WAAAYTOOO

Those are lights that they use for the Aqua Theater show.

My favorite is a pina colada made with amaretto instead of rum. Just like liquid candy !

Thanks for the positive thoughts, Lorraine. I don't need big stress on the front end. I don't care what happens on the way home but just let me get there without any mega complications ! I will not be doing a live blog. I don't take anything but my iPad and it would take me a week to peck out much more than a short post. I usually wait until I get home to do a cruise review. I will try and post a little something a few times during the week. I'm TERRIBLE with pictures. I have hundreds of pictures from my other Star Class cruises and have never bothered to download them from my phone and iPad to my computer so that I can post them. I don't even know how to post a picture. The most I've managed before was attaching a file so I really need tech support ! How sad is that ?! Dan is funny about the Genie. When I told him that we were in SC again on this cruise he was cross with me. "We don't need a damn Genie" is always his first reaction but all week all he can talk about is where we're going to eat, what we're going to do and whether or not the Genie can get us this or that. He asked about getting a Private Journeys tour in Jamaica outside of the compound. I don't know whether the Genie can arrange that or not. I haven't asked yet. I guess it's getting down to the wire and if I am thinking of doing this at ALL, I'd better get hot on it. So the truth is, he says he doesn't like the "constant interruptions" that comes with Star Class but I think he secretly likes the attention. I know for a FACT that he enjoys having reserved seats in the theater(s) right in the front row. He actually does have a point though. It does seem like someone is ringing your doorbell constantly for one thing or another. They're either dropping something off or picking something up. Maybe without the cabin crawl party this time things will be less manic.

The piers at Cozumel and Costa Maya ARE very long. It's a very tough walk for me. COZ does not have a trolley but I believe that CM might. It's been a while since I've been there. I don't remember what the pier is like at Roatan. Sorry. Not much help.

Thanks, Lorraine. It IS that wonderful. I love, love, love when we cruise Star Class. Like you, I sometimes have to fudge the $$ to Dan as he is the thrifty one in the family. Thank God one of us is ! ...but since I pay for all of the cruises, it is my prerogative ! ...at least, for now. Once we retire it will be a different story but by then we will be living in FL and our options will be MUCH greater than they are now. I am slightly concerned about our flight on Saturday morning. We are supposed to have snow on Saturday but I am hoping we leave before any of that nonsense starts (our flight leaves DCA at 5:30 AM). I called yesterday to see if I could move our flights from Saturday to Friday. The cost for making that change was more than the total cost of the original RT flight ! Needless to say, I did not make the change. Just keeping my fingers crossed that we beat the bad weather. Washington is notoriously ill equipped to deal with bad weather and once the backups start, you are doomed. If we hear that flights are being cancelled, we're just going to jump in a rental car and drive down. I will NOT deal with the Charlie Foxtrot that we had in January when we went to Vegas. It was a NIGHTMARE. BTW, for those of you who may remember my blog from Feb. 2017 (our first Harmony Star Class suite !!), we are traveling with one of the Jim twins on this trip next week. He is not in a SC suite this time but he's a real character so we'll be in for more fun, no doubt.

Haven't been in Star Class on Oasis - just Harmony. Will be on Allure next week. We will be in the SLS next door to you (1718). YIPPEE !!! I have not stayed in that corner Sky Loft Suite (soon to be renamed Star Loft Suite) but I traveled with friends last year who stayed in the same suite on Harmony. It is really lovely. I guess the only deficiency (if you can call it a deficiency) is that there is only 1 BR so if you have more than 2 people, someone is going to end up on the sofa bed downstairs. From what I understand, it is very comfortable, but still a sofa bed out in the open room. The suite is very spacious and has a HUGE balcony. The view isn't all that great...you look out over the mini golf course but you also can see the ocean off to the right. Hints ? Hmmmm...as Matt says, do not bother with booking anything (Except for excursions...and the Genie can even help with those but it MAY cost you more money if you wait until you're onboard to book). The Genie can do just about anything for you so just let them do their job and make all of your dining and entertainment reservations. You will have unlimited dining and drink plans and everyone in the suite gets Voom surf and stream. All of the upgraded meal options (i.e. upcharge steak and lobster at Chops or Izumi hibachi) are included (at least they were on Harmony). A number of times, even though the drink we ordered was more than $13, they did not charge us the overage but I wouldn't count on that being the norm. I think we just got lucky on that one. I have read of many others who did pay the drink charge overage. If your itinerary includes Labadee and you are interested in getting a cabana at Barefoot Beach, let the Genie know when he/she contacts you so that you can get that reserved early. Star Class gets first dibs on cabana rentals but once the SC guests have had their opportunity, the rest of the cabanas are released for reservation by the other suite guests so the most popular cabanas go quickly and early. If you decide to rent a cabana you will not have to pay for it pre-cruise like you normally do. The cost of the cabana will be added to your seapass account and you will pay for it at the end of the cruise. I know you will be boarding at Port Canaveral so it may be different there than PE, but do NOT NOT NOT give up your luggage to anyone - even if they claim to be Star Class - until after you check in INSIDE the terminal with the Star Class coordinator. We managed to do this wrong twice ! I finally learned my lesson and now hold onto my luggage until after I have checked in with the Genie (or whoever is going to be escorting us to our suite. Sometimes it's another Genie. Embarkation day is a bustling time, especially for the Genies) and THEN I release my luggage with whomever they direct me. The first 2 times, my luggage was delayed in getting to the Suite b/c it went to the wrong place. Don't forget to enjoy your suite. This was our biggest mistake in the past. We had the enormous balcony in the ATS and only ate out there a couple of times. The extra large outside space is a LARGE part of what you are paying for. On our cruise next week I am going to make SURE that we have breakfast out there at least 3 or 4 times. Since we are night owls, we often miss breakfast completely and I'm not going to let that happen this time. Even if we aren't up and dressed for going out, I am going to make sure we have breakfast delivered. Remember that you can have food delivered to your suite from ANY specialty restaurant, the MDR or Coastal Kitchen. The only "rule" (well, there are 2, actually) is, your food delivery must be scheduled during normal restaurant operating hours and you can only order from 1 specialty restaurant at the time. I guess when they first started Star Class you could order from any mix of restaurants for the same delivery, but apparently the logistics of that proved to be impossible, so now they only allow you to order from 1 restaurant at the time. Not much of a limitation, to be honest. Want to have a big party while you're on your cruise ? No problem ! We hosted the CC Cabin Crawl twice on Harmony and had a HUGE number of people participate. The Genie took care of everything. He ordered the food, the drinks, the plates, napkins, silverware. Everything. AND they came and removed everything and cleaned up before I even got back from the rest of the cabin crawl. The only thing we paid for was the couple of bottles of sparkling wine that we ordered and the cost of that was extremely reasonable b/c you get a % discount on bottles of wine (I can't remember what that discount is, but it is whatever they give with the deluxe drink package). I think they brought 6 meat trays from Jaimie's, bread, desserts, beer, soda, water, wine. They even brought a cooler to put the extra beer in so it would stay cold. They keep your suite stocked with whatever beer, soda and water you want. If you want wine, you must purchase it but we're not wine drinkers so it was never a problem. Being so close to the Suites Lounge (a convenience we did not have, being in the Aqua Theater Suites), you can get just about any liquor drink that you want (at least, if it is already being served in the SL) so there's almost nothing in the way of drinks, that you will not have very readily available. Your Genie will contact you directly about 7 - 10 days prior to your cruise and you will start planning your cruise. We are planning on having lunch at Chops on embark day and dinner at Izumi (no hibachi for us on this trip, I don't think). Those are the only plans we have made so far. No cabana this trip. I will probably stay on the ship as I did on our last visit to Labadee. I am not doing the cabin crawl party this time. It's a little to manic for Dan. LOL. I promised him I would not subject him to it this time. Enjoy it ! It's the ultimate luxury and it's wonderful.

I know, right ? I don't remember the Centrum looking like that at all ! Wow

While I have not been to Martinique before, I have heard a number of complaints about unwelcoming locals. It really doesn't seem to make any sense that they would have an unwelcoming attitude but I'm sure they have a reason....whatever it might be. All I know is that if they don't want my money, I will just keep it. So glad to hear that you are having a good time and enjoying the cruise. I am also sorry to hear about the flippant bartenders. I guess everyone has a bad day from time-to-time...but I think you handled it well and didn't let it ruin your day. Good job !

I’m envious of that. This will be our first !

Bahrain is one of the sites that I go to for work. It's a very interesting place. m I guess I never realized that cruise ships stopped there. Who knew ? BTW, Bahrain is a country, not a city. :)

Matt, I got it to work just fine on my phone. It's the iPad that is giving me the trouble. I will chalk it up to some kind of IT incompatibility. On the iPad, it doesn't want to let me sign in. I think I may try deleting the app and reinstalling it. Thanks for trying to help.

Harmony definitely has them and I think the Q class ships (Anthem in the US) and probably Symphony. I suspect that all new ships will use this technology even though people quickly find a way around it. We just use an old Seapass card. Anything will work that will slide into that slot. Anything credit card sized.

I remember

Welcome, Jeananne !

Try using your email address instead of your old username. I had the same thing happen to me (changed passwords about 5 times) but once I started signing in with my email address it stopped asking me to change my password.

I still have not been able to even get the app to open. Maybe it's b/c I am using my ipad instead of iPhone ?

I should have known it would be the Twang-bot. Thanks a LOT !

Beautiful ! You'll always be a bot to me, Twang-bot. But I will admit, it's a cute selfie !

It never hurts to have an alternate in mind just in case. This happened to me recently when the Panama Canal itinerary was opened. Before I could even get the call through the cabin I wanted was already gone.

1. That is the time that the ship is supposed to leave port. All aboard will be about 30 minutes prior, so say, around 6:30. 2. I do not like Wonderland so I cannot recommend that one at all. My favorite restaurant on Harmony is 150 Central Park but that one also may not be a place that the children will enjoy. I recommend either Chops or Izumi Hibachi. I am also not a fan of Jaimie's but others like it. 3. The price of $45/PP will be for the "regular" menu. There are upcharge items, such as the lobster and seafood towers, so if you want to go with those, you will pay the $45 plus whatever the upcharge price is (this is true for Chops and Izumi Hibachi). ALSO, I have heard that the specialty restaurants are now charging 18% gratuity on top of everything else if you purchase the meals onboard....meaning, if you do not prepay your specialty dining prior to sailing. So, it would be my recommendation that once you decide where you want to celebrate your husband's birthday, you make those reservations online, using your Cruise Planner so that you can prepay. Otherwise, you are going to end up paying an 18% grat that you don't have to pay.

Welcome !!

Thanks ! I love those cinemas. They are so great - especially on long cruises where you really look for something to do on multiple sea days. I hope they NEVER get rid of them !

Twang-bot, do they have the cinema on board Serenade ? I don't recall whether all of the R class ships still have a cinema or not !!

YIPPEE !!! Me too ! See you in the casino.

It's been much too long since I've been on a Radiance Class ship. They are so elegant.