Dave85

This is very exciting news -- at least 2 Oasis Class ships in Miami when the new terminal opens! Fort Lauderdale is convenient for our travels, preferred airline, etc., but it is, in a word, boring compared to Miami. I love starting a cruise in Miami, enjoying a fun pre-stay, and then enjoying the spectacular sail away from PortMiami.

That terminal looks pretty stunning too. Of course, if everything goes according to plan, we will spend very little time inside it!

Bon Voyage Radio!

Looking forward to seeing the "new" Empress. Have a great time!

I watched her sail today from my window and saw her spin around and head up to Manhattan. I was wondering what happened! Hadn't seen her do that since the November pre-inaugurals for the Caribbean season.

We were on last week and my wife thought it was cool around the ship at night, and was quite cold on a few occasions. I was a little chilly one night myself wearing short sleeves.

Breakaway has a unique challenge with climate control because it spends the vast majority of the year -- the entire year except for the height of summer really -- bouncing between hot and cold (or cool) weather. They do a great job for the most part, but it's good to anticipate cool temperatures on board.

Gambee, amazing as always!!!! :D:D:D

We were originally booked on this cruise with you but ended up switching to the Breakaway instead (and had a great time with PERFECT weather in Bermuda). But, thanks to you, it's like I get to take the Escape cruise too! Thank you as always!

I have no doubt that the captain made every effort to not leave during the muster drill, but ultimately had no choice. However, this does not seem to be terribly uncommon, particularly during the months of the year where Oasis/Allure is the only ship leaving from Port Everglades on a given day. I know this has happened to me at least twice before.

Solution: schedule the muster drill a little earlier so this isn't an issue.

In my personal experience, my last few muster drills on RCI were interminable. Long delays after arrival at the station, the increasingly long video (now including the silly hand washing video), then more delay until the captain releases. In contrast, I just got off an NCL cruise this morning and the muster drill took about half the time. Somehow, I still remembered: (a) to wash my hands, and (b) how to wash my hands. I'm also highly confident that I would be able to return to my muster station in the unlikely event of an emergency, even if heavily inebriated.

A secondary solution would be to try and move the drill along a little bit, but I don't think that's necessary. Just schedule it a little earlier if there's a reasonable probability that the ship will be ordered to leave on the earlier side.

Ended the 4.5 HR drive home with an immediate trip to the ER for DD due to severe abdominal pain and fever. Sat there over 6 hrs before we even got called back then another 2 plus hours to get kidney infection diagnosis. Just now getting home after leaving Miami at 10:30 am. Needless to say. Will post summaries tomorrow

So sorry to hear that! I hope she feels better quickly. :(

I really enjoyed reading your review. We were originally booked on this cruise but switched to the Breakaway to Bermuda a few months ago and just got home today (great cruise). I look forward to reading your summaries when your DD is feeling better!

Enjoyed your review!

We returned from Breakaway today and apparently had polar opposite weather from your cruise -- warm and sunny the entire week -- and it made a big difference. This was our 2nd time on BA (we previously did the Bahamas run) and we had a lot of fun, but the service is definitely more impersonal on BA than on other ships / lines... probably because they're a bit overwhelmed as you observed. Fortunately though, we had excellent service in all 5 specialties we dined at.

Happy cruising!

So sorry to hear that OP -- what a bummer. As everyone else said, you should get those charges reversed when you get out. Be nice, but persistent if you need to be.

Hope you feel better soon and can enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Cruise ships have been turned away from ports before due to illness. Just this past winter, an Oceania ship was not allowed to dock in Aruba.

Yep, and NCL Gem was not permitted to dock in St. Maarten a couple of months ago. It doesn't happen often, but it happens.

We got the black card match and I'm very likely to try Seaside within the next few years. Looks fantastic. I do want to wait to see, at least, the early reviews come in before committing since it's an entirely new design that could wind up being a crowded mess...

Overall, I feel that RCI is falling behind in terms of value. For the cruises I'm interested in (generally newer ships) RCI is routinely hundreds of dollars more than its closest competitors when considering price and added inclusions (i.e., beverage package on NCL). I'm not sure that the product is worth that much more.

This has been quite the thread, thanks guys. ;)

I will be very disappointed when they eliminate DD as we know it on Anthem. It was one of the things we liked most about Anthem and, lets face it, RCI's fleet dining program is stale. Maybe new cruisers wouldn't feel that way, but it's an issue for us as many time repeaters.

Thanks for your review!

Royal website is now officially the worst IMHO. It was never good, but it used to be at least slightly user friendly... now? Not at all. I'd say Celebrity is second worst. Props to the RCL tech team!

We had a mixed experience on Anthem in our cabin, probably because of where the nearest router was in relation to our cabin. With that in mind, it was a solid service that's worth the cost if you think you'll use it. Obviously, if you don't think you'll make use of it it's not worth the money. :)

Thanks for an awesome, unique review! I'll definitely keep your suggestions in mind when I board BA.

Thanks for the great review! Very informative.

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to boarding BA in 2 weeks. :D

Disappointing news IMHO. Please keep us posted on the implementation.

I noticed those excellent rates too. Great itinerary, and I love 9-nighters! Unfortunately, the dates in 2017 just didn't work out too well for us.

Couldn't agree more OP -- best designed standard balcony cabin I've ever stayed in. It's really amazing how much floor space they were able to create in a cabin that isn't that much bigger than those on the most recent classes of ship. First time we weren't really stepping over each other.

Going out today they will be in for a rocky start to their cruise

Indeed! I have a view of the Hudson from my window and my oh my the white caps... I haven't seen them like this in a while. Breakaway should be rockin' and rollin' when she leaves today with these high winds and choppy seas. That said, I wish I was boarding today! ;)

I'm not very familiar with Anthem, but does it have the traditional two performances each evening that are first come, first served, or does it have pre-cruise show reservations?

It's a hybrid. The "big" shows in the main theatre -- We Will Rock You and the Gift -- have a reservation system like the Oasis Class (as does Spectra's Cabaret in 270), but the rest of the cruise was a more traditional format for the shows. We were on a 12-nighter so we got to see several other shows and they did not require reservations. It was nice to have some headliner shows mixed in with the traditional two show times to choose from.

The shows on Oasis class are not traditional, i.e., no Welcome Aboard Show, no Farewell Show, so I think there is less connection to the CD on Oasis class than on ships with the traditional two performances of the same show per evening. Drew used to sit in with the orchestra as drummer for one number during the Welcome show on Mariner and Monarch.

I think that's an excellent point, Bob. The CDs wind up having a lower profile on the Oasis Class ships. Comparing apples to apples, I had Ken Rush on Allure and then a year and a half later on Anthem, and constantly saw him on Anthem but rarely saw him on Allure.

I love the Oasis Class ships but do find myself missing that more traditional format. I think that's one of the reasons I liked Anthem a little better than Oasis/Allure.