Dan83

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You can likely cash out the OBC via the casino slot machine, even if non-refundable. 

The slot machine loophole was closed on Harmony last week. Non refundable OBC loaded to a machine works like promotional play and can’t be cashed out. 

In true cruise critic fashion, I’d like to get critical about Royals sports staff and onboard activities. We just finished a week on Harmony OTS. A common theme I saw is new reasons why you can’t do something. And the sports staff seemed to have a bad attitude about it. All in the name of safety. I get it, we all need and want to be safe. Lots of attention paid to safety with my job.  No problem. My suggestion for Royal is to provide more solutions. Royal’s solution is “no you can’t do this activity because”. One little example, I can’t ride the zip line because my cell phone in my pocket. Ok I get it, safety issue, how about a simple solution provided? Maybe a shelf, table, anything really where I can set it down. Nope. No items left inside the rails. People were stacking phones, wallets, sunglasses, etc on the floor beside all the people in line. People in line actually stepping over this stuff left in the floor. Ok so I have an outdated iPhone 11 with a cracked screen but I still don’t want to leave it on the floor for people to step over and I don’t want to walk back to the room.  Whatever, silly rant. 
 

My next gripe is the flow rider. I haven’t rode the flow rider since before Covid. I was never good at it and never will be. But before Covid I could load myself, and maintain enough control to move around and stay up long enough for them to tell me my time is up. I would ride it a few times and be done for the rest of the cruise. I was never one of those guys living in the flow rider line for a week showing off. I’ve been on several cruises since covid but this time I decided I wanted to try flow rider again. But I’ve apparently forgotten my previous flow rider skills and my control wasn’t there. Two attempts per day is what you’re allowed. I could still load myself, and I made it back and forth across the wave about 3 times. But that’s about all I could do. I just wasn’t getting it. And with the psychological pressure of only two attempts, it just wasn’t happening for me. And the staff would only provide minimal basic instructions. During these “tryout” sessions, there was basically no line. Most people were getting their two wipeouts in short order and then sent packing. I’m sure I could have relearned it fairly quickly if I’d had more time and a few more attempts. But the process had me soured a bit. On the third day, I went for my 2 attempts at this coveted white wristband. Nobody in line, the staff was busy shredding, cutting, riding, or whatever you call it. They were noticeably bothered that they had to stop playing and let me have my 2 attempts. It didn’t go well and I gave up after that day. Of coarse they cited safety for these new procedures but one of the sports staff admitted it was because flow rider lines were getting too long. So they added a barrier to entry. 
 

The rock climbing venue seemed to be a lot more chill. Even though the sour staff members would rotate through occasionally, there were a few very nice ones. In my opinion, the rock wall is an under rated workout venue. Get to the top a few times and then try to get faster at it. Pretty solid workout. As long as they’re not busy they will let you have at it. 

We just finished our first star class cruise. It was really great and now we don’t want to cruise Royal Caribbean without it. It wasn’t perfect, and some of my expectations may have been too high. The rest my family was more impressed than I was. I was chatting with a family in another 2 BR aqua suite, they had a completely different experience than we did and it all boiled down to differences in Genies. I’ll list my things to fuss about first and then list the things that were awesome. 
I felt communication was lacking with our genie. I didn’t understand their capabilities until about halfway through the cruise. He never really explained until later.  For example, they can only reserve seating at an event that requires reservations, such as the aqua show or the comedy club. I had messaged about getting seats in Studio B for the crazy quest game show. This event doesn’t require reservations so no reserved seating for the genies. Seats don’t really matter for that event anyway but I didn’t know at the time. So when I would ask for something like that he couldn’t do, I would get radio silence. I just wish he would have responded and said , I can’t do that and this is why. No problem. But instead I’m left wondering with no response for a couple hours.  He did print the list of dining reservations and show times at the beginning of the cruise. But we never got any daily reminders. I was always hunting for the schedule or trying to find it on my phone. The genie would show up at dining times and meet us in the theater. That mostly was all we saw of him except for a couple other times which I’ll mention in the awesome things he did. Another thing that I didn’t really figure out until later in the cruise was how to handle changes in dining plans. With a group of 6, there was bound to be someone wanting to go off schedule. And I was usually the one who was craving something different last minute. Having the genie change reservations was a much more complicated process than just showing up at the venue we wanted to go to. For example, my wife and I had a craving for the guacamole at Sabor. We just showed up for lunch and they were happy to work us in. Messaging the genie back and forth while he checked the system for available slots would have been a 30 minute ordeal. The staff at the specialty restaurants were all fantastic about making changes, always very accommodating. We didn’t always want to dine as a group of 6 and sometimes we wanted to separate and go to different venues. It seemed like it put a lot of strain on the genie when we asked for changes like that. Last thing to fuss about, and really it’s no reason to fuss. It’s just one of the things that I had my expectations set too high. I was hoping to have something specially prepared. Nothing big or extravagant, just something made for us. Many have mentioned a cake but I wasn’t in to that. We can get cake anywhere. I had a goal to get biscuits and chocolate gravy. I’ve never seen chocolate gravy on a cruise before. It’s super easy to make with about 5 ingredients. Wasn’t going to happen. I may as well have asked for the moon.  All in all, I got the sense that the genie had a high workload.  He mentioned once that he had been dealing with a situation when he didn’t show up as usual for dinner.  So there you have the gripes. Really all nothing burgers, didn’t slow us down a bit.  Oh one more gripe, I almost forgot. There was a sheet listing star class perks left in the cabin. It mentioned a priority line for select activities. It had times listed that basically excluded peek times during sea days. These priority lines did not exist at any of the activities. The kids did report skipping a long line once at the abyss slide and being sent back to the end another time. None of that was really ever an issue because we never really saw any extremely long lines anywhere. 

Now for a few things that really impressed me. The last night our genie really came through. We had chefs table reservations at 6:30. Since adventure ocean didn’t open until 7, I suspected that we would have to get creative. I asked him earlier in the week how we would handle those 30 minutes. He said he would check with the kids club staff and get back to me. I never heard back from him about the matter and hoped for the best. Now this was the last day and I’d been drinking heavily all day. I managed to get the kids to windjammer sometime after 6 pm while the rest of the adults finished getting ready for chefs table. So I messaged the genie again asking about this 30 minute situation with the kids. He asked where I was at and within a few minutes he had found us. He escorted us to chefs table , dropped me off, then he took the kids up to adventure ocean and got them checked in. The adventure ocean is usually pretty strict with check in procedures and times. I’m not sure how he pulled this off but it worked out perfectly. I’m like wow, you just performed a miracle with the kids club but you can’t get me a table at sorrento’s pizza, lol. Now I mentioned that I had been drinking heavily. We were getting holiday pours at chefs table and my wife doesn’t drink wine so I had hers too. I don’t know why I had to push it with the wine after having a drink package all week, but it is what it is. It happened.  The way I remember it was that I realized that I had had too much and I politely got up and left for the room. My wife tells a different story.  Our genie escorted me from chefs table to the cabin. I’m certain that I couldn’t have made it on my own. I don’t know if he was in the right place at the right time or if the waitstaff at chefs table called him. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but at that moment it was extremely helpful. The wife and in laws stayed and did damage control.  All the other little things about star class really do add up to make for a great experience. The genie elevator powers, theater seating, embarkation, debarkation, etc. Oh and the aqua suite is amazing. Absolutely worth every step down a long hallway. That balcony is amazing and you can’t get that view anywhere else on the ship. This was our 15th Royal Caribbean cruise and it was a completely different experience for us. I wouldn’t hesitate to book star class again if a bargain ever presents itself. Prices have skyrocketed since I booked this one nearly two years ago. 

Thanks for sticking through a long post. Let me know if anything needs to be clarified. 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the OP could in theory do something like they describe. But not exactly. They could change names on the reservation, but one name of the original names would have to be left and be a no show. So some of the cruise fare would be wasted. A grand suite on most ships has a capacity of 4. So that leaves 3 names that could be changed. A family of 3 may be looking for a bargain. Sounds risky dealing with strangers, but if you knew the family it may work out ok. 

Windjammer lemonade with a shot of rum from a shampoo bottle. Now that’s cruising with class. 

Silly question, for the OP or anyone who has sailed Harmony recently since we started daylight savings time. Do you recall the local port times in Roatan? Itinerary lists 8-5 but since Roatan is behind ship’s time, I suspect that the local time in port is 7-4. I’ve sailed the western Caribbean route out of Galveston several times and I’ve seen the time differences in port handled different ways. 

Now that song will be stuck in my head all day, lol

16 minutes ago, MiniChunks said:

I really don't understand how anyone has sympathy for people missing the boat. When you step foot off the ship, and don't take an excursion with Royal, you're putting your fate in your own hands. If I leave the ship on my own, I plan to get back at least 2hrs before all aboard. That gives ample time for unforeseen issues, and if I don't make it back on time, I would expect to see the ship leaving without me. Royal can't sit around and wait forever for people who can't manage a clock. 

No one is advocating that the ship wait on those that are late for whatever reason. It can’t. I’m just saying have a heart. Ship happens. 

17 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

In the end it's their fault, no matter the reason. They took a non-RC excursion and knew the risks.

I can’t go along with this either. The cruise lines sell so so many overpriced and over crowded excursions based on this scare tactic. Although rare, there have been reports of cruise sponsored excursions missing the ship. At some point due to operational necessity or even cost considerations, they will absolutely leave an excursion group behind. Yes the cruise line will pick up the tab for transportation, and if lucky may even provide a small amount of compensation. But someone’s vacation will no doubt be ruined. There’s always some risk to everything we do. And I certainly don’t blame anyone for not taking the “safest” option. But if I limited myself to only cruise line excursions then I wouldn’t be cruising at all.

Tough crowd. I feel bad when someone misses the ship whether it was their fault or not. You don’t know their story. They could have had something beyond their control or they could have been drinking at the bar two blocks away. Either way if there’s kids involved it wasn’t their fault. 

My mom had to make a cancellation claim with royal’s insurance about a year ago. It was processed and paid quickly. Paid within a couple weeks if I remember correctly. As with any insurance, dot your i’s and cross your t's when filling the forms. 

Drop off and pickup at adventure ocean is always such a headache. If the genie can fix that then we will be hooked on star class. That and embarkation/debarkation. Those are the pain points for us. Reserved seating for shows is ok but sometimes we prefer to sit in the cheap seats. 

First time star class suite booked for June. 2BR aqua suite on Harmony.   Since we cruise or travel about 5-6 times per year, I won’t be splurging on a star class suite very often. So I need to make this one count and get the most out of it. I’ve read quite a bit here on CC, and I’ve seen the “blog” video for star class suite tips. Does anyone care to share some unique or uncommon perks you have received while staying in a star class suite? We are traveling with 3 generations: kids, parents, and grandparents. All six of us packed into the aqua suite. 
 

I do have a couple silly questions. 1. I’ve read that to assure favorable times for hibachi, you should book that in the cruise planner and then hope to have it refunded onboard. Is that still a thing? I’m assuming the same up charge for hibachi and chef’s table as the ultimate dining package? 2.  How do you communicate with the genie? Do they just come around every so often or do you call them when you need something like a reservation? 

5 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The deposit is per person not per cabin so on a 7 day cruisevthe deposit fir 6 will be $1500 or 10% of the cruise fare whichever is higher. 

 

The cancellation policy is different for guests 3 through 6 and generally penalties do not apply until the 100% stage.

 

All passengers over the first 2 guests will pay the same rate. 

Thanks! I’ll send an email to the world’s best TA 😉 next week to get those 2 extra guests added to the reservation. 

I have my family of 4 booked in a 2 BR aqua theater suite. This cabin has a max capacity of 8. It looks like we will be taking 2 more with us for a total of 6. This is for a June sailing.  A few questions. 

1. Will this require an additional deposit and if so, due to capacity limits, would it be too risky to wait until final payment? 

2. Is the cancellation penalty schedule the same for passengers 5 and 6? 

3. I understand that the pricing for passengers 5-6 will be the same as 3 and 4. Is that still correct? If that’s the case then it’s actually cheaper to put these 2 in a star class suite with us than it would be to book another inside cabin. 

On our recent Symphony cruise, I submitted an online form 2 days in advance. I requested our connecting door to be unlocked and for the bed to be separated in the kids room. Both requests were already done when we got to the cabin. I also got a gallon of distilled water and extension cord that I didn’t request. The link to this form was in an email from Royal two days before departure. 

For a closed loop Caribbean cruise, one that accepts a birth certificate and photo ID, an unexpired passport will do just fine. As long as it doesn’t expire before date of return. If it were something like a transatlantic or repositioning cruise, or one that visits certain countries, and a valid passport is required documentation, then Royal is more likely to be sticklers on the 6 month validity rule. I found myself in this position for a recent transatlantic cruise. I had 3 months validity left. And even though I was legal to travel to all the countries on the itinerary with 3 months validity, I didn’t want to chance it with  Royal’s 6 month requirement. So I had to rush a passport renewal before traveling. 

Off the ship at 7:05. Almost to PBI in a pre scheduled Uber. Debarkation went smooth early on. But there were some pileups building. I think it will be a mess later. Lots of families that have never cruised before. There were a ton of people trying to get off early that put luggage out last night. I could tell that the crew were already getting frustrated. 

Adding some pics from Nassau. It was a lazy day. I overdid a few things this week and we all needed an easy day. First we walked to the end of Junkanoo beach.

Stayed only about 2 hours and then we started back. Had to stop for a coconut. 

And thanks for the suggestion of the pirate museum. The kids liked it a lot. 

Back to the ship for some pool and water slides. 
 

And since the timing worked out, we saw another showing of Flight after dinner.  Great show. 

This lifeguard saved a life this afternoon. He pulled out a kid that was struggling and went under. Happened very fast. Very smooth operation, almost like they’ve practiced for it, lol. Two other lifeguards came to assist. The supervisor came over to give him a fist bump and let him go change into dry clothes. And he was back at work in just a few minutes. 

Nice rainbow over Nassau this afternoon 

1 hour ago, udamom said:

Did you have trouble with the car or driving in the area? Thinking of renting a car

My wife left one shoe in the parking lot, so we went back to get it. That ate up all my extra time buffer to get back to the ship.  I do recommend the car rental for Curaçao. It was a blast. 

Very nice yacht parked next door 

I see the elves. I see no Daryl. Elf it I’m done. No more searching for Daryl.