DrewFoundLander

We've done it several times now and love a mostly empty ship. Most people that remain are well seasoned cruisers which makes for great conversations and a relaxing afternoon, Having the pool, windjammer and some others venues with only a few others enjoying the same is a real treat for us.

Just worked for me too, thank you :-)

I have had trouble with this every time we've cruised with our children. Last year on Freedom in March and again on Anthem in December I was told at Guest Services both times it only had to be a total of $50 arcade credit purchased and it would apply immediately, automatically. I've never experienced the last night only condition.

Was also told both times by GS they could not put the $50 purchased credit on, this had to be done at the self service kiosk in the arcade. (On Freedom both kiosks would not allow me to add credit to the sea pass cards, we've done 8 RC cruises with the kids, not my first trip to the arcade nor using the kiosk). Once that was confirmed and by some divine intervention Guest Services was able to load the $50 purchased credit on both of my kids sea pass cards. Once the burned through that (in about 15 minutes) the additional $25, which was in the same letter we got, wasn't applied. Another trip to GS to have the credit applied.

However be aware, the free $25 credit will only work on video games and not the games you earn and collect points to cash in on prizes. Now that we are accustom to the RC arcade shenanigans we put the $50 on the kids cards and give them explicit instructions to spend it on the point reward games until it's all gone and only then will we ensure they get the free $25 credit for video game only play.

Di you remember if they offered the 10 draft beer card for $49 on your cruise? We are boarding Grandeur on the 26th. I’m so glad to get Mike for Cd!

There were definitely signs on all the bars offering the 10 draft beer card for $49 US + 18%. I’m not sure if they arrived on day three or four.

The only draft beers available on this ship at all of the bars was Heineken. Heineken Light and Newcastle Brown at a couple of locations as was Strongbow Cider.

On a separate note Stella Artois was removed from the beer menu options on this past cruise however we were told by the bar and beverage manager it is being re-introduced if not the next cruise it will be as soon as possible. Also Becks is no longer available on any ship that does not have a pub.

We had lunch off the ship with some galley staff last week and were told over the past 2 months more and more of the food is coming in a semi prepared or pre-cooked vacuum sealed format. The objective is to reduced waste, cost and staff plus improve consistency across the fleet. They said as of now all baked goods are made from scratch and there is plenty of food preparations being done but things have been moving toward food assembly which looks a lot like cooking when pots are full and things being mixed and stirred. We were also told they have reduced to number of food options to be offered at lunch and dinner as a cost/waste reduction effort.

Again, only relaying what we were told and it was an unsolicited comment within a more general conversation.

Who were the CD and AM?

Bob Leininger (CD) and Cecy Del Razo (AM). Both very pleasant personalities but no fun or entertaining banter between them, like complete strangers who just met and each doing their job for the first time. Both were just going through the motions and barely that most of the time.

Just for the purpose of qualifying the base from which the experience is measured, not a boast whatsoever only a reference point, DW and I are 41 & 46, D+ at 209 points.

We booked this itinerary as we had never sailed from Baltimore before and really have enjoyed the smaller ships. We don't need the new attractions or eye candy of the bigger/news ships but rather enjoy the interaction with staff and fellow cruisers. Everything below is an opinion and/or observation based only on our experience from this particular cruise.

Port: Arrived at the pier at 10:35, processed immediately, a 10 minute sit down and voila, on-board right at 11am. Utterly seamless.

Stateroom: Outside room, 2022 was ready at 1pm. During the 12 nights there were no surprises, everything worked, even survived the "shower curtain" :-) There was some rather loud banging while in rougher seas, like someone striking a very large hammer against an empty oil drum but this did not really take away from our enjoyment. Would likely select further astern in the future.

Housekeeping/Bar/Dining/CD Staff (excluding the CD & AM): Every one of them were great as they almost always are. We were constantly met with smiles and pleasant greetings but then again we are usually smiling and take part in whatever fun is on offer.

Food: For the first time I found the food a little pedestrian. Don't get me wrong, it's fine and there is choice but for those who have traveled with RC for many years you can see there is less choice, flare and flavor. Again it didn't take away from our experience and will have no impact on continuing to be loyal. We don't cruise for the food and please note we did not use the MDR at any time. Did Chops one night (16oz ribeye medium rare) and it was good but not great.

Drinks: We each had the deluxe package and never waited more than 30 seconds for a drink in any venue.

Ship: Yes there is some wear and tear but its very clean and cared for. No issues at all in this regard.

Ports: We've been to all (St. Marrten, Kitts, Thomas, John) except St. Lucia where we did the volcanic mud bath, it was fun but the 3-4 hour winding bus ride takes away from the overall enjoyment. As for the other stops it's nice to see the recovery from last years hurricanes is happening but many locals expressing frustration with the slow pace of repairs etc.

Activities on-board: Like any department on the ship it requires inspired leadership to deliver and continue to deliver week after week cruise after cruise. Equally I am completely aware there is only so much you can do with game shows, trivia, quest, karaoke etc but to say this one was sedate would be an understatement. This disposition seemed to permeate the energy level of the activity staff and not to be discourteous but the CD was a complete snooze fest. Nice guy but I've had more fun doing laundry. The CD and AM had no chemistry/energy which was a first for us and again for the first time as long as we can remember we'd rather watch the port shopping channel than the morning show.

There were a few negative experiences to report mostly due to a few (very few) fellow cruisers. One had asked the diamond lounge concierge to have me to leave the happy hour because I had shorts on, not swim or active wear, I was wearing short pants. He did ask me to move to the back of the overflow lounge, which DW and I did. I discussed it with the loyalty ambassador the next day and then met again with the diamond concierge and discovered a wonderful young man who is of ten thousand times the character than my anonymous agitator. My short pants (nor anyone wearing them) were an issue after that.

My final observation was from the trivia's. We like them to meet others, have some fun and discover what you know or thought you did. For the first time ever there were a group of about 6 B2B2B2B2B2B2B cruisers who kept playing and winning and collecting the prizes. Staff were powerless to do or say anything. Many others grew quite angry at their juvenile behavior day after day. We pitied them. If your source of joy and/or entertainment comes for taking the same opportunity of experience from others yours is a state from which money or status will not deliver you.

Disembarkation: 10 minutes tops, most efficient we've ever had.

Still enjoyed it overall but it's our first time saying we won't do that itinerary again.

Complain

I do not want to sound CHEAP , (I know it includes tax and tips.) But why tip extra. ???...18% already paid for a drink should be sufficient really !!!...thats why we take these packages...My opinion and yes I do tip EXTRA.......................

I don't think you sound cheap but rather to the point you are correct, every drink purchased includes a gratuity. This 18% forms a pool of money then each week/cruise that pool is split among every person involved in the beverage service department. That's fine with me and if people do not wish to add extra they certainly shouldn't feel expected to.

The staff know you are forced to pay it and lets face it, many/most wouldn't if they were not forced to do so.

With that said I equally believe it is the prerogative of any passenger to add additional cash tips. The result of faster/better/more friendly service is a natural consequence of your expression of gratitude.

I look at it this way. Most of the staff on the ship live groundhog day for months on end surrounded by an endless stream of people who in their eyes live a vastly superior lifestyle with boundless opportunity and don't often show any form of gratitude but rather expectation because of the money they paid to be on the cruise.

I tip the bar staff, I tip the person who cleans the public bathrooms, the staff you see cleaning the rails and glass in the stariwells etc. I always do it with a thank you and most often in their own language. It may only be a couple of $$ which is not going to change my life or theirs but imagine how much it brightens their day. The opportunity to do that is worth every cent to me.

I personally enjoy the additional service a cash tip provides and I'm certain they appreciate the cash. Win, win. I usually budget $10 in singles per day but have been known to go through much more in a party atmosphere :-)

I'm self employed and have scheduling flexibility, DW works part time. We started out doing 1 per year in 2002 then after 2013 it became 2 per year, we are now up to 25-30 nights per year on longer itineraries, we live at the end of the earth so travelling to and from the ship is a considerable obstacle.

Because winter sucks where we live we are making serious plans to curise non-stop from Jan thru March/April once our kids are a little older.

Thanks for your review. We are on Anthem for the first time in January and super excited. Like yourself, we will be with our two boys - 13 & 10 - also with a balcony. Glad to hear you managed with the same type of cabin and pull out sofa was ok. Is the pull out a queen size or smaller?

It is definitely smaller than a queen, its more of a twin size. Was still adequate for our needs but felt a bit like sleeping in a travel trailer as one side is against the upper part of the sofa/wall. I slept on both sides and found the inside half which is the seat of the sofa is a little softer, the outside portion that slides out from underneath and then lifts and locks is more firm and has a wooden outside edge which is uncomfortable if you tend to have arms or legs out over the edge.

The 4 of us rotated through the outer sofa position taking turns. My wife and I (of average size in our 40's) found it a bit uncomfortable but not miserable. Our eldest son is 6' and 180 lbs found it a little small but managed, our other son is 5'6'' and 130 lbs never complained at all.

Do I understand correctly that you did not use the Main DIning Room at all?

That is correct. We find it causes us to over eat and spending two hours at a table tends to make me sleepy, which causes me to miss out on the evening activities. Nothing against the venues, food or staff, just prefer to eat a little less in a shorter amount of time. We've only started this practice on our last two or three cruises.

We have an Allure B2B booked for next summer with family who are first time cruisers and we'll be using the dining room then since it's a new experience for them.

Not looking to be overly detailed but more to the point. All is my own opinion and experience and I realize others may vary.

Embarkation, was seamless, simple, courteous and on time if not early, arrived at 10:40 on shortly before 11am.

Drink Package, D+ beverage package for 8 days was $383.68 with 18% gratuity included. Drank like I was on death row, never once waited longer than 3 minutes for a drink and most often was less than 60 seconds. They were always nice to me too but I tip cash, it's a universal language.

Food, did not do any formal dining but the rest, WJ, JR, Sorrentos, Cafe 270, was very satisfying to excellent with a few truly wonderful dishes most especially if you like Indian cuisine.

Casino, I'm a slot player but of the $100 over the whole cruise kind. Not nearly as smokey as other ships.

Entertainment. 2nd time on Anthem, did them all last time, wasn't my thing but that only my taste. The talent is exceptional, I just have no class.

Cruise director/activities manager and cruise staff were engaging, friendly and fun! To be fair, my wife and I take part in everything, we are not observers we participate. We did most of the trivia's, battle of the sexes, foxtrot dancing lessons, karaoke, name that song, 60 seconds or less, north star, Ifly, bumper cars and dancing with the stripes (wife Shelley aka Cayman Turtle won and now wears the crown around the house). If anyone did not enjoy themselves, from our experience, it was through no fault of the staff.

Kids, we were with our 12 and 14 year old boys and yes there were lots of children on board however at no time did I see anything worth complaining about from them in fact I was a little surprised based on the number of them but plenty of good parenting and manners this cruise. There was the occasional adult who didn't get their nap but they are on land too.

Room, 4 of us shared a regular balcony stateroom with pullout sofa and took turns rotating bed and sofa bed. The sofa bed in ok, would not want to do anything longer than a week max, the bed was fine. floor space is quite limited while the sofa bed is pulled out but we managed and aren't cabin dwellers, it's a place to store your things while out having fun and come back once exhausted.

Guest Services, staff were fantastic and very helpful, had to go a few times but I have come to expect that, occasionally had to wait longer than I'd like but that's not their fault.

Diamond/Concierge lounge, never crowded or even close to it the times we were there. To be honest I like the perk but it is not central to my overall cruise enjoyment.

Summary, as the title says this was #18 with Royal and it ranks up there with the best but we've never had a bad one. I don't know why Anthem has gotten the bad reviews I saw leading up to this one but again everyone's experience is unique to them. I hope you find this helpful.

Cheers

Andrew

So DW and I are D+, I am a booze hound/liquor pig and have no issue with purchasing a package. DW is moderate at best and was enjoying her 3 daily vouchers or visit to the diamond lounge during cocktail hours. This new policy not only completely eliminates the value of that perk but essentially doubles the cost of my package.

Now I have to either pay for 2 packages or get an exemption for my wife and buy hers a la carte with my sea pass and or buy drink cards when/if available.

For those who suggest it is the cheaters/sharing people that are the cause of the new policy I cannot understand your logic. If a person is going to intentionally buy one package for the purpose of sharing, that same person is now going to get an exemption for their cabin mate and still share the one package they buy.

I do not believe you are in any measure overreacting, I consider your response quite composed considering the situation, arguably much better than I'd have handled it. Agree with all above, speak to the loyalty ambassador asap they can help or connect you directly with someone who can. Do not let one experience spoil an otherwise awesome experience :-)

BTW, DW and I sail on Vision this coming Sunday so you can pre warn the rude employee they will not be so fortunate if we are treated in such manner.

We are also from Canada and it would be an easy yes for me, at $45.00 CAD per day.

Average beer is $6.50 american + 18% gratuity then + aprox 37% exchange = 10.50 CAD per beer

Average glass of wine 10 - 12 american, same math as above is 16.16 - 19.40 CAD per glass

As well he will get specialty coffee hot or iced, fresh squeezed OJ and bottled water still or sparkling which is always great to pick up whenever heading back to your room and put in the fridge for later.

Even with the port days factored in, I think your in money by taking the deluxe/voom package IMHO :-)

Sparkling water/ San Pellegrino

DW and I just became D+ in April. We are traveling in July on Vision and to be honest I was looking forward to a possible 30% off the deluxe package once on board. To our surprise they are now offering everyone on our July 9th sailing the deluxe package at 45.00 USD with the 18% grat Inc. Not a complaint, I love the fact everyone can benefit from this but its even more than a 30% discount which works out to $38 and change per day plus grat.

Just a heads up. I noticed while reviewing my cruise planner for our July 2017 12 Night Baltic on Vision cruise the price of the deluxe beverage package was dropped significantly. It does not say it is a larger discount, in fact it still shows the 20% off banner but the actual price is now 30% off.

When checking under "View Guest Information and Prices" is says "Deluxe Package Special Offer Non Caribbean"

In Canadian Dollars my package went from 828.64 (18% Grat Inc) to 734.48 (18% Grat Inc)

I've already made the change and so have our sailing companions with no hassle whatsoever.

Darn, I thought the only thing you had to do to get the C&A discount was to kiss the cod!:D

 

Great screen name BTW.

Tks!! Figured kissing the cod was a little too much. Imagine trying to explain it :-)

Tough crowd in here.....

I can appreciate not everyone cares for my sense of humor just as I care not for their opinions regarding it ;p

Many of us have joked about it so I figured I'd offer some help to anyone who does not know or possibly understand the algorithm Royal uses when planning their pricing and/or sales. Saving money is important to many of us so please pay attention and hopefully this will be easy to navigate and easy to apply.

When planning a sale, Royal first has determine the relative humidity at the lower most base camp of Mt. Everest, however it has to be on a Tuesday and never during a full moon. Then, and only then, if the summer Olympics are being held in the western hemisphere, they will raise the base rate to slightly above what the maximum achievable discount will be. Now if you are thinking "but I qualify for a C&A discount", not so fast.

In order for your C&A discount to be applicable you cannot have already booked within the past 227 months, nor may you be of the blood types O, A or AB. That is unless Royal's IT department made an error on a Friday afternoon forcing the weekend call center employees into pointless circular arguments. If this happens during the summer months south of the equator and you are able to strike yourself in the forehead with an object emblazoned with the Crown and Anchor Logo whilst singing the alphabet backwards with an accent not of your mother tongue they will combine the discount with the current sale.**Please note anyone who has been on hold longer than 3 minutes does not qualify.

To make additional offerings more attractive you may be given the opportunity to buy a beverage package that may or may not be discounted and may or may not include the automatic gratuity which is then calculated using some ancient Roman currency then explained in a way that makes Unicorn's cry. Now if you are really sharp and looking for value you can combine your beverage package purchase with a city tour, not of your choice, internet for one and a half devices, an inexpensive spa service on a sea day and 8 specialty restaurant reservations and receive $25 OBC to spend as you wish. ***OBC may only be used in the arcade from Midnight - 3 AM but only on port days that are weekdays while off the coast of the Azores.

The best possible cruise fare and easiest to understand can only be obtained by those who have RCL stock and 9 million cruise credits, can book during a sale, while on board at the exact moment of a full lunar eclipse, visible only above the arctic circle, at 4:43 AM on a June 29th. Any day of the week and year qualify if you are left handed.

See, simple! Don't fret cruise friends, there will always be another sale just like this one (attached). I hope this makes some of you smile :D

We've tried both and B has always been cheaper.

I choose if I want to cruise, I choose if its Royal, I choose the room, I choose if I'll buy a beverage package, I choose if I buy specialty dining and now I'll choose if I want to pay for room service.

 

Hi drew. Hope you don't mind me stealing your line.

 

I chose all these things - and at the time of choosing - and the time of paying - "free" room service was on the cards. So, what I have "chosen" - is not what I am getting.

 

I keep saying I am not interested in $8 (or multiples of $8).... we are none of us short of money because if we were, we would likely not be having such vacations.

 

I am however VERY INTERESTED in principles, contracts and fairness. - guess that's just the socialist in me!

 

To add a different viewpoint, my other half is happy that the room service has a charge - because it will HAVE to be edible now!!

No worries Suzieanna, I do not disagree with you in principle however it appears many of us (myself included) do not read the fine print.

"We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change, modify, delete or otherwise alter portions of these terms at any time. Any such change, modification, deletion or alteration shall be effective immediately upon posting the same on a Company Website. Please check these terms periodically for changes."

By booking with them we pre agree to their terms and rights to alter what they offer and how they deliver it.

My family and I had often enjoyed room service over the years and like every other dining option there were hits and misses. At first I was disappointed but if I allow myself to stay in that mindset I am in for a life filled with misery as things will always change, some better, some worse and sometimes both at the same time depending on your vantage point.

I choose if I want to cruise, I choose if its Royal, I choose the room, I choose if I'll buy a beverage package, I choose if I buy specialty dining and now I'll choose if I want to pay for room service. My only caveat is for those with genuine mobility difficulty, I wish there were an equitable solution, I am even happier to pay if you can be accommodated without having to.

I hope my chosen cruise line remains profitable, successful, innovative and strive to provide me (and my family) options we can decide if we want to pay for all while bringing us around the world at a base price that seems very economical to me. Cheers All.