Jamie.Francis03

My wife has done several Escape Rooms, The upcoming one on Symphony, I assume will be similar. Have you done other ones before. I'd love to hear more details if you have time.

We had never done it before. I had to drag hubby to this one and he ended up loving it! Basically we were "stranded" in a space ship and had to work as a group to get power back on, generators working, and navigation. There were about 10 or so of us. It was a lot of fun, we would definitely do it again!

Hi all, we are just off of Harmony from our 9/1-9/8 sailing. We went to Labadee, Haiti, Falmouth , Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico. Just going to give a quick review as most of it is the same as what has been said before.

I'll start off by saying we enjoyed the cruise overall, however, it's going to be a while before we cruise with Royal again.

What we liked:

The Fine Line was great, and interesting.

Grease was a lot of fun and a little PG-13. Fun for everyone though.

Escape room was our favorite.

We had a dining packed for the entirety of the cruise and enjoyed everything we ate. Also ate a few times at at the complimentary places and it was better than Anthem.

Labadee was wonderful. Walk off the ship and head to the beach. Water was clear, little rocky, but everyone had a great time.

Cozumel was our favorite. Short drive to Playa Mia and you couldn't ask for better weather. Water was beautiful, everything was picture perfect! Water slides and a pristine beach.

What we didn't like:

Jamaica, Bamboo Beach Club - avoid this shore excursion. You could not go into the beach. It was nothing but rocks, sharp ones at that. I did cut my foot trying to get in. Even those with water shoes had issues. It's an hour and 15 minute drive from port, not worth it. It was a total waste of the day. It rained the whole day (totally out of their control, but when you can't get into the water, you just sit in chairs soaking wet, there's no cover.)

The beds - this is what did us in. There were 2 mattress toppers on our bed, and it made no different. By our second to last day, I could hardly walk from the back pain. The beds are the reason we won't be cruising with Royal until the do something about this. It's a shame, but what is the point of vacation if you can't sleep at night b/c the beds are so damn hard? I should let you know that the mattress toppers are about as thick as an iphone and provide no cushioning.

If you have any specific questions let me know and I'll be happy to go more into detail. I just didn't want to bog everyone down with every single thing!

Ah, so that's pretty shady. Charging for onboarding price when I am pre-purchasing....

Ok thank you, yes I wondered if the gratuities for stateroom attendants and bartenders, etc was separate.

As for the BOGO and everything, I think you are right. They are going to find anyway they can to get a lot of money. I have to say though, drink package always seems worth the peace of mind.

Hi all! My husband and I are sailing out on Harmony September 1 and we are very excited. We've been holding off on purchasing the deluxe beverage package for a deal. I received an email yesterday from Royal that gave us a "buy one get one 50% off" deal for the deluxe beverage package. However, when I add it from the email it still come out to $776 and some change. I think I am missing something here. We called RC customer service last night and asked them about it, but they said the discount is being reflected and that is the correct price. I thought it was around $50-$55 per person, per day? It's a 7 day cruise, so I would imagine it would come out to over $700 without the discount. I'm just confused. Can anyone shed light on this?

Also, when we booked we payed for gratuities upfront, RC told us on the phone that the price we were seeing (the $776) was including gratuites. Isn't that already paid for? Thanks for any help!

Yes, I booked shows as soon as they were available! I'm excited you will be on the same cruise! And thank you for answering the pool question. I don't care too much if I am right by the pool as long as I can get some sun!

Anyone know about the pools?

I'm seeing a lot of posts about getting early to shows and pools. How early should we arrive to get good seats for shows - and how early are people reserving chairs near pools?!

We set sail one week from today and we are so excited!:D

This is also my first time crusing and it will be on the Anthem. I was nervous at first about the ship, as I have seen negative posts. Since it will be our first cruise ever there really isn't anything to compare it to - so that's a plus I guess. But I think of ALL of the people who are crusing and not posting anything. People don't always post when they have a great time. It's like complaints with anything. When things are the way they are supposed to be, you don't hear anything. Once there is a really bad expierence, then you hear something. So for a ship that takes 4,000+ passengers a cruise and only a few that complain, I'm not too worried about it!

I saw in your flikr album something regarding watching Netflix on a smartTV. Can you expand on that? Do you have to purchase the internet package, or certain room for it?

ANDDDDD I now realize that was the hotel....... :o

I saw in your flikr album something regarding watching Netflix on a smartTV. Can you expand on that? Do you have to purchase the internet package, or certain room for it?

Can't wait to find more drinks to try. All of these sound so good!

My cruise has The Beatles. I was so hoping for Journey, haha.

I loved having one of these in the champagne bar on Freedom every night (hopefully they're available on anthem!)

CHAMPAGNE MARGARITA (sugar-rimmed champagne glass, Patron Silver tequila, Cointreau, orange juice, topped w/ champagne)

 

And I never drink froofy drinks, but with a drink package on a cruise...I have to have a Bahama Mama or Pina Colada at least once a day.

 

I loved having a whiskey or Scotch drink at dinner (Tom Collins, Old Fashioned, etc)

 

Hubby and I dedicated each day of our last cruise to trying a drink in a different color of the rainbow. Purple was challenging but.... :p

That's such a great idea! We want to try as many things as we can

Keep them coming!

Love a B52, even better than a mudslide; can order it as a shot or over ice. Dirty Banana; banana colada with an extra shot of dark rum floating on top. The waiter complained he had to go to a different bar than the main pool bar; oh well.

I don't know what any of those are but they sound delicious!! I can't wait to try all of these. With 4 days total at sea what else are we supposed to do?? :p

See, now that's what I'm looking for! Drinks I've never heard of that would be fun to try! Thanks everyone!

Does the Bionic Bar have a "surprise me" drink option?

I would love that!:D

I love mojitos. I hadn't thought of having different for each meal, but that's not a bad idea, especially a dessert one!

I'll take a dirty martini anyday!

We are sailing on Anthem in November and we purchased the premium drink package. We aren't huge drinkers per say, but it is a cruise after all and we really want to let lose and relax. So, what are your go-to drinks on any RCCL?

Can't wait to hear!

Detailed and don't shy away talking about the food and desserts : )

I am so grateful for this thread. My frist cruise ever is on the Anthem in November and this has been beyond helpful! Thank you so much!

I've read a lot about the planes at St.Maarten. I really want to check it out. Seems like a lot of people think it's a must see!

Thank you! I wasn't sure what the roll call was, haha.

Hey all! I am new here (forum as well as cruising!) and I have some questions. My boyfriend and I are going on a 10 night cruise in November and we've never cruised before. We are looking into excursions, but it can be a bit overwhelming the more you reasearch them. Our stops are: San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. Any suggestions you could give us? Maybe something you didn't feel was worth your money, or something you regret not doing? We really don't know what to expect with any of it.

Thank you for any help!! :)