Jcol5786

Embarkation day continued -  the safety drill location was outside on deck 5 after that we went back to our room and sat on our balcony as we sailed away. We usually go to the pool deck during sail away's but our view from the balcony was so nice we decided to stay put. After that we went to the Schooner bar and had a drink while sitting at a window. I did note at this point that it was nice to have a view of the ocean while at the bar. Not something you get on the larger ships such as Oasis. We quickly got to know our primary SB waiter named Alex who provided us excellent service throughout the cruise. Our next stop was the main dining room. We had My Time dining at 6:45. After getting changed we arrived a couple of minutes early. I always find the main dining room to be a little hectic on the first night and this time was no exception. Lots of people in the wrong line not having reservations and just showing up because they don't understand that My Time still means you need a reservation. Things got sorted fairly quickly and we were seated within 5 minutes of our arrival. Our servers were Erikson and Jinting. Jinting greeted us first and provided most of the service on the first night as Erikson was very busy with other tables. We did meet him toward  the end of the meal which was fine. Over all service was fine and the meals were very good.

After dinner we went to the main theater for the first RC production show. It was called something like From Broadway to Screen and the premise is that the songs are from Broadway shows that were made into movies. The group was made up of 6 dancers and 4 singers. The music was live but the band was hidden in the pit. I found it to be a little boring. The song choices were  not always the best and there was no real flow from one set of songs to the next. But the sound was good and it was only 45 minutes. I think this is the first thing that I missed from the larger ships. This show simply did not stack up against the first night shows on the larger ships, but that is simply my opinion. Only a few people left during the show (unlike Cats on Oasis) and many people did seem to really enjoy the show. After the show we went up to the pool deck and took in some fresh air and went back and watched the band playing in the Centurium. The 4 piece band with a female singer was very good and we stayed for several songs. We soon felt the need for sleep and ended up going back to our cabin and sitting on our balcony watching the ocean and the sky. There was a nice full moon to our port side and it was a perfect way to end our first day.

Yes we drove from Ontario. Left early Friday morning and got to Florida Saturday afternoon around 3 pm. Stayed Saturday and Sunday night at a  beach front motel on Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island. It was a nice way to unwind from the drive and get ready for the cruise.

Just returned from our 4 day cruise on EOS so I thought I would do a post cruise recap. I'll do this in 3 or 4 posts over the next couple of days. Our first cruise 5 years ago was on Enchantment and is what got us hooked. Since that first cruise we have been  on Indy, Allure and Oasis. As each of our cruises have been on larger and larger ships we were wondering if we could go back to a smaller ship like Enchantment. I'll leave that point to the end of the review.

Some basic points. This was an extra cruise for us as we had this week expectantly come up in our schedules so my wife said lets do a fall cruise. After doing some searching the only cruise that worked for us given the time we had was this one. We booked it back in June. At that time RC website indicated that there were no balcony rooms available. I did not believe that all the balconies were  sold our that far out but we did notice that a corner aft JS balcony was available so we booked it. The double points will get us to Platinum for our next cruise in February.  As a side note the balcony rooms did suddenly appear in August so it seems that RC was holding them back for some reason. 

Embarkation Day  - we drove to the cruise terminal and arrived around 9 am. We dropped off our bags and parked in the terminal parking lot. We knew that the terminal would not  be open yet so we went for a walk and went down the street and walked down past Fish Lips and the other restaurants and marinas. It was interesting to see the morning activities around these places. About 9:30 we went back to the terminal and got in the lineup waiting to get in. The doors had not opened yet. At 9:45 the doors opened and we went in. We passed through the security check quickly because we had pre-checked in. This seemed to save one stop at the security check. After security we quickly made our way to the RC check in. We had our pictures taken and were issued our sea pass cards. At that point we were told we could wait in an area reserved for suite passenger, Diamonds and other groups. We made our way to this area flashed our sea pass cards and went into this nicely appointed waiting area. Here we discovered that tea, coffee, muffins and other such treats were available. This was very nice. Starting to like the Suite Life. At 10:30 an announcement was made that any passengers with mobility issues would be allowed to board at 10:35. After this happened the rest of the group (including us) were  allowed to board at 10:40. This is certainly the earliest that we have ever boarded and it was nice to have the extra time on the ship. After exploring the ship we had an early lunch at the WJ before the crowds started. We than made our way to the pool deck changed into our swim suits and enjoyed a swim and a hot tub in the Solarium. We then had our first drink and enjoyed waiting for our room. At 1:30 it was announced that the rooms were ready so we went checkout our room. We were in JS 7166 and as sometimes happens we noticed our bags were already sitting in the common area at the stair case. We grabbed our bags and told the person unloading them that we would take them to our room ourselves. As this is an aft cabin it was a bit of a walk to the end of the hall with the bags but it was nice to have them in the room so early. The cabinet itself was very nice. It seemed only slightly wider than a standard balcony room however this extra width did make walking past the end of the bed less of a challenge. One of the great things about this room  is the walk in closet. It offered so much storage with lots of hanger space, drawers and open shelves. It was nice to have a place to store our luggage, shoes on other items.  The other highlight of this room is the balcony. Being a corner aft the balcony is curved. There is a view straight out the back as well as a side view. There were two lounge chairs and two normal chairs with a normal table and a second lower table for those in the lounge chairs. Even with all these items there was still plenty of room to move around. I have no idea of the square footage but it must be one of the largest balconies for this cabin type.

I think I will stop at this point and continue on later today or tomorrow. Thanks.

Thanks for the info Bob. Not to concerned about the long walk. We had the furthest boardwalk stateroom on Allure a couple of years ago - now that was a walk.

Hopefully we won't be bothered to much by the noise from the lounge below. We can usually tolerate a bit of noise and there is always the large balcony to retreat to.

Are the JS cabins on deck 7 considered less desirable? We are booked in 7166 which is an aft cabin and because of it's position on the aft corner of the ship it has a larger balcony. Hadn't really thought about it being noisy.

Thanks for the replies.

Hello,

After our upcoming cruise in October we will hit the 30 night mark which I understand moves us up to Platinum status. One of the perks I recall being mentioned is a discount on future balcony rooms. If this is the case can anyone tell me how large the discount is and is it offered on all cruises or just select ones?

Thanks

We are taking our first cruise on Anthem toward the end of February next year. We cruise every February and are looking forward to not having to drive to Florida from Ontario. We also decided to book a forward facing ocean view room instead of a balcony thinking the balcony room would not be used as much due to the cool days at the beginning and end of the cruise. Really looking forward to cruising on Anthem.

Update - unfortunately I did not call immediately after I posted the question as we are in the middle of helping with a home purchase for our son so there are lots of other calls going on. I just checked the site again in and the pricing has now gone back to what we paid originally. The site is also showing a JS which was sold out so I assume someone mush have cancelled. If the price changes again in our favor I will try to call in right away. Either way looking forward to getting back on Enchantment. She was our first cruise 5 years ago.

Thanks for the replies. Will call and see what they say.

I have read that prior to final payment if the price for your already booked cabin goes down RC will honor the lower price if you call in and ask. I have a cruise booked on EOS in late October in a JS. Based on the current prices for other categories on the website it appears that the price may now be lower with additional obc. The problem is that the JS category is sold out so I can't do a test booking to confirm the final price. Is it worth calling in to ask? I think it might be a difficult call since I cannot tell them that I am seeing a lower price on the web site. Our current booking has no OBC so even getting the current OBC added would be nice. Thoughts?

Thanks for the replies. Think we will go ahead and book.

Hello,

We are looking forward to cruising on Anthem for 8 nights next February. We will be driving in from Ontario and are considering a park and cruise package at the Embassy Suite located in Elizabeth NJ, near Newark airport. We normally park at the cruise terminal when in Florida however at $160 for the 8 days we can have a nice room at this hotel which includes managers reception (free alcohol and snacks) and breakfast the following morning for $187. Seems like this might be a better option. Just wondering if anyone has done this and if so where you satisfied with the shuttle service to and from the port? Any info about the shuttle times would be appreciated.

Thanks

Thanks for the replies. We are going to call and see if they will allow us to book a balcony for 2. Will report back.

Hi - we've had a week open up this coming October so we are considering a short 4 day cruise on Enchantment. She was our first cruise 5 years ago so we thought it would be nice to go back on her and see how we will enjoy a smaller ship after our recent Oasis class cruises. When checking on the RC website for the Oct 22 cruise for 2 people it shows that the standard balconies are sold out however if you up your number of people to 3 or more the rooms become available. Is this a site glitch or do they really only want to sell balcony rooms to groups with 3 or more in the room?

As a result of this we are now considering a JS which we can book with only 2. The double points will get us up to Platinum for our Anthem cruise in February. I just found it odd that balconies are not showing up for 2.

Hello,

Does RC still print a yearly cruise book/brochure? They didn't have any out at Next Cruise on Oasis last month and I cannot find a place on the web-site to order one.

Thanks

You’ll enjoy if you keep your expectations low.

 

 

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We were on Oasis 5 weeks ago and the Zip line was running. We didn't use the app so I don't know if it was listed.

Hello,

We just got back from being away for 2 weeks. During the first week we were on Oasis and did the Western Caribbean itinerary. We did the same cruise at the same week last year on Allure. I thought I would do a sort of summary of our cruise on Oasis and offer a few comparisons between Oasis and Allure. I realize that some of my observations about Allure are now a year old and may or may not still apply today.

First this is our 4'th cruise all on RC ships. I don't think we are cruise experts yet by any means but I think we also know enough that we can offer some insight. We have enjoyed all of our cruises thus far and will be trying Anthem next year.

First - we drove from Ontario to Port Canaveral. Parked in the terminal garage and entered the terminal around 9:45. We dropped off our bags ourselves. We always arrive early as we love getting on the ship as soon as they allow. Checking in was easy and we waited in the assigned area for about 1 hour before they started calling groups for early boarding. This process went quickly and we were stepping on the ship shortly after 11:15 am. We did the usual walk through the promenade and made our way up top and checked out the pool areas. There were still very few people on board so it was nice to re-acquaint ourselves with the layout of the ship. Having been on Allure a year earlier it all came back to us very quickly. It was sort of like doing a B2B with a year between.

We went down to the Park Café on deck 8 and had a very nice lunch. Did some more walking and then noticed that the doors to the rooms were open. This was about 1:10. We didn't hear an announcement but people were definitely accessing the rooms so we went to ours and got right in. We also found our two suit cases near our door which was great. Never had our bags that early. We had a standard balcony on deck 11, port side near the aft elevator bank. Not sure if posting the number is allowed but it was in the 112XX range. The bed was near the closet. This is the first time we had the bed in this location and frankly we now have no preference. Either location is fine with us. On Allure we had a Board Walk balcony second from the end. We enjoyed the views from this room but found the long walk from the elevators a little tedious. So on Oasis we opted for an ocean facing balcony close to the elevators. The room was very nice and showed no signs of wear. It was very clean and the balcony was a good size. I found it very convenient to go out for coffee's in the morning or for an afternoon beverage on our balcony from this location. I could be back within 5 minutes. We are both Cpap users and were familiar with the outlet under the bed from Allure however since there is only one outlet we still needed an extension cord for the second machine. We don't bring power bars as reports about them being allowed seem to be a little hit and miss. We connected with our cabin steward and asked for an extension cord and she was back within 5 minutes with the cord. She ended up being an excellent steward but more about that later.

I think I'll conclude this first post but I wanted to post a few of the usual questions that I often see.

10 drink card was offered on day 3. $80. We each had the deluxe beverage package.

Itinerary was Labadee day 3, Jamaica day 4 and Cozumel Day 6. We made all of the ports.

Formal nights were on sea days- day 2 and day 5.

Lobster tails were offered in the MDR on the second formal night day 5.

If people are finding this helpful let me know and I'll do a couple more posts about our dining, entertainment, beverage and excursions. Didn't really plan to post this much. I also have pictures of all of the MDR menus as well as all of the cruise compasses. I don't plan on posting them but will be happy to answer any question about them.

Leaving today for our Oasis cruise on Sunday. Really looking forward to it. On our last two cruises we discovered that there seemed to be a particular Schooner bar waiter who went above and beyond in the terms of service. Two years ago we met Lorenzo on Indy. He was great. Last year on Allure we met Gary. He also was always super attentive. He remembered names and drink preferences and even managed to make me a real Caesar. So I'm wondering if there is a waiter on Oasis Schooner bar that has made a similar impression with anyone? Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hi ABQrobin,

Thanks so much for your reply. That makes things a lot easier. Also your video is really appreciated. Looks like a great excursion. Can hardly wait.

Thanks again.

Hello, We will be on Oasis next week and plan to do the Fury Catamaran excursion while in Cozumel. Haven't done an excursion like this before and am wondering about how to deal with our valuables while snorkeling from the boat? Is there a locker provided on the boat or do people just leave there CC, cash and PP on the deck? I know there are various water proof type pouches that allow you to take all this stuff in the water with you but I would prefer the option of a small locker similar to what is available on a beach type excursion. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

We did the tour in Nassau a few years ago when we were on EOS. The tour started at the end of the same pier that Enchantment was docked at so access was very easy, just a short walk from the ship. As the tour boat itself slowly made it's way to the viewing areas we went past some expensive beach homes which the tour guide talked about in some detail so that was an unexpected extra, When we arrived at the viewing areas the water was crystal clear and they threw some fish food in the water which brought many colourful fish up close for viewing. I recall that overall it was a very relaxing and pleasant experience. On the way back I believe they provided a rum punch beverage and did a swing around the dock where the ships were docked giving us a good close up view of all of the docked ships. Have a good cruise.

Hi Carol,

Thanks for your reply. It was helpful to look at the deck plan as you suggest but the room I am looking at, 8290 is in fact listed as 4C with a size of 177 sq. ft. I think the confusion is that when you get to the deck plan page and select deck 9 as you suggested you will find that there are 3 deck plans based on date. There is a deck plan for from now till Apr 28, 2018, then a second to April 29, 2019 and a third that runs to October 2019. So you have select the correct deck plan for the specific date you are travelling.

The current deck plan does lists cabin 8290 as a D1 at 198 sq ft. However as we are cruising in Feb. 2019 when you change to that deck plan cabin 8290 switches to a C4 and shrinks to 177 sq ft!! Does Anthem have movable walls?? :o Maybe they are virtual like the balconies! This is why it appears as a C4 with those dimensions on our test bookings which are dated Feb 2019. Looks like we were both right. Interesting that a cabin category and size can change based on a date range. I assume that somewhere there has been a mix up but who knows which size is correct. Thanks again for showing me this. It's all very interesting.

The Category 4C comes up on the RC web site when you first select a balcony room type. After that you are given 3 options.

Obstructed View which is the least expensive

Ocean View D8 more expensive and room size of 198 sq. ft.

Ocean View with large balcony 4C slightly more expensive but room size is listed as 177 sq. ft.