The Fun Researcher

Thanks. Yeah last cruise each evening the head water took her order for dinner the following evening (and even lunch the following day in the MDR if we were doing that on a sea day) Thanks for that. I'll have to remind my sister to provide the information about my niece pre-cruise.

I always seem to forget this. Thanks for the reminder. Here’s the menu for the current Anthem Feb 4th-12th sailing:

Thank you teddie. That would be amazing! Hate to bother, but would you be willing to take a photo and share the current food menu?

I'm guessing current and upcoming survey feedback will almost force more reasonable flexibility. Honestly I can't remember ever making any special requests for my entrees but not allowing sauce on the side, or swapping for a baked potato (when it's on another dish that evening) has got to go IMO. As an aside, I'm a little worried for my niece for our upcoming July Alaskan cruise. She has wide and restrictive dietary restrictions and she was just doted over by the head waiter Maurice on our Allure cruise together this past June. The waitstaff was just amazing. I hope this level of care continues, despite the more rigid new practice for those of us without restrictions.

I was super excited to see the fairly thorough food menu when they were branded as "Michael's Genuine Pub" because I LOVE pub food late at night. However, I've seen some comments that the food went away after covid shutdowns in the pubs on these two ships? Can someone confirm the current situation? We're sailing on both ships this year. If not at the pub, anywhere else for late night fare? (I get tired of Sorrento's pizza and Café Promenade finger sandwiches after a few nights)

Personally, yes by a fair margin. I'm not a big fan of JR burgers. JR feels more fast food, whereas Playmakers feels more like something that is gastro-pub. To be fair, I'm not a JR fan at all on Royal ships. The whole concept feels dated and out of place.

I've done both and I would say that's probably what Royal was going for, something like O'Sheehans. I would say the food is fairly comparable but I think O'Sheehans has more variety, is better staffed for full service, is free, and open more hours. I just wish they had Playmakers on ALL ships. Considering most basic drinks on Royal are now $13 or so, and that you can get a nachos for $6, good burgers for $9, or 12 wings for $8, I'm o.k. with the cost relatively speaking.

This is something we noticed immediately during our fist cruise with Royal Caribbean.(and not just in the Windjammer, also in the MDR) . Looks incredible, but then you bite into them and seem to be a flavor vacuum. They seemed to have improved in the last 5 years or so. Hopefully this isn't a sign of something changing.

Trying to understand why they won't allow this. If they are making these menu changes to speed up the meals, then NOT bringing them out at the same time is counterproductive

Even though I don't like it, I can live with the new MDR menus, but I will be incredibly upset if the food preparation and temperature is lacking. The comments that we're seeing have me concerned that they have changed a process in the kitchen that is not getting the food out as fresh and well prepped as before. Hopefully this is a "learning curve" period, with this change just being implemented and the prep, quality, and temperature will improve.

Love Playmakers. It might be my favorite addition to Royal Caribbean ships in years, and I'm indluding entertainment, food, amenities. I like to have a good snack later at night and get sooooo tired of pizza and finger sandwiches after the first few days. Love the chicken wings particularly at Playmakers. For me it's perfect for that midnight snack before bed. At home I would never do that but on a cruise, chicken wings at midnight? Bring it on.

Yeah, looks like they have the correct night on the current cruise (first of the two days sailing back)

Great idea. Looks like this week is still an 8 nighter (Feb 4th - 12th) with the first 7 nighter starting on the 12th ETA, looks like next week also has the second formal night on night 7. I'm assuming this will change though.

We have a 7 night cruise coming up in March on the Anthem. The new menus are now loaded into the Royal app and to my surprise the second formal night (lobster) is night 7. I had booked Chops for lunch that day. I don't want a specialty lunch on the same day as formal dinner. I'll cancel and switch to day 6 for the Chops lunch if the new menu is accurate. Think this is a mistake, or real? Never had second formal night be night 7 on a 7 night cruise that I can recall: FYI, itinerary below Day 1 - Embarkation Day 2 - Cruising Day 3 - Port Canaveral Day 4 - Nassau Day 5 - Coco Cay Day 6 - Cruising Day 7 - Cruising

Ugh, sometimes I like to take that cheese plate back to the room for a snack later in the evening.

Celebrity severely cut their dinner buffet. Lunch and Breakfast seem mostly unchanged. Doesn't impact us because we "always" eat dinner in the MDR. I can see it being a big deal to those that like to eat dinner at the buffet though. It's drastically cut.

Platinum and above can request them. My daughters and wife like them and will request a robe for each. Always been honored.

I’m not sure it’s any better with the other cruise lines. We’ll see how things go with our two Royal cruises this year and decide about other cruise lines after that.

Ship is large, but not ridiculously so. It feels plenty big and has never felt overcrowded Great connection to the ocean. The walking deck (deck 4?) on the sides and back of ship are great for ocean views and just sitting on one of the benches/chairs, as well as the helipad in the front of the ship(which is super cool at night to see the stars and just feel the warm strong Caribbean breeze at night) The large central promenade on deck 5 is a great central location for grabbing coffee, pizza, drinks etc and makes navigating the ship very easy and intuitive. It also quiets down at night and is just a beautiful place to hang out. We love the large promenade versus other cruise lines that use "centrums" which are just circular areas in the ship and make it feel cramped and chopped up in our opinion. Ice rink. Great show and time for open ice skating Putt putt golf, flowrider... Great pool deck (especially if the ship has been AMPED like the Navigator, Mariner). It's not split up like Oasis class. Beautiful 3 tiered Main Dining Room Hope that helps.

Probably an inventory issue with how many of those coolers they keep in stock ETA: We bought a couple of the Bud Light packages for our March Anthem cruise, but the cooler packages aren't even showing as an option on our July Quantum Alaskan cruise. Hopefully that will change.

Totally sums up my feeling of Oasis class, and I agree that Freedom/Voyager classes are still our favs. We'll see if that changes when we try Quantum class in March. Having said that, our cruise on the Allure this past June was amazing. Great service, food quality, entertainment, and 8 night southern itinerary. I knew about the "lack of connection to the ocean" from our first Oasis cruise, so I know what to expect going in. I don't shy away from Oasis class as much anymore.

That worked. Thanks!! Was hoping that it would magically say I'm Diamond, but alas, still Emerald. 🤣 Need our March cruise on the Anthem to get there. Can't come soon enough. 🙂

Perfect. I booked Spectra for night 1. We don’t typically go to the welcome show anyway.

Is “We will rock you” or “The gift” ever on night 1? I was thinking to book spectra I night 1

Thank you!. Don't mean to be daft, but two more questions: Is the Quantum class the only one that's opposite all the other Royal Classes? Is the bed by the bath for all rooms with 3 or 4 occupants for ALL classes (even Quantum?)