Jax

This was our take away as well over Christmas and we too had a full ship with many large groups. Like you, we had a fantastic genie who did what he could to work around some of the “rules”. The restrictions can be challenging for the genies when star class guests bring their expectations and experiences from other ships that are less strict. It’s just another reason I wish the star class program was consistent fleet wide.

So annoying and petty given the limited monetary cost to this perk.

Haha Story of my life in Vegas this week. This is Hubby and Sons idea of celebrating St Patrick’s Day. They have to go during “hot donut times”. They aren’t available in Canada so it’s a real treat for them.

I love your assessment! Haha We are not adventurous eaters so it’s a hard pass but I said we would eat dessert there next cruise on HM. We had the dessert delivered to our suite last time but I think it will be better to eat in restaurant and take in the experience. The menu paint brush sounds neat. I kinda wish I had not mentioned Wonderland to my guys because it would be a hoot to take them there just for shock value. Lol

…and miss out on all those room service trays littering the hallways on decks other than 17. If you have followed my blogs you know how I feel about that. Lol

Our genie on HM had Hawaiian pizza delivered but we later found out it was because he made a special request for it. Otherwise it is not available. The backstory was our non star class friends kept saying they couldn’t get Hawaiian pizza onboard and we kept saying we could. We later found out our genie used his genie powers to make this happen.

At least your times have improved. Over Xmas the start time was either 8 or 8:30, I can’t remember. It’s funny how some details fade.

I had the same issue uploading pics at Xmas. Especially if uploading more than one pic per post.

I received this toiletry bag along with several other matching pieces (tote, back pack and some zippered pouches) over our Xmas sailing. Our toiletry bag had an assortment of shower/bath products in it. It arrived Xmas eve but I never knew who it came from. I chalked it up to a secret Santa gift. I agree with your review, but we used the back pack on our excursions.

Looks pretty good. Menu selection is way better than Westjet …. I have not been impressed with Westjet’s in flight menu for some time.

And Teens just in case

I have all 7 days of the cruise compass from HM over Christmas 2022. No idea if they change every cruise but here is Day 1. Let me know if you would like me to upload any of the other days.

FWIW, we received paper copies of the cruise compass on HM in December.

We like Miami Intercontinental.

Hopefully the temps aren’t too cold and it will be a wet snow that melts quickly. This is so stressful; I hope you all get to Florida tomorrow. What’s up with this March weather; we are under a full winter storm/ snowfall warning here starting tomorrow with up to 20cm expected and lows of -22. Ugh I am ready for spring

Just catching up now. I can’t believe your annual “my birthday week cruise” is almost here. Haha One day soon I am going to be onboard with you . This year I will be following along from Vegas so it’s not so bad.

Right! It was way closer to shore than I would have imagined possible. I just love this picture of the guys watching Harmony. One of my favs Haha, so true! The excitement at boarding never gets old does it. I agree, it was my worst nightmare too. And I went in with very reasonable expectations having been there the Christmas prior knowing amenities were basic and the experience is watching the planes. It’s really too bad they have let the beach conditions deteriorate so much and the overselling was awful. Haha. I hear ya. Not surprising, we didn’t spend a dime at the casino. Are you sure this wasn’t me! I was the same with the added challenge of refusing to touch the handrails.

It’s about 45 minutes each way; possibly longer depending on traffic. (Which can be bad)

I am just catching up! Harmony had a slightly different policy…no food unless requested but like you, we were ok with that. I’m not a fan of random food being left in our suite.

We went to Maho Beach over Christmas 2023 and the experience fell way short of expectations based on our visit the year before. The excursion was oversold, beach overcrowded and badly eroded resulting in 2 tiers with a sharp drop and the tour operator had numerous short comings. Our genie had the shore excursion manager contact me who promised to speak to the tour operator to address the deficiencies and offered a partial refund.

Looking for any recent experiences on the Mr Sanchos Beach Club in Cozumel. Specifically the quality of amenities and food provided with the day pass along with any over crowding issues. I would love any feedback on the following add ons: Wave runner ATV tour Parasailing

Yes reviews are consistently very good. I booked it so will report back.

Yes you should not have to worry about specialty dining times. We have never purchased any specialty dining through the cruise planner ahead of time; our genie has taken care of this for us including hibachi and we have always been happy with our dining times. Some report that their genie has requested they pre purchase Hibachi but we have not experienced this. More flexibility in your dining times may be needed for Hibachi. Once we ate at 5:30 vs our preferred dining time of 6pm and another time at 7pm. Both worked out perfectly as our genie scheduled us for shows that worked well with the dining times. We always cruise Christmas week and there tends to be more changes to the entertainment than on other sailings. Essentially these changes become your genies problem to sort out; not yours. This is something I really appreciate as it could get overwhelming to try to rebook specialty dining to coincide with the revised show schedule during full capacity.

We have only cruised Star with Royal so for me the genie is important because I have no idea how to do what they do! LOL Could I figure it out with concierge if we sailed sky class; yes, but I think I would be disappointed in the lack of flexibility and perks like laundry, specialty dining delivery to the suite, fully stocked mini bar, someone to get Bingo tickets and bypass lines. Basically I would resume genie duties for my family and having a genie is one of the perks I like most about star class. I wished the program was more consistent fleetwide and feel Royal needs to do better at delivering the “ all inclusive” experience they advertise. The recent changes to some perks are silly; why take away a $34.99 perk or priority access to certain activities. It’s petty and annoys people more than anything. As others have said the genie is a personal thing; each brings their own style and personality and you may click with one more than another. Our first experience was not good but others that followed were excellent. Whether star class is worth it for you comes down to intangibles. I am not sure the cost can ever be justified solely on price. Even with some of the recent changes I am still #teamstarclass.

No worries. This topic fascinates me. Before this year I received emails at the expected timeframes. It’s so strange. Lol