flannbarr

I am looking for a video of Voyager OTS mini suite #1154 or #1156 after it was refurbished in 2019. We are looking at the cabins for a Baltic Sea cruise.

I know that there may not be much out there since the ship was shut down in March 2020 with COVID-19. Thank you in advance if you have anything to share. 

We are going to the British Open on 7/10/22-7/17/22 so we are trying to make back-to-back vacations since we are flying across the pond.

My wife and I are trying to decide between multiple European cruises in June/July 2022. The pricing is crazy low on the 7 night Voyager of the Seas from Stockholm with stops in St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Visby, and Helsinki and one day at sea. I know it is an older ship that has been amped up. We are also looking at an 11 night cruise on Enchanted Princess (brand new ship). I know we won't be on the ship very much and the Voyager will be just fine but the Enchanted Princess with the additional ports (Oslo and Berlin) is enticing too.

For perspective, pricing per cabin in a large balcony:

        Voyager (7 nights): $2,399 ($343/night)

        Enchanted Princess (11 nights): $6,688 ($608/night)

Your thoughts are appreciated. Since I am posting this on the RCCL board, I kind of expect where the comments will lean. I wonder if they will be different on the Princess board.

We are also looking at great pricing on the Allure (not amped) vs Harmony. I have been on both ships. We are leaning toward Allure due to pricing.

My wife and I are going to Scotland for the British Open in July 2022 (7/10-7/17). We are trying to add a Baltic cruise before the Scotland trip.

The cruises that work in our timeframe are Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas for 7 nights or Enchanted Princess for 11 nights. We primarily sail on Royal Caribbean but have sailed on Princess twice.

The Scotland portion of the trip is just my wife and me and 4 other couples. We are considering having our 20 year old join us on the cruise before Scotland and then he would fly home to Florida while we go to Scotland.

I am wondering what the ages of those sailing the Baltic will likely be on Princess and if our son may be bored or not. He is not a history buff but enjoys cruises.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

My wife (62) and I (57) are going to the British Open at St. Andrews in Scotland 7/10/22-7/17/22. We are looking at adding a European cruise to the front or back end of our trip.

We have primarily cruised Royal Caribbean (Emerald status) in the past because we always had kids with us and we like the Oasis class of ships. 

We are looking at the Celebrity Edge on 7/2/22 from Rome and ending in Barcelona. It cruises to Italy, France and Spain. We would then take a flight from Barcelona to Edinburgh where we would meet our traveling partners in Scotland.

We are considering a Sky Suite on the Edge because the perks look really good. Changing to Celebrity would be a big change for us but maybe it's time since we are child-less on this cruise!

Any thoughts that you can share as we transition from Royal Caribbean to Celebrity are appreciated.

59 minutes ago, Maraprince said:

Do you need to bring towels from the ship or are there places on Coco Cay to get towels?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

You need to bring towels from the ship which you can get on deck 1 (or similar for other ships) before you exit the ship. You need to bring the wet towels back to the ship and turn them in or get the $25/towel charge. You can exchange towels on the island though.

Since this is RCI's island, why can't they just have the entire towel process occur on the island? It would be easier on the customer.

41 minutes ago, ShelleyUM said:

I completely agree with @Sunkissed Mommy‘s assessment of Coco Cay. We were also just there 2 days ago on Symphony and the day was really great. We headed off the ship before 9 am and went straight to the water park.  Since we were there early, we experienced no lines for any of the slides.  Once we were done in the water park, we headed to South Beach on the trolley and we set up close to the Floating Bar.  Loungers were in abundance. When it was lunch time, we headed back to the water park to have lunch, hoping to have reduced crowds at the food venue in the water park.  We were able to walk right up to the stand and we had our meal within 1 min.  When we were done with lunch we headed to the Oasis pool and found a few loungers with shade. We then moved to the beach, as the pool area was hot without much of a breeze. We were pleasantly surprised to find yet more loungers with an umbrella without much effort. We eventually migrated back to the Oasis pool and lounged on the pool chaises for a bit.  When it was time to head back to the ship, we had absolutely no lines to deal with.  All in all, it was a great day with plenty of fun and relaxation. 

100% agree.

2 hours ago, Sunkissed Mommy said:

I will apologize now if this has already been mentioned or addressed.  I just got off the Symphony this morning. I dont have any concerns about Oasis class ships being there.

 

 We had a last minute change of itinerary and we called on Coco Cay on Sunday.  Symphony was the only ship there.  There was NO chaos that I saw.  We got off the ship around 10am.

 

We took the kids to Splashaway Bay for a bit, then relocated to Harbor Beach.  Plenty of lounge chairs with umbrellas were available the entire time we were there at Harbor Beach.  The kids then wanted to swim in a pool so off we went to Oasis Lagoon.  We decided we wanted to make that our home base for the day around 12pm.  Also plenty of lounge chairs available with umbrellas too, so we moved our stuff.

 

Oasis Lagoon was very popular, but it handled the people well since it is such a large area.  The music was only loud if you were by the swim up bar.  If you were by the beach entry portion of the pool you could hear it but it wasn't obnoxious.

 

I peeked in the water park a few times throughout the day as I walked around and it did not look busy at all. I could not see long lines on any of the slides.  I wasn't physically in the waterpark, but from outside it looked just fine.

 

Absolutely NO lines for food as there are plenty of places throughout the island to get food.  No issues with seating by the food huts either.

 

Food is definitely improved with a much wider variety of things to eat!

 

I was dreading Perfect Day because I was really upset about them ruining the island with overdevelopment.  However we left loving it.  There is something for everyone and I never once felt like I HAD to spend extra money.  We actually didn't spend a cent on the island.  We used all the free venues and still had a great day.  There is still something for everyone from quiet beaches to thrills and more.

Overall, I agree with your review based on my assessment from the Mariner on 5/25/19. Food is MUCH  better than Labadee. Pool is awesome. Chairs available all day. Umbrellas are plentiful and everywhere. It is not hard to find shade without getting a cabana. 100% different and better than Labadee.

Our kids experienced long lines (30-60 minutes) for the slides early AM. That being said, they loved the slides but did not want to wait in line to go on them again.

We loved Jamie Oliver's on Mariner and also on Anthem. We liked it much better than Chop's and Izumi.

Yes, Izumi (Hibachi) is included in the UDP.

A nice colorful brochure type map is placed in your room the night before you arrive in Cococay.

We docked at Cococay on the Mariner this morning around 7am. Navigator was already docked. We went to breakfast in the dining room at 7:30am and off the ship around 8am. After a short walk to the pool area, we were poolside on our pick of chairs by 8:15am. It’s a beautiful “Perfect” day today at Cococay. My wife loves saying that!

We were here in early April when the pool was open but not the waterpark. The pool is great.

We bought our full day waterpark passes a few weeks ago for $24 per person. We feel lucky.

Our 16 and 17 year old boys just went to the waterpark. I first checked in with them by swiping at the entrance to the waterpark. Yes I had to also buy a waterpark pass so I could escort them in and yes it sure feels like total gouging. I plan on using the wavepool but not the slides. 

The staff said they will be able to get back into the waterpark throughout the day without me. 

Looking forward to a great day at Cococay.

I will be on Cococay this Saturday on Mariner. I will be sure to report back. We were there in early April and loved the pool.

We plan on getting off the ship very early to get good chairs around the pool. A few weeks ago, we purchased water park passes for our teenage boys and us (so we can use the wavepool) for $24 per person.

2 hours ago, goodml said:

Are there any shady areas around the pool? Looks pretty wide open. I love the sun but also like to escape from it. Cabana is not an option.

There are plenty of pool chairs and umbrellas around the pool.

11 hours ago, SAmome said:

Will Mariner dock there too or might they be changing their Nassau/Coco Cay itinerary to put her there with Navigator instead of Symphony?

We are on the 5/24 Mariner sailing. They changed our Cococay stop from 5/26 to 5/25 so we will be sharing with Navigator.  Not ideal at all.

Also, I booked our all day water park pass a couple of weeks ago and it’s $24 not $75.

On 4/6/2019 at 11:47 AM, LuCruise said:

Great feedback.  We have this booked for next March.  What did you do on sea days  when it was cooler?  How did you find the ship compared with Oasis class?

When it was cooler, we hung out in the Solarium and other rooms on the ship read books and played backgammon. 

Overall, we like Oasis class of ships better. I will explain in a while.

So here are my impressions of the Anthem of the Seas.

Food

The Windjammer seemed to be laid out much better on Anthem than Oasis class of ships. There appeared to be more seating. I don't recall the washing sinks on Harmony last year like I saw on Anthem before entering the Windjammer. Washy washy was good. It would be better if the water was at least warm compared to cold that I experienced. We ate a few breakfasts and 1 dinner here. They were better than I have previously experienced.

We liked the food at the Two70 Cafe. We had several breakfasts here and a few lunches. Never much of a line and much quicker to get through than Windjammer.

We had 1 breakfast in the Solarium Cafe and the eggs were horrible.

Sorrento's-We always like the pizza and other offerings here. The flow of people was much better and faster than on the Harmony.

Dining Room-We had 3 dinners with My Time Dining. The meals were very good and hot. The appetizers and desserts had very little change the entire cruise. I don't recall that from previous cruises.

Specialty Restaurants-We ate dinner at Wonderland, Jamie's and Chop's. We also ate at Wonderland on Harmony and the food was great on both ships. The ambiance on the Harmony is much better and it's also bigger on Harmony. Definitely our favorite specialty restaurant on Royal Caribbean.

Jamie's was excellent. The meat plank appetizer was excellent. Entrees and dessert were also very good.

The food at Chop's was good but we have great steakhouses in Michigan so not that impressed. Our favs in order were Wonderland #1, Jamie's #2, and Chop's #3.

4/3/19-Nassau-We originally weren't going to get off the ship. A couple of weeks before the sailing, we found that our niece and her nephew and baby were going to be in Nassau at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar the same time we were in Nassau. We have a lot of Hyatt points so I booked a room for the day using 20,000 Hyatt points. We took a $30 taxi to the resort. We arrived at 9am and left at 4pm. We had a room assigned to us at 9am although we never actually went into the room until 2pm just so we could check it out. That lasted all of a minute and back to the pools we went. We booked the Baha Mar many times over the last 2 years only to cancel it for a cruise every time. We are glad we spent the day there. It is beautiful with many pools and beautiful grounds.

Thursday, 4/4/19 and Friday, 4/5/19-We were at sea sailing up the eastern seaboard. The weather was very good on Thursday and smooth sailing. Friday there rain and cooler weather so we did inside activities. 

Saturday, 4/6/19-We arrived in port around 6am. We were scheduled to disembark at 7:40am. We didn't rush since our flight wasn't until Sunday AM. We had breakfast in Two70 and then disembarked around 8:30am. This was very smooth and quick.

Post-Cruise-We took a taxi to the Newark Marriott hotel. We dropped our bags and got an Uber to Manhatten. We went to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, top of One World Trade Center, Hamiton's grave, etc. After dinner with friends hat we made on our Italy trip last summer, we took an Uber back to the Newark Marriott just in time to watch my MSU Spartans lose to Texas Tech in the Final Four.

Much more to come...

We got off the Anthem this morning. It arrived around 6am.

Just off the March 30, 2019 Anthem OTS sailing. I thought I would share my thoughts after our first cruise on a Quantum class ship compared to Oasis class.

Background-I am 55, wife is 60, son is 17 and his friend is 16 (first cruise). We are Emerald status. We cruise about once every 1-2 years, mostly on Royal Caribbean. Most recently, we have sailed on the Harmony (Star Class, 2 bedroom AquaTheatre suite), Allure x2, Oasis and Liberty. 

Pre-Cruise-We flew from Detroit to LaGuardia the night on 3/29/19 and stayed at the Aloft Hotel on the grounds of Laguardia. Flights were at least $100 cheaper per person which is why I picked LaGuardia.

Staterooms-We had 2 adjoining, balcony cabins on deck 8--cabins 8184 and 8186. We were very happy with the location.

3/30/19, Sailway Day-We used a reputable limo company to take us to Cape Liberty Cruise Port. It cost about $110 including tolls and tip. We arrived about 10:45am. Check in was very quick and easy. We were on the ship just after 11am. Temperatures were in the low 60's. We had lunch in 270, walked around a bit, and headed to our cabins at 1pm.

3/31/19-We sailed down the eastern seaboard. Weather conditions were fine. Not warm enough for shorts for most people.

4/1/19-Port Canaveral-It seemed like a lot of people stayed on the ship, including us.

4/2/19-Cococay-One of our 2 favorite days. We docked using the new pier. It was a decent walk to the beach and massive pool but not unreasonable. The boys did the teen adventure pack excursion which included snorkeling and the Aqua Park. They loved it. We spent much of the day in the MASSIVE freshwater pool. Wow that was really nice. We wish we could spend several days on Cococay. We saw the construction going on which was not loud. When the 15 water slides, wave pool, etc. are complete, Cococay will be an awesome destination. In our minds, it already is awesome with the pool. The lunch buffet are is 10x better than the one on Labadee. The food was good with many choices and not long lines like we always see on Labadee. Cococay is a must do stop on our next RCCL cruise.

More to come....

We are sailing on the Anthem of the Seas on 3/30/19. I have been periodically going to the RCCL website to check cabin availability for our cruise to see if any suites open up. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that there were many cabins available on this sailing. Since then, the cruise hasn't even displayed on the website. Actually, the only cruise displaying in February and March is the 3/23/19 sailing. That seems strange to me and I find it hard to believe that every cabin is sold out for the next 6 weeks except 1 sailing. Our 3/30/19 reservation is showing in the cruise planner so no worries that the sailing was canceled.

On 1/17/2019 at 8:44 PM, crisndeefromde said:

we received email from Royal stating that we were to be at the port at 1130am for boarding and we would be leaving at 4pm instead of 3pm.   Not excited that the air conditioning hasn't been resolved.  Our friends are on board now down from where our cabin is located...at least the cooler temperatures have helped some of the cabins but not all fixed yet.  

Is the A/C fixed yet on the Anthem?

We were able to cancel the suite and get 2 balcony cabins without any penalty. The savings was over $6,000. Yes I know that we won’t have suite perks but oh well. We did Star class in April 2018 and having that once in a while suffices.

Yes I realize that they won’t get suite perks. Actually none of us really need suite perks on this trip. We got a suite only because we didn’t want 3 in a balcony cabin. May consider switching to 2 balcony cabins if that’s possible. Waiting to hear back from travel agent.