baileymouse

Quite honestly, I really wanted to go on this. It was a great deal and it gave me a chance to try a new cruise line, which I've been wanting to do. Do. I was thrilled about the ports. When Royal goes up there they generally just go to Halifax and Bar Harbor. I like stopping in a different port every day and I was very happy to be going. I was also taking my friend Lee's word for it that the food would be better. I was very surprised that it was in bed as it was. I think I mentioned that there were things that I enjoyed. I think that they tender much better than royal does, and I enjoyed being able to visit five ports in a single week. Service was fantastic. Our waiter, junior waiter and hour cabin attendant were all really great people. He had much better cabin service than I have had on my last couple of cruises. I've never been on an Oasis class ship, but Anthem had plenty of live music in the bars and venues. I don't think I've been on a cruise that didn't have live music.

I think you're right. My one friend said there was a huge difference between this cruise and the one she had on Ruby Princess to Alaska.

The coffee card is one of my absolute favorite things. There's no rhyme or reason to the punch system, though. On Anthem they only punched once for large, whereas on Liberty they punched twice.

Welcome back to Bayonne. My daughter said the port was hopping today. She sent me a quick text to let me know that Cape Liberty was extremely busy.

Really? Attacking my friend's position is your defense? She worked for many years for Seagrams in exactly that capacity. So, have you tasted the dessert in question? Or are you cheerleading for Princess? I am not in any way partial to Royal except to say that my other friend's pre-cruise assessment of the food on Princess was wrong. It was terrible. Royal has had their ups & downs with food, as evidenced by many of the reviews on these boards and others. The friend who was partial to Princess had been on the Ruby Princess over the summer right after sailing on Oasis, and said that Princess won that round hands-down. On Emerald none of us were happy with the food.

You weren't there, were you? Most of the dinners were terrible. I heard plenty of people complaining about it. Out of the week, I think I liked two choices. 1st night - fish was tough and overcooked. 2nd night - The duck l'orange had no orange on it anywhere and was extremely tough. The pate appetizer was like a cross between baby food & baby poop 3rd night - rack of lamb was good Other dinners that week were just as bad as the first two. Duck breast was again tough, the striploin was terrible. Their signature dessert that they kept pushing tasted like 1970s lipstick. The line for the tea was incredibly long but once people saw what was being served, the dining room quickly emptied out. Pastrami with mayonnaise? Ugh! The Indian food on the buffet had no spicing whatsoever. The breakfast menu in the dining room was very limited compared to Royal. They only offered eggs benedict on the last day, and it wasn't worth the wait. One of the people I was traveling with is a flavor chemist and she said she had a conversation with a chef from NYC who was onboard who also said the food was disgusting. The best meal we had was in Bar Harbor, off the ship.

One other thing I forgot, there is no emphasis on hand washing. No one tells you to do it, no one seems to be doing it. I thought that was very strange.

I've been on a bunch of Royal cruises, one Celebrity cruise, and yesterday I returned from my 1st ever Princess cruise. We (3 friends and I) were on the Emerald Princess out of Red Hook, Brooklyn. One friend is a Princess cruiser who took the Ruby Princess to Alaska in June and had a fantastic time. She kept telling me the food is so much better on Princess than Royal. Nah, it was inedible. I know things have been hit or miss on a lot of cruises, but out of a solid week I think I only enjoyed two dinners. The food at the buffet was tasteless. That same friend was on Oasis in May and she had a great time with her family, but she didn't like the food on Oasis. I like older ships, I was on Majesty a couple of times and I loved Enchantment, so I'm fine with mature ships, but this was not what I expected. What I thought was bad: Signage was poor, it was hard to locate bathrooms in public areas. The Medallion app didn't work well. Information in the app didn't match what was printed on their "Princess Patter" You can only get self-serve water and coffee at the buffet The drinks were beyond weak, and we were paying for them, we didn't get a package. The hallways were ugly, no artwork The entertainment was beyond meh. There was an amazing pianist who was a delight, but the musical shows were amateurish, the entertainment in the bars wasn't as much fun as it is on Royal, and there was a general lack of activities. They had a comedian who told jokes so old I was finishing the punchlines for my friend before the comedian could get them out. He also told a lot of misogynistic and political jokes, and people walked out. What was better: Not a lot of upselling. I never felt pressured. I never saw anyone in the Park West gallery, no one dragged me into Effy, and the spa never approached me. The tender system was great! They use their lifeboats as tenders and it works really well. We never had a long line for the tenders, whereas I waited forever to get to and get back from Bar Harbor on Royal. They still clean the rooms multiple times a day. I don't look for that or need it, but for those who enjoy that, there you go. Their free pizza is closer to real pizza but it still ain't Brooklyn pizza 😉 They had two formal nights for a one week cruise! I was surprised. Many didn't dress the second time. At 57 I think I was one of the youngest people on the ship. I only saw one child all week. Would I cruise with them again? Only if the price and itinerary were irresistible. I love cruising out of Cape Liberty with Royal because I can roll out of bed and be there in 10 minutes, but there's such a limited amount of itineraries from this port. YMMV

In 2019 my husband had a subdural hematoma on board. They brought the ship back to St. Maarten and sent us to St. Maarten Medical Center. He was airlifted the next day to NJ. Insurance covered everything for the air ambulance, reimbursed the hospital costs (St. Maarten charged us about 10K) and the one night of the hotel for me. They also refunded us for the missed days of the cruise. I hope no one ever needs this. We bought the insurance through our travel agent, and the company was AON. I've seen people complain about it but I didn't have any issues, other than them waiting to see if my medical insurance would cover things.

Considering the National Weather Service has been on this for over a week, I think they could have been more forthcoming with travel plans. Other lines have communicated changed itineraries. Right now all we know is that we are expected to board on Saturday. To where? We know that at least two ports are guaranteed to be a no go due to tenders. Who knows what condition the other 3 will be in when we get there? And if they're going to change completely and head down to Bermuda, it would be nice for people to know in advance so that they can pack the proper clothing.

The direct path of Hurricane Lee is where we are headed. They still haven't changed itineraries or canceled the sailing and no one has any information. I tried the live chat this AM and they put me on hold, and didn't come back. I live local but I feel very bad for the cruisers who are flying or driving into NYC for this.

They oversell it, and people get knocked off. I have almost no service on Anthem in January, which caused me to miss a few meetings on the sea days.

A statement about the vaccination question. I feel so bad when the girls come home all beleaguered, talking about the people who were incredibly rude to them over something that they don't control.

At Cape Liberty (not sure if they're doing it at other ports) the check-in agents ask if you have been vaccinated for Covid. The cruise line has the agents asking this. Don't be pissy with the check-in agents. Just say yes or no, and move on. They're not judging you and they don't need your sermons. They wouldn't be asking if the they weren't instructed to do so. There's a small group of outliers who seem to think it's okay to get all high & mighty with the check-in people and sometimes get downright abusive. Would you want someone acting that way towards your daughter or Mom or aunt? Almost all of the check-in agents are women. RCCL keeps a count of vaccinated vs unvaccinated. That's it.

Never, ever stay at the Hudson Plaza Motel in Bayonne. It's a dirty, disgusting place frequented by low-rent hookers and drug addicts. Both Embassy Suites and Spring Hill in Elizabeth are fine. Not sure about the shuttle.