WAAAYTOOO

I'm pretty sure that @Lovetocruise2002is now updating the upcoming cruise list.

This rather surprises me as well. Of course, Royal has a great success going in Singapore with Quantum and one would think that they would be trying to get another such local cruise scenario going, elsewhere.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It just depends. They try very hard to have your suite ready but sometimes it just isn't. While it is possible to have lunch in your suite on embarkation day, it is probably not the best time to try in-suite dining. The rule, relating to in-suite dining, is that you can have meals delivered to your suite during that restaurant's normal operating hours. For embarkation day, normally there are only 1 or 2 restaurants operating (usually Chops and Jamie's/Giovanni's) and the operating hours for those are usually something like 12-2. So your window is fairly small and let's face it, turnaround day is soooo busy for everyone. We normally do not ask for meals during the day on embarkation day. We usually just go to Chops or Jamie's or whatever is open and do some in-suite dining another time. Having said that, I know that some do it...so it can be done. We have also gone to Sabor (Allure) but it seems like the hours are a little later for that one....hard to remember. Whatever you decide to do, just let the Genie know ahead of time and he/she will make it happen ! They will know what is open and what the operating hours are.

My guess is that Royal has not been keeping the app protocols up to date since there haven't been any cruises to check in to. I have always had very poor luck with getting much of anything to work on the app so I've long ago abandoned its use. Since it is almost certain that any cruise in May will NOT sail, I wouldn't worry too much about checking in with the app. I would, however, suggest that maybe you could try checking in online just to get a glimpse of a set sail pass and some luggage tags although it's unlikely that your luggage tags would be ready before day 49.

I think Dan has some pictures of those 2 suites but I'm terrible at taking pictures and I don't have any. I'll see if I can get some from him.

Yes, I did notice that. TBH, I suspect that there were enough complaints about the corner GLS that they just designed them out. ....and they get more suites/cabins into the same area with the smaller categories, so that may have had something to do with it, too. Plus I guess all of the cabins on deck 10 are now only 1 story.

Not only is there less square footage in the corner units, but the space is very "cut up". All of the spaces are smaller. The upstairs bedroom and dressing area is very small compared to the center GLS. We could not even get all of our clothes into the small MB closet upstairs in the corner GLS. The bathroom downstairs is split - with the toilet on one side and the sink on the other. Those 2 additional "balconies" are nothing more than 1 chair seating areas. They were useless to us. We were on a B2B SC cruise in 2019; we stayed in 8724 the first cruise (beautiful but a bit noisy due to 270) and then we moved up to 10720 and what a disappointment ! Even Yen (the Genie) said, "it's very cozy" when she saw how disappointed we were. In my opinion, the corner GLS should not even be SC.

I dunno. I think that's strange, too...since all of the O class ships skipped 13.

I did the same !! On the Honolulu-Vancouver leg of our Australia/NZ/HI/CAN cruise-about (Quantum), we are doing SC for the last leg. I originally booked deck 8 but then remembered the noise from 270...so I changed to deck 10. We are now in 10724. The only SC left on that sailing is a corner GLS. Glad we got ours in time before the good ones were gone !

Yes, the days will drag by until you get on the ship and then they mysteriously convert to the speed of light. So envious !

Joe, I’m so glad to hear that you are doing so well. I found the same pattern with pain meds for my knee surgery last year (in fact, 1 year ago exactly, tomorrow). Continued good luck with the recovery. Hey, you’re the one that started the robo chatter ! ??

Are these sailings complimentary PLUS complimentary nights in Vegas or are the cruise prices standard and the complimentary Vegas accommodations are the "freebie" ? We did not get this email but I've been reading of many getting it over on CC.

Please don't tell anyone, but we also booked the follow-on to this cruise with the first VY CAN/NE cruise (9-18-22).

@twangsteris right (as usual). As a full suite guest you will be able to make reservations in the CK with no problem. It is possible that when cruising returns the CK may experience a reduction in capacity in order to distance the tables...so it might be a little more difficult than it was in the past. BUT you will have help...the Suites Concierge will be able to help you make and change reservations for the CK, the MDR and specialty restaurants. I suspect, but do not know, that at first, when cruising resumes, they are likely to eliminate the ability for JS to book dinner at the CK. If they REALLY reduce capacity, this might also go for Pinnacle Club members. It's just a guess. We won't know such things until cruising resumes.

I guess I'm just a party girl. I loved having parties in my suite. I will admit that it may not be as cool of an idea in the COVID age, but it still sounds like fun. One of the best suite parties I've ever attended was in @Matt's CLS during one of the previous Cruise Blog cruises. @AnnetteJacksonand her team set that up....wow, what a great party ! BTW, they DID have hard liquor at theirs and if I recall, they had a bartender. No expense too great for @Matt! That was also the group cruise with the disastrous excursion to Bamboo Beach. Don't get @AnnetteJacksonstarted on that one....

This is the best advice you will get. Star Class, by its very definition, is designed to be a personalized experience. While the overall "rules" are fairly consistent, the specific amenities do tend to vary by ship and even among Genies on the same ship. A very good example of this is that some ships allowed Starbucks to be delivered to the suites and some do not. Whether this is a Genie-thing or a ship-thing isn't readily apparent to me. I've never asked for this service so I don't know the particulars. On the other hand, it never hurts to learn from others what THEIR experience was and then you at least have some idea of what to expect. But as @Lovetocruise2002said, don't let your expectations turn into disappointments if you find that something you have heard about from the past does not come to fruition for you. What the Genie absolutely will do is help you with planning your days and nights (if you want help !!) with things like specialty dining reservations (or even MDR reservations if that is your choice), entertainment venue seating, help with onshore excursions (this will be dependent upon how shore excursions are organized when cruising returns) and personal escorts onto and off of the ship, as needed. One of the most important (but hopefully infrequently used !) services that a Genie can offer is related to onboard charges. If you have a charge on your account that you have a question about, your Genie can help sort it out without you having to go to Guest Services. My last Genie (Jan 2020, Oasis) told us that she would be personally insulted if she caught us in the GS line. It was a joke, of course, but she was making sure that we realized that there was nothing related to GS that she could not address for us. It CAN be a huge help. We had an issue with our credit card on one cruise a number of years ago and the Genie took the issue all the way to the Chief Financial Officer onboard before it got fixed. The ship's CFO came to our suite personally to apologize for the problem and make sure we knew it had been solved. Interestingly enough, that last story actually involved 2 different Genies onboard that ship. Our Genie had originally addressed the issue and thought it had been solved and then we found out later that day that the issue had NOT been solved so we marched down to GS (hoppin' mad, BTW) and one of the other Genies recognized us as SC guests and asked if he could help. It was actually that second Genie (Sebastian) who escalated the issue up to the top and finally got it solved. So you don't JUST have 1 Genie....all of the Genies onboard are there to help if you need it. What a great feeling ! I've never had a bad Genie. Going along the lines of what @Lovetocruise2002mentioned, each has their own strengths. For instance, the best, BY FAR, party-planning Genie that we have ever had is Reyno. He LOVES a party and he is really good at it. We've had him twice as a Genie. Yen Lee has been our Genie twice and she is excellent. I believe Yen is now on Quantum, but I am not 100% certain of that. Our last Genie was Joyce and she is a HOOT ! She is by far the most fun Genie we ever had...she is a ball of energy and very very personal...in a good way. She's a chatterbox and you will get a lot of juicy ship scuttlebutt from her. LOL Sebastian is all business (as is Yen) but also a very good Genie. We did not have Sebastian plan a party for us but my guess is that he would have been great at it. Probably our favorite Genie was Charlie, who no longer works for Royal, unfortunately. He had the most attention to detail (which I find to be a strong Genie trait) of all of the Genies we've had. Any time we had room service he would make sure that the table was properly prepared with table cloth and cute little personalized place cards and left small little personal gifts everywhere...even the seats that he reserved for us in the theater. Indirectly we had Alexandra (I think that was her name). She was the Genie for friends that we were cruising with on one of our cruises where Reyno was our Genie. They worked together to plan some dynamite parties. OMG, that was a party cruise ! Unfortunately, Alex is no longer with Royal either. Anticipating a Star Class cruise is easily as exciting as actually being on a SC cruise. You will have an entire month of direct comm with your Genie before you board. That is the time to let them know your wishes (exception being the Cabin Crawl party that we discussed in another thread). The Genie will give you a good indication of which wishes they can accommodate and which they cannot. Keep in mind that there may well be changes to the Genie program when cruising resumes. While I do not have any knowledge of how things might change, it is my impression (gut feeling) that having a Genie in the future is going to be an even bigger advantage than it has in the past...but that's just a guess.

Welcome to the blog, @robostock . Thank you for your post. I know that the rules for L&S have recently changed so your experience is greatly appreciated ! Keep posting !

I'd be ok with RCG starting up European cruises for Euros only. They (RCG) might as well be in the game if Costa is. At least they would be getting some revenue.

OOOHHHHH.....one of my favorite things !! Let me first say that, as @Lovetocruise2002often mentions, all Genies are not equal...or at least, they each have different gifts and strengths. Much of the success of your Cabin Crawl will be dependent upon your Genie's party skills. Having said that, I will also make one more disclosure and it is tied in with the one above. I have read accounts, over the past couple of years, where the Genie has balked at organizing a large Cabin Crawl and has suggested to their SC pax that in order to arrange such a soiree, there would be a per-person charge. Hmmmm....so I think you may need to be very strategic in your approach to this. I would suggest that perhaps it would be best NOT to give a lot of advance warning to your Genie about your plans for a CC get-together. That is completely contrary to my original approach to doing a CC get-together. In the "early days" I always told my Genie up front about the event so that he/she would be prepared...but in more recent years, I have sprung it on them at the last moment and downplayed the event to keep it from sounding like a gala. Some Genies really seem to enjoy doing party events, and some others really seem to resent it. A lot will depend on who you get as your Genie. I have never had a Genie try and charge me, but I have heard of others whose Genie DID indicate that there would be a charge. That totally sucks. I hope it doesn't happen to you. Avoid using the words "Cabin Crawl" with your Genie. Call it something else. So....my first piece of advice is - keep it to yourself until you are onboard. My second piece of advice is, try and keep your event to 25 people or less. That is often hard to do when you have an open forum like a FB group. If you have a good indication that your group is likely to be larger than 25, I would reconsider being the host of the event. I have found that my most successful CC get-togethers have been when someone ELSE is the host and I just tag along as an interim stop. My third piece of advice is....if you are just an interim stop, and not the host, do NOT try and participate in the extended CC. IOW, don't try and go to all of the cabins along with the mob. You will have enough to do to keep you at "home" and organizing for your own event. The first 2 of these that I did, I tagged along with the group and went to everyone else's room and by the time we got to our suite, I was exhausted and found that I would have been better served to have stayed in the suite and made preparations for the others to arrive. This is particularly important for CC for GLS (and really...any SC suite on a Q class ship) and ATS. Those suites are SOOO far away from everyone else...it's such a trek. For the event itself, assuming you are allowed to cater without charge, the Genie can order food from any specialty restaurant (assuming your event is during normal operating hours of that restaurant), provide unlimited amounts of beer, water and soft drinks (there is a charge for wine and champagne, but it's very nominal in the greater scheme of things), get plates, napkins, silverware, table cloths, ice...literally everything you need for your party. It is very difficult and very expensive to get hard liquor brought to your cabin but it can be done....with persistence. We never bothered with liquor. It's just too much trouble. I strongly recommend that you approach your Suite Attendants to get an ice chest for beer. Room service will bring you those useless champagne buckets that hold nothing. You WILL need an ice chest and I have found that the room Suite Attendants are your best source for that. They will also be the ones to get your ice for you. Give THEM plenty of head's up. Timing the event is kinda critical. As I mentioned before, you can only order specialty food during restaurant operating hours and you will want to do this on a sea day so that means you will need to do this in the afternoon (between noon-2). Historically, cabin crawls are held on the first sea day immediately following the Top Tier event, which usually means around 11:00 AM. That's too early if you want specialty food - and you do. There is danger in waiting until the afternoon, but it really can't be avoided. People will get busy with something else and forget or just blow it off b/c they get sidetracked. Jamie's/Giovanni's food seems to lend itself well to CC get-togethers. The meat planks they serve at Jamie's are ideal. Just make sure that they deliver the food on the PLANKS and not in plates. This happened to me once and it doesn't have nearly the presentation on plates as it does on the planks. Finger food is great. Food that needs knives and forks is less desirable just due to logistics. Everyone will not be able to sit down at the same time. The Genie does NOT attend the event nor do they "help" other than ordering everything and coming to make sure that everything is on target. Room service will bring all of your tableware and then come and collect everything at the end of the event. You are responsible for serving and hosting your event. It is possible to get a server (for a fee...don't ask me how much $$. I've forgotten) but this might trigger the whole "fee" conversation. I would probably avoid that altogether. There will be lots of tipping involved. Make sure you have adequate bills for room service, suite attendants and folks I'm sure I'm forgetting. You will likely see each of these people only once...so please remember to tip when they provide the service. You will likely not see them again (except for the Suite Attendant and the Genie, of course). As for being the organizer, if that's still what you decide to do. I found it easiest just to keep a spreadsheet, which I updated periodically and published on my Roll Call site (I don't do FB so I have no idea how you would publish it there) with the names and cabin numbers for those who were interested in showing and another column for those who only wanted to "crawl" but not "show". Another hint is....you might think about limiting the number of cabin types to 1 cabin. IOW, you don't need to show 4 different inside rooms, or even 2 different Owner's Suites. They are similar enough that there's no need. Just limit the "showing" to the first person who signs up to show their cabin type. It's great if you can get lots of different cabin types...but not lots of the same type. Too much running around....and another reason to NOT be a crawler, yourself. Another reason to have someone ELSE be the organizer is....there is definitely a skill to organizing the flow of the crawl. You will most likely want to be at the END of the crawl....so whoever organizes it, just make sure that they know that you want your suite to be last. First of all, being last gives you the most time to get prepared and being last allows people to stop and enjoy themselves. If there are cabins left after they visit you, they will not feel as comfortable lingering. I guess that can be a good motivator NOT to be last but I always enjoyed having everyone hang around, enjoy their drinks and chat. Sorry, I did not intend for this to be so long !

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Our robo vac is Hazel. Actually we have 2. I had one for upstairs and one for downstairs but now that we have only 1 level, we just let them loose together. Hazel 1 and Hazel II or big Hazel and Little Hazel OR Dumb Hazel and Smart Hazel...actually Dumb Hazel is much less of a PITA than Smart Hazel. "Smart" Hazel is constantly getting into trouble and Little Hazel just scoots along without a worry in the world, plus Little Hazel's battery lasts significantly longer than her big sister. Such is our lives during the plague. Glad to hear that you are healing, Joe. No weight restrictions seems like a good sign.

This will be our first time on Voyager but we have been on many Voyager class ships. There is almost no difference between the Voyager and Freedom classes. Voyager class is just a hint shorter but most of the same amenities are there. I haven't really found much "Voyager-specific" info except something like below. You have a very hard decision to make ! One that I would not want to have to make myself. Personally, I think the price of this Arctic cruise is unjustifiably high....and when you add in airfare it is now super duper high. The only reason we are going is b/c we've been looking for an itin like this for a long time. We are staying on for the next cruise, which will be the first CAN/NE cruise for Voyager. That cost for cruise is ALSO very high. We are doing a GS for the same reason that you mentioned...b/c of the suite perks. When you're on a long cruise with lots of sea days, I think those perks are even more important than ever. Personally, if it were me, I would probably do the local SC cruise and wait for another northern Europe cruise with hopes that the future ones would be a bit more reasonably priced. Here is some info on the Voyager amp:

Considering that Italy was one of the hardest hit countries at the beginning of the plague, it is notable that they are among the first to get "normal" cruising up and running. It's nice to see !

As @twangstermentioned, the floating cabanas haven’t been around that long. We haven’t tried one yet but have one rented for one of our upcoming Mariner cruises inSeptember. My big concern is and always has been, whether the water would be warm enough to get the full enjoyment out of its use. ...but I think you will have no problem with that, in June. It would be best, if it’s something you really want, to reserve one when the price is right for you. The floating cabanas is one of the few things that the Genie cannot do on your behalf. Once they sell out, they’re gone and the Genie will not be able to get one for you. Unlike the Barefoot Beach cabanas on Labadee, whose sales are withheld from the Cruise Planner, the floating cabanas are on sale to anyone so they could, conceivably, sell out. The Barefoot Beach cabanas do not go on sale to the general public prior to sailing, so the Genie can snag one of those for you, if you’re going to Labadee. Is it worth the price ? Only you will be able to answer that question once you’ve tried it. Since you will be Star Class, all of your drinks will be included so I’m sure you can the best of that ! Here’s hoping you sail in June. Let us know how it goes.