mobrien36

I think they monitor these boards. I posted about 2 hours ago and I just received a call back from a supervisor which I had asked for a few days ago. The supervisor was pretty rude, so we are pretty much done with Royal. If anyone is a top tier and is interested in Carnival contact me, we have a great host, we can give your information to. I think that's the difference. The new Club Royale Player club is a travel agency. They are travel agents, not hosts, who answer the phone. The hosts on board have their hands tied and can't do much for you anymore. A host knows the value of a top tier player. A travel agent doesn't care. Penny wise and pound foolish, IMHO.

I have an international host that takes care of me. If you are a player and you want to reach out to me, I’ll give you my contact info and his. You will no longer wait for the offers or seek out the certificates. No need.

Let me know.

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I spoke to CR about a month ago and they said information regarding our "free cruise", as well as tier, would be emailed out in the next 2-3 weeks, which would have been by the end of May/18, well, June 3/18, and still no emails. You would think all of the glitches would have been worked out by now.

I have been following this thread and responses. I was just in Anthem on 4/21 earned 7000 points a free balcony certificate, but the certificate limits the use to the dates on the back or 1000 off any cruise. I booked Oasis for July through my junket host who actually gets me better offers than CR offers. If you have any significant play get in touch and I will provide his info. It’s worth a call to compare.

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Please I have some ideas for you if you have any significant play. Please let me know and I can direct you in the right direction.

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Yes a host that has international destinations along with cruise options.

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I was just on the Anthem on 4/21-27 and earned 7000 points and a free balcony room certificate. I no longer need to use a certificate when I book the cruises I want to go on because the certificate limits you. I am sailing again on the Oasis in July. I just booked this week by calling my international host. He works directly with RCI and can do better than RCI or the certificate allows.

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I was on this cruise too and loved it! Beautiful ship!

 

 

 

Allyson

Any outbreak of the norovirus on your cruise? This current cruise seems to have an outbreak. We are on the Saturday cruise and they are asking us to board after 11:30 as they are sanitizing the ship.

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I am on this cruise and can confirm norovirus. So far 3 of the 4 of us have had it on three different nights and I have heard others talking about getting sick. My daughter had it Monday night, me Tuesday and my son on Wednesday. My daughter and my cases were quite mild, but my son is pretty miserable. We have all been religiously washing our hands, but honestly, with the way this ship is set up, it is a lost cause. The real only way to control it would be if they didn’t allow you to exit your bathroom or stateroom door without washing your hands. All of the elevator and touchscreen buttons are just spreading the germs. Plus there are lots of small kids on this very full ship.

Any idea if the numbers of folks affected? Seems like a bigger outbreak than described. We are sailing on the next cruise and got an email stating a small number of folks have Norovirus.

They are doing an extra cleaning and asking us to board later.

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Do you mind sharing the details of how you came in contact with this international host?

Sure. On the cruise in July 2016 I was playing blackjack with a guy seemed like the majority of the cruise. We carried conversation daily throughout the cruise. He was telling me based on my play I should use an international host. My wife and his wife were chatting as they watched us play. He gave me the info and I had my wife add it to my phone while we were playing. I thought he was only tied in with RCL perhaps so never called until I was considering another cruise, but reality is he is able to book all cruise lines and lots of land based casino getaways.

He is able to check your RCL play and also land based casinos or reach out to your host in a land based casino if you have one.

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Good deal then. Good luck!

Thank you!

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Just an FYI. Hearing from people who has been on those casino junkets is that they do not then get any benefits from ship’s casino. So no earning points for future free cruises, etc. Just repeating what I have heard.

The junket host I used books it through Casino Royale and I am getting free drinks and the no fees for transactions as well. Also I will be rated like any other person while on board. All of the perks from the host will be available. Also, my C&A number is on the booking so will be earning the nights as well.

This isn’t from a land casino offer but a specific international host.

Due to the offer there is no OBC or other free stuff for the sailing. But then again I’m only paying the port tax.

I promise I was skeptical but it saved me 2600 vs the 750 being offered directly. I’ll call CR Monday to check on the future cruises but they will be rating me for play on my player number.

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I wanted to add to this conversation. I sailed for the first time on RCL in July 16 on the Anthem to Bermuda. I play tables and met a gentleman that uses an international junket host. I had never heard of a junket host. I was just recently looking to book our next cruise in April on the Anthem again. I receive all of the same offers that have been posted but only getting $750 off a cruise and the casino rate. I decided to reach out to the junket host(skeptical I must say) but based on my play was able to get me a balcony for 3 comped. I only had to pay port tax of $141 per person. This was a 7 night Bahamas and Florida cruise. This was significantly better than CR was offering. Also, the host also has land based casinos he represents. It’s pretty cool to have one host for land based and all cruise lines. Definitely worth a call.

I am a $75-$100 a hand black jack player. I played for about 25 hours on our last 5 day Bermuda cruise. I also receive comp offers from NCL.

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I usually book direct through CAS or CR but my last cruise was on RCL to Bermuda. I am a table games player(black jack) and was playing with a gentleman I met on a table during the cruise. We struck up conversation over the 5 day cruise and told me he books his cruises through a JUNKET host and gave me his name and number. I never heard of a junket host but was looking to go on a cruise in April with the family. We typically book 2 rooms connecting so we are comfortable. I called CAS and was offered comped interior room for two and called RCL and was offered $750 off any cruise or comp room on specific sailings. So I decided to reach out to the JUNKET host and was able to get a balcony room comped for 3. We also received the connecting balcony at the casino discounted rate.

I am very pleased with my first experience. He also has access to other cruise lines and land based casinos. So if you play it might be a good option to inquire into.

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Which night was this menu? Do you know if it was the A B or C menu? I'm glad to see some of the cold soups coming to Anthem. I sailed January, March and April and never saw a cold soup on any menu except once for lunch.

I agree those cold soups are awesome!!!!!

It was night two of the cruise.

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Thank you for posting! Do you recall if there was an upcharge for lobster?

No there was no additional charge for the lobster.

My best experience was at Jamie's. We went fur lunch on day 2 ($20) per person and because it was so awesome we went for dinner the last night. We had a waiter(Marco from Serbia) that gave us the best experience possible. He didn't just have us order off the menu but gave us an experience. He brought us 5 or 6 appetizers to sample, the same for entrees and dessert.

If your open to that type of experience ask for Marco.

Honestly the best service I've experienced on any of the past 12 cruises I've been on.

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I'll try and post again ....

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Here is the one from the Grande. We sailed 7/23-7/28.

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Nice review. We'll be going in 5 weeks, first time on this class. Please explain the dining rotation. Are there copies of the DR menus? Does anyone have one to share? Is there a formal night on the Anthem?

Here is the Grande menu---- from the same sailing.

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Omg the beds were rock hard!!!! We agree....awesome review so far couldn't agree more!

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I enjoyed both of the reviews! We are going on the Anthem in January and I can't wait. Thank you for the reviews, it really helps to read others experiences. Then I get to experience my own.

Glad I could share my experience. Overall we had a great time and know you will too...

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Excellent job and review. We were on the cruise with you as well. We had some different views of the cruise perhaps. We have sailed on both Carnival and NCL and this was our first RCI cruise.

We agree with the majority of your review but here are the areas we found needed improvement:

Cleanliness throughout the ship- we found as we walked through the ship there were plates, cups and other various things left behind that staff members were walking past and leaving. This did not exist on other cruise lines we've travelled. It seemed like there was a lack of staff members focused on this.

Bar service/pool service- There was a lack of staff/servers paying attention to guests. It seemed like the norm was to go stand at a bar to get a drink versus having someone come by to take a drink order. On the sail away from Bayonne we stood in line for 35 minutes and never got served at the bar below the North star. On other Cruise lines it seemed like there were loads of staff members serving drinks consistently at the pool areas.

Casino Comps- This was disappointing as an avid casino player who is highly rated. The casino seemed more interested in offering future comps instead of taking care of you on the current cruise. For example NCL and Carnival offer free drinks after earning a certain number of points.

Complimentary restaurants- We found the service needed improvement for dynamic dining choice guests.

Speciality restaurants- Provided great service and experience. Jamie's was the best!!!! If you go there ask for Marco from Serbia to be your server. He will guide you through a great experience!!!

Overall we had a great cruise but wanted to share the areas we didn't feel were up to par with other lines we have sailed.

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