WAAAYTOOO

No, the Genie’s tip is not included in your fare or in your gratuity. The Genie is excellent at helping arrange activities for all guests but they are not babysitters (realizing that in your situation they are not “babies”). On standby ? Not sure I understand the question but rest assured, they are there to help you enjoy your cruise. Genies can be elusive, if that’s what you want, or they can be very involved with your schedule, if that’s what you want. Genies will help with scheduling meals, arrange for snacks to be delivered to your suite, arrange reserved seating for theater events, etc. Basically, anything for which you need a reservation. Yes, they are super-charged concierges. Have you read any of the Star Class live blogs on this site ? There are many and they will really give you a great idea of what the Genie does. Enjoy your SC cruise on Allure. Your grandsons are very lucky and frankly, they are the perfect age for enjoying the benefits of a Genie.

While I have never done this myself, a prominent Travel Agent that I know and trust, has declared that the “original person” on the reservation CAN be a no-show without any repercussions. I will admit that his answer to this question surprised me. I have always heard that one original person must sail but apparently that is incorrect. Good luck with the switcho-change-o. It sounds like a good solution.

Since we almost always have a couple of specialty meals stuck into the itin. somewhere, I suspect we will stick with MTD. I don’t want to take up a “fixed” seat when chances are I’m going to be somewhere else more than half the time. I guess we have been extremely lucky with MTD. We’ve never really had a bad experience. As long as it continues to work for us, we will continue to use it.

Exactly. What do manufacturers do when they want to increase profit without you noticing ? They package their goods in smaller amounts/volumes and charge the same or slightly more for it. So instead of getting 12 oz of dried beans you now get 10 oz and they hope nobody will notice. While this is not the ONLY strategy at play here, it is certainly one of them. The other reason for the shorty cruises (IMO) is that they are trying to force each and every ship to call at PDCC since that has been such a cash cow for them. With the shorty cruises arriving and departing at different days of the week, they can have ships at PDCC on days that they otherwise, could not. I think this strategy will backfire b/c frequent cruisers (which Royal no longer values, I realize that) will do exactly what we do and just quit getting off at PDCC. Their only hope is the new cruisers...but even they will get tired of PDCC at some point.

Calling on Costa Maya today. It's very windy and the seas are very rough. Frankly, I am surprised that we actually docked. The NCL Joy was docked adjacent to us earlier but was not able to get her gangway deployed so she left. We had planned on going ashore and spending some time in Mahahual/Krazy Lobster but it doesn't seem like this is an ideal day so we're staying onboard. Tomorrow is COZ again. I plan on getting off and getting some Azithromycin. You can get it in Mexico without a prescription but you have to be careful that they actually give you the real deal. I bought some once and it was fake. Not sure exactly how to DO that (ensure that it is real) but I'm hoping that if I tell them I got some bogus stuff there once before, they will give me the good stuff. It wouldn't be first time I ever wasted money on something I bought ! Having the same tech issues here that I had in COZ last cruise. Once we're in port all of the website ads are in Spanish and I cannot get onto some sites at all. So frustrating.

My win on night #1 was at Ultimate Texas Hold’Em. I usually avoid slots but I did play some tonite. They just bore me. I played some Gold Rush game and I was lost the entire time. Even when we were playing a bonus I had no idea what to do. I got frustrated and just cashed out even though I was staying “even” to slightly ahead on it. It was so crowded, noisy and Smoky, I just had to get out of there. I left Dan at the bar. He’s “home” now.

I really don’t know ! I have no idea how they work it. I assume (but don’t know for sure) that the Seapasses for those not invited to the SL will be “locked” and not be able to open the SL door. That’s why one of my first drills is to see if mine will open the door. So far, it has. The casino is absolutely awful tonite. I had to leave.

I cruised right up until a week or so before my passport expired. As @billdauterive said, I started bringing my BC with me just in case but I never needed it. I did have to cruise with my BC once I sent the passport off to be renewed. Also no problem. I was fortunate. My passport got back very quickly. I didn’t pay nor ask for expedited service.

There was a Top Tier Event today. I was surprised that a sailing less than 7 nights was having it. We didn’t have one on the previous leg, which was 4 nights but did on this 5 night sailing. No Cheers with an officer, though. It was pretty routine.

Well, I may have a $hitty room but I was a winner in the casino tonite so I’m happy !

That’s fantastic news, Brian !

I have not sailed on OY but the GLS on Anthem in that location is a great suite. There is some significant noise bleed from 270 so I would recommend deck 10 if possible, but stick with the middle suites and avoid those dreaded corner loft suites. Actually, if memory serves, they have eliminated the corner loft suites on OY. Yes, it’s a long walk all the way aft

I can’t believe I missed this ! I guess the [small] size of the room mesmerized me….but we have an obstructed view, too ! The top of the lifeboat overhang is directly off our balcony ! I normally go out to the balcony almost first thing but I never did today. Just now realizing we have an obstructed view. Too funny. I don’t know that I even stepped foot out on the balcony of our first room…but it’s still nice to have a full ocean view. I’m not sure how I selected this room but obviously I need to hone some cabin selection skills.

Congrats on making D+. Very nice milestone !

Somewhat disappointed in our new [balcony] room. It is significantly smaller than our balcony on the first leg. It has only a love seat size couch (1 person) and the closet is half the size of the closet in the old room. What’s really stunning about this room is that this room claims to have quad capacity ! There is a drop-down bed over the main bed and this half sofa definitely pulls out. Why in the world would they take a SMALLER room and try and cram twice the number of people in there ? Also, the bed frame is one of the old, low ones and our big suitcase will not fit under it, so it’s sitting in the corner blocking access to the balcony. Super disappointing. At least the bed is by the balcony. The only redeeming quality to this room is its location. It is very close to the midship elevators and therefore less of a walk. Oh well…it’s 5 nights. We will survive. B2B lunch was the standard B2 B menu (no Key steaks this time !). I had scallops, short rib and cheesecake. Dan had split pea soup, spaghetti and cheesecake. Dinner tonite at Chops (thereby avoiding the crappy welcome aboard menu).

I’m with your wife on this one. Don’t like most Indian food and the smell of curry makes me nauseous. Dan loves it so I’m super happy when he can get it and I can ignore it !

The numbers for B2B were conflicting. I heard 63 and I heard 75. I do know that there are a whole bunch of contractors onboard working on pre-dry dock projects so my guess is they are responsible for the different numbers quoted. My guess is they won’t be included in the B2B luncheon. At any rate, there was a $hit-pot of people in the B2B conga line this morning. On some cruises I am noticing that the B2B’ers are dumped in with the Key lunch (which is fine with me ! Cream of mushroom soup !) and sometimes there is a separate B2B event. I’m betting on option #2 today since the numbers are so high. I can’t recall being on a B2B recently where there wasn’t any kind of luncheon. Maybe we’ve just been lucky !

This kinda worked against me on this turnaround. Because we were back onboard SO soon and new cruisers weren’t boarding yet, I had a heck of a time finding someone to do my BOGO for tomorrow night. I had done tonite’s BOGO at breakfast this morning but didn’t know when I wanted to do our other BOGO so only made the one reservation. Once back on the ship we decided we want to do Giovanni’s tomorrow night (French night. ~yawn~) BUT I couldn’t find anyone at either of the specialty restaurants or in the MDR to help me so I grumbled to Guest Services and they ferreted out someone to help me in the MDR. I guess they really weren’t ready for dining rezzies since new guests weren’t boarding yet. Since there’s nothing that will pi$$ me off faster than the “runaround” my Karen was beginning to emerge but they tamped it down just in time ! All set !

So, back onboard by 9:45 which is awesome ! They even scanned our new Seapass cards for our muster drill requirement so that was a new one that I haven’t experienced before. I’ve made both of our BOGO rezzies so we’re now just waiting in the SL/CL for our B2B luncheon at 11:30. @OCSC Mike, your prayers worked ! Thanks.

Yes, we are grateful that they reconsidered SL/CL access. I really don’t used the lounge except for morning coffee (which I can certainly get in the DL/CL) but it’s nice to have an option to go wherever I want. Thanks for the turnaround prayers.

It’s been a while, but I seem to recall an additional savings being applied to my cruise fare that had not yet been PIF when our status upgraded….but that was probably 10 years or more ago. I feel sure that with todays cutbacks they have cut that out.

lol. I love screwing with words that end in a vowel (particularly an “a”) sound. I usually add an “er” to it. E.g, Florider. I have a sister (Rhonda) that my grandmother always called Rhonder. I guess it just stuck with me ! We try not to change rooms w/a B2B but it was unavoidable this time. This cruise (5 night) was actually [a casino comp] booked first and then we added the first leg [also a casino comp] in front of it, later. Our original room wasn’t available (drats !) so we had to book a different one. I did put in a RU bid on this leg but it failed. . This leg has been sold out for some time, probably b/c it’s a 5 night vs a 4 night. Also, update on the SL/CL access drama. Yesterday, Gavin (Suites Concierge) told me that b/c there are 46 Pinns on this sailing, CL/SL access would be limited to the top 20 Pinns. Last night, Dan came back to the room with the news that they changed their minds (no explanation provided) that all Pinns would be welcome. So it looks like we’re “on” again. We had our b’fast in Chops and now we’re waiting in the CL/SL. At 9:00 we have to move down to the MDR, deck 5, port side, for the B2B shenanigans to begin. Our wonderful cabin attendant, Jonel, will move our things from our old room to our new room. Woohoo ! So nice not to have lug that $hit around.

Quick review of Samba Grill. It was ok, not great, not terrible. We used a BOGO so it was a good value. No WAY would I ever pay full price for it ($39.99 + 18% grat.). We already knew to skip the first few “courses” (chicken, sausage, pork etc) and skip str8 to the pinaha and filet. The sides were very lame and the “buffet” was pretty pathetic. The pinaha and filet were very good but not “melt-in-your-mouth” good like they used to be on Allure at the beginning. Dan also had lamb chops, which he enjoyed. As I have always maintained about any Brazilian steak house, if you’re not a big meat eater, (as I am not), this is not the place for you. I left full but not stuffed. We will not be going back on the next leg and as far as I know, the Samba Grill on both Allure and Radiance will be replaced during their upcoming dry docks. I think they’re both going bye-bye. That’s my impression, anyway. Today is day 4, so tomorrow is back to Tamper for turnaround day. The next leg is 5 nights and will be going back to COZ with an additional stop in Costa Maya, which one of our favorite ports of call. We’re going to Mahahual to get massages on the beach ! Dan is going to the casino to spend his points. If I have any points, it would be too few to worry with so I’m staying in the room to pack up for our room change tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Fiona !

On Allure a couple of weeks ago I had no trouble figuring out how to pull the grounds drawer out….i had more trouble finding a place to dump them without creating a hazardous waste site ! . Finally opened a lower cabinet door and found a trash bin underneath.