ThePNVT

I hope my husband never sees this. :p

I am imagining this means we'll kind of get the worst of both worlds on our Anthem cruise the week before the change? ;) I am a glass half-full person, I'll love it no matter what, because vacation is fun, the ocean is fun, RCCL is fun...not great timing though for a change (I sail Nov 20.) I will work on cherishing being the final Dynamic Choice crew :p

So we can't get reservations at the same time for them. I would love input from anyone else who might see this and have suggestions. The options as I see them:

1. I cancel all of my existing reservations and re-reserve, basically all at 9pm which is late for my parents. This sounds like a great option to me, but I don't want my parents to feel like I'm swashbuckling them into a miserable late dinner just cause I took them on vacation all hostage-like. :p

2. I leave our reservations as is and beg them to add my parents to our table at the desk when we get on the ship which seems like a total crap shoot.

3. I banish the kids from dinner, send them to the windjammer (they're teens), and enjoy a quiet dinner each night with my husband and parents. I present this SORT OF tongue-in-cheek...but then again....(will they allow us to substitute guests at the table on the fly?)

4. I just have some more patience and hope reservations open back up?

Just cause it's owned by RCCL doesn't make it it's own country. I own land in VT, but it's still part of the United States even though it's my private property. It would be so sweet if we could buy islands and then they'd be our own countries! Maybe troublesome too though. ;)

Yes indeed. I missed that you mentioned that space. :) Plus, "helipad" just doesn't have the peaceful ring of "bow". (Though both sound to have the same eyelash-reducing potential.) :p

That is the helipad.

Good call! We ended up having the bartender at the pool bar just try to whip something up from nothing purple...was a little....grey but...it did the trick ;)

Next time...

I tend to try a few froofroo drinks but mainly stick to Craft Beer, Red wine and mostly the classic cocktails: Gin Tonic, Old Fashioned, Manhattan. But I did learn about the Moscow Mule here on CC. I love it.

 

Also really like the BLT Caesars (Like a BLT Mary).

 

For your purple drink of the day, try a Purple Haze martini.

 

dp

You can go all the way forward on freedom to the bow (just keep going forward, then up a little set of stairs on deck 4), it's so windy you won't have any eyelashes left when you get home, but it was always empty and so so so peaceful and amazing (and I think you CAN get out of the wind if you want to by snuggling in, I'd spend an hour there every day. This is going to be my #1 most missed thing when I cruise on Anthem in Nov (cause you can't get to the bow).

Promenade was all together lovely. We met folks sitting out on that floor but always one at a time, low-key friendly interactions.

What's the bar at the very top? Olive and Twist? It was lovely too, not crowded much of the day, comfy places to just lounge and look out over the beautiful ship and ocean.

I loved having one of these in the champagne bar on Freedom every night (hopefully they're available on anthem!)

CHAMPAGNE MARGARITA (sugar-rimmed champagne glass, Patron Silver tequila, Cointreau, orange juice, topped w/ champagne)

And I never drink froofy drinks, but with a drink package on a cruise...I have to have a Bahama Mama or Pina Colada at least once a day.

I loved having a whiskey or Scotch drink at dinner (Tom Collins, Old Fashioned, etc)

Hubby and I dedicated each day of our last cruise to trying a drink in a different color of the rainbow. Purple was challenging but.... :p

At home I drink beer and sometimes tequila or whiskey. On a cruise it's no holds barred.

Seven doesn't seem like a big table compared to what I've seen and been seated at in the past on cruises...We had a ten top on a Disney (with smaller dining rooms) and we had an 8 top on Freedom (where half of our party didn't show once, so we had this giant table with 4 of us.) Bigger tables is what I think of as the norm (that said, I've never been on a Quantum class!)

I think the idea to have them try for same time/place reservations sounds like a best worst case scenario right now, I'll try today. I do feel like it might be hopeless though (half of our dining times are really late, though half are 5:45 and a 6...)

Wish me luck and thanks for the input!

Wah! I'm feeling whiney. I booked my family of 5 (in two rooms, so a total PITA) for all of our Dynamic Dining Choice dinner reservations when reservations opened a few months ago. (Sailing on Anthem in Nov 2016.) I decided last week to bring my parents on the cruise with us (woohoo!!! :D ) It sounds like it's going to be impossible to add them to our dining reservations which is a complete and total bummer.

Can this really be? I had them added by our TA to our trip's "group booking" so I can plan activities with them in the Cruise Planner. But it seems impossible in the planner to add them to my existing reservations... so I called RCCL and they said there is no availability to add them at this time.

Eating dinner together each night is a really important part of our vacation!

The representative at RCCL said I can ask that they be added to our table when we get onboard. That sounds like leaving an AWFUL lot up to chance to me when this feels really important.

Am I just SOL? (I'll get over it if I am, but it will be hard for me to let go of this one.) Is this really hopeless? Is there actually a chance they might be added to our table once we're on board? (That sounds SO doubtful to me...)

Exactly.

My Dh won't cruise without the flowrider [emoji475]

 

 

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You guys are great, thanks so much!

I don't know how to "open the other reservation"...It's shown as linked but it doesn't seem to have it's own life :confused:

Hearing that others have made the res's the same way (by clicking the boxes and adding members etc) and have had them "stick" even though they only show as 2 of us in the calendar is very encouraging! I think our dinner res's are set.

It also sounds like it will be the same process for packages and activities which I can handle! Phew.

Thanks again!

Here is my tip:

 

You are paying your Travel Agent. Let him/her earn his/her pay.

Nice :D. I'm actually not used to having an agent (this is the first time I've booked a cruise using one!) I guess maybe I should call her tomorrow. :p

Urgghhhh. I remember HATING the RCCL website last time I cruised, but last time we had ONE room cause it was just hubby and I. THIS TIME we have two rooms cause we put the kids in an inside cabin across from our balcony (woot woot!) but GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.....

I can't figure out how to use the stupid Cruise Planner to plan for the whole family! It's SO MEGA FRUSTRATING. Our TA linked the res's, I see the second room listed as "linked res" but the other members of the family aren't actually listed or anything...a) I figured out how to make DD res's for all of us by adding all the names with check boxes blablabla, and now they're only showing for the two of us listed in the balcony room (so who the h$** knows if all 5 of us actually have dinner res's) AND b) I'm going to want to purchase drink packages etc for ALL of us before the cruise...I'm going to want to make show res's and activity res's for all of us before hand...how the heck can I do that?

Any tips or hints for not going bald pulling out all of my hair over this in the coming months?

These are some great pics! Why all the chairs out on the bow if you can't even hang out, ohhhhh what a tease! (The crew can hang out there, I'm guessing?) And I bet I WILL spend a little time on the little mini outdoor walkway! I love finding a little spot all to myself to just escape to every now and then (well besides my balcony cause I escape to there all the time ;) )

Now I have to read the rest of your review, you make it look sooooooo fun!

THANKS!

Is there a promenade deck? (A place to walk around outside besides up top?)

There is, but it's not connected either forward or aft and it's not really a promenade either. I suspect you won't spend much time there.

Pictures here (these are from Quantum)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45001937&highlight=outdoors#post45001937

 

Can you stand out on the bow? (allllll the way out on the bow?)

Yes... but only if you take the All Access Tour! The bow is inaccessible to all the public, the only way to get there is through staff quarters. The All Access Tour takes you there. Do the All Access Tour... totally worth it!

Pictures here (again from Quantum)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45076863&highlight=bow#post45076863

 

Where's a nice place to get a drink and enjoy an ocean view? (I could have LIVED at Olive and Twists---am I messing the name up on that?--on Freedom. Aaaahhhhhh.)

No Viking crown on this ship... but even better yet is Two70 aft with massive floor to ceiling windows. There's a bar back there.

 

Have an awesome cruise! :D

Thanks everyone! Sooooo looking forward to discovering some new favorite spots, love the tips!

Merion, I don't know why I couldn't come up with that! I actually call it "Oliver Twists" in my head, but I knew that wasn't it, just couldn't come up with the OR, haaa.

Just booked our first Anthem trip and we're SO psyched. (No, I couldn't care less about the complainers :p :D ) I had a couple questions though:

Is there a promenade deck? (A place to walk around outside besides up top?)

Can you stand out on the bow? (allllll the way out on the bow?)

Where's a nice place to get a drink and enjoy an ocean view? (I could have LIVED at Olive and Twists---am I messing the name up on that?--on Freedom. Aaaahhhhhh.)

Any other favorite little nooks or crannies on this class?

(Basically these are some of the things I loved on our last Freedom cruise, and I'm looking forward to finding all of my favorite things on Anthem, knowing they'll be different and great too.)

If I may piggyback on your thread a little... :p What are the size/age/height restrictions for the iFly? (talkin' kids here, not bigger folks.)

Still reading, thanks for the input, I'm keeping notes. Great to hear from an actual teen, fishinjunkie, thanks!

Lots of helpful responses, guys, thank you!

Minnesota... This family has positive experiences with contracts and I was already talking to the mama about making one with her, I'm excited that there are samples online too and I'm gonna use lots of the advice from this thread to help her tailor one.

Just for clarification: this mama and her daughter are going on their own and sharing a room. I'm not going, just helping cause I'm a cruise geek :p;):cool: It's 20 below without the windchill here this morning. I wish more than anything I was going!

I never said "behavioral issues"!!!!

We do live in a town of 5-6000, you can walk anywhere, there are a handful of bars and young men everywhere! Just like any town there are parties with teenagers, drugs, sex, rock and roll...it's life out there...

I will prepare my friend for the party atmosphere I'm hearing she should expect (which I didn't foresee having to warn her about because it's so not my experience) and use some of your comments and ideas to help her come up with some agreements before the trip. Any further advice still welcome!

That's really helpful too TammyLyne!

And from others, psyched to hear mention of some of the "teen safe" options and some of the "avoid THIS" too. :D

That's helpful cb! I'll pass that on, I think that's a good strategy.

My experience on the cruises I've been on have been of safety and order. You all are painting a picture of mayhem! Like I can't imagine being on my most recent RCCL cruise and seeing teenagers walking through the dining room swiping drinks and going up each others shirts. COULD it have happened? Suuuuuuuuuuure, in some version of the universe... Did it? No way. I never ONCE saw out of control teens, teens drinking...none of it. I felt like I was in a safe place with plenty of order.

There was a curfew, it was obeyed. What would have happened if it wasn't? (Maybe nothing?) I don't know, I never saw it being broken though.

My experience of cruising has been: It's just about as safe as life gets.

You all paint a different picture and I'm wondering if it's just the way I asked the question...Tell me it's not Carnival specific though...?

As a mother to teens I know what kinds of trouble a kid COULD get into and as a cruiser I know no one will be babysitting my friend's 15 year old for her the whole cruise. I also very clearly know that one could be put in JAIL and still do heroin, so I get it... (no, not at all what I'm talking about, but I want to convey that I understand that when one is he&&bent on trouble they WILL find it... and it's not what I see as the case here...)

I guess I hoped for more specific info. This kid has a lot of "good kid" potential, has been demonstrating a lot of great behavior, but has a hx of pushing limits (I know few teens who don't at one point or another and I happen to have insanely well-behaved children myself just by pure luck ;) ) Anyway, I think if trouble is knocking at the door she *might* (MIGHT) answer (but I don't think she'll be knocking on doors looking for trouble...)

No, they aren't booking a Spring Break cruise! That would be so stupid in this scenario! :p

There isn't a curfew though? There was a curfew on RCCL...

And they would really allow a 15 year old MINOR off the boat without a guardian in a FOREIGN COUNTRY! I asked cause I didn't know, but I was really hoping the answer would be "what are you crazy, of course not."

Any other perspectives out there?

I'm asking for advice/info for a friend who is planning on cruising with a 15 year old who can sometimes push the limits: What is it like on Carnival ships with teenagers?

(I've only ever cruised Disney and RCL, personally) My friend particularly wants to know how easy it would be for a 15 year old to find trouble? (All parents know kids can and will find trouble ANYWHERE they set their minds to find trouble, but with that said...) As a cruiser I think cruising is about as safe as it gets...This mama has never cruised and is looking to cruise Victory this Spring.

What's the curfew for a 15 year old? Would they allow her off the ship without a parent? Do you think it would be easy or hard to get into trouble with alcohol onboard?

Any advice?