Suite Spoiled

[AndrewPunch]

Got off Symphony of the Seas and first time in a crown loft suite (sky class) and it was great. We did the royal up because we were going to 4 to a oceanview balcony and it was great.  I just thought hey bigger room better for the family but the other perks is what I was blown away with.

1. Reservations not needed:  Everything I read about Symphony was get on board early, get on the ship's wifi and start making reservations with a pre-planned strategy.  Instead got an email the week before and just sent my list in and Nadja and Jennie took care of it. 

2. Reservations really not needed:  The show schedule got all moved around so my reservations got moved and had to reschedule but couldn't do it in the app.  Went to ladies on deck 17 suite lounge got a little piece of paper and walked right in to every show we wanted even like an hour before show time.  I will miss this going back down in cabin class.

3. Suite Deck,  more importantly suite deck bar.  We had the drink package and several times I would have another drink handed to me before even asking.  

4. Drink Package not really needed.  The included beer and wine in coastal kitchen/suite lounge along with evening cocktails made me rethink the need of a drink package if I go up to this level again. 

5. Checkin/Getting off the ship:  So amazingly easy and getting walked off was a treat in itself. 

 

It just was amazing to meet so many different people all on the same ship having a different cruise.  We were in the lap of luxury, others were boozing it up, others were gaming the casino (facebook slot pulls to gain casino points off other peoples money) and others were not enjoying it.  Thanks this board and site for helping us plan and have a great time. 

[smokeybandit]

Welcome to the addiction that is suite life

[rjweber3]

So true. For us it was gradual. First a balcony cabin, then a Junior Suite, now our "standard" is a Grand Suite. 

[smokeybandit]

27 minutes ago, rjweber3 said:

So true. For us it was gradual. First a balcony cabin, then a Junior Suite, now our "standard" is a Grand Suite. 

We went cold turkey (hot turkey?) right into a suite when we first started sailing with kids, really just for the extra room.

[Srp431]

We were on the same Symphony (Mar 26) sailing and everything you stated I can agree with. We normally get connecting balconies, but this CL Suite was nice and I would do it again, my wife the accountant only looks at $ signs, so we'll see. I really was impressed w/ Costal Kitchen, we had breakfast almost every morning and they had the best fluffy french toast and crisp bacon each morning. It was nice to roll out of bed and the food was only a few steps away. We did 2 lunches and dinners there as well and they were really good. Staff was excellent as well.  The suite sun deck was also great, less competition for chairs.

[CrimsonCruiser]

Oh yeah...you're one of us now Lol

[Pooch]

Getting walked past the LONG line of people waiting to disembark was the best perk ever, that and the huge room.  CK, SL, concierge all nice and maybe I will need/use them in the future but not this time.  Get me on & off without having to wait?  Love it!!!

[SpeedNoodles]

Forget the suite perks.  I just don't know how we'll ever survive without two bathrooms in our cabin again.  

[smokeybandit]

48 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Forget the suite perks.  I just don't know how we'll ever survive without two bathrooms in our cabin again.  

Are you counting the balcony as a bathroom?

 

[Hagar]

Just off of the Wonder and the suite deck being on 18 was something I really enjoyed.

Even though my cabin was a very affordable boardwalk balcony, I still love the gold card access that being a "P" provides. The bottle of Chandon for being #2 on the "top cruiser" list wasn't hard to take either 

[JasonOasis]

2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Forget the suite perks.  I just don't know how we'll ever survive without two bathrooms in our cabin again.  

YES!!!!! The best perk of all two bathrooms. It is the worst when one person hogs the bathroom in the morning for 45 minutes or more but only wants to give me 10 minutes to s**t, shower and shave, oh the devil.....  Okay I'm better now

[lrm9285]

Do they still offer complimentary drinks in the lounge from 11am-11pm?  We sail later this month and are debating whether to get the refreshment package.

[CruisingOz]

9 hours ago, AndrewPunch said:

Nadja and Jennie

They are great ladies in the Symphony Suite Lounge, getting reservations we wanted and helped with any changes or needs.  

[SemperMom]

10 hours ago, rjweber3 said:

So true. For us it was gradual. First a balcony cabin, then a Junior Suite, now our "standard" is a Grand Suite. 

We got bit by the balcony bug for our return to sailing Christmas cruise this past Dec. When planning our anniversary vacation for this summer, we didn't even bother looking for an inside and so a balcony was booked for August. Then, with disturbingly less than serious consideration we booked our first JS for our Med cruise next June. We knew better and did it anyway. We were perfectly happy as insiders but now, we've seen the light. There is no turning back now. I apologize to our bank account regularly, but really It's sorry, not sorry. 

[AlohaLivin]

11 hours ago, AndrewPunch said:

Nadja and Jennie took care of it. 

I had sailed since I was a child because my parents were early on the cruise train. But made the mistake (?) i’m booking a suite the first cruise that my husband and I took together so he now thinks it is standard issue The service (and Bathrooms and closet space…) are addicting. But once we retire and cruise much more often, we may have to figure out how to “squeeze” ourselves (and my clothes and shoes) occasionally into a Jr. Suite

I have never met either one of these concierges. I have heard good things about Nadja, but never heard of Jennie. Nice, helpful? We will be there on the 16th.

[BowTieBrigade]

Our first RC sailing was a royal-up jr suite with 30% capacity and the only ship docked at coco cay. It’s never going to be that good again

[CruiseDiva]

It's one of those things you just can never go back on.  I started sailing in balcony on Disney then moved to 1BR suite.  When we started on RCCL we went straight to a Grand suite, then a Crown Loft, then a 2BR Grand suite.  This next one is a Star Loft and our first time SC with a Genie :).  We are so excited...counting down to 17 Apr.  I apologize in advance for the lines we will bypass but it's one of those sorry not sorry ones :)

[Pooch]

God I love skipping those lines!  Hubby was disappointed that we did not have different color cards from everyone else.  On Majesty, regular cards were blue but ours were gold.  He loved flashing that gold card!  This time all cards were blue.  He was bummed .

[WAAAYTOOO]

8 minutes ago, Pooch said:

God I love skipping those lines!  Hubby was disappointed that we did not have different color cards from everyone else.  On Majesty, regular cards were blue but ours were gold.  He loved flashing that gold card!  This time all cards were blue.  He was bummed .

Really ?  I have never heard of this happening.  Were they light blue or dark blue ?

[CrimsonCruiser]

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

God I love skipping those lines!  Hubby was disappointed that we did not have different color cards from everyone else.  On Majesty, regular cards were blue but ours were gold.  He loved flashing that gold card!  This time all cards were blue.  He was bummed .

We got our first blue cards on Odyssey as well despite being in a Grand Suite. I immediately missed our gold cards! They make me feel so special!

 

I think they may have been a slightly  different shade to the standard cards but slightly means one has to look carefully lol

[smokeybandit]

Suite cards were silver earlier this month. Granted the plastic film that had all the info stamped on it peeled off like sunburned skin.

[Pooch]

Yup, I had to go get a new one (from the concierge!) cuz I accidentally peeled that film off.  All the cards were blue, regular cards had the Royal logo on them & ours looked like this but certainly not a noticeable difference.

[CGTLH]

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

Yup, I had to go get a new one (from the concierge!) cuz I accidentally peeled that film off.  All the cards were blue, regular cards had the Royal logo on them & ours looked like this but certainly not a noticeable difference.

Same way on Wonder...

Lighter blue Royal logo card for "regulars", teal for Sea class, blue for Sky class, purple for Star class, and finally the Pinnacle folks with a gold card.

[Pooch]

Definitely did not stick out.  They need to choose a color than stands out more!

[Moby Dick]

After we get home from a cruise, I get very pi$$ed.  I just don't get the service at home like I do during a Star Class cruise.  What the hell!

[Pooch]

Right???  I sit down at the table and nobody brings me food & wine!!!!  WTF?

[Moby Dick]

10 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Right???  I sit down at the table and nobody brings me food & wine!!!!  WTF?

WTF is right!

[smokeybandit]

20 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Right???  I sit down at the table and nobody brings me food & wine!!!!  WTF?

Yeah instead I get attitude and whine about needing to go on a cruise ship again

[Moby Dick]

11 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Yeah instead I get attitude and whine about needing to go on a cruise ship again

And, I'm expected to get out of bed before 11:00 AM.  What a bunch of B.S. 

Hey Royal Caribbean, let's play, "Let's Make a Deal".  I'll sign everything I own over to you if you let my wife and I cruise Star Class for the remainder of our days.  

[CruiseGus]

3 hours ago, Pooch said:

Right???  I sit down at the table and nobody brings me food & wine!!!!  WTF?

Doesn't happen at my house, as soon as the wife gets home she has a drink in her hand 15-30 minutes later she's has her supper delivered to her. 

She's running me ragged and to top it off unlike on the cruise she no longer tips

[Moby Dick]

WTF is this thing "Honey Do".  I've gone to the store several times and the only thing close to a Honey Do is "Mountain Dew" or some fruit thingy.  Honey Do this, Honey Do that, Honey Do - Honey Do - Honey Do - ........................  I want my Genie back <said in my most whiney voice 

 

[BowTieBrigade]

7 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

WTF is this thing "Honey Do".  I've gone to the store several times and the only thing close to a Honey Do is "Mountain Dew" or some fruit thingy.  Honey Do this, Honey Do that, Honey Do - Honey Do - Honey Do - ........................  I want my Genie back <said in my most whiney voice 

 

It’s a melon that constitutes about 75% of all fruit salad but that nobody actually eats

[Ampurp85]

Lol Honey dew 

[Breeda]

On 4/5/2022 at 11:11 AM, AndrewPunch said:

Got off Symphony of the Seas and first time in a crown loft suite (sky class) and it was great. We did the royal up because we were going to 4 to a oceanview balcony and it was great.  I just thought hey bigger room better for the family but the other perks is what I was blown away with.

1. Reservations not needed:  Everything I read about Symphony was get on board early, get on the ship's wifi and start making reservations with a pre-planned strategy.  Instead got an email the week before and just sent my list in and Nadja and Jennie took care of it. 

2. Reservations really not needed:  The show schedule got all moved around so my reservations got moved and had to reschedule but couldn't do it in the app.  Went to ladies on deck 17 suite lounge got a little piece of paper and walked right in to every show we wanted even like an hour before show time.  I will miss this going back down in cabin class.

3. Suite Deck,  more importantly suite deck bar.  We had the drink package and several times I would have another drink handed to me before even asking.  

4. Drink Package not really needed.  The included beer and wine in coastal kitchen/suite lounge along with evening cocktails made me rethink the need of a drink package if I go up to this level again. 

5. Checkin/Getting off the ship:  So amazingly easy and getting walked off was a treat in itself. 

 

It just was amazing to meet so many different people all on the same ship having a different cruise.  We were in the lap of luxury, others were boozing it up, others were gaming the casino (facebook slot pulls to gain casino points off other peoples money) and others were not enjoying it.  Thanks this board and site for helping us plan and have a great time. 

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the minimum bid and what did you bid to successfully Royal Up to the Crown Loft?

Also, if we are successful, I may also cancel our unlimited drink packages and just pay as we go for cocktails.  Can you take the Coastal Kitchen and Suite Lounge Free drinks out of those designated areas?

Where were the evening complimentary cocktails for sky class?

[Moby Dick]

So, I had a dream last night that my kitchen looked just like a kitchen on a cruise ship and there were dozens of cooks preparing my breakfast.  What a dream, I was sooooooo happy.   Then I woke up and went to my kitchen and reality set in:

[Templecruiser]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:17 AM, CrimsonCruiser said:

We got our first blue cards on Odyssey as well despite being in a Grand Suite. I immediately missed our gold cards! They make me feel so special!

 

I think they may have been a slightly  different shade to the standard cards but slightly means one has to look carefully lol

That’s odd. We got off odyssey a week ago and our JS card was silver, saw many many blue card and saw a couple  purple star class cards. Odd that Sky class was blue like I saw most cards people had.

[Templecruiser]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:17 AM, CrimsonCruiser said:

We got our first blue cards on Odyssey as well despite being in a Grand Suite. I immediately missed our gold cards! They make me feel so special!

 

I think they may have been a slightly  different shade to the standard cards but slightly means one has to look carefully lol

That’s odd. We got off odyssey a week ago and our JS card was silver, saw many many blue card and saw a couple  purple star class cards. Odd that Sky class was blue like I saw most cards people had.

[TMatl]

On 4/5/2022 at 11:12 AM, smokeybandit said:

Welcome to the addiction that is suite life

Right.  Just like flying—go fly in Business Elite, or First class, then see how much you like flying Coach the next time. 

[AndrewPunch]

17 hours ago, Breeda said:

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the minimum bid and what did you bid to successfully Royal Up to the Crown Loft?

Also, if we are successful, I may also cancel our unlimited drink packages and just pay as we go for cocktails.  Can you take the Coastal Kitchen and Suite Lounge Free drinks out of those designated areas?

Where were the evening complimentary cocktails for sky class?

Min was $500 and bid $700($1400 for x2) but there were 12 rooms open 2 weeks before. 

You can take drinks anywhere on the ship, only rule is plastic cups on the pool deck, no glass. 

5-8pm complimentary cocktails in the suite lounge.

[CruzGeek24]

Sounds like you had a excellent  experience and great tip on the drink package. Booked the CLS for October on the Symphony. Can you advise if the sofa bed is really a double bed or is it a trundle bed?