yj2cute

Yep. I received notification today. It's been redeployed. I don't know to where, but this cruise has been cancelled. :(

This sucks. :mad: I'm booked on this cruise and received notification that it's been redeployed. It gives a choice of sailings that I can switch to on Adventure as well as Anthem and Serenade, at protected rates, but I chose this sailing specifically.

Oh well. Another day with RCCL.

Hey, Ken.

Great review! I can't seem to catch you live on Periscope, some of us have to work you know, :D . Great pics!

We have just returned from a cruise on Norwegian Star and they were the resident group aboard. What a fantastic group! By far the best I have ever seen on a cruise ship and most other places for that matter.

Anyone sailing on the Star until April are in for a special treat.:):)

Really? Wow. Unfortunately I don't really care for NCL so looks unlikely that I'll get to enjoy them again. :(

Thanks for the info.

We're considering Moomba beach for our stop there in November. I want a beach that's pretty, we can take the bus to, rent chairs and and umbrella ($45 I've seen mentioned seems really steep compared to all the other islands I've been and they're $10), and waiters that come around for drink orders or the beach bar is right there. Would Moomba be best for that?

I'm interested as well. Hopefully someone will respond.

I just clicked the link above to view the new menus. Is it me or is day 1 missing?

I would be disappointed to be switched to Martinique from St. Lucia. SL has beautiful beaches and lush backdrop. I was totally unimpressed with Martinique and will use it as a ship day if it's on any of my future itineraries.

Yes, the menus are not the same as what we remember on Quantum. We were told that all 4 restaurants have added and removed items from appetizers to desserts. We remembered being served fried wontons with sweet chili sauce when we were first seated. They don't do that any more. I will say that Silk is still our most favorite and everything we have tried is fantastic. The glazed lamb chops are especially delicious.

 

In Coastal Kitchen they had a wonderful salted carmel pudding with waffer cone crumbled on top. That is no longer available.

 

You're welcome. We would have done the 2 cruises prior to the 10/23 repo because that would have been a "legal" b2b2b.:D

 

Thanks for the name of the Executive Chef.

They're not service the fried wontons any more? They were this past November. Also, thanks for the tip about the lamb chop. Do you remember if it was on the first or 2nd menu in Silk?

You know what? We are very lucky to have a ship right here in NJ! Actually, if there was anything smaller than say Radiance Class here in NJ, I'd most likely be flying elsewhere to cruise and not complain that Royal sent us a small ship. There are people that prefer smaller ships but out of NJ, I'd rather be on a big one. I have sailed Enchantment but sailed it out of Florida and it was fine. Actually, I loved Enchantment. Actually, we do fly elsewhere to cruise but it's nice to be able to jump on Anthem now and then.

My feelings as well. I have sailed out of NJ quite a few times and love it every time. Love being able to drive 20 minutes to the ship. But if what I'd like to do on a future cruise doesn't fit well with what's in the area, I just hop on a plane. No complaining. I just go to the ship that fits my plans best.

The point of the matter is is, it doesn't matter if it's RCL's only ship in NJ, most of the world has to fly to their cruise. Those of us in places that have a driveable homeport are just lucky. But if the closest ship isn't to your liking, then don't book it. It's not the cruise line's responsibility nor ability to appeal to the likes of every individual.

The bottom line is, if you don't like the Anthem's features or what it has to offer, DON'T BOOK IT.

Is American Icon Grille also open for lunch. On the Quantum, American was open for lunch and the Tutti salad was offered there. Also, does American Icon have the "penny presser" machine.

Yes, AI is open for lunch during sea days and they offer the salad. And yes, there is a penny presser machine.

Are the room refrigerators real refrigerators or just coolers like other RC ships we sailed on?

The fridge on the Anthem is the coldest I've had on any ship. Actually made room temperature water bottles COLD.

I'm curious why the kids are in the Solarium when there is a covered pool for all to use? :confused:

I enjoyed the food on the Anthem. Of the 2 menus in Silk, I preferred the first one. Didn't really care for the 2nd one at all. I think my favorite venue was Chic. As others mentioned, the crab cakes are excellent! The Grande was OK, nothing terribly special about the food. Actually not even planning on dining there on my cruise next month since I don't want to dress formal and I don't feel like I'll be missing anything.

Apparently RCCL is confident there are enough customers who book "for the ship" and not the ports. I suppose Oasis class ships have shown them that is working just fine. We're looking forward to 7 booked cruises, but I don't know if we'll still be sailing them in 5-10 years if this mega ship/minimal ports trend continues......:rolleyes:

I'm usually one of those people, but Oasis class goes to the CARIBBEAN. St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Labadee, etc. I do not want to sail to Florida and the Bahamas in the winter. It's not even warm in those places. I'm glad I've already experienced this ship because I don't see it in my future.

That's the typical RCCL problem with it's huge ships - due to the size, the choice of itineraries is limited... :rolleyes: - very sad, the megalomania of RCCL is reducing the flexibility of ship's deploymentsmore and more.

 

Look at Radiance or Vision Class- those are the ships offering more varied and longer itineraries.

 

I must admit: The Canada/NE itineraries on Rhapsody including Quebec are quite appealing! :)

We've had pretty good Caribbean itins out of CL in the past. Anthem did a nice mix of between 9-12 night Caribbean itineraries. It did 12 night Western as well as 12 night Southern and 9 night Eastern Caribbean going to Labadee, St. Thomas. 7 night Bahamas are pitiful and what Anthem seems to be doing the most during 2017-2018. :mad:

Is anyone else disappointed with the Anthem's new itineraries? It seems to be mostly Bahamas. Where are the 9 night Caribbean sailings? And there's only a handful of 12 night Southern. Where are the 12 night Western? I personally think these itineraries are terrible.

It's mbagley@rccl.com

This address is incorrect. His name is Michael Bayley, not Bagley. The address is mbayley@rccl.com and I plan to drop him a note.

When we were on NCL Breakaway. There were three dining rooms but basically the same menu in each so not the same as Anthem.v

I agree. Freestyle on NCL is NOT like DD on Quantum class. While there are several included dining rooms each evening, the menus were basically identical.

And IMO, the dining experience on NCL is my least favorite of all lines, with less than stellar service and bland, unappetizing meals. And even if I didn't care for Anthem, RCCL would not be losing my business to the Breakaway.

I really don't care if we don't have the same waiter every night. They hyped up Quantum Class and advertised it as a new type of dining. Great restaurants to choose from and now they're turning something that was new and exciting into something even less than ordinary by sticking us in 1 of 4 smaller restaurants. If I have to be stuck in 1 restaurant for 12 nights, I'd rather it be in a large beautiful formal MDR like on their other class ships.

 

 

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My thoughts exactly. I really hope this change doesn't go into effect until after my May 14 sailing, but it's not looking good. Seems possible we'll be the first sailing with the changes.

I tend to agree with you OP. Early on the roll calls and M&Ms used to be very busy and a lot of people showed up for the M&Ms.

 

Since fb came along, more and more people are setting up pages for particular cruises and we are losing roll call members to that.

 

Our last four or five roll calls have been slack even up to the sail date and those attending M&Ms are getting fewer and fewer. I've tried the fb roll calls but they are not as good as the CC roll calls in my opinion. I love the layout of CC message boards.

I agree with you completely. I've joined a couple of FB roll calls but I really prefer CC. As someone else mentioned, it's often difficult to even find the group for your cruise, depending on the wording of the title.

The roll call and the M&M really are 2 different things. However they are meant to work together. The point of the roll call is to introduce yourself and correspond with others who are sailing with you. You chat, get to know each other and maybe even plan some events together, with the hope of possibly "mingling" on board. Which is why the cruise lines started arranging official CC meet and mingles on board. Granted, this concept is for more social people who actually enjoy meeting new people.

I'm also in agreement that it really is pointless to go to the roll call and make a post that you're on that sailing and then you're never heard from again. Also I never quite understood why so many who never once participated in the roll call show up at the M&M. But maybe the possibility of a free prize has something to do with that. I do miss the days when people posted to the roll call often and set up group activities. For me personally, it really enhanced the cruise.

My last cruise was 4 years ago, and although we had a nice Roll Call here, the private FB group was hilarious and so much more fun.

 

I discovered Cruise Critic in 2006 and discovered the Roll Call a week before my Empress cruise that April. It was amazing to meet these people from all over the world. That cruise they all witnessed me meeting my husband, then on the Roll Call, which went on for YEARS, witnessed us falling in love and getting married. (this was before FB)

 

So 4 years ago we had a reunion cruise with all of these same people, from all over the world. They helped us celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and reminisced about who got us to dance first, who got us to kiss first. It was so magical.

 

So thank you Cruise Critic and thank you Roll Calls. I may never cruise again but you'll always be special to me.

What a great story. This is what the roll calls used to be all about and what I miss. Congratulations!

How old are you? I don't know that I agree, but that doesn't mean I'm right and your wrong. I'll be the first to admit younger newer people think differently from me as I become that "get the hell off my lawn" guy around home. ;)

 

There is a certain paragraph above I agree with , but were not even allowed to talk about it.

I'm with you, Bill. I think the newer, younger cruisers, who are extremely active on other social media, think CC is a dinosaur. They can't live without checking their FB, T-----r, In------m or s------t account 5000 times a day. But I still prefer CC over a FB group. Many others on that site say the interface of CC is difficult to navigate. I don't get that complaint. I find it very easy to navigate, but I guess I'm used to it after 16 years. It is as it is with many things in life, a generational issue.

Maybe people who "like traditional dining and don't want anything else" should stop booking Q Class ships.

 

 

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^^^This. They have 20+ ships in the fleet. Big ships, small ships, in between. It's nice to have choices. I very much enjoyed DD choice and thought it was about time for some new ideas on Royal's dining. It's very disappointing that they are changing things back. I'll be back on board in May and am not as excited about it right now. :(

Cheaper, new cruisers don't get free drinks/special lounges/discounts/upgrades etc

 

 

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I believe it actually adds to their bottom line, because those perks make many cruisers consider Royal either first or exclusively so they can take advantage of those perks. I know it certainly is a factor in my decision when choosing a cruise.

Thanks for finally writing your review, Jane. I've been waiting!

I enjoyed DD on the Anthem and like the way it's currently set up with guests getting a choice between DD and traditional dining. I can't believe that Royal can't figure out a way to make this work if NCL can. It would be very disappointing if they scrap DD and go back to the same old boring MDR served on other ships.