kicker

By the way: the main reason for switching from a Balcony Cabin is illness. I developed severe leg problems after we booked, and I need the extra space. It was quite unexpected, but I think the Suite will help a lot. I can envision some balcony dinners and such coming up.

We have two friends cruising with us, 2nd time cruisers, first time Royal. Not sure how much we'll dine together under the circumstances.

Thank you for the quick reply. This wil be new experience, looking forward to it. Thanks again, and hopefully some others will chime in.

We are Diamond on Royal, but we've never done a Suite before. There seems to be a lot of confusion between FJ and FJS. Our cabin holds up to 8 adults; we have 5 in the Cabin. As a Suite newbie I'm wondering what services you get from the Concierge, I believe Coastal Kitchen is included according to what Royal told me. Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

To me the Character breakfast is one place where Royal really drops the ball - so much potential to make it better. Obviously Disney can't be beat because of their characters (Character breakfast on Disney was buffet style) with Mickey, Minnie, several others). What impressed me last year was a Carnival cruise we did with a "Cat in the Hat" breakfast. Again, they had advantages and took full use of them (green eggs & ham of course, dollar pancakes stacked in a tilting shape, other unique breakfast choices. We did an Oasis Character breakfast last October and had two characters; breakfast choices were nothing special (nor, for the most part, were the characters). I think Royal should come up with at least a special menu (something Shrek related, or Madagascar?) to make it more interesting. Anyways, expect maybe two characters and, unless its been improved, nothing really special.

Last summer we did a Carnival cruise out of Charleston, SC as a continuation of a Myrtle Beach vacation. It was nice not to have a long drive or a flight (we're in Central NY, 5 hrs from the city, and we've done Cape Liberty a few times). I prefer Royal, but Royal had nothing comparable (our NC daughter joined us). It was a different vibe than Royal, but still enjoyable. Food was decent, entertainment was amateurish but fun, no major problems with a ship full of rednecks (except I guess for the 2 70-somethings having a cane fight in the parking lot pre-cruise, and a streaker the last night :o)..

We have Anthem OTS booked for October; a Disney Dream cruise in January for our 8 yr old granddaughter. As a cruise friend once remarked, she'd never been on a cruise she didn't like, and I've had the same experience.

Cruising Anthem OTS in October, so I just looked at the Dining packages. I though they had a package where you received two dinners of their choice. We're with another couple (their first time on Royal), and I'm not sure if they'll want to do the package. Royal doesn't seem to make anything easy!

For less than $125,000 per person we could chip-in and buy the ship?? I wonder what the on-going maintenance cost would be....

I like this idea! Maybe we could get about 1,000 folks to chip in, and we'd make it like "The World" where we could live on her. Only problem I'd see is I'd hate to think of having to take my turn in the kitchen to cook for everyone! ;)

Hi Kevin -how many were signed up for your M&M? Where & what time was it held? And was it on the first sea day?

 

We're leaving on the Oasis next weekend and we have 80+ signed up for our M&M so far...

Chiming in on an Oasis M&M. We cruised last October, had over 100 people signed up, and received our date/time/location about 2 weeks before sailing. Only about 30 people showed up; lots of prizes (3 bottles of wine, several RCCL caps). I think about half of us won something. We won (drum roll please!); A Royal Caribbean key chain! :')

We followed, of course, the usual journey: Platinum, Emerald, Diamond. Platinum was a bit better than Gold for discounts; Emerald was real y nothing special, Diamond was a new world! Big difference between getting a bag of cookies and a water bottle compared to a private lounge and free drinks. Every level adds a little something - keep going and you'll get to Diamond before you know it.

Maybe a Catamaran? Seems like a few of those might be in your price range. I did a Bike Tour through Bahamas Outdoors a few years back, but I think she just does bird watching and tours (although if you're into that, she'd be a great guide).

The bathrooms in the cabins are so small, we've found that running hot water in the shower with the door closed was enough to take wrinkles out of anything.

I now welcome the Water Conservation crowd to flame me.:evilsmile:

 

The bed isn't very high when opened. You could put pillows on the floor around it. That's probably what we'll do with my 2 year old grandson.

It also looks like the back cushion comes off (looks like its standing up in the corner) you could use that also on the floor.

When our granddaughter was 3 or 4 that's basically what we did. i think we also placed the chair from the room next to the bed as an extra precaution, though I wouldn't pretend that's a perfect solution.

Also, when our own kids were younger, on their beds at home with had special sheets with inflatable bumpers in them. that might work best if you can find something like that. Good luck!

PS: Every room I've been in with a sofa bed was set up by the room steward, and din't seem to easily open (but I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack.:confused:

Yes, your whole review is great, and a bit different from most reviews; overall very helpful. I think the most important thing I learned from it personally was your thoughts on the North Star. I've never read a comment like that before but, when you think about, trying it in port gives a much greater view. I'll have to remember that when I cruise Anthem in October. Thanks!

While not specifically Weird or Dangerous, we found something different that ended up being one of the highlights on our recent cruise: Nassau Native Quest (my brief review here).

You know, I've looked at that before, and as a fan of Survivor I'd probably like it. I remember seeing some bad reviews about scavenger hunts in Nassau before we cruised last summer; that most likely scared me off.

We'll be hitting Nassau in October, cruising with friends who have never been there. In January we'll be cruising with our 8 yr old granddaughter, and that might be something we could all do together. Thanks for your opinions.

My weird sense of humor guess is that the:

• "Weirdest" will never admit they did that :o
  
• "Most Dangerous" didn't live to tell about it :evilsmile:
  
• "Most Exciting"...well apparently there is nothing exciting to do . ;p
  

But we can still hope.

You have some extremely valid points here. The weirdest were probably either arrested, or too drunk to remember (come to think of it, my adult son & I returned from a Party Boat Catamaran, walking down the main street in Nassau singing "New York, New York" at the top of our lungs - at least that's what my wife tells me :o). I suppose if I wanted "dangerous" I could walk around the streets flashing a bankroll. Problem with that is i'd have to come up with a bankroll first. As for most exciting: I'm getting older, so maybe I'll try bird watching tours.:D

I take the comment cards seriously. I'm not a critical person; any negative comments I've ever had were more constructive criticism on how to improve something (example: every time I cruise I love to buy something onboard for our granddaughter, not age 7. Did you ever notice the lack of toy products or clothing in child's sizes on almost every ship?).

A few years back I wrote some comments on a Celebrity cruise. They must have liked them; they called me and asked if I'd be willing to view their new Website and offered cash for my opinions. Yeah, they do take comments seriously, and yes, I keep filling hem out, hoping they'll call me again!

Lots of views, but no responses? I've been looking at Nassau, and scuba diving with sharks looks interesting, although I assume it will be like wrestling an alligator at Gator World (they tape his mouth so he can't bite). Since I'm not a certified diver, I'd need some type of certification first of all. The excursion (I believe ) is around $200 pp, plus the cost of certification. Did I mention i'm daring, but also cheap? :rolleyes:

The Royal Tea is more of an event. You have a chef & helper who do a "show" with the food items being served. The Princesses in attendance visit each table/guest. And there are gifts for each (child) participant.

 

The Tea with ......(Alice/the Princesses/Mickey/whoever) was a free event.

Okay, that's scary, :eek: considering we'll be cruising in January with our 8 yr old granddaughter! The free event was nice, but $200?!?!

I seem to recall doing a Tea Party with Ariel and other princesses on Disney Wonder about four years ago. Different experience: I don't think there were any gifts, the princesses went to each table and demonstrated the proper way of holding a tea cup, we were served juice and cookies, and got a personal pic with each princess (that I assume we paid for later). I don't recall a charge (certainly not $200). Apparently Disney has upgraded the event?

I haven't seen anyone else mention it here, but Royal's website is often behind the times when they make changes, so I wouldn't go by that. I've heard from some very experienced cruising friends that Royal will indeed be going to a full-time room service charge, but I don't think its been implemented fleet-wide yet.

Personally, we'll usually order breakfast once or twice per cruise, more for the novelty of it, than the convenience. I find it almost as easy to run up to the Windjammer of Cafe in my jammies, and bring things back to the cabin.

Okay, I've been to Nassau several times, including twice last year, with a visit to Nassau in October and another in January, always one day cruise stops. My favorite excursion was a great bike ride through Bahama Outdoors, but I think she only does sight seeing and bird watching these days (highly recommended, by the way, if that's your thing - she is a great ambassador for Nassau).

So, needless to say, I'm looking for something different. No kids or grandkids for October, I'm 63 but think I'm 23. Any ideas? Haven't seen a great variety on these boards. Have I missed something?

With a four year old you have more options as far as cruising dates (usually lower rates when most kids are in school). If you're to save on a cruise fare, late September to early October is a good time for lower rates; mid-January to early February works too.

We have a soon-to-be 8 year old granddaughter who's been on 2 Disney cruises with us (and several other cruises). Our next cruise with her will hopefully be a Disney Dream cruise in January, 2018. She'll miss 4 days of school, but early January is usually a review time.

I should mention: as a 3 year old she had no interest in staying in the Kid's area wihtout us. As a four year old she never wanted to leave. They usually will an open house the first day or two when parents can spend time with their kids in the Kid's area. After that its usually kids only.

A few thoughts: first, you're coming from Colorado? That obviously gives you a lot of different flying options (since some on here are suggesting you go from Florida). Are you planning on visiting NYC also? That would be a good reason for choosing Anthem. We're currently booked on Anthem for Oct 16 (that may change as a couple going with us is expecting a grandchild late September - just found out). Another question: how old are the kids? We did Oasis OTS last October with our 7 yr old granddaughter - she loved everything about it. Oasis has the Boardwalk area, which Anthem doesn't, also Central Park where we had lunch outside at Park Cafe several days. Adventure Ocean for kids is probably the same on all the larger ships (again - younger kids will enjoy; teens probably not as much). You have lots of different choices, and you'll get lots of different opinions on here. Good luck!

Thanks for the answers. I have a feeling Oasis will remain my favorite ship, but I'm sure I'l enjoy Anthem.

Looking back some on here I don't see a comparison. We did Oasis this past October and absolutely loved it. Some of our favorites were lunches at the Park Cafe, breakfast a couple of times at Johnny Rockets (free on Oasis), and the Boardwalk area.

If anyone who's done both could offer some comparisons it would be greatly appreciated (not cruising until October, so no great rush). Thanks in advance for any responses.