vadersprincess12

Our flight arrives just before 10:00 p.m. and I did check the airport hotel but the reviews are horrible. I know it's just a place to sleep and shower until the next morning, but things don't sound really clean.

There are dispensers in all the stalls, but they were all empty.

Thanks for the review. I just posted one as well for the same sailing. We have many of the same issues.

My husband and I just returned from a cruise aboard Anthem of the Seas. Very mixed emotions about this review as we've sailed with Royal before and had much better experiences. POSITIVES: Port check-in was seamless. Our Stateroom Attendant, Harold, was pleasant and did a very nice job keeping our stateroom stocked and cleaned. We absolutely LOVED the Las Vegas Tenors headliners. We Will Rock You was a good show and We enjoyed the Billboard Band although I'm surprised the lead singer doesn't get headaches from constantly flipping her head to the side 😄. Keep those Coconut Cookies coming ~ the best cookie on the high seas! Sorrento Pizza was great as always. NEGATIVES: I used the app when the debark alert came up and I booked a specific time to debark. For some reason they had us listed as self-assist so we had to go to Guest Services to make the change; the interaction was quick and painless. This also happened to our table mates. I requested a table for two; we were seated at a table for 10 and those at the table did not speak English; we requested a change and it was made quickly. While we were at the early dining time for this cruise, on our prior cruise we used My Time Dining and found out after we boarded the ship when we went for dinner that we needed to make reservations for each night. That is redundant!!!!! What's the point of "my time" if you need to make a reservation. We like going to eat when we are hungry. Your Time Dining on Carnival works great ~ you hit a button on the app when you are on your way to the dining room and you are seated usually within 10 minutes ~ Royal should take note of this. It seems like the ship was short staffed; when there were tables available in Windjammer for breakfast or lunch the staff was slow to get them cleared and cleaned. Plates and utensils availability seemed to be limited sometimes; once I had to go to 7 different stations to find silverware. Disappointed that there is no longer ice cream in Windjammer except for the last sea day. Many of the staff in the Windjammer, especially the cleaning staff, seemed very somber. Some did interact with us but not many. Breakfast in the main dining room was a disappointment; the service was extremely slow. By the time our meals arrived the toast was like a brick. The specialty restaurants are overpriced; Chops Grille did our steaks to our liking but the "shareable" sides are hardly shareable, the portions are very small. My husband, who is Italian, was very disappointed with the meat plank at Jamie's Italian. Our lasagna was overcooked, and our waiter (from Montenegro) was rather snooty and he didn't even ask my husband how he wanted his martini. It was better back in the day when there was simply a $25 upcharge. We were upset that there is now a charge for North Star when at sea. There is no charge when you are in port, but if you get off at every port of call when are you supposed to do the experience? They now call it "North Star Extended Experience" on sea days and charge $29.99 per person. Just another way to make money. iFly by Ripcord has a similar experience where they charge a fee. There were no toilet seat covers in any of the public restrooms which is very disappointing, especially when they push washing your hands down your throat at the Windjammer. Got sick of the girl with the guitar singing washy-washy. We would spend more time in the Casino but when it gets crowded there is really no difference between the smoking and non-smoking areas. Setting up for photos on the Royal Esplanade really hurts the flow of traffic. On a port day when we went to the outdoor pool we were directed at the towel station to go to the indoor pool for towels; when we went to the indoor pool we were instructed to go to the gangway to get towels ~ not acceptable. There was absolutely no policing of "seat saving" in the Solarium or the theater. Being offered another cruise with a $100 casino bonus is great, but not at 4:00 p.m. on the last day. There is no time to research and talk about it with my spouse. We went to the Next Cruise desk and there was only one cruise out of our homeport of Baltimore listed ~ the crew member told us it was already sold out. What’s the point of having it on the list? We didn’t want to feel rushed to choose another cruise before the “end of this sailing." There were many disappointing things on this sailing but we still tried to make the best of it. Any questions, fire away.

Hello ~ has anyone stayed at the Towneplace Suites Miami Airport? I've been searching for a pre-cruise hotel stay and have been pretty appalled at the reviews for many of them. This hotel seems to have pretty good reviews. TIA.

Hello Everyone ~ looking for car service in Miami. Has anyone had experience with Patriot Limo? TIA for any information.

We get offers from other lines ~ NCL is the only one that charges a $20 per person, per day administrative fee when we book a casino offer. Granted, we still get a cruise at a good price, but that additional $280 for a 7 night cruise could go to better things.

Then Royal needs to work on it's communications. They send me an email telling me it's time to plan my trip and show this as complimentary but there is no where at all to make a reservation. If they can't be made until we board it would nice if they would communicate that!

They are definitely safer flying in the day before because you never know if flights will be delayed ~ happens too many times, and they could miss the ship. Have them check into goports.com ~ they can choose a hotel which will provide airport shuttle transportation from MCO to the hotel, the overnight room, and motor coach shuttle to the cruise terminal the next morning. The package price will depend on the hotel they choose. We use them whenever we cruise out of Port Canaveral and have never had a problem.

mets123 ~ I am doubting because you and others said reservations were required and their email to me shows it's complimentary. I think it's smarter to believe Royal ~ why is that so hard to understand? You needn't bother to respond.

We sailed the Enchantment a couple of months ago and were so disappointed in how the "your time" dining works. What's the point of "your time" if you have to make a reservation. Even with a reservation the wait was nuts some nights. We also sail Carnival with "your time" dining and DO NOT need a reservations; just have to check in about 10 minutes before you go to the dining room. For our upcoming Anthem sailing we just chose the early dining so that we won't have a wait!

mets123 ~ I'm getting the information from an email sent by Royal.

Thanks Len ~ we saw Spectra a few years ago and weren't impressed either so whether it's reservation or not, we won't be seeing it. We will probably enjoy the rock show. Not sure what the gift is about but if we don't like it we can leave. DH and I were on a cruise last year where Cats was the show and soooo many people, including us, left after about 30 minutes. I just don't know what all the hubbub was about that show ~ it was really boring!

Hello Everyone ~ has anyone used Manhattan Cruise Parking? Wondering how your experience was. Thanks.

Well, strangely enough I got an email yesterday to get ready for my cruise and make my reservations. The only thing that shows is Spectra and says it doesn't need reservations. The two other shows are not showing at all.

Spectra doesn't require reservations. That shows on the website right now but the other shows do not.

Hello ~ for any recent cruisers on the Anthem of the Seas, do you still have to make reservations for the theater shows? Not seeing anything on line but the Spectra's Cabaret show which we saw on a previous sailing and didn't care for. Thanks.

Hello - want to book a Voom package for DH on the Anthem in February. Can he surf Facebook and use eBay on the Surf package vs the Surf/Stream? Thanks

When sailing on Carnival out of Baltimore is there a specific line for Platinum passengers and do you still have to wait outside or will they take you inside? Does anyone know if there is a lounge area? Just realized that I turned Platinum for my upcoming cruise so curious as to how it's handled there. Thanks.

Thank you so much for that support. I know how to use the search function but as you noted, I was looking for fresh perspectives. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Thank you for the information. This is what I was looking for. Some really harsh comments about the "search" function!!!! As another person who responded said, many items can be dated and I wanted some information from people who were in YC more recently. Happy Thanksgiving.

Hello Everyone ~ DH and I have sailed many of the major cruise lines and are thinking about trying out MSC. Can someone talk about the difference between the regular experiences and the Yacht Club experience? Just wondering if it's worth the price. Not sure how we would utilize "butler" service. Any thoughts are appreciated. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you. I wish I could find the other poster's comments but I've searched so maybe the removed them.

Actually I was told by someone at the cruise terminal when I called that someone called in because they saw a post about this issue but I haven't been able to find it. I'll look again. Ironically, I worked at the port there and used to tell people all the time about how safe and secure it is. As someone else noted here, it could be from the inside. New people get hired all the time. I'm still investigating on my own; they don't want to help.

When the ship leaves Baltimore, because it sails down the Chesapeake Bay there is no where else to go but into International Waters. Carnival pays a licensing fee to open the casino once they pass under the Key Bridge which is about 45 minutes after leaving the port. Royal Caribbean will not pay this fee so they cannot open until the next day.