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Thanking my lucky STARS that cruising is back (a Symphony Star Class family blog)


Tiffeven

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5 hours ago, LifesEz said:

Wow, yes we could have had a great time. Robert Roth from our FB Group was on Deck 8 Port Side Aqua A1 the week before and did the B2B, so we could have really loaded up just with us Star Class.

Well, next time I will keep a better eye on whose on and in the RB, FB, and Cruise Critic boards with us. Though after 4 weeks, we were never without friends because the so many of the staff were first name basis friends.

Like the time I was waiting for the wife, sitting next to the Voom Station, and saw someone who looked familiar at a distance. It was when you know them, but they are not at their station, and you can't place the face to a location. So I just smiled and looked away. But Priya of Guest Services passed on her way back to her station and said, "Hello, Mr. Powers." They had the advantage. Where ever I was on the ship, I was in the place they expected to see me.

Your family did not bother us. But that corner was great. We were sitting in the Solarium Hot Tub on the rain day and the other 2 couples happen to be neighbors just above us and a room forward, 11 730 & 11 732, with us 10 734. None of us knew the other couple or their room, so it became a very small world.

The 11 732 passengers said they were dancing all night to the songs from Jeff Tracta and hoped they didn't keep us awake. They didn't, and the head of our bed was the adjoining wall, a deck below. It seemed to be extra quiet in those Star Class, even with HIRO. We would hear the show in our room, but not to the level of disturbing.

It's so hard to keep up with RCB, FB, and CC.  I did that before the shutdown, now my cruise social media game is lagging behind haha.  They do design the rooms well to block out the noise.  It is really interesting how quiet it is, and then you open the balcony door during Hiro, and wow, it is so loud.  Then, you shut the door and can barely hear it again. 

Cruising really is a great way to make friends.  So often, those we cruise with (passengers and crew alike) end up feeling like family by the end.

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Thank you for your blog!  I'm totally living vicariously through you right now.  Our first SC cruise is in 52 days on Anthem and our second is in an A2 on Symphony in 2022.  I find myself every evening searching the web and blogs for any new blogs talking about star class.  When we booked our Anthem cruise, I read @WAAAYTOOO's B2B Anthem blog which inspired us to book it.  I'm sure every time I read a new blog my hubby starts to shutter thinking I want to book another one.  He definitely has a reason to worry.  LOL 😂😂

 

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2 hours ago, CravingaCruise said:

Thank you for your blog!  I'm totally living vicariously through you right now.  Our first SC cruise is in 52 days on Anthem and our second is in an A2 on Symphony in 2022.  I find myself every evening searching the web and blogs for any new blogs talking about star class.  When we booked our Anthem cruise, I read @WAAAYTOOO's B2B Anthem blog which inspired us to book it.  I'm sure every time I read a new blog my hubby starts to shutter thinking I want to book another one.  He definitely has a reason to worry.  LOL 😂😂

 

I know what you mean.  I just always keep a Star Class booked to keep myself from yolo booking after reading other Star Class blogs, but it doesn't always work haha.

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I've just read through this whole blog in 3 days and I got misty-eyed at the end, lol! Thank you for taking the time. I'm pre-pre-pre-preparing for our first ever SC cruise on Oasis, 8/28/22. We'll be in the same cabin location and will have our two kids with us, Jolie (will be 8), and Julian, (will be 3 the day after we get off the ship). It's been helpful to see what it's like, what can and cannot be done, with unvaxxed kids, especially re the SC perks. Who knows, by next august maybe the older will be vaxxed. 

I also appreciated your notes and tips on SC in general. My husband and I don't like feeling like we're "putting someone out" so seeing you and others here say to be exact and ask for what you want, reach out the the genie, tell crew you're SC, etc etc, is comforting in that that's what makes SC work for both the passenger(s) and the genie. 

lastly, I really want to thank you for mentioning how you do dinner with the kids. Our first cruise with our daughter was when I was pregnant with our son. We got a balcony and didn't splurge too much bc we didn't know how she'd take to cruising. That being said, we ate dinner in the MDR a few nights and good lord it took forever - and Jolie is a Good Restaurant Kid, but when even she was getting antsy we knew we had to eschew that for the Windjammer. But we do prefer to eat in restaurants, so I'll definitely be taking a page out of you book there! 

So thanks again! This really has been a goldmine of information! I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for your November blog lol

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1 hour ago, jejojoju said:

I've just read through this whole blog in 3 days and I got misty-eyed at the end, lol! Thank you for taking the time. I'm pre-pre-pre-preparing for our first ever SC cruise on Oasis, 8/28/22. We'll be in the same cabin location and will have our two kids with us, Jolie (will be 8), and Julian, (will be 3 the day after we get off the ship). It's been helpful to see what it's like, what can and cannot be done, with unvaxxed kids, especially re the SC perks. Who knows, by next august maybe the older will be vaxxed. 

I also appreciated your notes and tips on SC in general. My husband and I don't like feeling like we're "putting someone out" so seeing you and others here say to be exact and ask for what you want, reach out the the genie, tell crew you're SC, etc etc, is comforting in that that's what makes SC work for both the passenger(s) and the genie. 

lastly, I really want to thank you for mentioning how you do dinner with the kids. Our first cruise with our daughter was when I was pregnant with our son. We got a balcony and didn't splurge too much bc we didn't know how she'd take to cruising. That being said, we ate dinner in the MDR a few nights and good lord it took forever - and Jolie is a Good Restaurant Kid, but when even she was getting antsy we knew we had to eschew that for the Windjammer. But we do prefer to eat in restaurants, so I'll definitely be taking a page out of you book there! 

So thanks again! This really has been a goldmine of information! I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for your November blog lol

Thank you so much for following along and for your kind words.  Cruising Star Class really does make cruising with kids so much easier.  Like you said, don't be afraid to ask for what you want and always tell the genie your expectations from the start.  If you want a fast dining experience, tell them.  If you want to have food ready when you arrive, tell them.  If you want to have the dessert delivered to your room, tell them.  They are there to make your trip everything that you want it to be.  They are also very good at accommodating any last minute changes.  On night 1, we had every intention of eating at Coastal Kitchen, but with kids, things don't always go as planned.  I felt bad calling last minute and canceling in lieu of having food delivered to the room, but Sunil didn't make us feel bad about it at all and was so quick to adjust to what was best for our family.  On another cruise, the little ones were super fussy at Chops, and we had only had our appetizers and were still awaiting our entrées and desserts.  We could have stuck it out and made it through the meal, but we asked if we could just have the rest delivered to our room.  They quickly accommodated this, and because we made this change, the little ones were able to rest which put them in better spirits.  This made the rest of the evening so much better.  You may feel like you are inconvenience them when you make certain requests, but you are not.  They truly want your experience to be amazing, and the best way for that to happen is by telling them what you need and want.  You and your family are going to love Star Class.

As for November, Steven made me promise I'd take it off from blogging.  I plan on doing more live blogs in the near future, but November is going to be our lazy, lay around watch movies, and do a whole bunch of nothing cruise.

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3 hours ago, jejojoju said:

My husband and I don't like feeling like we're "putting someone out" so seeing you and others here say to be exact and ask for what you want, reach out the the genie, tell crew you're SC, etc etc, is comforting in that that's what makes SC work for both the passenger(s) and the genie. 

Absolutely. This is one of the hardest things to wrap your head around when you are used to being self-sufficient.  Our Genie stressed how much he appreciated that we were very specific with our requests. They want to make it a great experience for you but they aren't mind readers! If there is ever a problem with anything you can let them know and they can correct and adjust accordingly. They leverage their relationships with other crew members on board to get things done and at least with our last Genie, we saw how respected he was by the other crew members.

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3 hours ago, Tiffeven said:

On night 1, we had every intention of eating at Coastal Kitchen, but with kids, things don't always go as planned.  I felt bad calling last minute and canceling in lieu of having food delivered to the room, but Sunil didn't make us feel bad about it at all and was so quick to adjust to what was best for our family.  On another cruise, the little ones were super fussy at Chops, and we had only had our appetizers and were still awaiting our entrées and desserts.  We could have stuck it out and made it through the meal, but we asked if we could just have the rest delivered to our room.  They quickly accommodated this, and because we made this change, the little ones were able to rest which put them in better spirits.

Even if you *aren't* Star Class, don't be afraid to ask the staff for accommodations, especially when it comes to kids. My daughter was so jet lagged and tired from the initial travel go Seattle for our Alaska trip that she had a full blown meltdown in the MDR the first night. I took her out (of course we were seated in the very back corner) and tried to get her calmed down. Once it became apparent she wasn't gonna settle, our wait staff quickly offered to have our whole meal sent up to the room so we could eat and she could get in bed.

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On 9/12/2021 at 7:31 AM, starbrat said:

We have a SC cruise in April with an 8 year old. This is disturbing to read. I sure hope they figure out the boarding/testing thing for SC families. It’s RC so i’m guessing trial and error will have it figured out by then. 🙏🏻

It sounds like an issue with the terminal based on our experience on Ovation a couple weeks ago. We weren't Star Class, but they ushered us right to the front of the line when they saw we had a toddler.

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The second BR is the same size as a regular interior room.  It’s small.  The way it’s configured it can sleep 4 with 2 of those being elevated bunk beds.  The lower bed(s) is a standard adult queen size bed that can be separated into 2 singles.

Keep in mind that there are also sleeper sofas in the living room that can be used as well. Unless your dad would enjoy sleeping with the kids, he might be more comfortable out in the living room.

I think (but don’t know for sure) that the room attendant can get safety rails for the elevated bunk beds.

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On 10/6/2021 at 8:48 PM, sammy79 said:

@Tiffeven

how big is the second bedroom?  We got 8334 on Wonders in March. We have 3 kids (8,6,3) and thinking about inviting my dad on the cruise. He’s a normal sized adult. Do you think he’ll be comfortable on one of the single beds?  Do the bunk beds have rails to keep the kids from falling?  Thank you!!!

As @WAAAYTOOO said, the second bedroom is really small.  The two beds that are up high do have rails.  The lower ones don't.  Personally, I would put your eight year old on one of the top bunks, your six and three year olds on the two lower beds, and then have your dad sleep in the living room on the sleeper sofa.  You can also request to have the two lower beds pushed together if you are more comfortable with your kids sleeping together (that's what we do).  There's definitely enough room to bring your Dad, but obviously it will be less space.

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