gingersvp

We are in the same room on Harmony and am anxious to see room photos. We are staying with another couple that we met through cruising. Is the second bedroom large enough to get ready in ie hair and makeup? Did your genie coordinate with the moms as well? With 4 adults, I don't want to overburden him or her.

 

 

I think your review was very fair.

It has given me lots of things to be upfront about. 1. Starbucks coffee delivered first thing! I too am coffee disabled. 2. Different snacks throughout the day 3. Sushi! 4. Room service through the Genie.

 

 

We were just on the Adventure of the Seas in the Royal Suite and I felt the same way. There were a lot of little things that just made me shake my head. I am a fairly easy going cruiser, but by the end of the cruise I had heard the word No or its broke so much. It was one of my worst cruises. The last day the Guest Services manager asked how it was going and I was very constructive about all of the little and few larger issues not meeting the Royal WOW Expectations I have had in the past. They do like to hear this to make sure things are corrected as you found out and in the end.

Starbucks delivery isn't included, but standard coffee room service is....so don't count on Starbucks being delivered.

I didn't take a ton of room photos that are very demonstrative of space. There was a vanity in the second bedroom and 2 people could get ready in front of it but it's definitely tight, but there's a second bathroom as well that could be used.

The genie coordinated mainly with me, but Amanda also worked directly with her for her own preferences. No Genie services though for people not in a Star class suite.

Second bedroom but it doesn't show the vanity. It's a tight fit between the end of the bed and the vanity although not much different than a standard balcony.

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Giovanni's was my favorite, 150 CP was good, I was underwhelmed by Chops except for the lobster. Izumi sushi was the best thing I ate on that ship.

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The package will be more expensive on the ship.

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Ginger: What is the delux dining package and offers what over regular dining. Also, if they take online reservations for IFly and Northstar does that mean most probable "ideal" times will be sold out by embarkation?

I haven't sailed Anthem yet, but I know that they don't offer all the dining reservations online, only like 30% so I'd imagine they do the same for iFly and North star.

I actually tried to call today because I need to 2 sets of reservations at different times (toddler can't do them) and I can only do one set online. Waited on hold 11 minutes, it rang for them to pick up and then we were disconnected. Boo.

The ultimate dining let adds on all the specialty restaurants. There are plenty of included options or you can just pay separately for 1 or 2 upcharge meals, that's entirely up to you. Chops, Izumi, Wonderland and Jamie's are all additional charge. I really enjoyed the specialty dining on Oasis so that's important to me.

I like that the restaurants are smaller venues and feel more intimate.

Basically you can make your cruise fare as all inclusive as you desire, depending on your vacation style. I tend to add drink and dining packages because I so not want to think about individual costs once sailing. I'm not sure that I save money that way, but I sure do enjoy the relaxation side of it.

Some of the classes were extra also, if you're into that. There's a sushi making class, a brunch galley tour, a cupcake decorating class...all are extra but not a huge deal to skip.

They're currently offering the deluxe drink package at $45/person/day (+18% gratuity) - that can go up when the sale ends. Voom is $15.99/day for surf + stream, 1 device. Ultimate dining package is $216/adult. They also have a deluxe drink + voom for $59 but I think when you add on gratuity it's not really any cheaper.

Anything else you want me to check?

Also they opened up the iFly and Northstar reservations, so those are starting to book up.

You won't be able to access any of the shore excursion, drink or dining package pricing until you've booked. Which sailing are you looking at? We're on the May 31st 9 day sailing. And I can probably look up the pricing listed in the cruise planner. It can vary by sailing date.

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Music and parties in the Centrum. Agree with Solarium and Park Cafe. Chops was great on our recent Enchantment cruise. Also like the big screen on the pool deck.

Do they have lobster in the Chops on Enchantment? On Oasis, their lobster was simply devine.

So in July we sailed the 2 bedroom Haven suite on Pearl and last month we did the 2 bedroom Aqua Theater suite on Oasis. For a family of 5, the Star class suite was slightly less expensive than the Haven suite had been (and since we didn't have airfare, the entire trip was far less expensive).

What you're getting with Star class more than just the unlimited dining and beverage, is the services of the Royal Genie. We didn't wait in line, anywhere for anything. Ever. While there was no private courtyard (which we LOVED with a toddler in tow), I found that I preferred having a Genie to having the Haven courtyard. A big part of that, for me, is that I am the planner who arranges everything and with the Genie I didn't have to do any of it. She had front row seats reserved for us at each show, made all dining reservations and any time someone saw the color of my card they about fell over trying to help us.

So, now we're booked into a Star class suite on Anthem in May - I loved it that much. For that particular trip it is slightly more expensive than the Haven would have been on NCL during the same time period, but for us worth it.

I think that if I were to compare Sky class to Haven, I would opt for a Haven experience. It's difficult to compare, because they are not apples to apples services and it comes down to what services and experiences matter to you. The Genie wasn't a butler, she was more like a super charged personal concierge.

I just wish Royal had more 2 bedroom suite options that included Star class service, because with 3 kids I really like being able to put my two teenage sons in a separate space and ignore their bathroom habits entirely. At least the Grand Loft Suite on Anthem still has a second bathroom. I always have to tip our steward extra - teenage boys are gross.

When we were there last month on Oasis, they did not change the ship's time and the all aboard was in ship's time. So the 1:30 all aboard, for us, was local time 2:30.

If i had a soda package, do I have to bring my cup to the MDR for dinner or can I get a soda during dinner without the cup?

You can get a soda from any bar or server without the cup, that's why they put a sticker on your card. You just can't use the machine without your cup.

We're headed out for the first time on Enchantment next month and I'd love to hear your favorites about this ship.

I had a name change several years ago and had lots of time left on my passport so didn't want to go through the name change yet. I have been on 5 cruises, booked in my current name and brought my passport and name change document. Has never been a problem.

Ultimately they don't really care. They want to know that the passport belongs to you, the person who booked the cruise. The immigrations officials really only care about determining that you're able to travel and don't give two figs about your name change.

I will say this last trip in Port Canaveral I had the agent look the longest at it, only on embarkation. When leaving they're not even comparing your name to any documents and at that point it doesn't matter.

My passport expires in 2018, so I'll process my name change with the renewal this year, but will be doing one more cruise in this fashion next month.

However, you have LOTS of time to update your passport and it's honestly a simple process. What's been holding me up right now is that I no longer have a certified copy of my name change document (been traveling with a regular photo copy) and I will have to go to the court house to get a copy. It's laziness on my part.

Following along! Hope it warms up soon for you.

What expenses? They are out nothing

If you review my comment again, you will see that I quoted another person in the thread and was responding to them, rather than the OP.

We're considering the "we Will Rock you" show on Anthem OTS and we just discovered that the one we're looking to attend conflicts with the wine tasting event. They only listed 2 WWRY shows when we made the reservation, but I suspect there are others that are not showing up on the pick list. Assuming that we find another show that meets our schedule, do you really need to reserve, or can you just show up?

 

Thanks

 

CP

I have heard some pretty negative things about the wine tasting event. Just throwing that out there. I've personally steered clear because of the feedback (although if you're ever on Celebrity the Riedel class is totally worth it).

I've been bumped off the same cruise.

 

Unfortunate timing, as the email arrived two days after my wife and I booked return flights to Barcelona from London, and a hotel for the night before the cruise. These are paid for and cannot be cancelled. There are no other suitable RCI cruises so we will have to cancel the cruise and won't be refunded the cost of the flights and hotel.

 

I'm hoping that RCI will give us some compensation towards the additional expenses, as we have entered the period within which people could reasonably be expected to book flights etc. Not sure I hold out much hope of that, having read about the experiences of others.

It's worth checking with your credit card company to see if they have included travel protections that would reimburse you these expenses!

If she's a US citizen she can travel with her birth certificate and state photo ID, but if the names do not match she will need documentation bridging the gap (i.e. marriage certificate).

We just did a 7 day on Oasis out of Canaveral and are booked on the May 31 Anthem sailing. My teens are 15 and 11. While they did not join us on Oasis they were more interested in the Anthem YouTube videos and we all liked the 9 day itinerary with 4 sea days. I was not able to do everything I wanted on Oasis in the 7 days and I almost felt pressure from not getting to do it all. I'm looking forward to a slightly smaller ship and the extra days to see it. The ports on the Anthem are the same as my Oasis cruise but adding Bermuda. I'm Floridian so we're actually excited about the idea of a cooler port and luckily there are direct flights to Newark from Sarasota. We're going up for Memorial Day weekend to see New York first. My boys just "took" to the Anthem more in our research.

I also considered one of the bigger NCL ships because we've cruised one of their smaller ships and liked the line, but the boys were bored with the Pearl.

I'm not going to lie, what tipped it in the end is that we sail in suites and I preferred the Star class to the Haven.

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It never hurts to have additional documentation. I have cruised Royal Caribbean and Norwegian with my kids and have never been asked for documentation giving me permission to travel with them.

They do not (yet) have passports and one of my sons has a different last name. I have also flown countless times without any issue. However, different cruise lines, different ports and different political times can bring you a different outcome.

Thank you for this wonderful information! Which ship were you on? What kind of food was served? Can you please forward those menus to info@joshuaandmichael.com?

Done! I was on Oasis.

They sent over a couple cheese plates, fruit plates, cookies, french fries, chicken fingers. It was 11 plates total, and we only ate about half of it because everyone had already had dinner.

I was on Oasis 12/3 and we went to San Juan. They did not make it to St. Maarten for our sailing, but the website mentions it should be returning in 2018 - it was just repair work to the dock that was holding things up.

Hi we are in a 2 Bedroom AT as well and was looking at a party. Could you please email me the menus as well. My email is mariandbill@aol.com.

 

Thanks!

Sent!

We will be hosting a wedding reception in our RLS, later this year. We will have a Royal Genie; however, will not have contact with them until closer to our sail date. Once we have enough guests booked, we will move into groups. For now, are you able to provide any basic pricing for the appetizers / bar / servers? Was everything arranged prior to departure or did you have to give prompts to food and beverage to make sure the event happened as planned? Thank you in advance for your advice.

I hosted a wedding cocktail party - less than a full reception, but still quite a bit in our 2 bedroom Aqua Theater suite. The genie arranged for about 11 platters of food at no charge, but I had to purchase the wine (at a 20% discount). I worked out with the genie the best date/time to host it in the 2 weeks prior. She did email me the catering menus which I can forward if you'd like. Since I didn't want to outshine the wedding itself, I was trying to keep it simpler than the full catering stuff. Basically, you don't have to have everything figured out early and the genie will take a lot of the burden of planning on for you.

I was on Oasis and had to work remotely half days. I wasn't able to VPN to my work computer but had no trouble with my cloud based services. We were also able to stream videos without any difficulty for my 2 year old.

Oasis had very long nursery hours, like pretty much all day and through the evening. It's different than the kids club because it is an extra charge and therefore more accommodating. I feel it was like 9am to 10pm or something along those lines. Earlier on port days. You have to reserve in advance but you do it on the first day.

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