WAAAYTOOO

The main differences between the Allure and Harmony are that Harmony does not have a Solarium pool (as you noted already) Allure does not have the water slides yet (and will still not have them in NOV 2020) The shows are different of course, but are basically equivalent That's about it. Otherwise, they are pretty much the same ship

Well, it seems it's either feast or famine (pun intended) with this. Half the people complain about the tables never getting cleared and the rest seem to have their food confiscated like you. Not sure which is worse !!

Poor thing !

Agree completely with this !!

Welcome, Cindernana

I’ve always had very good luck with the Genies getting back to me within 24 hours. Obviously, their primary attention is with their current families but they have always gotten back to me in a very reasonable length of time.

Have you tried calling Royal see if they would allow you to purchase the UBP and your wife the Refreshment pkg ?

Good luck. Have a great time on Harmony.

This is really unacceptable. Which Genie was it ? There is absolutely no reason to pay anything. Surely this was a new Genie....

Our very first time in SC we traveled with friends who were also in SC. The cabin crawl started in our ATS with food, champagne and beer and ended in their Star Loft with food and wine. All of the crawlers were completely blown away ! That was a great Genie cruise. We had Reyno (the first time we had him) and the boys had Alexandra (who is no longer with Royal, unfortunately). They worked so well together.

It should have been included. Very surprised that they charged you.

Honestly, I think they just make it up as they go. As I mentioned in another thread, we just happened by Izumi one port day to find them open. Nowhere had it been published that they would be open on a port day. I think they just open when they want to !

Nope. You are not permitted to combine points or play on anyone else's card.

Grandeur's not on there, either

Yeah, I think I would.

Wow. That's pretty low. Have they advertised the fact that you are in a Star Class room ? That generally attracts a lot of participation. People like to see those suites.

Welcome to the Blog, trashman. Love your handle !!

This is good advice to keep one's sanity....however, there is one advantage to keep tracking prices. If the price of an upgraded cabin category drops to a point BELOW what you paid for your cabin, they will upgrade you at no cost. They will NOT refund any money to you, but they will upgrade you so that is 1 reason to keep your eyes on the prices, even after final payment.

Too cute. A compliment, I'm sure !

Do you now how many people have signed up ?

PS. Travel agents - ALL of them - do NOT like to give up their bookings.

I am the cabin crawl party queen !! LOL I have done this a number of times and it's a lot of fun - but also a lot of work. Has a cabin crawl already been started for your cruise ? Are you or someone else in charge of organizing it ? The reason I ask this is b/c the best situation is to have your suite be the LAST one shown. Sometimes this is awkward with the logistics of a cabin crawl b/c the SC suites are all on the uppermost decks...and logic suggests that it's easiest to start at the top and work your way down. The very best situation is to have someone else organizing the crawl (so that you can concentrate on your party !) but the organizer will work with you and organize it in such a way that your suite is the last to be shown. When the crawl folks reach your cabin and find that there are food and drinks there, it, quite naturally, turns into something of a party. If there are still rooms to be viewed after yours, the group is either going to be significantly delayed from finishing up the crawl or the crawl will come to an abrupt halt at that point and that is not fair to the other "show-ers". Discuss this with Anil, of course....but a couple of "rules" that will apply: 1. In order to have food from the specialty restaurants (or even the MDR, for that matter) delivered to your room, your cabin crawl must occur during the restaurants' normal operating hours. This eliminates the chance of your party being during sailaway as no restaurants (except the Windjammer) are open during sailaway. Cabin crawls generally do not occur on the first day anyway but sometimes Star Class guests will want the Genie to organize a party for them during sailaway and it's really not a good time at all for that. Turnaround day and embarkation are very busy days to begin with and having to host a party at embarkation is really a huge imposition on the Genie and the room service folks that will be delivering food and drinks. 2. The further into the cruise that you wait, the worst the participation will be. So while day 1 is a no-go, every day that passes means that people will start doing their own thing and ports of call are happening and things just get busy. People will forget about the cabin crawl and it gets harder and harder to keep it together. The ideal time for a cabin crawl is the first sea day, which is generally (but not always) day 2. Most cabin crawls that I have been to are usually right after the Meet & Mingle, which is GENERALLY around 9 - 10AM on day 2. The PROBLEM with that time is that the restaurants are not yet open. UGH. Another possible interference with the CC is that the Crown & Anchor Top Tier event is often held immediately after the M&M. SO....I have found the best time to do the CC is around 11:30- noon (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Top Tier Event, if that is being held around this time) on day 2 (or the first sea day). Doesn't this interfere with lunch ? Yes. There really is no "perfect" time and if you wait until after lunch, people will get busy, start thinking about DINNER and shows and then you have a whole lot of other conflicting events. 3. You can get ALL the food you want but technically they ask you to please limit your requests to 1 specialty restaurant at the time. IOW, if you are going with Jamie's/Giovanni's (this is normally what we do but Izumi is also a very good option) you will stick with their menu. Have I seen this "rule" violated ? Yep. A friend of ours was in Star Class also, and they had a party one night and I swear there was food from every single restaurant. We had to start turning food away at the door. BUT I'm sure Anil will advise you that they prefer to have your food deliveries limited to 1 restaurant per meal. The problem is with timing and ensuring that the food is all delivered at the same time and that it is still reasonably hot. When they have to start coordinating with 2 or 3 different restaurants, the logistics just become overwhelming (this was the explanation I received). It makes sense. So if you want Mexican food from Sabor or sushi from Izumi or whatever you want, as long as the restaurant is open and serving, they will get it for you. We always get our CC party food from Jamie's/Giovanni's. The meat planks are easy to prepare, easy to move, easy to serve and easy to eat. They will bring anything you ask for...but we generally keep it to "finger" food just to keep it simple. The Mediterranean olives and bread alone are worth it ! Even though your suite is HUGE, you WILL run out of seating space when 50+ show up for a party. Finger food just works best. 4. Room Service (with Anil's coordination) will bring EVERYthing that you need. They will bring plates, silverware, napkins, table cloths, stemware.....and then they will come back and clean it all up once it's over. It's an amazing service. Your cabin attendant(s) will bring ice. If you decide that you want a server, the price for having someone serve is actually quite reasonable as I recall. I cannot remember the cost (we never did it but I remember thinking it was not bad at all) but it isn't outrageous. The same goes for a bartender (which we also never use)....which brings me to.... 5. Drinks. You can have ANY kind of non-alcoholic beverage brought to your room. Sodas, water (sparkling and still), flavored drinks, orange juice, anything they serve on the ship. This is one of the things that you should ask for (not for the party, but just for your personal use) before you ever get on the ship. They will bring you any beer that they serve on the ship in any quantity that you ask for. IF you want wine or liquor, you will have to pay for it. Having liquor brought to your suite is not a simple task. There are a couple of ways to do it but it was expensive and complicated so we have never done it. We do, however, have them bring a couple of bottles of wine and some sparkling wine and the prices for those are very reasonable. We always order a variety of beer and whatever we do not use for the party, they will take away if you want or just leave it...whatever you want to do. 6. Back to timing. Let's say the CC is scheduled to start somewhere (not your place) at noon. It will be important to your party coordinators to know when to expect your "guests". Depending upon how many people show up for the CC and how many different cabins are being shown, it may take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours for them to finally reach you. It's hard to predict when to expect them. I have always arranged for my party to be "ready" 30 minutes from the time that they start the CC, knowing that they are unlikely to be there by then...but you want everything ready to go well ahead of time. I have only had issues with timing once...and that was a Reyno party. Anyone who knows Reyno knows that he is a manic (not to be confused with maniac...although that would fit, too) ball of energy. The Genie will NOT be part of your party but he/she will generally show up right about the time that party is due to start to make sure that everything is ok and ready. For that particular party, the food had not yet shown up when Reyno got there. I thought Reyno was going to bust a gasket. He took off in practically a full run down the hall. I have no idea where he was going but he went there in a hurry ! Shortly afterwards, he and the food showed up and there was only a short delay. Reyno is a hot mess but I can tell you that he is WITHOUT A DOUBT the best party planner of any of the Genie's I have ever had. Let me know if you have other questions. I'm sure you will. This is a particular favorite of mine. I love doing it and I have never ever had a party attendee who was not both impressed or did not have a good time. It's fun showing them around the suite and going out on the balcony to look at the beautiful view. You are in an ATS. That is the most impressive view of all. You're going to be have a wonderful party !

Very surprised. That's the first time I've ever heard of them not getting a reservation moved for ANY reason.

MEI can still get your reservation transferred....even if final payment has been made.

I have not yet sailed on Symphony but I feel certain that they will offer Chef's Table. Once your sailing begins offering food packages in the Cruise Planner, you will find the Chef's Table option in the Dining section. Back when I first did the Chef's Table, they only offered it once during a sailing. I believe that nowadays they offer multiple chances to book the Chef's Table.