ATLgirl15

That's funny you mention about staff being everywhere. We felt the complete opposite. Everyone was sooo nice and helpful - no complaints about service whatsoever but it seemed like they were less visible than usual. Maybe it's all the technology eliminated jobs. the one thing that stood out was that we never officially met our room attendant. I rarely saw any in the hall (which maybe is a good thing and done on purpose). But it seems odd. Usually they make a point of introducing themselves and giving a card with their name and contact. Come to think of it I don't know his name. but he did his job and we have no complaints -just seemed less personal than usual.

I fly is the most disorganized thing on this cruise (I am currently on too). No reservations available prior to cruise and everyone said you could do it once on board. Not only were there still no reservations but they canceled standby after a day because people were waiting in line for 2 hours. So they just stopped doing it. The guy told me me to just check in from time to time which would be a pain. I went this morning at opening (day 5 at 9 am) and got in. I think I was really lucky. I'm glad it worked out because it was a lot of fun.

North Star without a reservation is no problem at all-lots of availability.

Interesting. I booked Dial7 based on all the rave reviews here. I just checked the "fine print" and it says they will charge round trip tolls if they don't have a separate fare to get back into Manhattan. So it sounds like even though the passengers don't incur those rolls, we are getting dinged for the drivers tolls before and after he picks us up because they are Manhattan based. Not sure if it is too late to change my reservation since its on Saturday morning. I did use a $6 off promo code so that will cover some of the bogus toll charges. But at least now I know for next time. So much for all the research I did.

The East Coast Departure forum has a lot of good info but specific to your situation. I am actually doing almost the same thing this weekend so I'll try to put the answers all in one place. We will be flying into Newark a day early, renting a car to visit family overnight and then heading to the port the next day.

Based on research online, enterprise is the only rental company that will drop you off at the port but I can't vouch for the accuracy of this information. They have a location relatively close to the port. However, they charge an extra fee to drop the car at a different location than where you pick it up. I'm an Avis member so I only checked these 2 companies. I could rent from Avis for $100 and then have to pay transportation from the airport to the port. I could rent from Enterprise for $200 and get a free ride to the port. Since all transportation options are less than $100 I eliminated Enterprise as an option.

Based on information here a taxi will run you about $50-60. The Royal transport shuttle is $29 per person (not sure if kids are the same). A car service will run between $50-85 depending on size of vehicle. Many people here recommend Dial7 so we have booked them. We are only 2 people so we will fit into the $50 vehicle. Not only is it the cheapest option but it's also the most convenient. We have the reservation set for them to pick us up at the Avis rental return so we save the time and hassle of having to take the tram back to the main airport terminal and wait in taxi lines or shuttle busses to fill up.

Hope this information helps. And hope it all works out for me :)

They also run specials for days the ship is in port. In any case there is plenty of availability. We have a done a couples massage on practically every cruise and have booked it on day of boarding or even several days into the trip.

I can't speak for certain about restaurants on this ship but I think in general the cruise ships only release a certain amount of reservations in advance and hold back a lot of slots for people to book once they board. I think you will be able to make reservations for all the nights but make sure to do right when you board.

Spa would be my number 1 choice. one trip I did the behind the scenes tour and it was fascinating...not the theater one, but the actual ship tour where they take you to the kitchen, provision dept, crew area, laundry, engineering room, bridge. I'm not sure if all ships offer this but it is well worth price.

I'll be sailing and following. Love to see different perspectives.

I haven't been on Anthem yet (one more week!) but I can second DaniDanielle's statement about NCL. We sailed Escape which is the newest in the Breakaway class and it felt VERY closed in compared to Royal. Ceilings were very low, hallways narrow (we had to walk single file to our room), very small public spaces. The elevator banks really stand out in my mind-on Royal the waiting area (and even some glass elevators) are open and span many floors. You can see the promenade or library or something other than a wall. The adult "pool" area didn't even have a pool! No comparison to Solarium. We had a free specialty dining package so the food was excellent but there was little variety during the day other than buffet. I'm excited to see how Anthem stacks up. Glad to be back to Royal.

My husband usually wears nice jeans, a button down shirt and dress shoes. Depending on time of year and weather it might be a more traditional long sleeve shirt or a short sleeve cabana shirt (I think that is what they are called - same style as Hawaiian without the load print). Formal night is usually dark suit and tie. For upcoming Anthem we are ditching the suit and tie in favor of a sport coat based on all the CC reviews of how casual the ship is and the fact that there is no formal night :(

I completely understand about it being unfair for non-suite guests to get the perks (particularly the lounge) but its also not fair for a suite guest to have to forgo their perks just to be with family. We will be traveling with family later this year and fully expect to eat in MDR together - it would be nice if one night we can all go to CK but if not, its fine. We certainly wouldn't expect it every night. As for theater seats, we usually sit in the open seating area, but will all get in line together using the suite access priority line. Its hard for me to enter alone and have to save 4 extra seats waiting for them. And boarding we want the family photo together at the entrance and disembarking we all need to get in transportation to the airport together.

The problem is we have 2 grown kids with spouses/partners. Royal Caribbean does not offer a suite that 6 adults can share. Pullout couch is fine for minors but not 2 adults. I wish there was an option where all 6 of us could be suite guests (other than paying for 3 separate suites) but until then, we will continue as is.

The time I got the upgraded drink I ordered it fully intending to pay. But when I gave my card to charge it he said no charge because of diamond happy hour. I would never try to get the bartenders to do anything special where they could get in trouble. But if they offer, I certainly won't turn it down.

I had a feeling that was the answer but just wanted to confirm.

Thanks.

I know there is a special list of drinks available for the diamond happy hour that is the same as inside the diamond lounge. But I was wondering if we could order a higher grade drink and just pay the difference - similar to guests with drink packages. Or is an all or nothing situation-one from the list or full price for anything else? This is only our second cruise with the vouchers so we really didn't test it out. Last time the bartender in Viking Crown gave me grey goose complimentary but I don't think that is something I should expect.

I check the cruise planner every day to see if something opens up. A few times I have been teased where it says "add to cart" but then when I try to book it, it shows no availability.

We are Sky suite and I was hoping when the concierge e-mails us I can see if he/she can make a reservation. Our cruise is 10 days away and I haven't gotten the e-mail yet :( We won't be able to board until 12:30-1:00 due to travel time so I'm afraid everything might be gone already if I wait until we board.

I don't know if there are special "suite" spots like how shows have seats roped off. We book suites not neceassrily for the larger room, but all the other perks so I hope there are some for Northstar and ifly :)

We've traveled with our adult children who were in regular rooms while we were in a suite and we never had any issues. I think it all depends on the concierge and maybe how crowded the ship is. We didn't take advantage-Maybe once they came into the lounge. The concierge gave them stickers to put on their sea pass card to allow them priority seating at shows with us. And gave them wristbands for the suite beach at Labadee (we did have a cabana). We tipped really well because he did so much for us that trip. This was a few years ago before the new "royal suite" program so maybe it's changed. There was no Coastal Kitchen at that time so dining together wasn't an issue. Even boarding we all went through the "suite" line and disembarking we all did the suite walk off time. I imagine with minors its even easier.

This is one of the things that annoys me about Anthem- it's a lot of planning. I'm used to going on a cruise and figuring things out each day when we get the compass. Seems like now we have to book everything well in advance. I started about 2 months before the cruise and north star and I fly were already capped out. It's crazy-I thought I was early but apparently not. I'm assuming they hold back reservations for on board booking-it would be really bad business if they did not. I know that is how the spa works-I've looked at availability online before cruises and it was very limited but once I got on board there were tons of openings. I'll find out about Anthem in 10 days!

I don't remember what it was called at the time (about 3 years ago) but we did the late night snorkel park party. we ended up going back to the ship after one drink - first off it was really uncomfortably hot (July). But the thing we noticed was that the place was dominated by all the 18-20 year olds who are not legal to drink on the ship so were drinking a weeks worth of alcohol that one night. Our kids stayed (who are over 21) and said they saw lots of people puking. Total frat party atmosphere. Things may be different now. There was no cover charge so I'd say at least try it and see.

Thanks for the feedback. The sample menus and explanation on Royal's website are so different than the actual menus that have been posted here. I think I need to change a few reservations. Still keeping Grande because we like a formal night.

Is the food in Coastal Kitchen equivalent to MDR or is it a step up like the specialty restaurants? I wasn't sure if it was just a more serene atmosphere or if the food is really different. We are sailing on anthem and I'm trying to determine if we are better off eating at the different complimentary restaurants or taking advantage of our Coastal Kitchen access.

Can anyone tell me if there is a special suite line for north star or i fly? Other than dinner reservations I've never had to do advance reservations. Usually for shows there is a special section reserved so it's never been an issue to just walk up. But I realize Anthem is a very different experience. We'll be Sky so we do not have a genie to take care of us. Usually the concierge will email a week or so in advance so I hope he/she will be able to book us then, but I don't know if they will have spots held back and available.

If you look in the Anthem of the Seas section there was a guy who posted all the cruise compasses from the April 30th cruise and it did in fact show as open in the evening while in dock. I have no idea about other ships though.

So happy to hear a positive review! we will be boarding in 3 weeks and I am very excited.

When I go to Royal's website it only specifies "smart casual" but if I go under my reservation it has specific details for all restaurants (except Grande):

WHAT TO WEAR

• Skirts or pants (with no holes, rips or tears) and a sweater or blouse are appropriate for women.

• Pants (with no holes, rips or tears) and a sports shirt (must have sleeves) or sweater are appropriate for men.

• Swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurants or specialty restaurants at any time.

• T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops are not allowed in the evening hours but are acceptable for lunch.

We've gone on smaller (not small) ships after oasis/allure and still enjoyed ourselves. We did find ourselves comparing the ships though and wishing for the amenities. My feeling is if I am looking at a specific itinerary and its offered on multiple ships then no brainier I am spending the extra money to go on allure/oasis. But I have no issues going on other ships to see different ports or if its 5 days or less. Unfortunately the itineraries for oasis/allure don't offer much variety to keep doing it over and over. However I think they are going to change that later this year.