Minicruiser

3 hours ago, Queenbeecruises said:

 

Hi @Minicruiser we will be on The Symphony of the Seas Nov. 30 sailing in the Four Bedroom Villa Suite.  What suite did you have?  By chance do you have a blog that I can read?  I had so much fun reading this one @Lovetocruise2002!

I didn’t do a blog, sorry! I don’t know how people manage to do all of that while on vacation. It all goes by so quickly, especially with 6 kids in tow. I’m so impressed by the blog skills on this site!!! We were in a 2-bedroom aquatheater and absolutely loved it. I’m jealous of the four bedroom villa though. That looks amazing! Symphony is a beautiful ship and you will have a blast!

We just finished this cruise and stayed in Seward an extra day at the Harbor 360 hotel, lovely. We booked our own excursions and our own hotel. We booked helicopter dog sledding (a must with our kids) through Seward Helicopter Tours. Very fun and if you aren’t into the dog sledding, their helicopter tours alone would be beautiful. The scenery around Seward was unbelievable.

On our second day we booked our own Kenai excursion through Seward Ocean excursions. (4 kids in tow we needed a little more flexibility) We had a great experience. We saw orca, humpback, seals, sea lions, and got up close to a calving Glacier, fantastic!! Since it was private, we got to choose what our priorities were which meant hanging with the Orcas a little while longer.

We took the 6pm train on Sunday from Seward to Anchorage in a golden dome car. It was narrated and beautiful!! We booked it ourselves by calling the number on the Alaska train website. It connected us to Alaska Tour and travel who were very helpful. They actually booked the hotel for us too. 800-208-0200.  The hotel even sent our luggage over to the train station for us, which was really helpful since we were heading out on our excursion for most of the day.  In our downtime, we walked around downtown Seward and visited the Sea Life center. Seward was a great little town. Definitely worth staying the extra day.  

We didn’t have much time in Anchorage, but we did go to a fun little market that is there on weekend mornings with local artisans. Very nice. Have a great trip!

44 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

That is exactly what I did for my B2B Anthem cruises for Feb 2020.  I booked them last year at the regular price just to hold them and then once 1 April came around, I used my casino comp offers to reprice those cruises....only I ended up not doing that...but that's another story.

So yes.  If you want to book a 2 BR ATS for October 2020, book it now at the going rate and then reprice them using your casino comp offers after 1 April 2020.  Just realize that you will not be price protected.  They will reprice the room based on whatever the going rate is when you reprice and the most you are likely to get off (unless things change between now and then) will be 30% but 30% off is sure better than full price !!  Also, be prepared to sacrifice $100 per person in case it does not work out the way you think it will (which is my scenario for the Anthem cruises I booked).

Once I started booking casino comps I have never gone back to Next Cruise.  The benefits of Next Cruise and the Casino are mutually exclusive and the casino will always win out - even with a miserable 30% off.

Thank you!!!!

@WAAAYTOOO I have a question about booking and repricinf. If I know I already earned next year’s prime cruise and want to book an Oct 2020 star class room (2 bedroom aqua theater suite) that will likely not be available if I wait til then, how do I do it? Book now with the normal deposit and just call club royale to reprice it once the offers come out next April? Any advantage to booking with Next Cruise onboard in june? Thanks! 

38 minutes ago, Constantino said:

and hope they correctly identify your average bet and number of hands played.  I know they use a light sensor with a chip to count craps, but in my time at the table, there were definitely instances where they forgot to do it.  sometimes they would flip it a few times to make up for the time they missed, sometimes not.

I spoke with one of the hosts on my cruise to try to figure out the system. I was earning points quickly at blackjack but my husband was lagging behind, similar average bet. The difference between us was the side bet. Host said that the new points system gives tons of points for the sidebet. Sure enough once he started throwing $5 on the side bet, his points rose quickly.  We got more points for the side bet than we did high average bet per hand. Definitely a weird system and not Vegas-like at all.

Thanks! 

Would you recommend this excursion for teens and a 9 year old? We are looking for something to tack on after morning whale watching (9-1). Too much for one day? There would be a break in the middle for lunch. Thanks for your help. Btw, I read your Radiance blog from last year and it was awesome! We are on the northbound version of the itinerary this June. Your blog was sooooo helpful!!!

6 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said:

No, thats in addition to the free yearly prime cruise. 

Cool! Thanks!

Husband and I finished our first cruise a few weeks ago and both ended up Prime. They gave us each a free cruise certificate. Is the certificate we received onboard the free annual cruise you are referring to in this thread?  Thanks!

46 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

It will still be great!  I am just a big ship girl 

We like the big ships too and planned our last trip around being on Symphony. But....I’m hoping Alaska is different....more about the destination and less about the ship. We have long port excursions every day except two, which is quite different from our symphony trip. Fingers crossed that my kids don’t get bored!!!

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@Minicruiser glad to hear that you had a great time and that Alina was awesome!  From what I know, she is newer, and it is comforting to know that there are good ones replacing the wonderful genies that have been leaving lately. 

So Radiance huh?  I can't go there....

Uh oh, don’t scare me like that. I know it’s a small ship, but is it really that bad? Ovation was going to be crazy expensive for 6 of us this summer and we found a 2 bedroom owners suite on Radiance. Going more for the itinerary than the ship on this one....

Hi all! I just wanted to jump back on and say thanks to all of those that answered my Star class questions and a special thanks again for this awesome live blog @Lovetocruise2002! Our Symphony Cruise was amazing. Our genie, Alina, was phenomenal and made everything extra special for the kids. I have no idea how you manage to live blog your cruise because I barely had time to take pictures we were having so much fun! Lol.  We’ve already booked again for June on Radiance (alas, no genie) to celebrate my oldest son’s high school graduation. Thanks again for all of the advice! We were nervous but it was all amazing just as you said it would be!

Just stumbled on your blog while searching for info about Alina  She’s our genie on Symphony sailing March 30. Hope you don’t mind a few questions....I’m nervous because there hasn’t been much communication and I’ve read that others have things all planned out by this point. She’s answered my questions (briefly) but I get the sense that she’d rather talk on board. Does that sound right? Did you like her? Anything I should know? We have no clue what we are doing and are traveling with 6 kids (17, 14, 12, 12, 10 and 9) Snacks will be key!!

Also, love the pictures of your suite. We will be in 8334, same one on the other side. Did you request the wine be there?  She only asked about our coke product preferences and if we wanted to be greeted with champagne or wine? Looks like you got more than just a greeting’s worth   Can’t wait!

21 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

No package included. If you are Diamond and above, you can still get your one free photo per adult.

Also, if you are interested, the Genie can arrange a private photography session for you but you would pay for the pictures. @tiny260 might have some more info on that.

Interesting, I’d love photos that weren’t just the typical backdrop, and of course without waiting in line

Glad you made it home safely! I’m sure re-entry will be rough. 

Quick question. I’m looking at the photo package since we have such a big group. I thought I’d double check and make sure that wasn’t included with SC. Didn’t find it anywhere but didn’t want to assume. Thanks!

Thank you so much for this amazing review! So full of information and you ( and others) always answered questions which was very much appreciated for a newbie! What an amazing vacation for you and your family!

9 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We stopped by the room before the ice show to find more surprises from Araceli waiting.

The towel animal zoo is growing nicely.

Do you ask for all of the snacks, or does Araceli just do it? My kids will love this, but wondering if I should specifically request.

The towel animals are adorable!

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

My kids are not adventurous eaters. 

What kids are????

This is seriously the best blog ever. So glad I found this right before my SC cruise. Thanks for all the info. Your kids especially crack me up. Was wondering about wonderland and kids. Love the dessert idea!  Meanwhile I finally heard fro, our genie, Alina. I sent back a zillion questions and think I scare her off. It’s been silence for two days since.

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 

Araceli booked us a private escape room session with 2 other Star class families that we met a year ago. The story of our meeting is too long to explain but it would make a great story for a group cruise.  Anyway, we booked it private because we all have kids under 12 and we wanted them to come. Normally the minimum age limit is 14 to participate. 

This looks so fun and I love that the younger kids got to participate!! I think escape rooms are great for kids! How many people does the room hold? Our total travel group is 16. I’m wondering if the genie would let us book our private session with our non-SC friends if they paid.  Or maybe just add in a few of them and not the whole bunch? 

2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Depending on how many people we are talking about AND your Genie, it can work out just fine.

On 2 of our 6 Star Class cruises, we have cruised with "others".  One of the things that is included in your introductory email from the Genie is a line that tells you that your SC amenities are available ONLY to those persons traveling in SC.  I have no doubt that they mean it....BUT both times that I have been on a SC cruise with friends, the Genie did their very BEST to include them whenever they could.

For instance...when we went to dinner, the Genies both always made the reservations for the entire group.  Of course, those not in SC had to pay for their meals, but the Genies never balked at making reservations for everyone.  Also, when it came time to reserve seats for the entertainment events, they were also always included.  Now granted, on the first "friends" cruise, there were only 2 of the 6 of us that were not SC so it was fairly easy to include these 2 others...and on the second such cruise, there was only 1 person who was not SC. 

Does your Genie have a right to say "no".  Absolutely.  Will they ?  Hard to say.  As long as you are not asking to have them join you in the Suites Lounge (we NEVER did that) or partake in any freebie food or drinks, I doubt they will say no.  If it is a very large group, then the Genie would probably have to decline to include them all.

I have found that it was helpful to forewarn the Genies that you have some additional people who may be joining you for some events.  It's easier that way than to spring it on them at the last minute.

This is really helpful, thank you! One family is Sky class and we don’t plan to ever ask for the third family to join us in CK or the lounge. They do have the key though, so that helps a bit. The only thing we were hoping for is some help moving some times for existing reservations that we’ve booked for the 6 adults that aren’t ideal times.  

Neither group is big. 4 in each family. We are the biggest group with 8 of us in our suite. DH, me and all the kids. It’ll be a bit chaotic for our genie regardless.

I’m assuming if we order food in our cabin it’s ok to have the non suite family there, though? Since we have the deck 8 ATS, we plan to hang out on our balcony one night. 

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Beautiful...most definitely.  Princess, yes. The two kids down below definitely takes a bit away from the dream

We’ve also done DCL three times. IMO, it doesn’t compare to Royal. Especially not if you are comparing the DCL concierge vs. Star class experience. Royal wins hands down.

I’m trying to include as much of the star class/Genie experience as possible in this blog but let me know if there is something specific that you wanted me to find out

We did Disney concierge on our last cruise and were hooked! We knew we were ruined...lol. From the description, Star class seems way better. Can’t wait!  Nothing super specific I’m looking for other than that we are traveling with some other families not in Star and wondering how that will work. Hoping it’s not too awkward.

Love, love, loving this live blog. New to Royal, but have cruised Disney 3 times. 4 kids are older now and time for a change. We sail on Symphony in the 2 bedroom ATS on 3/30 along with my 2 nieces. Your blog has been soooo informative for planning as I’m a super planner! Haven’t heard from our genie yet which is making me nervous, but we just upgraded to the ATS from Sky class about 3 weeks ago. I’m hoping this week. In the meantime, I’m enjoying following along on your trip!!