Looking to Jump Ship (New to RCCL questions)

[Floating Lanai]

Hi everyone,

 

We (my wife and I) are looking to change things up and get away from Carnival for out next cruise.

 

Our goal is to have an itinerary with St Maarten, worse case we would accept virgin islands or St Kitts etc..

 

I think I found our best option (from searching with MSC, NCL and RCCL), next summer on the Anthem out of NJ, we have never sailed out of NJ or with RCCL obviously. (Bermuda, St Maarten, PR, Haiti)

 

3 things we love with carnival, are the spa rooms (which RC does not have), the steakhouse and the dumb but fun lido deck games with an overall "music(y) atmosphere"

 

Going on the Anthem with RC, what would we be losing. It seems we would miss out on the Thallaso pool, but still have the heated tile loungers. How much is a weekly spa pass with RC, or how does the spa work with packages?

 

Are the Anthems steakhouse and specialty restaurants great? The carnival steakhouse is literally super delicious.

 

And also, how is the vibe and atmosphere, is there music all around and good innocent deck fun?

Edited July 1, 2016 by Floating Lanai

[jennmaybe]

We haven't sailed Anthem yet, but I can tell you from personal experience and 2 people that sailed Carnival many times before trying another line, you will love RCCL! Once we sailed Oasis, we never looked back....until I talked hubby into trying Breeze. Biggest mistake and worst cruise we ever had. :mad:

 

Carnival could offer us free sailings for life and we would still never step foot back onto one of their ships.

 

You will have a great cruise!! :)

[sammydh82]

Hi everyone,

 

We (my wife and I) are looking to change things up and get away from Carnival for out next cruise.

 

Our goal is to have an itinerary with St Maarten, worse case we would accept virgin islands or St Kitts etc..

 

I think I found our best option (from searching with MSC, NCL and RCCL), next summer on the Anthem out of NJ, we have never sailed out of NJ or with RCCL obviously. (Bermuda, St Maarten, PR, Haiti)

 

3 things we love with carnival, are the spa rooms (which RC does not have), the steakhouse and the dumb but fun lido deck games with an overall "music(y) atmosphere"

 

Going on the Anthem with RC, what would we be losing. It seems we would miss out on the Thallaso pool, but still have the heated tile loungers. How much is a weekly spa pass with RC, or how does the spa work with packages?

 

Are the Anthems steakhouse and specialty restaurants great? The carnival steakhouse is literally super delicious.

 

And also, how is the vibe and atmosphere, is there music all around and good innocent deck fun?

 

Anthem (Quantum class) is different than any of the other Royal Caribbean ships for a few reasons.

 

1- Dynamic Dining: There are 5 different restaurants that are complimentary (at least when we cruised in May 2016- Amer. Icon, Chic, Silk, The Grande, and Solarium Bistro). You can pick and choose your reservations with dynamic or do a rotation on dynamic classic.

They also have specialty restaurants, which I can't speak to because we've never tried any! They do have Chops Grille tho, which is Royal's version of a steak house!

 

2- Northstar and I-fly: Northstar is the giant capsule that goes up above the ship on a mechanical arm and you get great views. I-fly is the skydiving simulator which was awesome!

 

3- 270: Great, Great public space with 270 degree views of the ocean on the aft of the ship. It was a beautiful space and has it's own bar and cafe adjoined to it. They have robot screens in this space that do shows and they did Spectra's in 270 as well!

 

4- Seaplex with bumper cars, trapeze school, etc.- I think these are the only two activities offered on Anthem that aren't available on other ships. Both were a lot of fun!

 

5- Solarium: Absolutely beautiful enclosed, adults only pools and hot tub area with great ocean views as well!

 

6- Enclosed pool: Open to everyone but nice if you have some not great weather days!

 

There was a lot of stuff happening at any given time around the pool deck. I honestly cannot remember whether there was or was not a band playing Caribbean music! lol I also only used the Fitness Center and not the spa so I can't answer that question either. :o

 

Either way, we LOVED Anthem and had an absolute blast! So much so, we just switched our future cruise booking to another sailing on Anthem!

[Floating Lanai]

We haven't sailed Anthem yet, but I can tell you from personal experience and 2 people that sailed Carnival many times before trying another line, you will love RCCL! Once we sailed Oasis, we never looked back....until I talked hubby into trying Breeze. Biggest mistake and worst cruise we ever had. :mad:

 

Carnival could offer us free sailings for life and we would still never step foot back onto one of their ships.

 

You will have a great cruise!! :)

 

We took Breeze last year and had a great time, but we are always able to make the best of it.

 

One major reason of wanting to switch is in my opinion the lack of innovation with carnival when compared to NCL or RCCL, but the increase in cheapness lol.

 

Thanks for your input!

[Floating Lanai]

Anthem (Quantum class) is different than any of the other Royal Caribbean ships for a few reasons.

 

1- Dynamic Dining: There are 5 different restaurants that are complimentary (at least when we cruised in May 2016- Amer. Icon, Chic, Silk, The Grande, and Solarium Bistro). You can pick and choose your reservations with dynamic or do a rotation on dynamic classic.

They also have specialty restaurants, which I can't speak to because we've never tried any! They do have Chops Grille tho, which is Royal's version of a steak house!

 

2- Northstar and I-fly: Northstar is the giant capsule that goes up above the ship on a mechanical arm and you get great views. I-fly is the skydiving simulator which was awesome!

 

3- 270: Great, Great public space with 270 degree views of the ocean on the aft of the ship. It was a beautiful space and has it's own bar and cafe adjoined to it. They have robot screens in this space that do shows and they did Spectra's in 270 as well!

 

4- Seaplex with bumper cars, trapeze school, etc.- I think these are the only two activities offered on Anthem that aren't available on other ships. Both were a lot of fun!

 

5- Solarium: Absolutely beautiful enclosed, adults only pools and hot tub area with great ocean views as well!

 

6- Enclosed pool: Open to everyone but nice if you have some not great weather days!

 

There was a lot of stuff happening at any given time around the pool deck. I honestly cannot remember whether there was or was not a band playing Caribbean music! lol I also only used the Fitness Center and not the spa so I can't answer that question either. :o

 

Either way, we LOVED Anthem and had an absolute blast! So much so, we just switched our future cruise booking to another sailing on Anthem!

 

Thank you so much for all your info and input.

 

We love the freedom of dining, that sounds like a value add, even the your time with carnival can be annoying if you are wanting to eat late. We want many dining options, even if we have to pay

 

An I fly opened up near our house but I guess we can hold off on doing it for a better view on the ship without walls lol. Love the innovation with RC.

 

Trapeze schools sounds extremely intriguing as I love high flying acts, I was a diver in college and look to cliff dive on every vacation we take so I am sure I would love trapeze and circus acts.

 

Probably wouldn't use the solarium much if at all, but the 270 sounds nice.

 

Thanks again.

[ryano]

 

Are the Anthems steakhouse and specialty restaurants great? The carnival steakhouse is literally super delicious.

 

 

I have no idea about Anthem specifically but I can tell you that out of three Chops experiences on two different ships, it doesnt even come close to Carnivals steakhouse. I find thats the general consensus of those who sail both lines and have no bias towards either. Also, you dont get the hard sell pitch to pay 18-20 dollars extra for a "better" steak on Carnival either.

 

JMO. Others are certainly welcome to disagree.

Edited July 1, 2016 by ryano

[Big_G]

I have no idea about Anthem specifically but I can tell you that out of three Chops experiences on two different ships, it doesnt even come close to Carnivals steakhouse. I find thats the general consensus of those who sail both lines and have no bias towards either. Also, you dont get the hard sell pitch to pay 18-20 dollars extra for a "better" steak on Carnival either.

 

JMO. Others are certainly welcome to disagree.

 

I've never eaten in a Carnival steak house but I'll say our Chops experiences have been nothing to write home about. Our last couple weren't bad but prior to that we had taken a break because it was such a crap shoot. Our last two cruises we didn't bother.

[Floating Lanai]

I have no idea about Anthem specifically but I can tell you that out of three Chops experiences on two different ships, it doesnt even come close to Carnivals steakhouse. I find thats the general consensus of those who sail both lines and have no bias towards either. Also, you dont get the hard sell pitch to pay 18-20 dollars extra for a "better" steak on Carnival either.

 

JMO. Others are certainly welcome to disagree.

 

I've never eaten in a Carnival steak house but I'll say our Chops experiences have been nothing to write home about. Our last couple weren't bad but prior to that we had taken a break because it was such a crap shoot. Our last two cruises we didn't bother.

 

 

Thanks or the input and information. The steakhouse is probably the best thing carnival does and has to offer.

[densol]

Im a loyal Carnival cruiser and have plenty of " Ships on Stick" but this year for the first time we are trying RCCL as there seems so much more on their boats ( ice skating, flowrider, sports deck and rock climbing ) plus in Europe my 19 yo son can drink alcohol. Its quite a bit more than im used to paying but we thought give it a try :)