mikegrip

On 4/7/2024 at 2:07 AM, 81Zoomie said:

I do have a question for the E Class experts.  Getting on and off the ship and the location of the gangways seems a bit odd.  I do not remember this on Apex.

Today there was one skinny gangway on deck 5.  You use the same tiny walkway getting on and off.  The security was set up in the Casino.  In Sydney, it was through Raw on 5.  The area is very small and gets quite congested.  It seems as though it’s a lot of work to move all the scanner and metal detector equipment into place and then break it down when we sail.  It must be a pain for Raw on 5 when the ship sails late.  Is this the same situation on the newer E class ships?  Or, did X design a better solution/location for the gangways?

If I am not mistaken it has something to do with the tides and dock configuration in where the gangway ends up.  When we were on Apex for Ireland/Iceland cruise majority was exiting on deck 2 with many walks down through the Chandelier bar out but also experienced by the Casino, thru Cafe Al Bacio, and Next to Bistro/Le Petit Chef

6 minutes ago, blueslily said:

 

Is this week considered a holiday week? 

 

Thanks for the update!

President's Day some schools take the week now for Teacher Development or just one less day to take kids out of school

Was just on Allure 4 night and on Cococay Feb. 8th.   Can't attest to what Oasis pool was like as we were at Hideaway where the pool was certainly hopping from about 10am on.  Staff brings out big beach balls which seemed to be a hit with everyone even if the wind was blowing them down onto the beach several times.  Junkanoo dancers came in the afternoon to dance around pool to dj and spray champagne at those that wished to indulge.  My opinion it's a plussed version of atmosphere Oasis swim up had before.  Oh and biggest plus-heated pool almost worth cost versus the chill Oasis pool always had.

6 hours ago, mikefromny said:

That was my comment on one out of four steaks.

 

I was asked almost every time whether I'd like them served together or wait until I'm done with one. I often had two entrees at the same time.

 

I'm sorry your experience was so different from mine.

2 hours ago, StrikeEagle said:

The main limitation that I really don't like and it is confirmed from my friend who just got off the Allure last week.

When ordering the main course,  you can not order 2 main courses/ or bring it out at the same time.

You have to finish one first,  then you order/bring out the 2nd one.

In this past you were able to order 2 main courses and they bring it out at the same time.

 

Sometimes there are 2 main courses that go together/complement one another and would like to have them at the same time.  Now you can not.

Symphony we experienced the same as mikefromny-there was not a problem ordering two entrees when initially ordering.   It appears that Symphony is being more flexible from reports and I wonder as well if it is due to them having the new menu the longest.  I do hope the other ships relax their rigidity 

Just debarked Symphony on 02/04 and we never received issues with requesting different sides, getting a plate of steamed broccoli, ordering from kids menu (burger) for an adult that simply didn't want anything else on mexican night, etc.  These were all on menu.  Did encounter that the cheese plate is gone, and was told "We are sorry but with the new menus if the item is not listed we do not have it available"  Our waiter offered to go up to Windjammer to get some but we declined the offer.

We were on Brilliance out of Ravenna (Venice) and at the suggestion of crew did our EMeds tests using the wifi in the conference rooms as that was the strongest wifi signal.  With Stream had no issues in performing 4 tests for our travel party on an Iphone

Has anyone heard what, if any, requirements for testing there are for back2back cruisers in Europe?

I've been on Odyssey twice (8 night in November, 6 night in Feb).  As of then the production shows were:

Royal Theater:

Showgirl:Past, Present, Future-standard song and dance revue with showgirl costumes (if you have ever seen Jubilee back in the day at Bally's or the revue at the Tropicana very that).  Very well done IMO, show is apparently a copy from another Quantum Class ship.  Seemed to be a large cast in comparison to other ships

Effectors: Another song and dance revue themed to superheroes-felt like someone went to EDM in Vegas and bought every laser and video screen they could.  Certainly something to see at least once.  Same cast as Showgirl

Tap Factory: An all male cast that is different and is very STOMP! Playing Trash cans and tap dancing also good IMO

270:

The Book: Very Cirque du Soleil though Cirque probably has more a plot.  Still good though and visually appealing if you only get one chance to see this I would go upstairs to front row balcony center while everyone else scrambles for floor seats.  

Virtual Symphony-uses screens and sound system for a recorded concert-no cast

270 experience: Showoff of tech in 270 hosted by the cruise director and a roboscreen show

Also you mentioned you are not seeing everything-for our recent 6 night none of the shows showed up on the daily compass in the App until we boarded

I sailed on the December 2nd Sailing and haven't gotten around to posting a review, but I have been meaning too as I saw another cruiser who put it on blast as bad experience and was surprised as we enjoyed our vacation.  Arriving was a cluster as it is just different than other arrivals we have done in the past, you need to go to your assigned deck to drop off luggage.  Once inside we did not have issue.  Our arrival was 12:10pm.  We did notice the overcrowding on the ship, however, we placed a lot of it on we had been on Oasis class for the last few of our sailings and what a difference having 12 larger elevators in the aft makes vs. Freedom classes 8!  If we had anything to do in the front of the ship we purposely walked to that elevator bank as the aft was always busy (and we had an aft balcony so it was out of our way)

In regards to the Buffet, yes it was busy at the prime times.  It is always busy at the prime times.  We easily found a table after shore excursions on port days and if we went to Lunch at 1130-1145 on sea days.  By noon on Sea days it was a mad house again, and it would have helped if people did not form a long line to just get to the food.  I cannot speak to breakfast as we went to the dining room and did not have issue.  MTD we had reservations and had our same table every night so again no issue (and we all commented we thought the Main Dining Room food was better than we remembered).  Staff engagement and conversations were excellent across board. 

We did not experience any bad behavior around the Solarium pool.  The line for ice cream was maybe our only WOW this is crazy busy but it just made us skip ice cream.  We did not notice people just sitting on stairways either as some other posters have mentioned.  The ice show was crazy long line to get in, but once in everyone had a seat.  Royal probably needs to rethink the amount of time the open the venue before and open it about ten minutes earlier to avoid the line going all the way to the dining room.  We did notice a lot of Spanish only guests, however they were never rude in my opinion.  Many were very appreciative for my broken Spanish in the elevator rather than crowded like sardines in silence, and we received many "Feliz Navidad" and "Buenas Noches" as people exited which was kinder than a lot of the English only speaking guests.  You will hear announcements in English and then Spanish, so be prepared if that is something you mind.  

Leaving the ship we did not experience any issues as we booked the San Juan city on own before our flight so we were through everything before the masses started.

Yes, I'm sure Royal Caribbean knows.... Did you ask them?:confused:

Was trying to save the phone call but appears waiting on hold will be the answer.

Is there a cost associated with the line item?

No it is Zeros across line item

Did you book a cabin that has a complimentary lunch as a perk?

I didn't think so as it is an Oceanview Balcony 8D and thought that was only with Neighborhood Balconies.

I recently booked Harmony of the seas and on my Royal Caribbean invoice it states under the BOGO NALN-NA LUNCH. Does anyone know what this is? I looked at my previous invoices and it does not appear. Thanks for any insight.

Thank you! Was that in limited mineral soaks or one time only. Did you think it was worth it? Was it always crowded?:)

It was just one time set time for one hour each. The thermal spa always had room when we went-the last swa day being crowded and having to wait for a ceramic bed. The thing that we found odd was due to the location and the weather during our cruise there was a lot of Hull noise from waves which took us out of the relaxation at times

The O class ships do have a Thermal spa (co-ed). It includes a steam room, a dry sauna, heated ceramic beds and some changing rooms and showers. Unfortunately, the Thermal spa is not complimentary on O class ships. I have never purchased the package but I believe it's in the $100 pp range. I could be completely wrong about the price. The only time I was there was when it was included as part of the Star Class amenities.

We did Allure's Thermal Spa in Feb. as another cabin in our party was doing it as well. As stated it was Steam with Eucalyptus, Steam only, Dry Sauna with Two showers off to sides and the ceramic beds. Just the Thermal was coming in at $100 per person for the week. They had you could add a mineral soak couples experience and mud sauna thing with fancy name with the Thermal Spa on embarkation day for $199 per person.

Congrats! I say save $199

When we sailed they still had Dynamic Dining-we liked the different menus as Royal's spice menus were getting a little long in the tooth and we had no problems making reservations before we boarded. We had some gorgeous and delicious entrees, but also some real clunkers.

We loved the redesigned Windjammer and are very glad that they took the inspiration to Harmony and Symphony. I know this sounds like a small thing but the bread was so much better (and on Harmony when we went on her) then the bread on the older ships.

We loved 270 but missed Studio B with its ice show.

The last thing was I certainly felt like there was more ocean motion felt on this ship more than others with same wave heights.

We returned from sailing in December on Empress with an overnight and were told by Royal Caribbean in the FAQ meeting that they have on the ship that the half-day tours that were 4 hours did satisfy the requirement. They also did express that you must take a tour each day (not sure if you did not get off ship one day as we fully wanted to experience everything we could). Enjoy it was a wonderful enlightening experience.

Downline embarkation/disembarkation has been reported by many to be $65 per person, regardless of port.

Thank you that would make sense to have a standard amount.

Many people flew back early on our extended due to hurricanes Allure cruise in September. It can be done and generally have to pay a fee to guest services for departing in a port that is not the set embarkation/debarkation port that varies due to local taxes (in the $100 range it seemed for Cozumel, Costa Maya, Falmouth)

Both have their ups and downs that many have mentioned already. We liked our sailings on Princess, however I found I did read a lot more of the books I brought with me those cruises than when on Royal due to the activities/experiences offered. Princess passengers we felt were many couples travelling together and seemed to stick to themselves. We mostly have stuck to Royal as it feels more multi-generational which is how most of our trips end up being. The kids clubs on both were nice, just more kids on RCCL. TV is much better on Princess than RCCL. Another difference for us is many times we have three in a cabin and the third prefers a sofa bed rather than climbing for a drop down berth. On Princess-you pretty much have to reserve a Mini-suite in order to guarantee this where as RCCL has Sofa beds in many of their regular balcony cabins.

We went on a Royal excursion that went to the botanical gardens and the zoo. We were initially hesitant about going to the zoo as our zoo here is pretty great. We really enjoyed it as it is set among the ruins of an old plantation and they used many of the old structures as bases for the exhibits. The botanical garden was also very nice. We have great photos from both.

At least for now-the Eastern's are back to what they were for Feb 2018 on the website.

Another fun one! When I was on Brilliance they had these type of machines. I will be on Allure soon and I am sure they will all be the newer ones :( I hate that I have to spend 80 cents plus on a bet for a PENNY machine! :mad:

In the middle of the non-smoking section there is a bank of three back to back (six total) that is off the main aisle between the slots and the tables. There was a cat one, a stars and moon one, and a aztec like game. Anyway, they were only 15-20 cents a spin. The one that was moons and stars and owls (sorry I never caught the specific name) even gave free games frequently at 20 cents. Our whole group tried that machine it didn't just eat money and a two of us left the cruise up from it.

If you go on a ship excursion, you are covered by the Ship's VISA. If you go on a pre-booked shore excursion with the travel companies that are "VISA" approved, then you are covered by that travel companies VISA. If you want to just get off the ship and grab a taxi or use an independent tour guide, then you need to get the VISA before you depart.

We used the top-rated company on Tripadvisor for our 2 day tour in St. Petersburg. They were cheaper than the ship's, extremely friendly, and we liked that we were going around in a mercedes van with 10 people rather than a bus of 40. The communication from them on what to do through immigration was easy to understand and they were just outside the exit doors once we were through.

Our ranking of the Anthem Shows are:

1)We Will Rock You

2)Spectras Cabaret

3)The Gift