WAAAYTOOO

Me and you, both

Hey, I saw in the”When is your next cruise” thread that we’re on the Unofficial-Blog-Group-Everyone-Is-In-A-Star-Class-Suite-Cruise together. I can’t wait ! That one is going to be a hoot !

...AND garlic

Yes, we had Sebastian as our Genie a few years ago on Harmony. Is he still on Harmony ? He’s a very laid back Genie...so different from Reyno, who was our Genie the first 2 times. He’s a bit like Yen in that he will do precisely what you ask of him but does not anticipate much. Perhaps that’s a good thing. No sense in wasting time and effort doing something that you family may not want. Charlie was the best at anticipating though....he just has a natural knack for it. Sebastian does have a great sense of humor once you get to know him. That was back in our Aqua Theater Suite days (I think we did 4 in a row !) and when he would come to our suite for something he would always pretend he was out of breath from all the walking. It was very cute. He is a strapping and healthy young lad so there is no way that walk would put HIM out of breath ! Me, yep. Him....nah. He is very very efficient and he doesn’t mess around when he’s solving a problem. On that particular cruise we had a problem with our credit card. So ironic seeing as how our CC is a Royal Caribbean Visa card but for some reason, THAT time they questioned our charges. It never occurred to us to let them know we were going on a cruise (we do now !) and when we started racking up the casino bucks they threw up the red flag. Sebastian set up a personal meeting immediately with the head of the ship’s revenue department to get it all squared away. He went straight to the top dog and did not leave until the problem was rectified. Period. The lady (and I can’t remember her name, of course) gave us her card and her personal phone number and said that if we had ANY more issues to call her immediately. It was very reassuring and we were grateful that Sebastian knew exactly how to handle it. I am somewhat surprised that you are hearing from your Genie so late. Maybe they’ve changed their MO for first contact. I’m certain that Yen contacted us well before Sebastian seems to have contacted you and that was only 7 months ago. Anyway..glad your are on the glide path now.

....or might act like a flame thrower and incinerate everyone within 25 feet ! Either way, it will be exciting !

We normally either skip lunch or eat a very light lunch when at home...but for reasons that are very understandable, we cannot help ourselves when we are on a ship. We have found that we simply cannot eat a big lunch (and we always do !) and then eat a big supper at 6:00. Just can’t do it anymore. So we have found ourselves pushing supper back later and later. If you are doing traditional dining, I would recommend late dining. If you are doing My Time Dining, just go when you’re hungry ! That’s the beauty of MTD. You go whenever you want to.

Welcome to the blog, Rhason B. Just wear whatever is comfortable for you. Even though formal night isn’t called formal night anymore, doesn’t mean you can’t be formal if you want. I can guarantee that you will find men in tuxes and women in long dresses. Some people really love to dress up once in a while. You will not be out of place no matter what you decide to do.

Easier to have one booked and decide later to cancel it than to decide you want one and have there be none to purchase !

I definitely do NOT recommend that you apply spray-on sunscreen inside anywhere. It will choke you out (experience speaking). Go out onto the balcony if you have one or find a place on deck where you will offend as few as possible. If you do go out on your balcony to apply it, be sure and shut the door into your room first !

If your friend has an early flight (11:30 is not particularly early for FLL...the airport is very close to the port) then I recommend Lyft, Uber or a taxi. As you mentioned, the shuttle service can be VERY slow.

I don’t doubt that they believe this to be true but if IS true then Royal needs a new ratings strategy. Many people (myself included) rarely give a “perfect” score to anyone...b/c where do you go [up] from there ? That’s one reason I really dislike these kinds of surveys. If everyone is perfect (and NObody is) then there’s no need to ask and the surveys are a waste of time and resources.

Great information. I knew that included airline reservations could hold them up for a couple of days but didn’t realize it held them up THAT long. Will have to remember this !

Thanks, Steph

If you manage to make it Masters level (top of the heap) then you will receive Suites’ amenities - complimentary internet, access to the Suites Lounge, expedited boarding, etc. Casino benefits do not affect Crown & Anchor status Points earned are casino status points, not C&A Upgraded casino certificates will earn C&A points but I’m not sure whether a completely comped cruise earns any C&A points or not. For the time being, casino comped cruises upgraded to Jr Suite or higher still get double C&A points. They tried to nix this once and got huge push-back from casino customers but I won’t be surprised if they try to nix this again in the future.

I’m pretty sure it is at all of the high stakes tables. Others might know more than I do.

That’s how we came to have B2B Star Class cruises on Anthem in Feb. Those were our 2 annual Prime cruises that we upgraded to SC. Those were our 2028-2019 Prime cruises. For our 2019-2020 Prime cruises I squandered Dans on a 4 night NAV cruise b/c we ran out of vacation ! Mine will be used for another 8 nighter on Anthem again but no SC this time ??

Yes, longer cruises are better if you are looking to score a certificate. Unless you’re spending a LOT of money it’s hard to get a free cruise cert on a short cruise. As far as points are concerned, if you’re planning on taking lots of shorty cruises it really doesn’t hurt you but if you’re only getting a couple of cruises in a casino year, you are better off taking longer ones.

You must use both. You absolutely want to give them your Seapass card if you are looking to be compensated. If you just play without having them swipe your card you will get no credit.

The only time I have ever gotten a response from Customer Relations regarding a post-cruise survey was last year when we went on our B2B Star Class cruises. I had a few issues and they did contact me. Twice, as a matter of fact. Do I feel like they have done anything to address my concerns ? Nope.

First piece of information is to let you know that I suck at blackjack. That is really Dan's game ( I love Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em). However, I will validate your first 2 points. That is also why Dan prefers the high stakes table. Probably more for #2 than #1. Rarely will there ever be anyone else there, but if there is, they are not rookies. Another reason for choosing the high stakes games is b/c the payout for BJ is better on the single deck and high stakes games than on the other games. I always get this wrong but Stephanie will help me out if I do !!! ...the high stakes games pay 3:2 on a BJ and the other smaller stakes tables pay 6:5.

Sabrina, I have a couple of changes: 1. Please add October 12, 2019 on Grandeur 2. Please change Feb 15, 2020 on Anthem to Feb 7, 2020 on Anthem. Thanks !!

You're welcome !

This is really a great question....and one I'm afraid I cannot answer with any certainty. I will give you my opinion....but that's all it's worth. After many years of trying to work the program to my advantage, trust me when I say that I have tried it all !! 1. I do not believe that cashing in and re-buying chips will help you. Honestly, to my knowledge, the only thing that they track with the "card swipe' at the tables, is how long you play and how much you win or loose. The table swipe, IMO does NOT have anything to do with the rate at which you acquire points. 2. Points acquisition has waaay more to do with the amount of your wager than it does with how much money you bring to (or take away from) the table. That's why the table players are at such a disadvantage as compared to the slots players. With slots, every single wager you make is recorded. With table games, they come by periodically and make "notes" on an iPad about what your wagers are but if you vary your wagers (I do not....Dan does) and they happen to only pass by when you are making lower wagers, then that is what they are recording. Conversely, if they happen to pass by when your wager is up, you will get credit for more and your multiplier will be higher. 3. Frankly, the best thing you can do to be noticed is play at the high stakes tables. Dan always makes a point of playing at least 1 full night at the $25-$50 per hand blackjack table. Since the minimums at those tables are higher to start with, your time at those tables will net you more points all the way around. Dan never EVER plays as many [total] minutes as I do but he almost always ends up with more points at the end of the cruise than I do b/c he spends time at the high stakes tables and I go nowhere near them ! Again.....this is all conjecture. They keep their ratings secrets SECRET so I really have nothing to go on but LOTS of experience. One last thing. Don't listen to the people who tell you that they do not give you "credit" for losing money. This is one thing I DO know for sure. If you have lost a lot of money over the course of the cruise, they DO consider that in determining what kind of certificate you will get (but NOT with the number of points you are awarded). Winning will not penalize you but losing DOES count in your favor. I once had a certificate re-issued from a small $$$ off certificate to a free balcony certificate based solely on the amount of money that I had lost (nothing to brag about, for sure !). On that cruise, both Dan and I earned free balcony certificates (the only time that has ever happened !). Many would say that we just 'prepaid" our cruises, which is a fair analysis !

Very nice summary....and 100% accurate.

Fingers crossed for you. Good luck. ?