Tiffeven

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  She refused to take the case of bottled Evian water because the bottles were almost out of date 🙄

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.

Or we could just have a liquid dinner. Alan stopped by for a visit/check-in and magically Fireball shots appeared. 

T minus 12 hours until we leave for Bayonne! We decided that some pre celebration drinks were necessary so we could get our livers ready for the upcoming week!
Derick emailed us today with his phone number and told us we could text or call him when we were close so he could wait for us. He also let us know we could show up at 11 instead of 11:30 which works perfectly as there is a game at the Meadowlands that we wanted to avoid traffic for. 
We received another email "Important information about your upcoming cruise". We are leaving at 5 pm instead of 6 now. Again, can royal change the title to "Exciting news about your upcoming cruise "? Scares me everytime!
I probably won't be able to sleep tonight...or maybe if I drink enough I can...lol!
I will try to post as many pictures during the cruise as I can!

I'm SO impressed that you're cruising, with 4 monkeys and a husband, during covid and have written such a great blog!   I'm super grateful as we look forward to travelling in December with one kiddo that can't be vaxxed yet.   You've allayed a lot of my concerns.   Thanks!!!

I just spend part of my afternoon reading and enjoying your blog and precious photos of your family!!  We are just hubby and I but have our fingers crossed for a Royal Up before our Odyssey cruise on Sunday to Star Class!  Love everything about what you wrote-thanks for keeping it real!

Sorry for all the noise.  We had plates flying everywhere, but I saved my Starbucks, so it's ok.

Final thoughts:
This trip has been absolutely amazing.  It was off to a rough start, but wow, it ended as one of our favorite cruises.  We worried about how cruising would be with all of the new Covid restrictions and if we would walk around with a scarlet letter on our heads bringing kids too young to be vaccinated on a cruise.  We were totally wrong.  Everybody on the ship was very nice and some even smiled, laughed, and played with the kids, especially the youngest two.  We didn't get a single rude comment or look from other passengers about cruising with kids.  The staff seemed so happy to be back at sea and were very accommodating. 
There were obviously things we missed like the Quest, Love and Marriage, World's Sexiest Man Competition,  and the Belly Flop Competition.  We also wish we could have done laser tag and the escape room, but there is so much to do even without those that it was still an amazing trip.  One thing I missed was the interaction that we usually get with our room attendant.  I don't think this was his fault though, as there are so many new rules they must abide by such as not going into the room when the guests are there.  It made the experience less personal with him even though he seemed like a nice guy.  The vaccinated only and everybody shows were also an annoyance at times when the everybody show ended up playing too late for kids.  Hairspray was phenomenal, but Steven commented that the minimal seating detracted from the ambience (there was less people to laugh and clap at key moments in the performance).   We also did not like having the Windjammer closed for dinner, but we were always so full anyway.  We only made one stop at the Windjammer this cruise, and we actually perferred how it is now with them serving you food.  It's nice not to have to worry about people touching all the food with their hands plus the food seemed fresher perhaps due to smaller portions being brought out at a time.  Sunil picked out all of our servers at the specialty restaurants and he did a fantastic job because all of the servers we had were wonderful (with the exception of the guy at Playmakers, but Sunil did not choose him).
We continually saw the Covid restrictions being modified.  Room service went from not being allowed in your room to allowed in if you go into a different room and then finally to closer to what it used to be like all within a one week period.  We watched a limit of five in a pool be modified to no limit.  The genies went from not being able to pick up your kids from Adventure Ocean to being able to.  Initially, we were told they were not doing the 2 for $20 t-shirts sale on this cruise because it puts people in too close of proximity to each other, but on day 6, the t-shirt sale happened.  Cruising is slowly returning to normal, and we watched this transition happen every day.
I would be remiss to end this without taking about Sunil.  If you are lucky enough to get him as your genie, you are in for a treat.  He truly made this trip unique.  He went above and beyond and became like family to us.  The kids are already talking about requesting him as our genie when we go on Symphony in April, which we are definitely going to do.  For anyone wondering, he goes home on November 27th, and then he is going back to Symphony in January. 
Lastly, thank you to everyone who followed along.  I hope this helped show what the current state of cruising is.  Happy cruising and best of luck to everyone!
 
 
 
 

Sorry for all the noise.  We had plates flying everywhere, but I saved my Starbucks, so it's ok.

Day 5 continued:
Dinner tonight was at Wonderland.   It was our first time there, and it was a lot of fun.  We booked it for the experience not necessarily for the food.  The service was great, and the food wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.   It definitely was interesting and very different, but I did enjoy some of the food.  For the food alone, I doubt I'd book Wonderland; but between the food and the experience, I would go back.  I honestly couldn't tell you half of what we ate as we went with the server's recommendations.  At Wonderland, you choose an element or you let them pick and bring out the favorites or recommendations which ends up including foods from all of the elements.  They brought Steven's and my food out as they normally would and gave Steven extra sriracha when we told them the spicier the food the better for him.  For the kids, they left out any ingredients that would make it spicy.  We had the kids try a lot of the food, but they were not fans of Wonderland until they brought them cotton candy.  They also brought us an apple happy birthday cake and the kids got to blow out the candles.
We ran into @Traveler at dinner and then again at the casino after we dropped the kids off at Adventure Ocean.  After losing a little money, we were tired and decided to call it a night.
Wonderland:

Us with @Traveler:

 
 

Thank you!  I'll be honest, there was many a night I stayed awake while Steven fell asleep, but I did enjoy blogging the trip and hope it helped answer some of the questions that others have.  Steven did catch a picture of me blogging on the balcony one day.

 

Steven made a comment about the art in the men's restroom making him feel insecure and showed me a picture and all I can say is ha!

Thank you!  I'll be honest, there was many a night I stayed awake while Steven fell asleep, but I did enjoy blogging the trip and hope it helped answer some of the questions that others have.  Steven did catch a picture of me blogging on the balcony one day.

 

Sorry for all the noise.  We had plates flying everywhere, but I saved my Starbucks, so it's ok.

Thank you!  I'll be honest, there was many a night I stayed awake while Steven fell asleep, but I did enjoy blogging the trip and hope it helped answer some of the questions that others have.  Steven did catch a picture of me blogging on the balcony one day.

 

Disembarkation:
Today was the day we had been dreading.  When I woke up, I opened the curtains to see Miami.  We tried to drag leaving out as long as possible and told Sunil we wanted to be the last ones he escorted off the ship.  Room service does not make deliveries on disembarkation day, but Sunil made sure we got our normal breakfast and Starbucks delivered to our room.  He showed up to our room at 9:15am like we had arranged.  With him, was a porter to get our luggage.  It took about 15 to 20 minutes to get from our suite to our car.  Disembarkation was very smooth and we didn't have any issues.  
 

Day 7 continued:
After walking down the pier, you go left to go to Coco Beach Club or straight for Thrill Waterpark.  As we were walking down the pier, we realized we had forgot our cabana tickets, but figured we'd keep going anyway.  We walked up to the entrance, they scanned our seapasses, and voila we were inside no tickets required.  We walked up to the cabana concierge, gave them our room number, and then they escorted us to our cabana and gave us a bracelet.  Sunil had reserved cabana 45, and told us this is the one they recommended when he asked for the best one.  It was in a perfect location in the waterpark.  It was right at the bottom of daredevil peak (the tallest slide) and convenient to everything in the waterpark.  It had two loungers outside, a couch and chair inside, a cooler area for water, six water bottles, a place to charge your phone, a Bluetooth speaker, a safe, and six towels.  You also have a cabana attendant who brings you drinks and food from Snack Shack.  Snack Shack is complimentary.  If you have a drink package, it is covered here.  If not, you pay for any alcohol like you would on the ship.  We decided we'd order mozzarella sticks, a cabana burger, a cabana chicken sandwich, a funnel cake, a coco loco, a tropical mango water, and a diet coke.  There were birds and a family of chickens that kept walking through the cabana and landing on the table, and the cabana attendant told us to let her know when we were done with the food, so she could take it without the wildlife getting to it.  There was a button on the table that we would press anytime we needed the cabana attendant.
Headed to Thrill Waterpark:

The Cabana:

Cabana menu from Snack Shack and our food:

 

Day 7 continued:
Sunil told us to meet him in the suite lounge at 10:20am.  The genies had all of their guests do this, and then we priority elevatored down and pretty much got off the ship immediately.  There was one genie at the top elevator, one at bottom elevator,  and one right outside.  It was very quick and worked well since they could priority the elevator back and forth to get Star Class families without having to worry about it stopping on any other floor between.  Sunil said this is the first time they've done it this way, and because it worked so well, they would probably stick with it.
Coco Cay:

 

Day 6 continued:
We picked up the kids and asked both of the older two if they wanted to go ride the waterslides, but they opted for pizza and video games instead, so Sunil had pizza, fries, and fruit delivered to the room for them.  I really don't know what they are going to do when they get home and can't have pizza for every meal.  
Steven and I had 150 Central Park reservations for the evening.  We always try to do 150 as our date night restaurant, so we brought the kids back to Adventure Ocean and Royal Babies and Tots after a few hours.  They were excited to be back.  We met Sunil at 150 Central Park where we had a nice conversation.   Our server was very nice, but it was  much different than the other restaurants.  At the other restaurants, we had our main server taking care of us, plus other servers, and the restaurant managers would come by numerous times asking if everything was to our liking during the meals.  We even had the Mad Hatter at Wonderland serving us food and continually bringing the kids cotton candy.  At 150, our server took care of us but we really didn't have any one else stopping by the table.  We did enjoy having everyone fawn all over us at the other restaurants especially since they kept the kids occupied, but it was kind of nice having a quiet meal since the kids weren't there.  
For our meal, I had ceasar salad, seared honey glazed scallops, roasted spiced pumpkin bisque, and lobster thermidor.  Steven had ceasar salad, crispy Berkshire pork belly, and pan-seared veal medallions.  We have always really enjoyed the food at 150, and this trip was no different.  It was delicious, and we ate so much that we didn't have room for dessert.  The presentation of the food was beautiful as well.  We even pulled up a picture to compare the presentation from when we were on Allure; and while it was delicious at both, Symphony definitely wins on presentation.
On the way to get the kids, I realized we hadn't had Baked Alaska on this trip, so I messaged Sunil and asked for some to be delivered after we picked up the kids.
After picking up the kids, we returned to our room to find a towel animal surprise.  We always keep all of the towel animals, so that we have a towel animal menagerie at the end of the trip.  After the first towel animal, I put it on the desk in the master bedroom, but the next day, the room attendant took it even though it was set to the side.  I was going to ask him not to take any more, but our paths didn't cross.  We had one towel animal (our 2nd towel animal) and were getting off in port.  I was still unable to find him, so I called Sunil and asked him if he could let him know not to take the towel animal that we like to have a zoo at the end of the trip.  Sunil made sure we had our zoo, because we returned to the room to find...

Sunil also called soon after we arrived to the room and asked if we were ready for our baked Alaska, which was yummy as always and a good end to the day.
150 Central Park:

Baked Alaska:

Thank you!  I'll be honest, there was many a night I stayed awake while Steven fell asleep, but I did enjoy blogging the trip and hope it helped answer some of the questions that others have.  Steven did catch a picture of me blogging on the balcony one day.

 

Thank you!  I'll be honest, there was many a night I stayed awake while Steven fell asleep, but I did enjoy blogging the trip and hope it helped answer some of the questions that others have.  Steven did catch a picture of me blogging on the balcony one day.

 

Thank you!  I'll be honest, there was many a night I stayed awake while Steven fell asleep, but I did enjoy blogging the trip and hope it helped answer some of the questions that others have.  Steven did catch a picture of me blogging on the balcony one day.

 

Final thoughts:
This trip has been absolutely amazing.  It was off to a rough start, but wow, it ended as one of our favorite cruises.  We worried about how cruising would be with all of the new Covid restrictions and if we would walk around with a scarlet letter on our heads bringing kids too young to be vaccinated on a cruise.  We were totally wrong.  Everybody on the ship was very nice and some even smiled, laughed, and played with the kids, especially the youngest two.  We didn't get a single rude comment or look from other passengers about cruising with kids.  The staff seemed so happy to be back at sea and were very accommodating. 
There were obviously things we missed like the Quest, Love and Marriage, World's Sexiest Man Competition,  and the Belly Flop Competition.  We also wish we could have done laser tag and the escape room, but there is so much to do even without those that it was still an amazing trip.  One thing I missed was the interaction that we usually get with our room attendant.  I don't think this was his fault though, as there are so many new rules they must abide by such as not going into the room when the guests are there.  It made the experience less personal with him even though he seemed like a nice guy.  The vaccinated only and everybody shows were also an annoyance at times when the everybody show ended up playing too late for kids.  Hairspray was phenomenal, but Steven commented that the minimal seating detracted from the ambience (there was less people to laugh and clap at key moments in the performance).   We also did not like having the Windjammer closed for dinner, but we were always so full anyway.  We only made one stop at the Windjammer this cruise, and we actually perferred how it is now with them serving you food.  It's nice not to have to worry about people touching all the food with their hands plus the food seemed fresher perhaps due to smaller portions being brought out at a time.  Sunil picked out all of our servers at the specialty restaurants and he did a fantastic job because all of the servers we had were wonderful (with the exception of the guy at Playmakers, but Sunil did not choose him).
We continually saw the Covid restrictions being modified.  Room service went from not being allowed in your room to allowed in if you go into a different room and then finally to closer to what it used to be like all within a one week period.  We watched a limit of five in a pool be modified to no limit.  The genies went from not being able to pick up your kids from Adventure Ocean to being able to.  Initially, we were told they were not doing the 2 for $20 t-shirts sale on this cruise because it puts people in too close of proximity to each other, but on day 6, the t-shirt sale happened.  Cruising is slowly returning to normal, and we watched this transition happen every day.
I would be remiss to end this without taking about Sunil.  If you are lucky enough to get him as your genie, you are in for a treat.  He truly made this trip unique.  He went above and beyond and became like family to us.  The kids are already talking about requesting him as our genie when we go on Symphony in April, which we are definitely going to do.  For anyone wondering, he goes home on November 27th, and then he is going back to Symphony in January. 
Lastly, thank you to everyone who followed along.  I hope this helped show what the current state of cruising is.  Happy cruising and best of luck to everyone!
 
 
 
 

Disembarkation:
Today was the day we had been dreading.  When I woke up, I opened the curtains to see Miami.  We tried to drag leaving out as long as possible and told Sunil we wanted to be the last ones he escorted off the ship.  Room service does not make deliveries on disembarkation day, but Sunil made sure we got our normal breakfast and Starbucks delivered to our room.  He showed up to our room at 9:15am like we had arranged.  With him, was a porter to get our luggage.  It took about 15 to 20 minutes to get from our suite to our car.  Disembarkation was very smooth and we didn't have any issues.  
 

Day 7 continued:
Now that the fun of Coco Cay was over, we knew we had to get to packing.  We decided after a day in the sun and with a long evening of packing ahead of us, dining in the room would be the right call for our last evening.  We had Izumi delivered.  We order a couple different variations of hibachi, the truffled creamy lobster tempura roll, miso soup, mango, chocolate, and strawberry mochi, and chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream.  The food arrived with the meats and vegetables as we ordered and a giant plate of fried rice.  It was very good, and the sushi roll had a nice little spicy kick to it, but we were so full that we couldn't finish all of it.  We took the kids to Adventure Ocean for their last evening, but the babies did not want to go to Royal Babies and Tots when they saw their favorite staff members were not working.  Instead of going to the casino like we planned, we took the babies to the carousel and we were happy we did.  Their favorite Royal Babies and Tots staff members, Edel and Sylen, were working there.  They were so good with the babies, and the girls loved them and that's saying a lot since Kat never goes to anyone except Mommy and Daddy.  On one of the days we picked the girls up, Sylen was on the floor with the girls laughing and playing.  She had no idea we were observing her, but Kat and Nyssa were laughing so hard and it was very clear how much Sylen cared about the children she was taking caring of.  I just wish we could take Sylen and Edel on every cruise with us.
We rode the carousel a whole bunch of times and went for ice cream at sugar beach.  On the way to get Christian and Sophia from Adventure Ocean, I asked Sunil if it was possible to get Baked Alaska again, and after calling around, he told me they didn't have any made, so I asked for guacamole and chips for Steven and me and ice cream for the kids.  After it was delivered,  Nyssa and Kat ended up eating almost all of the guacamole and wanted more, so I messaged Sunil.  He told me Playmakers had already closed, but he got us some anyway.  While we snacked on our chips and guacamole, we finished our packing and called it a night.
Sugar Beach, the carousel, and Nyssa and Kat's favorite Royal Babies and Tots staff members: