The Fun Researcher

I do agree that Fried Chicken, Burgers, Jambalaya feel more like buffet offerings. Not sure how I feel about them on the MDR menu. I feel they do de-elevate the experience. However, I do love good fried chicken, burgers and Jambalaya 🤣. Also, I doubt the lobster mac n cheese has much lobster in it (or perhaps not even real lobster) However, there is still a NY strip steak, Glazed Salmon, and a fish curry that hold up fine against any of the other menus. For appetizers, Potato soup, Waldorf salad, Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar salad, are all solid offerings, and the desserts look normal as well. I get what you're saying about the quality of the dishes offered, and it is slipping.

Wow, sure enough. I have eight of the new menus saved on my phone, but I did not have Taste of the USA. Did not know that one even existed. Do you mind saying what sailing that was on and where? Just wondering where they would offer a taste of the USA menu. I agree, they do make a nice burger in the dining room. Not sure how I feel about offering it for dinner though. I have gotten it multiple times for lunch in the main dining room. Sure looks like a dinner menu to me. Interesting. Overall not that bad of a menu really.

I’ve only ever seen that offered on the lunch menu in the dining room. Are you saying this was for dinner? It’s not on any of the themed dinner menus that I’ve found

Agree, the 4 drinks vouchers per day is a massive benefit that keeps us looking at Royal first and foremost. We make use of all of them. It doesn't completely keep us with Royal though. We did get a good deal on a 5 night in December on the Celebrity Equinox with drinks, WiFi and gratuities included. Decent prices are getting harder and harder to come by though, especially when we are currently stuck with summer and holidays due to my wife and kids work and school schedules.

No. I don't have a problem paying for special extras, the question is... how much? My point is that our cruise fare already supplements a good share of the cost of food on the ship. When the cost for food on a cruise equals or exceeds those on land, I have a problem with that. I LOVE the fact that Royal has added Playmakers to some of their ships (I wish they all had it). I'm ok paying extra to get decent food later in the evening, like chicken wings. I get so tired of mediocre pizza and finger sandwiches as my only late night options However, Playmaker prices are jumping as well 😡 Raising food prices doesn't seem to be bothering Royal though. I would argue that their dinner prices for specialty restaurants can easily match or exceed those on land for similar quality of food. We haven't been cruising for 30 years like some on these boards, but have been for regular cruisers on Royal since 2012. This trend of massive price increases for drinks and food on board is disturbing. Yes, it may very well push us to other lines despite the fact that we are Diamond on Royal. It's just sad to see because we love(d) the Royal product... but it's changing.

You are choosing to ignore the point.

Yes, but on a cruise you've already supplemented a good amount of the food cost with your cruise fare. Similar food on cruises should be lower than on land based locations.

That’s Fair. Just curious what are your favorites on the Caribbean night? The bao buns have been either excellent or terrible for us. I do like the lentil soup. I can make the shrimp or steak entree work. So not a terrible menu but not high on the list for me I do agree the Italian night is pretty lackluster too.

Good to hear. For the first time ever we received overcooked prime rib in March on the Anthem (asked for medium rare and received well done). I chalk that up to a "one-off" experience though as it's been very good on all other cruises.

I guess we got lucky. This is what it was like for us just before lunch. What do you think of Magen’s bay by the way?

If you don't want to hassle with the ferry, Magen's Bay on St. Thomas is easy to get to and also a very beautiful beach. Walk a little ways along the shore and you'll be away from any crowds.

One off experiences don't define a place. I wouldn't assume that Truck Bay is going to be slammed. It's still, to this day, the best beach we've ever been to. It wasn't crowded. The water was incredibly clear, and all sorts of amazing hues of blue... amazing. Clean soft white sand. It helped that it was a beautiful sunny way. Dan

We've never sailed shorter than 6 nights on Royal so can't say for sure, but yes my expectation would be French night. That menu (or a version of it) been the first formal night on pretty much every cruise we've been on. I really look forward to the beef tenderloin. However, Royal has revamped their protocol of which menu is served when. I think I see that French and Royal nights are only on 6 night or longer cruises. IMO, Mexican is the weakest menu followed by Caribbean night. Shame they put BOTH of those on a 4 night cruise.

They are serving Mexican night as the formal night? That seems very weird. IMO that's the worst culinary menu of the entire bunch!

We love both lines. We're taking the kids (21, 19, 17yrs) and my in-laws on Celebrity for the first time in December on the Equinox. Price was very good. The main downside to Celebrity is the lack of activities versus Royal. They don't even have a putt putt course. Things get pretty dang quiet after 11pm or so. That's why we're ok that our cruise is only 5 nights. However, on the flip side, we love the slight bump in food quality, service and amenities with Celebrity. I'm very interested to see with the kids think. I think we are all really going to enjoy it. In summary, we're happy to sail Celebrity especially if the price is right. We just need to be aware that it's more of an old school classic elegant cruising experience versus all the activities on Royal. Dan

Thanks for posting so much about the Connecting Promenade Cabins! I've looked at these many times but haven't booked them partly because we are a family of five and two connecting promenade cabins aren't enough. However our oldest now tends to get tied up with college stuff and can't always join our cruises. So, you mentioned the noise from the parties. Other then the parties how quiet are those cabins? Are they like any other interior cabin, nice and quiet? Do you hear noise from the Royal Promenade area? Thanks.

Well, Princess is the premium Carnival, just as Celebrity is the premium Royal. If you are placing HAL inline with Princess, then your ARE calling it premium.

Sorta to this point, Royal is pretty smart with the loyalty retention once you reach Diamond level. The 4 free drinks and the coffee in the Diamond lounge were a major benefit to us on our Alaskan cruise (our first as Diamond). We didn't need to spend nearly as much on drinks and it really cut that cost down. Can't say much about the MDR and other complimentary dining though. It, without a doubt, has declined in quality since 2021. I'm interested to see how things are on the Celebrity Equinox in December. I know they had major cutbacks in the buffet for dinner, but that doesn't impact us as we "always" eat our dinners in the MDR. NCL prices have really jumped, and I'm not finding them as competitive as they were a couple of years ago or more. Of course, there may always be those gems out there with a good price to dig out.

Royal seems like they want us to forget that a lot of the food cost is already supplemented by our cruise fare. They are pretty much at land prices now. That’s a hefty % increase

One reason I can think of... Many of the "Luxury" lines don't have the vast entertainment and activity options and vibe of a Royal ship. While not "Luxury" per se, we were considering a 7 night cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse next year but chose a 5 night on Liberty instead. LOVE Celebrity Solstice class ships but we'll have our kids onboard and there is very little to do other than just relax, eat and go to evening shows. Things are very sleepy at night. No putt putt, no rock climbing, no ice show, no flowrider, no slides, no escape room, no laser tag... Don't get me wrong, we'll be on the Celebrity Equinox with the kids in December for 5 nights but I think some like all the entertainment and activities on Royal ships along with the overall ship designs which I think Royal wins across all cruise lines.

Oddly enough, the only time we have had any situation like that was also on the oasis in the windjammer way back in 2015. Other than that we have had no issues in our 10 cruises across the voyager, freedom, oasis, and quantum classes. I agree that the Windjammer on the Oasis and probably other oasis class ships is undersized. I would still say that is far from the norm. More of the exception than the rule.

Yeah ships have sailed at capacity for decades with the only exception for a bit after Covid. Fortunately Royal sizes their ships well for the ship passenger capacity. Happy sailing. I need to go check out the '24-'25 options!

Never heard of easyCruise, and dang that’s pretty crazy. No wonder they are long gone. (2005-2010). Charging for MDR and making beds seems like a crazy business model, and history seems to prove that. Didn’t last long.

True. That is really fun. Our group of 14 did roller skating on the Quantum on our Alaskan cruise last month. Although our normally very athletic 20yo niece twisted her knee pretty bad doing it. Made for a difficult next 1/2 of the cruise. Maybe it would have been even worse I’ve skating 😂

Good point. Yes they do. I guess to that point it is a trade off. 270 is a pretty dang nice area on the ship. Had a great band in there for 80’s night and the show on Quantum (Starwater) was excellent. Didn’t care for Pixels on Anthem. I missed the free skate on the Voyager/Freedom/Oasis classes too. It’s trade offs though. BTW our favorite cruise ever was on the Navigator just a few weeks after it was AMPED in March of 2019. 9 night sailing to all three ABC’s and Labadee. Awesome weather, ports, and LOVED the updated ship with Playmakers for great late night food, the escape room, El Loco fresh as another option by the pool as well as grab and go Johnny Rockets. Refreshed rooms and everything. Amazing cruise.