The Fun Researcher

Yuck! Makes me think of a cafeteria. Why suggest making dining in the MDR less special? Dan

Not having that strip steak really sucks. There is always one night in the MDR where I just don't care for the main entrée options. (I don't remember which menu day it is). I would default to the strip steak. Maybe we can still get something by request? Dan

March - 7night Anthem, Bahamas out of Bayonne, NJ. This is primarily to get us to Diamond and get out of the end of winter doldrums. The itinerary sucks but at least the Anthem is well setup for cold weather cruising July - 7n Quantum, Alaska out of Seattle. Praying for an awesome extended family trip. 16 family members spread out over 5 balcony cabins Dec - 5n Celebrity Equinox Western Caribbean. Found a great price and it worked with our schedules.

Thanks for all the replies! Sounds like 270, the solarium, and the outdoor seating at the Windjammer are consistent winners. Can't wait to try them! (and Northstar, and iFly, and... 😊 ) I know what makes 270 so cool, but is there something about the Solarium that makes it special versus those on Oasis class? I do love the Solarium on the Oasis class so if it's as least as good as the we'll be happy clams.

Guilty as charged. My bad. 🤥

Ranger Cookies

Doh! I meant 1. Late night food options. 😂 I get tired of pizza and finger sandwiches. At least on some ships with Playmakers I can pay a little more and get some good chicken wings etc... I still prefer royal Caribbean buy a significant margin, but one thing that Norwegian did very well was O’Sheehans. Loved that it was open 24 hours and had a good menu

1. Lack of late night food options 2. The absurd price for the drink package and cocktails in general 3. Need a better App to communicate with friends/family onboard 4. Itineraries from Bayonne 5. Johnny Rocket’s. You can do better RCCL! Dan

I must be immune to bad coffee 🤣, but then again so must all the other friends and family that have cruised with us. Maybe I hexed them. 🙂 No one has complained about the free coffee. I admit, the only thing that bothers me is when it's obvious like old, burnt, or when they accidentally serve you decaf (that I can taste🤮) Having said that my oldest is now a part time barista while she's at college and definitely has become a coffee snob , but I have to say I've tasted coffee from her shop and it is exceptional.

I'm lost, who? What? 🙂

There are specialty coffees at Cafe Promenade but they are not Starbucks beans as far as I know. Thank you. I normally just have coffee and cream so I'm simple (just ask my wife 🤣) Dan

I am not sure the OP was asking for free specialty coffee. Specialty coffees at Cafe Al bacio are only complimentary on Celebrity, if I remember correctly, if you have the drink package. Edit: Sorry, I see what you were saying about the beverage package not including Starbucks specifically. Yes, specialty coffees are offered at Cafe Promenade with the beverage package

I know Cafe Prominade has specialty coffees as does Starbucks. Both are in the massive, beautiful Royal Promenade area. Not sure Park Cafe (in Central Park) has special coffees, others can confirm or not.

We'll be sailing two different Quantum class ships next year (Anthem and Quantum) and just for fun I would like to get your impressions of what you like most about this class of ships versus other RCCL classes. By the same token you can reply with your dislikes of Quantum class too, but I'd prefer to hear more about the good unique aspects. We've sailed Voyager, Freedom, and Oasis classes multiple times but not Quantum. Thanks in advance! -Dan

I have found that those large rooms cost even more per person than it would for 2 separate connected rooms. I think the 5 or six person rooms have, at best, 1 1/2 bathrooms if I recall correctly. I'm not knocking 5 or 6 person family rooms. They can be cool with the little nooks for some of the beds and maybe a larger "living room" central area. However we've always appreciated having two full bathrooms to get ready in the morning and before our evening meals, and the extra savings can go towards other fun things. Dan

Thank you for replying back. Well, I hope that works for us. It wasn’t working like that on the allure this past June. I will have to double check once we are on board again. I have every notification, sound, banner and other options turned on for the Royal app so it should ding or buzz but I don’t remember it doing that. I will have to check the settings on everyone’s phones to make sure they have notification and sounds turn on for the app and see what happens. We had to manually check the app for texts 😞

Can you say specifically how to do this? I could not find out how to do it during our June cruise when we had purchased the chat feature for a number of family members

The "convenience factor" comes into play for us with the soda package. So nice to just flash your card at any bar or at dinner and get your soda of choice without having to do receipts, etc... It only takes 2-3 per day to break even and like I said, it's one of the few times I'm willing to pay a bit for convenience and not have the hassle or to worry about it. We're talking ~$10 per day with tax and gratuity so it's not a huge investment unlike the normal drink package 🤑 Dan

Any of those rooms that hold 5 or more are going to be even more costly per person. We've always bit the bullet and gotten two connecting (normally inside) cabins. Some ships have very few of them so you have to book early or double check before everyone books. By booking two cabins you will be paying full price for all four of them, but if all go in one cabin then typically the 3rd and 4th are each half the cost of the first two persons. The huge benefit of the two connecting rooms is the two full bathrooms, and the overall space feels a lot bigger even though it's just a small connecting door that is open between cabins. Having said that, sleeping four in one cabin wouldn't be a deal breaker for us. I would do that for sure, but the problem is we're a family of 5 so it wouldn't work anyway and now the kids are older (15, 18, 21) Dan

LOVE that this is free. It will help greatly with our family Alaskan cruise in July with 16 of us spread across 5 family units. (some first time cruisers) If I remember correctly you don't get text notifications though right? Like no *ding* or *buzz* letting you know you got a text? Don't you have to specifically check the App every once in a while to see if anyone texted? (Speaking of Apple iPhones) Dan

You’re no fun. 😊

Up to twelve non alcoholic drinks up to 500ml each. (16.9 oz)

Does Odyssey have an indoor pool? I'm seeing conflicting info. 👍 Dan

I spoke too soon. No indoor pools on Symphony or Liberty. That’s no good for a large number of the months of the year. While I like both ships, not being able to enjoy time in a lounger by a pool is a downer. Maybe even a deal breaker. Need a ship designed for cool weather. Will just make the solarium on the Symphony extra crowded Dan

I would probably look at Freedom class or larger. Freedom class is where they started to add the really nice splash play area on the pool deck for the little kids. Nice Adventure Ocean kids area. They also have the ice rink. Easy to navigate around the ship without being TOO big, etc... Hard to go wrong though with anything Freedom and newer. Dan