ScooterScott22

Good morning from Labadee!  Breakfast on the balcony this morning. 

@Rags1 have a good cruise, bon voyage!

LOL, Glad to hear it is not just me.  We had that on some prior cruises and I think I am like 0.5 for 3.  
No rush but I would love to hear what you have for USB ports in the suite.  Since Allure has not been AMP'ed, guessing that they are minimal or non-existent.  Wondering if they added the multi-USB port plug in that we have seen on other ships.
Have fun, will be watching you sail away on the webcam.

Love that you had the Lavazza coffee machine at the hotel.  Since that is also in the suite, hopefully you got to practice with it before boarding.  🤣

The cake didn’t post
 

@Rags1 have a good cruise, bon voyage!

I might have missed one but I haven’t seen any USB ports. I know in the loft there is an electrical outlet on each side of the bed. There are two outlets by the desk. 

This morning everyone was lazy waiting to depart the hotel. No breakfast because we knew that food coma was looming!  Left the hotel at around 10 in an Uber. Cant tell you what it cost because the kids paid. Follow me for more parenting tips😂. Had the usual hassle getting to the Star check in through the crowd but once there it was smooth sailing. Fast check in by the most pleasant port employee I’ve ever encountered!  We were quickly upstairs in the suite waiting area. Within just a few minutes Jay arrived and took us and one other family aboard. Went to the suite lounge for about 10 minutes until the room was ready. When we arrived at the suite there were several nice surprises. Jay is a very clever Genie!  We talked with him for a few minutes until he had to fetch another family. Headed down to Sabor for lunch. It was enjoyable as usual. After lunch we wandered the ship and ended up on the suite sun deck. Had a drink and visited with new friends until 3 when it was time to meet Jay to plan for the week. He came to the suite and we ended up finalizing our schedule and then we just had a laugh filled hour of conversation and story telling with him!  He is an extremely funny, friendly, clever and engaging guy!  It was really an hour of fun. We watched sail away from our balcony. Then off to dinner at Chops. Between us we had most all appetizers, a few filets, salmon and a couple of desserts. Next was the Aqua show.  Amazing athletes!  Began raining about 10 minutes before the end but that just made it another memory!  Ended up at On Air for karaoke and Victor blew the room away with his performance. We had a drink outside on deck 15 enjoying the breeze. The young ones are at the club and the older farts have retired to the room for a nightcap and pizza. Tomorrow is a relaxing sea day and I’ll upload some of the pictures from today and hit some more highlights. But I’ll say now, it’s great to be back on the Allure. There’s just about this ship that’s comfy and enjoyable. The crew we have interacted with are wonderful. We spent time with our suite attendants Putu and Benjamin who are awesome. Also got a few minutes with our first Royal suite attendant Marva. Or Marvelous Marva as we call her!  It’s good to be “home” again on this ship and in this room. We have Starbucks and regular old coffee scheduled for 830 in the morning. If I can answer any questions feel free!  More tomorrow. 

The thread is referring to the coffee maker and pods in the suites. 

All I have to say is it is not the most user friendly device.

@Rags1 have a good cruise, bon voyage!

Love that you had the Lavazza coffee machine at the hotel.  Since that is also in the suite, hopefully you got to practice with it before boarding.  🤣

The only thing I know so far is he collects magnets. But I’ll do some recon!

I am pleased to report that the Bourbon was WELL STOCKED onboard Quantum of the Seas last week!
One hiccup that I had on Day One is that ONE BAR did not have Buffalo Trace. The bartender told me that they would have it the next day as they had not yet received their restock yet. All other bars I visited that day did have it.
For the duration of the Cruise, all bars we visited had Buffalo Trace (YES!), Maker's Mark, Bulleit, Bulleit Rye, & Jim Beam. I don't recall seeing Four Roses, but I was also not seeking it out.

Fixed a sentence in my earlier post.  
 
The change is an update from “table” to “Italian kitchen”.  Though most people still use the old terms. 
 
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/giovannis-italian-kitchen
 
Expect a standard menu at Giovanni’s. The new places have lighter tile and more family style look.  

@Aron_Ross I don’t think you shared if you had previously tried any of the venues on other ships but you did mention that you have not tried Wonderland.  Wonderland is usually pretty decent (3 different ships) from our view, but you typically have to be a little open to new experiences.  
FWIW, We liked the Hibachi on Harmony.  150 was one of our favorites on Wonder but was more average to us on Harmony .  (Another couple from the SF area said it disappointed.). Jamie’s has been one of our favorites on every ship that we have been on that has one.  
Your plan looks good but I think as long as you go into each with an open mind you will be pleased.  Once you start setting expectations you might not be as happy.  
Happy planning and enjoy your cruise.

If we keep our noses clean until Wednesday our little band of misfits will be headed to Suite 1740, The Royal Loft on Allure this Saturday - the very place this Star Class nonsense began!  Four years ago we sailed in this suite and experienced Star Class for the first time. I truly believe they put something in the endless parade of snacks and drinks that attacks whatever lobe of the brain might contain common sense. Because from that time forward our cruise planning goes something like this:  “ Look, we can snag a great balcony room on an Oasis Class for a week for under $2500!  Nah, let’s go ahead and fork out the $1.2 mil for the Royal Loft so we get free laundry!!”  It’s a disease. And I’m not sure there’s a cure😂. 
 
This trip will be our core group of regulars:  my bride Stacy who will be celebrating the end of 30 years of service as a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse, daughter Taylor who will be celebrating birthday #23 and the end of her preschool teaching career, and daughter Kaitlyn who will be celebrating introducing her boyfriend to cruising Star Class.  I think in last years blog from this same room I referred to her “new boyfriend” who didn’t make that trip. Now he’s THE boyfriend who will be joining us. Welcome aboard Victor!  Rounding out the group is yours truly, Jim, who will be celebrating still waking up each morning!  
 
It’s important to note, as I’m sure I’ll refer to it later, that it was very doubtful that this cruise would actually take place. We booked it over a year and a half ago.  Then in April of this year the one formerly known as Nurse Ratchet hatched the brilliant idea to buy a local market and convert it into a restaurant. So, with a partner, we purchased the property and the dream to build Just a Small Town Grill (thanks Journey) began. It was at that point we accepted the probability that opening a new restaurant and taking a cruise around the same time probably wouldn’t happen. We have spent nearly 5 months planning to cancel this one. But thanks to County Building officials it now appears that we can squeeze this one in while we wait for them to waddle through the governmental red tape and approve a Land Use Permit. I gripe daily about the hoops they are making us jump through but inside I’m a little grateful for their incompetence and other nonsense!
 
I’ll write more tomorrow about our plans, travel, Genie Jay and other details. Hope you all come along for the ride!  
 
 

Just got off Allure and we made our scheduled stop in Haiti with no issues or concerns.

Here's a link to the current Suite Class perks if that helps: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-royal-suite-class
My thoughts are $3000 extra is more than "usual" for JS to GS1.  You may want to change to a different Harmony sailing than you are on.  I noticed that the difference is more like $1300 on the May 13th 2023 sailing.
Whatever you get - have a great cruise!
 

Fair warning, checked  baggage is pretty slow at MCO compared to lots of other airports.  If you arrive at 10:30, with the hour or so drive, it is pretty likely you will not be to the hotel until after midnight.

We will be on Allure in about a month in Star and have tentatively only planned one - two dinners in CK at the moment.  We will be happy to report back since we are planning hitting all the specialty restaurants at least once, and feel that they all are not equal across the fleet.  
We did UDP on our last four cruises (Freedom, Wonder, Navigator and Harmony) and the last was in a CLS and we still only did one dinner in CK.  We did a couple lunches and breakfast, which was enough.  Izumi (both sides) and the Samba Grill are pretty unique and probably can't really be replicated by the MDR or CK.  There are positives and negatives to each, CK and UDP so to me there is a better question...  ...Which one do you think you would regret missing more, the variety and options provided by the UDP or the chance to dine exclusively in CK?
 

We will be on Allure in about a month in Star and have tentatively only planned one - two dinners in CK at the moment.  We will be happy to report back since we are planning hitting all the specialty restaurants at least once, and feel that they all are not equal across the fleet.  
We did UDP on our last four cruises (Freedom, Wonder, Navigator and Harmony) and the last was in a CLS and we still only did one dinner in CK.  We did a couple lunches and breakfast, which was enough.  Izumi (both sides) and the Samba Grill are pretty unique and probably can't really be replicated by the MDR or CK.  There are positives and negatives to each, CK and UDP so to me there is a better question...  ...Which one do you think you would regret missing more, the variety and options provided by the UDP or the chance to dine exclusively in CK?
 

I have a friend that could be coerced to book Star Class based simply on this!!!!!
 
Might have to tease him over WhatsApp, if we can get some on our upcoming Star Sailing.🤣

This is true. One of our Genies was known to "over feed" people lol. The shots of Patron Anejo never stopped coming all sailing.

Our general guide that we use is
Cabin attendant - $50-100 (more if the kids are with us)
MDR - $20-40/each server
Bartenders - $1/drink, or if we're going to be there a while, $5 with first drink. 
Room Service - $5
We also leave $3-5-ish on the table in the Windjammer if we eat there.
We also tip excursion guides and wait staff at all inclusive resorts. We pack a bunch of different denominations. 

Wow sorry for doubting you.     Earlier.  That’s crazy   Hope it’s a. Refund  and free booking on next cruise.