WAAAYTOOO

Since I wrote that post, above, I have asked Michelle to reprice our Dec 2020 Oasis Star Class cruise. She came back with a discount very similar to what you stated - about 30% off (looks like yours is in the neighborhood of 35%). Last year we were getting at least 60% off. So while it's not as bad as some I've read about, it is certainly a far cry from what we were getting last year. Both Dan and I got surveys today from Club Royale. I let them know about our disappointment in this year's casino comp upgrade rates. I hope you will do the same if you get a survey. We have 3 Star Class cruises booked for 2020. We were going to reprice 2 of them using our CR annual prime cruises but I haven't decided whether I will go forward with it or not. We WERE willing to pay full price for 1 of them if we got the good (60%) discount on the other 2 but doubtful that we will do that now. I may just cancel all of them and combine our 2 comp cruises together and apply to the fall group cruise on Brilliance. I know I will take a $200 hit on the deposit for anything I cancel but that may just be the way it has to be.

Interesting that you say this. Both Dan and I got surveys today from Club Royale. I expressed my disappointment at the reduced casino comp upgrade discount. I'm sure that will make all the difference....LOL

Wow ! That rooftop garden is spectacular !

Welcome John and Carrie !!!

True. They will save whatever seats you prefer.

I'm sure you read Sabrina's recent SC blog and saw the lovely gifts that her family gave their Genie. That was extremely special and I applaud her for being both generous and thoughtful. The important thing to remember is that all crew have extremely limited space so you want to keep that in mind. On our last SC cruise(s) we gave Yen a pashmina wrap and interestingly enough, her gifts to me were both scarves ! I cannot recall what she gave Dan (how self-centered can I be !). We have given our male Genies ball caps from sports teams, sports team jerseys and a commemorative White House Christmas ornament (I'm not ashamed to admit that this was a re-gift, as it was a duplicate, but it should also be noted that this gift received the greatest appreciation of any that we have given !). I know it's a tired cliche, but it really is the thought that counts. We have only had 1 repeat Genie (we've had Reyno twice) so until you meet the person it's hard to know what they might like...so you just have to kinda guess.

I have never had a bungalow so I don't know what that capacity is. I believe it is either 6 or 8 persons. The cabanas have a 6 person max.

It has been my experience that the "from" price is generally available at exactly 1 time slot - and it's usually very early on day 1.

I've read that some people are finding that BOGO is not being offered. Hopefully it's not going away as a consequence of the new UDP

We did the crummy itinerary on Anthem B2B in February ! ...but as you say, it has nothing to do with the itin for us. It's all about enjoying the ship and enjoying the SC amenities. I truly enjoyed doing SC on Anthem. There is a lot to do - even for those of us who are not interested in swinging on the trapeze. Certainly enjoyed Harmony and Allure too but I do believe that the Genie is more valuable on the Q class since there are so many more activities that can be reserved.

We get harassed by EVERYone for being suite snobs.

I do feel like the Genie was a little more valuable on Anthem than on the Oasis class ships. As you said, there were many more activities that the Genie helped us with and since we did a B2B, it seemed like a LOT more things. If we sailed with children it would even be more important. We did not do things like the trapeze thing and we only did the bumper cars once. I think the kids would be down there at the bumper cars endlessly ! I think we went up in the North Star 4 times during the 2 cruises. The only thing that the Genie was hesitant to do (she actually said "no" the first time we mentioned it) was to reserve seats for us at the Music Hall, which I found puzzling. But in the end, she did save seats for us but NOT in the way that they normally save seats. She simply sat down in 1 seat and put her phone and appointment book down in the chair next to her. I have to assume that the Genies had been instructed not to save seats in the MH but to me, that doesn't make any sense. Maybe they had trouble in the past with people simply moving the drape....but it seems like the same thing could happen in 270. Whatever. In the end, we did get our reserved seats and we were grateful.

No. They don't care about your address matching your ID.

This is my strategy as well.

Joe, I could not agree with you more about the reserved seating for Star Class at 270. I was constantly turning around to see someone popping up behind me. Next time I'm going to sit back far enough that I can see all of the performers without having to swivel 360 degrees !

Me too, Steph. We're going to buy the UDP anyway but I hate not knowing if I will be turned away when I go to eat !

So here is a scenario that I was thinking about. NOT that I would have any interest in doing this...but what would keep someone from going to Izumi, eating their $35 worth, getting up and leaving and coming right back in and eating another $35 worth, rinse, repeat. Technically I guess someone could do the same thing with any of the "open seating" quasi-specialties like Playmakers. I imagine they're going to have to make some limitations. Also, how are they going to preclude someone from going into Playmakers, ordering food and sharing it with all of their buddies. Essentially they could close out one ticket and then just come right back in and open a new one. I guess there are a million ways to scam the system if you really want to try. We will never do anything like this as I cannot eat all the food I'm entitled to NOW much less try and eat more than once a night or more than once for lunch, etc. ...but I am certain that there are people who will come up with new and exciting ways to scam the system. There always are.

Side to Side (S2S) is getting off of one ship and getting directly onto a different ship.

Actually, I was always able to get a can of Coke whenever I went to the Suites Lounge.

For clarification....only paying full price or purchasing the deluxe beverage package allows you to get a canned soda. The soda package and the refreshment package do not include canned soda. HOWEVER, as Ashley said, they will serve you whatever they have handy. If they have a fountain hose, you will get a fountain drink; if they have a can sitting there, they will give you a can if you ask for it. Before the cans became included in the DBP sometimes I could persuade them to give me a can but sometimes they simply would not give me a can and I would not be a cappy hamper. Now, with the cans included in the DBP they no longer deny me the can UNLESS they simply do not have any cans, which can some times be the case.

It will be interesting to see if this occurs. My guess is that they will NOT allow you to take food out. Seating availability is one of the limiting factors of this program and an expressed condition for denying your ability to dine. I'm guessing that they are COUNTING on people not being able to get reservations willy nilly and so that will limit their liability in having to feed everyone 14 times a day. Just a guess. Plus the fact that they do not now permit takeout, to my knowledge.

GRRRRRRR....

No they don't. Not in the 2 BR ATS. The only suites that I know of that have bidets are the Owner's Suite and the Royal Suite. There could be others on some of the other ship classes but I haven't seen them.

This is a feature that they used to have years ago. I remember being able to do a virtual tour of the 2 BR ATS when they first came out. Then they "upgraded" the website and that feature went poof ! I guess they've finally brought it back.

That's correct. If you have a beverage package that includes soda you can go to any bar and get a plastic cup from a fountain machine. If you have the deluxe beverage package you can get a can of soda.