New to RCL, no travel agent to ask - dining reservations, star class, formal nights, shows?

[kimogilvie]

I've only cruised Disney, with the exception of one unfortunate Carnival cruise in college, and a very subpar experience on NCL.  We are on the Harmony in June in a star class room, and I have several questions/need help - and I booked directly, so I don't have a TA to ask.  

 

1.  How do I find out when formal nights are?  I see always "2nd night" - is that get on boat, 1st night, go to Cocoa Cay 2nd night?  Or does embarkation not count as a full day/night?  

2.  I do not want to dress up for formal nights and chef's table, so I'm trying to do Chef's table on formal night (hence question 1) but do not want it on the 3rd day/sea day/June 12 (cruise departs June 10).  Should I book that now and have genie reimburse or wait for the Genie to contact me?

3.  I keep seeing that you can book dining reservations once you're on board.  However, I see that I can go through the app and book dining reservations now.  I do get that my genie will handle most things, but I don't understand when preboard dining reservations open for everyone to book.  Can everyone book now?  Is it like Disney where there's a phased opening for booking?  Are there things I should be booking now if my Genie doesn't contact me until 4 weeks pre-cruise?

4.  I have no idea on entertainment schedule/shows, so no idea what to tell my genie I want to see/do or what dinner times I want to book.  How do I find that or when will that be posted? 

5.  We are traveling with a large group, with most in sky class, and one balcony room.  I get that my genie will handle everything for my room, unfortunately, I get to handle everything for everyone else and need to figure out how I can be prepared to try and match up with what the genie does.  

[RFerrington]

Relax.  The Genie will handle all of your bookings-food and entertainment.  

 

The first formal night will be the night of your first sea day (not counting boarding day).  If you want to do the Chefs Table for formal night, then I do recommend that you and all of your traveling party who want to be together at the Chefs Table, go ahead and book it and pay in advance.  The Genie will make sure you are reimbursed once you are onboard.  The only other venue where this is recommended is Izumi Hibachi.  There are limited seats for that so it is usually advised to precook that and the Chefs Table.

 

The Genie will contact you well in advance and will provide you with a schedule of entertainment options.  You will have plenty of time to coordinate with your group and decide which nights you want to do which events. 

Enjoy your first Star Class experience.  It is incredible.

[topnole]

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

Relax.  The Genie will handle all of your bookings-food and entertainment.  

 

The first formal night will be the night of your first sea day (not counting boarding day).  If you want to do the Chefs Table for formal night, then I do recommend that you and all of your traveling party who want to be together at the Chefs Table, go ahead and book it and pay in advance.  The Genie will make sure you are reimbursed once you are onboard.  The only other venue where this is recommended is Izumi Hibachi.  There are limited seats for that so it is usually advised to precook that and the Chefs Table.

 

The Genie will contact you well in advance and will provide you with a schedule of entertainment options.  You will have plenty of time to coordinate with your group and decide which nights you want to do which events. 

Enjoy your first Star Class experience.  It is incredible.

Well, reports are many genies are contacting folks a month out max and sometimes only a couple weeks out.  If so, that leaves little time for their friends to make show reservations if the ship is full and shows get booked up.  Sure the genie can help them, but not a large group of friends.  It can be a little tricky going star class while traveling with others who aren’t.  
 

Some advice to the OP.   Down load

The Royal app.  You can see a lot or

all of the entertainment and dining options on it.  Also, watch some ship reviews online.  You’ll get a feel for the shoes available and the restaurants.  There are Star class experience videos too.  Enjoy.  Star Class is a great experience.   

[kimogilvie]

9 hours ago, topnole said:

 

Some advice to the OP.   Down load

The Royal app.  You can see a lot or

all of the entertainment and dining options on it.  Also, watch some ship reviews online.  You’ll get a feel for the shoes available and the restaurants.  There are Star class experience videos too.  Enjoy.  Star Class is a great experience.   

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Hutcha]

Don't worry about dressing up for formal night. Less and less do. On my cruise on Harmony last year, maybe 25% of the people were in what used to be consider proper attire for formal night.

 

Book and pay for Chef's table. I don't know how large your group is, but the max it holds is about 12-14. For me, it was underwhelming. The best part was interacting with the others there. If you plan on filling it up with your group, I'd just go to a specialty restaurant. The food at Chef's table seems to be the highlights of what is offered at the other restaurants.

 

Have the rest of your group get the ultimate dining package. If your group size is reasonable, the genie will handle all of your reservations for dinner. I don't think the genie will be able to give you specific times before the cruise. They are pretty busy handling their current guest.

 

When the genie first contacts you, they will ask for your preferences, and if any others are traveling with you. Tell them your preferred dining time, what restaurants you want to visit, and what shows you want to see. They will also want to know things like if you're an early riser or like to sleep in. Breakfast in cabin, or at the restaurant.

 

For shows it will be hard to sit with your group, unless you just go in with the masses. The genie will usually save the best seats in the house for you. They meet you at the door, escort you to your seats, and make sure you get you first drink. They will maybe hold a couple of extra seats for your party, but not for a large group.

 

Have the genie plan a cocktail party in your suite. They'll have food and drinks set up for you. If other guests have the beverage package the genie can justify having extra drinks delivered. If not, there may be an extra charge for some of the drinks. Also for a charge, you can have a full bar, with bartender, set up.

 

Feel free to ask any other questions. Also. is you have the app f@ce bo0k, there is a star class group that you can join.

[topnole]

13 hours ago, kimogilvie said:

I've only cruised Disney, with the exception of one unfortunate Carnival cruise in college, and a very subpar experience on NCL.  We are on the Harmony in June in a star class room, and I have several questions/need help - and I booked directly, so I don't have a TA to ask.  

 

1.  How do I find out when formal nights are?  I see always "2nd night" - is that get on boat, 1st night, go to Cocoa Cay 2nd night?  Or does embarkation not count as a full day/night?  

2.  I do not want to dress up for formal nights and chef's table, so I'm trying to do Chef's table on formal night (hence question 1) but do not want it on the 3rd day/sea day/June 12 (cruise departs June 10).  Should I book that now and have genie reimburse or wait for the Genie to contact me?

3.  I keep seeing that you can book dining reservations once you're on board.  However, I see that I can go through the app and book dining reservations now.  I do get that my genie will handle most things, but I don't understand when preboard dining reservations open for everyone to book.  Can everyone book now?  Is it like Disney where there's a phased opening for booking?  Are there things I should be booking now if my Genie doesn't contact me until 4 weeks pre-cruise?

4.  I have no idea on entertainment schedule/shows, so no idea what to tell my genie I want to see/do or what dinner times I want to book.  How do I find that or when will that be posted? 

5.  We are traveling with a large group, with most in sky class, and one balcony room.  I get that my genie will handle everything for my room, unfortunately, I get to handle everything for everyone else and need to figure out how I can be prepared to try and match up with what the genie does.  

When you say large, how large is the group?

[LB_NJ]

Formal nights are not that formal.

 

To give you an example a man in a button down shirt and kakis are fine on a formal night as opposed to jeans and a t-shirt other nights.

[kimogilvie]

2 hours ago, topnole said:

When you say large, how large is the group?

My room has 7 in it. Total group is 17. 

[poocher]

Never sailed Star class but i’m thinking it would be easier to book everything for the non star class passengers then have the genie add you in to those times/activities.  

Edited April 12, 2023 by poocher

[topnole]

7 minutes ago, kimogilvie said:

My room has 7 in it. Total group is 17. 

Ok. So 7 star class and most of the others sky class?  Ten others is certainly a lot for the Genie to schedule for dinner.  They usually will schedule others with you for dinners, but 17 total could be hard.  You should surely communicate your group size to them to ask what they can do to help you have most meals

with your group while still enjoying your star class experience.   
 

edit.  You will get an email from them about a month out.  Reply to that to inform them of your situations and ask for things you want/hope for during your trip.  Just keep in mind Star class benefits only technically should go to those of you in the star class cabin.  I know you mentioned that already and are aware. 
 

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by topnole