omarchs

Thanks for the review!!!

We were on Anthem last New Year's. Turned off for two reasons doing it again. We really enjoyed Dynamic Dining and we didn't like them doing reserved seating champagne/table packages in most of the venues on New Year's Eve. They claimed they were limited, but you couldn't find a seat on the whole lower level in 270. Seem to us the were really breaking it off after already paying a huge premium in the cruise fare for this week.

Were they still selling the champagne/table packages in the venues for NYE?

Thanks!

On the Anthem last year, they had signs on tables in most of the venues to inquire with the staff there for champagne/table packages. It seemed that most started at $100 plus. They also claimed they were limited. They only seemed to be limited to how many tables they had in the venue since most venues we walked through had reserved signs on most tables. We assumed there would be tables available since we fell for the limited comment.

Very poor approach after people already paid a substantial premium for a NYE cruise In my opinion, but I guess you can't blame the cruise line if people continue to pay for tables. Haven't seen this on other lines for NYE, but they will probably start when they see all the extra cash Royal is making.

Thanks for the review! We also just got off the ship and had a good time. We were in a balcony and there was no difference storage wise. It was shocking the little amount of storage on this ship. They also stored linens/bedspreads in some of the drawers which we threw under the beds to free up some space. Least amount of storage on any ship in recent memory.

Don't mind them having the policy in the steakhouse since they do seem to enforce it there. Have been waiting for table and have seen guys sent back to change out of shorts.

Also did see a sign by the steakhouse another night we went that said shorts were ok that night. Was a little annoyed since didn't have note in room or message and not in daily about change. Must have had few reservations that night and loosened things up, but you knew who booked in advance since they had long pants!

On the Anthem last year for New Years. Certainly crowded. Huge advantage of indoor pool areas going out of cold weather.

I do agree that largest negative was the selling of "limited" champagne/table packages for New Year's Eve in most venues. The "limited" number seemed to be governed by how many they could sell. If one particular party interests you, I would suggest you pay for a table.

Neither of us drink champagne so didn't think it was worth investigating, but that was wrong. We walked into 270 and the person at the door said you can sit anywhere here isn't a reserved sign and there wasn't a seat in the whole lower level. We finally wandered around and felt like second class citizens squeezing into the Music Hall which was the land for people with no reservations.

Have done New Years on Carnival and NCL and never saw this huge corporate greed on NYE like RCCl. People are already paying a huge premium to sail on these cruises and then they force you to buy a table for hundreds more. Provided the feedback that would never sail with them over New Years again without a response and we booked the NCL Breakaway instead this year.

It may depend upon the Cruise director whether they make it an elegant night if it isn't already a scheduled elegant night.

We were on the Miracle a few years back for NYE and NYE didn't fall on a normally scheduled elegant night. The CD indicated to everyone that he wasn't going to make it an official Elegant night since he didn't want to force people to dress up, but wanted people to decide on their own.

Probably 50/50 split on people dressing up. It was pretty strange seeing people at the pool party in suits/dresses dancing with people in tees/shorts and flops, but was certainly memorable since have been on other lines for NYE and almost everyone is dressed up for NYE despite the stated dress code.

Glad you all had a good trip. Just a few months left for us.

Question, what was your disembarkation number and what time did you get off the ship?

Thanks!

We are booked on one of the new Caribbean Equinox sailings and we were wondering why no dining packages were showing either in the planner.

Very interesting question. We are on the Breakaway for NYE and I didn't even think about this especially with the majority of restaurants now Ala Carte this could get pretty pricey if the SDP isn't valid.

We said we would never go on Royal for NYE after being on the Anthem last year and they were selling a "Limited" number of tables with Champagne packages in each NYE venue and there were almost no venues with spaces without reserved signs so this was tacky in the amount they sold when everyone has already paid a big premium for a NYE cruise already. Don't mind if they sold a few tables, but they sold most every seat.

Not looking for a repeat gouging on NCL, but this dining issue could be how they do it.

Agree that there wasn't enough capacity to make this work well, but we enjoyed it regardless on both the Quantum and Anthem. Was considering another trip on the Anthem, but we won't book now.

We enjoyed the variety of the different restaurants and dressing up on a random night in the grande if we felt like it. It made the Quantum class a unique experience on Royal rather than the boring 2 formal night routine on all their other ships.

It was frustrating if you couldn't change your reservation, but many fellow cruisers we spoke to on the trips also enjoyed it so I don't truly believe it was overwhelming public demand, but rather Royal wanting to bring Anthem in sync with all their other ships.

Thanks Arzeena! Guess we could just cancel if they don't follow through and add our perks after the 10 Days

Has anyone tried booking the April or May trips on Celebrity's website? You can select the rate option including the 4 perks, but the summary of offers on the payment page just mentions the $300 onboard and nothing else.

Prefer to just book with Celebrity since easy to cancel with them since we are not 100% sure we will be able to do the trip yet. Weren't expecting to make a decision on next year's vacation yet.

I would go to the Mlife booth and pick up your card first before checking in to be sure to get expedited check-in. Many of the hotels have pretty long lines and I wouldn't count on your membership level being in their system at check-in so the card could be helpful if requested.

As others have stated, they make it clear what the dress code is and there are plenty of other options on the ship that are not formal if people prefer. We ate in there twice including the last night and found that the majority of guys wore jackets and many with ties including the last night when a jacket wasn't even required.

We did see a few very casual people the last night, but it seemed that many people who wanted more formal dining actually enjoyed doing it and we're happy to comply since ther aren't any ship-wide formal nights. Many guys did take their jackets off in the restaurant and we weren't close enough to the entrance to see if men were provided with them. We did see some people in shorts turned away when we were in line.

I actually preferred this that you had a choice to do a formal night or not rather than obligated for the standard 2 night a cruise formal nights on most cruises.

We were on the Escape a month ago and was surprised that many more people dressed beyond shorts in most venues even though shorts were welcome in most venues.

We didn't see any shorts in Le Bistro and it appeared that some people in shorts were turned away while we were hanging out at the center bar. It may have been the shorts/tee combo or no reservations, but regardless just about everyone had long pants.

The Escape had photographers around the ship in the few nights after the Norwegian night out and we did see some jackets and dresses on those nights. Overall it was a little dressier than other NCL cruises we have been on despite shorts being allowed in most venues according to the dailies. Maybe this was due to the newness of the ship or the Miami vibe.

Just off the Escape last month. It wasn't a school vacation week and the surprising number of kids did take over the Haven pool area, but there were only a few times they came up to the sun deck or the enclosed upper deck area so it was fine.

The only advantage to vibe over the haven sun deck was the lack of a bar waiter at times while vibe has a bar. One of the sea days we didn't see our usual bar waiter in the haven sun deck yet we know the vibe bar was staffed since we talked to someone's in the haven that snuck in through the door connecting them when a staff member went through and got drinks at the bar.

Personally, I wouldn't have even thought about buying a vibe pass while being in the haven

Have tried booking Msc through their website which I know many have said isn't great.

They list the cruise fare and port charges/taxes and then the final cost. The final cost was over a $100 more than the fare and taxes for each passenger. There isn't a line item for this additional cost.

Any ideas? Gratuties? Website glitch?

Glad you had a great time!

We just received an upsell for the Haven and are considering the H4. Did you use the second bedroom with the sofa bed? Curious whether it is a pull out bed or whether they just have you sleep on top of the sofa? Wondering how comfortable this would be since we require multiple beds.

Thanks!

It is still in my daily planner, but we have the same situation as you that my cruise planner doesn't show the up charge we paid for it.

I have to call them one of these days since we no longer want the replacement cabaret show and I do want my money back. Glad I have an email confirmation for the payment.

We also can't rebook aftter midnight online since our cancelled performance is still showing and we can't book another performance. Just ridiculous that we have to waste time calling to delete cancelled shows.

We are also past final payment. I am so annoyed at this last change that I am seriously considering cancelling and letting them have the deposit. There is no guarantee that they won't make other changes before we sail!

We do have another cruise booked over New Years that will be cancelled after this fiasco not that they will care since they will find other people to pull the bait and switch routine on.

Can you delete existing reservations online or do you have to call? I do see other dates/times, but I can't remove the cancelled show to rebook.

We were on the New Year's week cruise so people may have had dressier clothes with them. We went the second night, women in dresses, skirts and men were given jackets if they didn't wear one. We also went the last night. People dressed like the second night, but we also saw tees/jeans which you didn't see the second night so Royal wasn't enforcing things the last night.

We are new to MSC and looking to book the Seaside. We have been looking at cabins and the Yacht club looked appealing until we started reading the details. I like the aspect of a smaller private area, but it seems silly that your included drinks can only come from the Yacht club.

It seems silly that they have the additional promotion of a $150 onboard credit for each passenger I guess to allow yacht club passengers to buy drinks in the other areas. We are booked on the NCL Escape and the price for their Haven isn't that much more and you get free drinks everywhere along with other perks.

I think we are going to just book a regular balcony on the Seaside and get the included drink package across the ship and not be bothered with the Yacht club. I would hope that MSC would make their exclusive area a more inclusive experience across the whole ship moving forward.

Just booked an NCL cruise over NYE and the pricing was $450 for a small cabana and $500 for a larger cabana. There was some note about variable pricing on them so as stated they will keep upping the prices as long as people keep buying them. Last time we booked on it was $250 a few years ago.

We were just off the Anthem for NYE and we were shocked at Royal selling "limited" tables in the various venues for their parties. People are already paying a high premium for a NYE cruise and we felt it is gouging to charge for tables in their "free" parties. We went in one venue and easily 2/3 of the tables had reserved signs. We had a good laugh when one of the staff members said sit wherever there isn't a reserved sign. We didn't bother staying to find one of those few free tables.

Obviously their "limited" pay tables were limited to how many people would pay which unfortunately was many. We have been on other cruise lines for NYE and never have seen tables sold. Our survey noted how greedy we felt this was and wouldn't sail with Royal again over NYE, but as stated they won't stop it until people stop paying.

Great question! we just booked the Breakaway for NYE and was also curious how NCL did NYE. We just got off the Anthem of the seas and weren't thrilled with their NYE approach. There were signs in many venues that there were a limited number of reserved table packages including champagne/favors. We never bothered to ask about price since we felt we had already paid a big premium for the cruise.One venue we walked into seemed to have reserved signs on 3/4 of the tables.

Does NCL also sell reserved tables on NYE? Is so, we will be cancelling our reservation since we felt Royal was really gouging passengers after they already paid such a high price for the cruiser do we don't want to get into the same situation.