The Fun Researcher

Question for those that cancelled and rebooked... Were the identical times available that you had before? Just wondering if Royal immediately frees up those slots and you can rebook them. I've worried that if I cancelled, and then tried to rebook, the timeslot I want would be gone. We're typically parties of 5 or more so the timeslots are limited and I would hate to miss out if trying to rebook. Thanks!

Kind of depends on what kind of excursions you like. We've been to Aruba twice. First time we did the Jolly Pirate's sail and snorkel (booked it 3rd party). It was fun but I think there are better options. Crew were great, and it was fun to be on a "pirate ship" but the snorkeling was just o.k. The second time we booked through Royal. We booked the Aruba Sea & See Island Tour Everyone in our group of 10 really liked this one. It's a bus/boat combo. It gives you a decent appreciation for the island as a whole, as well as some sightseeing (without having to snorkle). We started out on a bus and stopped at the lighthouse. Great view back to the main port and coast. Then we went to the rocky north coast. Then to some huge boulder formations that you can take stairs to the top of. Really cool. Then we boarded the SeaWorld explorer on which you go to the inside bottom of the boat It has windows and is below water level to see tropical fish/creatures and shipwreck. A third option is just to take a taxi to Eagle Beach. It's a relaxing way to have an inexpensive day at a beautiful beach. Here are some photos from the second excursion I mentioned

Thanks! I misread your comment. LOL My mind jumped to Giovanni's rather than Chops. We're on the June 6 sailing.

Same here, only day 2, but that's o.k. My parents are with us this cruise and they've never done a specialty lunch or dinner. I booked both (Dinner day 4). We may cancel one later when we decide which option works best. I wish they offered lunch more days. Day two is the first formal night with the Taste of France menu. Love the beef tenderloin that evening, so it might be weird if someone gets the filet for lunch and then turn around to have the same cut (although prepared differently) for dinner. Oh well. lots of options on the lunch menu. Thanks for the heads up on Giovanni's on the Liberty. Hopefully they get things resolved by June. 🙂

Not sure if anyone's mentioned it yet, but starting them in a Grand Suite is asking for trouble later. That's an awfully nice cabin and hard to follow-up with on subsequent cruises. Personally, I think both options are excellent. First cruise with the Wonder, and all it's bells and whistles, also may make it difficult to switch to a smaller ship in the future. However, I've said to friends many times, if you want to WOW someone with a cruise ship, do Oasis class. All in all, I'd probably lean towards Wonder, but would have NO PROBLEM recommending the Indy as well. Great ship.

Interesting indeed. Also, a question for those that may regularly eat at Giovanni's for lunch. I see they still list the filet mignon on the sample lunch menu. Is that still accurate or has it been removed for cost cutting? Typically we've booked Chop's lunch in order to get the filet, but if it's truly offered at Giovanni's still, that won't be necessary.

Was waiting for Black Friday because I was on the fence booking Giovanni's for our June Bermuda cruise on the Liberty. Giovanni's table for Lunch is now 35% off and Dinner 25% for our particular cruise, so $13.99 +grat for lunch and $35.99 +grat for dinner. Just FYI in case you were looking at Giovanni's. A nice little savings for our group of 6. Not sure if they are doing the same for Jamie's, as it's not on our ship.

We usually take 1.5 hours at least but our tables are usually 7-10 folks

Couldn't have said it better myself. Cheers

Love this map!! So many times there is more information than I want, or it just focuses on the eastern OR western Caribbean. I love that it's focused on cruise ports rather than just general geography. I'll be copying and saving, thanks.

Amen. Nowadays, you have a choice of the lesser of two evils. Do early dining at 5pm, or wait in a packed line that goes past the elevators for MTD. This past cruise in July, on the Quantum to Alaska, was particularly bad. The buffet and other eateries did not open for lunch until 12pm. Early seating is 5pm. So, you are lucky to get done with lunch by say 1pm, and then you need to turn around to get ready and eat early seating at 5pm. We weren't hungry yet by any means. They need to open for lunch at 11 or 11:30am if they are going to force early seating to be 5pm, or preferably do both, move lunch earlier and dinner back to at least 5:30. I made it clear in my survey that currently is a terrible way of doing it. The old way worked SO much better. Dedicated space in the MDR for MTD. Early seating was later, and you could prebook MTD for whatever times you wanted (as long as you did it well ahead of your cruise). Even if you didn't prebook you could show up at any time from the start of early seating until late seating. How is this new method saving time when folks with MTD are waiting 30 minutes or more before they even enter the MDR? Regarding your food review, the only thing that has me concerned is the comments about the quality of the cuts of beef. We were fortunate not to experience that in March and July (other than prime rib being overcooked in March), but if they are trying to fool guests with cuts that aren't as advertised, now we have a real issue.

We had a large amount of folks in 70's garb the last two cruises, Anthem in March and Quantum in July. Even the 80's night had a decent number of folks dressed up on the Quantum. Every Royal cruise we've taken has had a 70's night, but I feel they are trying to replace that with a 80's night due to the age of passengers shifting. I like both decades of music, but for us the 80's parties have been more fun lately.

Same with Labadee I assume?

For a 70% reduction in cost, I would be willing to do that as well. We have friends who has sailed Royal and x multiple times and tried one of MSC due to the significant cost reduction. They loved the cruise. However, they are SUPER budget focused and willing to give up a lot for cost. One of their main comments is "The bartenders were willing to do double pours in our alcoholic drinks". They admit the food and entertainment is worse than Royal and X and the ship decor is definitely different. Having said that, we haven't even come close to having a bad cruise on Royal, Celebrity, or NCL so if the price is that good... worth a try!

Speaking of Quantum, so same location. Yes to the windows. We never went in from 5-7pm, but all other times of the day we went in to get coffee there was either no one else in there, or maybe 2 others.

We've only sailed out of Bayonne once, in March, and we had smooth seas. No different than all of our other cruises out of Florida or Texas. Of course weather is unpredictable everywhere.

Need more info. 1) Is the Wonder price reasonable for you, and it's just that the Princess price is unusually low? or 2) Is the Wonder price prohibitively high and the Princess price more in line with what you are willing to pay? If it's option 1 go with Royal If it's option 2 I would go princess or... find another ship and sail date that still works for you at the price point you are more ok with.

I agree (except for the very few truly at risk anymore) If you are referring to the last few posts, including mine, I think we’re referring to Covid past tense( at least I am) and the mental toll it took. That includes the deaths, closures, lockdowns, supply chain stuff…. Kind of made me appreciate the “now”.

I do think there is a lot to what you’re saying. It did heighten the general awareness that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

I've had them range from weird sizes like 11 oz, up to the typical 16.9 oz. Never the big liter ones or anything. Never been Evian, but I don't care. It does seem that they try to get you the total ounces that you ordered. I felt like we had a pallet load of those little 11 oz bottle LOL.

Good point regarding the closeness of the lounger. The last time we were on the Equinox was in 2017 and I seem to remember the same thing. The area around the main pool is not that huge so I think they try to cram in as many loungers as they can, and it does make for difficulty getting in and out of them due to so many. There is no excuse for not opening the Buffet for lunch until noon. We ran into the same thing on the Royal Caribbean Quantum in Alaska this past July. To make it worse the earliy seating for dinner was 5 PM at the MDR, so by the time we got done with lunch, it might be 1pm and then you had to turn around and get to the main dining room at five. No one was hungry for dinner yet. It was absolutely ridiculous and I let them know in my survey.

We also grab ice water at whatever venue is closest. 👍🏼. I’m not sure nelblu was saying the crown lounge is the only option, just one they brought up since we are talking about Diamond stuff in this thread. Off topic a little, but…. We are fairly new Diamond members and speaking of the now called Crown lounge I was surprised how empty it was all day long on our Quantum sailing to Alaska in July. Never more than 2 (and normally zero) others in there whenever we would stop in to grab coffee. Also lots of untouched appetizers. We were never there during happy hour though

Remember, if you would like you can take up to twelve 500ml (16.9 oz) bottles of water onboard with you. You must carry it on (not in your checked bag) so it’s kind of a pain but you’ll pay far less.

Like all classes there are the plus’s and minus’s. Love: The 270 lounge Fantastic Solarium Lots of music and music venues A few new novelty experiences like iFly, Northstar and bumper cars Reasonable connection to the sea Don’t love: Lack of ice rink Smaller Promenade area Lack of one beautiful MDR, instead it’s chopped up into four themed MDR’s all serving the same menu. (they fixed this with Quantum Ultra class) Overall we would sail Quantum class again. It has enough pluses to keep us happy.

Very interesting, looking at your signature, we've sailed identical ships. (except swap Mariner with the two Quantum ships we've done.) Almost all ships the same with the majority being Freedom and Voyager class. 👍 👍 👍