Just off Anthem...random tips!

[Jersey19]

It wasn't easy on the Allure, except the main dining room. I tried explaining to the RCCL rep that Dynamic Dining Classic is preferable for his safety, but they didn't understand and just told me there is a long wait list. I'm going to carry on lots of safe food and hope for the best.

[cot427]

Yes...deck 5 and no it does not wrap around but there are chairs out there and it is nice and peaceful and you can hear the ocean. We were able to do NS. I forgot we had a ressie for it and we went right up on time. Prior to that when I thought we didn't have one we waited in the standby line for over an hour ...got inside the ball and got the boot because it was too windy. Major bummer but it is what it is. It can't go up when it shouldn't. Reservation or standby that is something that happens.

 

Thanks! Good point about the reservations and wind. The only thing is I would hope they would offer to reschedule those who had reservations when it got canceled, even if it interferes with standby times.

[ISABELLA]

By far Princess has the best pizza at sea. Not the one they serve in Alfredo's, but the one served on the pool deck.[/quote]

 

I was just about to comment on it - absolutely - the best pizza.

Actually my DH managed to get their dough recipe from the manger - so good...:)

[andrew2346]

Thanks! Good point about the reservations and wind. The only thing is I would hope they would offer to reschedule those who had reservations when it got canceled, even if it interferes with standby times.

 

The problem is that there are no open spots to put the people with reservations that get cancelled due to wind. It is completely booked. The standby line is only utilized when someone with a reservation does not show up. Hence the very long wait and certainly no guarantee. In fact, while in guest services (OBC issue) I saw a women who had just that issue. Had a ressie...it got cancelled due to weather conditions and she went ballistic. I thought they might need a paper bag for her hyperventilation.

[Mom.to.2]

It wasn't easy on the Allure, except the main dining room. I tried explaining to the RCCL rep that Dynamic Dining Classic is preferable for his safety, but they didn't understand and just told me there is a long wait list. I'm going to carry on lots of safe food and hope for the best.

 

 

 

Try reaching out to Special Needs dept and plead your case for classic dining with them. You may have better luck there!

[Merion_Mom]

It wasn't easy on the Allure, except the main dining room. I tried explaining to the RCCL rep that Dynamic Dining Classic is preferable for his safety, but they didn't understand and just told me there is a long wait list. I'm going to carry on lots of safe food and hope for the best.

 

Try reaching out to Special Needs dept and plead your case for classic dining with them. You may have better luck there!

 

And if you can't get it changed before your cruise, once you board, the restaurant managers or even the Hotel Manager may be able to accommodate you.

[qanderson]

Are they still charging 499 for the wow bands or have they went back to complementary ?

 

 

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[cot427]

The problem is that there are no open spots to put the people with reservations that get cancelled due to wind. It is completely booked. The standby line is only utilized when someone with a reservation does not show up. Hence the very long wait and certainly no guarantee. In fact, while in guest services (OBC issue) I saw a women who had just that issue. Had a ressie...it got cancelled due to weather conditions and she went ballistic. I thought they might need a paper bag for her hyperventilation.

 

I see - while I would be disappointed, I would hope to remain cool and understanding. Weather happens - especially on this ship.

 

I booked almost as soon as reservations opened for NS and iFly. No, a little under 7 weeks to go, no open times available online. I'm sure they open some the day of boarding for people who forgot, albeit very few.

[dedosr]

Are they still charging 499 for the wow bands or have they went back to complementary ?

 

 

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I just read today on an Athem post that they are now $2. I would have paid the $5, because they are:) so convenient, but glad they dropped the price.

[WrightWay Cruiser]

My family of 6 (3 outside staterooms on deck 3) just got off the Anthem today. We are not diamond members so we cruised like the masses. We loved it overall. My daughter almost cried when we got off...she is 13 : )

 

 

 

Here are my random tips:

 

*On and off the ship was effortless

 

*We had 3 staterooms and brought on 6 bottles of wine, a case of water, an a 12 pack of soda. The case of water and 12 pack of soda were in a suitcase

 

*The Seaplex is fantastic for the kids from little guys to teens after dark

 

*gluten-free/peanut free cookies by Udi's can be found in the cafe promenade in a cookie jar behind the counter : ) Individually wrapped too!

 

*Izumi and Jamie's are FANTASTIC. And if you want that delish brownie sundae from the dessert menu they will give it to you for free at lunch time! Just go and ask for it. Plus Mommy got an espresso while she wanted : )--and it is PEANUT FREE!

 

*Pizza in Sorrento's is great for a snack and my kids loved it

 

*Dined in Grande, Silk, Chic, Solar Bistro, American Icon-all were very good. I was the only one with soda package which I stated but they never charged us for the other people that ordered soda. I like Solar Bistro the best...very healthy

 

*Tutti salad bar is alive and well in Chic on Sea Days

 

*Service is still alive on RC as well. When my son asked for his 10th brownie of the cruise and Chic did not have it at lunch time they went to Jamie's without us asking and brought it to him : )

 

*Cleve at the Sunshine bar makes THE BEST frozen Mojito and is generous with the wine pours. I always tipped an extra buck in cash and they knew my name and my drink

 

*Hang in Vintages to rub elbows with the Hotel Director. He knows his wine and when the Captain strolled thru he was teaching my son a cork trick...stopped the captain...introduced us and then took a pic on his phone and had it made for us by the photographers. It was delivered to our stateroom as was a bottle of wine and choc covered strawberries to all 3 of our staterooms! We spent a few nights in there and I am now officially a wine snob.

 

*When you Tender the line is crazy long from like 9:30-10:30. We went at 10:50 and no line. If you must leave at that time check both tender lines because one was WAY shorter than the other

 

*Buffet lunch on Coco was quite good

 

*Vintages has a wine station where you can try all the fine wines in 2, 4 or 6 oz pours. Loved this...you just put your card or wow band up to the scanner and voila! Sadly the card reader was malfunctioning most of the time so I would ask the bartender for whatever I wanted to try. Very nice to be able to try a small pour from a $100+ bottle of wine.

 

*Last couple nights all bottles of wine were 30% off so that CAYMUS was mine! (evil laughter). Was able to take it right away and enjoy with dinner

 

*can you tell I like wine?

 

*The fitness center spin classes were AMAZING. I had only spun once before and I went all 4 sea days and felt fab

 

*Fitness center was crowded during the usual busy times but it was manageable and state of the art

 

*Indoor pool was key for the colder days so plan on being able to swim or hang in your bathing suit for the entire cruise

 

*WOW bands....we loved having them except for one small issue which is just an annoyance. If you purchase a soda package onboard ..you still need your sea pass card with the sticker. Not sure about the other packages. I never had my sea pass card and they just gave me the soda regardless

 

*Windjammer was crowded during the usual hours but the food was good and hot. The waffles were like bricks first thing in the morning prob cause they had been sitting under the heat lamps waiting for the WJ to open. Get the second plate of waffles...lol. Also on that note the butter is also very cold if you go at 7am so picture cold brick waffle spread with very cold butter. Later the butter is warmer. I have a 7 year old boy that only wanted waffles so this was a daily battle...lol.

 

*Made to order omelets were very good but if you go during primetime be happy to wait at least 20 mins OR do yourself a favor and GO EARLY.

 

*Deck 5 was a lovely place to step out to spend a precious few moments alone to listen to the ocean in peace (if you do not have a balcony)

 

*Early cup of coffee and a nice bran muffin...6am-6:30am Cafe Promenade.

 

*Do not wait in the endless Guest services line. Get up at 6:30am and have NO LINE. I promise ....best way to go. OR do the opposite and got at 10pm.

 

*Seaplex waivers for bumper cars, roller skating, etc. The first time a parent has to go up and sign a waiver...this can take a while. Go with them the first time or they will come right back to you

 

*Northstar only does 360 degrees around on the first and last sea days

 

*You can standby for the Northstar but you could be there for an hour and it is cold right now....so dress accordingly for that. Don't lose your cool when you wait for an hour and then it gets too windy and they shut her down. It happens and it did happen!

 

*Large party (5 or more) you NEED to have your dining ressies lined up before you sail. We were never able to change ours because everything was booked--prob because were were a party of 6. What we were able to do was show up at 7:15 for a 7:45 ressie and get seated right away. By that time the larger parties that were seated earlier were done.

 

*Loads of photo ops with dreamwork characters...no real lines for that

 

*Make your Ifly and Northstar reservations PRIOR to the cruise. Everything was booked

 

*My girls loved Abe the cruise director late night/early morning show on the TV...apparently he is pretty funny : )

 

 

 

I am sure I will think of more later.

 

 

 

Small annoyances:

 

*free style machines were out of service or not calibrated correctly frequently

 

*Xbox controllers were not working and that was annoying to the kids because we were on a Spring break trip with lots of kids wanting to play

 

*Technology issues Royal iPad IQ pads were finicky and the Bionic bar was having issues; couple of out of service elevators

 

*THE CABIN DOORS DO NOT SHUT ON THEIR OWN...YOU HAVE TO PULL THEM CLOSED. My teenage daughters cabin door was always ajar (eye roll). Disturbing in the morning when I would go to the gym and see they slept all night with their door open.

 

 

 

We had a great time on this cruise...the ship is GORGEOUS and it certainly did Wow us. The service 95% was excellent. Were some people having a bad day or in the wrong line of work? Sure.. but the vast majority were great.

 

 

 

I have taken about 15 or so cruises..mostly with Royal but also sailed on Celebrity, MSC, and Disney.

 

 

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

 

Hi! Love your review. A couple of questions....

 

What is a tutti salad bar?

 

How did you like MSC?

 

 

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[cusecruiser]

Jamie's Italian!

 

Thank you for this informative review. I have have a random food question about your complimentary brownie comment. Isn't Jamie's a pay restaurant? How do you get a free brownie desert at lunchtime? Sounds yummy?

[timfan27]

Vintages has a wine station where you can try all the fine wines in 2, 4 or 6 oz pours. Loved this...you just put your card or wow band up to the scanner and voila! Sadly the card reader was malfunctioning most of the time so I would ask the bartender for whatever I wanted to try. Very nice to be able to try a small pour from a $100+ bottle of wine.

 

I was just wondering how much the 2, 4 and 6oz pours cost? Do you have a menu for the wine choices in Vintages in the wine station?

 

Thanks

[Mom.to.2]

Vintages has a wine station where you can try all the fine wines in 2, 4 or 6 oz pours. Loved this...you just put your card or wow band up to the scanner and voila! Sadly the card reader was malfunctioning most of the time so I would ask the bartender for whatever I wanted to try. Very nice to be able to try a small pour from a $100+ bottle of wine.

 

 

 

I was just wondering how much the 2, 4 and 6oz pours cost? Do you have a menu for the wine choices in Vintages in the wine station?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

And, can you use a beverage package on the small pours (i.e. 2 oz)?

[Clarea]

And, can you use a beverage package on the small pours (i.e. 2 oz)?

No, the beverage packages are limited to full glasses of wine, and also won't work on machines.

Edited March 31, 2016 by clarea

[Mom.to.2]

No, the beverage packages are limited to full glasses of wine, and also won't work on machines.

 

 

 

Thanks Bob. As always, you've got me covered!

 

TY for the advice last week on waiting to nudge dining for a response. They did get back to me yesterday, 1 week & 2 days prior to sailing. I also learned from the screenshot they sent me that classic early dining will be at 5:30 instead of six as indicated on our documents.

[andrew2346]

And, can you use a beverage package on the small pours (i.e. 2 oz)?

NOPE... You can NOT use the beverage package on that wine station they have in Vintages.

[andrew2346]

Vintages has a wine station where you can try all the fine wines in 2, 4 or 6 oz pours. Loved this...you just put your card or wow band up to the scanner and voila! Sadly the card reader was malfunctioning most of the time so I would ask the bartender for whatever I wanted to try. Very nice to be able to try a small pour from a $100+ bottle of wine.

 

I was just wondering how much the 2, 4 and 6oz pours cost? Do you have a menu for the wine choices in Vintages in the wine station?

 

Thanks

 

I do not have a menu sorry but the pours ranged from $5+ to $24 depending on the side of the pour and the wine of course.

[andrew2346]

Thank you for this informative review. I have have a random food question about your complimentary brownie comment. Isn't Jamie's a pay restaurant? How do you get a free brownie desert at lunchtime? Sounds yummy?

It is a pay restaurant you are correct. When we had dinner there my son enjoyed the brownie so much they told us to make sure to stop by at lunch time for a free one. I went and sure enough it was free and so was my giant espresso they have me while I watched him eat it!

[Clarea]

Thanks Bob. As always, you've got me covered!

 

TY for the advice last week on waiting to nudge dining for a response. They did get back to me yesterday, 1 week & 2 days prior to sailing. I also learned from the screenshot they sent me that classic early dining will be at 5:30 instead of six as indicated on our documents.

Glad it worked out, and you are very welcome.:)

[Tender Lady]

Did you have long waits for the kid things? Bumper cars, flow rider etc?

The universal rule is GO EARLY. For instance, the bumper car line goes pretty fast with approximately 3 minute rides, but it goes faster if you're at the front. ;) The only thing is that to be at the front you need to be there before they start, and it takes a while to convert the SeaPlex to Bumpercarville. You'll be standing a while either way. I am sure there is a sweet spot where you are waiting in line the least amount of time and watching bumper cars rather than venue conversion, but I can't say what that timing is. Just don't go late. FlowRider was not a problem for me, and I had a blast. The water flow rate was faster than on the Liberty (confirmed by staff) and I had to adapt to that.

 

My only complaint about Sorrentos was the lack of mushrooms. Mushrooms are essential on my pizzas. I was able to make a credible veggie pizza with peppers and onions and it was tasty. After the first day we always got made-to-order rather than the stock pizzas. Be aware that their hours on port days are very short, like 11:30 am to 1 pm. It goes to 3 pm on sea days but there's no such thing as a late night munchie pizza run.

 

In general, the OP had a much better dining experience than we did, but I'm not going to whine about that here especially considering the rumors that the Quantum class ships are converting to traditional dining.

 

I'm a little confused about this, but apparently the Solarium Bistro is, or was, called Divinly Decadent for the evening meal. That's what it was called in the online reservation process before sailing. The only place I saw it called that on the ship was the elevator signs, which I know take decades to keep up with changes on the ship's layout or attributions.

 

I was disappointed to see that Solarium Bistro at breakfast is a buffet. We don't do buffets on ships due to hygiene issues, but they did fry us a couple of eggs each. It's all DH would eat there. I had a little corned beef hash with mine, using a napkin to handle the serving spoon. Before you decide we're germophobes, know that DH came down with a cold on day 3 and I followed on day 6, so we were both sick for most of the cruise. DH would have used nothing but room service for day 3 and 4 if he could have, but the menu has been neutered.

 

While Chic was okay for dinner, our service experience there at breakfast was abysmal. (Example: the waiter took my husband's juice order and later brought him a refill, both times totally ignoring me despite my attempts to get her attention.) Your mileage may vary, and I hope it does! We did get made-to-order omelets and crepes at the WJ - as OP said, go early. The station is all the way in the back but it doesn't stay a secret long.

 

Breakfast and lunch at 270 are fine. Premade breakfast sandwiches, paninis and such that are toasted for you, plus a selection of soups, both premade and made-to-order salads (limited ingredient choices, but okay), and those divine beef sandwiches. Brownies, small baked sweets, and jello are also available. I wish the horseradish sauce was a little more horseradish and a little less mayonnaise, but I understand my love for food that bites back is a personal preference.

[Tender Lady]

I also learned from the screenshot they sent me that classic early dining will be at 5:30 instead of six as indicated on our documents.

We went at 5:15 and were seated promptly every time.

[Big_G]

Thanks Andrew. Very thorough and to the point review.

[Slugsta]

5.30 sounds terribly early to eat - we consider ourselves to be early diners at home at around 6.30pm but prefer later when we are away! Is this something that is more common in USA?

 

Please note, this is not in any way a criticism either of individuals' dining choices or of RCI, I am genuinely curious about different customs :)

[Tender Lady]

In our case, it's DH's preference. I like a big breakfast, a sandwich around 2 pm, and a light dinner (soup/chili/stew or a hearty salad) around 8 pm. DH skips breakfast, eats lunch at 11 am, and wants a big dinner at 5 pm. I have no idea how we've stayed married so long, but the food thing has been an issue. Since suppers on a cruise ship are big, we go with his plan but I sneak out as early as the venues open for a light breakfast. I just can't make it to 11 am without anything to eat. He drinks coffee which I guess is an appetite suppressant.

 

On a cruise, we also prefer to eat then go to shows. 9:30 pm suppers are not our thing.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Tender Lady

[Ocean Dancer]

5.30 sounds terribly early to eat - we consider ourselves to be early diners at home at around 6.30pm but prefer later when we are away! Is this something that is more common in USA?

 

Please note, this is not in any way a criticism either of individuals' dining choices or of RCI, I am genuinely curious about different customs :)

 

Don't worry, you may eat as late as 8:45 to 9pm and the pizza is open until 3am, but not delicious.