Capt Snoopy

@bogs1009 for lunch on sea days Giovannis, Izumi, Chops, Johnny Rockets, and Sabor are open. Also Johnny Rockets told me that you can eat there once a day so on port days I’ll eat there midday under the dining package. I would really really suggest the Dining Package, I have really enjoyed it. I have ate at 150 Central Park twice for dinner (one more time tonight), Giovannis once for dinner (one more time tomorrow night) and twice for lunch, Chops last night for dinner and will eat there for lunch tomorrow, I ate at Sabor one night and one time for lunch (on port days Sabor isn’t covered under dining package). I haven’t been to Samba, Brazilian steakhouse doesn’t sound appealing to me. 

I think you’re on a great path with your proposed choices. I’d 100% suggest 150 CP twice (ask for Izzine, he has been my server and is amazing!), Giovannis is worth lunch and dinner (the osso buco at night is to die for!), Chops is amazing as well and great for lunch too! Sabor was ok, if there is another option, I’d choose it. I hope this helps some!

@mumluv2cruz so every drink is priced at $13 or under (drink package cap). The only ones that go above that is the cucumber basil martini from 150 CP ($2 out of pocket) and then all the expensive scotches and whiskeys. Every bar has a different menu but if there’s a bar you had in mind, I’ll go get the menu for you 🙌🏻

@Grommet very sorry to hear that but I understand because even I have trouble opening the battery compartment. Even worse is trying to pull the battery out! But for me the pictures come out amazing!

The new Hero 7 just came out so maybe they made improvements??

@createmem wow! I did not know that. I have seen advertisement for Omaha steak but never considered them seriously. I will have to do that now since there steaks are so delicious. The meat timer will be downloaded now! Good luck to your daughter 🙌🏻

2 hours ago, Espn said:

Oh cool. My nephew starts WOCS and then flight school at Ft Rucker next June. He wants to fly Blackhawks too.

 

So, at the port in San Juan, are there shops around the port to get souvenirs like most places? In a couple of weeks we thought we would just get off the ship and buy a couple of things and then head back to the pool or solarium.

Good luck to your nephew! It’s a very hard but rewarding path. I’m sure he is going to love flying Blackhawks! 

In San Juan they have a LOT of shopping. Probably 6 streets deep and 20 streets wide of shops and places to eat. It all seemed relatively safe. We had 1 beggar get a little too bold for my liking but nothing that couldn’t be handled. 

Youll be able to find so many trinkets and t-shirts, even jewelry and watches!

@Grommet hope this helps! Lemme know if you need me to track down anything else!

First 2 pics are for kids 12-17! 

Second 2 pics are 3-11 years old!

@BillOh

Oddly enough I knew a lot of the songs because my parents always played the Oldies on the radio my whole childhood, so it did bring back fond memories and somehow I still knew the words! He is definitely a great performer, he had everyone out of their seats and singing. 

Also that was a great video! The 747 looks HUGE in your video! That must’ve been a blast 🙌🏻 Thanks for sharing that

20 minutes ago, MrFunInTheSun said:

Glad you made it to Chops for dinner. It’s always so good. 

Yes! It is one of my favorites. The steak is good enough for me to book another cruise for!

5 minutes ago, BillOh said:

What do you fly?   I'm just a aviation nut who wasn't allowed to fly due to a lazy eye and poor depth perception. I'm glad to have made it to Maho to see one of the last 747s land there in 2014. 

Wow! That 747 looks amazing. I’m very jealous of you, you experienced history! I think I’ve heard eyes disqualifying a lot of people, sorry to hear. 

I fly Blackhawk helicopters full time and then on the side I fly Cirrus SR22s and next month starting to fly Citation jets. 

@BillOh it was $130/night through Priceline Express Deals. The hotel and pool were beautiful and I enjoyed walking the marina but the room was a let down. I did not think it was 4 star quality that they attempted to advertise it as. The decor was drabby and there was mold around the bath tub. 

@mom2tcdx2 either one, Central Park or boardwalk, you will love! They are both great neighborhoods to look out on. I don’t imagine there will be any noise for you, I walked around the Boardwalk around 10:30pm last night and it was absolutely quiet. It seems once the shops and the carousel close (at 10pm I believe), it’s quiet and peaceful. I really enjoy CP at night because they normally have someone playing soft tunes on a guitar and at night, they play crickets chirping. Very relaxing. 

So I know I said I was going to Giovannis but our Johnny Rockets fries and sundae at 3pm didn’t really leave any room for dinner at 6pm. I called and switched the dinner reservation from Giovannis at 6 to Chops at 9, since I haven’t been able to get Chops yet. I am so so glad I finally was able to eat there again. Blake and I both had beef carpaccio followed by Blake having tuna tartare and me having the shrimp cocktail. The shrimp are HUGE, they take 2 huge bites per shrimp. 

After the delicious appiteasers, the 9 oz filet mignon (medium rare of course) come and I try all three sauces. The steak just falls apart, it is probably one of the best steaks I have ever had and they don’t overcook it at all. The only better steak I have had is at Hall’s Steakhouse in Charleston, SC. I feel like I could’ve used a butter knife at Chops. The sides we chose were Mac and cheese (simple cheese sauce with noodles, it was pretty dry and blah) and the sautéed mushrooms (these were pretty good, 6.5/10). The meats are definitely where Chops shine, I have never thought the sides were anything to ‘write home about’. Also sorry for the poor quality pic, the lighting is so dark in these restaurants.

Dinner ended around 10:15pm and we were tired so we went back to the room and tried to catch up on sleep but here I am, awake at 6:50am. I wish for one day I could sleep til 9am 😂 Also because dinner wasn’t til 9pm last night, I was finally able to get a sunset picture from our port side balcony! I really hope I can sail in this room again. 

@Grommet no problem, I can go down to Adventure Ocean in a couple of hours. In Labadee today so it’s either run errands or get sunburnt, I rather run errands 😂

The food pictures are with my iPhone 8+ but all the other pictures of better quality are with my GoPro Hero 6! Thank you btw, I’ve really been in awe of how gorgeous this ship is.

5 hours ago, molly361 said:

Thanks for the review. We board Sunday. First time in a suite

No worries! You’re getting on board with an amazing crew. Dexter and Nancy meet every expectation. If there’s any info I can find for you, I don’t mind. Which suite are you in?

@mom2tcdx2 the boardwalk is gorgeous, you won’t be disappointed. You might even be able to catch a glimpse of the OceanAria show from your balcony. Just hope no one falls off the zip line on you 😉 but the boardwalk has been my favorite place to take pictures!!

2 hours ago, ace1zoe2 said:

How was Pier 66 & Pelicans Landing? I’ve read mixed reviews. We are booked for both this coming Saturday. Got a decent deal bidding on Priceline and hoping I won’t regret it. 

 

Thanks for the trip report and filling my time until we fly out. 

 

Cindy

So Pier 66 was very pretty on the outside, the pool and grass was very pretty. The room I was in reminded me of a holiday inn. Also the breakfast buffet was $26 per person and consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast, and some fruit with cereal and milk. But again, thebpool was very pretty!

Pelicans Landing is decent food but I would say it’s a little over priced. The ceviche was $13 and it tasted very very acidic. But I’m sure they do have better food there!

No worries! I read so many reviews leading up to this cruise, it felt like mini vacations.

Last night the headliner show was the least favorite show so far but was still entertaining. The performer, Earl Turner is a great singer and entertainer that plays classic songs from different genres. 

This morning was the same breakfast as usual then onward to San Juan. Ship boarded at 1:30pm so we spent a couple hours walking the shops and around Old San Juan, then headed back because at 1:20pm there was a sailaway party on the helipad for suite guests. Also if anyone is curious, it is $7/person to go into the Fort in Old San Juan. 

For lunch before the sailaway party, we went to the Coastal Kitchen since everything else was closed. Chops was ‘open’ for lunch on the Royal app but in person they were sadly not open. At CK Blake had Marsala with gluten free noodles while I had a medium rare steak with hollandaise...also how does her fork always end up on my plate? 👀

The sailaway party was a lot of fun and Dexter was a great host. There were champagne and other drinks provided and Dexter introduced the heads of almost all the departments on the ship. Everyone was super friendly and down to earth, it was really nice to hear different perspectives of operations around the ship. My hats off to the great job everyone does to make this cruise a wonderful experience. 

Then we went to Johnny Rockets for a little snack of fries and a sundae, now we are being lazy until Giovannis for dinner tonight. 

@mom2tcdx2 that sounds like a great plan. I don’t want it to be quoted as fact but the server did tell me the $39 hibachi is covered (1 meat) and the $45 hibachi (2 meat) is covered but you have to pay $10 in addition to the dining package. I hope that still stands true when you attempt it 🙌🏻

26 minutes ago, JaniceB said:

Maho beach did look really calm, lucky you.

I was very lucky, and also nervous. Only 2 big planes flew in and the first was 30 minutes early and I missed it. Talk about pressure to see the second!

20 minutes ago, ramja96 said:

OK - sorry, I thought you had the deluxe package. THANKS!

I have the dining package and the drink package! But the milkshakes fall under the drink package, you’re in luck!

4 minutes ago, betterthanvegas? said:

Loving this review! Only 10 days now for ours! We've booked 150 CP for our 10th wedding anniversary so glad to hear it's good. Is it ok to get 3 entrees between 2? And/or 3 desserts? There's a few things on the menu we'd find it hard to choose between...

Thanks!

You picked the best restaurant imo! So it depends on the server! You always get as many appetizers and desserts that you want but you’re ‘supposed to’ only get 1 entree each. If your server is extra accommodating, they can hook you up with extras; if not, it is $15 for an extra entree. Good luck in the generous server roulette 🙌🏻

I would say the tenderloin is AMAZING, the short rib was very tough, the cod was very silky and moist, and the scallops have a perfect sear on top of a smoky chickpea, cabbage, and pancetta mix. Hope that helps a little bit! Depending on what day you picked, they will have dry aged steak. This week it is on night 6 and 7 (Friday and Saturday). 

@mom2tcdx2 I 100% agree. I was very disappointed because I haven’t been able to get to Chops this entire cruise because of that issue. Had I known it was an issue, I would have scheduled everything on the first day! I’m glad you won’t run into the same predicament as me. I would definitely suggest 150 CP more than once. I personally never went to Sabor or the Brazilian steakhouse for dinner because it just didn’t seem as delicious as Giovanni’s, 150 CP, and Izumi. If those didn’t work, we would go to coastal kitchen because Chops has been too booked to get in. 

@ramja96 funny you’re asking, we are having milkshakes and sundaes now. They are included. 3x this cruise the milkshake has been included with the drink package!

@lazydayz @ramja96 so what I ended up doing is just settling on going to chops for lunch since the menu is almost identical. Then picking 150 CP at a later time in the night and just going to the entertainment shows at a later time. I hate to ‘rock the boat’ or anything since the suite concerige and Bechir have gone out of their way and been so accommodating to Blake’s gluten allergy. I know, I know, I’m too passive in this regard LOL

@mom2tcdx2 I would honestly suggest to try and figure out which restaurants you want to try on each night, then as soon as you get on the ship, go to any one of the restaurants and they can schedule all of them for you. I was told by the suite concerige that I didn’t need to reserve for the entire week and I can’t even get into some restaurants like chops because it is so booked. Needless to say, I am very disappointed I don’t have the choices I would have had if I booked everything on the first day!