sammy79

No, the Genie’s tip is not included in your fare or in your gratuity.
The Genie is excellent at helping arrange activities for all guests but they are not babysitters (realizing that in your situation they are not “babies”).  On standby ?  Not sure I understand the question but rest assured, they are there to help you enjoy your cruise.  Genies can be elusive, if that’s what you want, or they can be very involved with your schedule, if that’s what you want.
Genies will help with scheduling meals, arrange for snacks to be delivered to your suite, arrange reserved seating for theater events, etc.  Basically, anything for which you need a reservation.  Yes, they are super-charged concierges.
Have you read any of the Star Class live blogs on this site ?  There are many and they will really give you a great idea of what the Genie does.
Enjoy your SC cruise on Allure.  Your grandsons are very lucky and frankly, they are the perfect age for enjoying the benefits of a Genie.

So I think we are now up to the special treat for the wife.
I know I have been hinting at sparkly things that we have been looking for, and not having any luck.
But.....
But............
We went another route. I really did want to treat her, to something special. She recently got a big promotion at work that she worked so hard for, and it was really a wonderful thing for this position to become available in her company, and in this location so that we wouldn't have to relocate....plus she deserves it from putting up with me🤣 right @TheBoss518
So may I present to you Luis....

She is beyond excited....and can't wait for work on Wednesday to show it off a little bit.
For all of you that were hoping on sparkly things...FEAR NOT!!!! I have found the exact thing that she was looking for on the Effy site and I have ordered it!

Following Chops, we headed to the theater to watch Columbus the Musical. This is the story of the hapless distant relative of Christopher Columbus, Marvin as he tries to find his way, and "not let his father down"
The story follows him along as he captains a ship, meets goofy sharks, deals with pirates, and finds love...and all ends in a goofy sequence 600 years in the future.
The set is amazing, and the productions is really good, and was thoroughly entertaining. People of all ages will like the show because most of the music is modern and recognizable.
Its sill, fun, and a do not miss. 

Never made it there. 🙁 For some reason on most of the Western itineraries out of PC that stop at Costa Maya, you are only there until 2pm and if I'm paying for all you can eat (and drink), I just can't go to an AI beach club knowing I can't stay too far past noon and give myself a nice buffer to get back to the port. If I was ever forced to be a pier-runner, even as a pre-vintage, I'd probably injure myself during the run and I don't think you can get an Alpha call on the pier.
We went to a smaller club on a last minute cruise a long time ago (Maya Chan was fully booked) and LOVED it. Been waiting to either go back to that one or try Maya Chan but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. Oh well. Looking forward Paradise Beach in Cozumel where @Jax was recently.

Docked next to us was the Mein Schiff 6, and all I can say is those Germans are a different breed. Yes I know Europeans have a different view on bodies and modesty butttttt….🤣 (no pun intended)
Let me introduce exhibit A 

Then this lady made an appearance…..at least they looked clean….

the worst offender was a vintage male on a lower deck wearing just a robe…..he crossed his legs flashing the twig and giggle berries one to many times for it to be an accident.
As we sailed away the number of people coming out on their balcony in just their underwear was comical. 

Woke up really early today, so let’s get caught up here. 
 
Thursday found us in Costa Maya. Our friends had said they hated this cruise port because every excursion they have ever done here they did not like. I told them to book Maya Chan (IYKYK) with us. It will be a great time, so that’s what they did.
We all met early up in CK for breakfast and then headed off the ship.
If you have not been to Maya Chan, or if it’s been a while, you have to get yourself out of the port, and find their meeting area. This meeting spot has been moved in recent years, but is still easy to get to. Their email instructions are simple to follow, and they send you a map.

 
It’s a decent walk, but unless you mobility aides it’s very easy. 
 
Once at their meeting location you are assigned a cab, and taken to the resort. All transportation to and from the port is included. Drop off when returning it inside the port gates, so you don’t have to do that walk again.
For the ride over, the road is in shambles so it’s very bumpy in spots, but as they say, getting there is 1/2 the adventure. We were split into two different cabs for our trip over. Dan and his family ended up ahead of us. The whole way over I was thinking to myself, I should have emailed them to say to put them with us. (Each group is assigned their own cabana)
When we got there, we were surprised to see them in our spot, in one of the larger group cabanas. Clearly one of us did reach out to say to put us together.
Pretty quickly, the kids all got together and realized they were going to have fun. They discovered the tree house and made full use of it.

One of the attendants came along for drink orders and said
“Would you like a BBC?”
Dan: “Would I Ever!”
So here is a picture of Dan with an BBC in his mouth. The guys at the firehouse absolutely loved this image, with the above exchange included.

Full disclosure, I ordered one as well. Dan saw me put my phone down after taking the picture and was mad I beat him to the punch. 
 
Now at Maya Chan, their BBC stands for Banana, Bailey’s and Chocolate. There is a whole other meaning that is definitely not appropriate to type out here, but made my adolescent mind giggle with glee as I sent that photo off. If you do not know the double entendre here…..Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT. Google “BBC meaning” from a work device, or with freeloaders around.
Better yet, just send me a private message and I’ll tell you. You don’t want that search in your history, nor the images that will inevitably come up.
Shenanigan meter 8
pretty soon we entered full relaxation mode as you saw earlier.

We have wrestled with trying this place but we have one in our traveling party who has issues with garlic and onions, but only sometimes, so Italian is always dangerous. It's even more dangerous when it is more than two steps away from the hotel front door 😆

Day Two - Miami
We started the day with the Hampton's usual included breakfast. The last time we stayed here (pre-Covid), they had a wonderful fruit salad at breakfast but, sadly, that was missing this time around. That did not stop us from enjoying fuelling up, though. The coffee was very good. They had a dark roast and a light roast as well as decaf, so we took full advantage of it, knowing that we would be unlikely to get any decent coffee on board the ship. There are all the usual continental items, with cold meats and cheeses, cereal, fresh fruit and various types of bread. Plus hot items that change daily; DH said his omelette was very good. I looked for them the next day and it was scrambled eggs instead, so I missed out. And there is a make-your-own waffle station too.
Just in case it matters to anyone, the plates and cutlery are the disposable type.

We had a full day today in Miami and we had decided to do the ho-ho bus to try and see some stuff we hadn't got round to or had only had a fleeting glance at on our previous visit, most notably Wynwood Walls and Little Havana.
The weather was looking rather unfriendly first thing in the morning and someone (hint: wasn't me!) thought he should dress for a cooler day... By the time we arrived at Bayside, the sun was out and it was pretty warm and that someone realised he hadn't made the best of wardrobe choices! 😂

In the interests of comfort, given that he had a thick long-sleeved t-shirt on underneath all that stuff, we ended up going back to the hotel so he could change. We reckoned this would cost us maybe 45 minutes tops. Wrong. This was where we fell foul of the changes in the metromover schedule. By the time we'd figured out what was going on, changed trains twice and waited for a then delayed inner loop train, it was 90 minutes before we got back to Bayside and onto the bus. This would subsequently impact the rest of the day.
First stop was Miami Beach where we had a nice wander with a few rest stops in shady spots, eventually followed by an instantly forgettable hot dog with fries that were UNforgettable, not to mention inedible, because of how salty they were. The place was called Redhead Burger. I wouldn't recommend it.
Rest stop with the beach gym equipment. I did not use it, other than as a backdrop.

After lunch we headed back to the bus. The traffic was horrendous and we realised we weren't going to be able to make it to both Wynwood Walls and Little Havana, so we opted to leave Wynwood for a future visit because at least we could see some of the street murals from the bus as we were driving through the area. I think next time I will book us a hotel in the Wynwood area to make sure we don't miss out again.
We enjoyed wandering up and down the main street in Little Havana, cheekily popped into the domino club to use their bathrooms and then indulged in an ice cream from the place with a giant ice cream cone on the wall outside. It was too early for dinner (for us, anyway) so we headed back to the hotel for a pre-dinner rest.
I posted recently here on the boards about restaurants near the Hampton Inn Brickell but I'll just add the information here too, in case it might be useful to anyone who didn't see that thread.
There are several restaurants in immediate walking distance even if you are not very mobile. Turn right out of the main door and there is a Vietnamese place right next door, although it looked like a kind of fast-food place, then there is Sergio's Cuban, the Batch Gastro Pub that @AshleyDillo likes and, on the corner, a place called Alma Rosa which, from the menu, might have been Mexican or Peruvian. It looked quite nice. Just past there was where we ended up, an Italian place called Piola. 
The pizzas were good and reasonably priced but they were too big for us. We could have shared one with a side salad and that would have been the perfect amount. We sat outside on the covered terrace and it was very pleasant. There was a saxophonist playing for part of the time we were there. We were at the far end of the terrace from him so the music wasn't too loud, but it wasn't gentle either; I think if we'd been closer to him, it might have been uncomfortable. At least he played well!

Capricciosa pizza:

And Como pizza:

For information's sake, there are also some eating places if you turn left out of the hotel: Coyotaco and an upscale-looking place with valet parking called Marion. Just beyond that there was another (I think Mexican) whose name escapes me and a 7/11 store for last-minute essentials.
By now, jet-lag and the day's exploring had taken their toll so like the well-behaved pre-vintages that we are, we toddled off back to the hotel for another night's rest before moving to Fort Lauderdale the next day for our final pre-cruise night.

The metromover is very handy. During our stay, the Brickell line was out of service so they had combined the Omni (?) and Brickell services into one, called Full Loop. This didn't affect us heading into Bayside but caused us a lot of confusion on the way back. I'm guessing it was a temporary thing for whatever reason.

We like staying at Hampton in Brickell. My son loves to ride the metromover. 

It's been a while since I've done one of these and there doesn't seem to have been a recent one covering Symphony's current 8-night itineraries down to Aruba and Curaçao, so in the interests of a) being useful and b) reliving our recent cruise - just disembarked this past Sunday 😭, I thought, why not?
So, Day One - Travelling from Custard Tart Land (aka Portugal) to Miami, Florida.
 As per usual, our travel itinerary had us flying from Faro, our local airport in Southern Portugal, via Lisbon to Miami.
Take off. The watery area below is a renowned wetland zone called the Ria Formosa, which translates to "beautiful estuary", and which is famed for its wildlife, especially birds.

As usual, we were flying on the Portuguese flag carrier, TAP. Unusually, however, they had two flights going out on this day, so instead of flying up to Lisbon the night before and then out to Miami the next day, we saved on the hotel cost by "enduring" a five-hour layover in Lisbon. It actually wasn't too bad; Lisbon has some decent shops and restaurants to keep you occupied.
We had lunch at our favourite eatery, the Cockpit. If you ever have a layover in Lisbon over a mealtime I recommend it. They have a small seating area with table service or you can order at the counter and eat in the food court. Our preferred choice is the "Prego com presunto e ovo estrelado" in the "Snacks" section of the menu. (They do have a menu available in English). This is a beefsteak sandwich, topped with dry-cured ham and a fried egg, and served with what they call "country" fries. Very yummy and very filling. However, if you still have room for dessert, there's a great pastry shop right next door... 😈


After lunch, we found a good spot to rest up until it was time for our flight. You do have to hunt a bit for these seats. They're located near the electronic passport gates, but before your go through them. There is also a coffee shop and a toilet that are not nearly as crowded as the main departure lounge area.

Finally on board. We paid extra for emergency exit seats for some extra space and comfort (business class being well over our budget). Well worth it.


TAP includes food on transatlantic flights. The timing of this flight meant we had dinner and a late-night snack just before arrival into Miami. The dinner (chicken stroganoff) looks pretty disgusting but it was actually quite nice. TAP economy catering is generally edible unlike some other airlines.


The flight itself was uneventful and it landed just a little behind schedule, something of an achievement for TAP, who must have one of the worst punctuality records in the business.
Immigration was the quickest we've ever had at Miami, thanks to the timing of the flight; landing around 10 pm, there were no other international flights arriving to that terminal. the luggage seemed to take forever to come through but to be fair it was probably only about 15 minutes and we were soon in a Lyft on our way to our hotel.
I had previously linked my Hilton and Lyft accounts. This gets you Hilton points for each Lyft journey.
We were staying for two nights at the Hampton Inn in Brickell. I had booked a standard king room but we were upgraded to a king studio. I don't really know why, possibly because I had cashed in some points in part payment.
I'd checked in on the Hilton app ahead of time so I was able to choose our room and having stayed here before I knew which area would give us the best "view" if you can really call it that.



By this time, we'd been up and on the go for 22 hours so we literally dropped our bags and fell into bed for a good night's sleep before a full day out and about in Miami the following day.
 
 

Yes. My TA added it last Tuesday, the day after I made the previous post, and I sailed Saturday. As long as you booked before they changed the rate, and you pre-pay before sailing, the old rate will still be honoured. 

I priced out some candidates for summer '25 and spring break '26.   Those will by far be the most expensive cruises I've ever booked when booking a year plus in advance.

I had high hopes for the LA cruises coming out next week, but I fear those will be the same

or is it the new normal  😪

Cape Liberty is up.
Ouch!
Did a few quickies. February 2026…a solo balcony is six hundred more than a single in a regular midship balcony.🤔
 

Hello again!! In the words of @SweetPea, do we REALLY need another week long Star Class cruise report on Oasis Class?

I certainly hope so, because here we are again. After great blogs by @Jax and @Yesiamthere highlighting their trips on HOS, it's now our turn, in you guessed it, a ATS2BR. I hope to keep this fun and lighthearted.
Get ready for some shenanigans and other tomfoolery that will rival what @Ampurp85 and @asquared17 experience. Will it approach #starclassbehavingbadly? We shall see. 

Who:
Myself, The Boss, Heather, Lydia and Johnathan. Sadly my sister Julie is not joining us. For some silly reason she has decided to be responsible and try to save money so that she can buy a house.
What/Where:
We are sailing on Harmony of the Seas out of Galveston. It is the typical Western Caribbean route.
Feb 17 - Arrive in Houston and head to Galveston
Feb 18 - Cruise day!!
Feb 19 - Sea Day
Feb 20 - Sea Day
Feb 21 - Roatan
Feb 22 - Costa Maya
Feb 23 - Cozumel
Feb 24 - Sea Day
Feb 25 - Eviction Day etc
Feb 26 - Back to reality
Flights:
Flying Southwest into Hobby the day before. We initially had Delta flights booked through Air2Sea, but swapped to Southwest when their schedule was published. We were able to get more convenient flight times, and at a better rate. We are staying an extra day and flying back on Monday which helps as well.
Pre-Cruise plans:
We arrive in Houston at 7:30pm. We are driving to Galveston that night. We grabbed a Tru by Hilton right on the beach. The Boss has status with Hilton due to her job travels so we always go that route. Nothing fancy since we are really only there to sleep for the night. Since we are staying the extra day, we rented a car for the week. Due to corporate discounts  courtesy of The Boss’s job and the fact that nothing is open early on Sunday mornings, it was actually more cost effective and convenient than two one way rentals, or doing a bunch of Ubers etc.
Cabin:
We really like the ATS2BR. We are on deck 8. The Boss loves the balcony and those Aft views. We also really like to watch the Aquatheater show from there. Johnny already said that since its not Aqua80 so we will probably hate every minute though. IYKYK. We had considered moving up to deck 17 since my sister wasn’t going to come with us, but by the time that decision was made the two star lofts were already booked. We also had tossed around the idea of inviting other family/friends so keeping the ATS was needed. Someday we will try the gated community.
Post-cruise plans:
We are going to go to Moody Gardens on Sunday after getting off the ship. The rest of the day we will play it by ear. Lydia mentioned she wants to find a good BBQ place for dinner so if anyone has any suggestions that would be great. I have a few people that I know down there that I will also be reaching out to. That night, we are staying in another Hilton by the airport. Our flight home is early in the AM, so being close to the airport is key. The Boss is not a morning person.

Wish they would mix it up every now and then and offer a 7 day itinerary for Allure and Utopia.    Booking a 3d/4d B2B to the same places is not quite the same.

i jinxed myself. 
we have a service dog aboard that i am 99.99% certain IS NOT a service dog; an insane lack of overhead space due to emergency equipment??? and under seat storage that you can’t fit anything under. 
also…… there’s this……
 

Same and no ATS balcony to watch it from. Lol 

Next thoughts:
Would we sail Icon again? 
The answer is yes, with our kids because I am sure they will love it more than Oasis class. Thrill Island being one of the major reasons why. And they love crepes too.
Would we sail Icon again if we factor in inflated pricing?
This is where we are struggling. If you look at most of my dislikes, they involve the suites & suite areas. Because I am the type of cruiser that I am, this is a huge factor for me to consider. But know that this is me, and not everyone else. For example, my kids who don’t care at all about suite amenities, will likely prefer this class, same as Hubby. 
While I don’t dislike Icon, I personally think that I would just be as happy on Oasis class, and my money will go a bit further on Oasis class. I have zero use for a lot of the new amenities on this ship. But again, that is because I am the type of cruiser that I am. 

Hubby thinks that Icon does justify the inflated cost, because it is a better product, better amenities, but no more than 1.5 times the cost compared to Oasis class. That would be the high end. 
Overall, if you are looking for a new product, Icon delivers. There are enough differences from Oasis class to make it interesting. It is not just a bigger Oasis class ship, it is different. 
 

I went down to the casino to turn all my loose change into dollars. I was reminded to convert my points to freeplay so I couldn't let that go to waste.  I charged another $100 go the room, too..oops.
Ended up $130 ahead for the night, not too bad.  Makes the last night cruise blues a little easier to swallow.
They already put the balloons up in the Promenade for the next sailing 😭

Goodnight all…it’s been a great voyage! Final thoughts coming tomorrow. 
 

I'm down in the Music Hall watching Phoenix..but moreso watching this one guy in front living his best life playing air drums and guitar like he's the sixth member of the band.

Random thoughts, questions...
Anyone on this sailing also on the Inaugural Star of the Seas sailing? Will you still go?
Ben and David did a video stating Royal capped this sailing and a few more moving forward at 80%. Can you honestly see yourself on this ship at 100% ? I am truly curious because while I love to sail, I'm confident this type of ship isn't for me. 
It's perplexing to me why Royal puts their suites and suites neighborhoods where they do. 
On the older classes they are under the pool deck, on this in the front. I'm finding I'm a fan of deck 17 Oasis class more now then ever. 
 

I agree, it is depressing. To make matters worse airfare from Calgary to Florida is more than double than to Texas and hotels are 2+ times more expensive than in Texas. I wish there were more OA/QN class options from Texas. I have to make a decision on a hold by tomorrow and I honestly am not sure what to do.