Benefits of Star

[cruise_co]

The look on my daughter's face when they brought out a custom made cake, an exact copy of the one she found on Pinterest and wanted so badly for her birthday and I told her that wasn't going to happen on a ship, was worth the price of Star Class for us. Not to mention the ease and convenience. 

 

I was much like the OP before we booked it in that we were skeptical of a genie and star class.  Now we are hooked, especially when you can find a good deal.  We currently have an A1 booked for December on Harmony. When you deduct the perks like UBP and UDP and then add those to the CL, The A1 is actually $4k cheaper than the CL. 

 

 

[Wahed]

We've done Star class a few times.  But looking forward they have priced me & my family out.  When we can get a CL for 1/3 the price of a Star Class Suite, it becomes a no brainer for us.  

 

YMMV but it depends on the date/ship of course.

[topnole]

28 minutes ago, ownedbypets said:

Need to add laundry too!

Agree.  But on a week long cruise,

I really have zero need for it. Maybe one or two things to press.  So I really can’t factor that in as something I would use otherwise to justify it economically.  Or at least it isn’t much $ to add to the equation.  Sure we use it, but only because it’s included.  Funny thing is our last SC trip I sent our my formal shirt for wash and press and it got lost and came back 2-3 days later after I needed it for family pictures. Lol.  So much for the laundry benefits.  
 

Wifi and the drink package are different.  Definitely need and use those so that adds a lot of value.  And to me you can’t put a price on always having plenty of your favorite beers in the cabin.  Love having it stocked up and hanging on the ATS balcony watching a show below.  

[topnole]

11 minutes ago, Wahed said:

We've done Star class a few times.  But looking forward they have priced me & my family out.  When we can get a CL for 1/3 the price of a Star Class Suite, it becomes a no brainer for us.  

 

YMMV but it depends on the date/ship of course.

I agree.  We did a CL on our last cruise.  It was great.  I’d rather do 3 CL cruises than just 1 SC cruise.  Our next cruise is a 2Bdr Grand suite and again looking forward to sky class and all the space the cabin will offer.  

[topnole]

33 minutes ago, phd1003 said:

Forgot about wi-fi. Agreed about room size - got it covered: 9 adults, 6 kids. We got 2 ATS and a Jr. Suite. Our ATS will have wife and I in the master. 3 daughters and one of their friends in Br2 and son on couch. ATS 2 will have Brother in law and wife in one of the rooms, Inlaws in other bedroom and nephew on couch. In the Jr. Suite wil be daughter with her hubby and 2 toddlers. Her hubby will be registered in the ATS so he gets the perks. 

Wow.  Sounds like a blast.  Your daughter not SC and her hubby is.  I sense a few side eye looks during the trip.   😂😂

[Guest phd1003]

24 minutes ago, topnole said:

Wow.  Sounds like a blast.  Your daughter not SC and her hubby is.  I sense a few side eye looks during the trip.   😂😂

She will have a baby under a year (but over 6 months) We will get her a dining package but she won't earn her stripes on a drinking package, her hubby on the other hand will need all he can get his hands on...

[topnole]

17 minutes ago, phd1003 said:

She will have a baby under a year (but over 6 months) We will get her a dining package but she won't earn her stripes on a drinking package, her hubby on the other hand will need all he can get his hands on...

Oh I get it.  I was just kidding.  My daughter‘s first cruise was the day she turned six months old.  My parents went star class and I think it was the very first week or two they rolled out the program. We stayed next door.  

[Guest phd1003]

20 hours ago, topnole said:

Oh I get it.  I was just kidding.  My daughter‘s first cruise was the day she turned six months old.  My parents went star class and I think it was the very first week or two they rolled out the program. We stayed next door.  

I know they are not supposed to, but did the genie make any special arrangements for you as well? (I.E. - Dinner reservations so you could all eat together or seat reservations in the theater) We have had butlers on NCL but never really had them do anything special.

[A&L_Ont]

21 hours ago, Wahed said:

We've done Star class a few times.  But looking forward they have priced me & my family out.  When we can get a CL for 1/3 the price of a Star Class Suite, it becomes a no brainer for us.  

 

YMMV but it depends on the date/ship of course.

 

21 hours ago, topnole said:

I agree.  We did a CL on our last cruise.  It was great.  I’d rather do 3 CL cruises than just 1 SC cruise.  Our next cruise is a 2Bdr Grand suite and again looking forward to sky class and all the space the cabin will offer.  

To further both you thoughts, the CLS is now what a Star Loft was pre covid times.

 

We have our 11th Star sailing in just over a week, with another booked for 2024.  However we are in no rush to book another at these prices, with our limited vacation window through the year. Location on the ship and 2 bathrooms are must for us but pricing is also a factor. 

[queenfrostine22]

Some Genies are just flat out better than others. 

If you get a great one (and there are many)your vacation will be spectacular and memorable and you might just get hooked!  but, a so so one who is either taking care of too many cabins or is burnt out and uninterested (a few) you might question the cost factor.  Personalities play a huge part with the Genies. Some are stiff and overly professional.  Others are personable and funny and  really will try  to do anything to make and keep the cruisers happy!

[CruisinSinceIwasBorn]

We had a genie, Derick Martis, that during the Omicron phase was covering 7 star class suites versus a normal 3 because of genies out with Covid. Despite this workload, he was absolutely incredible. He popped up everywhere, covered all the little details, and took care of everything immediately. 

 

I also think it's important to provide genies feedback. Every passenger is different. Your needs are different than mine. They try to strike a balance, but that may not be what you want. We often give feedback to make it a more tailored experience. If you don't give feedback, then they will continue what they have been doing and it may not be what you want. Our genie's have appreciated it because then they weren't guessing. It also helped them to get to know us more and we formed a great relationship and had a wonderful vacation.   

[George C]

On 3/1/2023 at 1:03 AM, Spurschick said:

Honestly from our experience it’s a waste of money. Been there done that won’t do it again unless we get a Royal up. Our genie was not interested. Priory’s seating at comedy show was her idea of giving is the most uncomfortable bar seats ever. 
 

We have had far better suite experiences on Celebrity and MSC.

 

My honest opinion is get Sky class (better than sea due to internet and CK access) and pay for the UDP or any other dining package and save the money.

 

that’s our thoughts based on our experience.

 

hope that helps

 

Totally agree we are diamond plus and normally just book grand suite and UDP . Definitely prefer suite perks on celebrity and MSc yacht club. May attempt to go higher on move up.

Edited March 2, 2023 by George C

[George C]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

To further both you thoughts, the CLS is now what a Star Loft was pre covid times.

 

We have our 11th Star sailing in just over a week, with another booked for 2024.  However we are in no rush to book another at these prices, with our limited vacation window through the year. Location on the ship and 2 bathrooms are must for us but pricing is also a factor. 

Wish more suites had a second bathroom or even half. 

[Smooth_J]

1 hour ago, George C said:

Wish more suites had a second bathroom or even half. 

Every cabin has a on-going price tag associated with it, and I agree a lot of cabins need to have more than 1 bathroom (or even a 1/2 bath). Its all about space, location, and money. A great example of this is the VP class on the Liberty. It has to fill that niche/void which is why it has not only 1.5 baths, but a large panoramic view.

 

Also, a lot of the cabin are pre-fabricated and just literally slide into place during the construction, while others are more built out and require more work to achieve (ie lofts).

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, CruisinSinceIwasBorn said:

We had a genie, Derick Martis, that during the Omicron phase was covering 7 star class suites versus a normal 3 because of genies out with Covid. Despite this workload, he was absolutely incredible. He popped up everywhere, covered all the little details, and took care of everything immediately. 

That sounds like he did great considering all he had working against him. Sounds like the guests were also very understanding as well.
 

It is good to read this as we have Derick in just over a weeks time.  We are going into it with an open mind, as always, but when he said he couldn’t book us a table for playmakers on Oasis we were rather surprised. Especially when I know someone who had it done last year on Oasis. 
 

Maybe email communication isn’t a strong point and hopefully everything will work out as we only requested meals and show reservations and nothing more. 🤷‍♂️

[ownedbypets]

3 hours ago, CruisinSinceIwasBorn said:

We had a genie, Derick Martis, that during the Omicron phase was covering 7 star class suites versus a normal 3 because of genies out with Covid. Despite this workload, he was absolutely incredible. He popped up everywhere, covered all the little details, and took care of everything immediately. 

 

I also think it's important to provide genies feedback. Every passenger is different. Your needs are different than mine. They try to strike a balance, but that may not be what you want. We often give feedback to make it a more tailored experience. If you don't give feedback, then they will continue what they have been doing and it may not be what you want. Our genie's have appreciated it because then they weren't guessing. It also helped them to get to know us more and we formed a great relationship and had a wonderful vacation.   

 

Derick is amazing!

[ownedbypets]

57 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

That sounds like he did great considering all he had working against him. Sounds like the guests were also very understanding as well.
 

It is good to read this as we have Derick in just over a weeks time.  We are going into it with an open mind, as always, but when he said he couldn’t book us a table for playmakers on Oasis we were rather surprised. Especially when I know someone who had it done last year on Oasis. 
 

Maybe email communication isn’t a strong point and hopefully everything will work out as we only requested meals and show reservations and nothing more. 🤷‍♂️

Derick told us the same about Playmakers but he magically was sitting at a table both times we went. The second time he had gone to Portside and had brought over wings for my husband.

[cruisegus]

I think Star class is very "Genie" dependent.

There are Great Genies and there are, well genies 

[Ret MP]

This is like many other topics that come up time and again.  I find that you can not compare dollar for dollar/Sky to Star.  It's all about what you want and expect in a cruise vacation. For us, Star is well worth the cost.  We can't cruise Star Class every cruise but we try to at least every other cruise.  If you want to use every benefit that Star offers, add up all the costs for those items, ala carte, it is within a reasonable cost for the benefits included and the luxury received.  If you don't want or care for a few of the benefits, it's probably not for you and/or worth it.  Different strokes for different folks.  

 

We try to take advantage of every benefit offered but at the end of the cruise, we don't owe anything.  We just walk off the ship without worrying about a thing.  BTW, if booked with a big-box TA, you get a health OBC that will almost cover anything that you do have to pay for that isn't part of the benefits package.  In fact, on our Alaska cruise last May, we actually got over $400,00 back in cash at the Casino as we didn't use all the OBCs.  Just load up your OBC in a Slot Machine, case it out, take the ticket to the Cashier, and get your cash.

 

If it isn't for you, it isn't for you.

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, cruisegus said:

I think Star class is very "Genie" dependent.

There are Great Genies and there are, well genies 

We've had the best (Marla) and the worst (no name).  But, the cruise with good or bad Genie was still great.  In fact, on one cruise we went through 3 genies on a 7-night cruise.  We still received all the benefits, post-COVID cruises could offer. 

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, ownedbypets said:

Derick told us the same about Playmakers but he magically was sitting at a table both times we went. The second time he had gone to Portside and had brought over wings for my husband.

He said that he could do this but we feel that it is a waste of his time. He could be doing much better things than personally holding a table. Clearly whoever made the rule of no reservations has missed the mark for Star Class.
 

If the Captain or Cruise director wants to eat there they won’t hold a table?  For the limited amount of Star Class cabins it seems strange they won’t do it for Oasis but no issue on Symphony. 
 

It is nice to read positive things about Derick. I understand he has been part of the Genie program from day one. 

[Ret MP]

It's all about the little things that a Genie can offer, exceeding your expectations.  On one cruise, the Solarium Bistro was not open for the entire cruise.  I told the Genie that I was disappointed because I really like the Bocklava in the bistro and I'd miss it.  Well, sitting in Chops one night I hadn't ordered dessert yet.  Just when the server came to take our dessert order, another server came over and put in the middle of the table a whole pan of Bocklava and said that it was complements of the Genie.  Totally unexpected and appreciated.  A Conseriage can't/won't do that for you.

[ownedbypets]

49 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

He said that he could do this but we feel that it is a waste of his time. He could be doing much better things than personally holding a table. Clearly whoever made the rule of no reservations has missed the mark for Star Class.
 

If the Captain or Cruise director wants to eat there they won’t hold a table?  For the limited amount of Star Class cabins it seems strange they won’t do it for Oasis but no issue on Symphony. 
 

It is nice to read positive things about Derick. I understand he has been part of the Genie program from day one. 

 

Derick told us during pre cruise emails that he couldn't reserve a table for us at Playmakers and we were ok with it but disappointed because it wasn't the same as Symphony only a few months prior. I did mention that we wanted to eat there for lunch on embarkation day and for college football in my first email to him. It was never mentioned again and was a total surprise when we saw him there.

 

I hope you like him. He is at the top of our list for favorite genies.

[topnole]

8 hours ago, phd1003 said:

I know they are not supposed to, but did the genie make any special arrangements for you as well? (I.E. - Dinner reservations so you could all eat together or seat reservations in the theater) We have had butlers on NCL but never really had them do anything special.

Not back then.  But they do that stuff now.  My wife and I have been several times with just us and/or with our kids.  Last time friends came with and stayed next door (not SC).  They were included in all dinner reservations and the genie offered to include them in a couple shows with us too. We didn’t ask for the shows.  He just offered.   
 

If you book Non SC the ultimate dining package the genie will be happy to include them in all your meals (in cabin or reservations at a restaurant).  That will not be a problem.  
 

Shows are not a guarantee.  Depends on timing and availability.  But if only a few non SC and many in your group SC, I’d say odds are high the non SC will be included in everything.  Just understand and don’t be upset if they can’t.  The genie may have too many SC guests to manage extra show seats.   But again, odds are probably good.  

[Stelkp]

I have a 2BR aqua on Allure Star class booked for August. First time going with star class. I know that they help you off the ship (great bonus) but after the excursions can they help us get in if lines are long? We are doing excursions not associated with RC. 
also in everyone’s opinion (that likes Star) what could we request that’s fun for teens on Allure. There are no slides. In room ideas?