Tatka

And 5 drinks up to $14 throughout a day in any bar instead of happy hours in Diamond Lounge. Appetizers are still there though.

No tests since October 2022

We also were on this cruise. I think if people think mask would protect them go ahead and wear one. This was our #10 since restart. # 5 on Anthem. We were on her on both Thanksgivings, Christmas 2021, New Year 2022 and now. On Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022 masks were mandatory everywhere unless you sat and ate. Tests were mandatory and we also were tested between cruises B2B. On Antigua we had to wear mask except for the beach. Guess what? We returned with Covid. Then we didn’t get Covid on maskless Enchantment, Oasis. One of us got on Adventure. Didn’t get on Anthem during Thanksgiving 2022 and one of us got now on Anthem Jan 2. After each of our cruises some people were reporting Covid. Many in mild or asymptomatic form. I think at this point we need to stop worrying about it. Of course people who believe in masks should wear them.

What I love about Liberty and such is Crown Viking Lounge... Sailing from ports is AMAZING there. Here is an example on Adventure (similar to Liberty)

Yes we were. We are also on September 7th cruise to Canada on Liberty. We were on Adventure (very similar to Liberty, just a little bit shorter) last year with same itinerary.

Liberty may have more entertainment in theater if you already sailed on Anthem and watched WWRY, Gift, Spectra's Cabaret. It does not have Music Hall, but there is Schooner and Boleros.

What time of the year? Liberty is a great ship, but it does not have covered pool and/or solarium. It does not have set Broadway shows, but there is an entertainment in Theater daily. Also Liberty has ice arena for skating and shows. Insides of Liberty do not have Virtual balconies. It is more open ship with open sports deck rather than Seaplex. It has nice minigolf course, not sure about waterslides now. Liberty has inside Promenade similar to Esplanade, but wider. I suggest watching videos on Youtube. This year we have 2 cruises on Anthem (11 dayer to Southern Caribbeans already sailed and 7 days to Bahamas for Thanksgiving) and 2 on Liberty (5 days to Bermuda in May and 9 days to Canada in September).

On Anthem there are 2 MTD restaurants on deck 4 and 2 assigned seating restaurants on deck 3. Assigned starts earlier at 5:30, MTD later. We sometimes would come when MTD was still closed, so they would send us to Assigned restaurant.

He was there almost every night from 9 pm and onward.

We sailed on Anthem 9 times and ALWAYS had great internet in all locations including inside cabins ... Till Thanksgiving 2022 when internet would disappear for long time. Before that Anthem was my go to ship for work and 100% reliable. On our cruise on Jan 2 we had extremely weird problem. Internet was almost fine after day 3, but during first day I had to forget connections and connect back every 5-10 minutes everywhere.

We did Anthem from Bayonne, New Jersey. Christmas 2021/New Year 2022. We were gathered in Theater then walked off the ship to the terminal. Stood there for 10-15 minutes and walked back on while ship was still empty.

I do not take much jewelry on cruises. Mostly nice Swarovski pieces, but I wear my wedding ring and some other nice rings. Never had a problem. I do snorkel extensively and swim, and do other active things.

He has talent, but it would be great if he did not repeat everything including jokes every time. And while I am happy for his fans, I LOVE Schooner I wished we could spend more time there. As much as we love Latin groups (and the last one Monnina band was nice) and The Billboard Cancun was too, it would be great if we could use Schooner more.

What is important for you on the ship? Allure is lacking waterslides, but is it important for you? Do side by side comparison.

There are no shows to reserve on her. Only on Quantum and Oasis classes, and even there it is less now.

He has amazing talent, but he repeats everything every day to the word. It is weird. We went twice, but that was enough.

HAL & Princess are premium mass market, just like Celebrity, but from our experience it’s not all rosy even from premium segment. Royal corp lost 19 billions, sold one brand etc. it’s not like they are cutting corners for fun. They didn’t do it prior pandemic. In fact we thought menus were improved 8 years ago… What can you do in current economic cituation. Do you know that they not only sold Aramara, but mortgaged Celebrity to survive? They must pay money back… make profit in environment when inflation is high. RCI is not my business, I don’t even permanent shareholder, but I understand how finance work. I still don’t see how you can compare it to Costa.

We loved Grandeur for Christmas and new Year (12 dayers) in 2017 and 2018! We loved Enchantment last March. We know differences as we cruise every year with 4-5 classes Last year Anthem X 2, Oasis, Adventure and Enchantment. We know what we will not have on smaller ships, but we LOVE itineraries, coziness of smaller ships, closeness of everything, music in Centrum, real promenade from which you can almost touch ocean. Cabins are of course really small, but we never in our cabins... even on large ships, even when we have balcony. We enjoy cruises for what we do outside of our cabin.

I personally ALWAYS pick My Time Dining with RCI, but there are people absolutely insisting on deep connections with wait team and waiters knowing all their likes and dislikes. They prefer Traditional Dining. On the other hand NCL fans are extremely proud of Free Style which is basically My Time Dining ... I think it is good to have both for people who prefer them. I live in the real world, but observe. 🙂

Haven is only for Haven guests. Not even all suites belong to Haven. Unless you are in Haven you do not have covered pool. I like NCL and had 9 cruises with them, but this is a clear con. Especially for people sailing from Northeast where NCL keeps operations whole year.

Then you do not really understand what Traditional Dining on cruises is. On RCI there is traditional dining with same time, table, servers assigned and My Time Dining (aka Free style on NCL) with any time, tables, servers. NCL has only Free style unless you manage to have these arrangements.

But fast. Last Friday on Anthem it look long, but started at 6:50am and we were off by 7:04.. CBP is automated in Bayonne, NJ. We ALWAYS use it since it became available. This way I can get home earlier or work while driving and not waste PTO day.

Oasis class is big, yes, but people spread nicely (usually) unless there is some kind of event going on. Now... we sailed on Oasis in Sep 2021 and out of 6000 we had 2100. Buffet was still somewhat crowded, but overall many places seemed deserted... Even Boleros was never full.

On this class of ships only one show is requiring bookings now. On Anthem it’s Spectra’s Cabaret.

You can book earlier now