WAAAYTOOO

The Royal Genie is a personal attendant - kind of like Norwegians’s Butler, only better.  They take extra special care of their Star Class passengers.

One day....one day...

Pissing off the leprechauns is my life’s work.  

I have not had that exact situation but we were on NAV for B2B in June/July.  It was not well publicized but Izumi was open for lunch a couple of times on port days. We just happened to be up that way one day and noticed that it was open.  I guess the best thing to do is ask at the restaurant you are interested in and see if they plan on being open for lunch on any of the port days.  I would NOT trust the Cruise Compass as a final authority as it was not accurate in this regard when we were there.

 We recently sailed on LIB and they now have a policy where they "rotate" between having Chops, Sabor and/or Giovanni's open for lunch on port days.  Again the Compass was WRONG about which one was open so it is definitely advisable to just ask at the restaurants themselves.  I think having specialty lunches on port days is a rather new thing and each ship is trying something different but it seems like a GOOD trend for those of us who purchase the UDP.

BTW, we LOVED Hooked.  It is our favorite Specialty restaurant now.  I wish they had it on all of the ships.  Was sorely disappointed when I learned they were not adding it to Oasis.

15 minutes ago, twangster said:

In Star Class no doubt :) 

Of course !  I would just have to liquidate my entire 401K and we'll be good-to-go !

YIKES !  I would be very very very unhappy if I did not hear from my Genie until a week or even 2 weeks prior.  Hopefully these are outliers.

Can you actually fly through a rainbow ?

53 minutes ago, twangster said:

It would be hard to fill an Oasis class ship for the full transit to Australia. 

I'll go !!

I never check internet prices b/c I just buy internet once onboard and use our 30% D+ discount.  However, urged on by Twangster's alarm bell, I went and looked.

For our upcoming Grandeur cruise (Oct 12) the 1 device plan is 40% off ($13.19 PP/PD).  I figured what do I have to lose ?  40% beats 30% PLUS if the rate goes up, it will be even more onboard.  SO I went ahead and bought it for both of us.  Granted, Grandeur's Voom is pretty sketchy at best but we always buy it....so why not try and save a couple of bucks.

I checked some of our other cruises and the numbers are all over the place ! Some offered 20%, some 25%, 1 other cruise offered 40%.  

Thanks for the Head's up !!

7 minutes ago, Katrack said:

New to the blog.  We just returned from Alaska on Radiance, where I was introduced to the Lavender Daquiri. Made with rum and lavender syrup. It may be the best drink ever!

Welcome to the Blog, Katrack !

YEARS (more than 30 !!) ago, during one of the MANY military moves we made, my daughter dropped her Kermit THE frog behind one of the beds.  Of course, we were many miles down the road before she missed him.  There was nothing to do but turn around and go back to the hotel to try and fetch him.  Thank goodness the housekeeper cleaning that room was not particularly thorough because we found him right where he had fallen down behind the bed.  Peace was restored.  I can sympathize with the OP.

It has been my experience that the Genie will probably contact you by email around 30 days prior to your cruise.  I seem to recall the generic questionnaire coming at about 2 months out but maybe it wasn't that far in advance.  My guess is that the questionnaire will be coming VERY soon.  Check your spam folder AND your garbage !  Many direct mailings from RCCL go directly to my trash can for reasons I have never understood.

The Genie will correspond with you by email until about 1 week prior to sail date and at that time he/she will send you a link to the Loop app (assuming they are still using that app....it's kinda worthless, TBH).  Once you get on board your fastest and most dependable way to reach the Genie is by phone.  The Genie will give you their personal cell phone number and you can get ahold of them at any time.

Congratulations on the ATS.  It is an amazing suite !  It's a bit of a walk to get there but so worth it.  Which deck ?  We've been on 8 (twice) and 9 once - all on Harmony.

4 minutes ago, Crusies said:

Thank you. Just emailed RCCL and will contact our booking agent.

Blessings,

Don

Good luck !

7 minutes ago, Crusies said:

We are 29 days out. Departs Quebec 10/7/19 for 13 day Snowbird Migration.

You should have your docs by now.  They are published at 49 days prior to departure but can sometimes be delayed a day or 2 when your plans include a travel agent and/or flights but by 29 days you should have them.  If you booked through an agent, contact them. If you booked directly with a Royal, contract them. There is no excuse for your edocs to be delayed more than a few days.  You need to check with someone and find out what the problem is. 

10 minutes ago, Lovestotravel said:

This original thread is quite old, but does anyone know if JR still serves breakfast without the up-charge (omelettes?)? 

As far as I know, JR still serves a complimentary breakfast on the Oasis Class ships only.

Basically, the rule is, if the restaurant is open and you have the UDP,  you can dine there at no charge.  As Twangster said, the problem is, you never know when the restaurant is going to be open.

A few weeks ago, on Liberty, we were told that they alternate port days when either Giovanni's or Chops will be open for lunch.  You just never know which one is going to be open.  On NAV back in July, we found out that many port days Izumi was open but it was never advertised anywhere !  We just lucked up on finding it open one day and ended up going back for lunch a couple more days.

Since each ship operates independently it is entirely up to the Food and Beverage manager as to which/when restaurant will be open.  This is also true of the Key complimentary embarkation lunch.  Some ships have decided that they will sell more Key packages but in order to do that they must have their embarkation lunch in the MDR rather than in the restaurant.  That is an individual ship's decision to make.  That is where the UDP can prove more valuable than the Key as we were able to dine at Chops on embarkation day while the Key folks were fed in the MDR.  Conversely, when we were on NAV in July, we were denied entry into Chops on embarkation day due to them only admitting The Key people but we were allowed to eat at Giovanni's.  

Bottom line, you just never know what you're going to get until you get there !

Thanks for the update. Glad things are working out for you.  Best of luck for a full recovery.

Just now, Vagolferbob said:

Can we upgrade after final payment?

Yes, just know that you will be paying the prevailing rate.  Good luck with finding an available Suite after final payment. Nearly every Grandeur sailing I have ever been on has been sold out (particularly in Suites) long before final payment. If you really want a suite I would recommend you jump on it while there’s something available. 

Full suites on Grandeur get breakfast every morning (exception for embarkation day) in Chops. The hours vary depending upon if it’s a sea day or a port day with sea days being slightly longer (open later) than port days. Grandeur has no Suites restaurant. There are no complimentary lunches for suites on Grandeur unless you purchase the Unlimited Dining Package.

With full suites you can order room service from the MDR during  regular operating hours but the GS does not have an inside dining table.  There is usually a small table and chairs outside on the balcony.

Grandeur still has a Concierge Lounge, as far as I know (although there had been talk about converting it over to a Suites Lounge) so you would be eligible to go there any time.  There are refreshments each evening from 4:30 - 8:00 (roughly....hours may vary). You will have a reserved seating section in the theater for shows.

You will not get with a GS (but would, with the Key) :

Carry on Luggage drop-off in the theater and delivery to your suite

Voom internet

Complimentary lunch on embarkation day at Chops (or in the MDR if it’s being served there).

I love Grandeur but I am not a huge fan of the locations of the full suites on the Vision Class ships.  They are all shoved way forward and are directly beneath the Windjammer. Last Christmas we were in a GS and noise from above was significant. 

If I were in a full suite I would not purchase The Key.

I don’t think Diamond level qualifies for the 30% off DBP.  I believe that is just for D+. Pennies get 40% off.

Unless there are specific extenuating circumstances, D+ are welcome in the Concierge Lounge. If the Concierge Lounge has been converted to a Suites Lounge (as it has on most of the Voyager and Freedom Class ships and all of the Oasis Class) then yes, the Suites Lounge is for Suites and Pinnacle Club members only.

Sometimes when the ship is expecting a very large volume of upper level C&A members, they will make special arrangements, but in general, the Concierge Club will welcome D+.

I’ve even read that some of the Vision Class ships have converted their Concierge Lounges to Suites Lounges.

4 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Maybe try and get a room not too far form an elevator. 

^^This^^

It has been my experience that the cenotes can be unpleasant and dirty.  That is not true of all, but I have found more of them to be icky than pleasant.  There seems to always be trash (and I don’t mean human trash - just brush, limbs, etc) floating around and they are often steep and mirky.  I steer clear of cenotes.  

Yes.  You will be fine

Welcome to the blog, Sam m