Booked Anthem for May... have questions

[bazan]

Hi,

 

We will be in the May sailing on the Anthem with my 2 kids (7 and 11 yr old) and wife. I am trying to make some planning and have some questions:

 

1. I think we will be doing 3 specialty dining and therefore the 3night dining package make more sense for us financially. I have already made and prepaid for the reservations for the 3 restaurants we will be going to (not interested in the "prearragement" from RCCL). What's the best way to switch to the package? I heard we can just request to switch to the package once on board (keeping all existing reservations)or do I need to also prepaid and booked the 3 night package in the planner and cancel the individual once on board?

 

2. Any idea how much they charge for the kids at these specialty restaurant? and for the 3 night package for kids? Are they able to order from the same menu? It will be funny if the kids is having fish and chips or whatever while the adults are having "specialty" dishes

 

3. I think I have read somewhere the first night dress code at the Grande is relaxed (smart casual?) so I booked our first night there.. but want to confirm if anyone has any experience as none of us has interests to dress up during our vacation but at the same time we don't want to be disrespectful if this is not the case

 

4. We are platinum C&A member.. and they currently have the buy one 2nd device half price package.. wonder if it make more sense to book on board (we need 2 devices) hoping for any addtional C&A discount or take advantage of the BOGOH offer now.

 

Thanks in advance

[WrightWay Cruiser]

The grande is casual on the first night. It was varied in dress each night anyway. Not everyone was dressed up. They never said anything or denied anyone.

 

 

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[bazan]

The grande is casual on the first night. It was varied in dress each night anyway. Not everyone was dressed up. They never said anything or denied anyone.

 

 

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Thanks

[mirp]

Anyone know about the kids menu at the speciality restaurants?

[Ocean Dancer]

Bazen, First and last nights in Grande are nice casual, but we did see them asking men to step out of line and discretly handed them jackets on all other nights. They did run out of jackets and it was formal no more. All the ladies did make an effort to dress nice. The food was not as expected. Tip, if you want lobster, order two right away, they will not even blink.

[DonnaK]

The last time we were on Anthem, they were not selling the 3 night specialty dining package onboard. You could only buy it online, in advance. I made a big stink and spoke to higher management, but still couldn't get them to allow me to purchase the package onboard. This may have been peculiar to our sailing, but I wanted to put it out there to avoid disappointments.

[Alter Ego]

The last time we were on Anthem, they were not selling the 3 night specialty dining package onboard. You could only buy it online, in advance. I made a big stink and spoke to higher management, but still couldn't get them to allow me to purchase the package onboard. This may have been peculiar to our sailing, but I wanted to put it out there to avoid disappointments.

 

 

When was that? Because I'm doing something similar.

 

 

Anyways, re The Grande, I guess it's unknown what the new dining iteration will be in May given recent postings. There may be no difference in restaurants and it simply won't matter. I do wonder, if there is a change, if there will be formal nights like other ships? But, I guess we won't know until/if it happens.

[WrightWay Cruiser]

Bazen, First and last nights in Grande are nice casual, but we did see them asking men to step out of line and discretly handed them jackets on all other nights. They did run out of jackets and it was formal no more. All the ladies did make an effort to dress nice. The food was not as expected. Tip, if you want lobster, order two right away, they will not even blink.

 

 

We ate at Grande 5x on our sailing, including night one. On the first night we wore the same clothes we had on when we boarded the ship. At least half of the men did not have jackets on and no body was pulled out of line or offered a jacket on the nights we were there. The style of dress was on a scale of very casual to formal with most dressed in between the two. You won't be turned away from the Grande because you aren't dressed up enough. I had filet and lobster all but one night we ate there. I had the Veal one night. My husband had the duck and lobster. The food was good however the lobster is warm water lobster, not Maine lobster.

 

 

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Edited March 31, 2016 by WrightWay Cruiser

[LadyLion_AP]

Subscribing. I really hope someone answers your first question, as I am wondering the same thing. Will we get a refund if we book the restaurants we want now AND the package?

[vondofife]

I am on Anthem at the moment with my 11 year old son.

 

I pre booked and paid for Wonderland, Chops Grill and Jamie's Italian in advance online. When I boarded the ship, I went to Wonderland and they refunded the price that I had paid online for the three restaurants and then charged me for the 3 speciality restaurant package. It showed on my on board account the following day. I kept the times that I had previously booked.

 

We were in Chops Grill last night. My son did not want to order from the adult menu and so they brought him a children's menu instead. As he ordered from the children's menu, he was not charged for eating in Chops. If he had ordered from the restaurant menu then he would have been charged $10.

 

We ate in Grande on the first night. It is an informal dress code on the first evening. No suit jackets required.

 

 

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Edited March 31, 2016 by vondofife

[champagne123]

The last time we were on Anthem, they were not selling the 3 night specialty dining package onboard. You could only buy it online, in advance. I made a big stink and spoke to higher management, but still couldn't get them to allow me to purchase the package onboard. This may have been peculiar to our sailing, but I wanted to put it out there to avoid disappointments.

 

Perhaps it was different because you were on the 3 day sampler. Maybe they were just doing things a little differently? Just a thought.

[DonnaK]

Perhaps it was different because you were on the 3 day sampler. Maybe they were just doing things a little differently? Just a thought.

Yes, that's why I mentioned that it might have been peculiar to our sailing.

[mirp]

Thank you.

 

So if the child orders from speciality menu it is $10 and I assume a child portion.

 

And if they order from children's menu it is free?

 

 

I am on Anthem at the moment with my 11 year old son.

 

We were in Chops Grill last night. My son did not want to order from the adult menu and so they brought him a children's menu instead. As he ordered from the children's menu, he was not charged for eating in Chops. If he had ordered from the restaurant menu then he would have been charged $10.

 

We ate in Grande on the first night. It is an informal dress code on the first evening. No suit jackets required.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Thank you.

 

So if the child orders from speciality menu it is $10 and I assume a child portion.

 

And if they order from children's menu it is free?

That is not my understanding. I thought that if the kids ordered from the children's menu it was $10.

 

See the paragraph about kids in this document:

 

http://media.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/dining_discount_packages.pdf

[Turtles06]

 

3. I think I have read somewhere the first night dress code at the Grande is relaxed (smart casual?) so I booked our first night there.. but want to confirm if anyone has any experience as none of us has interests to dress up during our vacation but at the same time we don't want to be disrespectful if this is not the case

 

4. We are platinum C&A member.. and they currently have the buy one 2nd device half price package.. wonder if it make more sense to book on board (we need 2 devices) hoping for any addtional C&A discount or take advantage of the BOGOH offer now.

 

Thanks in advance

 

3. As others have said, the dress code in Grande is relaxed on the first night, as luggage may not have arrived. But there's not much difference on the other nights. The so-called "formal" dress code does not require that men wear a tie, allows men to wear casual shirts, doesn't require a suit or tux, and only requires that a man have a jacket when he walks in that he can drape over his chair. They have loaner jackets available. I don't care whether they have a dress code or not, but the one they have is a joke. (And in our experience, which is only that, our experience, nothing about the food or the service warranted a "formal" dress code.)

 

4. I can't say for certain, but I think that BOGOH on the internet package is pretty standard for Anthem. So you might not be risking anything by waiting till you board, but perhaps others can chime in on that. VOOM was amazingly fast, lived up to the hype. (The only bad thing, as we learned, is that some cabins are dead zones for the wi-fi as there aren't enough routers. We were in a Spa Junior Suite and could not get reliable wi-fi in our cabin. The ship's IT guy told me to "step out into the hall." :eek: )

[Normally, we cut the cord when we cruise, but I needed to be available for my office on this one.]

 

Have a great cruise. Anthem is stunningly beautiful. (Tips and detailed comments and photos are linked in my signature below, in case they may be helpful to anyone.)

[LadyLion_AP]

I am on Anthem at the moment with my 11 year old son.

 

I pre booked and paid for Wonderland, Chops Grill and Jamie's Italian in advance online. When I boarded the ship, I went to Wonderland and they refunded the price that I had paid online for the three restaurants and then charged me for the 3 speciality restaurant package. It showed on my on board account the following day. I kept the times that I had previously booked.

 

We were in Chops Grill last night. My son did not want to order from the adult menu and so they brought him a children's menu instead. As he ordered from the children's menu, he was not charged for eating in Chops. If he had ordered from the restaurant menu then he would have been charged $10.

 

We ate in Grande on the first night. It is an informal dress code on the first evening. No suit jackets required.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

Great to know. Thanks.

 

 

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[swiss2619]

Hi,

 

We will be in the May sailing on the Anthem with my 2 kids (7 and 11 yr old) and wife. I am trying to make some planning and have some questions:

 

1. I think we will be doing 3 specialty dining and therefore the 3night dining package make more sense for us financially. I have already made and prepaid for the reservations for the 3 restaurants we will be going to (not interested in the "prearragement" from RCCL). What's the best way to switch to the package? I heard we can just request to switch to the package once on board (keeping all existing reservations)or do I need to also prepaid and booked the 3 night package in the planner and cancel the individual once on board?

 

2. Any idea how much they charge for the kids at these specialty restaurant? and for the 3 night package for kids? Are they able to order from the same menu? It will be funny if the kids is having fish and chips or whatever while the adults are having "specialty" dishes

 

3. I think I have read somewhere the first night dress code at the Grande is relaxed (smart casual?) so I booked our first night there.. but want to confirm if anyone has any experience as none of us has interests to dress up during our vacation but at the same time we don't want to be disrespectful if this is not the case

 

4. We are platinum C&A member.. and they currently have the buy one 2nd device half price package.. wonder if it make more sense to book on board (we need 2 devices) hoping for any addtional C&A discount or take advantage of the BOGOH offer now.

 

Thanks in advance

In reference to #1 and the specialty dining. I had booked the speciality dining package as well. I was told that the first night would be booked for me OR when we boarded the first day I could go the desired restaurant and tell them I wanted to eat there on the 2nd night and after that I could confirm the time and day with each restaurant I wanted. After thinking about it, I did not want to have to deal with the hassle of trying to confirm dinner res. for each day so I called back and asked that I wanted to choose the restaurant and day ahead of time rather than wait to hear what they booked for me, particularly on the 2nd night. When I called back, I was told that in that circumstance I would unable to buy the "package" and would have to book each one individually and pay the full price for each restaurant. The difference is approx. $100. for the two of us for 4 nights at specialty restaurants. I intend to call back and see if this has changed when we get closer to our June sailing date. In other words, if I choose the restaurants and days, I have to pay full rate and am unable to book the dining package unless I am willing to allow RC to choose the restaurants and I can only choose the 'time frame'. Two different RC reps told me this was the case. Have you been told anything like this?

Happy Cruising!

Swiss

[vondofife]

Thank you.

 

So if the child orders from speciality menu it is $10 and I assume a child portion.

 

And if they order from children's menu it is free?

 

 

We are onboard Anthem at the moment and have now eaten at both Jamie's Italian and Chops Grille. Both restaurants did not charge us anything for our son as he ate from the children's menu. If he had ordered from the speciality restaurant menu then it would have cost $10.

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

I am on Oasis right now. We bought the 3 restaurants specialty dining plan. The kids were offered the same foods. They had smaller portions at chops but had the same size portions that we had at 150. They don't get a typical 'kids menu' that's you typically find on land

 

I will have to call RCI when I get back about the billing bc they overcharged and then credited and charged again on this 3 meal package. [emoji15]. It's not making sense to me and I can't seem to get a good answer from many on the ship. It's frustrating.

[mirp]

Vondofife -- Thank you for the clarification.

 

MaiseyM -- Thank you for the detail about portion size. Sorry to hear about billing problems.

[bazan]

Thank you all for your replies...

 

I guess we are still not sure if we can just applied the package to our existing specialty restaurants booking... from what I gathered from the many threads... this is so confusing. But at least now I got my answer why there is no kids price in the planner... guess I have to call back to cancel my 2 "adults" booking for my kids... I will keep on digging .. and hopefully get some firm answers.

 

BTW... anyone know what is the balcony discount for platinum member and if this is combinable to shareholder benefits? Reason I was asking is because apparently when sending email to claim my shareholder benefits they told me I have $75 of OBC which I have no idea where it came from (I thought C&A discounts come in the form of price discount not OBC)

 

Thanks

[bazan]

Sorry ... just bumping out for my questions still looking if anyone have a more definitive answer

 

1. can i opt for specialty dining package to replace my individual specialty reservations so that i can determine my own restaraunts rather than letting them to assign? if yes do i also book the specialty package now or wait till on board.

 

2. Anyone know of C&A balcony discounts for platinum level is it in the form of OBC ?

 

Thanks again.

[Clarea]

Sorry ... just bumping out for my questions still looking if anyone have a more definitive answer

 

1. can i opt for specialty dining package to replace my individual specialty reservations so that i can determine my own restaraunts rather than letting them to assign? if yes do i also book the specialty package now or wait till on board.

 

2. Anyone know of C&A balcony discounts for platinum level is it in the form of OBC ?

 

Thanks again.

The purpose of giving a dining package discount is so the cruise line can pick some restaurant assignments. Whether they will let you make changes onboard is up to them.

 

Balcony discounts for Platinum are discounts on your cruise fare, not OBC:

 

$ 50 * for sailings of 3-5 nights

$100* for sailings of 6-9 nights

$200* for sailings of 10-14 nights

$200* for sailings of 15+ nights

 

*When booking less than 6 months from sailing date subtract $25 from the dollar amount.