WAAAYTOOO

T - 10 days to boarding. The anticipation is building everyday. Does the days seem longer all of a sudden?
Initial packing has started, pulling suitcases out of musty stores after being neglected for so long. Feels surreal that I’m actually packing for a trip of any sort. 
 
Luggage tags printed and at the ready. 

My pattern from past operations seems to be holding. I need the pain meds like clockwork for some period of time, and after that it’s like some switch has flipped and I more or less don’t need them at all, except to sleep for another couple of nights.
Today, only 3 days post surgery, that switch has already flipped. My last pain meds were at 6:30 AM and I haven’t needed anything since then. If I hold to pattern I’ll just need something for sleep tonight and maybe tomorrow, and then I’ll probably be done beyond taking Advil.

And why the heck is there suddenly a page about the merits of robovacs in the middle of my live blog?!? ??

I did a lift and shift this morning for our New England / Canada cruise for late September.  The new requirements were for the same ship.  However, the ship has been changed for that cruise.  When I called, everything went very smooth.  Changing ship was not an issue.  Even the hold time was short, less than 5 minutes.
 

Somewhere around a decade ago on a Carnival ship from San Juan they offered embarkations in Barbados as well as San Juan on that itinerary.  I remember seeing victims guests do their muster as we returned feeling little pain from the Jolly Roger in Barbados.
P&O has used Barbados as a home port as well.
Barbados has a long history in this role.  Warehouses are in close proximity to one side of the cruise ship harbor so resupply isn't a challenge.
I can see the appeal for Royal to move a ship the size of Grandeur with no other clear place to move her.  Barbados could prove to be a smart call as a home port for this ship.    

What happened to that suggestion

This is the best advice you will get.  Star Class, by its very definition, is designed to be a personalized experience.  While the overall "rules" are fairly consistent, the specific amenities do tend to vary by ship and even among Genies on the same ship.  A very good example of this is that some ships allowed Starbucks to be delivered to the suites and some do not. Whether this is a Genie-thing or a ship-thing isn't readily apparent to me. I've never asked for this service so I don't know the particulars.
On the other hand, it never hurts to learn from others what THEIR experience was and then you at least have some idea of what to expect.  But as @Lovetocruise2002said, don't let your expectations turn into disappointments if you find that something you have heard about from the past does not come to fruition for you.
What the Genie absolutely will do is help you with planning your days and nights (if you want help !!) with things like specialty dining reservations (or even MDR reservations if that is your choice), entertainment venue seating, help with onshore excursions (this will be dependent upon how shore excursions are organized when cruising returns) and personal escorts onto and off of the ship, as needed.  One of the most important (but hopefully infrequently used !) services that a Genie can offer is related to onboard charges.  If you have a charge on your account that you have a question about, your Genie can help sort it out without you having to go to Guest Services.  My last Genie (Jan 2020, Oasis) told us that she would be personally insulted if she caught us in the GS line.  It was a joke, of course, but she was making sure that we realized that there was nothing related to GS that she could not address for us.  It CAN be a huge help.  We had an issue with our credit card on one cruise a number of years ago and the Genie took the issue all the way to the Chief Financial Officer onboard before it got fixed.  The ship's CFO came to our suite personally to apologize for the problem and make sure we knew it had been solved.  Interestingly enough, that last story actually involved 2 different Genies onboard that ship.  Our Genie had originally addressed the issue and thought it had been solved and then we found out later that day that the issue had NOT been solved so we marched down to GS (hoppin' mad, BTW) and one of the other Genies recognized us as SC guests and asked if he could help.  It was actually that second Genie (Sebastian) who escalated the issue up to the top and finally got it solved.  So you don't JUST have 1 Genie....all of the Genies onboard are there to help if you need it.  What a great feeling !
I've never had a bad Genie.  Going along the lines of what @Lovetocruise2002mentioned, each has their own strengths. For instance, the best, BY FAR, party-planning Genie that we have ever had is Reyno.  He LOVES a party and he is really good at it.  We've had him twice as a Genie.  Yen Lee has been our Genie twice and she is excellent.  I believe Yen is now on Quantum, but I am not 100% certain of that.  Our last Genie was Joyce and she is a HOOT !  She is by far the most fun Genie we ever had...she is a ball of energy and very very personal...in a good way.  She's a chatterbox and you will get a lot of juicy ship scuttlebutt from her.  LOL  Sebastian is all business (as is Yen) but also a very good Genie.  We did not have Sebastian plan a party for us but my guess is that he would have been great at it.  Probably our favorite Genie was Charlie, who no longer works for Royal, unfortunately.  He had the most attention to detail (which I find to be a strong Genie trait) of all of the Genies we've had.  Any time we had room service he would make sure that the table was properly prepared with table cloth and cute little personalized place cards and left small little personal gifts everywhere...even the seats that he reserved for us in the theater.  Indirectly we had Alexandra (I think that was her name).  She was the Genie for friends that we were cruising with on one of our cruises where Reyno was our Genie.  They worked together to plan some dynamite parties.  OMG, that was a party cruise !  Unfortunately, Alex is no longer with Royal either.
Anticipating a Star Class cruise is easily as exciting as actually being on a SC cruise.  You will have an entire month of direct comm with your Genie before you board.  That is the time to let them know your wishes (exception being the Cabin Crawl party that we discussed in another thread).  The Genie will give you a good indication of which wishes they can accommodate and which they cannot.  Keep in mind that there may well be changes to the Genie program when cruising resumes.  While I do not have any knowledge of how things might change, it is my impression (gut feeling) that having a Genie in the future is going to be an even bigger advantage than it has in the past...but that's just a guess.

Please don't tell anyone, but we also booked the follow-on to this cruise with the first VY CAN/NE cruise (9-18-22).

Red bull and Vodkas.......keep this room stocked at all times ?
Traveling Star is so nice......you may have trouble sailing on ships that don't offer it.

If they don't take that one, how about Live Blog of the Seas?

I submitted Hochberg of the Seas as a suggestion but I never heard back.

This is the best advice you will get.  Star Class, by its very definition, is designed to be a personalized experience.  While the overall "rules" are fairly consistent, the specific amenities do tend to vary by ship and even among Genies on the same ship.  A very good example of this is that some ships allowed Starbucks to be delivered to the suites and some do not. Whether this is a Genie-thing or a ship-thing isn't readily apparent to me. I've never asked for this service so I don't know the particulars.
On the other hand, it never hurts to learn from others what THEIR experience was and then you at least have some idea of what to expect.  But as @Lovetocruise2002said, don't let your expectations turn into disappointments if you find that something you have heard about from the past does not come to fruition for you.
What the Genie absolutely will do is help you with planning your days and nights (if you want help !!) with things like specialty dining reservations (or even MDR reservations if that is your choice), entertainment venue seating, help with onshore excursions (this will be dependent upon how shore excursions are organized when cruising returns) and personal escorts onto and off of the ship, as needed.  One of the most important (but hopefully infrequently used !) services that a Genie can offer is related to onboard charges.  If you have a charge on your account that you have a question about, your Genie can help sort it out without you having to go to Guest Services.  My last Genie (Jan 2020, Oasis) told us that she would be personally insulted if she caught us in the GS line.  It was a joke, of course, but she was making sure that we realized that there was nothing related to GS that she could not address for us.  It CAN be a huge help.  We had an issue with our credit card on one cruise a number of years ago and the Genie took the issue all the way to the Chief Financial Officer onboard before it got fixed.  The ship's CFO came to our suite personally to apologize for the problem and make sure we knew it had been solved.  Interestingly enough, that last story actually involved 2 different Genies onboard that ship.  Our Genie had originally addressed the issue and thought it had been solved and then we found out later that day that the issue had NOT been solved so we marched down to GS (hoppin' mad, BTW) and one of the other Genies recognized us as SC guests and asked if he could help.  It was actually that second Genie (Sebastian) who escalated the issue up to the top and finally got it solved.  So you don't JUST have 1 Genie....all of the Genies onboard are there to help if you need it.  What a great feeling !
I've never had a bad Genie.  Going along the lines of what @Lovetocruise2002mentioned, each has their own strengths. For instance, the best, BY FAR, party-planning Genie that we have ever had is Reyno.  He LOVES a party and he is really good at it.  We've had him twice as a Genie.  Yen Lee has been our Genie twice and she is excellent.  I believe Yen is now on Quantum, but I am not 100% certain of that.  Our last Genie was Joyce and she is a HOOT !  She is by far the most fun Genie we ever had...she is a ball of energy and very very personal...in a good way.  She's a chatterbox and you will get a lot of juicy ship scuttlebutt from her.  LOL  Sebastian is all business (as is Yen) but also a very good Genie.  We did not have Sebastian plan a party for us but my guess is that he would have been great at it.  Probably our favorite Genie was Charlie, who no longer works for Royal, unfortunately.  He had the most attention to detail (which I find to be a strong Genie trait) of all of the Genies we've had.  Any time we had room service he would make sure that the table was properly prepared with table cloth and cute little personalized place cards and left small little personal gifts everywhere...even the seats that he reserved for us in the theater.  Indirectly we had Alexandra (I think that was her name).  She was the Genie for friends that we were cruising with on one of our cruises where Reyno was our Genie.  They worked together to plan some dynamite parties.  OMG, that was a party cruise !  Unfortunately, Alex is no longer with Royal either.
Anticipating a Star Class cruise is easily as exciting as actually being on a SC cruise.  You will have an entire month of direct comm with your Genie before you board.  That is the time to let them know your wishes (exception being the Cabin Crawl party that we discussed in another thread).  The Genie will give you a good indication of which wishes they can accommodate and which they cannot.  Keep in mind that there may well be changes to the Genie program when cruising resumes.  While I do not have any knowledge of how things might change, it is my impression (gut feeling) that having a Genie in the future is going to be an even bigger advantage than it has in the past...but that's just a guess.

Great advice from everyone!  Honestly the more I think about it @twangsterand @Lovetocruise2002are probably right about Covid.  I probably need to be slightly more realistic but I am just dreaming of partying like @Matt and @WAAAYTOOO LOL.  I appreciate the advice and at the end of the day, it is great to just have open and candid discussions about cruising.  I literally am in cruise withdrawal lol.

I didn't get the email but I logged into clubroyaleoffers.com and the offer is there for me.  Mine is $300 off any sailing during the specified times and 3 or 4 comped nights in Vegas, $75 Free Play, plus resort credit for food and beverages.  

I miss the good old days when the only people who got sick on cabin crawls was from too many tequila shots!

Lady Boaty??
 
?

Considering that Italy was one of the hardest hit countries at the beginning of the plague, it is notable that they are among the first to get "normal" cruising up and running.  It's nice to see !

I STILL WANT BMcBFOTS!!! ?

The sailing isn't complimentary. Just $75 off with 1-4 comped nights in Vegas depending on the hotel. Like I said, I'm pretty far down the casino's player ranks though. I'm sure there are better offers for those further up the club status chain.

Hey, to each their own with provolone. I get why people are in to it, I just want no part of it. 
The first time I went on a cruise about 10 years ago, I was active in my Cruise Critic roll call before hand, and had a plan to get together for a party on the first day. Time came and I realized I had no desire to actually meet people and I just went to the pool for a pina colada and my book instead ? I travel for a living and am always around people when I travel for work, so when it comes to vacation, it's time for my wife and I to be alone...even if there are thousands of other people around us. 

Cabin crawls that involve @Mattalways fall into the memorable and fun category. ?

Guilty. lol
It's actually the Canada one.  I was disappointed because we lost the 9 night Canada/NE in July 2020.  This June, we are going to lose the Canada sailing on Oasis.  So while I don't love the 4 night (too short) to one port only, the dates work out well with our anniversary, it takes us to the east coast, and it's Adventure so we figured we'll just extend the trip by spending a few days in NYC pre-cruise.  I will have to look for a 9 night Canada/NE sailing another year when it doesn't conflict with my work schedule.  I don't know why they are only doing them in September/October in 2022.
If Hubby and I can both get vaccinated in time (he's Phase 1 and I should be Phase 2), we are going to the Rockies this summer.  Staying in Canada, but at least we can get away for a bit.

Please don't tell anyone, but we also booked the follow-on to this cruise with the first VY CAN/NE cruise (9-18-22).

This is the best advice you will get.  Star Class, by its very definition, is designed to be a personalized experience.  While the overall "rules" are fairly consistent, the specific amenities do tend to vary by ship and even among Genies on the same ship.  A very good example of this is that some ships allowed Starbucks to be delivered to the suites and some do not. Whether this is a Genie-thing or a ship-thing isn't readily apparent to me. I've never asked for this service so I don't know the particulars.
On the other hand, it never hurts to learn from others what THEIR experience was and then you at least have some idea of what to expect.  But as @Lovetocruise2002said, don't let your expectations turn into disappointments if you find that something you have heard about from the past does not come to fruition for you.
What the Genie absolutely will do is help you with planning your days and nights (if you want help !!) with things like specialty dining reservations (or even MDR reservations if that is your choice), entertainment venue seating, help with onshore excursions (this will be dependent upon how shore excursions are organized when cruising returns) and personal escorts onto and off of the ship, as needed.  One of the most important (but hopefully infrequently used !) services that a Genie can offer is related to onboard charges.  If you have a charge on your account that you have a question about, your Genie can help sort it out without you having to go to Guest Services.  My last Genie (Jan 2020, Oasis) told us that she would be personally insulted if she caught us in the GS line.  It was a joke, of course, but she was making sure that we realized that there was nothing related to GS that she could not address for us.  It CAN be a huge help.  We had an issue with our credit card on one cruise a number of years ago and the Genie took the issue all the way to the Chief Financial Officer onboard before it got fixed.  The ship's CFO came to our suite personally to apologize for the problem and make sure we knew it had been solved.  Interestingly enough, that last story actually involved 2 different Genies onboard that ship.  Our Genie had originally addressed the issue and thought it had been solved and then we found out later that day that the issue had NOT been solved so we marched down to GS (hoppin' mad, BTW) and one of the other Genies recognized us as SC guests and asked if he could help.  It was actually that second Genie (Sebastian) who escalated the issue up to the top and finally got it solved.  So you don't JUST have 1 Genie....all of the Genies onboard are there to help if you need it.  What a great feeling !
I've never had a bad Genie.  Going along the lines of what @Lovetocruise2002mentioned, each has their own strengths. For instance, the best, BY FAR, party-planning Genie that we have ever had is Reyno.  He LOVES a party and he is really good at it.  We've had him twice as a Genie.  Yen Lee has been our Genie twice and she is excellent.  I believe Yen is now on Quantum, but I am not 100% certain of that.  Our last Genie was Joyce and she is a HOOT !  She is by far the most fun Genie we ever had...she is a ball of energy and very very personal...in a good way.  She's a chatterbox and you will get a lot of juicy ship scuttlebutt from her.  LOL  Sebastian is all business (as is Yen) but also a very good Genie.  We did not have Sebastian plan a party for us but my guess is that he would have been great at it.  Probably our favorite Genie was Charlie, who no longer works for Royal, unfortunately.  He had the most attention to detail (which I find to be a strong Genie trait) of all of the Genies we've had.  Any time we had room service he would make sure that the table was properly prepared with table cloth and cute little personalized place cards and left small little personal gifts everywhere...even the seats that he reserved for us in the theater.  Indirectly we had Alexandra (I think that was her name).  She was the Genie for friends that we were cruising with on one of our cruises where Reyno was our Genie.  They worked together to plan some dynamite parties.  OMG, that was a party cruise !  Unfortunately, Alex is no longer with Royal either.
Anticipating a Star Class cruise is easily as exciting as actually being on a SC cruise.  You will have an entire month of direct comm with your Genie before you board.  That is the time to let them know your wishes (exception being the Cabin Crawl party that we discussed in another thread).  The Genie will give you a good indication of which wishes they can accommodate and which they cannot.  Keep in mind that there may well be changes to the Genie program when cruising resumes.  While I do not have any knowledge of how things might change, it is my impression (gut feeling) that having a Genie in the future is going to be an even bigger advantage than it has in the past...but that's just a guess.