jjsparkles

Tuesday 22 May – Haugesund Another restless night due to the hard bed, I woke up and as I was thinking of getting up glanced at the time to see it was only 5:30! I couldn’t believe it. I honestly thought it was around 7am by now. Anyway I was glad when it was time to get up. Early enough to see us arriving into port and thankfully the rain gone. It was sunny and very windy! We were up and organised and waited on our breakfast being delivered. Toast was good, the rest of what we ordered wasn’t great. I don’t know where the croissants came from but they tasted very odd. We had a great view of the port overlooking Haugesund. Off we went to deck 2 and off the gangway. We didn’t have any excursions planned so followed the crowd over the bridge and into town. It was around 9:15 now. The view from the top of the bridge is so nice and being blessed with sunshine we had to take some photos. The town is pretty and we took our time wandering around. We did notice that many of the shops didn’t open until after 10am. Down by the harbour we came across this Marilyn Monroe statue. I’d watched a vlog about things to do in Haugesund and the tour guide said that it had been thought there was a connection to Marilyn’s father being from Haugesund. However, this had turned out not to be correct but the statue had already been put in place so they just kept it. . I’ve done some google searching to find out the right story and some say it was actually her grandfather and others say no connection at all. So, I still don’t actually know what the connection is, if there is one. Anyway, it doesn’t matter – here's the statue 😊 We sat by the harbour for a while enjoying the beautiful views. These buildings along the harbour are absolutely stunning, the photos don't do them justice. Some more windy pictures as we crossed back over the bridge. We both loved the architecture here and the roof tiles were so pretty. Soon we were back in the port. The ship seemed to be massive! Our cabin was right on the top, about 6 cabins to the right of the bump out where it says the ship name. Some silly photos in port We were back on the ship and had enjoyed our walk, blowing the cobwebs away. We popped back to the cabin and dropped our coats off, then nipped up to the windjammer to grab a latte. The ship was quieter now that we were in port and also wasn’t as hot as it had been. Taking our chances, we popped into the solarium and to my surprise there was lots of space. We enjoyed a rest here, reading and just doing nothing for a while. Imagine being Norway and looking at a palm tree, lol I tried the Shirley ginger mocktail, nice and refreshing. Had a wander outside onto the bridge wings (is that what they’re called?) and tried not to get blown away, lol Another stroll around the pool deck Back inside we headed in direction of some food. It was nice to see the ship a bit quieter, with lots of people still out for the day. We both really liked this art work In to Cafe 270 again. Whilst in here there was a practice technical run for Spectra's Cabaret. Honestly it was a bit noisy for us so once we'd finished eating we moved to Vintages to play cards for a bit and enjoy some drinks.

Monday 22 May – Sea Day So, I didn’t have the best night’s sleep. Despite the mattress topper, the bed was so hard. I know this is very subjective, we all have different tolerances, but I really struggled this morning to move. I felt like my back had been hit with something and it took be a while of standing, stretching to feel anywhere near normal. Hopefully things would improve over the week. We had been asked to put our clocks forward one hour, so I checked the time on the room phone to make sure my own phone hadn’t tried to do a double change. I looked outside to see another sunny day, a good bit of wind but was a lovely sight first thing in the morning. We had a lazy morning and checked the app for things that were happening around the ship today. I noticed that the restaurant had a brunch option so we got ourselves organised and headed to the restaurants on deck 4. I think it was around 11:30 by now. We didn't have any wait to get in and were lucky to be seated with a lovey window view. John had the ham and cheese omelette I had the French toast We both ordered the apple blossom but were too full to finish it. All delicious. A lovely way to start the day 🙂 Now time to explore the ship a wee bit. We both really liked the decor of the ship and I stopped to take some photos along the way. The scary see-through landing on the stairwell The magic flashing lights I’d had another look for the sunglasses and admitted defeat, so we headed to the shop to buy a new pair. They didn’t really have any that I loved, so bought a slightly cheaper pair with the intention of getting the same one’s I’d lost when we returned home. Into the Music Hall to play cards. We'd just settled down when we were asked to leave as a private function was about to take place. So we headed into Cafe 270 and picked up some drinks and played cards there instead for a bit. As we left we had a wander through the library which I thought was in an odd place. If anything going on in 270 then this library definitely wasn’t going to be a quite place to relax. Outside looked nice so we took a stroll, but it was very windy! We loved the look of the North Star and I had already planned that it would be nice to do this when we were in the port of Geiranger later in the week. The reservations are loaded after 8pm the night before so I made a mental note to remember to do this. I could watch the wake all day long - I just love it and think I would enjoy a cabin with this view The rain started shortly after this and we did pass through the solarium at one point but I just couldn’t stomach the heat in here today. On Harmony we’d spent a lot of time in the solarium but there isn’t a pool on Harmony so it never felt overly warm. On Anthem I think the pool and heat can be too much if you’re not planning to actually swim or strip off, lol. It really did have the atmosphere of sitting beside an indoor pool fully clothed and it felt a bit odd. The main areas of the ship did feel a bit crowded now due the poor weather outside. I picked up my daily latte and some cakes and as we weren't hungry for lunch. We headed back to our cabin for a bit of a rest. The loss of my sunglasses was really annoying me, I don’t know why. For some reason I suddenly had an urge to look in the safe in our room where I’d put a document folder with our passports/car keys etc. Right at the top, jammed between the documents was my sunglasses! I couldn't believe it! I must have dropped them into the folder whilst it was still in my bag and transferred into the safe without noticing. I was so happy!!! Hungry around 6pm we headed to windjammer. We liked the convenience of being just one floor below the windjammer and pool deck. There was a bit of a queue to get in when it opened but soon moved quickly once everyone had done their ‘washy, washy’! I don't recall what we had tonight but I know we weren't overly impressed. I can't put my finger on why we weren't windjammer fans, but it just seemed to be lacking something. We hadn't fancied anything on the main dining room menu either so maybe we were just having one of those days.... I had started to feel a bit woozy and worried that the dreaded sea sickness was going to hit, now that we were well up the North Sea. It was too wet to go outside for fresh air on deck, so we headed back to our cabin where I could grab some air on the balcony – thank you for the overhang!! Our room had been magically cleaned and we had a lovely wee elephant waiting for us. I took some tablets and rested in the cabin, hoping that it wouldn’t come to much. Tomorrow would be our first port day so we ordered room service breakfast for the morning from the tv.

Thanks, it really is a lovey ship 🙂

Thank you 🙂 Thank you 🙂 Thank you 🙂 Thank you 🙂 Oh that sounds lovely, lucky you 🙂 Hope you enjoy 🙂 Thank you! Hope you enjoy 🙂 Thank you! More coming soon 🙂 It could be busy, but was very weather dependant. If we had rain the inside areas did feel much busier than if it was a sunny day. Windjammer was a hit and miss, only once we couldn't get a seat. Fine getting seats everywhere else except solarium on a sea day. Thanks for following along. Our ports will be Haugesund, Geiranger, Olden and Stavanger 🙂 More to follow later this evening when work is finished 🙂

We sat up here for a bit enjoying our drinks and phoned the kids to check all ok at home. Then we headed to Cafe 270 for the roast beef sandwich. It was really delicious and we enjoyed some drinks in here whilst we waited for our room to be ready. Just before 13:30 we headed to the lifts before they got too busy. Loved all the art work in the lifts, lol Our room was 13616, mid-ship and right under the pool deck. I'd seen lots of videos and photos and the room was just as expected. We liked that the bed was beside the balcony and I loved all the storage. Looking into the hall our cases had arrived but were further down the hallway. We had a good view over Southampton port. The car park is so close to the ship. As we were getting ready to leave the cabin, I noticed my sunglasses were missing from my bag. I pulled the cabin apart and could not find them anywhere, looking under the bed, around the cushions on the sofa etc. We'd only been in the room 10 minutes so I must have lost them somewhere else on the ship. Back out to try and retrace our steps, we went into Café 270, then tried to remember which toilets we'd used near the pool. We still didn’t have our bearings and were round and round the deck a million times, lol. Anyway, I didn’t find the sunglasses. We popped to guest services but no-one had handed them in. I was so annoyed with myself. I’m usually really careful with stuff. I still have £10 M&S sunglasses at home that I’ve had for about 15 years, never lost them – but I’d treated myself to some nice sunglasses a year to two ago so was absolutely gutted to have lost them. Time now for something sweet so we had a mooch around Windjammer and also picked up our cups for the drinks package. I picked up a white chocolate mocha and John grabbed a coke. I love that you can get speciality coffee from the Windjammer - great to have in different locations unlike Harmony. We sat outside at the back of the Windjammer to enjoy our treats and the sunshine. After this we wandered the pool deck again and picked up an ice cream as we passed - need to make the most of this nice weather before we hit Norway! Into the solarium and it was absolutely packed out. It was also incredibly hot in here so we didn't linger. This became our guide as to where our room was, lol Back to our room, we met our lovely room attendant, Tahinta. We asked if we could please have some robes and a mattress topper if possible. She said she'd definitely try and would be back soon. We opted for evening service for our room, between 5-8pm as we knew we'd want some lazy mornings. As we were unpacking Tahinta came back to our room and re-made the bed with the topper and left us some robes. She really was lovely. We put our feet up and enjoyed the sail away from our cabin. We didn't feel like going to the main dining room tonight so headed to Windjammer and enjoyed a simple dinner of macaroni and chips. Then we wandered to the shops and bought our obligatory ship magnet, lol. I looked at some sunglasses but didn't really like any that much so didn't bother buying anything yet. We headed back to the room because we'd forgotten our cups. John fancied a slice of pizza at Sorrento's. The cream soda from the machines is really nice. I also picked up a couple of bottles of water at the pub. Then we went into Music Hall and enjoyed the band playing for a bit. They were called the Billboard band and were really good. I enjoyed a virgin pina colada - lovely We also took part in a music diva quiz in here and enjoyed the fun of it. Then we went into the theatre for the welcome aboard show. Soon it was late and we headed back to our room. It would be a sea day tomorrow and although we hadn't done much today, we were very much looking forward to doing nothing tomorrow 😁

We just returned from our cruise and I wanted to put together a trip report 🙂 This was our 4th cruise, our 2nd with Royal. Our last cruise had been on Harmony of the Seas and we were looking forward to trying a different class of ship to add to our list. We really enjoyed our last cruise but unfortunately my husband John had been ill for a good part of it so we didn’t really get to enjoy the full Royal experience. A bit about us; we are Julie and John, travelling from just outside Glasgow, Scotland. Our kids are grown up now so it’s nice to be able to take a cruise like this on our own. Our booking I had been looking for a Fjords cruise for a while and one weekend struck lucky, noticing a good deal where the balcony guarantee was cheaper than an interior room. I tried to book but when it came to payment stage the website kept refreshing and wouldn't accept my details. I gave up and the next day the price had shot up. I checked the sailing for the following cruise and managed to get a similar deal so booked immediately and thankfully managed to pay no problem. After I’d booked, I realised that there were some balcony rooms that might not be so desirable. Whilst I know this can be the case, I think I confused this ship with the previous ship we’d been on where the balconies were all considered to be in a decent location. I did a lot of youtube research and read some reviews (yes, I know I should have done this before booking!) and we decided that as we’d got the cabin cheaper than an inside room, we’d be happy with whatever we got. We also didn’t want to pay in excess of another £800 to pick our room so we'd just deal with it. I was surprised when a couple of days later our cabin was allocated. We were 7 months from sailing so hadn’t expected it to be allocated so soon. Anyway, we were given a room on deck 13, midship so we hoped that being under the pool deck and having an overhang on the balcony wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Being in the UK I was lucky to take advantage of a deal for the refreshment drinks package at £20 per day for me. I'm not a drinker but do love mocktails and my daily lattes. I also booked the soda package for John and the internet package for us to share to keep in touch with the kids. Massive advantage for us is that we could drive to the port! All our previous cruises we’ve had to fly, twice over the Atlantic and I was so happy we didn’t need to think about what to pack, weight of cases, sitting in airports etc, etc. I just chucked everything in the case that I thought we’d need and we were all set! So, off we go! Saturday 20 May - Travel Day We were up and on the road for just after 7am. Weather was good and roads seemed fine until about half way through the journey. Lots of road works going on which meant a reduced speed limit with average speed cameras and limits in place. Our local roads have had similar restrictions and we got a speeding ticket previously for going 5mph over the reduced limit, so we knew we had to stick to it! Then we hit the dreaded A34 and a closure which delayed us for almost an hour. So, our estimated 7hr 30min journey took nearly 10 hours in the end! Our hotel of choice was the Moxy, right beside the large West Quay centre. We found this easily and parked in the West Quay multi-storey car park (£5 per night) and were soon in our room. It was a decent size, very clean with everything you need for a quick overnight stay. Only thing missing was a fridge, but no big deal, there was a kettle which was great. The shower was good, the aircon worked really well and we loved that the TV’s had Chromecast built in too. The weather was lovely and sunny. We enjoyed a walk around outside and then found some dinner. We had an early night, both absolutely exhausted from the drive. Excited for tomorrow, sleep was not long coming. Sunday 21 May – Boarding day! We had a great night’s sleep and woke up excited for the day ahead. A quick peek outside and it was going to be another lovely sunny day. No view of Anthem from our room but we did see a Norwegian ship in the distance. Our check in time for the ship was 11:30 so we were in no hurry this morning. We enjoyed a cuppa and a light breakfast before packing up and getting organised. We also watched the safety videos on the app and completed the health questionnaire. At 10:45 we checked out the hotel and were soon in the car heading to the ship! We soon realised that we were only mere minutes from the port and were early. It was just after 11am. We had pre-booked ABP parking but drove past the actual car park, lol. But it gave us a nice view of the ship when we did a u-turn 😆 The porters here are actually in the car park, taking your luggage as you lift it our your car, then they load up small vans. So you don’t even need to trail your luggage to the terminal, fantastic service! Check in was an absolute breeze, through security and on the ship in about 10 minutes. So excited to be back on a ship! It always amazes me how big the ships look as you’re walking beside them. First stop was to our muster station, C3 – it said on the app that this was in Wonderland, but was actually the Bionic Bar, same deck as we boarded. This was completed in seconds, so easy. Next we went to guest services to set up our cash account and remove our card (I will have more about this later). We picked up a latte for me and a coke for John and headed to the the upper decks to explore and take advantage of the sun. A friendly face on our way...

I used my UK Dyson with an EU travel adapter on Harmony so assume it would be the same voltage on all ships using the EU socket. It was fine and no problems when back at home either.

if you click on ‘you pick your room’ you should see an option for ocean view balcony guarantee. We found this for our Harmony cruise when playing around with prices/room types. Glad we found it as didn’t really want a Central Park or boardwalk balcony. It worked fine for us.

We had a very similar to the OP on Harmony last year. It felt like an interrogation each night but it was not our waiters, it was the head waiter. Our actual waiters were lovely, friendly but not overbearing. The WJ wasn’t open in the evening and we soon started to dread our meals in MDR. We had missed the first two nights because my husband had been ill and the head waiter went on and on and on asking why we hadn’t eaten there. Was our meal good, would we be back tomorrow, what was the food like in the other places on the ship? Did we have room service, was it good? Would we be back tomorrow? One evening we didn’t feel like having dessert after finishing our main course and he made such a scene, ‘I can have it here in 30 seconds, do you want to take it to your room, do you want me to send it to your room? Why are you leaving, will you be back tomorrow ?’ This was our first RC cruise and we have another booked for next year. Our experience put us off MDR but I accept that we might have been unlucky with our head waiter. We were also approached by another man in a suit who asked us some questions about MDR whilst we were eating. I have no problem having a chat about our day and plans for the next and as I said, our waiters were really good. They were clearly experienced, we spoke about other ships they’d been on. But I don’t want to play 20 questions every night. It was exhausting.

Thanks, that explains it. I hadn’t thought of that being a reason.

I tried to get mine moved today. I called and also tried the live chat but was very firmly told that as I’d booked a guaranteed balcony it would not be moved unless I wanted to reprice the entire cruise. I didn’t mention what I’d booked but they very quickly pointed it out. I suppose it’s just the risk you take booking this. I just have a slight concern re noise, but not concerned enough to pay the £800 extra 😄 So we’ll just enjoy what we have. Very surprised to get assigned our cabin so fast. We only booked on Friday and cruise isn’t until next May.

I booked our cruise on Friday and found out about this offer over the weekend. I contacted Royal yesterday using the chat facility. They said because I was within 48 hours of booking I could get the offer. I managed to get the refreshment package for £20 per night for me. My husband only drinks soda so they said I can book that in the normal way on the cruise planner. So annoying for others getting conflicting info re everyone needing to have the same package etc or too late to book.

Yes, you’re right, they wouldn’t help, as I’d originally thought. I managed to get a similar deal the next sailing paying £100 more which was ok. And it turns out the itinerary is slightly different and includes a port we want to see, so it’s worked out ok 🙂

Thanks, yes I've checked and I'm logged in. Thanks - trying to decide what to do. I've just found a similar price, difference of £100 with *****, a uk based agent. Reviews for them look favourable. I'm worried if I wait until tomorrow that Royal won't help and this other deal will be gone... LOL re not being able to understand...so funny that when we all speak the same language 😂

I think I know the answer to this, but thought I'd double check with some experts before I go ahead with a new booking. I went all the way through the booking process until the credit card info stage - the page crashed so I went back through again. I was using my phone and it just wasn't completing the payment, so I logged into my laptop to try again. Well, now the price has increased by over £400 each - which I think is a bit odd. I tried to call the helpline, but as I'm in the UK the helpline is now closed. So I could wait until tomorrow or book a different date, a week later with a similar price but still more expensive than the original price. I took screen shots of what I was trying to book. It is just a case of me being unlucky and the good price is now gone, or is there a chance there's been a glitch in their booking system and someone tomorrow could help me? As I say, I think I know the answer and have probably missed out. Any experiences? Many thanks