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Owner's Loft Suite, AN 3/15/2020


RemyMartin

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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!

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Yippee !  A new SC blog.  My favorite kind !

1.  You did the right thing by changing from the corner GLS to the OLS.  While still a corner unit, it will be much bigger.  Well done.

2.  Yen is awesome. You will love her.  Tell her Dan and Raye say “hi”. We just saw her a few weeks ago.  It was nice to see her.

3.  I’m sure you’ve received this information already, but be sure to keep your luggage with you until after you have checked in with the SC greeter.  Make sure Yen knows that you expect  your luggage to be taken upstairs.  You will regret having to schlep it up the stairs yourself, if you don’t.

I love being Star Class on the Q class ships.  There are so many things for which a Genie is particularly helpful.  Make sure that when you go to see Spectra, you are not sitting in the ver, very front.  If you do, there will be activity happening behind you and you tend to miss some of it.

I’m so excited for you !  First SC Cruise is so exciting.

 

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54 minutes ago, RemyMartin said:

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.

Definitely following. ?

 

This is new to me, canceling and rebooking shorex. We booked a floating cabana also and have been price stalking for any drops. Did you just do it via cruise planner, or did you have to call? Thanks! 

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2 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Definitely following. ?

 

This is new to me, canceling and rebooking shorex. We booked a floating cabana also and have been price stalking for any drops. Did you just do it via cruise planner, or did you have to call? Thanks! 

I called in and the Rep wasn't able to do it. I needed to cancel it via the Cruise Planner and rebook it. The refund took about 12 days to credit back to my card

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We are still going!! Looking at the 3/15 voyage online and from the various Facebook groups, a lot of folks have cancelled. We both have jobs that allow us to work from home, so if we do end up getting quarantined onboard, we will make the most of it. And with an empty ship, it should be kinda nice!

I'm almost all packed. Actually might take some dirty laundry onboard to use the free laundry service :-)

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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!!

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