jv_nyc

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information. We’re taking our first river cruise, so monitoring water levels is new (and kinda fun) part of the cruise lead-up process. 🙂

We’re on the Viking Lif from Bucharest to Budapest starting on 1 Nov. I see that she’s now heading for Amsterdam (current position east of Frankfurt), so I hope low water levels in Budapest don’t impact her ability to get back to Bucharest for the 1st. 

I’m also keeping an eye on the Viking Ullur, who’s doing the Bucharest to Budapest journey. She’s currently in Belgrade. 

Any recent intel on the water levels between Budapest and Bucharest?

Key Review for Serenade out of Stockholm on July 7, 2019

I'll keep this quick, the short answer is that I'm glad that we got the The Key for our cruise. 

• Embarkation - At the Stockholm terminal, there weren't any Key signs, but we breeze through check-in in about five minutes. Once we crossed the gangway, we saw the large Key sign, and we were able to hand over our hand luggage. We also collected an envelope with a list of our perks and the access codes for the wifi.
• Lunch at Chops: Because we boarded at 11:30am, I really liked this perk. It was a calm way to have some lunch before the cabins were ready. I don't have a photo of the menu, but the selection was similar to the ones posted in other reviews. When cabins were ready at 1:30pm, our hand luggage was waiting in the room for us. Our SeaPass cards were on our door, and there was a Key symbol on them.
• Wifi: Really liked this perk as I would have purchased it anyway. 
• Priority Disembarkation: The port this helped us the most was St. Petersburg. Key guests were able to get off the ship in between the Royal Caribbean booked tours and those who had booked independent tours. We were off the ship at 8am and met our independent tour. Other ports we just walked off the ship ourselves. 
• Last Day Breakfast: Did not participate
• Priority Seating for Shows: Did not participate (too tired from the (awesome) port intensive itinerary)
• Select times for Activities: Did not participate (only the Rock Wall was on Serenade)

Even though we didn't use all the perks, I still believe that The Key was worth the price and would purchase it again, especially since I would buy WiFi for each person in the cabin anyway. The biggest perk was being able to get off at St. Petersburg before the non-Royal tour folks went; it made it really, really easy, and the Chops lunch.

1 hour ago, Paulxyz2004 said:

Grand Suite Yes - Owners Suite No.

Awesome - thank you!

Hi Everyone - hope your Saturdays are off to a great start! Is it possible for a Grande Suite bed on Serenade to be made up as two separate twins? Traveling with my mom, and I'm thinking that would be more comfortable for us than one of us taking the sofa pull out.

Thanks!

Joanna

On 2/7/2019 at 1:34 PM, WillTravelForFood said:

Which sailing on you on? My dad and I are on the July 14th sailing and hoping to sit with other people too! We actually have the 8:30 seating as well.

Hi - we're on the one right before you. Too bad because that would have worked out well!

Thank you all! Very helpful. 

Hi everyone - hope all is well! It's been a few years since I've cruised Royal Caribbean, and I know I haven't kept up with the various changes/updates to dining options, so I'd love input on what folks would do in the following scenario:

My mom and I are cruising on Serenade to the Baltics in July, and because it's just the two of us, we would enjoy sitting with others at dinner to meet folks and swap stories from the day. We're currently assigned the 8:30pm MDR slot, which is likely too late for us, and based on our tours, the 6:30pm option might be too early, meaning we don't want to be rushing when we're back on the ship to change and go to dinner.

What's My Time Dining like on Serenade these days and how does it work? Are we able to request to sit with others?

I'm also assuming that, with the exception of the Chef's Table, any specialty restaurant will likely put us at a table for two. 

Thanks in advance for your help! Happy Cruising!

Looks beautiful Does it have a guest bathroom?

According to the floor plan, there appears to be a 1/2 bath. No mention of it in the description though. Fingers crossed that there ends up being one!

The bathtub step up is in the bathroom. You can even see the shower door in this picture. Check the plans here. https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/Celebrity-Edge . The celebrity suite has a table too.

Thanks for posting the link! I hadn't seen the floorplan yet; looks great!

<p>I think most of the floor plans and renderings I have seen might be mislabeled. They make more sense as celebrity suites not Royal suites. Every site picture (on Deck plan sites that match up with those above) I've found shows the royals as having sun rooms with balconies that have no Whirlpool. Think these are CS pics. Although I'd be shocked if celebrity had a mistake on their website lol...</p>

Thanks Crewjay - I'm with you; it's hard to know exactly what we're going to get, but we'll love it no matter what. I don't know Celebrity's cabins as well I as know Royal Caribbean's, so I trust you if you think these are Celebrity Suite pics. Glad I grabbed them too because when I access my reservation on the new website, the photos are no longer accessible.

Leave it to spell check to screw things up. When sailings were announced we immediately booked a March cruise. I have heard nothing about being able to book the inaugural cruise. It will obviously start in France but know nothing else. I am assuming it will be a TA as it has to be in Fla for its Dec bookings going forward, When you state that you have booked its inaugural are you talking about its France departure? How does one find out what its inaugural cruise itinerary will be? What have you booked?

 

Charles

Hi Charles, the first paying passenger/revenue generating cruise is the Dec 16 Eastern Caribbean cruise. I don't remember where I saw it, but it was something from Celebrity, that there isn't going to be a transatlantic cruise offering for passengers. My opinion is that given the number of outdoor areas, there would be a lot of disappointment for passengers on a transatlantic in early December. When we did the Quantum transatlantic in November 2014, the outside areas were closed most of the time because of the weather and rougher seas.

Of course, anything could change, but right now, the first paying passenger cruise is the one on the 16th of December.

Hope this helps,

Joanna

How did you book the inaugural? They have not as of yet announced anything. If you have booked it what is the ninety and when is it? We are booked for a March cruise but would be interested in the inaugural as well.

 

Charles

We're on the inaugural as well. Just call Celebrity to book; there are plenty of cabins available.

From Kelly Hoppen - Barbershop on board:

Booked a Royal Suite and below are the photos/renderings that are showing up in the reservation. It looks so pretty! I'm also including photos of the amenities list.

Lloyd - makes me so happy to see this thread because it makes me reminisce about the countdown to Quantum! Thanks for posting your awesome finds - your detective work never ceases to amaze me.

Today's the day - big reveal at noon EDT! Starting a thread for us to post everything we learn about this new class of ship.

FYI - more information on the reveal.

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/never-done-before-3-d-design-unveiling-for-celebrity-edge.html

Thanks Laura! Is it time to start a sub-forum like was done for the countdown to the Quantum class in Royal Caribbean Forum?

Hey Everyone! I am sailing on June 2nd on Anthem of the Seas in Suite 8722 a Sky Loft, endless to say we are more than a little excited. We are only 18 days away from sailing and have yet to hear from our Genie. When have others heard from them, and/or did you have to reach out to them first?

 

Thanks!

The timeline that I experienced seems to be the averaged based on the little information on CC for the new program.

You'll receive 1) a "get to know you" and preferences survey about two weeks before your sail date, and 2) a personal communication from your Genie about a week before, including an email with instructions on how to use Loop (the mobile website where you can text message with your Genie before and during the cruise).

Hope this helps!

Would anyone be able to confirm if there is a hot tub on the main ground level balcony of Ovation.

 

I have seen videos showing the hot tub on Quantum but there is no hot tub on Anthem. Am yet to see a video or picture of Ovation RLS balcony.

 

This follows the description Royal gives in the cabin descriptions on their website. The website description for Ovation RLS is identical to Quantum so I assume it has a hot tub but have noticed Royals description of rooms can sometimes not be entirely accurate and sometimes use the same description across all ships for particular categories.

We were in the Royal Loft Suite on the Ovation in April. There isn't a hot tub on the main ground level balcony. On the main balcony, there is a wet bar, a table with four chairs and two loungers.

There is a hot tub on the upstairs side balcony, and it fills quickly - in less than an hour.

Here's a Dropbox link with pictures of the suite: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0d0ktucoz7jd2ms/AAAR4TukGueNJhOvc5VwqElCa?dl=0

Enjoy the suite - it's something really special! One tip - we were surprised that there wasn't a speaker that we could play music on (even through the tv), so you might want to bring your own if you'd like to listen to music.

We had the pleasure of meeting you in your wonderful suite thanks to the CC cabin crawl, and we also had the added pleasure of meeting your genie Mia, who was just a delight!

Interesting and informative, but always polite and professional.

A lovely experience all round, thank you so much!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Thank you! I'm so glad that you could join us - it was such a fun time! I'm going through withdrawals like crazy..

Thank you for your wonderful overview of the Genie on Royal. We are booked in Star Class and we are looking forward to the experience with a Royal Genie! We set sail the beginning of June so we are a few short weeks away. My question is - how far in advance did your Genie contact you? We are celebrating our wedding anniversary while onboard, along with another couple who are in Sky Class, and would like to make some arrangements ahead of time. I'm wondering how long before we board will we be contacted and can start making requests and inquiring about some things. Would appreciate very much your suggestions and advice. Thanks so much!

Swiss

Thanks! She reached out about a week in advance, but it was for the first sailing with Genies, so I don't know if that is the "norm." Enjoy - you're going to love it!

You mentioned you got your money back either before the cruise or during for the specialty dining - do you think we should book ahead still and pay the fee and then get reimbursed on board - or wait to book online that the Genie will get us in anywhere we want to go and when. Traveling with 2 kids so trying to plan as much as possible to eliminate stress :)

 

thanks for the review - loved reading it! exciting. cant wait to have the star class perks!

Thanks! This will probably come down to personal preference. I'm a planner, and while it's probably safe to assume that the Genie could work magic to get the dates/times I would want, I don't like leaving room for the risk that something might be booked up - especially the smaller venues like Wonderland or Chef's Table.

My preference was to book in advance and then have the Genie take care of securing the refunds, fortunately, Mia didn't need to secure the refunds for us because it was automatically handled (or maybe she did behind the scenes :) )

Thanks for the info! Do you know if the character breakfasts are included? I can't wait!

Thanks! I'm sorry, I don't know if they're included or not. Sorry!

What about tipping the genie. Are the normal prepaid tips shared with them. Also did you tip them extra.

I don't know if the prepaid tips are shared with them. We tipped her, slightly more than what I would previously tip a Concierge who helped me with plans or went above and beyond.

Also on that note, we didn't receive the normal Concierge communications for this sailing, which I'm assuming is intentional because it would be confusing of who to reach out to for what. With our port-intensive itinerary, we usually spent the early evening relaxing in our suite before dinner, so we only spent about 10 minutes one night in the Concierge Lounge for the entire sailing.

I'm curious if non-Star suite guests will find more availability/service from the Concierge because the Genies are assisting the Star guests.