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Symphony of the Seas 10/12/2019 Star Loft Suite! Star class experience!

Royalnewbie96

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Royalnewbie96 Platinum

Royalnewbie96

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19 minutes ago, MotleyCruiser said:

Talk about ALL OUT!! You're going to spoil cruising for the rest of your life or go broke chasing the Suite Life.!?

We actually found it reasonable for what it was. Cost just over 20k for the 3 of us. Compared to some other luxury vacations we have taken this was a no brainer. 

Royalnewbie96 Platinum

Royalnewbie96

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1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

I sailed the the 2-bedroom ATS on Symphony last November.  If you have any questions about the ship, Star Class, or the cabin feel free to ask!

What cabin did you have? Overall how was the experience in your opinion? 

WAAAYTOOO Pinnacle

WAAAYTOOO

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I find the questionnaire to be absurd and a waste of time for the most part.  The only parts that make any sense to fill out are the ones about what I like to eat and drink and the kinds of hours I like to keep.  Most of the time I don't think the Genie even reads them although I have read of a few people who believe that they do.

I'm sure you've "heard" me say this before but one aspect of Star Class that I do NOT enjoy are the constant interruptions.  They seem to be knocking, ringing, calling every five seconds for one thing or another - particularly at the beginning of the cruise.  One of the comments that I made to Yen on our last SC cruises was to please try and minimize the interruptions and I don't know what she did, but it worked !  We had almost no interruptions that first day.  It's so important just to relax and unwind and if you have to be popping up every few minutes it's just not relaxing at all.  That is particularly true in the 2-story suites when you are upstairs trying to take a nap or just relax and someone knocks on the door.  We got to where we didn't even answer.  We just let them either come on in or turn away and leave.  People will often remark, "it doesn't matter what kind of room I have b/c I don't spend much time there".  That really isn't true when you are in a big suite.  You WANT to be there and spend time there intentionally.  It's just nice to have some privacy.  You don't always get that with SC.

Royalnewbie96 Platinum

Royalnewbie96

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and the plot thickens...... 

Today, for fun, I decided to take a look at what was available for suites on our sailing. I noticed that the Star Loft Suite 1722 (the one we were originally booked before changing to aquatheare) had plummeted by $3500! It now only costed 400 more per person (3 of us going) to upgrade and this seemed like a no brainer, so now we are going to the highly coveted 17th floor! so so so excited!!! Will keep everyone in the loop once we get a little closer. We have booked a suite in the 1 Hotel South Beach for 3 nights prior to sailing!

Royalnewbie96 Platinum

Royalnewbie96

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Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

No, I meant privacy in the cabin because it doesn’t have a second bedroom.

ahhhhhhh thought you were referring to the lack of privacy on the balcony on the other star loft! But yes, that is the one drawback but at least there is a curtain lol 

Notyouravgjt Pre-Gold

Notyouravgjt

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On 9/3/2019 at 12:51 PM, Queenbeecruises said:

You must be getting so excited.  I will be sailing Symphony in the Four Bedroom villa and I only have 89 more day!!!  WOOHOO

 

On 9/5/2019 at 2:01 PM, almondmilktea said:

We must be on the same Nov 30 to Dec 7 cruise!  Haven't been on a cruise in 26 years and I'm beyond excited.  

I will joining you both on this cruise in the 2 bedroom aquatheather suite.  It will be my first SC cruise.

WAAAYTOOO Pinnacle

WAAAYTOOO

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I am the cabin crawl party queen !!  LOL

I have done this a number of times and it's a lot of fun - but also a lot of work.

Has a cabin crawl already been started for your cruise ? Are you or someone else in charge of organizing it ?  The reason I ask this is b/c the best situation is to have your suite be the LAST one shown.   Sometimes this is awkward with the logistics of a cabin crawl b/c the SC suites are all on the uppermost decks...and logic suggests that it's easiest to start at the top and work your way down.

The very best situation is to have someone else organizing the crawl (so that you can concentrate on your party !) but the organizer will work with you and organize it in such a way that your suite is the last to be shown.  When the crawl folks reach your cabin and find that there are food and drinks there, it, quite naturally, turns into something of a party.  If there are still rooms to be viewed after yours, the group is either going to be significantly delayed from finishing up the crawl or the crawl will come to an abrupt halt at that point and that is not fair to the other "show-ers".

Discuss this with Anil, of course....but a couple of "rules" that will apply:

1.  In order to have food from the specialty restaurants (or even the MDR, for that matter) delivered to your room, your cabin crawl must occur during the restaurants' normal operating hours.  This eliminates the chance of your party being during sailaway as no restaurants (except the Windjammer) are open during sailaway.  Cabin crawls generally do not occur on the first day anyway but sometimes Star Class guests will want the Genie to organize a party for them during sailaway and it's really not a good time at all for that.  Turnaround day and embarkation are very busy days to begin with and having to host a party at embarkation is really a huge imposition on the Genie and the room service folks that will be delivering food and drinks.

2.  The further into the cruise that you wait, the worst the participation will be.  So while day 1 is a no-go, every day that passes means that people will start doing their own thing and ports of call are happening and things just get busy.  People will forget about the cabin crawl and it gets harder and harder to keep it together. The ideal time for a cabin crawl is the first sea day, which is generally (but not always) day 2.  Most cabin crawls that I have been to are usually right after the Meet & Mingle, which is GENERALLY around 9 - 10AM on day 2.  The PROBLEM with that time is that the restaurants are not yet open.  UGH.  Another possible interference with the CC is that the Crown & Anchor Top Tier event is often held immediately after the M&M.  SO....I have found the best time to do the CC is around 11:30- noon (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Top Tier Event, if that is being held around this time) on day 2 (or the first sea day).  Doesn't this interfere with lunch ?  Yes.  There really is no "perfect" time and if you wait until after lunch, people will get busy, start thinking about DINNER and shows and then you have a whole lot of other conflicting events.

3.  You can get ALL the food you want but technically they ask you to please limit your requests to 1 specialty restaurant at the time.  IOW, if you are going with Jamie's/Giovanni's (this is normally what we do but Izumi is also a very good option) you will stick with their menu.  Have I seen this "rule" violated ?  Yep.  A friend of ours was in Star Class also, and they had a party one night and I swear there was food from every single restaurant.  We had to start turning food away at the door.  BUT I'm sure Anil will advise you that they prefer to have your food deliveries limited to 1 restaurant per meal.  The problem is with timing and ensuring that the food is all delivered at the same time and that it is still reasonably hot.  When they have to start coordinating with 2 or 3 different restaurants, the logistics just become overwhelming (this was the explanation I received).  It makes sense.  So if you want Mexican food from Sabor or sushi from Izumi or whatever you want, as long as the restaurant is open and serving, they will get it for you.  We always get our CC party food from Jamie's/Giovanni's.  The meat planks are easy to prepare, easy to move, easy to serve and easy to eat.  They will bring anything you ask for...but we generally keep it to "finger" food just to keep it simple. The Mediterranean olives and bread alone are worth it !  Even though your suite is HUGE, you WILL run out of seating space when 50+ show up for a party.   Finger food just works best.

4.  Room Service (with Anil's coordination) will bring EVERYthing that you need. They will bring plates, silverware, napkins, table cloths, stemware.....and then they will come back and clean it all up once it's over.  It's an amazing service. Your cabin attendant(s) will bring ice. If you decide that you want a server, the price for having someone serve is actually quite reasonable as I recall.  I cannot remember the cost (we never did it but I remember thinking it was not bad at all) but it isn't outrageous.  The same goes for a bartender (which we also never use)....which brings me to....

5.  Drinks.  You can have ANY kind of non-alcoholic beverage brought to your room.  Sodas, water (sparkling and still), flavored drinks, orange juice, anything they serve on the ship.  This is one of the things that you should ask for (not for the party, but just for your personal use) before you ever get on the ship.  They will bring you any beer that they serve on the ship in any quantity that you ask for.  IF you want wine or liquor, you will have to pay for it.  Having liquor brought to your suite is not a simple task.  There are a couple of ways to do it but it was expensive and complicated so we have never done it.  We do, however, have them bring a couple of bottles of wine and some sparkling wine and the prices for those are very reasonable. We always order a variety of beer and whatever we do not use for the party, they will take away if you want or just leave it...whatever you want to do.

6.  Back to timing.  Let's say the CC is scheduled to start somewhere (not your place) at noon.  It will be important to your party coordinators to know when to expect your "guests".  Depending upon how many people show up for the CC and how many different cabins are being shown, it may take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours for them to finally reach you.  It's hard to predict when to expect them.  I have always arranged for my party to be "ready" 30 minutes from the time that they start the CC, knowing that they are unlikely to be there by then...but you want everything ready to go well ahead of time.  I have only had issues with timing once...and that was a Reyno party.  Anyone who knows Reyno knows that he is a manic (not to be confused with maniac...although that would fit, too) ball of energy.  The Genie will NOT be part of your party but he/she will generally show up right about the time that party is due to start to make sure that everything is ok and ready.  For that particular party, the food had not yet shown up when  Reyno got there.  I thought Reyno was going to bust a gasket.  He took off in practically a full run down the hall.  I have no idea where he was going but he went there in a hurry !  Shortly afterwards, he and the food showed up and there was only a short delay. Reyno is a hot mess but I can tell you that he is WITHOUT A DOUBT the best party planner of any of the Genie's I have ever had.
 

Let me know if you have other questions.  I'm sure you will.  This is a particular favorite of mine.  I love doing it and I have never ever had a party attendee who was not both impressed or did not have a good time.  It's fun showing them around the suite and going out on the balcony to look at the beautiful view.  You are in an ATS.  That is the most impressive view of all.  You're going to be have a wonderful party !

Royalnewbie96 Platinum

Royalnewbie96

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15 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I am the cabin crawl party queen !!  LOL

I have done this a number of times and it's a lot of fun - but also a lot of work.

Has a cabin crawl already been started for your cruise ? Are you or someone else in charge of organizing it ?  The reason I ask this is b/c the best situation is to have your suite be the LAST one shown.   Sometimes this is awkward with the logistics of a cabin crawl b/c the SC suites are all on the uppermost decks...and logic suggests that it's easiest to start at the top and work your way down.

The very best situation is to have someone else organizing the crawl (so that you can concentrate on your party !) but the organizer will work with you and organize it in such a way that your suite is the last to be shown.  When the crawl folks reach your cabin and find that there are food and drinks there, it, quite naturally, turns into something of a party.  If there are still rooms to be viewed after yours, the group is either going to be significantly delayed from finishing up the crawl or the crawl will come to an abrupt halt at that point and that is not fair to the other "show-ers".

Discuss this with Anil, of course....but a couple of "rules" that will apply:

1.  In order to have food from the specialty restaurants (or even the MDR, for that matter) delivered to your room, your cabin crawl must occur during the restaurants' normal operating hours.  This eliminates the chance of your party being during sailaway as no restaurants (except the Windjammer) are open during sailaway.  Cabin crawls generally do not occur on the first day anyway but sometimes Star Class guests will want the Genie to organize a party for them during sailaway and it's really not a good time at all for that.  Turnaround day and embarkation are very busy days to begin with and having to host a party at embarkation is really a huge imposition on the Genie and the room service folks that will be delivering food and drinks.

2.  The further into the cruise that you wait, the worst the participation will be.  So while day 1 is a no-go, every day that passes means that people will start doing their own thing and ports of call are happening and things just get busy.  People will forget about the cabin crawl and it gets harder and harder to keep it together. The ideal time for a cabin crawl is the first sea day, which is generally (but not always) day 2.  Most cabin crawls that I have been to are usually right after the Meet & Mingle, which is GENERALLY around 9 - 10AM on day 2.  The PROBLEM with that time is that the restaurants are not yet open.  UGH.  Another possible interference with the CC is that the Crown & Anchor Top Tier event is often held immediately after the M&M.  SO....I have found the best time to do the CC is around 11:30- noon (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Top Tier Event, if that is being held around this time) on day 2 (or the first sea day).  Doesn't this interfere with lunch ?  Yes.  There really is no "perfect" time and if you wait until after lunch, people will get busy, start thinking about DINNER and shows and then you have a whole lot of other conflicting events.

3.  You can get ALL the food you want but technically they ask you to please limit your requests to 1 specialty restaurant at the time.  IOW, if you are going with Jamie's/Giovanni's (this is normally what we do but Izumi is also a very good option) you will stick with their menu.  Have I seen this "rule" violated ?  Yep.  A friend of ours was in Star Class also, and they had a party one night and I swear there was food from every single restaurant.  We had to start turning food away at the door.  BUT I'm sure Anil will advise you that they prefer to have your food deliveries limited to 1 restaurant per meal.  The problem is with timing and ensuring that the food is all delivered at the same time and that it is still reasonably hot.  When they have to start coordinating with 2 or 3 different restaurants, the logistics just become overwhelming (this was the explanation I received).  It makes sense.  So if you want Mexican food from Sabor or sushi from Izumi or whatever you want, as long as the restaurant is open and serving, they will get it for you.  We always get our CC party food from Jamie's/Giovanni's.  The meat planks are easy to prepare, easy to move, easy to serve and easy to eat.  They will bring anything you ask for...but we generally keep it to "finger" food just to keep it simple. The Mediterranean olives and bread alone are worth it !  Even though your suite is HUGE, you WILL run out of seating space when 50+ show up for a party.   Finger food just works best.

4.  Room Service (with Anil's coordination) will bring EVERYthing that you need. They will bring plates, silverware, napkins, table cloths, stemware.....and then they will come back and clean it all up once it's over.  It's an amazing service. Your cabin attendant(s) will bring ice. If you decide that you want a server, the price for having someone serve is actually quite reasonable as I recall.  I cannot remember the cost (we never did it but I remember thinking it was not bad at all) but it isn't outrageous.  The same goes for a bartender (which we also never use)....which brings me to....

5.  Drinks.  You can have ANY kind of non-alcoholic beverage brought to your room.  Sodas, water (sparkling and still), flavored drinks, orange juice, anything they serve on the ship.  This is one of the things that you should ask for (not for the party, but just for your personal use) before you ever get on the ship.  They will bring you any beer that they serve on the ship in any quantity that you ask for.  IF you want wine or liquor, you will have to pay for it.  Having liquor brought to your suite is not a simple task.  There are a couple of ways to do it but it was expensive and complicated so we have never done it.  We do, however, have them bring a couple of bottles of wine and some sparkling wine and the prices for those are very reasonable. We always order a variety of beer and whatever we do not use for the party, they will take away if you want or just leave it...whatever you want to do.

6.  Back to timing.  Let's say the CC is scheduled to start somewhere (not your place) at noon.  It will be important to your party coordinators to know when to expect your "guests".  Depending upon how many people show up for the CC and how many different cabins are being shown, it may take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours for them to finally reach you.  It's hard to predict when to expect them.  I have always arranged for my party to be "ready" 30 minutes from the time that they start the CC, knowing that they are unlikely to be there by then...but you want everything ready to go well ahead of time.  I have only had issues with timing once...and that was a Reyno party.  Anyone who knows Reyno knows that he is a manic (not to be confused with maniac...although that would fit, too) ball of energy.  The Genie will NOT be part of your party but he/she will generally show up right about the time that party is due to start to make sure that everything is ok and ready.  For that particular party, the food had not yet shown up when  Reyno got there.  I thought Reyno was going to bust a gasket.  He took off in practically a full run down the hall.  I have no idea where he was going but he went there in a hurry !  Shortly afterwards, he and the food showed up and there was only a short delay. Reyno is a hot mess but I can tell you that he is WITHOUT A DOUBT the best party planner of any of the Genie's I have ever had.
 

Let me know if you have other questions.  I'm sure you will.  This is a particular favorite of mine.  I love doing it and I have never ever had a party attendee who was not both impressed or did not have a good time.  It's fun showing them around the suite and going out on the balcony to look at the beautiful view.  You are in an ATS.  That is the most impressive view of all.  You're going to be have a wonderful party !

There is a cabin crawl started for our sailing. I reached out to the organizer on cruise critic but no luck yet! I don’t see any times or dates just yet. There is only a thread where people are showing interest to the organizer in participating. Hopefully he gets in touch soon! I also let my royal genie know that we are interested in hosting a party during a cabin crawl. 

WAAAYTOOO Pinnacle

WAAAYTOOO

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, Royalnewbie96 said:

There is a cabin crawl started for our sailing. I reached out to the organizer on cruise critic but no luck yet! I don’t see any times or dates just yet. There is only a thread where people are showing interest to the organizer in participating. Hopefully he gets in touch soon! I also let my royal genie know that we are interested in hosting a party during a cabin crawl. 

Do you now how many people have signed up ?

WAAAYTOOO Pinnacle

WAAAYTOOO

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Royalnewbie96 said:

9 people on this list plus the organizer and myself so 11 so far. 

Wow.  That's pretty low.  Have they advertised the fact that you are in a Star Class room ?  That generally attracts a lot of participation.  People like to see those suites.

Royalnewbie96 Platinum

Royalnewbie96

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Just now, WAAAYTOOO said:

Wow.  That's pretty low.  Have they advertised the fact that you are in a Star Class room ?  That generally attracts a lot of participation.  People like to see those suites.

I told the organizer what class I am in. He just hasn’t got back to me at all ?? Maybe I’ll post it in the main thread. 

AshleyDillo Pinnacle

AshleyDillo

Posted
Posted

Some Genie's misunderstand the "party" concept and will try to give you a quote list with a bunch of different services to throw parties in your room.  

Our Genie on Anthem wasn't helpful at all in trying to organize anything and we just took it upon ourselves to order a bunch of room service items and placed a pick-up order at Izumi to have when folks arrived.  We let folks help themselves to the free drinks and beer in the room as we knew it would be restocked.

Then on Symphony we didn't have to worry about it because we had the ATS 2-bedroom but there was another suite on the crawl on deck 17..and they took care of the party.  They actually paid for a server who poured champagne and there were plates of appetizers and desserts.

Lovetocruise2002 Pinnacle

Lovetocruise2002

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Royalnewbie96 said:

We got contacted by our Royal Genie Sunil today. I am going to reach out to him about us possibly participating in a cabin crawl. Any advice for a cabin crawl party in a star class suite? 

You lucked out!! Sunil is fantastic and he is genuine and super friendly!  You'll be in good hands.  As far as the cabin crawl goes, tagging @betatke1480 since we had a cabin crawl and it ended up in his loft.  He can give more info with that.

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