allennn

Star Loft and only the back facing one on oasis ships.  That huge balcony that you can see to both sides of the ship is absolutely amazing.  Genies are great too.  🙂

My guess is that this might work in Florida or some place where there is a large number of cruises who live very close to port.

We are trying to figure out what time to book for our outbound flights from barcelona after sailing a week cruise on symphony.  We are in star class so assuming we can leave the ship when we want.  I am currently looking at some flights that leave at 1pm but would prefer something earlier if people think I could make it?

we are getting close to booking it soon and still doesn't seem to be anything definitive yet.

does anyone know if vision has starlink yet?  Also any thoughts on the quality of this ship overall?

allure star loft in may 2023, symphony star loft in september.  Looking forward to them!

in fairness.... Quantum is right now one of the worst ships in the fleet for service.  Did Star Class on it a few months ago and have had better service in sky class.  Our genie spent most of the time trying to tell us how we could do things ourself than just making it happen.

we did it a few times (star class so we got in when we wanted) and the service was really slow overall.  Food was good though.

On 8/18/2022 at 1:04 PM, paulinenpeter said:

just wondering ... why does it matter who the "concierge" is???

Every concierge is different and some even have more power than others due to their connections and influence.  Actually even every Genie is different.  There are good ones and bad ones in each.  Getting a good one of either can be the difference between an amazing experience and a so so experience.

Just got home from the cruise and the testing was indeed required.  It was a bit of a different experience this time though as they just glanced at the vaccination cards and such and waved us in.

We are cruising 9/19 on quantum and we are seeing conflicting instructions on whether we need to get tested before the cruise or not.  Everyone in the party is fully vaccinated.  Does anyone know for sure if we have to get tested?

just heard from our genie that star class wow bands aren't available on quantum for the upcoming alaska cruise.  That really is a bummer as we really love the band so we don't have to carry our sail pass card.  If we have star class wow bands from a previous cruise a few months ago can we use them?  anyone tried this?

13 hours ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

How quickly after a cruise do Crown & Anchor points usually appear in one's account? I am expecting to reach Emerald with the cruise ended Saturday.

typically a week.  RCCL backend tech systems seem to be a bit lacking.

10 hours ago, dodgestang said:

 

Well....when booking the Royal suite on vision....you get personal walk aboard from the concierge, early access to the stateroom, top tier even invite regardless of C&A Status, and in my experience it has always been nice...personalized service from the concierge for me and my family.  The few times I asked for things...like help to get off the ship quickly at a port, they always told me to come to the lounge or hang our in my room till a time I wanted to get off and then they personally made sure we got right off with no line waiting.  So there are benefits.  Last cruise he also made a reservation for me on the first day of the cruise to 'book out' chefs table on a specific night of my choosing so I could treat my party of 11 to a very private dinner.

this is the information I was hoping to come across.  So there are some level of bennies but you have to seek it out a bit.  That makes sense.

well that's a bummer, you'd think booking the top suite on the ship would have some level of amenities.

We are looking at a couple royal suite sailings on vision class ships and just can't seem to find out what benefits are included.  Does it come with drink and wifi packages?  I am pretty sure there aren't royal genies on that class but are there concierges that can get us into all of the clubs, shows and such like a genie does normally?  We've done a few star class cruises on oasis class but none on vision.

so true, its sad that now I never start looking for a cruise on rccl website.  I start with everything else first then go to their site to make sure the price is real.

As a follow-up, I called rccl phone soon after I posted this and the star loft suite was in fact available for 4 but refused to show up on the rccl website for 4 no matter what I tried.  We are all booked now but it shouldn't have been that hard.

We are looking at a star loft suite for harmony in 2023.  When I go to the rccl weebsite to book the room with 2 people it shows up, but as soon as I increase it to 3 the room doesn't show available.  The suite specifically says it sleeps 4 so why would this be happening?  

have there been any leaks of the conceptual icon of the seas designs?  not sure why RCCL is being so secretive about this one.

15 hours ago, birdofsong said:

Maybe I'm slow, but I'm just not understanding why so many people want the testing mandate dropped.  Are you really okay with people going on the ship with you who are knowingly positive, or unknowingly, but don't find out because they don't have to test?  Or are YOU personally looking forward to being allowed on the ship even if you're positive, since you don't have to prove otherwise? I realize that for most people, Covid doesn't turn serious, but if you can keep people off the ships who would intentionally go even though they know they're positive, you could keep more people healthy.  

 

There are already cases on every ship and every sailing, and that is with vaxxing and testing.  I can only imagine how much higher that number would go if the mandate is dropped.  I know that there are a bunch of people who aren't cruising now because of the mandate.  Me, personally -- if they drop the mandate, I won't sail until this is far less transmissible.  

The mortality of covid is closing in on the flu.  Getting covid is no longer anything even close to a death sentence for most and those who should be careful have to do so for all other infectious diseases as well.  I'm fully vaccinated but I'd prefer they got rid of the mandate as its just not necessary anymore.

for us, after we started sailing star class it just wasn't an option to go back.  We'd rather do fewer cruises but with much a much higher end room.  Side note to that, we have started just focusing on the ship (always oasis class for us) and ignoring most of the shore excursions.  This makes the room more important for the way we choose to cruise.

I find the 'you cant mention any other platform' as ridiculous so I'll just tell you what I know and they can delete my posts if they want.  The star class group is on facebook and its a great place to talk about expectations and learn what to expect from star class.  That you have to be verified keeps the group only to those who know.

16 hours ago, Hutcha said:

They have a ton of information. It is definitely worth joining. Zero shaming and bickering there.

We found this as well and its a great forum to talk to other star class guests and get information.  You have to prove you have either sailed star class or have a future star class booking which was easy.

Just realized they changed the name a few years ago to star suite instead of sky suite.  So its the 'star loft suite' we are in.  Sorry for the confusion.