Jax

The Starmony “Christmas Vacation” blog is officially underway! 

We are counting down the days until this Christmas vacation gets underway. We are T - 11 days and the excitement is real! If you followed along last year, you know we like to have fun with a Christmas theme.  This year it’s National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, a family favourite Christmas movie. We have a few fun things planned so follow along. 

Who’s going? 
Myself (Jacquie), 17 year old son (Reyd) and hubby (Lindsay) 
For those that followed along last year, our good friends Robert and Tammy are back again this year.  Robert is a hoot so we are in for a fun week.  Our group has expanded to include another set of good friends along with their 12 year old daughter and 16 year old son. These friends are travelling with a respite worker for their daughter and will be accessing many of the Autism Friendly Ship programming and supports. 

 

No such thing as failing at genie giving. ❤️ Cash is king but I thought the cards would be a fun way to give his gift of cash throughout the week.  Lol 

In other genie news, check out these fun greeting cards I got for Berty!  I couldn’t resist throwing in a couple pair of socks. I love the idea of surprising him each day. 

I'm so envious of @Jaxand others who are good gift-givers.  I can never think of anything good for our Genie(s).  UGH.  Once again, I am a complete failure at Genie-giving.  😪

In other genie news, check out these fun greeting cards I got for Berty!  I couldn’t resist throwing in a couple pair of socks. I love the idea of surprising him each day. 

In other genie news, check out these fun greeting cards I got for Berty!  I couldn’t resist throwing in a couple pair of socks. I love the idea of surprising him each day. 

This always makes me happy 🥰 I just realized we have never sailed on this low of a deck. Curious if we will notice a change. 
Tags purchased from Amazon.ca 

Thanks for this idea! Lindsay is my 50+ husband who is more adventurous than our 17 year old son.  Lol  He has done the flow rider before but the possibility of an injury still lingers in the back of his mind.  The staff said that Canadians generally catch on quickly particularly if they played hockey; which Lindsay did. I honestly have no idea if he will attend the star session. Stay tuned! 

Our kids are early risers, even on vacation 😂. It was like a private session for us. Early worms got to ride flowrider for an hour!

We would actually prefer the session later on the last sea day just in case of an injury.  Not sure Lindsay and Reyd want to risk an injury on our first sea day. Lol  
 
We are really looking forward to these tours, especially the bridge tour as we missed them last year on Oasis. It will be a highlight for us! 
 
❤️❤️ Reality is setting in that we only have a few more Christmas’s with Reyd in High School so we are making the most of them.  

This was the inspiration for the Christmas Vacation theme blog. Lindsay purchased this 1974 Ford Country Squire a couple of months ago and his dream was to drive it in our towns Christmas parade. The lighting isn’t the best but his brothers business was awarded 3rd prize 🏆 It was a crowd favourite. 

I sailed on Quantum to Alaska and it was changed then. I had previously sailed Symphony and Odyessy the month before not in Star but had Star guests go every 3 times.  I was told by my genie on Quantum it was due to covid and not wanting long lines since they were at reduced capacity there was not a need for it.  Since sailing at full capacity it had not changed back.  I was not a happy camper and contacted rc via twitter asking what the policy was.  They stated every 3rd person during non peak hours.  They then contacted the ship and I met with the Sports manager and genie and they said RC had decided to changed it back to pre covid rules and he missed the memo.  Now it seems that it is back to the one hour.   
I can live with most of the changes, no suite party, downgraded bath amenities, venues being closed,ie escape,laser tag, no sushi making or cup cake class included, luggage delivery no longer going to your room and out in with the rest to be delivered, rooms not being ready when boarding, but the flowrider will stop me from booking Star after the ones I already have booked.
 

I just wrote to Allan F and asked if these changes to the Flow Rider were fleet-wide.  I suspect I already know the answer, but I will verify it for OA.  Even though I will never use this perk, I will register my objection if his answer comes back as I suspect it will.

Yay!!  Another @Jax live blog!  It’s becoming a Christmas tradition!
 
we got off symphony in November. We had 1 hour of private flowrider session for SC on our last sea day. It was from 8-9 am. My daughter and I were the only ones and we basically had a private lesson with the staff. It was fun but I was pretty banged up. 
 
they had bridge tour but no galley tour for SC. Can’t wait to follow along. 

I understand how you feel. Maybe if enough star class guests express their dissatisfaction over losing this perk on their post cruise survey, the policy may be reconsidered.   I only know that this is the policy is for Harmony; it may be different on other ships.  And the change only affects the flowrider; the other activities such as rock climbing continue to offer priority access during the scheduled times.  

This always makes me happy 🥰 I just realized we have never sailed on this low of a deck. Curious if we will notice a change. 
Tags purchased from Amazon.ca 

Genie News 🧞
I heard from our genie at the 26 day mark.  So excited that we got Berty! 
His introductory email was brief asking for dining & entertainment preferences, beverage selections for in suite and to pass along any additional or special requests.  I outlined everything in a word document; that way he has one document vs a bunch of email threads. A few days passed and I received an email offering to review the document I sent by telephone. I have heard of some genies doing this but I was still impressed.  A quick call can avoid a bunch of email threads and possible misunderstandings. It’s not always easy to interpret and deliver a guests vision through an email thread. I feel like we are off to a great start! 
 

Starmony Christmas Vacation 
Itinerary 
Nassau, St. Maarten, San Juan Puerto Rico 
Stateroom 
This is our first time on Harmony and we are staying in a 2 bedroom ATS #8730. Even though I am #teamdeck17 we want to try different star class suites. The appeal of the ATS for us was the 2 bedrooms, large deck and proximity to the Aqua show. We really don’t like losing our living space in the evening when the sofa gets turned into a bed at 6pm.  We are fine with the long walk, but my hope is we see less room service strays in the hallway (that was a pet peeve on Anthem) Time will tell, stay tuned. 
Flights
Direct flights from Calgary to Fort Lauderdale are limited to WestJet and only once per week so we are flying out a week early on their direct flight in Premium.   

Pre Cruise Hotel 
Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort - Oceanfront 1 Bedroom Suite             December 17-24
We have never stayed here but the resort looks beautiful and our suite has been recently renovated.  It checked off a few must haves: oceanfront, separate living area, kitchen and spa with dry sauna and steam showers.  
Car Rental 
Enterprise from FLL airport. 
 
 

The Starmony “Christmas Vacation” blog is officially underway! 

We are counting down the days until this Christmas vacation gets underway. We are T - 11 days and the excitement is real! If you followed along last year, you know we like to have fun with a Christmas theme.  This year it’s National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, a family favourite Christmas movie. We have a few fun things planned so follow along. 

Who’s going? 
Myself (Jacquie), 17 year old son (Reyd) and hubby (Lindsay) 
For those that followed along last year, our good friends Robert and Tammy are back again this year.  Robert is a hoot so we are in for a fun week.  Our group has expanded to include another set of good friends along with their 12 year old daughter and 16 year old son. These friends are travelling with a respite worker for their daughter and will be accessing many of the Autism Friendly Ship programming and supports. 

 

This always makes me happy 🥰 I just realized we have never sailed on this low of a deck. Curious if we will notice a change. 
Tags purchased from Amazon.ca 

This always makes me happy 🥰 I just realized we have never sailed on this low of a deck. Curious if we will notice a change. 
Tags purchased from Amazon.ca 

Yup, that is a good reminder as some may assume what’s happening on Harmony is happening elsewhere.  That is often not the case so it’s best not to set expectations based on one persons experiences with a genie or ship.  

I’m sad.  The flowrider priority is a primary reason I book Star class.  I do have teens and they love to flowride and rock climb.  For my family, losing the line priority benefit is a really big deal. 🙁

I had this car as a kid!!!! I used to ride in the back no seatbelt lol!!! Love the decorations!  You will be getting off Harmony the day I get on so I can't wait to read what you do and see!!!!   It will make my last week pre-vacay bearable!  Jane

A couple of years back, I got one of these... https://www.uglychristmassweater.com/products/griswold-family-christmas-ugly-christmas-sweater-led-lights.
Wish I could show it to you in person. 😆