Jax

Funny you should mention this because several times when I grabbed a bath towel and face cloth they felt thin and kind of rough. I didn’t make the connection.

He said the same to us. I spent time on our flight home drafting an email to corporate and sent it. I completed my survey last night. We will see what happens. I have low expectations that much will change.

It could always be worse. You could have got pictures taken that night and joined the “behavingbadly” list. Those would be a hoot to see!

Meet Berty, the star of the week. ️

Haha funny you should post this. Reality is setting in; my purple sea band has lost its genie powers, I am standing in lines and paying for meals, it’s been 2 days since someone did my laundry. On a happier note I did receive a morning GIF from Berty wishing us a happy new years.

Sounds like MJ may be replacing Raj when he leaves in February.

Berty said all genies have been told to expect contracts on the 3/4 sailings. It will be very interesting to see what happens.

Berty currently has 8730, 9730 and the villa. Another genie has the 3 ATS on the other side and the third has deck 17 and 10730. He mentioned that they rotate every 4-6 weeks so you may get lucky. If you send in an addendum do it right away….he mentioned that it’s easier to accommodate requests before emails go out to clients at the 30 day mark. This may help you decide. Wendy leaves sometime in January and Raj leaves in February. Raj’s replacement isn’t yet known but a concierge onboard HM (Mongesh….I am probably spelling it wrong) is taking over for Wendy. Berty knows him quite well and is excited this will be his first genie assignment.

Oh I love the 2024 picture Have a great night! I can’t wait to hear what everyone thought of their NYE surprise.

Yeah I am pretty sure we were on the 10th. I should have mentioned that the pool was not ground level and to consider that when choosing your room. They can select your room if you check in through the app. I called them to find out what floor/room they recommended before making my selection. didn’t even catch it.

We did an 8 night and I agree it did feel considerably longer than just a day.

It was booked through Royal. There were other tours to the same ruins but ours was called the “exclusive drive” because we were in a 12P van vs a big bus. I highly recommend the smaller size. There were only 9 of us on the tour.

I checked and they offer service in the Calgary area. Worse case I will use it to book a ride home for Reyd from the bar. Haha definitely not. I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t “randomly” drug tested.

Reply from Blacklane. I am impressed with how quickly they replied. I genuinely apologize for the discrepancy between the vehicle you received in person and the one you received via SMS. I genuinely recognize how terrible this is for you, especially in light of the car's strong dope odor. I would like make sure you know that we take this matter very seriously and an internal investigation has already started to establish what action can be taken by us to follow up with the chauffeur and also to examine how we can avoid something like this from happening again. I am personally following up with our team responsible for chauffeur relations on this matter to ensure they are fully aware of the situation. I also want to reassure you that we would be happy to process a 50% refund for this ride, totaling $105.78 USD. In addition, we would like to give you a 50% voucher for your next ride, this is a one-time use that is valid for three months. Please respond to this email if you accept this, and we will take care of the rest.

We just said the same thing! 10 nights would be ideal.

Some final thoughts: Berty was a star this week. ️ He delivered an amazing experience for us. We have never had a repeat genie but it was even better than I imagined. Pre cruise communication was non existent after our initial phone call because I knew Berty would take care of everything. He is one of a kind, hard working, kind and willing to fulfill any request. The 2 bedroom ATS remains one of our favorites for the 2 bedrooms, large deck and aft views. We have stayed in several different star class rooms and have decided there is no perfect suite for us. There are features and qualities we like about all of them. I have avoided western Caribbean cruises because we are not thrilled with the stops; particularly Mexico. Well we actually enjoyed this cruise the most. It was the best weather we have ever had, virtually no wind except for the last day. Our day at Paradise Beach was fantastic. The tour operators were way more organized than what we experienced on Eastern Caribbean cruises. Our least favorite port was Roatan and we would likely stay on the ship next time. We had a great week with our friends. As our boys graduate we realized it’s up to us to keep these traditions going. There were several times I looked around to see laughter, smiles and a great time being had. And you all know how much fun we had with the photos. We loved being able to dine with our friends 5 nights this cruise. It was a treat for them as well. We have Berty to thank Elevators were a mess this week. Worst we have ever experienced in our 4 Christmas cruises. Fortunately we were on 9, not deck 17 and could use the stairs most of the time. The star class flowrider session worked in Lindsay’s favor this week; essentially it was him and 1-2 other people but I still have mixed feelings on this one. The ship seemed to run hot; at least during the hours we were out and about. There are a few things going in the comment card (GITCC). I am annoyed with the changes to disembarkation and felt the bridge tour was a letdown. This one didn’t affect us but it did our friends. WJ hours changed for the Christmas and New Years sailings and they were closed from 3-6pm. Berty said the changes were made to accommodate picture taking that begins at 5:30pm. It’s definitely going in their comment card as it made them late for every dinner reservation as they had to get food for their special needs daughter. According to them there were some very long lines at the jammer all week, morning and at 6pm. The spa service is terrible. I touched on it earlier but it’s consistently bad on all the ships we have sailed on. I use the thermal suite out of necessity to maintain my routine and health while travelling; otherwise I would avoid it. GITCC. Our stateroom attendant was a very nice man but I agree with @Lovetocruise2002 it’s hard to service 24 rooms and a star class suite. He may not have the same experience that the attendents do on deck 17 but he tried hard and that goes a long way in my book. We gave him some consumables to enjoy and a cash tip. With star class pricing that is nuts and the diminishing perks I will have to think hard about what our future vacations look like. If Europe doesn’t work out I will likely rebook to avoid losing our deposit but beyond that I honestly don’t know. All that being said our vacation was fantastic! I didn’t think I could top last years vacation but the boys said I did so that makes my heart happy Thanks everyone for following along the last couple weeks. Feel free to ask any questions.

This is my new years goal; reduce luggage!! lol. I have come to the realization that if Europe 2024 happens we are not taking all this luggage. My goal is 1 large per person at most. The guys didn’t complain at all but I was annoyed with the amount of luggage with 4 hotels in 8 days. It’s motivated me to reduce luggage.

Happening now End of 3rd Quarter 23-3 Texans

We arrived at JW Marriott about 9:20am and were given the option of an early checkin. There was a fee but it was worth it as we did not want to leave luggage, purse and passports with the hotel when we go to the NFL game. We were surprised with a room upgrade. I couldn’t get pictures of the room quick enough before the guys crashed. Reyd is sleeping on the bed and Lindsay is sprawled out on the couch. and we need to leave for the game soon. I booked a club level room thinking it would be a place we could relax until our room was ready. Then we booked the NFL game but we will still make good use out of the lounge.

Me either! I love your way with words. GenPop

We are on route to the JW Marriott at the Galleria in Houston. I booked through Blacklane and the communication this morning was good. After a few phone calls with the driver we found each other. Not happy that the company sent vehicle details with license plate only to find out a different vehicle and license plate was sent. This made finding the vehicle more difficult. Plus there is a lingering smell of dope in the vehicle so I will definitely be following up on this. This wasn’t a cheap ride so smelling dope is not ok. Edit: then when we arrive he asks me to go into the app and rate him a 5. Lindsay says “absolutely” and then turns to me and says “absolutely not”.

It was rushed but we got our luggage out at 6:28am. While the disembarkation process relating to luggage may not seem like much of a change, I definitely felt it this morning. On past cruises we would go to CK and return to the suite where our genie and porter would whisk us and out luggage away. I miss this and it’s GITCC. We headed to CK for our last breakfast. The service in CK has been impressive the few times we ate there. Breakfast was delivered within 5 minutes of placing our order. We met Berty on 17 at the elevator bank where he had secured a priority elevator. He accompanied us through facial recognition and to our luggage. I am glad it was a small holding area for star class luggage because none of the luggage was grouped together. We said goodbyes; I may have been clinging to Berty reluctant to lose his genie powers. lol More on Berty in my recap but suffice it to say he is one of a kind. From Berty picking us up on 17 to the curb took 10 minutes at most. Very quick.

I knew it was a stretch but I asked Berty if I could get a dish from Jaime’s delivered to 150. I know, crazy right, especially at the fanciest restaurant. And in my defense I did say not to ask if it would break protocol or insult anyone. It was the only genie request I have ever made that was declined by the host. Gotta love Berty; he said he could order me a dish to our suite. Instead I had him send me 2 bowls of popcorn for a snack.

Haha I like the way you think! I did the short rib pork belly combo and fried cheesecake for dessert.

Going in the comment card. I stole it from @SweetPea