Happy planning!

Here is one example of the Menu with the pairings listed. The wine paring is optional and a guest may choose to exclude that and just do the dining and select their own drink. Our waiter did bring all the adults at the table the Martini at the end of the meal regardless of having the paring or not.

Our son's first passport was around this time also. The only drawback to having one when they are younger is they have to renew more frequently. It was much easier to have it done and just renew moving forward rather than worry about what documents were needed for travel. Granted he is still not driving age and is well traveled already.

This seems to be one of the sailings that has a late departure from the port. This happens in Vancouver due to timing the tides and passage at the Lions Gate bridge. The time of departure here is because likely because they barely have to sail to get over to the next stop and Royal is also selling excursions in HNL. Expect boarding times and processes to start at or near the "normal" times, it is just the ship will not sail away until the evening. You will be able to board and have lunch as you expect. You might even be able to have dinner and a show before sail away.

My wife would vote for Chops if she stopped in on this poll since she is a steak fan. Chops is good but to me 150 is just a little nicer, slightly more relaxed and is on par with Chops food but with a little more variety. I am a little biased as the 150 on Wonder was one of the best specialty dinners we have had (excluding Chefs Table) and they do things just a touch better on that ship than the others.

Looked at the fine print for youth benefits (46) and it does discuss how the child had the parents status and is removed at the 18th bday. I'm guessing that those that have status based on their own actual cruise activity still quality for these perks. The verbiage does not expressly state one way or the other. My real questions is why they don't include some of the benefits for older C&A members. For example, we will be doing the HNL to YVR transit and have multiple sea days. We like the sea days and don't have an issue since our son is travelling with us, but if he wasn't it would still be nice to have the BOGO movie perk. That one really doesn't seem to be a huge financial burden to the corporation as a whole and might actually get a few more dollars as some folks might be inclined to purchase the first movie to get the second. Also the Ben and Jerry's, if the child is the only one that gets the discount, it might decrease the likely hood of a parent making a purchase. 50% of two purchases is better than 50% of one and 100% of nothing.

We went last September and it was a nice change from some of the "standard" cruise dining experiences. The food is pretty decent and there will likely be some hit or misses for everyone. Some of that can be due to personal tastes and some of that can be due to how well certain dishes are executed that particular day. You will have a salad option at the buffet area of the Solaruim. They will bring some vegetables and sides to the table family style but you can get more if you find something you like. Then they will round with the meats. Everything tasted fine from my viewpoint. We would likely do it again if sailing in Star or have the UDP on the Allure. If you are happy with that type of restaurant on land, it should be pretty similar so don't worry.

Its a cruise, why pack underwear? Besides people are always posting that the formal night and dress codes are a thing of the past so why bother, right? The fact is it is also a space saver to not have to pack undergarments when there is so little room in the suit case.

We are fans of getting a passport stamp when we are able to do so. Since that is the case I have found a few that are pretty easy to get while cruising in the Caribbean. - Bahamas - at the government office building just to the left of the Nassau port - Aruba - In the Cruise Terminal small building, hours vary - Curacao - Office across the pontoon bridge, turn left to the corner - Grand Cayman - At the area where tendering there is an office We have not done one in St. Maartin even though we have been there a couple times. Supposedly the office is just outside the port gates to the right. If you go and can confirm that would be great. Happy sailing and collecting stamps.

Just wondering as I still have the app on my phone. There are others I should probably also delete, but that one can for sure go if it is not used by Royal anymore.

The notification can happen at any time as mentioned, there will probably be a notice a few weeks out if there is a very large surplus of higher tier rooms. On our couple of winning bids that was the case. The other one I have direct knowledge about winning bids was also a week or so out. Quick note on your mention of dining, only Star class would get the equivalent of the UDP. If you do get a win to Sky class it would include access to Coastal Kitchen but not specialty dining.