GottaRequalify

@Ourusualbeach

Thank you so much for your guidance on this. Apart from the Royal Caribbean cruise, I am also doing a Cruise with Confidence change to a Celebrity cruise. (Cancelling a Jan 2022 cruise and using the FCC to an existing 2021 cruise.) I know this is the Royal thread but in the Celebrity Terms and Conditions there is this line "...To receive the benefit of “Cruise with Confidence” guests must opt-in by calling CEL at 1-800-437-3111..." Do we have to do this to Royal Cruises? If we want to cancel up to 48 hours before a cruise for any cruise booked before the start of August even if it is in May 2022, or get a price reduction as OBC after final payment, do we need to register and Opt-In for these benefits?

I couldn't find equivalent Royal fine print.

Just to let everyone know, if they want there is now an A1 2-bedroom Aquatheatre suite available on Harmony of the Seas in January 2021 for the Jan 20 Western cruise.

We did a L&S to the Symphony for Jan 2022. We are very pleased as normally we would travel from Australia to the US for 3 weeks doing a Disney / Universal / Shopping trip with a weeks cruise. Not knowing if the borders would be open or if we would need to quarantine coming home, moving the holiday by a year saved us a lot of stress. It is likely that we would have just eaten the $1K or moved it to an Australian 2022 cruise and taken the $400 change fee, but moving it one year into the future made us feel a lot better.

The Symphony 2022 cruise was retailing about $5K more expansive than the Harmony 2021 cruise, but we were given the new room at the same price as Harmony.  The only cost difference was $170 increase in port fees. Both were western Caribbean with exactly the same ports.

Leaving port, we were invited (with a lot of other people) to go to the front of the ship and watch departure from the helideck, but the weather wasn’t the greatest so the sail away got cancelled. They had sparkling wine and canapes ready to serve us, so they tried to get us to take them just standing around. Instead, we went back to our room to watch sailaway.

And on the other side of the mouth of the harbour is the Bacardi factory.

An enjoyable port stop, but very short. You really only had time to do one thing and that was all. The Bacardi tour was very interesting if you like the product. Hearing that it is still privately owned and some of the brands they own as part of the company made this a good tour.

San Juan

For me, this meant leaving the family so I could go to the Bacardi factory. First time in port, so booked the ships tour. The rest of the family did the old and new San Juan.

After a short bus journey around the harbour we were here!

Everyone is given a buzzer, a drink cup and a drink ticket at the welcome centre, and told to look around. After the buzzer goes off, you hop on a small tram and taken to the start of the tour. At the end of the tour you walk back to the welcome centre after exiting through the gift shop. Back at the Welcome Centre, you exchange your drink ticket for the cocktail of your choice in the cup which is yours to keep.

This photo shows the tram and you can see the old fort in the background.

The ships aren’t that far away either

The tour takes you past some of the older buildings, and then gives a story of the family and some of the different items that they make.

One of the things I found interesting, was that similar to Champagne must come from a certain region in France, the Bacardi family sued in the United States and the NY Supreme Court in 1936 got copyright / trademark protection so that if you asked for a Bacardi, you have to be given a Bacardi rum and not another white rum, it is not a generic term like cola.

If you wanted to go to the factory by yourself, these are some of the tours you can do. Including the Historical Tour which is what we did as part of the ship based tour, that included the bus to and from the ship.

On 7/20/2019 at 4:05 AM, Glide_Path said:

Thanks for coming back OP.  Will be in an A1 in Sept on SOTS.  A few Qs,

-Was the Escape room included with Star or was it additional charge?

-Laser tag, did the genie pre arrange this, or do you just flash your purple card to the attendant?

-Is Starbucks still included with Star?

 

My last cruise on HOTS, the genie was ok, but not magical.  I had to specifically ask for a lot of things.  He was re-active, but not pro-active.  Any other Star class perks not to miss?

 

Beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing.

Escape Room Was included

Laser Tag Was included.

The Genie arranged the time and session for each. For Laser Tag, we were told to wait near the ice theatre and went in through a side entrance rather than walk past everyone waiting. The Genie always met us at the scheduled activities and escorted us in.

The Escape room was a lot of fun and we were put in the room with a couple of other families. However, even though the ship was only a couple of months old, some things had already started to get broken or worn out.

Starbucks drinks were included. It was a regular stop from the Main Theatre on the way back to the rooms for a hot chocolate for the kids.

I understand what you mean by saying your previous Genie was ok and not Magical, the previous one we had was okay as well. (In fact he moved to HOTS - so who knows?) We didn't know what a real Magical Genie was until we got on Symphony.  My biggest tip was when the Genie contacts you personally 1-2 weeks out, let them know what you want to do (we wrote back we want to do everything an Oasis ship has to offer). I gave a list of all the restaurants I wanted and approximately what time. eg. 150 Central Park on First Formal night to allow us to get to late show. Late dinner on first night so we can watch sail away from our room.

Our Genie booked the shows so that she only had one group in each show to look after, eg. Each Session of Hairspray she only had one cabin, so it made us feel like we were the only people she looked after.

The other thing we have learned is don't be afraid to ask, not demand, ask. As the week goes on, plans change, you want to do more of something or less, let them know so that they can rearrange things and at the end of the week, you have had the holiday that you want and not be stuck to someone else's schedule. We enjoyed the comedian at the family show in the main theatre and said this to the Genie. We hadn't planned to go to the "Adults" session, but found him funny, so asked and we had a table reserved in the second row (my request not at the front) for the next session.  Not having to plan things six months in advance when bookings open like at Disneyworld makes it a much more relaxing cruise. Also ask them after a couple of days once they have got to know you, what else that you haven't booked do they think you might enjoy.

The ship was late leaving the port, from the times on the photos, about an hour late, but it did mean I got to watch multiple pier runners.

Best entertainment ever from the rear of the ship. And we were really late leaving port, so all of these people should have missed this ship, as they all came after the sail away time.

Heading back to town we stopped in Phillipsburg for some shopping, where you could walk out onto the pier to look back at the ship and also see the main beach at Phillipsburg. You could always get a water taxi from the ship to this beach, hang out for the day then get a water taxi back to the ship.

Walking back to the ship gave you good views of the rear

Including the Aquatheatre balconies.

From our balcony looking back at Phillipsburg

The beach and Pier at Phillipburg where I took the previous photos and where the water taxi goes to.

And where the water taxi leaves from

The stretch of road was jam packed, and no cars moved when the plane came over. Parked cars and other day tours then tried to head out, but it was very busy road and took some time for the traffic jam to clear. Others just went back to swimming waiting for the next plane.

There was a couple of safety signs about

The famous bar at the end of the beach had today’s arrivals listed, but there were a lot of very small planes that flew over not listed.

And of course the highlight, is Maho Beach.

Since the hurricane, there wasn’t as many large planes coming here. The shot of the 747 is long over. Also, you know all those pictures of the empty beach, where you can stand wherever you want. That too is long over.

We scheduled the whole day to make sure we were here on time, but we got there a little late. Also because of the woman that died not long before we visited, I wasn’t directly under the flight path. But still pretty close and a high light for the cruise for me.

I never thought living in Australia I would ever get to visit this location. When my wife suggested we make sure this is one of the ports on the cruise, I was beside myself.

Ports of Call

Apart from a brief 4 Night Disney Cruise, we had never been to the Caribbean before so we looked forward to all the stops. If you could plan your ideal 3 port cruise for us this was exactly what we wanted. A stop to see the Barcardi factory, a stop to see Maho Beach and a stop to allow a swim.

St, Martin / St. Marteen

I think most people on these boards would recommend Bernards Tours. So I booked a private tour for the 4 of us around the island. We weren’t that interested in stopping at the beaches, but wanted to see as much as possible, as we are unlikely to get back here for many years to come if ever. The tour allowed us to get out, look, take photo and then move on, without waiting for lots of people with different agendas. No matter which way you go, group tour or private. Like everyone else, I found Bernards to be very professional and it was a great day touring.

As I had never been to St. Martin before, I didn’t know where the meeting point was, and even though the instructions are semi clear, I still managed to get lost, so to help others, I have put together this guide to find the tent.

Some shots around the Island, including Hurricane damage, pictures of the other islands (Anguilla, St Barts) in the background (they are really close). The ferry to Anguilla use to leave from one pier, but it was sunk during the hurricane, and hasn’t been repaired so it takes twice as long and leaves from a different part of the island.

We were told to make sure we had closed toe shoes, as the floor can get very wet and slippery. This tour was part of a paid group and we were just added to it, (bottomless Galley Brunch) rather than being just for Suites. There were mature 3 ladies that had spent a lot of time on their hair and makeup, and were dressed for the pool. Slip on shoes, bathing suits covered by sheer beach wear. More interested in being seen than going anywhere near water. I don’t know why they went on the tour. (Unlimited bad sparkling wine?) I don’t know why they were allowed on the tour, with the footwear they were wearing.

Two of the 3 couldn’t speak English, or couldn’t understand it very well, so started speaking amongst themselves. Loudly! And Talk, and Talk. Over the staff members who were trying to act as guides in the kitchen, stopping those at the back from hearing what was being said.

Just at the end of the tour, we were walking towards the main dining room, when one of them slipped and hurt themselves, apparently quite badly. They never made it to the brunch, and the tour was held up while the main guide had to stay with them when they went off for medical treatment. Eventually a replacement staff member was found to finish the tour for us.

I felt sorry for the staff members that would have had a lot of paperwork to fill out due to the accident on the ship tour on their watch, but the ladies weren’t paying attention while walking and didn’t have on the right footwear, it was 100% their own fault. The only thing the staff did wrong was not turning them away at the start of the tour until they got the right shoes on.

So if the Galley tours are cancelled in the future, or not as extensive, you can blame these 3 ladies who decided it was more important to look glamorous than practical.

But we did get to go into the main dining room. It looked very nice. As it was a sea day, they were serving lunch in the dining room on a different floor.

We also got a Galley Tour.

The bridge tour was interesting, but they are starting to look the same.

Most people like looking forward, I like looking back at the ship.

But here is the forward shot.

And the stuff the have on the walls, for the first visits.

I remember seeing these on Legend of the Seas, as they were in a public area. It is a shame these are on the bridge and not somewhere everyone on the ship can enjoy.

The ice skating shows were good. How they do what they do on such a small rink when the ice is moving underneath them just makes it more spectacular. As you can see from this shot, we had good seats.

The little boxes in the middle of the rink help control the drones for the start of the ice show.

Not really a tour, but I went to the cruise critic “Meet & Greet”, it wasn’t a huge turn out and their wasn’t a lot of mingling. I only put 3 names down, but when I got there, by myself they had all four names as participating and gave me 4 tickets to the raffle. This was only the second “Meet & Greet”. In the first one, I won nothing, but this time all four tickets were drawn out. I gave some of the winnings away, but kept the sun glasses and other inaugural season booty for myself.

I tried to get to the top tier event, as it was the first one I was eligible for (being a Platinum), after this cruise, I became Emerald. It was due to be held in the Aqua Theatre, but it had rained, so they postponed it to the next day and it clashed with something else, so I still haven’t been to one.

Again, sorry for the delay and back to our regular scheduled programming...

Shows and Ship Tours

We went to the main production shows – Hairspray and Flight. Both were really good.

The Family Friendly Comedian was very funny, so asked to go see them at the non-family friendly session. Our Genie reserved a table for us (not at the front) with little notice and he was just as funny, without too much swearing. A really good comedian doesn’t need to swear every second word to try and make themselves look hip and cool and the two we saw were good.

There were two main shows at the Aqua Theatre, (3 if you include rehearsal). We didn’t need seats reserved for us, as we just watched from our balcony. I sadly didn’t see the second show as it was held only once and I was packing, but the kids watched it, and I caught parts through the window.

You often saw the performers rehearse during the day.

These photos were taken without a flash.

On 6/30/2019 at 10:57 PM, coops said:

What is the going rate on tipping your genie? Trying to figure out all costs,. Thanks

I can't answer that question, as it is up to each person how they value the time saved or how much more enjoyable the cruise has been made for them by the Genie. There are lots of threads on tipping Genies and lots of people with different values have replied to those threads. I would rather this question be put on those threads than this review get side tracked.

On 6/29/2019 at 10:28 PM, loug1601 said:

What a wonderful review. Can’t wait for you to come back with more! Thank you for taking the time to post your trip. 

I'm back. I am so sorry for the delay. I was away for a week with the family. We went here for a week. Even though there is no snow, these photos are taken in the middle of winter. Thank you for your kind words.

Sorry everyone, there is going to have to be a break for the next week. My internet and phone along with my neighbours, went out on Friday when I was trying to finish uploading the rest and I don’t know when I will get it back, and then I am busy until Monday week. 

42 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Not sure I'm following you on Pineapple resentment. From the Genies, or the other passengers 🤔

 

Enjoying the review.  We're doing an A1 on Allure TA next year

Some Pineapples are resenting the Genies that are reserving centre seats for the Star Class guests, including front row at the ice shows etc.

The Genies told us they had to put up with drinks being thrown at them, being yelled at and complaints made against them for asking people not to sit in the reserved seats.

The argument that I saw was between two groups of passengers. One group came early that had tried to sit in the reserved seats, for another Genie, not our one, got moved on but found seats a couple of rows back on the aisle and the group that had turn up just before the curtain was raised, asked, got told no, waited, then asked again and were given the seats. The first group thought (and made clear in loud voices) that was unfair as they had tried to sit there earlier and got told no, but the second group (also in loud voices) amongst the various verbs and adjectives used to describe on what the second group thought of the first groups complaints and what they could do with them, boiled down to "You Snooze, You Lose". I think I would get banned if I used the actual words shouted, but sitting on the prickly end of a pineapple would be a simple description. While the loud discussion was between the two groups, the first group rounded on the Genie for giving the second group the seats, all he did was release them at the last minute just before the curtain was raised, but still got yelled at.

Hopefully that explains it a bit better?

My main point, which I agree wasn't clear, was the Genies are trying to do their job and are getting push back from some passengers and while the Genie's I talked to were trying to be discrete, when asked they did confirm the majority of passengers making their life difficult were Pinnacles, with an entitled attitude.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate the question, so I could explain a bit more, to help make it easier to understand.

The Genie

Our Genie Alina was in every sense of the word magical. She was the perfect embodiment of what Royal Caribbean advertise when they talk about special treatment on board. I don’t know if it was because we knew more of what to expect being our second cruise with a Genie, or that it was on Symphony so they moved their top Genie’s there, or that the Poster Boy of the Genie’s was on board as well looking after the Royal suites, but for us, this was a much better experience than what we had on Ovation.

We felt that Alina was looking after no one else except us. One big difference in the interaction between Ovation and Symphony was that on Ovation the Suite cabins are close together. But on Symphony the ones on decks 8, 9, 10 & 17 are a long way apart so I wondered how that would be handled. Alina used the phone more and contacted us during the day but always meet us next to the activities and at dinner at night.

One of our group is a Coeliac (Requires Gluten Free), we like cheese in the afternoon as a snack and asked if they had any Gluten Free Crackers on board. We just needed to know as we would go and buy some to bring with us if they didn’t. Alina told us no, but a couple of hours after boarding we came back to the room and found this.

36 boxes of Glutino Gluten Free Crackers.

Some one said they like olives, so a big plateful turned up with the afternoon cheese. This is a sample of what turned up in our cabin every day. You can see why I didn't need to go to WJ.

Snacks in the evening to watch the show in the Aqua theatre. There are only 2 of us over 18.

Including Popcorn

Our Genie arranged our evening meals, but we changed a couple on the fly during the week. All were processed with no problems. She also arranged for us to go to the Escape Room, Laser Tag, tours of the bridge and we also attending the Galley Tour and bottomless Champagne brunch.

For the first time on a cruise, we wanted to book a next cruise, while on board. Alina booked a time for us, but rather than meeting the next cruise agent in their office, she arranged for them to meet me in the Suites Lounge.

During our dinner on the last night Alina turned up and took a phone call, excused herself and then went off. This was the first time that we didn’t feel like the only people she was looking after. We got back to our room and found it looking like this.

The cake and everything else was gluten free. Shame it got so rough that the cake couldn’t be eaten.

During the cruise we got talking to a couple of the other Genies as well. They shared some stories about things they have to put up with. Including having drinks thrown at them when they ask people to not sit in the reserved seats. Complaints made against them because people came and sat in the reserved seats and when they were asked to move, the complaint was, they weren’t asked nice enough to move.

While waiting for one show, one of the other Genies had some seats reserved and it was getting closer to show time. A couple of ladies came up and asked if they could sit in the seats and were told no, but they stood around waiting, show time was about a minute away now and they asked again. The rules are you should be seated 15 minutes before show time, so the Genie took away a couple of the reserved but kept a couple and said to the ladies one in one row and another behind her, you can sit here. Well, and then the fight started! An older couple across the aisle started yelling, why couldn’t we sit there (they had seats, its not as if they had missed out). The ladies started yelling back, because we asked, the Genie was trying to calm things down but the yelling match continued until the curtain went up. Every entertaining, but the poor Genie who had tried to do the right thing by keeping the seats until the last minute and then released them, but it was his Guests hadn’t turned up that caused the problem.

I can’t 100% confirm this, but from what was being said during this confrontation and from the conversations with the Genies, I think there was a lot of Pineapple resentment going on.

The obviously best feature of getting a Genie is getting off the ship at the end of the cruise. We were told that we could keep the bags in our room, but they needed 1 hours notice to get them downstairs. So one hour before we want to get off the ship to call them. We said that is okay, we will leave them out the night before.

We had breakfast in Coastal Kitchen, then Alina came up at the agreed time and she took us all the way off the ship to a set of lifts down to the baggage hall. That was as far as her visa allowed her to take us, but asked for a local worker to help us the rest of the way. We collected our bags, went through the automatic passport scanners (which worked for Australian Passports just fine) and was on the street waiting for an Uber within 10-15 minutes of getting off the ship.

Again, any questions about the Genie, I am happy to answer.

Day 6 – Thursday – Labadee

Day 7 – Friday – Sea Day

On the last evening, we had been warned that the seas were going to get a bit rough, as there was a bad storm in the Gulf of Mexico. This was the same storm that stopped Rhapsody? when it finished its Trans Atlantic 2018 crossing to be diverted to Port Canaveral rather than sail around the bottom of Florida and go to Tampa. In the last picture above, you can see that we started to turn north. That is when it got really rough.

The ship was sailing along and then someone on the bridge must have decided enough was enough, as the ship speed up. You could feel it and when you looked at the info screen, the ship picked up to 22-23 knots. It was hard to sleep that night and everyone in the cabin started to feel not very well, but you could tell when we passed the cost of Florida, as the wind dropped as did the motion of the ship. If they hadn’t sped up to get through the rough weather faster, much longer in the rough water would have led to a few calls of “Clean up in Aisle 2”. That was the only real time that the ship moved a lot. Even on other days when it rained it wasn’t noticeable. Not an enjoyable end to the cruise.

And back to the main event ...

Where our cruise went.

Day 2 – Sunday – Sea Day

There was a bit of a detour on the first night. We had to make a stop off in Nassau to drop a passenger off. There was an announcement (during the night) that went into every cabin asking for blood donors to make themselves available. During the bridge tour there was a question asked if this put us behind schedule, the answer was no, but we were going to spend a lot more on fuel for this cruise than normal.

Day 3 – Monday – Sea Day

Day 4 – Tuesday – St Martin

Day 5 – Wednesday – San Juan

No, I haven't got the photos mucked up, the label for St. Marten Covers San Juan.

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

I am loving your review so far, and the first of your photos.  In some ways our cruise styles could not be more different and in other ways we are on the same level.

 

My wife and I have been very lucky in our career choices. At one point she put her career on the back burner to focus on mine. At the moment it is the other way around. Our careers haven't been in a straight line or with the same company which has allowed us to now get into a very comfortable life style. During the year we don't spend much money, don't go out a lot as the workload is very high. So when we do get to do the one cruise a year on the other side of the world, we go all out, to give my wife some "Me" time to reward her for all the hard work she puts in the rest of the year.

We also know we are very lucky to be able to afford to go into a suite. And I, like you spend the rest of the year reading all the other suite reviews to get as much info as I can, to learn as much as I can so that when we do get into them, we don't waste a minute. Often my photos and reviews are to answer questions that no one has managed to answer, just in case someone gets into a suite for the first time, they too have the anticipation, as much as the journey.

And the first suite we got into, was an upgrade from a connecting balcony room to the penthouse on an oversold ship, as they were desperate to pack as many in as possible, so never say never.

Thank you for reading and commenting. It may be my review, but feedback is important and it is everyone's perspective that makes Cruise Critic great.

4 hours ago, nalrudaini said:

 

That would've been awesome to watch App St. on a cruise ship 😍

You Sir are a champion! You quoted a post and kept only the photo you wanted to reference. You kept the response police at bay.

I am also impressed out of all the photos, you looked in depth enough to find a sports team that interests you. I wouldn't even know who App St. was, especially coming from Australia.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

The Ship - Symphony of the Seas

What can you say about the largest cruise ship in the world. Its Big! There are a lot of passengers on it. But you know, it never felt crowded. I will also have to confess a few things. I never made it to Windjammers. There were so many places to eat, and with the roast beef rolls on deck 8, there was no need to go there. I also didn’t make it to El Loco Fresh, but the kids did. The ship was just so big, on a 7 day cruise, even through I walked a lot around the ship, I never made it to a lot of places. You could do lots of cruises on an Oasis class ship and still discover new places. It helped that we had so much food delivered to our room, that we didn’t need to go and hunt and gather.

My biggest HATE of this ship was the casino. It STANK! The ship was only a few months old, but the cigarette smell coming from the casino meant that you couldn’t even walk past the doors without needing to change your own clothes afterwards. Even when it was closed on port days, the smell was vile. So much so, that we normally drop a few dollars in the casino, or walk through it to get from one end of the ship to the other, but this time changed floors rather than go near it, and kept all our money.

My biggest like? There was so much to do. If you are bored on this ship, its you not them. The shows, the food, the different areas of the ship made it feel like it was a different ship, Star Class, the views.

It was just a really good week.

Here are some photos that don’t fit into the rest of the review.

This was what was being shown in Playmakers on the Saturday and Sunday.

The Diamond Drinks Menu from the Suites Lounge

Coastal Kitchen Menu from the first night

And a Coastal Kitchen lunch menu