Airbear232

I don’t see them as much as I used to, I guess the role and responsibilities have evolved. My fav of all time was Dave Chapman, he was hilarious.

Formals are second and second to last night’s. Lobster night is second formal. Enjoy!

Really your choice. We do the daily charges and then tip extra to our cabin attendant and wait staff. The daily tips are shared by many throughout the ship, so we opt to leave them in place.

IMHO, I think the ArriveCAN app is one of the easiest to use. Takes only a few minutes and it’s done. I dread thinking what things would be like in the “old days” if we had Covid and customs agents had to review everyone’s documentation on the spot. It’s a little inconvenient but saves time.

I can respect that and it looks like things are going that way. My preference would be for better quality (especially food and service) with a higher average fare price. Just my preference.

We just came off the Allure. A few things in terms of quality. On the breakfast menu, they have French toast listed as with whipped cream and maple syrup. I've had it occasionally over the years and it wasn't bad. This time, the "whipped cream" was like Cool Whip and the "maple syrup" was like Karo. It was bad. We had one chef who came to our table and offered to make us any dish we liked. I think that's a very generous offer and much appreciated it. We ordered Fettuccini Alfredo. Big disappointment. He used milk and not cream. Used no Parmesan cheese and substituted linguini for fettuccini. Again, I thought it was a generous offer but what we got was a liquidy mess. I took him to task for it and he asked to redo for the following night. It was much better. I've also noticed that a lot of food is now processed and prepared off the ship. For us, this is a shame as one of the attractions for cruising was the dining experience.

When we were on Voyager the Gym was moved from Fore to Aft. The gym size was cut to much less than half the space. There were some lockers in front of the gym that weren't operational but no change rooms. I asked about the steam and sauna and the girls at the spa said they were gone. Don't know if there are new ones you have to pay for, I was just too bummed at that point and left.

We just came off the Allure and the menus were all accurate. I don't remember if they were available before the cruise or not.

We've been to Helsinki twice and enjoyed it both times. The first was on Explorer in '19 and the second on Voyager in July. We basically did our own thing. Most likely you'll dock at the new cruise terminal (which is a pity as it's away from the market square. They provided free shuttle however so its more a time inconvenience. Our first trip, we docked by the Market Square and took a boat tour around the city. It was very beautiful and relaxing. We finished by walking about the Market Square for crafts and walking up the Esplanade. The second trip in July, we docked at the new terminal. We took the shuttle again to the Market Square. We walked about and went up the Esplanade had some lunch and ice cream and enjoyed the day. We enjoyed our time there, the people are very friendly.

We just came off six days on Allure. I wish they'd done this earlier. Living in Southern Ontario and driving to Florida, it was a pain getting a tests and driving to port.

Royal's amplification program started in 2018 to enhance existing ships. I thought it might be fun to have a thread listing what people would like to see Amped and what they don't want to see Amped. I've started with a couple of comments below. Please add your own. AMP Food, the food on Royal has really become poor over the past years. I'd love to see the quality and preparation "amped" with great ingredients and prepared on board. Don't AMP or unAMP Fitness Centers on Older Ships: we were on Voyageur in July and found the Gym was moved from Fore to Aft and drastically cut in size. Also, complimentary change rooms, sauna and steam room were gone. We're on Explorer next May and hope she doesn't meet this fate.

It's no longer complimentary. You have to pay. I was just on Allure and it's $29 per day. Also, gym is much, much smaller with less equipment.

We were on Voyager in July in the Baltic and she was amped. I was so looking forward to being on the ship and enjoying facilities. Don’t know which was amped first Mariner or. Voyager. Hope was Voyager and they learned from their mistakes. We’re on Explorer sailing out of Venice in May and the I’d be so disappointed if they ruin her.

I’m sorry to hear Explorer is being “tramped”. IMHO, they ruin part of the experience of that class of ship. Explorer has a great gym with included change rooms, sauna and steam room. They will relocate the gym from fire to aft and get rid of comp change rooms, sauna and steam room. The gym will be much smaller and you’ll have to pay for the other services. For me, this is a big downgrade I experience. Very sad.

Right it was Voyager. Same class but wrong ship.

You are right, I get my names mixed up. It was Voyager out of Stockholm. The rest still applies.

Yes

The tips go to more than your wait staff and room attendant. I’ve seen so many people cancel or reduce tips because they believe their being overcharged. I disagree with this but to each his own. I believe they all work hard and we do not cancel or remove the tips. We still ask for envelopes and give a little more to those who have given extraordinary service and usually this is the room attendant, assistant waiter, waiter and head waiter.

We were on Navigator in June out of Stockholm. We did receive the compass each day. Wouldn’t miss it as app has most everything. What we did miss were port maps. We were told they stopped giving them because someone sued Royal for being left at port and them blaming the map. Big disappointment, the maps helped a lot around dock and downtown.

We usually tip extra on last day, in addition to daily prepaid amounts. We usually tip assistant waiter, waiter and head waiter. We have been fortunate and have always had great service. They work hard and it is just a show of appreciation. My DW has allergies and the head waiter always looks after her orders.

I agree with a lot of your points. Food in MDR is down in quality. I attribute it more to the skill of the chefs than anything else. Is it intentional to get people into specialty dining? Not sure, but decline in MDR coincides with push for new specialty options.

I really hope they don’t mess up EOS like they did Navigator. I love the gym on the Explorer, good size with steam room and sauna included. Navigator’s gym was moved from fore to aft, greatly reduced in size, change rooms, sauna and steam room all gone. For me, HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Please save EOS from this horrible fate!

Doesn’t seem to be any dress code anymore, even on “formal nights.”

DW has allergies, we almost always opt for MDR. They make sure there’s no cross contamination. As well, we enjoy a window looking at the sea.

We’ve sailed on both many times out of NY/Bayonne. Like both. Prefer Royal’s ships, especially larger ones , they’re a destination in themselves. I don’t like NCL’s ship layout. Ding ceilings low and far too much space is taken up by the Haven. I think overall the food has been better on NCL and they handle allergies better. I’d also give NCL the nod on itineraries. However, overall we prefer Oasis and Quantum classes of Royal. Great spaces.