RFerrington

Congratulations on booking Star Class. It is definitely a wonderful way to cruise ! 1. I imagine that your Genie (once they contact you. More about that, later) will advise you to go ahead and book (and pay for) both Chef’s Table and Izumi hibachi (assuming you would want to book either one or both of these), prior to boarding. With a large group, that will be even more important. It’s not a question of “hoping” to get reimbursed. You WILL get reimbursed for anyone who is SC. For Chef’s Table there is a $25 PP (all those over 21) upcharge that covers the premium wines. There is no upcharge for SC for Izumi hibachi and it covers not only the teppanyaki menu but you can order anything from the sushi menu at no additional cost. 2. Approximately 30 days prior to your sailing, the Genie will initiate discussions with you via email. Eventually you will communicate via WhatsApp. Sorry, I don’t recall how far out that commences. I always preferred email so I avoided the app until absolutely necessary. The Genie will be available to you as much or as little as you want/need him/her. In general, they will come and see you a couple of times per day at a minimum and randomly check on you during meals or events. The Genie is absolutely available to you at any hour but they do have “off” hours, which we can all understand and respect. If you need something, though, they are always there for you. One comment about WhatsApp. I have only done 1 SC sailing that involved the use of the app. All previous sailings had been prior to the use of the app - communications via phone or email. I will say, our SC experience with the Genie via WhatsApp comm was the worst SC experience we have ever had. We saw almost nothing of the Genie. He relied entirely (almost) on impersonal app comm and it really degraded the SC experience. This could have been a Genie deficiency or just a new policy. I don’t know which it was, but we have not bothered with SC again, since. Maybe the app won’t affect your experience the way it did ours. I hope not.

Destruction ! Ha. Too funny

Destruction from/to the loyalty suites/lounges can be determined as close to sailing as the night before boarding so there’s really no way to know for sure if your sailing will be restricted or not. On our B2B on Radiance, we were told the last night of our first leg that we would not have access to the Concierge (Suites) lounge for our second due to the number of Pinnacles on the second leg ONLY to be told on boarding day that they had decided to admit all Pinnacles. So they can “change” their minds at any time to restrict or not restrict loyalty members. Since ***** rolls downhill, if lower level Pinns are restricted from the SL on any particular sailing, then there’s a good possibility that Diamonds will then be restricted from the Crown/Diamond Lounge. Luckily it hasn’t happened to us YET but it will, eventually.

It’s a staffing issue. They just don’t have the staff to service they way they did before.

Lol. I’ll have to come back tomorrow and let you know. I’m sure there’s a way to look at the dining schedule for days other than the current day, but I’m not smart enough to figure out how ! Tomorrow is a sea day so I will look at the brunch times tomorrow morning and port back. Sorry for the delay. Tech-challenged and so I am also an app-loather. …and it hates me back. 😵😵😂

On Radiance now. They do not have lunch on sea days….it is brunch only. On port days the MDR is not open for lunch.

@CSHS1979, how is Laura doing ?

Yes.

The official answer is “no”. You didn’t mention which ship or port so opinions will vary. If you board after the initial “push” has occurred (after, say, 11:00) your assigned boarding time or stateroom status will likely have little to no impact. If you want to get into the terminal “first thing” not only will the actual ability to get into the terminal be a factor, but also where (and when) you will wait for the ship to start boarding as at most ports the Suites and Pinnacles have a separate “lounge” for waiting. Again, depending upon the port, chances are that they will not be enforcing the arrival times so even those with the late arrival times will be able to get into the terminal at the same time as the early birds. I know this isn’t a popular opinion for some, but it’s just the way it is now. WHERE you plan to line up for entry into the terminal will, however, still be an issue. Only Suites and Pinnacles can use the Suites and Pinnacles queue. Most ports (fair to say “all” of them) are very strict on this one. My recommendation is, if it is vitally important that you all board together, then plan to board with later group in the GenPop queue. If you want to be among the first on the ship, plan on using the S/P queue and catch up with the rest of your group later.

+1 for this theory. I think you are correct. At least they’re working on it (if this is, in fact, the reason for these glitches).

I just checked my bookings and on my 5-5-24 Wonder booking almost all of the restaurant options are showing "Sold Out". Luckily I have already made all of my CP purchases for that cruise. Obviously there is something going on with the system. I do not believe that the venues are sold out. Probably just an IT update...or they are in the process of increasing prices, which sounds about right.

@firefly333, I am happy to hear that you have a "moving on" plan. I did much the same when my parents passed. Since I lived "away" and the rest of them were local, I just said, "take it all" and I moved on. I have virtually nothing from my parents....but that's ok. Good luck with the move. I know that will be a tough one. We moved from VA to FL and your move will be even further. You are SO SMART to hire someone else to do it. We moved ourselves. UGH. No bueno. How's your hand/arm doing ? Last time I saw you, you still had a brace.

It's difficult to say these days with so many cutbacks going on BUT the last time we were SC (Dec. 2022) you could order as much as you liked of anything on the menu. With so many of the restaurants NOT included on Icon I would say that might be the one exceptions. But the last experience we had, you basically had TRUE unlimited dining. What you used to be able to do, but I think they have stopped, is ordering something from one of the other specialty restaurants when you were dining in another. For instance, I can recall back a few years ago, if I was dining in Giovannis and wanted the cream of mushroom soup from Chops, they would get that for me. I am fairly certain that service has stopped. If it's on the menu, you can have it, If it's not, tough luck.

Jane, I didn't know you were buying another condo. Where is this one ? Do you still own the one you bought a few years back in Coco Beach ?

I love the “do” on that peacock.

I don't think anyone really knows or even if there is a real difference in the priority. With these categories, it seems to be first come, first served.

Casino offers can be combined but only if they have the same offer code - meaning that they had to have been earned on the same cruise. Since my husband and I both play, we will often both receive offers on the same sailing. Those can be combined but that’s the only situation where offers can be combined.

I've never used a gift card so I don't know for sure...but I have heard that gift cards are very difficult to use. I believe I even read somewhere that gift cards are only good toward cruise fare and not able to be used for cruise planner or onboard purchases. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will respond.

On Allure now and I had to empty the coffee grounds about an hour ago ! Happy to do it though...

I would call and get a different agent. Recently I moved a cruise and they just added the $100 PP fee onto the balance due on the replacement booking. Didn’t pay anything at the time of the change. US booking.

I hope that the "out catching thrills" signs are back. To my knowledge, only Adventure is still using them. I really don't understand why them banished those signs but it was not a coincidence that they disappeared at the same time as they decided to go to once-a-day cabin service. When we were on AD a few months ago, I asked our room attendant for one of the "out catching thrills" signs, which he graciously gave me. I put it in my luggage so that I would have it to use on our next cruise. I can't recall which ship that was...but when I put the 'out catching thrills" sign up, it disappeared ! I assumed someone had snatched it off the door....but when I asked the room attendant about it, he said that he had taken it and that he had been "ordered" to remove that sign, if he saw one. I demanded it back, which he did. So now I have one, but I dare not use it. 🙄

No. When you go to the CK to make your reservations, they will cancel anything that needs to be cancelled.

I’ve never even heard of a sunset balcony on EX. Have they reclassified room categories AGAIN ?

We are on this one, too….as well as the Christmas cruise immediately prior to this one. We did AD for Christmas/NY this past holiday season. Lovely cruises. Looking forward to doing it again.

I have heard that "chair circle" referred to as "holding court" (meaning Royal court, not legal court). It is, indeed, an interesting phenomenon....and it is most definitely NOT exclusive to Galveston. I see it often in the Suites' Lounge. I have not yet seen it in the CL b/c I haven't yet been on a sailing where the Pinns are excluded from the SL. We have been invited into the "Court" (a lady in waiting, I'm guessing) and it is nice to be "included" but it is not something that I seek out. We are not ones to frequent any of the loyalty lounges during "Happy Hour" unless there is a reason for us to be there (prearranged meet-up, for example). I almost exclusively use the lounge (whichever one I can go to) for coffee in the morning. If I have business with the Concierge I may come in during the afternoon but frankly, we stay away in the evenings....especially on sailings where this behavior is prevalent. Don't get me wrong. Those Pinns could not have been nicer to us. They are truly lovely people...but I do find that circle to be somewhat exclusive of others and I have seen the Suites' Concierge roll his/her eyes, presumably at the thought of having to drag all of that furniture back to its "home". On the few occasions when we have been at court, we try and move our chairs back but sometimes the court is in full session when we leave so it's not possible. I truly do not believe that the Court is intended to make anyone feel excluded...but it unfortunately does have that undertone.