WAAAYTOOO

Welcome, Dan, Diane and Dave !

Yes. Long gone are the 60-80% discounts that they were giving on upgrades. I’m lucky to see a 30% discount now. Very disappointing

It will.

I'm designing new fighting vehicles for the Army. Maybe....nah...it would never fit in the suitcase.

I'm not saying you're wrong about this....just sayin' that if Chops or Giovanni's is offering complimentary lunch on sea days as part of the suites amenities on LIB then it's the only ship I've ever heard of that did. I suspect, but don't know, that this is PROBABLY referring to an old perk that used to permit suite guests to get their lunch from the Windjammer and go into Chops or Giovanni's (when the restaurant, itself, was closed) to eat. Now that most of the specialty restaurants are open on sea days, I think this perk has all but disappeared. I'll be on LIB at the end of August so if this is a real "thing" I will find out then.

We usually bring some little goodies for our attendant. It's important to keep in mind that they have very little personal space in their rooms so whatever you bring, make it small !! I usually bring a bag of Hershey's kisses or Reese's cups or something easy to dispense. Of course, money is what they really want so please do not make this treat in LIEU of their tip - make it in addition to their tip (which you have already clarified !!). Unless you are in Star Class, you will usually only have a single cabin attendant that does everything for you from cleaning your room, making your bed, bringing you fresh towels, cleaning the glass on your sliding doors and balcony to bringing your daily paperwork and any goodies from C&A, etc. to keeping your ice bucket filled. They work so hard....

You are so very welcome. I will help you with anything I can. You can blog it publicly or PM me. Whatever you feel comfortable doing. Do you have status with the casino player's program ? If you do, then you will almost always get a better deal booking a cruise through the casino. If you do not have casino status then I think there are some benefits to using Next Cruise. It has been many years since I used Next Cruise and I think the program has changed but it seems to me that the benefits are some amount of onboard credit extended and a lower initial deposit required. Unfortunately, your being in Star Class will not help you with future bookings so there's really no benefit due to your cabin class on this cruise.

We did not have Shane as our Genie (we had Yen) but we did B2B Star Class cruises on Anthem in February. It was the most incredible cruises we have ever had. I would recommend that you have Shane book North Star trips so that you can have at least one in the open ocean and at least one in port somewhere. We had hoped to get up in North Star while in port in NY but unfortunately they do not allow the North Star to go up until after the ship passes beneath the V-N bridge. Someone suggested that the reason is probably b/c if the NS were to somehow get "stuck" while extended, it would prevent the cruise from even getting under way, so they just do not allow it until after the ship clears the bridge. There is no limit to the number of times that you can go up in the NS. The Genie can arrange as many trips up as you want. I think we went either 3 or 4 times during our 2 weeks. It is amazing. You will not have to wait in line. The Genie will come and get you and bring you straight to the front of the line when it's time to board. SWEET ! We only did the bumper cars once. Once was enough for us. If you really enjoy it, Shane can book as many as you want. I do have some suggestions regarding live shows. Everyone always assumes that the closer you are to the stage the better....so many (including Dan, BTW) always wants to be right up front. I suggest that in both the main theater and also in 270, waaay up front is not necessarily the best view. Especially in 270 for Spectra, if you are way up front, you will find that you will miss some of the action behind you. I recommend that you ask Shane to book your Spectra show somewhat back so that you have a full view of all of the action. I don't want to spoil the show for you....just ask Shane for a recommendation and tell him that you want to be able to see everything without wrenching your neck. He will know what to do. As for We Will Rock You, I also felt that being right up front wasn't the best location. We saw the show twice (as we did with Spectra as well) - once right up front and once back by the sound/lighting booth. I enjoyed being back a little bit much more. Half the fun of WWRY is watching the band, which is located in sound booths on either side of the stage. It's an amazing setup and you really don't get the best view of the entire stage plus both band booths if you are way up front. Certainly do NOT miss either of these live shows. They are the best 2 in the entire fleet as far as I am concerned. As others have suggested, the other stage show (The Gift) is ok...at best. If you enjoy the lives shows, by all means, see it. We saw it once. I don't know if you have friends or family along on this cruise with you...but if you do, do not fail to have Shane set up a party in your suite. If you stick with beer, soda and water, it will cost you NOTHING (except for tips, of course). You can have food catered from any of the specialty restaurants. Room service will bring plates, glasses, silverware, napkins, food - absolutely everything. ...and they will come and clean it all up ! IMO, Anthem is the best ship to be Star Class. While, overall, I still prefer the Oasis class ships, Star Class in a Quantum class ship gives you so MANY activities where the Genie is key. I'm sure you will have at least 1 tribute band on your cruise (we had a Journey band the first week and a Bon Jovi band the second week). That band will probably play 2 concerts - one in the Music Hall and one in 270. In the case of the live band, it will not hurt for you to be right up front, if you see them in 270 b/c there won't be any activity behind you. I suggest, however, that if you only plan to attend one of these concerts, you do it in the Music Hall. It is a much better (IMO) venue for a concert than 270. I will say that Yen was extremely reluctant to reserve seats for us in the Music Hall, for some reason. In the end, however, she did and we really enjoyed it. I really don't understand the reluctance, but apparently there have been "issues" in the past with reserving Music Hall seats. That's all I can guess. So it will have to be up to Shane as to whether or not he will do it for you. Reserving meals is really a no-brainer. Just do NOT worry about it. Shane will do whatever you want to do at whatever time you want to do it. Period. We are not fans of Wonderland, but if you have not tried Wonderland, I suggest you give it a try. At least it won't cost you anything extra, if you hate it ! Embarkation is easy if you do 2 things. First of all, do NOT give your luggage to ANYone until AFTER you have checked with the Star Class greeter at the Star Class banner (Zone 6). Porters will try and take you bags the entire time but do NOT give them up ! Second, I recommend that you ask Shane to KEEP your bags with you throughout the boarding/security process. Believe it or not, we shoved our full sized bags RIGHT THROUGH the regular security scanners. I had no idea the big bags would even fit through there but they did...just barely. Yen had a porter standing by to push our luggage up the boarding ramp with us and our bags never left our side. Previously (on 3 separate occasions) our luggage did not come along with us and there was, what I considered to be an unacceptably long, delay in getting our bags. Also, if you have a loft suite, be SURE to have the porters take your bags upstairs !! Otherwise, you will have to schlep those heavy bags up the stairs yourself and this is not an easy thing to do ! As others have noted, the Suites/Star Class waiting area at Port Liberty is rather pathetic....but you won't be there long. On disembarkation, you will do the same exact thing, in reverse. Ask Shane to have a porter pick up your bags when you are ready to leave and keep those bags with you until you clear Customs/Immigration. One note on porters. The porters at Port Liberty are Longshoremen and they have very strict rules about who can handle luggage in their facility. That means that you will have a porter that can go only so far (cannot go onto the ship) and since ship personnel can go only so far off the ship, the Longshoremen will have to get your luggage soon after it rolls off the ship. That can cause a bit of a delay b/c you will have 2 different porters on each of the 2 (embarkation/disembarkation) trips. Unavoidable, if you want to keep your luggage with you and trust me, YOU DO. Tipping is always a topic of discussion when it comes to Star Class (and all cruising, to be honest). This is always a very personal decision, but I feel it is important so I will just mention it briefly. You are obligated to tip NO one. Ever. While your gratuities are included in your cruise fare, you ARE paying your gratuities. It's just not a separate charge the way it is on other cruises. However, the Genie is not included in those gratuities. Genie tips are all over the map. I traveled with 2 friends a few years ago that tipped their Genie $1000 EACH and their cabin attendant $500 each. That is excessive, IMO. We generally tip the Genie $500-$700 for a week. We generally give our attendant $100 extra but we have given more when they went above and beyond, which, frankly...they almost always do. I think this is about average. I recommend that you have a fair amount of $1 and $5 bills available on embarkation day b/c you will need them to tip those who help you board, if you are so inclined. We always tip at each and every meal (even when not in Star Class). I believe this to be especially important for the specialty restaurants b/c the mandatory gratuities cover service in the MDR and do not get to the specialty staff (not directly, anyway). We tip $5 for breakfast, whether it is in the MDR, the Coastal Kitchen or the Windjammer. $10 for lunch and $20 at dinner. Always. I find the Star Class service to be superior and I believe in rewarding those who make my cruise so very special. And Star Class is VERY special. Enjoy it !

Pinnacle Club members do get complimentary WiFi, I believe...

Welcome to the blog and enjoy your cruise ! It sounds like you have everything well planned. Good work !

Welcome, Art !

Do not book anything now. The Genie will take care of everything for you including all food, entertainment and activities. It doesn’t hurt to start researching different restaurants and things you might want to do but you do not need to book anything ahead of time. Trust me on this. What ship and when are you sailing ? Do you know who your Genie is yet ?

Sounds like you must be in Star Class. If that is the case, I encourage you to try all of them. Your Genie will help you if you have questions. You will want to try the specialties for sure.

We always enjoy the specialty restaurants. Have we ever had a really bad meal at a specialty ? Yes - Wonderland. Have we ever had a really bad meal in the MDR ? Yes. Have we ever had a really bad meal in the CK ? Yes. That being said, we have had extraordinary meals in all 3, also. Personally, I prefer Giovanni’s to Jamie’s (and Portofino’s....long gone, was better than any of them !). We almost always have a very predictably good meal at Chops and have never been disappointed in Izumi. We truly dislike Wonderland but absolutely love Hooked.

My opinion of the Coastal Kitchen is that it is the environment and the service, if not necessarily the food, that makes it superior to the large scale venues like the MDR and/or WJ. This is especially true on the Oasis class ships as the CK has such a spectacular view and ambiance. The food is good...but not great, IMO. On the Quantum class ships CK is not quite as impressive as it is smaller, darker and much less festive than on the O class, but still very good. I will say, however, that the filet at the CK was the best on the ship, IMO. I have found this to be true on both the Anthem and the Oasis class ships. If you are a steak lover, be sure you eat at the CK on the night that they serve the filet. I have never had the rib eye, but have heard it is also very good. The CK is much more sedate, quiet and enjoyable and that makes it so much more enjoyable. For breakfast, you can't beat it. The dinners are very good. It is certainly a step up from the MDR, no doubt about that.

Suggestion: If you ask for "the lobster" in the Coastal Kitchen on lobster/formal night, be sure you make it clear that you want the lobster tail being served in the MDR. We once asked for "the lobster" on lobster/formal night and they brought us some nasty, rubbery lobster bits in a yucky orange sauce. NOT what I had in mind. So there is apparently a "lobster dish" that they make in the CK; they might misinterpret what you are asking for and bring that, instead of the lobster tail. We just got off NAV and had the whole Maine lobster in Hooked a couple of times. It is not large, but it is far and away better than the lobster tail that they serve either in the MDR or in Hooked as an accompaniment to other dishes. Currently, they are not charging anything extra for the whole Maine lobster in Hooked. I cannot see that continuing. You can get surf and turf in Hooked for nothing extra, but the surf and turf in Chops is +$21 ? Makes no sense. I look for Hooked to start charging an up charge for either their whole Maine lobster or their filet. Get it while you can.

Congratulations on a successful procedure. It’s such a miracle.

I would be very hesitant to do a RoyalUp bid from one balcony category to another balcony category. I have read of stories where people paid a substantial amount of money for a balcony upgrade just to find out that it was not a real upgrade at all. The only upgrade I would consider is from one cabin type to a higher cabin type. E.g., if you are already in a balcony of any category, I would bid on a JS, GS, OS or any category higher but I would NOT bid on another balcony category.

Of course, it depends on the ship and the terminal, but in general, boarding usually starts around 10:30. It can be a bit earlier or it can be a bit later. A 10AM arrival might mean a short stay in a holding room but it won't be long. If you arrive any earlier you might get stuck waiting outside for a while, which would not be fun.

Welcome, Brenna ! So glad you finally “came out”.

Yes. 1:00 or whatever time the rooms are ready. 1:00-1:30 usually.

Aye !

No kidding ! What a great Suites area at MIA A. We used it for the first time on our NAV B2B and just...WOW. PoL is really at the bottom of the barrel for Star Class (or any Suite, really) waiting/boarding area. Very small, dingy and NOT exclusive in any way.

We were on LIB last year and there was a steam room and sauna. Can’t promise it’s still there. When the NAV was amped the steam room and sauna were removed so my guess is that as all of the ships are amped the thermal spas will be removed. Just a guess.

That which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger !