wdwkings

With the risks of lawsuits, it maybe tougher to circumvent height and weight restrictions. With a rather high profile death of a guest that was not within the rides limits in Florida, the likelihood is it might not be allowed. If the excursion is something through the cruise line, probably less likely to be overlooked. A local operator might be willing to look the other way more than corporate Royal Caribbean would allow. To that point, if you do try and are not allowed by Royal’s staff they are just following the rules from corporate.

We had done Star Class before and are again very soon. While some things have change a bit over the years the “rules” are pretty much the same. As for what you are requesting, just share what you like and how you like to have your day play out with the genie and they will make the magic happen. (See what I did there?). Since this sailing is pretty close, just have a chat on with them when you meet and they will work with you. There isn’t much that they can’t work out with short notice, but just remember some late or last minute request might be harder to fulfill. On Ovation in 2019 our genie had a family emergency and was removed the afternoon before our sailing. They flew another in last minute and we still did fine, just chatted each day to work out what we wanted to do, outside of what was already scheduled. There are some specifics that they cannot get around, like whole bottle requests, in room, be it wine or spirits are a purchase item. Yes, there are discounts but even then there might be a more cost effective way. Genies are notorious for snack deliveries, so a simple request for some pre-dinner snacks and maybe a glass of wine would be right up the alley. Not sure if the Quantum class still has the afternoon drink cart post COVID, but they did come around the suites in the afternoon since the lounge is so far, not like the CK/lounge on the Oasis class. (At least they did while we were on Ovation in 2019.) Happy sailing!

This is too funny with some of the responses. 🤣 We have done some staterooms under the public decks on different ships and different lines, including an Owners Suite on Freedom. For the most part all, including deck 10 on Freedom which was also very close to the elevator bank, have been pretty quiet. There might be some occasional noise but typically nothing problematic. The most noise from outside any stateroom was actually probably on DCL. One was from kids goofing around on the stairs and another was deck chairs being moved around, but both were limited occurrences.

I have done a massage on day one on two lines, Royal and Disney. Best to start things by relaxing, right? Both were fine, no noise or issues from tours. On Royal, it was on the Oasis so a similar layout, and the treatment rooms are a deck below the spa entrance on that class of ship. Most of the welcome activities are up on that entrance level so minimal traffic. With the gym above, I would be more concerned about noise bleeding from above during an exercise class with any rooms that are underneath that specific area.

If you are looking specifically for info on the Symphony, only since the tours have resumed, the pool is pretty small right now. Over the next few months you might get more feedback, since they really have only resumed in the past week. If you are familiar with Matt’s blog about RC, he did a review this week on his tour aboard Mariner. Agree with others that it is a good option for a first time cruiser, or someone has never done one. Some aspects may not be as interesting, but everyone should find parts interesting, especially the bridge.

Ditto, on the above statement. Thanks for the fun and informative thread, hope you had a great time and congrats on the anniversary! Safe travels home.

Sorry was watching pztv. Bye @lioness

Following this great thread now, and about to watch you sail out on the port cam too. Have an awesome cruise!

Looks like you might have been our next door neighbor on our CLS RoyalUp. We got the room right above the zip line landing. Have to say it was more fun than I thought, could see all activities, most of the aqua theater and views out to the ocean. Glad we did, not that I’ll ever pick one outright but now I know the aft/sports deck veranda is not that big of a deal.

We got a Royal Up to the CLS on Harmony in May, knowing that aft facing was a risk. We would never book one but I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Especially in the morning, it didn’t seem like it impacted being out on the veranda. In the afternoons there was a bit more noise and action. Just resorted to more people watching and it was OK. Inside the room, no real noise or issues and having that two story suite was worth it. So unlike the OP’s make or break issues, were there things that were less attractive, yes, but were those issues the worst things in the world, no. Complaining about upgrades to suites, even JS, really is a first world problem.

Buyers remorse.

The pool decks will have blankets and towels for use. That is likely the pics you see of people bundled up in blankets. I guess you could bring one back to the room for use p, but if you are not using the couch as a bed there should be some linens, likely under the bed, you could use.

AOS? Adventure, Anthem or Allure. Guessing Allure since that was one of the first with a Starbucks. It is not the only one these days. Earlier in this thread someone mentioned that Starbucks was being used on the ships in the cafe. We heard that rumor, I think back in March on the Wonder. Have not been able to verify since then but the products in the cafe and Starbucks should be very similar.

Need or want, is my view. There are quite a few factors that could be impactful. We have done two different cruises to those areas and did have some Euros and Pounds. The currency was really for small purchases or the odd chance that someplace did not take cards. For us the majority was all on credit cards. Many have good conversion rates, so double check those policies as you evaluate the need to get local currencies. The main factor should be how much time you expect to be away from the ship or ship based excursions. If you are doing time before or after the cruise, have a long port time or overnight port, or are considering an excursion not booked with the cruise line those all might increase the need of local currencies.

@thethreeofus glad to hear you got the upgrade. It looks like your other questions were answered. Have fun!

The program is pretty straightforward as a way for passengers to upgrade and for Royal to maximize revenue. The program is run by an outside organization. If @twangster finds this he can provide some more in depth on that front. You should always book a stateroom that is acceptable to you and not count on an upgrade. It is an easy process to submit your bid online and see what happens. Chances of an upgrade can vary but will increase if the cruise is not sailing at or near capacity. If there are limited rooms available then even a max bid may not be helpful. We have recently had a successful bid just slightly over the minimum. So it is really more about what is available and how many bids there are as opposed to purely how much you bid. If you are successful in moving up to suites you will have full access to all the perks. The only exception is the double points. If you are on a Oasis or Quantum class and get up to Star you will even have the genie and all the perks, otherwise expect lounge access and concierge services. Hopefully that gives you a quick overview and answers the suite question, have fun and good luck with the bid.

We were on Harmony back in Late May and things were fine early in the sailing, all show performances went off as scheduled. The last day or two Grease was cancelled.

There seems to be very few undesirable locations in the suite inventory to me. The staterooms that might be of concern are those under the public decks, so deck 14, or maybe the aft/boardwalk/sports deck facing CLS. We have done a few cruises in staterooms under those public (pool) decks and there was a few instances of noise but it was usually not consistent or problematic, YMMV. Not sure the chances on getting a Crown Loft Suite with the suite GTY but that group in my opinion has the most likely locations that would be “less desirable” to some. We were able to get a Royal Up to one of those and even though a side facing CLS would have been nicer, it was still very nice. Hoping for the best for you, but thinking that location shouldn’t be a huge concern.

Probably just due to availability, likely the Star Class rooms are all booked. The Grand Loft Suites (6), Owners Loft Suite (1), and Royal Loft Suite (1) would be the rooms that have Star and with only 8 staterooms, it won’t take much to run out of inventory. We did the Ovation GLS on the inaugural Alaska cruise and they had Star Class with that sailing. As soon as they are in the US expect to have the Royal Suite program.

The breakfast seems to be the same as others have posted but lunch looks a little different from our May cruise on Harmony. Here is the lunch menu pic I grabbed.

Nice choice! Was looking over this thread and was going to chime in that we have done the crown and grand loft suites with our son and no issues with the downstairs “bedroom”. Those suites are very nice and the two story aspect is great for the views. The bigger thing I was going to mention over the other staterooms you mentioned in your original post, was a CLS would be Sky class and some of those perks are a nice bonus. Since you have the 2 br ATS you have jumped to Star class which is really nice. The room will have close to the same wow factor but that added privacy you seemed to be looking for. Happy cruising!

We have done three recently, and all were different. - Miami - November on Navigator, it was stated that times would be enforced. We checked in at our assigned time, not sure if anyone really checked and things were pretty smooth. - Port Everglades- March on Wonder, we expected the same but we arrived after our assigned time. Pretty sure that no one checked PAT but only found a minimal line and quick boarding process once in the terminal. - Port Canaveral (we are in Orlando area) - May on Harmony, had a suite so we had 10:30 and were early. They called and lined people up and no issues for us. Friends had 11:30 parked at 11:20 and still almost missed our 12:45 lunch. It appeared that everyone just showed up and tried to get on the ship. Someone posted a video of the long lines to get into the terminal. Starting to feel a little concerned that there will be a lot of people trying to get in and not paying attention to PAT for our September in Port Everglades.

The bus or rental car option seems to be the best. While a flight is short, the other logical things (boarding, security, etc.) will add time that doesn’t make this an attractive option. Flight delays are a big risk these days and I would be more concerned with that than traffic delays. FWIW , We had embarkation in Vancouver and disembarked in Seattle so flew to SEA and did the drive up. Landed around 10 am and didn’t rush but still made it to Vancouver around 2. As long as you disembark as early as possible, you should be fine.

Background - We did the sister ship Freedom in a suite back in November and have done suites on the ships with the Royal Suite program, but have not sailed with Princess. Expect that you may find similarities between the two lines and some details could be better or worse but that can be influenced by your own personal preferences. I’ll start off with the unpacking, that is listed for some places but sorry I would never take advantage of that, I like to be able to find my stuff. On the Freedom class ships, the stateroom attendants are good and do as much as they can but they are not butlers. They do a great job and likely will setup towel animals. You will have access to a suite lounge and there are small bites there in the morning and afternoon, as well as cocktails in the evening. The concierge will be in there and you will get an email from them a week or two before the cruise to setup any request. You can have them make dining reservations at that time. If you add the deluxe beverage and unlimited dining packages your cruise will be as close as you can get to Star Class on a non-Royal Suite ship. We added the UDP but a drink in the lounge before or after dinner was enough for us. The lounge and concierge are probably the biggest pluses, early boarding is nice and if you have a table in the suite you can do dining in room. Hope that helps some and have a good trip.