Our Tips and Tricks to Making the Most of your Royal Caribbean Star Class Booking!
We recently completed another sailing with Royal Caribbean Star Class and for us, on each occasion, the benefits of Royal Caribbean Star Class were worth the cost. We are happy to share our booking tips, how to maximize the value of the included perks and some of the recent changes.
Pre-Cruise Genie Services
Leading up to your cruise in Royal Caribbean Star Class, you’ll receive a survey about 45-75 days before your vacation begins. There are a broad range of questions included from favorite beverages, to things you’ll celebrate on the cruise, and even some off the wall ones that may help paint a picture of who you are to the onboard staff. We’ve filled it out and skipped it – and didn’t notice any difference. So keep that in mind when deciding how much time you want to spend on the survey.
You’ll hear from a Shore-Side Genie about a month before sailing. They will ask about the shows you want to see, where you’d like to dine, and try to learn some of your suite preferences. You’ll likely exchange a few emails back and forth (responsiveness varies on their end). They will suggest that if you want Hibachi or Chef’s Table dining, that you book it yourself through the app and then be refunded onboard by your Genie. Additionally, they will – as long as the process works – send your itinerary and preferences to your Genie onboard to make sure everything meets your expectations. Then about a week before sailing, your actual Genie will contract you with an itinerary and to confirm what drinks you’d like stocked in your suite. They’ll take care of everything from there on out!
For us, the most recent time working with a Shore-Side Genie was a bit of a miss in handoff to our actual Genie. But it was quickly rectified when we pointed it out and smooth sailing from there!
Boarding Day with Royal Caribbean Star Class
When you arrive at the port, there will be a purple flag that says “Star Class” where you will meet a Port Genie. That Port Genie will identify a porter for your bags and also give you priority tags so your bags go straight to your room – and often beat you there! The Port Genie will then use an iPad to check you in – including taking a picture of your identifying documents, as needed. They will quickly hand you off to your Genie who will escort you onboard before most other guests, skipping lines along the way. You’ll quickly complete your muster drill and your Genie may leave you to explore as they escort other Star Class guests onboard, or they may give you a quick tour of your Suite!
While most days you can get delivery of food to your suite at any time. Room Service isn’t available on boarding day until about 5pm. So You can’t plan to eat on your suite balcony unless you specifically schedule a sail away party (at additional expense).
Specialty Dining
When you book Star Class on Royal Caribbean, you receive the Unlimited Dining Package. Your Genie will make nightly dining reservations. They will try to make them at your requested times but will usually be able to make them within 30 minutes of your requested time. We did learn that larger parties (for instance – of 10 people) they may not be able to accommodate your requested start time at all and will propose alternates. It can also be a challenge with timing of shows and entertainment. Some of the dining experience can take nearly 2.5 hours with rarely being under 2 hours. We often let our servers know we had plans so that we could get through the meal a bit quicker and maximize what we could do after dinner!
We have enjoyed being able to order pretty much everything on the menu with our extra charge (not the Chops specialty cuts) – but have always enjoyed a side of lobster at Chops Grill!
In-Room Dining - Suite Perk
By 10 PM each night your Genie will ask that you send your morning order. It can include full breakfast from Coastal Kitchen, a totally customized Starbucks order, and even protein shakes if they’re available onboard!
For daily snacks we always returned to our room in the afternoon either after spending the day on the ship or out on an excursion to a tray full of snacks. Anywhere from sushi to a nacho bar. We actually skipped the sushi because we weren’t sure when it was delivered and it wasn’t kept chilled. This was sad because it looked so so good. We also had an issue with an allergen being delivered and not marked. Thankfully it is an obvious one – but I would be sure to reconfirm with your Genie that they are aware of your allergen for when they’re pride
Priority Access & Seat Reservations
When you work with your Genie to decide on your schedule, they will arrive at the show before everyone else and place a reserved marker on the best seats in the house. Some Genies even ask you which seats you want (and show you a layout of the space to be able to pick exactly where you’d like to seat). And the best part, you can show up just a few minutes before the show and get a drink, some popcorn, and a comfy well located seat!
One of our favorite Star Class perks was the priority for onboard activities. We had private access to the escape room, skip the line access to the Ultimate Abyss, Zip Lining, Rock Climbing, Priority access to Laser Tag, and private sessions of Flowrider! All we had to do was show our purple wow band!
Suite Lounge and Sun Deck
The Suite Sun Deck on the Royal Caribbean fleet varies from ship to ship. Some are more comfortable than others. Hot tubs, wading pools, bars, loungers (some are padded, others aren’t – which I found odd, for a suite sundeck. Why aren’t they all padded?!)
The lounges are nice and attached to the restaurants on the Oasis Class. It can get a little loud at times. The views are wonderful and the spaces are nicely appointed. Comfortable chairs/couches for small conversations. A small buffet area for snacks and coffee is also available.
Excursion Priority
While the Genie can’t make space available on excursions that are sold out, they can help coordinate items to help expedite and get preferences secured. For us this came as priority escort off the ship to our excursions throughout the Caribbean – as well as securing what we believe is the best Hideout Cabana at Hideaway Beach #86 All the way at the end, beach access, end of the heated pool, what could be better!
Recent Changes to Royal Caribbean Star Class Benefits
In November 2024, Royal Caribbean announced some unwelcome changes to Star Class benefits – specifically related to included dining benefits. They used to include “Complimentary Specialty Dining” which was nearly limitless. There were a few up-charges for wine pairings and new-concept restaurants like the Royal Railroad on Utopia of the Seas. However, the current Inclusion is for the Unlimited Specialty Dining Package – which has uncharges for multiple restaurants (Hibachi, Chef’s Table, Royal Railway, etc.) in addition to a daily price cap per person on places like Playmakers. It hasn’t been a welcome change.
In August 2024 Royal Caribbean introduced a “Shore-Side Genie” Which is meant to get a lot of the planning done before the Ship-Based Genie engages with you and gets your schedule completed. This has been received with mixed results. Some of these Shore-Side genies are super responsive, provide accurate itineraries, and communicate everything to the Ship Genie. BUT there are others that you send a VERY detailed list to that is completely ignored when coming up with an itinerary, and then doesn’t communicate anything to the Genie. It’s been met with frustration.
Which Royal Caribbean Ships have Star Class?
Royal Caribbean Star Class is offered on Oasis Class, Icon Class, and Quantum Class Ships. This includes:
- Allure of the Seas
- Anthem of the Seas
- Harmony of the Seas
- Icon of the Seas
- Oasis of the Seas
- Odyssey of the Seas
- Quantum of the Seas
- Symphony of the Seas
- Utopia of the Seas
- Wonder of the Seas
How to get the best Star Class Suite Rate
Star Class by Royal Caribbean is immensely popular, and they often sell out the suites on the day they’re released. So we always suggest booking early if you’re ok with the rate being published. Rates haven’t really gone down much as you get closer to sailing in recent years. But occasionally on more saturated itineraries, you can snag a great suite at a good rate – especially when you consider the value for each guest. Additionally, if there are more than one suite in a category – prices can be monitored for drops.