Any Recent Changes to Star Class?

[Sea Squirrel]

With all the recent cutbacks, has anyone noticed if there has been any real impact on any of the unlisted perks such as behind the scenes tours, waived fees for escape room, sugar beach ice cream etc. Of course it is up to the specific Genie but those examples seem standard genie to genie.  We’re considering upgrading from a CLS but wanted to see if there have been any recent noticeable differences . Many thanks. 

[F1guynz]

We just completed a sailing on Quantum and didn’t see any evidence of cut backs.

We had access to the Chef’s table, iFly, North Star, bumper cars etc.

i throughly recommend Star Class if you can do it.

[Jkaczano]

Sailed Star class on Anthem in March.  It was our worst star experience of our 5.  Still trying to figure out if it is “star” in general or this specific genie.  Differences that I noticed (and I do realize these are nit picky that I may not have even picked up on had we not done Star before):
 

Genie would not send food to the room (snacks) unless specifically requested.  No genie “gifts” at the end of the cruise.   Room was not ready when we boarded and bags were not directly delivered to room - genie actually had to track down a missing bag which was halfway down the hall and no where near star class grand lofts.   Bags had to be placed outside room night before by 10.

we did still have Starbucks, patisserie, 2 times on Northstar (1 extended), 1 hour star class time on Flowrider, and the behind the scenes tour  

If it was our first star class, would have been our last.  We already had Star on Oasis in September booked, so I’ll know then.  

[AshleyDillo]

The escape room is still included. The behind the scenes tours are coming back, so if they're doing them on the ship you are going on then it will be available at no charge. It's not the full tour that they sell in the cruise planner, but a special session for Star guests.

They'll ask that you reserve Chef's Table and hibachi in the Cruise Planner pre-cruise to secure your spot. They do refund it onboard. If you for sure want one of the times that are listed on the website, I'd suggest booking it. If you aren't picky with times, you should have no issues getting hibachi if you don't pre-book (they usually don't have the 7-8pm slots available in the CP). 

The sushi and cupcake classes are no longer included. It was never advertised they were, but folks used to say they got them comped pre-shutdown.

[GregD]

7 hours ago, Jkaczano said:

 

Genie would not send food to the room (snacks) unless specifically requested. 

 

We were on Oasis in February and this was the same for us. We were told, and I actually prefer it this way, that this was to cut down on food waste. On our previous star class cruises a lot of the snacks got wasted. We did arrange to have a standing order of fresh fruit and some cookies delivered each day, none of which went to waste. 

 

7 hours ago, Jkaczano said:

Room was not ready when we boarded and bags were not directly delivered to room - genie actually had to track down a missing bag which was halfway down the hall and no where near star class grand lofts.  

This seems to be hit or miss, and will probably always be inconsistent based on staffing, previous guest departure times and your arrival time. We've had two star class cruises where the room was not ready when we boarded. The most recent one, the room was ready when we got on the ship. We also had inconsistencies with the luggage. 

 

I will second what @AshleyDillo said as far as other expectations. I will add that on my most recent star class cruise, I booked Izumi in the CP beforehand so I could guarantee the time that I wanted, but inadvertently booked the wrong day. By the time I realized it, all the slots were filled. In the pre cruise communication I got the "I can't guarantee" response from the Genie about moving to the time I did want. As soon as we were on board, and we were shown our schedule, Izumi was moved to what I had requested. 

Our bridge tour was run by the Genie, but we did have the opportunity to talk to the bridge team after. We were only allowed access to just one bridge wing. 

The galley tour was about 5 minutes long

[Sea Squirrel]

On 4/15/2023 at 12:34 PM, Jkaczano said:

Sailed Star class on Anthem in March.  It was our worst star experience of our 5.  Still trying to figure out if it is “star” in general or this specific genie.  Differences that I noticed (and I do realize these are nit picky that I may not have even picked up on had we not done Star before):
 

Genie would not send food to the room (snacks) unless specifically requested.  No genie “gifts” at the end of the cruise.   Room was not ready when we boarded and bags were not directly delivered to room - genie actually had to track down a missing bag which was halfway down the hall and no where near star class grand lofts.   Bags had to be placed outside room night before by 10.

we did still have Starbucks, patisserie, 2 times on Northstar (1 extended), 1 hour star class time on Flowrider, and the behind the scenes tour  

If it was our first star class, would have been our last.  We already had Star on Oasis in September booked, so I’ll know then.  

We had an almost identical experience 2 sailings ago and said to ourselves a lot of what you said. We weren’t sure of it was the genie, new policies, etc. We decided it was probably just us. We’ve definitely learned to communicate better/more direct rather than expect them to anticipate like we’ve always done. Our last sailing on Ovation last summer was much like what we normally experience in Star, it was great, but we did a better job telling our genie what we really wanted. I’m sure will have a great experience this summer. 

[Sea Squirrel]

I can understand cutting the excess snacks due to waste @GregD   We had a sailing where we had to request the Genie stop sending food, it was too much. 
 

Thanks for the heads-up on the Galley tour. We’ve done the bridge tours on Qs and Os so not interested in doing that again but we we’ve never had a galley tour. I think we may skip that one too, lol. @AshleyDillo mentioned some of them are coming back. Has anyone had a back stage in the theater or Aqua show? 

[Sea Squirrel]

Reserving hibachi through the CP and getting the fee waived once on-board is a pro tip. We had reserved it awhile back before we upgraded to Star but I just went to look to see what was still available and sure enough no 7 or 8PM for the entire sailing and we are still 80+ days out. 

[Sea Squirrel]

Anyone know who the current genies are on Oasis?

[Lovetocruise2002]

7 hours ago, Sea Squirrel said:

Anyone know who the current genies are on Oasis?

Allan F., Shane, Derrick, Ana/Leticia (one of them is leaving or gone already, I don’t know which one).

[F1guynz]

On Quantum, our cabin was ready when we boarded.

Initially also ended up with way to much food but by the end of the cruise it was just about the right amount.

we did the bridge tour and it was about 20 minutes and we could only access one side due to Covid protocols. The galley tour was about 50 minutes which was a bit too long for most people.

[MLH]

Flowrider access has been changed.  You used to get to go every 3rd or 4th person during non peak hours.  Now they give you an hour at  8 am in the morning.  You are on vacation but have to get up early to enjoy a published perk.

[Jkaczano]

I actually prefer the flowrider star class hour (9AM on Anthem).  My teens and I all stand up surf.  So priority every 3 or 4 people meant there had to be more than 9 or 12 people in line for it to even be worth it using it - rare on non peak hours unless you’re on Wonder.

[Sea Squirrel]

We’ve had Leticia before and read a lot of good things about Derrick as well. We don’t really know too much about the others. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

22 minutes ago, Sea Squirrel said:

We’ve had Leticia before and read a lot of good things about Derrick as well. We don’t really know too much about the others. 

Oasis has a fabulous Genie team! They are all the best! If I could pick one ship to sail star on right now, it would be Oasis. Mainly because of those Genies on that ship.

[Sea Squirrel]

@Lovetocruise2002, who would you say is your favorite on the current Oasis team?

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, Sea Squirrel said:

@Lovetocruise2002, who would you say is your favorite on the current Oasis team?

My opinion is biased but I am going to say Allan or Shane. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

But you cannot go wrong with any of those 4-5 genies. Everyone loves them. I have rarely heard anything negative about any of them. That is why I think OA has the best genie team right now. I am really hoping they are all still there when I return next March.

[AshleyDillo]

5 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

My opinion is biased but I am going to say Allan or Shane. 

#teamShane here!

Though I've never had Allan..but Shane was amazing!

[Sea Squirrel]

Did you find Shane pretty flexible with the unwritten stuff or a true stickler @AshleyDillo @Lovetocruise2002 ? 

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 hours ago, Sea Squirrel said:

Did you find Shane pretty flexible with the unwritten stuff or a true stickler @AshleyDillo @Lovetocruise2002 ? 

I think they all try to be as flexible as they can be.

[MarioSteve]

My wife and I are on Oasis of the Seas-Star Class right now.  Our Royal Genie, Derrick Martis, is truly magical. On good advice (Mark Hockberg on YouTube), we thoroughly researched the Oasis to select our preferences, by reviewing recent Oasis’ Cruise Compasses. When the Genie emailed us about a week before the cruise, we told him what we wanted. On boarding, Derrick had created a schedule for us, date, time and location, including everything. He meets us at every location to make sure all our requests are fulfilled. There is no problem or request too big for him to handle. We are celebrating our 50th anniversary and Derrick is adding to the celebration. If this is a reduction in service, who cares?

[Sea Squirrel]

Our daughter has her hopes up every sailing that we’ll get a guy genie, lol.  We never have.  She’d probably be over the moon with Shane. 

[Sea Squirrel]

Thanks @MarioSteve and a huge congrats on 50 yrs, that’s amazing. Our upcoming will be our 3rd Star on Oasis but I’m not sure we’ve ever met or seen Derrick (last time they were all masked). We’ve heard nothing but good things about Derrick, glad he is taking such good care of you. Enjoy the rest of your cruise and your 50th celebration!

[WAAAYTOOO]

14 hours ago, MarioSteve said:

 the Genie emailed us about a week before the cruise

Did you win the SC room in a RoyalUp ?  The Genie usually reaches out about a month prior to sailing.  I would LOVE to hear of someone (recently) winning a SC RU !!

[fireclan]

14 hours ago, MarioSteve said:

My wife and I are on Oasis of the Seas-Star Class right now.  Our Royal Genie, Derrick Martis, is truly magical. On good advice (Mark Hockberg on YouTube), we thoroughly researched the Oasis to select our preferences, by reviewing recent Oasis’ Cruise Compasses. When the Genie emailed us about a week before the cruise, we told him what we wanted. On boarding, Derrick had created a schedule for us, date, time and location, including everything. He meets us at every location to make sure all our requests are fulfilled. There is no problem or request too big for him to handle. We are celebrating our 50th anniversary and Derrick is adding to the celebration. If this is a reduction in service, who cares?

That Mark Hockberg is apparently very knowledgeable about cruising...looks like you might have some competition @Matt !!

[mk-ultra]

On 4/17/2023 at 4:12 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

My opinion is biased but I am going to say Allan or Shane. 

I'm with you.  Shane is all kinds of awesome

[mk-ultra]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Did you win the SC room in a RoyalUp ?  The Genie usually reaches out about a month prior to sailing.  I would LOVE to hear of someone (recently) winning a SC RU !!

Won a RU from GS to SC GLS 34 days out.  Got that slightly silly questionnaire at 32 out.  Personal email from my Genie (Yen) at 30 days, asking my dining time preferences.

[WAAAYTOOO]

24 minutes ago, mk-ultra said:

Won a RU from GS to SC GLS 34 days out.  Got that slightly silly questionnaire at 32 out.  Personal email from my Genie (Yen) at 30 days, asking my dining time preferences.

I love Yen Lee !!!!  She was our Genie on Anthem for B2B SC cruises out of Bayonne a number of years ago.

[MarioSteve]

We’re not that lucky, WAAAYTOO. We just booked less than 30 days before the sailing date. To continue with Derrick’s legacy he told us to walk around the pier at dusk tonight in Old San Juan (we sail at 10:00 pm) because they illuminate the streets and it is quite a beautiful sight. Who knew?

[AshleyDillo]

On 4/18/2023 at 8:23 AM, Sea Squirrel said:

Did you find Shane pretty flexible with the unwritten stuff or a true stickler @AshleyDillo @Lovetocruise2002 ? 

Pretty much. We were on a B2B with SC for the first leg and he took care of us on the second leg with reservations and told us to take all the extra drinks with us . He even got a special water ordered that they don't carry on the ship for my mother.