Generalchadwick

Let me preface this by saying I have not been on Icon this is just observations. I'll be on Star September 2025.

First off generally the class looks family friendly what Im talking about is the independence side of it. What I mean by not independent family friendly is for example on sea days on let's say Oasis Class ship, DW and I can post up in chairs at the beach pool and we feel confident to let our DDs (6 and 11) go play in the kids pool area right next door and do the slides while we can relax. Where as the splash area for my 6 yo is all the way down in the boardwalk isolated from other water stuff my 11 yo would want to do and doesn't have the same relaxing atmosphere as the beach pool does.

This isn't at all a deal breaker for me just an observation.  And I get that there are people that want those items separated to this degree.

I will try to remember to come back and comment on this after we sail.

So excited for this.  And no offense to the OGs who are awesome and I love all their blogs and want them to keep doing it and give us more. @Lovetocruise2002 don't hit me. But it will be great to get both and new perspective on Star coupled with a new ship.

We have a Surfside Family Suite booked on SOTS next September. 

I hope RC is learning from the Reviews on the kids pull out and changes it to a bigger couch or maybe figure out a way to do a ceiling pull down bunk.  This issue seems to be one of the biggest negatives of the room.  Not bad enough to make me change my booking. Thank goodness my girls are small.

Other than that I still feel like the room is an incredible deal for the benefits.

I wanted to come back and answer this just incase anyone else was looking for information on this or was concerned like I was.

First off the excursion was awesome.  I would 100% recommend especially if you have childern they will love it.  Also even though we were there during Spring Break and had what appeared to be a full boat out to the island, it didn't feel crowded on the island at all.  Pigs were great and were treated well.

As for my original post.  We did get back right around 3:45pm.  There were plenty of Taxis waiting.  I just raised my hand and said Cruise port and immediate was ushered to a cab.  No traffic back to port we were getting out of the cab just before 4:00pm.  We had enough time to let Grammy buy some rum cake and get back on the ship before 4:20p so all my worry and tossing and turning the night before was for nothing.

Sorry to be that guy asking one of these types of questions.  I truly am an experienced cruiser so it pains me to ask such a newb question.

Doing this excursion next week and have a  8:00a to 5:00p time allotted in Nassau with this tour saying it gets you back to the Paradise Island Ferry Terminal at 3:45p.  Is that enough time has anyone have experience with them?

Also just curious of your thoughts on the excursion overall.

Thanks!

On 2/3/2024 at 1:44 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Thought about it for a quick second and cannot do it lol. I like The Grove

Was the evening happy hour also honored in the Grove?

@Lovetocruise2002 Surfside Family Suites are a great deal all things considered and they are Sky Class.  I booked on Star of the seas in Sep 2025 for a family of 4 (last cruise my oldest classifies as a kid rate) for just over 7k.  I consider that a steal considering the ship and getting Sky class.

Question about the shows.  With the high number of suites on this ship did they have a reserved section for suite guest at the show like O Class ships? 

Thanks that's what I figured.

aww sad times I caught up.  It was a delightful morning finding this live blogg this morning.  

Can't remember who mentioned it but 2 of you(it was so many pages and coffee sips ago) that the Suite Lounge seating is very close to the dinning seating and that there was a nice suite lounge corner in the back left.  Can you take and post more pictures of this when you go to dinner tonight? @Lovetocruise2002 

I searched for the answer to this and couldn't find it, so sorry if this has been answered many times.

We are looking at a cruise that has kids sail free deals to it.  However I know that with RC when they turn 13 they are no longer kids.  My daughter will turn 13 during the cruise we are looking at, does that disqualify the discount?

No pictures of rooms near it on Cruisedeckplans for Symphony to be able to figure it out with alternating configuration.  However on Harmony you can see 9672 which has it by the balcony so it should go.

9672 bed by balcony

9674 bed by bath

9676 bed by balcony

9678 bed by bath

Harmony Deck 9

This is hoping that sister ships are the same which in the Symphony and Harmony case pretty they are.

16 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Presto WMF? The lounges have that or a similar model.

 

 

My wife and I call it Wow Mother F@<#$%g Presto Coffee"

Yes we are slightly childish

Looking at bidding on a Panoramic suite on Royal Up.  My DW and I have been lucky enough to be in a loft suite on an Oasis Class ship.  I know nothing can compare to that level but was wondering what some of of the difference and experiences people have had.  I appreciate an info you can supply and if we end up doing it I'll come back and give my input as well.

1. We loved the happy hour before dinner in the Suite Lounge.  Do they do that on Indy?

2. Does the lounge have the Presto MF coffee maker?

3. I did hear you get breakfast in a specialty restaurant.  Is that worth it?

4. Anything else that was a perk that you might have enjoyed?

Thanks

As always I leave you with a Dad joke.

What is the differences between a hippo and a zippy?

One weighs almost 4 tons and the other is a little lighter. 

Was just on Freedom and will be on Independence next.  I've seen the articles that they removed the trampolines from the Skypad and while we were dock next to Independence in Coco Cay I could see that they were gone but I could not see what was in there now.  Does anyone know what they put in them?

On 4/24/2022 at 1:05 PM, Generalchadwick said:

Wanted to come back now and answer my questions now that the cruise is over.  First off everyone is 100% correct, it's going to be very hard not too be on Deck 17 again.  DW and I will definitely do our best to travel this way when it's just us, however at our girls current age(5 and 10) it would not work.  Highlight for us was getting into a routine at night. We would go to the SL around 5 for a drink or 2 before dinner.  Sometimes i would go ahead of DW because she would still be getting ready which I really liked not having to wait in the cabin.  The bar staff quickly learns your preferences and starts making them upon seeing you.  Then CK for dinner and then we would grab 1 last drink as we left to walk around or go to the shows.

Probably the 2nd favorite perk was disembarkation.  Checking into the lounge whenever we wanted and getting the immediate priority elevator straight down to the promenade without stopping at all and then walked past the huge line by the Concierge and right off the ship.  SO WORTH AVOIDING THAT HEADACHE.

If you are a couple celebrating something I 100% recommend doing whatever you can to book a 17th deck suite.

 

CK/Suite lounge

Is it best to make reservations for dinner or is it OK to just show up?  Will there be a long wait? We like the flexibility. 

During happy hour in SL I know there are limited liquors available, are any drinks frowned upon or not allowed? I.E. blended drinks, mai tais .  Also do you know if they can do Moscow Mules?(our favorite drink)  No Blender,  We had at least 4 Moscow Mules a piece each night

The 11 to 11 drink time in SL, if it is still going on when we sail.  If I run in either from our room or elsewhere on the ship will they allow me to grab 2 drinks to bring 1 to my wife say if she is not with me?  Never went to the SL during this time.  So I have no idea about this.  But during HH they knew me by day 2 and would make 2 drinks no problem.

 

Shows: reserve or just show up and sit in Suite seats? I've seen live blogs where people have reserved shows but I thought this wasn't need because there are reserved seats for Suite guests. We went to a most of the shows.  The only shows we took advantage of the Suite seats was the AT show and Ice show.  Otherwise we just showed up and took the best seats we could find.

Thanks again for everyone's input.  Can't wait to be on 17 again.  We already have 2 cruise booked for 2023 both with our girls so we wont be up top.  We are traveling on IotS and FotS in our favorite room in that class of ship 1864 check it out if you haven't seen before it's the perfect cabin for families with small kids. here are 2 shots from laying in bed showing how epic this room in.

Sad another live blog for the graveyard.  Doomed by the good time had by all.

Final question as I head on board next week.

Any final advice or tips you wish you could tell yourself when you were in my shoes, a 17th deck newbie?

On 5/9/2022 at 11:53 AM, Lindalou said:

Wanting to book symphony for Mediterranean cruise next summer. Overwhelmed by the cabin choice. Would appreciate advice please. My daughter, husband and three children…8 12 and 14 and myself and my husband.  Wondering if it’s better to have one child in with us.  Are the cabins overlooking the boardwalk, Central Park noisy at night?  Can’t afford too expensive state rooms .  Thanks

We have been on deck 9 in the last boardwalk balcony.  There's obviously noise during the day but with the door shut it's pretty quiet. This was before the big slides existed so the view is less obstructed. I liked this balcony a lot as I could people watch and still see ocean.  It is however a long walk since it's the last one at the end of the hall.

Here is a video I took from the balcony

https://youtu.be/4HdYpfpgj1E

Told ya Id keep coming back with random thoughts.  And thank to all that have jumped in and answered as well.

Embarkation day Lunch

What time does CK open for lunch?  Do you guys and gals recommend it for lunch?

In the Port of Miami is it pretty clear where to go as a suite guest?  I'm the kind of person that might over look things and stand in a long line only to get to the front of that line and realize I should have gone over there where I would have walked right in.

 @WAAAYTOOO  @Lovetocruise2002 first off thank you for your posts and live blogs I have already learned so much from them. They have also helped to calm some of my post booking excitement. 

While I feel like I have a handle of things over all there are a few things I wanted to double check.

Background DW and I have booked our first Suite ever on SY in September in a Crown Loft Suite to celebrate both of our 40th birthdays.  Our bdays are exactly 8 days apart and mine will fall on the cruise.  We are not new at all to cruising just new to this level.  I apologize if any of these questions are repetitive in other places, some of them I have seen answers that contradict each other.  But I trust your answers. 

Embarkation: I know if you are star class you avoid the porters is this the same for sky class or do you give bags to normal porters? (Man I already sound sloppy, haha)

CK/Suite lounge

Is it best to make reservations for dinner or is it OK to just show up?  Will there be a long wait? We like the flexibility. 

During happy hour in SL I know there are limited liquors available, are any drinks frowned upon or not allowed? I.E. blended drinks, mai tais .  Also do you know if they can do Moscow Mules?(our favorite drink)

The 11 to 11 drink time in SL, if it is still going on when we sail.  If I run in either from our room or elsewhere on the ship will they allow me to grab 2 drinks to bring 1 to my wife say if she is not with me?

Shows: reserve or just show up and sit in Suite seats? I've seen live blogs where people have reserved shows but I thought this wasn't need because there are reserved seats for Suite guests. 

I'm sure I'll think of more between now and September. Thank you for your time and answers.  I will pay for now with a Dad joke.

My dog is really smart.  I think he might even be a genius because the other day I asked him what 1 - 1 was.  He looked up at me and said nothing.