cruisellama

Dessert

Love the food in this place.

Haven't sailed them, but their ships are the smallest of all RCL's 3 main brands; from what I saw, none carries more than 600 or so passengers. That's going to make for much more intimate sailings and opportunities for the crew to get to know you well (and vice versa), which I would assume translates into higher levels of service and more positive experiences. Celebrity is already noted for having a higher level of service and staff involvement than Royal, and I would only expect Azamara to be higher yet.

I thought all new builds were put on hold? This post shows pics of the keel. Won’t let me post a link so I’ll just screen shot. NB 1400 is the yard number for Icon. Here is a link to Meyer with Icon info: 
https://www.meyerwerft.de/en/ships/n.n._2022.jsp
 

Its really a 2 step process, because as you observed, you have to see the discount on the right category.  I get an alert, then I go to the cruise line website and go the the mock booking process for the same room type I currently have.  If I see a reduced price, I call the TA or the line and execute the discount (or in another case, was able to get an upgraded room).  So the CL alert just gives you a generic ping so then you need to dig down to see if its real.  I only will use the cruise line website after that because its verifiable with the agent.
 
Its easier to use it as a filter/alert so you're not logging into the website and doing mock bookings every day.
 
 

Pictures say a thousands words...
Start here:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14213-empress-b2b-14-nights-on-the-biggest-little-ship-july-2019/&do=findComment&comment=145134
 

Me too (and Numbers)
 

Every 5 to 10 minutes (or so).  As demand and guests vary loads on the trams they introduce some variables for timing but there are several of them continuously doing the circuit around the island.  If a bunch of people with mobility issues slow down one tram loading or unloading it might delay it a minute or two.  

Hypothetical (I hope!) question...
Let's say my wife and I have a booking and for whatever reason we are unable to go. Rather than cancel and lose the non-refundable deposit, can we gift it to another couple and pay any change fees that apply or does one of us need to stay on the booking?
And a Happy 4th July to friends across the pond ? This year there will celebrations in England too... as it's the day that bars and restaurants are allowed to reopen! ? Although I for one am waiting with baited breath to see how sensible the English general public will be about following the rules once the beer starts flowing again ?

I wonder if RC has gone over the idea of just opening the ships up as a resort hotel that doesn’t cruise anywhere not sure if that falls under CDC guidelines. I’d be interested in that idea. Just a thought.

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! We are in 8724, because I read some of the posts here before booking. This site is a great resource. I appreciate all of the advice and expertise. I’m sure I’ll come up with lots of questions over the next 22 months!

Please delete if not allowed!
Do any of you use a vacation planning tool that you can recommend?  
I have a very basic excel document I use to plan cruises but am looking for something more comprehensive that helps keep track of your research start to finish with the first question like what dates or what destination?

I have been reading all of the live blogs others are doing of their Star Class cruise and thought about attempting one, however, I didn’t want to be constantly on my phone blogging about the day’s events or answering questions so mine is going to be an “after the fact” blog!  I am certainly not witty and it likely won’t be as funny or entertaining as others but hope to provide some information for anyone else looking for it.  I will space the posts out so if people have specific questions I can answer them along the way.  I am also currently going through all of my photos so future posts will hopefully have less content and more pictures!
Booking
We booked this cruise over a year ago.  We always try to book early to secure a location we wanted and my SIL asked if we wanted to try Star class this trip since we are celebrating big anniversaries.  The prices of the rooms weren’t that bad on Anthem compared to some of the other ships sailing in March.  We booked and then sometime over the summer, my BIL’s parents and nieces decided to join us and they snagged the last Star Class suite on Deck 10. My Husband, his cousin and myself stayed in GLS 10324, my SIL, BIL and niece were in GLS 10724 and my BIL’s parents and their 2 grand kids were in GLS 10720.
Prior to the Cruise
About a month out we received the generic questionnaire about any special requests, who we would be cruising with and some other random questions.  We were sailing with 10 of us in total in 3 Grand Loft Suites on Deck 10 and requested that we have the same Genie.  We also requested what we wanted stocked in our room for drinks and snacks.
A little over two weeks before the cruise, our Genie, Yen Lee reached out to us introducing herself.  From what I have read about Yen, she will make anything we want happen but we shouldn’t expect any real surprises.  That was completely fine with me because I am not one who likes surprises….I used to open my Christmas presents before Christmas and re-wrap them all again! 
We provided her a spreadsheet of where we wanted reservations for dinner for 4 of the nights and a list of what other things we wanted to do (iFly, Flow Rider, Cupcake Decorating, Rock Climbing, Galley/Bridge/Theater tours, North Star, etc.).  We also asked that the two cabanas we had booked at Chill Island on Cococay be next to one another in the front row (specifically Cabana #4 and #5).  After some back and forth emails between Yen, my SIL and myself, we got a final schedule around 5 days out with everything we wanted scheduled.  She indicated she appreciated the spreadsheet as it made it easier for her to make our final schedule for the week. 
This is what she sent to us:

One thing we had really wanted was to have a lunch set up in one of the suites on embarkation day to avoid all of the crowds.  We know we could have eaten at Coastal Kitchen or any of the specialty restaurants but wanted something in our room. Within 24 hours Yen replied with menus we could order off of (Jaime’s and Chops) along with letting us know we could also order pizza.  I have heard a lot of people were told they couldn’t set up lunch in the room on embarkation day but because we were her only suites, I think it made it easier for her to accommodate us. 

We just did the Trikes Aruba tour and really enjoyed it.  I wrote a review of Freedom in the discussion board if you want to see my write up, I don't know how to link it.  I have never done the other one so I can't comment on which is better.

I got the refunds for my two directly-booked items in Reykjavik, and a slightly painful lesson about the risks one takes in doing anything involving foreign currencies. Because the prices given for both the private transfer to the Blue Lagoon and the tickets to the lagoon itself were given in ISK (Icelandic Kroner), that's the amount used for the actual refund, not what was paid in USD. The exchange rate from ISK to USD has gotten a lot worse from when I originally booked, so my 90% refund on the Blue Lagoon tickets worked out to 78% once converted to USD. And my 100% refund on the private transfer was more like 90%.
I realize there's nothing I can do about it, this was just a lesson I had to learn about foreign travel. But I want others here to be aware. Only advice I can give is to wait until you're as close to the date of the thing you want to book as you're comfortable doing, assuming it's not something wildly popular that's known to sell out way in advance. That way, you can hopefully minimize any big swings in the exchange rate if you find yourself needing to cancel.
If I had any other net losses around this trip I would leverage my trip insurance to see if that would cover the gap, but it's less than what I paid for the policy so I'd rather still carry the policy over to next year's rebooked date.

Congratulations !!  Star Class is awesome.
Yes, Labadee still has an exclusive Suites beach, but unfortunately, Coco Cay does not.  There really isn't anything exclusive for suites at Coco Cay unless you want to pay for access to the Beach Club.  Normal fees apply for access to the waterpark, beach beds and cabanas.  Star Class does not include those.
You will be able to use your Deluxe Beverage Package at any of the bars on Coco Cay and to be honest, I do not know if your Star Class benefits allow you to eat the wings at Cap'n Jack's or not.  We don't eat wings so we've never tried to eat at Cap'n Jack's.  My guess is you would be able to eat there without a charge, but I really do not know.

No perks at this time for Star Class guests on CocoCay. Think the exception has been the Ultimate Family Suite on Symphony getting waterpark passes.
Also, reserve a cabana online in advance if you plan on getting one. Your Genie has no ability to book a cabana if they are sold out prior to sailing.

With a heavy heart, it's officially confirmed that Royal is suspending operations for the next 30 days. We have not received the official email or communication from Royal, but it is on their Press Release website and the front page of royalcaribbeanblog.com
We were literally hours from heading to the airport this evening. Not sure what we are gonna do now - maybe a quick trip elsewhere - or just stay home.
Our next cruise is June on the Oasis. We changed from the new Ultimate Panoramic Suite to the Owner's Panoramic Suite. After reading several reviews and watching videos, the UPS seemed like it was a novelty that wore off after a day or so. The lack of balcony and the living room that is essentially an interior room eventually got to me. Some of the reviews also mentioned the noise from the solarium. Back to Deck 17 it is for the Owner's Panoramic!
My first live blog has officially died before it even began ? Stay safe everyone!!

Alright gals and guys....Long time listener, first time caller.
Heading to the Anthem March 15, 2020. We are in the Owner's Loft Suite. We normally do a Crown Loft on the Oasis Class and this is a change for us - our first Quantum Class and first Star Class experience. We are a young married gay couple who live in the midwest. We used to vacation twice a year in Hawaii, but have recently been converted to cruising! Even without going on a Star Class, we already have 6 other Star Class cruises booked throughout Feb 2022.
I have thoroughly enjoyed everyone's live blogs highlighting the in's and out's of Star Class and hope that our experiences will help someone in the future. English is my first language - but I am not a skilled storyteller like most of you guys here! So bear with me as I try my best to document our experiences.
We booked this while onboard the Allure back in September 2019. Initially in a corner Grand Loft; however after reading about a lot of frustrations with the corner loft, we were a bit nervous. In December, I noticed the Owner's Loft was suddenly available and grabbed that (without telling my husband). He maybe still doesn't know those details! LOL
We got the generic survey from RCCL on January 27. Thanks to all the fine folks of the various blogs and Facebook groups, I already had my answers typed and ready to go! Within minutes of receiving it, I sent back our replies.
On February 16 our genie reached out to us with fairly standard "Hello" email - asking us to book Shore Excursions and Spa appointments. We got Yen and I feel very confident that the feedback and reviews from her are going to make us have a wonderful vacation. Communication has been a bit challenging, but we aren't worried. I know they have families onboard as well as multiple families planning their voyage. I have been very literal in the email communication (as that was the feedback from several cruisers) and each email has been responded to with a short and simple answer.
We are flying out on Saturday and staying at the Marriott at the Newark Airport and have a car service taking us to the port early in the morning. Yen sent detailed instructions on where to go and how to get our bags through security. The room won't be ready until 1pm (so she says, but I'm hopeful that it will be sooner). Yen arranged lunch for us at Chops at 11:30am. As it's our first time on QN class, we will be exploring the ship.
We booked an Over Water Cabana at CocoCay - the price dropped dramatically since we first booked it and did the whole "cancel and rebook it" and ended up saving almost $800. That just means I have $800 more to spend at the Casino!
If anyone has any additional tips, tricks, or helpful things to know about the Owner's Loft Suite or Star Class that might not be blogged anywhere else - please let me know! I look forward to doing my best to share our experiences later this month!

I have sent this to my brother, mother, and wife for collective lulz. ?