Stars Aligned In Perfect Harmony - Star Class- Harmony of the Seas - 10/01/2023

[JVPIII]

52 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Red snapper is my fave fish. How was it?

Red snapper honestly the best dish we all had. Lots of flavor.

28 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Looking forward to Sabor on Allure if we don't change plans.

Since the snapper question was taken... how was the steak?

Only ate there once (Harmony 2022) and it was the guac, apps, and desserts I loved... I need an entree.

We liked Savor but prefer playmakers if there is one available. The steak was ok is the best I can say. Coastal Kitchen tonight so the filet should be much better.

 

[JVPIII]

At 1 pm we still did not have our luggage so I text Wendy when she thought we should get it. Her response: Oh it should already be there let me follow up.

Two hours later we did not have luggage because It was hiding behind other luggage according to Wendy. Got luggage to the room at 3:30 pm. 

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, JVPIII said:

We liked Savor but prefer playmakers if there is one available. The steak was ok is the best I can say. Coastal Kitchen tonight so the filet should be much better.

Thanks. I'd expect the CK filet to be much better even if you liked the Sabor steak more (only had it twice but excellent both times). Snapper it is!

We love Playmakers. I was only asking b/c we have a last minute Allure cruise in 24 days so we're likely doing Sabor once... after that it's several Wonder cruises with Playmakers.

[Gilley]

Can you order as much as you want at Sabor or is it one entree.  I’m booked on Liberty in 13 days.

[WAAAYTOOO]

The whole SC luggage thing is really unacceptable.  They need to fix it.

[Jax]

7 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

The whole SC luggage thing is really unacceptable.  They need to fix it.

Agreed. I am curious to see what our experience is like on HM this December. 

[JVPIII]

1 hour ago, Gilley said:

Can you order as much as you want at Sabor or is it one entree.  I’m booked on Liberty in 13 days.

In star class you can order as much as you want. If purchasing the meal as a 1 off you can order only one entree and dessert per the rules but ymmv as I have seen waiters bend this.

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, JVPIII said:

In star class you can order as much as you want. If purchasing the meal as a 1 off you can order only one entree and dessert per the rules but ymmv as I have seen waiters bend this.

When we ate as a family of 8 on Harmony in 2022, we re-ordered a couple of the apps several times and ordered a bunch of desserts but it could have been because we were a large party and we didn't try to order multiple entrees.

YMMV sounds right to me... seems to apply to a lot of things these days, for better or worse.

[JVPIII]

17 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

The whole SC luggage thing is really unacceptable.  They need to fix it.

 

8 minutes ago, Jax said:

Agreed. I am curious to see what our experience is like on HM this December. 

Yeah, honestly the whole star class check in process this time was not great. We were at the curb from 10 am and did not make it to the suites lounge area til 10:30. We were not on the ship until 11:15 and did not get luggage til 3:30. Not a great start, but it has been good otherwise. Wendy has apologized. for a smooth process for the rest of the week

[JVPIII]

I finally got everyone to sit for a picture as we sat down to dinner at Coastal Kitchen.

Mom and Dad

Rick and Me

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, Jax said:

Agreed. I am curious to see what our experience is like on HM this December. 

When we sailed HM in March, we got our luggage within 1hr of dropping it off. Terminal A in Miami. When we sailed Wonder out of PC, even faster. I feel like this is one of those things that are port/ship dependent. Or even sailing dependant as in the case with @JVPIII. Perhaps it even has something to do with how early you check into the port. Later, busier, takes them more time? Let’s see what happens in a few months on Odyssey out of PE.

[JVPIII]

Dinner was amazing. 
 

Menu

 

Crispy Pork Belly

 

Cured Salmon

 

French Onion Soup

 

Chilled Caesar Salad

 

Broiled Salmon

“The Sabrina” IYKYK

 

Dessert Menu

 

Chocolate Praline Tart

 

Cheese Cake with Chocolate sauce

Chocolate Cake

 

The only miss was the Cesar Salad. It tasted fine but I like my salads cold. The plate was freezing but the lettuce was room temperature. Everything else was so good.

[JVPIII]

We decided to skip the show and went to the Casino after dinner tonight. It was a good decision.

[MLH]

15 hours ago, JVPIII said:

At 1 pm we still did not have our luggage so I text Wendy when she thought we should get it. Her response: Oh it should already be there let me follow up.

Two hours later we did not have luggage because It was hiding behind other luggage according to Wendy. Got luggage to the room at 3:30 pm. 

Note this on your survery!!!!!!!  We never get our luggage since after covid.  From now on when sailing on Star, we will be carrying it on board and send a photo of us to corporate hauling our own luggage.   I  think it gets lumped in with all other luggage and put off to the side and the stewards don't recognize the tags.  For non star sailings,  I have found that when I print the tags with the colors verus the hand written ones at the port they get there a little sooner.

[Lovetocruise2002]

9 hours ago, JVPIII said:

“The Sabrina” IYKYK

Yum!! That looks like a good one!

9 hours ago, JVPIII said:

Cheese Cake with Chocolate sauce

OMG! Why did we never think to order it like this?? Hubby likes the standard one with strawberry sauce on top but this one looks delicious! I will have to remember to try this next time.

[SweetPea]

15 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

The whole SC luggage thing is really unacceptable.  They need to fix it.

It's definitely going on the comment card!

[JVPIII]

2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

It's definitely going on the comment card!

 

3 hours ago, MLH said:

Note this on your survery!!!!!!!  We never get our luggage since after covid.  From now on when sailing on Star, we will be carrying it on board and send a photo of us to corporate hauling our own luggage.   I  think it gets lumped in with all other luggage and put off to the side and the stewards don't recognize the tags.  For non star sailings,  I have found that when I print the tags with the colors verus the hand written ones at the port they get there a little sooner.

Already planned to go in survey. Cruise has been great once we got our luggage but it was a stressful start.

Sitting and looking at this view is taking the stress away however.

[JVPIII]

Backtracking a little we had breakfast at coastal kitchen this morning which was very good. Unfortunately I took no pictures because my stomach brain overrode my regular brain and ate it all up.

After breakfast we played Trivia and Rick won.

We have been relaxing on the balcony but we are about to go to lunch at Izumi. 

[Sweety]

12 hours ago, JVPIII said:

We decided to skip the show and went to the Casino after dinner tonight. It was a good decision.

Nice!!!

[Gilley]

Good decision to skip show and a very nice win.  Hopefully you did t lose much before that big win.

[SweetPea]

First of all, nice win in the casino!

Second, i just submitted my survey, expressing my displeasure at their new luggage procedures, so maybe if they get enough complaints we'll reverse this stupid course. 

And third ... did you paint your toe nails orange? Love it!  

[JVPIII]

6 hours ago, Gilley said:

Good decision to skip show and a very nice win.  Hopefully you did t lose much before that big win.

 

5 hours ago, SweetPea said:

First of all, nice win in the casino!

Second, i just submitted my survey, expressing my displeasure at their new luggage procedures, so maybe if they get enough complaints we'll reverse this stupid course. 

And third ... did you paint your toe nails orange? Love it!  

Thank you. Win was nice and I am up for the trip so far!

I did paint toe nails burnt orange for fall.

[Ampurp85]

Congrats on the win. I hope I have your luck in 13 days 

I love the burnt orange. 

[JVPIII]

Ok it has been a great day and I am completely stuffed food wise. Tomorrow is another day at sea and I don’t know if my poor stomach can expand enough for it.

lunch at Izumi sushi was an experiment to see if my parents (read my mom) would be willing to try it. I have to give her credit where credit is due, she did try almost everything we ordered. She probably will never do it again however.

For those who have never been or would like to reminisce about the menu here it is:

Izumi sushi is an a la carte menu and what we ordered for this meal would have cost an arm and a leg had we not been in Star class.

First drinks:

Short glass is She’s a Geisha and the other is the Japanese Strawberry. Both drinks are great with fruity taste. If you are a person who does not like to taste the liquor in your drink do not order either. Both are great but strong and you can taste the alcohol.

Next appetizers:
 

Tofu ginger salad minus the tofu

 

Mom and Rick ordered this and said it was good. I don't do ginger dressing so it was a no from me.

Pork Gyoza Dumplings

Absolutely amazing! Would order this on every visit. All of us really enjoyed.

Shrimp and Pork Wonton soup

 
 

Both Rick and dad said it was good.

 

Next up entrées and dessert.

[JVPIII]

8 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Congrats on the win. I hope I have your luck in 13 days 

I love the burnt orange. 

Thank and good luck when you go. I think you will need to go to the casino for a break from the vintages on your trip.

[JVPIII]

For the main corses we ordered a few rolls to share.

Snow Crab California roll - We ordered 2

 

Truffled creamy lobster tempura roll

 

Izumi Ryu Futomaki roll

 

Crispy Philly roll

Knowing she would most likely not like the sushi mom also ordered Beef and Chicken Teriyaki ( normally comes one or the other).

Everything was delicious but our favorite one was the Crab California roll. Mom was not a fan but did like her teriyaki.

For dessert Mom and dad each had the lava cake and Rick and I shared a Mochi Ice cream. Unfortunately no pictures of dessert. Epic fail on my part I know.

Now for those following along this meal would have cost us $177 before gratuity with everything we ordered. If we were not in Star we would not have done it. Not because we could not afford it but because we could not justify the cost for something we were not sure we would like or not. To me the ability to try new things without the guilt of not eating or drinking is a really great perk of Star. You could also achieve this partially with a drink package and ultimate dining package but we went over our allotment for an a la cart menu that is given out with the ultimate dining package. 
 

Verdict on would we eat here again? All yes except my Mom but I am so glad she tried it.

 

[JVPIII]

I will finish day 1 tomorrow as it is currently 11:30 and it is almost tomorrow anyway

[WAAAYTOOO]

So agree with you re:  ginger dressing.  Yuck.

I tried "she's a geisha" and didn't care for it.  I know it's a fave of many here...but not me.

[Lovetocruise2002]

10 hours ago, JVPIII said:

Short glass is She’s a Geisha and the other is the Japanese Strawberry. Both drinks are great with fruity taste. If you are a person who does not like to taste the liquor in your drink do not order either. Both are great but strong and you can taste the alcohol.

Tip from an Izumi lover: if you don't want to taste the alcohol as much, order both drinks with vodka instead of sake (which is what gives it the strong flavour). It goes down a whole lot better and you can have more  I love those two drinks. Other than the Lavender Martini, those two are probably my other favourite drinks. I have had it with sake and vodka and I always order with vodka now.

9 hours ago, JVPIII said:

Verdict on would we eat here again? All yes except my Mom but I am so glad she tried it.

If you go back, give the Chicken Karage a try. It's an appetizer and it's basically fried chicken with sweet chili sauce. Also, you have to try the Yaki Udon. IMO, it's way better than the teriyaki rice that your mom ordered. Maybe you can even convince her to go back with those two things.

Now I want Izumi lol....

[Ampurp85]

Japanese strawberry is my favorite drink on all of Royal. I normally get 2-3 when I do Izumi and the Yaki Udon is my go-to as I don't eat seafood or sushi. 

[SweetPea]

40 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Tip from an Izumi lover: if you don't want to taste the alcohol as much, order both drinks with vodka instead of sake (which is what gives it the strong flavour). It goes down a whole lot better and you can have more  I love those two drinks. Other than the Lavender Martini, those two are probably my other favourite drinks. I have had it with sake and vodka and I always order with vodka now.

If you go back, give the Chicken Karage a try. It's an appetizer and it's basically fried chicken with sweet chili sauce. Also, you have to try the Yaki Udon. IMO, it's way better than the teriyaki rice that your mom ordered. Maybe you can even convince her to go back with those two things.

Now I want Izumi lol....

Haha, yes! The Chicken Karage was awesome!

Also, @JVPIII, was mom not offered to order from the Hibachi side? Batman was only going to Izumi for me, and Lety was very clear as Star Class that we could order from both sides of the restaurant. She met us at Izumi and made sure both menus were on the table, waiting for us.  I failed to mention this in my blog, probably because Batman found enough to eat on the Sushi side. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

8 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Haha, yes! The Chicken Karage was awesome!

Also, @JVPIII, was mom not offered to order from the Hibachi side? Batman was only going to Izumi for me, and Lety was very clear as Star Class that we could order from both sides of the restaurant. She met us at Izumi and made sure both menus were on the table, waiting for us.  I failed to mention this in my blog, probably because Batman found enough to eat on the Sushi side. 

Interesting.  I have done it the opposite way (ordered from the sushi side when having hibachi) but never thought about ordering hibachi while dining on the sushi side.  I wonder how that works…how they prepare your food while others are occupying the grill….  Might have to try this and see….got a while to wait though.  We don’t have a SC booked until Icon in Dec 2024 !

[Lovetocruise2002]

10 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

wonder how that works…how they prepare your food while others are occupying the grill….  Might have to try this and see….got a while to wait though.  We don’t have a SC booked until Icon in Dec 2024 !

They have a grill in the back where they can make everything they usually make on the Hibachi tables. I only know this because our last sailing on HM in March, we had the family with us. My nephew has a shellfish allergy and Marla made sure the whole restaurant knew about it. Anyway, we were having Hibachi there and he was just going to order something from the other side menu. The waiter told him to order what he wanted off Hibachi and they would make the entire thing separately in the back. And they did. He ate Hibachi with us that night, just nothing that touched the main grill that we were all eating from.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

those two are probably my other favourite drinks

48 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Japanese strawberry is my favorite drink on all of Royal

I wish Izumi had a separate bar like Sabor, Mason Jar, Wonderland, etc. Would love to try those but highly unlikely we'll ever eat there.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

I wish Izumi had a separate bar like Sabor, Mason Jar, Wonderland, etc. Would love to try those but highly unlikely we'll ever eat there.

I don't know for sure...but I highly suspect that Izumi gets their drinks from elsewhere. Like how all the Central Park restaurants get their drinks from Trellis Bar, I think Izumi also gets it from elsewhere, I just don't know where. On Oasis class ships, Izumi is near the casino, or the MDR on Deck 4. If you can find out where they get their drinks from, that location can probably make those drinks. Just like how you don't have to dine in Gio's, Chops, Jamie's, etc. to try their drinks, you just order from Trellis Bar.

But I could be totally wrong about that too, well not about the Trellis Bar (that I know for sure), but Izumi drinks. It's just something I have long suspected.

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Just like how you don't have to dine in Gio's, Chops, Jamie's, etc. to try their drinks, you just order from Trellis Bar.

This is what happens when you don't eat much specialty dining... I had no idea there were signature drinks at those restaurants, lol. Gonna go check out the app menus now.

Oddly, the WJ doesn't have signature drinks.

[SweetPea]

I wish this had come up when i was still in the app. I could've checked to see where the $0 charge came from for our drinks at Izumi.

Of course, @JVPIII can simply check his account on the app to not keep us in suspense!

[JVPIII]

5 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I don't know for sure...but I highly suspect that Izumi gets their drinks from elsewhere. Like how all the Central Park restaurants get their drinks from Trellis Bar, I think Izumi also gets it from elsewhere, I just don't know where. On Oasis class ships, Izumi is near the casino, or the MDR on Deck 4. If you can find out where they get their drinks from, that location can probably make those drinks. Just like how you don't have to dine in Gio's, Chops, Jamie's, etc. to try their drinks, you just order from Trellis Bar.

But I could be totally wrong about that too, well not about the Trellis Bar (that I know for sure), but Izumi drinks. It's just something I have long suspected.

 

5 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I wish Izumi had a separate bar like Sabor, Mason Jar, Wonderland, etc. Would love to try those but highly unlikely we'll ever eat there.

 

5 hours ago, SweetPea said:

I wish this had come up when i was still in the app. I could've checked to see where the $0 charge came from for our drinks at Izumi.

Of course, @JVPIII can simply check his account on the app to not keep us in suspense!

I can confirm that Izumi drinks come from elsewhere as I saw a waiter with a tray of them walking past the elevator with them into the restaurant. I however can not say where as the on board account says Izumi so not sure

[JVPIII]

Sorry for the delay in posting the internet has been very spotty today as we get closer to Sint Maarten

[asquared17]

5 hours ago, JVPIII said:

as we get closer to Sint Maarten

MY FAVE!!!!