Royal stole from my wife, Anthem 4/6/19-4/13/19

[sparks1093]

50 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

This is the only part I do not get LOL.  I think the beds, linens, and pillows are mostly horrible on RCI. CCL always has such comfortable mattresses and pillows. I had good pillows on Harmony & Symphony, and was rather surprised. I have not sailed on the Quantum class, so maybe they are just better on that class.

I think timing plays a large part in how comfortable the beds themselves are, if you are unlucky to sail just before they are replaced they are likely to be very uncomfortable, but the bed on Anthem was as comfy as the ones we had on CCL. The sheets are embroidered with the Royal symbol but other than that seemed comparable to CCL. Of course we have only one Royal experience to compare to and as you say maybe the Quantum class is different in this regard. (And maybe the bed seemed more comfortable because of the use we made of the drink package🙄 😂.)  

[MagBob]

Thank you for the info dreadpirate3.  I'm sure your friend appreciates the pictures of the gluten free buffetg too.

[Sanz]

On 4/22/2019 at 10:15 PM, MagBob said:

Re Gluten Free food station....  Is there actually food or just salads?

 

There should be made to order  breakfast (fruit and toppings) and lunch crepes.

 

This is a thread on Gluten Free from 2017

 

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Sanz

[KmomChicago]

On ‎4‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 1:09 PM, sparks1093 said:

You are welcome. I do see it but only up to a point. I might pay a little more for a Royal cruise than I would with one of the others but the "wow" isn't worth that much more to me (although DW might have a different opinion). Of course I won't know how much more Royal is worth until the day comes when we're actually deciding on a cruise (we booked our cruise with Radiance before we sailed on Anthem and I just asked DW as I was posting this if she regretted going with CCL now that we've sailed Royal and she said no, because CCL gives us an extra night for $300 less on this cruise to Bermuda).

 

I agree with you. Royal does a better job keeping the ships looking well-maintained where Carnival lets theirs get more run-down.

 

Oasis is 10 years old but when we were on it last year it looked essentially brand new to us, and of course the size, included food service options, and public spaces of the ship, with a more updated décor, had an overall wow factor that never dimmed during our 7 days aboard.  I did feel their crew was a bit less cheerful than Carnival and I missed the self service laundry.

 

However, in order to get it to a price point that I found acceptable compared to Carnival, we were in an inside guarantee (ended up being an excellent location and a comfortable, quiet room that made very efficient use of space).  My husband says the ship and its amenities are overall more important to him than the ports visited or the cruise line, if he has his druthers, but we both agree not to go broke for a "better" ship.  Still I am looking at possibly getting aboard Anthem before she moves to Europe next year so I really appreciate your perspective.

 

[sparks1093]

5 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I agree with you. Royal does a better job keeping the ships looking well-maintained where Carnival lets theirs get more run-down.

 

Oasis is 10 years old but when we were on it last year it looked essentially brand new to us, and of course the size, included food service options, and public spaces of the ship, with a more updated décor, had an overall wow factor that never dimmed during our 7 days aboard.  I did feel their crew was a bit less cheerful than Carnival and I missed the self service laundry.

 

However, in order to get it to a price point that I found acceptable compared to Carnival, we were in an inside guarantee (ended up being an excellent location and a comfortable, quiet room that made very efficient use of space).  My husband says the ship and its amenities are overall more important to him than the ports visited or the cruise line, if he has his druthers, but we both agree not to go broke for a "better" ship.  Still I am looking at possibly getting aboard Anthem before she moves to Europe next year so I really appreciate your perspective.

 

Every time that I have proposed sailing an inside or ocean view to DW in order to allow us to sail on a different line she has vetoed the idea. I'll have to ask her if she would be willing to sail an ocean view if it meant Royal versus Carnival. I hope you are able to fit Anthem in.

Edited June 1, 2019 by sparks1093

[LuCruise]

Great review.  Sounds like you had a great cruise! Nice too how you lucked out with another table of two in the MDR.  We'll be on Anthem same itinerary in March.  Good to see how the timing works for Universal (and i assume similar for Disney).  So tempting to go but can imagine that we wouldn't get on many rides with those kind of waits (and for us, it'll be march break so even more crowded).  With kids, they wouldn't be happy just walking around. 🙂

Did you catch The Gift and the other regular show?  (I saw you mentioned We Will Rock You but may have missed the others).  Did they have other things going on during the day?  Really looking forward to Anthem as it seems a bit different from other Royal ships.

 

Edited June 1, 2019 by LuCruise

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, LuCruise said:

Great review.  Sounds like you had a great cruise! Nice too how you lucked out with another table of two in the MDR.  

 

No luck, lots of tables for 2 on the Anthem.  One can request certain tables either thru rcldining@rccl.com or on board.  I request a table for 2 by a window and 99% of the time I do.  Only at breakfast & lunch they try to place you with a larger table, but if you insist you will get what you want.

 

FYI:  On my February Symphony sail, for breakfast & lunch (sea days only), there were 2 lines--one for the buffet and the other for ordering off the menu.  Was told that if you choose menu, you can also take advantage of the buffet which we did.  However, don't know how strictly they enforce the policy, if you choose buffet, you're not allowed to order from menu.  Explanation, better utilization of staff.

[custompcsys]

Great detailed review, thanks for the look at the Anthem! 🙂

 

To the OP:  I'm originally from NJ but lived in Johnson for 10 years before I got tired of the cold and mud season and moved to Florida!  Did many a Harley ride through Enosburg! Even after 10 years I was still considered a flatlander! 🙂

Edited June 1, 2019 by custompcsys

[LuCruise]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

No luck, lots of tables for 2 on the Anthem.  One can request certain tables either thru rcldining@rccl.com or on board.  I request a table for 2 by a window and 99% of the time I do.  Only at breakfast & lunch they try to place you with a larger table, but if you insist you will get what you want.

 

FYI:  On my February Symphony sail, for breakfast & lunch (sea days only), there were 2 lines--one for the buffet and the other for ordering off the menu.  Was told that if you choose menu, you can also take advantage of the buffet which we did.  However, don't know how strictly they enforce the policy, if you choose buffet, you're not allowed to order from menu.  Explanation, better utilization of staff.

I just meant how OP commented they were next to another couple and they really hit it off and basically had their dinners together.  But good to know they have lots of options for different size tables.

[nelblu]

29 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

I just meant how OP commented they were next to another couple and they really hit it off and basically had their dinners together.  But good to know they have lots of options for different size tables.

Sorry, I've must misunderstood.  It seemed that you were alluding that table for 2 are difficult to obtain. 

 

As the Op mentioned, tables for 2 are quite close to one another and have met some nice Paxs for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

[RN4Nsy]

I really enjoyed your review! I still have 200 + days till my next Cruise, rats!

[sparks1093]

22 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Great review.  Sounds like you had a great cruise! Nice too how you lucked out with another table of two in the MDR.  We'll be on Anthem same itinerary in March.  Good to see how the timing works for Universal (and i assume similar for Disney).  So tempting to go but can imagine that we wouldn't get on many rides with those kind of waits (and for us, it'll be march break so even more crowded).  With kids, they wouldn't be happy just walking around. 🙂

Did you catch The Gift and the other regular show?  (I saw you mentioned We Will Rock You but may have missed the others).  Did they have other things going on during the day?  Really looking forward to Anthem as it seems a bit different from other Royal ships.

 

Yes, we watched the Gift and Spectra's Cabaret. We really liked the Gift and I dozed off during Spectra's, literally. There was always something going on somewhere it seemed, we definitely kept busy. I've heard that buying that thing that gets you through lines faster is the way to go if you want to do rides at any of the park but when we were there regular wait times were 45 minutes to an hour (and it wasn't that busy).

[sparks1093]

19 hours ago, custompcsys said:

Great detailed review, thanks for the look at the Anthem! 🙂

 

To the OP:  I'm originally from NJ but lived in Johnson for 10 years before I got tired of the cold and mud season and moved to Florida!  Did many a Harley ride through Enosburg! Even after 10 years I was still considered a flatlander! 🙂

Yeah, once a flatlander, always a flatlander😉. We just had Rolling Thunder come through for Memorial Day. DW and I are working at the Dairy Festival this weekend. Tiring but fun.

[sparks1093]

12 hours ago, RN4Nsy said:

I really enjoyed your review! I still have 200 + days till my next Cruise, rats!

Thank you! I'll trade you, we're still over 400 days away from our next one.