First time on RC Harmony star class

[family#1]

We are a family of 5 and have only cruised Disney.  We are booked in a two bedroom aqua suite. This is brand new territory for us.  What are the must do activities on the ship? We will have a genie and I want to make sure we utilize this wonderful opportunity. Thanks! 

[AshleyDillo]

The 2BR ATS is my favorite room! One of the best things is getting to watch the show from your balcony. You can ask the Genie to plan a night to do this and have snacks and drinks delivered to the room for everyone to enjoy the show from the balcony!

With the Genie you don't have to worry about planning anything. They will book all of your shows and dining for you, so you will get to experience all of that.

Otherwise just explore the ship. There is so much to do on the Oasis class ships.  While the ATS rooms are far from the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen, make sure to spend some time there on Deck 17 during your trip.

If you drink alcohol, Sabor has specialty margaritas and Wonderland has some unique drinks at their bars. Worth a visit even if you aren't dining there at the time.

Take advantage of the Starbucks on the boardwalk as much as you can as well. Drinks there are included with Star Class, but not the food.

I think you will find the Star Class product a good choice for your first Royal cruise

[Jax]

We just got off Harmony last week and we stayed in a 2BR ATS and loved it! We had snacks delivered to our suite as we watched the aqua show. Your genie will take care of all dining and shows. All you will have to do is let him/her know of your preferences. Our genie took care of booking Hibachi as long as we were ok with eating at 7pm that night.  Make sure to use the priority access on select onboard activities sigh as the zip line, rock climbing and abyss.  A shared flow rider session is offered; normally on first sea day at 8:30am for all star class families.  Take advantage of the specialty dining, room service and Starbucks. Your genie will likely offer to arrange a standing Starbucks order every morning. And if you are interested in behind the scenes ship stuff don’t miss out on the bridge and galley tours included in star class.  Mini golf may be a fun activity to depending on your kids ages.  There is no end of things to do onboard so be sure to build in time to relax and enjoy on your deck. 

[Matt]

12 hours ago, family#1 said:

We will have a genie and I want to make sure we utilize this wonderful opportunity.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/03/31/my-advice-someone-using-royal-genie-royal-caribbean-cruise

[family#1]

Thanks so much for the info. I've been trying to read up on suite perks.

We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and our daughter's graduation. Shall we let the genie know and see what fun celebration they come up with? 

As for the speciality restaurants, do you recommend one over another?

Thanks!

[WAAAYTOOO]

Most likely, when you get your Genie email (usually 1 month before your cruise), the Genie will recommend that if you want to participate in the Chef's Table or Izumi Hibachi, that you go ahead and make those reservations ahead of time to ensure that you get the day and time of your choosing.  You would have to pay for these activities at the time that you make the reservations, but the Genie will refund the money to you once you are onboard.  We did this and it went perfectly.

If you are a "type A" person who loves to handle all of the details yourself, it may be difficult for you to relinquish control...but rest assured, the Genie can and will take care of everything.  

The 2 BR ATS on Harmony was my first (and second, and third) Star Class experience.  They are awesome suites.  It is quite a hike to get back there, a situation that eventually forced us to seek new territory up on Deck 17 but those aft suites are extremely unique and offer 2 truly separate bedrooms, which is also unique (except for the Villa suites).

One thing I have noticed is that (at least, in our case) the era of "food excess in your suite" is over.  Frankly, some change in that direction is a good thing.  In the past, there would be complimentary foods, drinks, snacks coming to your suite at all hours of the day and evening.  It was very wasteful, as we are not snackers.  Not only was there waaaytooo much food, but the deliveries were a disruption - the door bell and phone were constantly ringing.  Our most recent experience (Oasis 12-18-22) was the polar opposite.  After our "welcome" snack on the first day, not another morsel of food or drink (with the exception of our daily Starbuck's delivery) was delivered.  That was too far in the opposite direction.  So my recommendation is that you ask specifically for whatever kinds of foods/drinks you might want.  Star Class is entitled to have all of the water, soft drinks, juices and beer that you ever want, in your suite.  Make SURE that the Genie is aware of what you want.  If you want some cold Corona waiting for you in your suite on embarkation day, you need to let your Genie know that.  Specifically, I recommend that you ask the Genie for some cold beer on ice (you will need to ask for an ice chest as they will not have one in the suite....all you get is a useless "refrigerator" (doesn't keep stuff very cold and it's small).  The only "ice" you will get without asking is an ice bucket and a champagne bucket).  Genies are awesome, but they are not mind readers.  Unless you ask for it, chances are, you will not get it.  Some Genies are better at this kind of thing than others (anticipating).

Another change that I noticed with my most recent Star Class experience is that the Genie did not interact (face-to-face) with us as much as the Genies of the past had.  For instance, in the past, the Genie would show up at dinner to make sure that everything was ok and to confirm plans for later in the evening.  I don't recall our Genie doing that even once the entire cruise, this last time.  I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about that.  I never felt like the Genie was interrupting us before, but I also didn't particularly miss it when he didn't show up at dinner on the last SC cruise.   Our most recent Genie relied much more heavily on the chat function (WhatsApp) to confirm our plans.  Since I almost never carry my phone with me, I missed 90% of his texts. Frankly, I felt he was a little lazy in that regard.  Maybe it was his way of trying not to interrupt.  Whatever...

Enjoy your Star Class cruise.  It's an incredible experience.  Take advantage of it.  Trust me, it goes by FAST !

[Jax]

15 minutes ago, family#1 said:

Thanks so much for the info. I've been trying to read up on suite perks.

We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and our daughter's graduation. Shall we let the genie know and see what fun celebration they come up with? 

As for the speciality restaurants, do you recommend one over another?

Thanks!

Definitely let your genie know about the celebrations! One of their specialties is to surprise guests with a cake/decorations. 
We alternate through the specialty restaurants; the only one we have never ate at is Wonderland. We are not adventurous eaters and the concept does not appeal to us.  But having said that last week our genie delivered a couple of their specialty desserts so we could experience it.  We just let our genie know which ones we want to it at in pre cruise communication and the number of times.  Example Chops x 2, 150 Central Park x 1, Izumi x 1 etc with your preferred dining time. Then let your genie create an initial dining and show schedule (which you can tweak if needed). Our favorite is Chops but we were pleasantly surprised by 150 Central Park last week. Hibachi is always a fun experience. Chefs table is included for star class except for the small cost for wine pairing. $25 pp I think.  But that consumes quite a few hours so we have never done it.  Hope this helps! 

[Jax]

21 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

One thing I have noticed is that (at least, in our case) the era of "food excess in your suite" is over. 

agree, Berty shared this policy change during our pre cruise phone call. I wondered if this was a fleet wide policy change or ship specific. Like you, I was ok with the change because if we snack (which is rare) we want it to be from our favorite foods list, not random food.  Berty checked each afternoon initially asking if we would like any snack but then we kinda got into a system where I would let him know.  It worked for us. 

 

26 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

in the past, the Genie would show up at dinner to make sure that everything was ok and to confirm plans for later in the evening.

Our first genie did not do this very consistently or well and from that point on I request this on pre cruise communication.  The genies presence seems to streamline the dining process (at least for us) as the server is aware of your suite number and that drinks are included and they are not asking for your sea pass card (which on Harmony we never had due to the wow bands). 

[SweetPea]

Everyone has offered sage advice. Just wanted to say we're Platinum on Disney. Not sure if you've cruised concierge on Disney, but Disney's suite perks are an absolute embarrassment compared to RC Star Class. You've made a very wise choice. Enjoy! (And hopefully you've researched decks and aren't on Deck 10, though i wouldn't kick Deck 10 out of bed if that's all that was left).

[Templecruiser]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

 For instance, in the past, the Genie would show up at dinner to make sure that everything was ok and to confirm plans for later in the evening.  I don't recall our Genie doing that even once the entire cruise, this last time.  I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about that.  I never felt like the Genie was interrupting us before, but I also didn't particularly miss it when he didn't show up at dinner on the last SC cruise.  

On our Harmony cruise a month ago, a couple who were star class ate at the CK 3 times that I saw, and each night I saw their Genie show up and talk with them. So I wonder if it's more about the individual Genie then something that's they stop doing altogether.

[WAAAYTOOO]

48 minutes ago, Templecruiser said:

On our Harmony cruise a month ago, a couple who were star class ate at the CK 3 times that I saw, and each night I saw their Genie show up and talk with them. So I wonder if it's more about the individual Genie then something that's they stop doing altogether.

I absolutely believe it is a personal Genie trait.  I know that many Genies still have more face-to-face interactions.

[koikeeper123]

Does anyone know what genies are on harmony now? We have a cruise in march and was wondering if I know any of them.

[Jax]

1 hour ago, koikeeper123 said:

Does anyone know what genies are on harmony now? We have a cruise in march and was wondering if I know any of them.

Raj, Stepen and Berty are currently onboard. Stepen is leaving shortly and is being replaced by Luciano, Berty is scheduled to leave Feb 4th and his replacement has not been finalized, Raj should still be onboard in March. 

[koikeeper123]

Thanks for the info Jax! Does anyone know if Sebastian Henter is still with the company, and if so what ship?

[WAAAYTOOO]

53 minutes ago, koikeeper123 said:

Thanks for the info Jax! Does anyone know if Sebastian Henter is still with the company, and if so what ship?

I haven't heard Sebastian's name mentioned since the restart which is a shame.  We had him as a Genie on Harmony and really enjoyed him.  I don't think he is still with Royal.  Hopefully I'm wrong.

[Matt]

21 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Not sure if you've cruised concierge on Disney, but Disney's suite perks are an absolute embarrassment compared to RC Star Class.

DCL's approach to their suite benefits is a joke because, well, there are no benefits.

[Lovetocruise2002]

4 hours ago, koikeeper123 said:

Thanks for the info Jax! Does anyone know if Sebastian Henter is still with the company, and if so what ship?

The last anyone saw Sebastian was spring 2019.

[GatorCruiser]

6 hours ago, Matt said:

DCL's approach to their suite benefits is a joke because, well, there are no benefits.

Captive audience and they know it. They don’t seem to strive to maintain brand loyalty with DCL. They say this is the price and what you get, take it or leave it.