Allure Star Class - first and maybe continuing impressions 5/29

[Princess1965]

For Star Class cruisers, is there a special Star Class party with the officers? If so, what is the dress code and where is it held? If one eats in the speciality restaurants, how does one indicate there isn't a charge for a glass of wine or a mixed drink? Also, if one orders room service from the restaurants, do they charge for a glass of wine? Do the b2b cruisers have a special lunch on turn around day? If so, where is it held? Thank youMattInFLL;50741928]They get limited time each day to respond to future cruisers. So it would usually take a few days for Francesco to get back to me. In the week immediately before our cruise he was more responsive. So I think they prioritize. Those on board get immediate attention. Those coming the next week get second most and so on.

 

I would'nt worry about your requests but do understand wanting confirmation.

[Princess1965]

Sorry my message was entwined with one of Matt's replies. I'm not good with figuring out to ask questions on CC.

[MattInFLL]

Hi Mat,

 

 

 

I understand that Izumi and Izumi Hibachi are included as Star perks but just curious to see what you can order off the menu? I read in other threads that they give you a $25 per person credit (for Izumi) and you use that amount to buy what you want (as they charge a-la-cart). For Izumi Hibachi experience, the cover is $38.50/pp according to the Cruise Planner. What does that include? Can I order unlimited Sashimi?

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

I don't eat sushi so not sure. But there was no restriction at the Hibachi. There's no restriction for the extra cost chops special aged steaks - so can't imagine limits at Izumi.

 

But I guess at some point there might be a limit. Like at chops or Giovannis you can't order unlimited entrees, even when you're paying.

[MattInFLL]

For Star Class cruisers, is there a special Star Class party with the officers? If so, what is the dress code and where is it held? If one eats in the speciality restaurants, how does one indicate there isn't a charge for a glass of wine or a mixed drink? Also, if one orders room service from the restaurants, do they charge for a glass of wine? Do the b2b cruisers have a special lunch on turn around day? If so, where is it held? Thank youMattInFL.

 

 

No star class party. All star sky and pinnacle usually have one special event with officers such as the helicopter pad sail away from Labadie on allure. Depends on your ship. It was casual.

 

In the specialty restaurants you're using your star class sea pass just like you do anywhere. So they know that your drinks are included. Unless you are my friend Ron and we end up arguing about a large bottle of water. But that was cleared up :-)

 

Your drinks are always included. If you order from room service, they will bring a glass of wine if you ask for one. Or you can walk down the hall to the suite lounge and grab one there.

 

There is usually a special lunch for B2B cruisers. I've never done b2b, but on Allure for example, I believe it's in Giovanni's.

[Princess1965]

Dear Matt,

 

Thank you for explaining things to me. You are a wealth of great information.

[MattInFLL]

Dear Matt,

 

 

 

Thank you for explaining things to me. You are a wealth of great information.

 

 

 

Happy to help!

[stevekc]

I know this is a touchy subject, however I'm wondering how you handled tipping in the specialty restaurants?

[constable145]

I know this is a touchy subject, however I'm wondering how you handled tipping in the specialty restaurants?

 

If tipping in a specialty restaurant is included as part of the cover charge for a regular guest, I fail to see why it'd be any different for a Star Class. Especially when it says all gratuities are included.

[MattInFLL]

Yup. Certainly touchy. I tipped extra, because I tip in the specialties even when I pay for them. The amount depends on the service. I've worked and survived on tips in my life so I always do. But it's true that you don't have to.

 

But it is up to you.

[JoelinSedona]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for all of the great information! Is the All Access tour free for Star Class? Joel

[MattInFLL]

Hi Matt,

 

Thanks for all of the great information! Is the All Access tour free for Star Class? Joel

 

 

 

Nope. You can take the bridge, galley, backstage and ??? I'm forgetting the fourth one - in Star. They're free but not all at once so it's hard to fit all in.

 

But, truly, the all access is worth every penny if you're a cruise/ship fanatic. You see way more of the behind the scenes - the crew areas, areas below the water line, etc. long, but worth it.

[JoelinSedona]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the info! Another silly question. I have some Starbucks addicts in my group that are asking if as Star Class they can get their daily fix for free. Seems that the Ultimate Beverage package includes "Starbucks premium coffee" and Star Class has dining in "all specialty restaurants". Does this mean they can get their daily fix for free at the Starbucks venues though?

Joel

[jandj1224]

Can anyone confirm if specialty treats are included? Ice cream etc.?

[constable145]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the info! Another silly question. I have some Starbucks addicts in my group that are asking if as Star Class they can get their daily fix for free. Seems that the Ultimate Beverage package includes "Starbucks premium coffee" and Star Class has dining in "all specialty restaurants". Does this mean they can get their daily fix for free at the Starbucks venues though?

Joel

Yes. Starbucks is included for Star class passengers.

 

The beverages. Not the pastries.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[MattInFLL]

And scoops ice cream is not included either :(

[Princess1965]

Dear Matt,

 

If one is staying in a Star Class Suite, do they have a stateroom attendant besides a Genie?

[MattInFLL]

For Oasis class, on Deck 17 you get 2 attendants per suite in addition to the Genie. I am assuming it's the same for the ATS cabins.

 

I can't comment on Anthem.

 

Remember, the Genie does not clean the cabin. :)

[A&L_Ont]

For Oasis class, on Deck 17 you get 2 attendants per suite in addition to the Genie. I am assuming it's the same for the ATS cabins.

 

I can't comment on Anthem.

 

Remember, the Genie does not clean the cabin. :)

 

Matt, on Oasis Class the original RS (not on deck 17) only had 1 cabin steward so I am not sure if the ATS have more than 1. Others might know better.

[Lionesss]

In our crown loft suite 1736 two weeks ago (sky class).

 

We had 2 attendants.....

 

The primary and the assistant.

 

Now, we miss Marva, but maybe next year, but our attendants were very nice and friendly.

 

The girl Carmen? (never could understand her accent) I think was from Ukraine and Gerdil (From Haiti) did a great job and were very friendly.

 

We found many little surprises in our cabin, from towel animals on all the chairs to Haitian money.

 

We were talking to them one day and told them how we collected money from all over the world, and he said he would bring a "coin" he brought more than what we expected and have no idea how much it was worth.

 

Had a great time.

 

Sea Ya

Edited August 21, 2016 by Lionesss

[topnole]

Matt, on Oasis Class the original RS (not on deck 17) only had 1 cabin steward so I am not sure if the ATS have more than 1. Others might know better.

 

My folks had the deck 9 ats on allure in May and only had 1 attendant as I recall. We were a few cabins down and he was our attendant as well. We were in their suite a lot so we knew all the workers as well as my folks did. He had help but I think he was the only "attendant". I guess he had an assistant but that was true for our regular balcony cabin too.

Edited August 21, 2016 by topnole

[chandlm]

Hey guys I am new to Cruise Critic however, I followed Matt's journey along with others leading up to the cruise this summer. I know on other threads and post people have had major concerns about what is included and if they are going away with certain aspects on the Star Class. So i am here for the latest update as I just got off the ship this morning.

 

To start with we did have Francesco as our journey just as Matt did and he was unbelievable. He was able to get everything we wanted but was never in our faces all the time, which was nice. We painted contact through deck phones and the phone would literally ring once and he picked up and attentive. Carmen was the lead stewardess and she was simply amazing. Always there, helping out asking questions and even ordering a large Orange Juice container so we could have mimosas in the morning. She literally worked around our schedule.

 

A quick recap of what is included and what they have gone away with is this:

-They restarted the cocktails in room. A cart comes around daily with a cocktail menu

- All speciality dining is included EXCEPT: Lobster at Chops, Scoops, and Starbucks Pastries

-Any reasonable drink is included, Unlimited/Ultimate is one in the same. You want a drink, it is free unless you drink top of the line wine

- Beer, wine, champagne can be brought to your room whenever. Francesco brought us 2 bottles of wine, 12 Budweiser and 12 Budlight and Carmen always kept them iced

- Snacks can be arranged in your room, we were able to get chips, guac, and salsa brought up from Sabor every day

- A one on one galley tour was provided along with group bridge and backstage tours.

-There is no priority access for Rock climbing or Ice skating, however, there is for FlowRider and Zipline. Every third person to go is from the star class line. In my case there was never any other star class people in line so i was always the third to go.

- Star class is allowed to go to their rooms right when boarding starts, every other class and room waits until 1

-Reserved seating is easy, you tell the Genie and they meet you at the event and have the best seats waiting for you

-A new thing I believe is that at bars you get priority access. You walk up and they see your card and you will be the next one attended to. This happened on multiple occassions

 

Really this was an amazing cruise and the Star Class is amazing. Anything you could want is possible and only a call away.

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

Hey guys I am new to Cruise Critic however, I followed Matt's journey along with others leading up to the cruise this summer. I know on other threads and post people have had major concerns about what is included and if they are going away with certain aspects on the Star Class. So i am here for the latest update as I just got off the ship this morning.

 

To start with we did have Francesco as our journey just as Matt did and he was unbelievable. He was able to get everything we wanted but was never in our faces all the time, which was nice. We painted contact through deck phones and the phone would literally ring once and he picked up and attentive. Carmen was the lead stewardess and she was simply amazing. Always there, helping out asking questions and even ordering a large Orange Juice container so we could have mimosas in the morning. She literally worked around our schedule.

 

A quick recap of what is included and what they have gone away with is this:

-They restarted the cocktails in room. A cart comes around daily with a cocktail menu

- All speciality dining is included EXCEPT: Lobster at Chops, Scoops, and Starbucks Pastries

-Any reasonable drink is included, Unlimited/Ultimate is one in the same. You want a drink, it is free unless you drink top of the line wine

- Beer, wine, champagne can be brought to your room whenever. Francesco brought us 2 bottles of wine, 12 Budweiser and 12 Budlight and Carmen always kept them iced

- Snacks can be arranged in your room, we were able to get chips, guac, and salsa brought up from Sabor every day

- A one on one galley tour was provided along with group bridge and backstage tours.

-There is no priority access for Rock climbing or Ice skating, however, there is for FlowRider and Zipline. Every third person to go is from the star class line. In my case there was never any other star class people in line so i was always the third to go.

- Star class is allowed to go to their rooms right when boarding starts, every other class and room waits until 1

-Reserved seating is easy, you tell the Genie and they meet you at the event and have the best seats waiting for you

-A new thing I believe is that at bars you get priority access. You walk up and they see your card and you will be the next one attended to. This happened on multiple occassions

 

Really this was an amazing cruise and the Star Class is amazing. Anything you could want is possible and only a call away.

 

Question about specialty dinning, did you make reservations ahead of time from your online planner, just to make sure you get in the days and times that you wanted? And if so do they refund your money in way of OBC, since you have to pay upfront?

[suite dreams]

Thank you for posting. We have 2 star class cruises planned for Jan and May 2017 so we are very interested in how star class is proceeding. Good to know about chips and salsa. Trying to figure out how to have drinks on our ATS balcony without having to run back to the bar every half hour. Sure wish Royal would provide or allow you to buy alcohol for the suite.

[chandlm]

Question about specialty dinning, did you make reservations ahead of time from your online planner, just to make sure you get in the days and times that you wanted? And if so do they refund your money in way of OBC, since you have to pay upfront?

 

We did not do any reservations before the cruise. When Francesco reached out to us two weeks before, we asked for some reservations and those we taken care of no problem. We even made a reservation at Chops the night before we wanted to go and he made it happen. I would wait because they can literally get you in anywhere you want.

 

As far as the refund i would assume OBC but i can not get guarantee this. We had some drinks that were actually charged to the room by mistake but Francesco refunded the money onto our account. So i assume they would do the same for the restaurants if you pre paid already

[chandlm]

Thank you for posting. We have 2 star class cruises planned for Jan and May 2017 so we are very interested in how star class is proceeding. Good to know about chips and salsa. Trying to figure out how to have drinks on our ATS balcony without having to run back to the bar every half hour. Sure wish Royal would provide or allow you to buy alcohol for the suite.

 

The minibar only comes with soda and water to begin with. However, The first question Francesco asked was what other drinks we want. They can bring you any alcohol you want such as wine or beer but they just can not bring you hard liquor. However, you can call the genie and he can arrange for drinks to be brought out to you if you want something besides beer, wine or champagne.