bossdog421

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

It varies by ship but on OA, it's:

Bridge, Galley, Meet the Cast of Cats (right after their matinee show), no engine room (I think this is for all ships with Star.  I heard they got rid of it due to safety?).  Classes include Sushi, Cupcake, and Guacamole class.

I would say that this is not impossible, but I have never heard of anyone actually requesting this...

Main reason I asked was i read an interview with a genie (Reyno) from years back and he mentioned it. Sounded much more like a butler experience though.

So I wonder is it a fairly common request to have the genie unpack for you? My wife may want to do hers herself but I'm going to have some things that need to be pressed and I am awful at putting away clothes.

 

Are there any other tours? Been on the bridge, looking forward to a gally tour and behind the scenes of the shows... what about engine room?

 

Any super secret things I should be asking for?

I had the wow band in January on Harmony. Loved it, not a single problem anywhere. Biggest issue i had with them is they wanted us to take them off on the waterslides which was inconvenient .

 

Pro tip. Wear it upside down ( the circular  side on the bottom of your wrist) for easy scanning at the bars. This way you dont have to contort your hand every time you get a drink. Slightly harder to get into the room wearing it like this but i was getting drinks way more than going in and out of my room.

 

As for the getting drink for your partner, i had varied results with getting drinks for my wife. I found that at my 2 main bars after the first day they were fine giving me 2 drinks without having her band. Those 2 bars would see me going and get my drinks started before i even ordered some times too, the had me pegged because im a creature of habit.At the poolside bar Morning was a mudslide for me and a bloodymary for the wife, afternoon was a kraken lava flow, night time was a beer. If i was going a drink run i just had her give me her band just in case. They come on and off easy.

3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Happy birthday, @bossdog421! Kinda late in the day, but better late than never.  

Thanks! Got my bday cake and some benihana takeout.

 

Pretty nice bday concedering  not able to go anywhere

 

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Happy Birthday, @bossdog421 !!!!

Thanks!

 

Kinda funny that i posted that gif about noone signing my birthday poster. Came home early today and there is a birthday poster on my front door that people are coming over to sign lol.

 

The wife also put 40s all over the house... just wait til her 10th anniversary of her 30th birthday happens...

 

 

53 minutes ago, ellcee said:

@bossdog421 Aww! Happy Birthday! Hope your birthday can be special in some way. It's a family member's birthday and when she gets home from a 12.5 hour workday (works in hospital admin) we have basically planned to bomb her stoop (front steps) with cakes and trays of food and cheese platters.

I'm sure I'll still have a great day, just wish i could be doing something more for the big four zero. I usually take off work on my Birthday but can't this year.

Today is my quarantined 40th birthday...

 

Looking back it was 2 years ago on my birthday that we went on our first cruise. It was on Disney Dream. I have to say that vacation was the best vacation i ever had. Everything was perfect. Now I'm hooked on cruising.

 

I'm not going to blast this blog with pics from a different cruise but there is one picture from my birthday 2 years ago on the ship that stands out. My wife ordered one of those special ice cream things that had like 100 scopes and the concierge brought it up to the lounge.  It was great. here's a pic with our concierge and suite lounge bartender

 

18 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Are you going to have to go into quarantine when you get back ?

By September I'm thinking they wont have restrictions like that. Unless things kick up again in fall.

 

This entire year is just a crapshoot when it comes to planning.

 

 

Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Thank goodness for that!  Now don't forget the Filet in CK Night 1! 

Oh yeah. I have the whole weeks meals mapped out as a placeholder. That is my only set in stone slot. Wish i didn't have to miss it last time.

Itinerary

Cape Liberty – Cruising – Port Canaveral - Perfect Day at CocoCay - Nassau – Cruising – Cape Liberty

 

So, there are 2 negatives with this itinerary. First, it is the exact same ports as the cruise we booked next year. Second, we have been to all the ports already too. Both are not deal breakers by any means though.

 

We used to live in Florida and the in-laws live there. We can still see them without them being there for the entire vacation! Win win! Still not sure what we are going to do in FL just yet, Space Coast or Disney most likely. Florida is somewhere we try to go every year, so this port makes a ton of sense. The stop at CocoCay may as well be an entirely new port to us. We had an overwater cabana when we were there Feb 1^st and did not explore any other area outside of the beach club. Seems like the kind of place I wont mind going to multiple times, next year my daughter should be big enough to enjoy the waterpark too. Nassau is a different beast though. I did not enjoy it when we went before. We just walked to the straw market and I felt unsafe and harassed in a tourist trap. I think the plan this time is to do a day pass at Atlantis, my daughter will enjoy the aquariums and a resort is a more comfortable place to me. Being there next year could be an issue but we could always do a tour or something, plenty more to see.

 

 

Stateroom

The Ultimate Panoramic Suite - Stateroom# 14528 – A new star class suite that was added with the Oasis of the Seas amplification. It is a starboard side stateroom located in the forward section of the ship that offers amazing 200 degree panoramic views right from your bed. A 914 sqft stateroom is going to provide a ton of space to stretch our legs. We’ll also get plenty of exercise since its pretty far from the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen… Hope our genie has been keeping in shape during the lock down because the 2  Ultimate Panoramic Suites are the only star class staterooms that aren’t in the Aft of the ship as far as I know.

 

 

These suites are located directly above the bridge wings. Which is what gives them the panoramic views. There are not a lot of write ups on these suites, I’m excited to post of pictures and details of something that isn’t well documented yet! (I loved being one of the first people in an overwater cabana after they opened. I’d like to think I did a good job documenting that experience!)

 

Here is the floorplan of the suite from @Matt first look blog about the suite.

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/30/first-look-the-ultimate-panoramic-suite-oasis-of-the-seas

 

The unfortunate thing is there is no balcony. Good thing the suite deck is just a couple floors directly above us! It should be a fairly quite stateroom since there won’t be a lot above us, not sure if any of the solarium goes directly above this suite. It is kinda close to the kids club but not expecting a lot of noise there either.

 

So that’s it for the opening posts! Can’t wait to get the star class questionnaire! Not sure how much planning I want to leave to the genie… I think I already have my entire weeks specialty dining mapped out.

This board has been a little light since everything has shut down. Since I wasn’t invited to the fake cruise, I figured I’d follow in @Lovetocruise2002  shoes and just start a blog a little early (I mean 5 months will be here in no time).

 

Sorry if this is a bit wordier than the usual. Writing about and planning vacations helps calm me. I have been under an extreme amount of stress at work and this is my mental getaway.

 

The basics!

A 7-night cruise on the recently amplified Oasis of the Seas in the in an Ultimate Panoramic Suite, a new stateroom on the ship!

 

The story!

 

First start class cruise!!!  I hear that it is hard to go back to anything else after going star. I can see that how that happens because I had that issue with suites already. I am ready for the genie and looking forward to some food comas!

 

For those that did not follow along with my last blog. I was on Harmony in January staying a Crown Loft for my 10 year anniversary. (might as well plug my blog from that one! https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/17626-we-still-do-%E2%80%93-vow-renewal-on-harmony-12620-%E2%80%93-2220/ ).  We had a blast and booked a next cruise on board. That next cruise isn’t this cruise (oh boy I might be addicted to Royal Caribbean, cruising seems to be my new preferred vacation type!). The cruise in January ended with a big scare, we were docked next to Anthem in San Juan and it was quarantined when it returned due to a Covid scare. Pretty sure@WAAAYTOOO   was affected by that delay. I got pretty sick about 2 weeks after that cruise, but testing was not very available at the time.  Seems fairly common to catch something on a cruise even if there isn’t a global pandemic happening.

 

I work in healthcare, so I’m no stranger to health issues. Every single day since I have been back has been nonstop and has gotten progressively more stressful. I am just completely exhausted and I need another vacation for sure… So I started looking at cruise! I was floored by how low some of the prices were… I mean it’s understandable that there is a lot of uncertainty right now, so booking vacations isn’t on a lot of people’s radar at the moment. I had my eye on a July cruise for a similarly great deal, while I am confident we will be more back to “normal” by then it’s just too close to take the chance. A September sailing provides us with a bit more peace of mind even though we will be pulling our daughter out of school again. September this year gives us another reason to celebrate to!  It is my wife’s birthday, and it is a big one! She preferred that I called it the 10^th anniversary of her 30^th birthday . We are going to celebrate my 40^th on board too even though it is this week. My birthday is cancelled due to social distancing ☹

 

This time things will be different. First, it’s just me, my wife, and my daughter. No in-laws or other friends coming with us. This is going to be a good and bad thing. The good side is we will be able to take advantage of our suite and star class perks more since we wont have to worry about our other travel mates that are in different cabin categories (no MDR this cruise!). I also don’t have to share my wife and kid, making memorable vacations with just the 3 of us is extremely important to me. The bad side is that our daughter won’t have any friends on board. We are really hoping that she takes to the kids club this time. Second difference is, we are leaving from Jersey! No flight, no hotel needed, just an Uber or a friend to drop us off and we are on board! Third, Star class baby!!! So excited for this! Nothing wrong with sky class at all, but yeah… STAR CLASS!

From what I've read the crews do pretty long tours on the ships. Some still seem to be on board even as things aren't running.

 

How seemless do you think service quailty will be when things resume? Layoffs and furloughs are likely to effect employee retention. Guess I'm worried there may be a lot of unseasoned crew.

 

Cruise lines are taking huge hits, how they rebound as things open back up will be critical to passenger experiences .

5 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Awesome, same cruise we are doing. Never been to the ports other than Port Canaveral of course. Looking forward to Coco Cay. We are staying on the ship in Nassau. 

Went to Nassau when i was on a Disney cruise, we walked to the straw market. I did not have a good time. I think my daughter would like Atlantis, at least the aquarium, so we'll probably go do that. I found exploring on our own at a strange port that i do not have a lot of fun.

 

I went a bit overboard last time at Coco Cay and was in an overwater cabana. It was great but we didnt get a chance to see a lot of the other parts of the island.  Can't wait to explore more (going to be a lot warmer too)

3 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Awesome news! More detailed information would be great, ship, cruise destination and suite type. 

Oasis, Jersey- Port Canaveral - Nassau - Coco Cay, Ultimate Panaramic Suite.

 

Gonna be great because we can see the inlaws when we stop in Florida without them cruising with us this time... Not that it was a bad thing last time ()

 

Been to all 3 ports but plenty to see and do that we haven't done before.

I'm on oasis in Sept. Staying in UPS, totally asking for a soft pretzel to see what happens.

 

Thanks for the blog! 

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Pastries from Starbucks

Alcohol above the drink threshold (although I have had the excess $$ waived from time-to-time)

Excursions

Spa treatments.  SC includes 1 days of thermal spa access only but does not include any spa treatments 

Chef’s Table will charge you $25 PP for wine.

Obviously, anything in a retail store.  A single excel here is you can get ice cream at the candy store but not the candy itself.

There’s actually very little that is extra $$.  You will get all of the water, beer and soft drinks (including energy drinks) you want brought to your suite but you must pay for bottles of wine or liquor.  You can get individual wine and liquor drinks brought to your suite at no cost unless they exceed the drinks package threshold. We don’t bother with this as it is just more enjoyable for us to go to a bar or restaurant and order whatever we want....but you can do it if you want.
 

 

 

Great info and about what I expected. Thanks!

 

How are the pours at Chefs Table? I've had very mixed results with quantity and quality of pairings. This could be an ideal date night if we can actually talk our daughter into the kids club this time.

 

One of my genie wishes will be to find another SC kid for ours to friend up with!

I already read all of  @betatke1480  blog... I'm totally asking for a soft pretzel to see what happens.

 

While i have the attention of a few SC regulars here... I know this question has already been asked but instead of what's included, since it's a large list, what isn't included with SC?

4 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I don’t think we’ve had any reviews of the UPS yet so don’t really have much insight....but those views look awesome !

Congratulations !

Thanks! Yeah it's all pretty new stuff, which i love being part of. I'll be sure to do a big room review in the liveblog.  Not doing an over water cabana this time, figured actually seeing the rest of Cococay will be an experience in itself.  Really excited to see all the little differences between oasis and harmony now that oasis is amped. Playmakers and lime and coconut please!

 

Going to go back and reread some of yours and lovetos blogs to prep myself for the star class experience!

2 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

If you read the live blog by @betatke1480 from February 2020, one complaint was the the Genies on Oasis were a bit disconnected and he was not sure if that was due to the addition of these new cabins or just the Genies themselves.

 

Slightly disappointing to hear ... I'll have to look up that blog. Thanks!

 

3 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

But in the end, SC is better than no SC, so go and enjoy!!  When is the sailing?

I'm sure! Sailing is Sep 20th.. 11 days after my wife's birthday, but she didn't want to go earlier / on her birthday because of school starting. I figured pulling my 9 year old out of school 2 weeks in will be fine though lol. I'm sure it's going to be a lot of recapping first couple weeks due to how school is running right now anyways.

1 minute ago, Bean79 said:

That's awesome, while I can't help you with your question, I just wanted to say thank you for what you do to help people out!

 

Thanks! We have received tons of local support and have been feeling the love!

Yeah I'm excited. First time booking Star Class! For those that didn't follow along, i was just on Harmony in January for my 10 year wedding anniversary  and did a live blog here it was a blast!  That was our only other RCCL cruise and had a great time in our Sky Class Loft. Gotta say i was totally jealous watching those genies zip around for other groups. I knew i was going to book one just not this soon!  Seeing some of these prices I just couldn't pass up the deal... seriously not even taking into account that i wont need flights this time its about half the cost of my last cruise and it's STAR CLASS and we can now celebrate wifes 4.... i mean 30th birthday! ( i get to celebrate too my 40th is next week but canceled due to covid)

 

This room looks like it's a newer addition as part of the amplification.  It looks amazing. Has anyone here had the opportunity to stay in one of these rooms? Only 2 things are concerning me. First is no balcony. Obviously  this is made up for with the insane views, just a couple floors up and we got the suite deck anyways. Second is how far it is from the suite lounge / the rest of the star class suites. From what i can tell about the deck plans EVERY other star class suite is aft. I have no issues walking across the ship to get to coastal kitchen (i plan on being more #teamCK this time but now i'll have specialty dining included so still going to be limited, no MDR at all this time!)  a couple nights but I'm slightly worried about genie access with it being so disconnected for the rest of the star suites.  Any input on either of those items would be appreciated.

 

I am ready for a vacation! Working in healthcare int he middle of all this craziness is exhausting!  A September sailing seems like a pretty safe bet.

 

@Lovetocruise2002 Too early to start a live blog @ 5 months out?? . I upgraded my phone so I plan on taking a ton of pictures again!

So Michelle at MEI was great. Took care of all of my complicated issues and I'm booked.

 

Star class in 5 months!

36 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That's it!  The point of no return!

I knew it was gonna happen after my last cruise lol...

 

I may have jinxed myself already, not sure they can transfer the reservation and move the sailing.  I got a denial on the transfer saying it was over 60 days even though the invoice is dated 2/24/20. Maybe because i used that $200  anytime booking and it was Feb 2nd when i sailed?  Really hope they can move some things around and make it work! The itinerary is identical to the cruise I already had booked next year so keeping them both is not ideal here.

Thanks for this thread!

 

I am working with this company now to change a booking i had for next year to this year!

 

Also looks like I'll be doing my first STAR class cruise!

 

Don't want to jinx it but i really hope i can get everything transferred smoothly.

The cruise i was talking about is officially changed to 9 night Bermuda and Northeast when attempting to book.

 

My wife is good with it except the rep i spoke to said it would be 100 a person to move. So not going to transfer.

 

I might still book but I'll sit on it for now and hope it drops more.