The Fun Researcher

You can request a physical copy from your room steward no matter the cabin. We were on the Anthem in March in insides and I asked the room steward if I could get hard copies and they appeared every day like they used to.

Seriously? No Half & Half. That is ridiculous. Interested to see how this plays out and if it's just a short term issue.

As an added bonus it makes the adult beverages more effective later in the evening. 😉 😄

Which ones in particular

Yeah, I would not call that an amplification at all, especially compared to the other voyager class ships that have been amped.

I agree with saying no to the slides on Allure. The other thing would be the bionic bar, a gimmick that doesn't get much use. Other that I love all the changes on the Oasis What's new on Oasis of the Seas Caribbean-style pool deck Lime & Coconut signature bar Ultimate Abyss slide (dry slide) The Perfect Storm water slides Splashaway Bay aqua park Portside BBQ specialty restaurant El Loco Fresh complimentary Mexican restaurant Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade Sugar Beach candy shop Spotlight Karaoke venue Music Hall venue Bionic Bar Revamped Adventure Ocean Mission Control: Apollo 18 escape room

I always forget to make better use of this allowance (bringing food on). I love my salty snacks at night, especially after a few beverages. The general store only has limited stock of things like Pringles, and at a steep mark up. I should bring a carry on loaded with snacks!

It really is too bad. The AMPED ships are a big step up from their sisters in the same class (Voyager and Freedom Classes especially). We sailed the Navigator a few weeks after it was amped and it's probably our favorite ship to date. Loved the freshened pool deck, escape room, Playmakers, Tiki bar, el loco fresh, the grab and go Johnny Rockets, etc... Dan

As they should be

Yeah, same feelings regarding centrums. We've experienced them twice. One on the Celebrity Equinox. LOVE everything about that ship EXCEPT the centrums. No grand open area on that ship. We'll be on the Equinox again in December. Can't wait, but miss the Promenade. The other was the NCL Getaway. Again, did not like the centrums, but also that ship has a horrible pool deck. Good thing we had the drink package, 😄 it allowed us to look past some of the negatives. Still had a great time though.

Voyager was the very first with the Royal Promenade. (sorry for the confusion) Previously I was saying how similar Voyager and Freedom Classes were, so I lumped them together but technically you are absolutely correct.

Agreed. Having said that, the ships are/were incredibly innovative and introduced the Royal promenade , which I much prefer

My point is that we should not be surprised that the price is very reasonable for bar food on a cruise ship. That’s all. I love Playmakers, specifically the wings. Had them on Navigator when it was freshly Amped. Finally a place to have something other than pizza or finger sandwiches late at night especially. I wish every Royal ship had Playmakers. I’m not a fan of Carnival, just doesn’t fit my cruise wants. However Carnival has far more complimentary casual food venues, which is my point, not just wings. Royal has gotten better with their newer ships as well as the amped Oasis, freedom in voyager classes Just like Playmakers doesn’t just offer wings. NCL has O’sheehans on almost every ship which includes a wide menu and wings, (good wings in my experience on the Getaway.). Not only that, but it is full service and complimentary and 24/7. No single cruise line has yet to give us everything we wanted. Of them all we still prefer Royal. Playmakers was a huge improvement.

Those two classes of ships are super similar. Freedom is roughly 100 feet longer. This allows for a separate Sorrento’s and café promenade in the Royal Promenade as well as a splash zone by the pools for kids. The freedom class looks wider on paper, but that’s only because it has the cantilevered hot tubs off the sides. The main body of the ship is just as wide. In my opinion, voyager and freedom are WAAAAAAY MORE similar than different.

Yeah but keep in mind other cruise lines have many complimentary quick service locations with similar quality fare (i.e. Carnival). I do think the prices are Playmakers are reasonable, don't get me wrong, but for this type of food your cruise fare should cover a good deal of the cost IMO.

I think the comment meant that Freedom class has most (but not all) of the "bells and whistles" of the Oasis class. I would probably replace the word "most" with "many". Freedom class still has a lot to offer, especially if AMPED. It is impossible to recreate the number of venues, neighborhoods, etc, that Oasis class offers though. I just feel like the Oasis class is very inward focused, and I like the feeling on Freedom class that you are connected more with the sea. Oasis class is growing on me though. I do like all the ammenities.

How do they track this for the roaming servers? Do the workers still use the paper slips when walking around asking you for your drink order? If you go over the 4 allowed I assume they will end up charging you for the extras once they do the tally onboard?

We love it at night too. It's great to be out at 11pm or so and it's still nice and warm out there with the Caribbean breezes. You can get a decent view of the stars also. It can get WINDY up front there though. Lots of fun.

It’s probably our favorite class of royal Caribbean ship (and we have done the biggest) she handles the crowds well, and has a lot to offer.

OP, not sure who you are trying to convince. We can all make our own decisions. Personally, we always fly or drive in the day before, so running to the store to get some wine or other beverages is no big deal. Most places we've stayed in Florida have a Publix within walking distance. I'd rather have what I want, and save money while doing it.

Off to a great start. Tagging along

We have one nearly identical. It was flagged during the security check-in at Bayonne before getting on the Anthem in March. They just asked to check my backpack, and if there was a swiss army knife or something similar in my bag. I told them it was just a wine bottle opener, and I opened my bag and showed it to them and they were perfectly fine with it and I went on my way onto the ship with it.

I will say, in all our cruises with Royal, his show was the only time I spent any reasonable amount of time in the Schooner bar. He is entertaining, but repetitive and not everyone's style for sure.

When we talked with him in March, he mentioned that Royal Caribbean does not like the use of his electric keyboard. They wanted only piano to be used in the Schooner bar. One of the reasons he was not renewed. He is definitely a character and normally wouldn’t be my “cup of tea” but get some alcohol in me at night and I could spend some good time in the Schooner bar with him. He had some unique parts of this show that I haven’t seen on other ships, like the “knockers” or “positions, positions everyone”. The show is dang near identical each night, which did get repetitive by day 4 or so.

A wise plan indeed. 🙂.