Nectarologist

By any chance did you do any specialty restaurants or was the MDRs good? On NCL, we pick them as one of our free options and have become quite spoiled. We are trying to decide if we want to purchase a 3-4 restaurant dining package on our upcoming cruise.

 

 

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I didn't, sorry. And I didn't talk to anyone about it while on board.

We just booked our cruise for this upcoming July and would like to purchase the deluxe drink package. I was just wondering if we should wait and see if the price drops or will it always stay the same ($55/day)?

 

Do they ever have sales on the drink packages?

Make sure you purchase it before board because if you purchase in port there will be sales tax on top of it for the state you are docked in. Plus on my recent Anthem of the Seas it was $2 more per day than full price online of $55/day. I believe they close online purchase a couple of days before the sailing too.

Thanks for taking the time. I will sail this class of ship someday, but no definite plans. Till then, I'll keep reading these.

 

 

 

If your'e in the mood and have the time, I'd like to hear more on that, just in case ;)

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Lost and found after you leave the ship - of course I left my new sunglasses in my room safe. One call to customer service told me the website they use for lost and found. Super easy. Even if they can't find the glasses it was a nice customer service feature to have this online program.

I had not heard of this before. Can you let us know how it works in the end for you?

Hi. As far as the island comparisons I found NCL's island to have a very rough beach and the coast line where water meets the sand was like ground concrete. I believe it actually was b/c it was the same looking material that was obviously poured casts to prevent erosion on the island. You needed water shoes. Also I felt that there was a lot of walking to get to where we went but this may have just been my own doing of where I picked to go. Coco Cay had great sand (no shoes needed) and you could hit the beach within 100 feet of stepping off the tender. They also have a great hot dog / sausage stand near the tender exit (just to the left). The beach on Coco Cay (at least to the left) was great, especially for younger kids. It was protected on two sides so you didn't have rough waters slamming into shore.

One time w/ NCL we had a cabana that was nice but we had to walk far for it. On Disney they have 2 things going for them. They have a dock (which it looked like Royal is building, yeah!) and they have a tram system. Their walk is long too but the tram takes care of that. Plus their walk is along a boardwalk or paved surface. Also I had a cabana once with Disney and they golf cart you right to the cabana. The cabana itself was head and shoulders above the NCL one. Now we're talking total whiner things to nitpick on. But I want to mention so you and others know (had a great time at both). Disney is also double the price for the cabana so I wouldn't expect the NCL to be the same. Royal's cabanas were sold out as I expected them to be (usually need a suite to score one w most lines). Out of all three islands Disney's was decorated the nicest, though all beautiful. I mean you're on a private island...it's great! DCL's card system was hardwired which made it more efficient to complete purchases (gift shop or bar), no writing of names, room #. Not a big deal but when you're trying to service a couple of hundred people in an hour ever 30 seconds saved helps. Disney was cool in that you could rent bikes and ride a bike path around the island. Also they have Pelican Plunge a permanent structure w/ slides water spouts etc. Seems like other line's islands use giant blow up slides. Royal did have a tram for it's cabana renters.

I will post a follow up to let you know how the process went. One cool thing was you can set up text alerts so they can just text you with updates.

I wanted to add that the dive shop on board the ship was fantastic. I bought two kids a snorkel set and one goggles. At first I didn't want to spend the $44 for the snorkel set (or $20 for goggles) but I know how much my kids like using them (even just the mask in a pool). I'm so glad I bought them onboard and spent the money. They were high quality. The lady fit all 3 of my kids properly (I would have bought a suboptimal size for 2 of them) and she told me where to go snorkel on Coco Cay and what the two main snorkel spots offered. I also bought two neoprene sleeves for the mask strap for $8 each on Coco Cay in the gift shop. No more pulled hair for my girls!

Nectarologist, thank you for this! The water/ice tip and iMessaging onboard was just what I wanted to know. Can you share what you did at Cococay? I’m trying to decide what to do with my 2 boys (14 and 11) on that day. I’d like a beach day - any recommendations?

 

Thanks!

Hi Jaynice. You'll be able to get tender tickets 2 days before (I think) in the 270 room. I had number 31 and got to Cococay about 10:30 am (10:45 latest). They didn't check the tender tickets so if you get a high number and still want to go early you could. They may check numbers as the crowds get larger but at 10:30 it wasn't crowded to get off the ship.

There were plenty of lounge chairs available when we arrived but by 11:30 they were being used. They rent umbrellas for $25 but it was too windy our day to so they didn't rent them. Our plan all along was to go early and come back early and I'm glad we stuck to that; it worked for us. We left to come back about 2:30/3 pm.

We went to the left as we got off the tender at Cococay. It great for lounging on the beach. Bar and food not too far away. It's where the snorkeling is too. The snorkeling spots are a bit of a distance out in the water so I'd make sure you kids rent and use the snorkel vests. It says mandatory but I don't know that anyone enforces this. I know when I was 11/14 I would think I didn't need it but they will tire quicker than they think so you may want to make that a non-negotiable (plus everyone else has it on).

I agree with most of your points. Thank you for your review.

 

I do think Anthem can get pretty overcrowded. We sailed on her twice. Both times it was sold out. Our last cruise was during Thanksgiving.

We found Royal Esplanade to be narrow and overcrowded most of the time. We also thought that Schooners bar where nice music is usually played to have a bad location right near Music Hall with very loud music.

 

We are sailing on her again on Thanksgiving 2018 as overall we liked experience.

Good points about Schooner/Music Hall. I forgot about the Royal Esplanade. It was a bit like a flea market with the tables set up. But people seemed to love it. There was always crowds looking at merchandise. Not my cup of tea and made for unnecessary crowding.

Is this for all ships? Could you post for future lost and found reference?

Hi. The site is chargerback.com The customer service rep from Royal did ask my ship before directing me to the site so maybe they are not all listed but many of them are if it's not all. Hopefully you won't need to use it :)

Isn't Michael's Pub contract ending.... yesterday? Royal decided not to renew and go their own route.

That's interesting, I didn't realize that it was outsourced or at least a franchise-type arrangement. That would explain why then. Thanks for sharing.

You did not say if you had traditional or MTD. Other than the 1st day/night ever thing went pretty smooth. We sailed on the Jan. 28th cruise. The first day's breakfast was, a total disaster. Many Paxs, including ourselves, waited some 45 minutes for a table for 2.

 

When we finally were seated in Chic, we noticed some 3 tables for 2 that were unoccupied and stayed that way for the remainder of our stay. It took an additional 15 minutes for someone to take our order. It seemed as though there was a lowdown in process.

 

While waiting on line there were quite a few irate Paxs and some of them literally screaming and I thought there was going to be a riot. Only the Host(s) took the brunt and not one supervisor or head waiter around to explain, calm everybody or make exceptions.

 

Their primary goal, at least initially, was to force Paxs into sharing tables

 

The second day, we wanted to avoid the fiasco. When asked if we would share a table-- said yes and guess what--we got a table for 2. Go figure.

 

The other breakfast days, I made sure I was one of the first on line at 7:30am and incurred no problems whatsoever. Loved the breakfast salad bar in the Grande.

 

Lunch on sea days, we did not find as confusing as breakfast. Enjoyed the Tutti salad bar to go along with the magnificent dessert table.

 

Dinner, we knew our table # and basically entered the Grande and walked to our table without assistance.

 

I can't remember the table set up in the Grande on the Quantum, but on the Anthem they have 2 rows of tables for 2s for the entire length of the restaurant. We met some interesting and wonderful table mates.

We had mtd. I think I'd make sure I have a reserved time for the next time. You're right; no managers to help or reassure people they were helping to move things along. I felt bad for the staff. I must say I went to the Solarium the last night for dinner and it was very very nice.

How busy was the kids club? Were there big lines for flowrider? We are sailing soon during busy time and will be taking our kids so I would like to know what to expect . Thanks .

 

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Hi. The clubs were not too busy, especially considering the high volume of kids on the sailing. I did learn that they limit each area to 50 kids. But I don't think that they ever got to that point. After 10 pm they did combine the 5-7 year olds with the 8-11?? yo. Not sure of the exact ages but those two general ranges where the ones combined.

I believe it has always been profit over loyalty and the stockholders would raise heck if it was the other way around.

 

 

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Heck in the way of lawsuits. Their legal obligation is to the shareholders. There are people who make a living buying stock in a company just so they can sue the company. It's a shame but it's not uncommon, just the cost of doing business I suppose.

-Chris

In light of your present and past experiences as a family, which ship & line do you guys hope to try next? What do the 3 kids count as a favorite?

 

Richard.

Hi Richard,

I think we'll do Disney next. We're getting priced out of there and we're thinking of doing one last one if we can get a good price. That'll be next year (going to do 4 day Universal and 4 night DCL out of Port Canaveral). After that I think we'd go Royal again. My kids really liked the activities and the only thing they missed was a water slide. That being said they were so happy to try the flo rider and ifly. Really unique brilliant activities. So we'll look for a Royal itinerary with a slide! I really felt that it was a good value and am glad we went on Royal. I must say though when we do a suite I loved NCL's haven (only tried a suite on Disney so not much to compare with). Thanks for reading, Chris

Hi. Just got off Anthem of the Seas and wanted to share some pros/cons. I didn't want to do a very detailed review but rather give some bullet points for someone considering RCL. About me: I went with a family of 5. Me, dw, 3 kids (7, 9, 10). I've cruised 6 different lines on 15 cruises. I've stayed inside all the way to suites (never an owner's suite though). And I've even stayed inside after staying in a suite (gasp!). I'm not one to pay for beer and expect champagne so keep that in mind. I don't typically compare one line to another or when I do I consider price too. I sailed RCL for my honeymoon 16 years ago and this was my first time back since (no particular reason). I've always viewed them as innovative and modern. This was no different and I was really impressed with the ship. I have no loyalty to any particular line overall. They all have pros and cons depending on the room category. In no particular order here they are:

Pros:

soda machines! I love the touchscreen machines that give you dozens of choices so this was a plus to know they'd be on board. (hint, you can still get ice and water from them if you don't have the soda package)

Muster station wristbands for the kids. The crew will know exactly where to bring the kids should that type of emergency arise.

Staff - so nice and friendly

Well organized for extra activities - from roller skating to ifly to flo rider there was a system that worked well

Offered a wide range of activities for active people - i'm not active but it was nice my kids had options.

NorthStar - a cool idea and it was fun.

Solarium - adults only area. nice breakfast and dinner options and the view was amazing.

Seating - they have dozens of daybeds in addition to lounge chairs. I have a daybed at home and they are awesome. It was cool to see that had so many of them.

Coco Cay - very, very nice. I like it much better than NCL's island (though not as much as Disney's).

Elevators - with 4k people on board I thought there was ample elevators and of course with a full ship for the President's week sailing there were waits but nothing unreasonable.

Lost and found after you leave the ship - of course I left my new sunglasses in my room safe. One call to customer service told me the website they use for lost and found. Super easy. Even if they can't find the glasses it was a nice customer service feature to have this online program.

General layout of ship - I never thought it was overcrowded even though it was a full sailing. Navigating it was easy (floor to floor or from front to back).

Rooms - had two connecting balconies and they were spacious with plenty of storage.

Cleanliness - people all over clearing water from the pool decks to keep them safe.

Lifeguards - There were lifeguards at every pool all the time. A significant expense and appreciated.

Cons:

Seating workflow for the MTD dining rooms. It was horrible to get people seated (not just dinner but breakfst and lunch too).

Soda machine - Awesome but I wish they had a couple of more to fill in the gaps. They ship is huge and it can be a bit of a walk to get to one.

My floor - floor 7. It's actually fine but I'd stay higher next time or very low. For me being in the middle of the ship, vertically, meant taking the stairs would have been too much when I wanted to go to 14 or down to 3 (dining room breakfast). E.g., going to the arcade I couldn't take a 7 year old up 8 flights of stairs.

Kids clubs sizes - The rooms were really small and very plain looking. But what do i know, I'm not a kid and my kids loved them. So basically who cares what I think! haha I can't help but compare it to Disney but factoring in the price point of the trip I can't complain. The kids never said they wish they were on DCL.

Drink menus - Not a big deal but I was expecting drink menus at each bar. I like to try different drinks and usually just pick off the menu. Some bars had them but the outdoor ones didn't.

Bar inventory - Multiple times bars said they didn't have strawberry daiquiri mix or pina colada etc. Michael's pub didn't have any IPAs one night. Michael's also only had stella on tap. Their pub is advertised as an authentic pub so they need to offer a few choices on tap. The food options looked really good though. But I never got around to ordering food from there.

Royal IQ - only worked 50% of the time so how can I say it was even okay? Bonus though is iMessage works when you connect to royal wifi. Turn on airplane mode and you can still use iMessage without paying for RCLs texting app at $8 per device. iMessage also worked with iPhones on shore!

Frozen drinks - they blended drinks without the alcohol. they would pour the blended drink over the alcohol and you had to mix it yourself. They just weren't that good. I'd give them a last place out of all the lines I've sailed. Maybe they do it so they can be sure which one has the alcohol?? If so that's a good idea with kids ordering n/a frozen drinks. But I don't think that's the case because I saw parents ordering 2 alcoholic drinks and 1 non-alcohol on one order and there was nothing to identify the alcoholic drinks.

I'd sail RCL for sure again. Plenty of pros i didn't mention because you'd expect them on any line. E.g., good food, entertainment, etc. Happy sailing!

Just got off of Anthem of the Seas. MTD started at 5 pm. If you like the table/waitstaff the first night then upon leaving ask the host to reserve the table for you each night (just tell them the table # you had). It might not be an ideal time though, but you'll have a table. The earliest mtd was earlier than the fixed assigned dining times. the subsequent nights you just walk into the dining room at the reserved time and go right to your table.

My experience with the MTD was horrible and all due to the host/hostesses or at least the system they have to work with. They use a computer to look at, I'm not sure what, and communicate with people via walkie talkie who walk the dining rooms with tablets to coordinate tables. It's disaster (at least for more than 2 people). Just use an old laminated floor plan. It's not just the mtd, it occurred at breakfast and lunch every single time I went. The staff inside were great but getting there was really bad. The system makes more work for the staff than they need to do. I've done NCL and Disney (Disney has open seating for b'fast and lunch). Never had an issue. Given my mini-rant don't be afraid to try the solarium dining (if your ship has that; the adults only section). It was a combo of buffet and table service. Really good food and quiet.

It may drop, or it might go up. If you purchase it now and the price drops you can cancel and repurchase it. I've regretted not purchasing early on, more than one occasion when the price has gone up and never come back down.

 

For my November cruise it was down to $42 one day. It went up to $48 and hasn't come back down yet.

I just got off Anthem of the Seas and it was $57 on board so $48 is still very reasonable. I got 2 at $42 each per day on a Black Friday sale (I had to buy two though).

I just got off Anthem of the Seas today. I got a Black Friday special and the cost for 2 packages (alcohol/non-alcohol) was $42 per person, per day (plus gratuity). It was worth it for us. Beers were $6.95 (fosters oil can was $7.95). Bloody Marys were $11 and I enjoyed shaken daiquiris at Bolero's for $13 each. I also had plenty of frozen drinks but don't know their exact cost. I didn't see pricing for Mojitos but I figure they were about $10 each. The aforementioned prices do not include the 18% gratuity. I did see someone buy a bottle of water and it was over $4 with gratuity ($4.13 I think??, crazy). Keep in mind the alcohol package DID include soda, water, fresh squeezed OJ (which they charge $5 for; reg OJ free in dining room at b'fast). I like the Coke machine that mixes almost any flavored soda you can think of and you need the bev package to use them, so that's another plus for me.

On the ship they were $57/day so I saved a ton. Word of caution, buy it before you leave or after you're out of port because you'll be charged sales tax on the package if you wait until you get on the ship and buy it then (assuming the Mass. has a sales tax). The best part was not having to sign for every drink. I'd get a drink for my wife and I and just bring up the two cards (they didn't make each of us go up to get a drink). We we're treated just as great an anyone with out the package. I wasn't sure if there would be a negative feeling on the package from the crew due to a fixed gratuity but it was never an issue. IMO, if I'm close to break even I'd buy it for convenience.

Totally off topic but if you both have iPhones you can use iMessage without having to buy their texting/calling app. Saving $16 if they can't figure out a way to block iMessage by your trip. Have fun!

We love a frozen rum runner. I think NCL makes the best ones but I've never had a bad one on any ship ;-)

-Chris

I did a 1:30 is flight instead of an 11 am flight because i was afraid of being late. I'd always take the early flight from now on. I was at the airport and checked in with plenty of time to spare and I did regular disembarkation. If you did self-disembark as mentioned you're totally fine (unless there is a delay arriving into port). But I wouldn't hesitate to do reg disembarkation either.

We have sailed Anthem three times, with the most recent sailing being in November. We have been able to text people not on the ship, using iMessage, and were not charged by Verizon. We make sure we have our phones in airplane mode and have wifi on.

 

As long as nothing has changed since November, you should be able to do the same thing.

Thanks for providing that info. Did this include pictures too? I assume all iMessage content. I'm going on Anthem in February :)

Another option is to surprise the guys by renting a casual suit for them (or even a tux). It will be delivered to the stateroom for you. I always rent a tux when I go on a New Year's Eve sailing. Seamless process. It would be a great surprise for them to not have to pack the jacket and then still get to go to Remy. Note it's not all sailing locations though. https://cruiselineformal.com/cf_pages/packages.php?c=dcl

I'd add to also be frank with them and let them know there are a few things that you'll be doing as a family and then meet up with them afterwards (it's not too much). For example, the concierge happy hour (or whatever they call it). Or tell them you'll meet in the dining room while you go to the lounge with your family before dinner (they don't even have to know). They will want some alone time too.

I like the Haven on NCL and have stayed concierge on DCL. I would definitely do DCL with another family in the situation you describe. Probably not on NCL Haven since I'd feel like I'm not using what I'm paying for (unless I ditch them; wouldn't do that). I think you can take advantage of all the concierge perks without the other family feeling left out. Plus if you get a cabana they'll love that you chose concierge! haha. No one asked but I wish they reserved seats in the theater for concierge guests.

What all is done on Pirate Night? Does the cruise have a Pirate's League, like WDW? Do we pack our own costumes? It will be just me and my 11 year old son...

This is my first Disney Cruise...

Definitely pack pirate costumes / gear. You won't be out of place and your son will likely love it if he likes that stuff at home. I've seen adults on board that I wasn't sure if they were cast members or guests at first (they were dressed so great).

I am planning to book a cabana on castaway cay since we're a family of 6. I booked our cruise for next year 2016 and we are concierge guest. It's our first cruise and were wondering since we are able to book activities 120 days before the cruise if I need to let Disney know we want a cabana or do I have to book it on my own. Also do we have to pay the cabana upfront or can we give the money when we sail? How does this work?

 

 

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In addition to the other person who replied, if you know the # cabana you want let them know. Nothing will be promised but there is a good chance you'll get it. I asked for #4 and got it. It also matters if you go on the newer ships or not since the newer ships have a lot more people. But as concierge you should have no problem. I was on the Magic in early December and there were actually at least 2 cabanas that went unrented.

You will have no trouble with the magic. I would feel comfortable taking a 11 am flight(& have) even w/o the concierge. Enjoy your trip!

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Like monty913 I got off the Dream last Fri. They also had Samuel Adams in addition to what is shown on the servers wheel. Sam was almost $6 and becks was almost $7. I assume many domestic/imports are similarly priced. If u buy ten u get 2 free and they'll deliver to your room plus let u trade in warm for cold at any bar (assuming they stick the brand at that bar).

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I had a cabana last week and it was green bands. I don't see a need to have anything other than the green bands. They only use them to tell if you belong on the cabana beach.

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