jjmahaney

Just off the Allure of the Seas 12/11-12/15  We were thoroughly impressed with our streaming ability during our 4 day cruise. Had some rough weather last night and I thought for sure streaming would suffer. Ship was rocking and rolling and wind howling but was able to stream Max, Discovery and Hulu from phone to tv without any issues. Not sure if the area of the ship makes any difference. We were deck 11 aqua theater suite. 

We just returned from a Christmas cruise on the Explorer of the Seas. Thought I would mention a couple things for others who maybe sailing before she goes into dry dock. Voom internet, couldn't connect with macbook pro. Spoke to the gentleman in the internet area and he said it has been an issue for a few weeks. They are not expecting it to be resolved prior to the drydock. Windows computers can connect and I was able to connect right away on my iphone and ipad. The service was a bit slow however I was able to stream from Acorn Tv. Bit disappointed I couldn't connect my macbook I wanted to test out working from ship. Lesson learned I will bring mac and windows laptop in the future. 

 We were in Owners Suite 1320 ,love the setup of the room apart from the shower being a bit small.  Not sure of other rooms have this issue but there were only 2 american plugs in the room and they were as far away from were we needed them as they could be. Everything else was european style plugs.  My husband requires a scooter for distances and luckily our room attendant was able to help us out with the plug situation. You can't even get the scooter near were the plug was located. However this resulted in us having orange extension cords running across the room. 

 The included coffee maker , well that was pretty sad indeed. Some old beat up mr coffee with you guessed it an american plug with no plug near it. The tea kettle was shabby but it seemed clean and I really wanted to be able to make my tea AND at least I could plug that in. 

 Hope this helps anyone who may be cruising soon.  Just bring windows laptop for internet and adaptors for plugs just in case! 

Just returned from our first Royal Caribbean and first Christmas cruise. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We were on an older ship due to go into dry dock Explorer of the Seas. We normally cruise Haven on NCL so I was little worried that we would feel crowded. Other then the occasional busy times embarkation , sea day lunch in windjammer, we didn't notice any issues. The menus seemed a little amped up for Christmas Eve and Christmas day especially in the buffet and the desserts options. The ship was decorated beautifully there was caroling , christmas eve mass, hanukkah celebrations. You could be as festive or as laid back as you wanted to be and no one cared.  We are already looking to book another Christmas cruise for next year. 

Just off the Breakaway my understanding is they do not have the license for any college football. There were NFL games Thursday , Sunday ( not all games the daily listed which games would air) and Monday night game. The channel was only active when a game was aired. The other sports channel was sport24 TV  rugby, golf, soccer. 

The service in the courtyard is bare bones, orders incorrect ( simple things like ordering onion rings and getting fries) no one comes back to check on you , offer you a drink refill. Dinner service seems to ok but other times it is not up to the standard of past experience. 

We are on the Breakaway now and went to Cagney’s tonight for dinner. It was not a great dinner. We are in the Haven , I had a MUCH better steak in the Haven restaurant a couple of nights ago then I had tonight at the steakhouse. We aren’t going to do this upgrade dining packages anymore , we will just stick with Haven dinners. That being said , my other comment would be we have noticed some changes in the Haven area as well. It feels a bit “watered down “ compared to past Haven cruises. Some of the dining/ drink service is almost non existent at times. Lunch on day 1 was terrible. We didn’t even eat it. 

I looked into this for our 9/15 cruise. It depends on how booked the ship is. There has to be enough room in the life boats. Then it was just going to cost Taxes/fees. You will have to call to find out. 

I have been on both ships. We did a back to back 4 day Rome to Barcelona then 14 day transatlantic to Miami on the Epic. For first part of the cruise we had a reg mini suite hated it, my husband was very unhappy in that odd room with the bathroom setup and I remember the couch was rounded in the middle. It just wasn't comfortable. We had a 2 bedroom Haven for the 2nd part of the cruise luckily. That was fantastic.  Besides not liking the mini suite there was not a lot of areas on the ship to just hang out. If we hadn't been in the Haven I think I would have been really miserable with the sea days and lack of places to go and not being comfortable in the cabin.  The Dawn we did Boston to Bermuda and we had a DOS and only a couple of sea days. If I had to choose between the 2 ships and Haven was not an option on the Epic then I would book the Dawn.   Sailing out of NY isn't that bad surprisingly. 

So glad you asked this question!  It is good to know you are not the only one. We have also booked Haven right away. We have even paid the upgrade difference for my sil ( of course she never knew this)  from a mini to haven courtyard once because we wanted to be in the Haven and traveling with family. Argh it was just easier to pay it and not say anything. All she thinks is it was some kind of magic points upgrade.  I do have to say though  if I couldn't do a Haven I would be looking at a spa mini. That seems to be ( or in the past anyway) a sweet spot for pricing and a little added privacy. I know they used to be sold out quickly in the past. Now I think people wait for bid upgrades  

11 minutes ago, zeppgirl said:

Yes, I did but could not find the exact room on a video.  I did see others to get an idea.  I booked the haven spa room for the spa pass, but also because I loved the location of the tub right by the window(:  I opted not to upgrade to the haven courtyard because it did not have the spa hahah.  We all have our preferences(;

That is funny!  We don't like the tub and you too.  If you want a tub with a view. Haven 2 bedroom suite this one was on the Epic with Madeira Island Portugal in the background.  Enjoy the thermal spa it IS def worth it in my opinion. We will probably just add some day passes on. 

Hi Zeppgirl,  I think there can be vast differences in rooms depending on the ship. Have you tried looking on youtube for stateroom videos of the ship and room type? We use youtube for all the time when booking cruises. We just booked today and opted against a haven spa room because of the tub next to the bed and lack of seating and went with a haven courtyard instead. 

Thank you! We are booked in the yacht club

Can anyone tell me if there is an elevator that goes to deck 18 in the yacht club?

YouTube is a great resource for comparing staterooms. We use it it all the time

Spa pass

The Epic is the one ship with the toilet and shower on opposite sides of the entry way. I don't think there is much difference there between the mini and the balcony. The difference in room size is in the seating area I believe. We did a B2B 4 day Rome to Barcelona then 14 day TA to Miami on the Epic. We had a mini suite for the 4 day and then a Haven 2 bedroom for the 14 day. It was just my husband and I. He hated the mini suite and I think we would have been miserable on the TA in the mini suite. The Haven was fantastic. I understand there is a big price difference between a mini and the haven but you could try for an upsell. Personally if I couldn't do the Haven on the Epic, I would be looking at another cruise line like Celebrity.

We just returned yesterday from a Haven penthouse on the Breakaway. We had also purchased thermal spa passes. If I had to give up the Haven I would get the spa mini suite or buy the spa pass. Just an FYI You do have to go up one floor from the spa rooms for access to the thermal suite, at least on the Breakaway. Seems strange that the spa rooms are not on the same floor but it is what it is.

Have you considered looking at the spa mini suite or balcony? You get access to the thermal suite which is a nice place to relax with your family. It doesn't include the haven ( unless you have the haven/spa room) but it can be way more reasonably priced while still getting something extra.

We just booked spa passes for our cruise in April. They cost $179.00 each for 7 days on the Breakaway. I believe if you wait to buy the pass on the ship the price goes up to $199.00 if they have any left.

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are booked in the YC this fall and it will be our first MSC cruise as well.

On the Epic this is the only 2 bedroom I am aware of. I guess you could get connecting rooms outside of the Haven. I wouldn't give up the Haven though. We did B2B 4 days Rome to Barcelona in a mini suite, my husband hated the mini suite, the haven was sold out for the 4 day. We moved to the 2 bedroom villa for the second leg of our trip which was a 14 day TA. Thank goodness we did.

Does anyone know if the YC rooms includes unlimited access to the sauna? Or any access at all?

Yes there is a small TV in the second bedroom. There are 3 TV's in total in the room. One in the living room and one in each bedroom. There is a sliding door between the master bedroom and living room so someone could watch TV in the living room and not disturb someone in the master bedroom. 2 adults in the second room would be tight. I guess think of the smallest inside cabin you have ever seen and you should get a sense of it.

Grrrr don't know why the second pic didn't attach. Here it is... I hope.

We were in a 2 bedroom family villa on the Epic. We used the second bedroom for luggage storage since there was just my husband and I. My pics of the 2nd room didn't come out great but I attached a couple.