BeeBerry

On 5/25/2024 at 2:05 PM, mofurd said:

This is awesome…can check on the MDR menus on the stateroom TV, even with several hours to go before dinner! 😎

Following too... lovely photos. ☺️

It would be great to know which MDR menu they are using for each day as we are on the same itinerary in July?  🙏

20 hours ago, jwattle said:

He will probably get the soda and more as it was purchased under US conditions, but not positive of this.

I'm not sure it would matter where you booked from once on the ship, unless the account states up front which package they would be getting....  

11 hours ago, S&DMOM said:

But from what I understand even though the drinking is 18 in Europe they will not give that passenger an alcoholic drink package for the Plus Package deal.  Is that right?
 

  I have a 20 y/o.. will he be getting the Soda package in Europe when it was part of the package purchased here in the USA?

I'm pretty sure in Europe everyone 18 and over with Princess Plus gets the alcoholic drink package as standard.  This is from the confirmation from my 19 year old's booking:

2 hours ago, villauk said:

Has anyone got a link to the T&Cs when sailing from the U.K. regarding age restrictions for the alcohol package, specifically if it includes those aged 18 and above rather than 21 yrs when cruising from the US etc.? TIA.

Hi, I checked this extensively before I booked as we were getting the package and I have a 19 year old step-daughter who would make more of the drinks than her 22 year old brother. 😁  Here is the info from Princess, under Age Restrictions on Drinking & Gambling.  Clearly states the drinking age in Europe is 18.

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/onboard/onboard-experience/

On 10/15/2021 at 3:31 PM, compman9 said:

 

There was one common mantra among senior officers - Everything will be back to normal by next May.

 

 

Hi.  This is so so good to hear.  🙂 I've been putting off re-booking even though I am desperate for a cruise because masks etc are a big no-no for me.  Was there any other information on timescales etc?

15 hours ago, crazyank said:

What you won't find is many kids from Europe during this time.  Many schools over here are in session until late July.

If the cruise is the one that starts on the 28th May then that's the spring holiday break in the UK (kids have a week off school) so it's possible there will be some UK families on that cruise, especially if it ends in Dover - one way flights are so much cheaper. 😄  The weather that time of year will be great, probably between 20c-30c.  The cooler temps the further north you sail.  

I've only sailed Carnival once in Europe in October a number of years ago and I would say it was mostly Americans and Brits onboard.  I don't really remember any other Europeans. By 2023 I would imagine it would be mostly Americans onboard as Carnival is not advertised at all over here anymore. 😞 

How long is your cruise ? Just trying to figure out how exactly that equates to $10 per day ? :confused::confused:

 

7 days @ $70 plus 18 % = $82.60

8 days @$80 plus 18% = $94.40

 

So how exactly have RCCL arrived at $89.90 ??

Probably the Spanish tax which gets added to on-board purchases.

I haven’t sailed with RC in Europe for a couple of years now but they definitely used to have different food in the buffet sailing from the Med than on the standard Caribbean cruises. My favourite ever dessert was a Spanish Orange Cake in the Windjammer when we sailed from Malaga. Never seen it since sadly. :(

Sometimes in the MDR there would be a different menu we hadn’t seen before (possibly a less well used one from the longer 10-14 day cruises). And the prawn cocktail was served with the sauce we use for prawn cocktails in Britain – Marie Rose sauce. Breakfast would also cater more for Brits than the Caribbean cruises with our bacon and baked beans alongside the usuals.

So only little differences, which is a bit of a missed opportunity really, especially when sailing from the Med.

Nothing ticks me off more than reading reviews from people who do nothing but complain! I was on this ship for the April 30th sailing and it was, as I mentioned in my review, the best cruise I have been on to date! I read so many poor reviews of this ship before I left that I was almost convinced that the cruise was going to be horrible. But what I found was the most amazing staff, from the room attendants to the bartenders, and the most amazing service in the Main Dining Room by Aila and her assistant. I had breakfast in the MDR every morning and ordered off the menu. My breakfast was exceptional every day, with the eggs being cooked perfectly and delivered hot and fresh. The reason for eating breakfast in the MDR was because I don't particularly care for buffet dining, so I don't understand why someone would go to the MDR and choose to eat off the buffet. Anyone reading this guy's review, please take it with a grain of salt. Some people wouldn't be satisfied if you bowed down and kissed their feet! Oh, and in my opinion, the reason for a vacation is relaxation and enjoyment. Time to unplug and have fun! So put the electronics down and try to enjoy your cruise mates instead of having your cell phone as your companion and complaining about how slow the internet is! There's more to life than Wi-Fi!!

We were on the same cruise as Shortcake and it was also one of our best cruises! So much so that we have booked a B2B on her for next April. :D

We’d cruised a lot with RC in the past and were starting to get bored so had mostly switched to other lines. In fact our last RC cruise was 2 years ago on the Allure. It was fine but there was nothing “special” about it, it was all very forgettable and bland. On the Adventure last month we fell back in love with RC again. We met the nicest people, had great dining room staff in the MDR (My time dining), a nice cabin attendant who got it that we wanted to be left alone, the food was good in the MDR and buffet, and the bar staff in the pub were especially lovely. We really don’t cruise for the staff and hate being fawned over so coming from us that is a big compliment. :p

As for the muster drill starting just before dinner, this is obviously to accommodate all the people flying in that afternoon. We boarded at 2pm and walked straight on and found the terminal at San Juan fine. During our drill we saw LOTS of people still boarding the ship as we were waiting for all the slackers. It’s definitely passengers that are the problem not the time of the drill, especially as they were rounding people up on the pool decks 15 minutes beforehand. :mad: And I am pretty sure the first seating dining was pushed back to 6.30pm that one day to accommodate the late drill…

I think the Voyager/Freedom class are my favourite design of ship, they just flow really well and never feel crowded. I agree with some of the other posters about keeping Allure/Oasis with their boring itineraries and packed Windjammers. ;)

From Harmony

Oooh yum, great menu! :) Halibut is so much nicer than any of the other white fish on the current menu's.

After a disappointing day, I would like to say it has been well and truly redeemed tonight.

 

The service and food in Silk was fantastic. Only let down with a molten lava cake which was less molten and more microwaved.

 

The 1887 ice show was really good. I didn't really get the plot but the skaters were really fantastic and some very clever lighting onto the ice. The bar service at the seat was also very good.

 

Just in boot and bonnet pub and the singer Kieran Cox who was on last night as well is very good and we are booked in for the comedy show at 22:30.

Well done on your live thread, it's been really interesting. Can't believe the amount of things unfinished on the ship though!

The pub singer, Kieran Cox, was on our Adventure cruise 3 weeks ago. He said he was travelling back to the UK to start a new stint on Harmony of the Sea's. We thought he was great! :D

In the Atrium there was an awesome country western duo AND the most amazing violin trio. There was a brass type band as well but I don't know the names of the groups.

 

Lots of people danced when the CW duo played. They are husband and wife and he kinda looks like Elvis and sings great.

Hi. Do you know if there was a band playing in Ocean Plaza as well? And guitar players/singers in the Red Frog? :)

Thank you. This is good information for me, since I am so new to this.

 

Does anyone know how much a specialty coffee drink is? I might possibly have a Starbucks addiction. I could conceivably see myself having one or two coffee drinks, plus perhaps a fruity/slushy alcoholic beverage each day.... and a soda.... Just trying to figure out if this is a good financial decision or not!

The answer is no, it wouldn't be worth it for you. A cocktail and a couple of coffees would be less than $20.

We’ve sailed pretty much equally on Carnival and RCI and there are pluses and minuses to both lines and it really does depend on the ship as well. Again, we think there are more similarities than differences, including the passengers (dictated more by itinerary I feel). The food is fairly equal in the MDR’s, maybe with Carnival having a slight edge on desserts.

We’ve only sailed on the Breeze and updated Sunshine with Carnival so can only base our opinion on the newer décor, venue options etc. With Royal we’ve sailed on almost every class of ship and there are differences from the smallest to the likes of the Oasis class.

On Royal we prefer

- General layout of the ships, they flow better and feel less crowded

- The drinks packages

- Pools and Adults Only areas are nicer

- The Shows (on the bigger ships only)

- The buffet restaurants on RCI have more variety and a much better layout.

On Carnival we prefer

- The extra free dining choices like Guys Burgers, C-Day BBQ, the Taco bar etc.

- Cabin/bathroom space.

- Music options: love the bands in the Ocean Plaza and the guitar soloists in the Red Frog Pub are MILES above RCI’s paltry offerings

- Love the Alchemy Bar and Ji-Ji’s Asian Kitchen was the only speciality restaurant on both cruiselines which we thought was worth the small upcharge

- The Breeze is probably our favourite ship – we love the wrap-around promenade with seating outside the bars and restaurants.

In general with us it comes down to Price, Ship & Itinerary. :D

Hope that helps!

Carlos is usually in the atrium cafe - my guess is that they didn't have carlos cakes delivered to Southampton as it isn't their usual port? They used to have the free pound cakes in there before carlos.

Yes it was the free pound cakes they had there. Weird though as I would have thought the Carlos cakes would be made on-board like everything else....

I think the free atrium coffee went when Carlos cake shop moved in. :( you can get it a o'sheehans but not free serve.

I didn't see the Carlo's cake shop, where was it? There was a case of cakes in the Cafe but they were free.

The water mini golf please- very curious as to what that entails!!

Yes definitely, I'm curious about that too!

Whoever is sailing out first, PLEASE PLEASE take lots of pics!

I'm on the first sailing and I promise to take lots of photos. If anyone wants pictures of anything in particular let me know beforehand. This is my first sailing on the Epic so some of the changes might not be obvious. :D

No problem, happy to help! :D

Hi all

I am happy to say I have the menu's from our 8 day Breeze cruise in May. Some of the photos are a little blurry and I only have two dessert menus but i also have all the Fun Times and teen club schedules. I forgot to take photos on the first day so I have taken that menu from the TV screen. All 8 menus are on your TV on-board so you can check them out for the whole week.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16328867@N06/

Our itinerary was:

Miami-At Sea-At Sea-St Marteen-St Kitts-San Juan-Grand Turk-At Sea

Enjoy! We much preferred the new menu's and my favourite dishes were the Filet Mignon & Short Rib, the Coq au Vin (one of the port specials), Seafood Newburg, the Crab Cake starter and the Braised Ox Tongue starter. The Beef Wellington is also pretty good. I had some of the best desserts on a cruise ship as well. The Sticky Toffee Brioche was delicious! The Banana White Choc Pudding and the Bitter & Blanc were also very good.

Let's see I always order the cream of broccoli, yukon potato and lobster bisque soups and the crab cake. When those aren't offered it's a Caesar salad. I love the brisket, lobster and shrimp with mashed potato, boneless short ribs and chateaubriand. The pork steak was ok on my last cruise as well. The cakes are always way to dry and the WCMC is not cooked enough so I usually skip dessert except for Bitter n Blanc which I could eat an entire pan of if they would let me.

 

The new menus appear to have nothing similar and it's lots of weird seafood.

 

As someone who grew up in casino land Nevada if I never saw another buffet that would suit me just fine but I think I see a lot of them in my future.

But I've seen all the stuff highlighted above on the older menu's linked previously. I didn't take too much notice of the starters because I usually end up with a Caesar salad as I think Carnival's starters are really dull. :( I didn't notice any "weird" seafood, LOL. As someone who LOVES duck, venison and other game my favourites are really under-represented big time but I don't expect the cruiselines to cater for me personally. :D

I agree about most of the cakes but I now never expect much with cruiseline desserts - I can find better cakes in my local sandwich shop at work. I don't get the fuss about the WCMC and Bitter n Blanc either. Again, I've had better stuff than that out of a shop and heated in the microwave. :confused:

I love change, which is why we aren't loyal to one cruiseline. :D We have two cruises on the Breeze this year and I can't wait to try the new menu's. I cruised twice with Carnival in 2013 and we thought the menu's were really lacking on some days with nothing particularly exciting. Although the desserts were definitely a step-up from RCI's unappealing offerings and they look even better on some of the new table menu's I've seen so far!

trvlgirlmq - I do not like a lot of spicy food either but can find lots of other options. What is it you like so much on the old menu?

Sinny - great review so far, I love your sense of humour! :D

I think you might have meant the Westfield shopping centre in London though? ;)

Melissa - I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying your trip report. It's nice to read a Med report where you seem to be enjoying the ports the same way my husband and I do - with lots of food and wine! ;)

Karen

.

I gave up trying to book By Time Dining on the RCI website for our 20th July sailing last weekend as the wesbite was being hopeless.

 

Tried again today, and got further. Selected all the dates, time and guests, went to complete and it gave an error "Cannot hold more than 32 product bookings in one transaction". Great. That's 15 minutes of working out what we wanted on each day, selecting guests etc lost.

 

Trying again, and now it won't find the reservation for the other people we are dining with "You must enter a valid reservation number and a valid last name". Checked, double checked, triple checked. The name and number ar correct. Useless site. The website may push me away from RCI for my next cruise as it so so poor. This is meant to be fun planning, not a stressful chore.

I am having the exact same problem booking MTD for our August cruise and I'm also in the UK. Makes me laugh when the website then gives the message to call a US number. Reeeeeally helpful!!!! :mad: Their website really is the absolute pits! I normally wouldn't book particular times but we have 5 in our party.