LittleMissMagic

The piano downstairs can play itself The balcony is huge and has a table that can seat 8 and a wet bar. Unfortunately, it’s been really windy, so not able to eat on the balcony.

Downstairs bedroom we had configured with two twin beds, but it can be one king. Also a vanity, closet, and TV And a bathroom off the hall

Okay, little room tour. Upstairs bathroom has two vanities, two shower heads (behind me in the photo) and a huge jet tub. Upstairs bedroom has a king bed and drop down projector screen. Also giant closet with a vanity

Good morning! The Wi-Fi was a little spotty yesterday, but I figured out it’s better if I attempt to add less photos at a time. The suite is of course amazing, it’s perfect for our group of girls. We had Giovanni’s for lunch in the suite.

Tao planned an amazing arrival for us. We got on the ship, and he escorted us straight to margaritas, then to our Muster Drill location.

We have arrived! Boarding was amazing - we are so spoiled! Our Royal Genie is Tao and he is amazing! He decorated the room super cute for us.

Headed to the ship in style!

So trip planning! Originally we thought we may have 10 girls, but we ended up with 7 total. A few months ago, I started a thread on CC about Star Class - thanks so much to those who contributed, I learned so much! Y’all convinced me to book 6 girls in the suite for the unlimited dining package and beverage package perks. We booked our 7th in an inside cabin with unlimited dining and ultimate beverage, and she’s going to sleep in the suite with us. Don’t worry y’all, we’re not trying to bend the rules, we just want to hang out altogether! Started the trip off with a park day at Disney!

Ahoy! I'm Victoria, a.k.a. LittleMissMagic, a.k.a. LMM. I've contributed quite a few photo reviews to Cruise Critic over the years, but this will be my first ever attempt at a Live review - wish me luck! Funny story about how this cruise came to be. Back in July 2022, I was in Austin, visiting my sister Rachel (a.k.a. @RachLovesSteak) when somehow it came up in conversation that the best time is to book a cruise price-wise is as soon as the itineraries are released.... which led to us looking at February 2024 cruises and booking a Royal Loft Suite on a 3-night cruise on Allure of the Seas for Rachel's Bachelorette. At the time, Rachel was not yet engaged. But Landon was there, and he agreed that 2024 seemed like a good year to get married. So we put down a deposit and booked a cruise that was over a year and a half away. Flash forward to October 13, 2023. Rachel and I were at Walt Disney World with our parents (Stove & Judy) celebrating Rachel's birthday. On the hottest, most humid day of our trip, I insisted that we walk from Hollywood Studios (instead of taking the Skyliner) to the Boardwalk for lunch when guess who comes peddling up on a Surrey bike - Landon!!! Landon proposed, Rachel cried that it wasn't fair because she was wearing a Hocus Pocus t-shirt.... then she said yes, and after the rest of our fun celebratory trip at WDW, I started planning Rachel's Bachelorette Cruise in February 2024!

Testing

Maybe I’ll do a live review if it’s easy enough!

I'll be on Allure for the February 23rd sailing, just over a week away!

Amazing, so excited for this review! I'll be sailing Star Class for the first time on Allure in just a few weeks, so I appreciate the information! When did your Royal Genie reach out to you before your cruise? Also, did you bring your bags with you and not drop them off with the porters? I've read to do that, but I wasn't sure if you have to put all of the bags through the security scanner and bring them on the ship yourself, or what the process is for that. Looking forward to updates, have a great cruise!

Oh, you know it! (Though it may be delayed because we'll be sailing Royal over Christmas on Jewel of the Seas, and it's unlikely I'll finish that review before the Bachelorette Cruise.

I love the idea of reserving the Rising Tide Bar for the Promenade party! Thank you, this is so helpful!! You all have me convinced - I'm going to book six girls in the RL suite and two girls in the CPV balcony with the UBP (since this is just a 3-day cruise, not sure if they need the unlimited dining package). I was looking into The Key so that they can get priority boarding/tender, but it sounds like they may be able to join us with no issue?

Exactly, that was why I originally only booked four in the room - trying not to make anyone sleep on the sofa. It is a three night cruise, so perhaps the ladies wouldn't mind camping out in the living room.... I guess I can poll the group!

Hello, Royal Cruisers! Hoping for your advice and expertise - I booked the Royal Loft Suite on an upcoming 3-night cruise on Allure of the Seas, and now that our sail date is approaching, I just made the connection that this room is considered Star Class (which I know nothing about). I've never sailed in a suite on an Oasis Class ship before and have no idea about Star Class. I'm hoping to get some CCer advise on a few questions I have - I purchased the drink package for my sister and I about a month ago.... as I'm reading into Star Class, it seems that the ultimate drink package may already be included? Should I cancel the UBP that I already booked? Is it included for everyone booked in the room? This is my sister's Bachelorette trip, and there will be 8 girls total attending. So far, we've booked four girls in the suite (sleeps up to six). I'm trying to keep costs down as much as I can for everyone. We were thinking that we'd book the other girls in two Central Park/Boardwalk view balcony staterooms on the 14th floor, close to the aft staircase so that it won't be too long of a journey between rooms. I know that this could potentially cause problems since we will be in the suite and they will not. We don't really care too much about hanging out in exclusive areas (Coastal Kitchen), as we plan to use the suite as our home base for the cruise and hang out there. We are fine forgoing suite perks/services..... but I also don't want to create a second-class situation for them as far as embarkation goes. (I'm not asking if we can extend our perks to them - I understand the perks would only be extended to those booked in the suite.) Any suggestions/recommendations on what additional room(s) to book for the additional girls? Is the Genie someone who could help me with Bachelorette things like room decorations or hosting a party? Has anyone used the Genie for something like this before? I'd love to hear about your experience! I'm happy to receive any tips/tricks/advice/anecdotes/or links to other threads regarding the Royal Loft Suite, Star Class, Royal Genies, and more! Thank you in advance!

It's totally worth a shot - from what you've posted here, you're just trying to give your teen's suite perks to your wife. If you're very nice and explain the situation, there's a fair chance that they'll extend your suite perks to her. It's been a decade now, but back in the day when we sailed on Monarch of the Seas for my sister's graduation cruise (I'm really aging myself), I was booked in a Grand Suite with my parents, and my sister was booked in an inside stateroom with her friends. Our suite host met my sister and was so excited and welcoming - he invited her to join us in the suite lounge on the ship and at Coco Cay (this was before Coco Cay was the "Perfect Day"). Now, if you really want to make sure that your wife gets the suite perks, you could swap adults in the rooms and assign yourself to the standard balcony. 😉

Sailing on a ship with Captain Kate McCue is on my cruise goals list!

On NCL, passengers ages 18-20 can drink beer and wine if their parent/legal guardian goes to guest services and signs the waiver. The drink package isn't suite-exclusive. NCL continuously has the "Free at Sea" promotion, and Premium Beverage Package is an option (it's not completely free as you do pre-pay gratuities). So whatever stateroom you are sailing in, you can opt to include the beverage package. You may have the same issue as you did with your daughter that your son will technically have the child beverage package. But if you sign the 18-20 beer/wine waiver, he should be able to order and consume beer and wine onboard. Per NCL's website: The minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on Norwegian Cruise Line ships is 21. Guests who are 18 - 20 years of age can purchase and consume beer or wine when the ship is in international waters (3 miles out of US territorial waters). The age modification does not apply for Alaska and Hawaii sailings. The parent or legal guardian must be onboard the sailing with the young adult and present themselves at the Front Desk so they can sign the form allowing the consumption of beer and wine only. A notarized Parent Consent Form or any other document allowing for temporary guardianship for the purposes of the sailing only will not be accepted.

Suggestions on what to do next - For itinerary, it's definitely time to cruise the Panama Canal. You may get a repeat Southern Caribbean port, but going through the canal is incredible - my favorite cruise itinerary for sure! If ever you add grand kids to your traveling party (or even if you don't), definitely consider Disney Cruise Line.... that's a good one to do with a typical Eastern/Western Caribbean route because of Castaway Cay, but they also have a Norwegian Fjords itinerary (I've never done it, but definitely on my list!).

Not sure how this applies to cruise ship channel viewing, but ABC/ESPN are both under parent The Walt Disney Company, and any game that streams on ABC also streams on ESPN (often the ESPN 2 option). If the ship has two ESPN channels, one will probably be playing the ABC game. Before going through with the option below, I'd recommend going to Guest Services and inquiring about the game and where to watch. They can usually tell you if it will be playing on your stateroom TV or in a venue on the ship. But to answer your question, let's assume that's not an option. You'll want to download the ESPN and ABC app onto your device prior to the cruise (just to be safe - personally, I prefer the ESPN app and watch ABC games on that platform, but having both apps will give you back-up in case one isn't working). You'll also need to set up the app with your Television Provider accounts (whatever you use at home - DirecTV, Spectrum, xfinity, etc.). You will need to have an account with ABC/ESPN access. Note that not all games can be viewed in all locations, but since this is college ball and not pro, I don't think you'll have to deal with any broadcasting blackouts (if there were blackouts, you'd also need a VPN to change your location). On the ship, you'll need the Premium Wifi Package which is advertised at $35 per day (if you have Always Included, you can upgrade to premium - not sure if you can upgrade for just one day). Assuming you already have a cable account with ABC/ESPN, it shouldn't set you back too much cost-wise.

If the image you shared is a screenshot of your Captain's Club account, it looks like you're currently at the Select club tier, 74 points to Elite. You'll currently get all of the benefits shown under Your Club Tier (Select), and you'll receive the Elite benefits once you get 74 more club points. I agree that it's a little confusing - I think they show the next tier as a marketing tactic to incentivize you to keep cruising with Celebrity.

I knew a Victoria on Vacation follower was going to find this post! I'm not married - I just thought "in-laws" was easier to write than "my boyfriend's parents." Aaron and I will be taking his parents on their first cruise this year, and it will be my first time sailing Celebrity!

Hello! Has anyone else run into this with their cruise booking? Is it normal, or a glitch in the system? I booked this cruise on July 6th taking advantage of that 60% off additional guest "semi-annual sale." This stateroom was booked as "Cruise Only," and I chose to pay the upcharge to make it refundable. Today I was going to add prepaid gratuities ($155), but when I check that box to prepay gratuities, it takes me to this screen: It looks like adding prepaid gratuities knocks off my current promotional savings, as well as the OBC. I was hoping to prepay tips (this room is for my in-laws, so I'd like to prepay as much as I can upfront to make things easy for them), but what I thought was going to cost $155 is actually looking like $769. Is this one of those things that I can call to get sorted out, or should I just opt to pay the gratuities at the end of the cruise to avoid updating my price?