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Regular people cruising - Anthem of the Seas Feb 20-27, 2022


Mrs. Regular

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On 2/19/2022 at 1:50 PM, dancernl said:

Hope I can provide some insight! Anything specific you’re curious about? I won’t know anything about Adventure Ocean or kids clubs but happy to help however I can.

No not in particular but thank you! We were on her back in 2019 when I was pregnant with the 2yo! Haha. Just excited to read long and see pictures! Your family is so cute!

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Hello from Port Canaveral! Currently in the Solarium and we just docked. 

So far it’s been very fun and the ship has us slack-jawed. What a beautiful ship, it’s like a floating art gallery. So far our favorite hangouts are the Solarium, the Schooner Bar and our room balcony. 

Some day 1-3 highlights:

1. The crew are incredible. I’ve had a few hiccups (more below) and they have always gone out of their way to make it right. Bartenders get a huge A+ from me, they are so friendly, efficient, and heavy handed! 
2. capacity is at roughly 57% so it’s not empty but certainly not super crowded. 
3. smooth sailing and amazing weather! It’s hot and sunny the entire week, just what I needed. I am feeling some motion but it’s not making me feel I’ll at all. I have Bonine just in case.

4. Did I mention the crew? Our room attendant is Ashton and he’s a delight. Our MDR waiters are Raj, Andrew and Jose, and they make sure our glasses are never more than 3/4 empty and our plates are overflowing. Last night Andrew brought all of us double appetizers. They are so fun!

A few low-lights, and please keep in mind this is our first time on the Anthem and the last time we cruised there was no app so we all had a learning curve for the first 24 hours:

1. The app gets a thumbs down. It’s glitchy and it won’t link my account, even guest services can’t figure it out. I can’t reserve anything so all it’s good for is being a digital cruise compass.

2. Check in was smooth until we actually went through the process. It was loud inside and masks made it difficult to hear the check in agent, so I think the root of my biggest hiccup happened here. Somehow the wires got crossed and my seapass card was linked to SK1 and Vice verse. So my deluxe package was on her account and her refreshment was on mine and it was showing on the bar kiosks I am under age. I don’t look 38 but I am sure not passing for 16! It took 2 trips to guest services before it got sorted. They reprinted our cards but my package was still wrong so I got an old school DX sticker and it’s been working fine ever since. However, the accounts are still messed up because when SK1 looks in her app she can make a reservation for something like bumper cars and she gets the view I am supposed to have on my app. It’s not a huge deal because Husband has been making reservations for all of us anyway.

3. I’ve been very content with the food but the rest of the family less so. The Windjammie is a winner for breakfast but they haven’t liked anything at lunch yet. We ordered room service for lunch today and it was all very good, definitely worth the service fee. The guys are going to Izumi for dinner on night 5 and SK1 and I are going to Jamie’s Italian. MDR food has been really good and last nights beef tenderloin was out of this world.

4. Chair hogs are out in force, which is disappointing. I was hoping since capacity was fairly low for a holiday week it wouldn’t be a problem but apparently folks didn’t pack their manners to bring with them this week. Most passengers have been friendly and respectful but I suspect pent up demand and pandemic fatigue is leading to high expectations that may not be being met for some. I’ve seen a few meltdowns and just walk the other way. But again, in general everyone is very nice.

5. According to the SK’s the teen scene is lame. Some of that has to do with feeling awkward (we are from the country and there are a lot of City kids here so we are already out of place) and apparently there are several kids who already knew each other from home or previous cruises so they got a little turned off by the cliques. We’ve been having fun as a family and it’s been very nice as parents to have some of their undivided attention for a while.

 

more soon, including some pics!

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Stray observations so far:

we had the 5:30 dining seating but our restaurant and table assignment is in Silk, which I thought was MTD only. We love the food and service as I mentioned, but we don’t like the decor. It’s also very dark in there.

We brought our own water bottles but you can’t fill them up anywhere other than get a plastic cup and dump the water into your bottle. They haven’t got the boxes waters on Anthem yet and we don’t want to get the plastic bottles at the bars. It struck us as odd that especially at the gym you have to get water from somewhere else first.

Masks are around but in general enforcement is very relaxed. The new mask policy starts Thursday so I’m willing to bet the crew aren’t super concerned about enforcing masks. I have heard no announcements about cases of COVID onboard but then again I don’t always hear announcements. No one in our FB roll call has posted anything .

Getting into port so late today means getting off the ship is a waste of time, many people are staying on the ship, including us. We can’t wait for Cocoa Cay tomorrow! 
 

Pictures coming up next!

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We are steaming northbound today and tomorrow! Had 2 amazing days, loved everything about Cocoa Cay and the weather in Nassau yesterday was incredible. Wifi issues onboard today so likely no pictures or additional updates until we return to Bayonne on Sunday. We have our Next Cruise appointment in 15 minutes to pick out my birthday cruise!

 

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We booked our next vacation! The Regulars will be cruising aboard the Mariner of the Seas on an 8 night Eastern Caribbean itinerary (with Labadee AND Cocoa Cay!) in July 2023 to kick off my 40th trip around the Sun. We booked a balcony for Mr. Regular and me, and an interior promenade view room for the SK’s. We aren’t done on our current trip and already looking forward to our next adventure!

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My wife and I and 4 other couples are heading out on Anthem in 20 days, any info would be greatly appreciated. We are all novice cruisers, it's the first time for most of us. Also, cruise compass pics, any theme nights, really i'm just looking to annoy you with questions! LOL! Glad you guys had a great trip!

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1 hour ago, silenttuba said:

I enjoyed your posts, and look forward to a wrap up post; my wife and I are sailing on Anthem in April, and it’s the first cruise either of us have ever been on, and we might be obsessing just a little bit, lol. 

I know the feeling with obsessing! My wife hates that I have to over research everything...and cruising is no exception. With our first cruise in less then a month...I can't get enough information!

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Anyone ever experienced prolonged motion sickness AFTER disembarking? Mr. Regular and I have not regained our land legs, we still feel like we're in perpetual motion. It's been 48 hours, is this normal? We don't want to go to Urgent Care for nothing. We have COVID home tests to do and PCR tests scheduled just in case, too. I'm sure it's mostly just cruise hangover!

Anyway, here's part 1 of this cruise review. Instead of a day-by-day I'm going to chunk up our thoughts and impressions by category (arbitrarily determined my me) and follow that up with photos. Food will be last 🙂

Part 1: The Embarkation Process and Itinerary

Arrival at the terminal was super smooth, we dropped luggage first and then parked the car. It wasn't until we needed to get our passports out that I realized I had left mine in my backpack... that I had dropped with the luggage! YIKES! I sprinted back to the luggage drop off area and was able to get to my backpack before they had taken the cart away. Thank goodness! We entered the port terminal around 12:45, our check-in time was 1 and we thought that since there was literally no line to get through security we would try to go in. No one asked us what our assigned time was so we went through and was funneled to suite check in. Huh? Regulars in the suite line? I noticed there was no line there and the staff was directing families with kids there at the time. So we did get to bypass the long line for the usual check-in desk. However, it was not all good. This is our first cruise in 4 years so all the check-in technology is brand new to us. It was loud and echoy in the terminal and masks made it difficult for us to follow what the check-in agent was saying. Somehow in the process, he checked me in as my daughter and my daughter in as me. When we went to Guest Services later to get it sorted out and when my seapass card was scanned her picture came up with her bev package, and her seapass card showed my picture with my alcohol package on it. Her app also had me as the primary guest and my app was useless. Our photos and drink packages were eventually righted, but the app issue couldn't be fixed. This was an annoying hiccup but lesson learned on our part - take it slower at check in to make sure everyone's info is correct!

Getting on the ship is super easy, up the escalator, down the gangway and BOOM you're dropped right into the Promenade. Rooms weren't ready yet so it was pretty crowded in there. We walked around to get the lay of the land, find venues we wanted to visit later, and get a drink. Rooms opened about 1:30. We met our room attendant (more on him later) and went to find food at the Windjammie. It's crowded in there on embarkation day but the lines moved fast.

Sail away was supposed to be at 4:30 so we went to our rooms to unpack and get settled, then suddenly at 4:05 SK2 noticed we were moving. So we enjoyed leaving Bayonne from our balconies and sailed under the bridge. 

Itinerary

This was a 7 night Perfect Day and Bahamas cruise. Our schedule was:
Bayonne
Cruising
Port Canaveral
Coco Cay
Nassau
Cruising
Cruising
Bayonne

This is the itinerary for the next 7 weeks or so of spring break season in the Northeast before the ship goes to the UK for the summer. It was also the last contract week for many crew so there were lots of fun celebrations and good-byes during events. Over all we liked this itinerary but I don't think we're itching to do it again unless we just want to use the Anthem as a fancy expensive water taxi to Coco Cay and back. The biggest bummer was arriving to Port Canaveral so late in the day. Ship wasn't cleared until 3:30 so there was no point in getting off and I heard from fellow sailors the port was a hot mess and transportation out was difficult. The two days at sea on the way home was nice to have as a chance to continue to enjoy the ship and its amenities. Mr. Regular prefers a more port-heavy itinerary so he was getting a little itchy by breakfast on day 7. I, however, reveled in the time to do nothing in the Solarium, soak up precious sun rays on the top deck, and enjoy the entertainment onboard. This itinerary is a nice balance of active and passive and you can choose how you want to spend your days. Since this was a holiday week, lots of families were on with kids and grandparents, we saw large parties of folks celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. The overall vibe of a winter cruise is definitely I'M COLD GET ME OUT OF HERE.

I'll throw some extra photos in the next post and then later today or tomorrow I'll write about our staterooms and other random areas of the ship.

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24 minutes ago, dancernl said:

Anyone ever experienced prolonged motion sickness AFTER disembarking? Mr. Regular and I have not regained our land legs, we still feel like we're in perpetual motion. It's been 48 hours, is this normal?

It is totally normal and many people experience it. I sometimes do and sometimes don't but when I do I find taking Bonine (or the CVS or Walgreens cheaper equivalent) does the trick. On occasion, for me, it has taken up to a week to subside but don't worry, it will eventually. No need to see the doctor about it.

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8 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Love hearing your experience.  As an fyi, I always feel like I'm still on the ship for many days after returning.  It's so strange, and don't know why as the land you're standing on isn't moving, but think it's normal.

 

8 hours ago, FionaMG said:

It is totally normal and many people experience it. I sometimes do and sometimes don't but when I do I find taking Bonine (or the CVS or Walgreens cheaper equivalent) does the trick. On occasion, for me, it has taken up to a week to subside but don't worry, it will eventually. No need to see the doctor about it.

 

5 hours ago, MattG said:

100% YES for my wife - she was wobbly for DAYS after we disembarked. 

Thanks, all. This makes us feel better. Last cruise we went from ship to a 6 hour flight so we really didn't have time to experience this particular post-cruise condition, lol!

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Part 2 - our staterooms and the ship!

I forgot to take room pictures but if you Google image search for Anthem balcony rooms, they looked like that. You can find the category number on deck plans if you want to get even more specific. We were in 8266 and 8268 port side, deck 8 directly above the outdoor seating area for Jamie's Italian. I would definitely recommend these staterooms, and we liked that we had the sunrise on the way down and the sunset on the way back north. These were connecting rooms so our attendant unlocked the interior door and balcony divider for us. We thought the balcony would open up completely but it doesn't, so we still had a large wall that you had to walk around between balconies. Mr. Regular and I were really the only ones to use the balcony for anything so it didn't matter in the end. 

Storage in the room is everywhere, there are two huge closets on either side of the bed, a desk, dresser w/drawers and shelving in the bathroom. Two cupboards above the bed as well and space under the bed. We brought magnetic hooks which were helpful for hanging lanyards and drying swimwear. 

We thought the beds were quite comfortable, I know that's really a subjective thing and I think I'm in the minority on this based on other reports. I slept well every night. One thing I did wish we had was outlets on both sides of the bed. I have one specific side I sleep on but Mr. Regular has a CPAP so he needed the side with the outlet. We eventually brought the desk chair over to his side to put the CPAP on and then the cord could reach to the outlet on the desk. 

We decorated our stateroom doors to help us identify our rooms since this ship is so big and every hallway looks the same, lol. I thought there would me more decorations out but I only saw a couple Happy Birthday signs and some whiteboards on the doors we passed by regularly. 

OUR ATTENDANT ROCKED! His name was Ashton and he saw to our every need. We ran into him a lot when he was servicing the room in the morning (we are a forgetful bunch and teens never plan ahead so we got our 10,000 steps in easy every day running back to the room for something) and he was never annoyed that we interrupted him. I went back for a Bonine on the last sea day because I was getting pretty sea sick in the Solarium and he made some recommendations to help me feel better. We just loved him and left him a nice note and tip at the end. 

 

Moving on to the ship itself. We leveled up HARD on this trip. Our other cruise was in Europe on the Rhapsody, which we loved, and I was at first intimidated by the sheer size of the Anthem. After the first sea day when we were able to get our bearings it got easier to navigate around. So many large venues allowed folks to spread out but it definitely felt crowded on the promenade during peak times or transitions from a show in the theatre to a dance party in 270. I wouldn't want to experience this at full capacity! We poked around the shops and had a good laugh about the fine jewelry in Effy. I tried on a $66,000 yellow diamond tennis bracelet and on the last day it was 50% off.

We spent a lot of time in the Solarium. In the winter this venue is packed on the first sea day, we were able to get 2 loungers for the 4 of us to share and took turns going to the pool and hot tubs. I liked relaxing in the shallow pool in the lounger with a drink, it was heavenly. The last sea day we got there early and had breakfast in Solarium Bistro and hung in the hot tub with a mimosa. The bartenders, especially Luane, in the Solarium were great. 

We used the Schooner Bar a lot as well, especially for trivia and paying card games while enjoying music and some beverages. We didn't like this bar on the Rhapsody because it seemed shoehorned into a hallway and the vibe is odd but this Schooner Bar was great.

We went into the Music Hall a couple times for music, trivia, and to play pool. It's a nice space but feels smaller than it looks from ship tours. Each evening the top section became a Pinnacle lounge and you couldn't get in to play pool during that time. I thought Pinnacles could use the suite lounge and the Diamond lounge? We almost never saw anyone in this space when it was closed for Pinnacle use.

270 is an incredible space and I think they used it really well for lots of different activities. During the day we liked to go there to watch the show rehearsals. Entertainment cast is coming back so they are learning the full scale Spectra. We chatted with some of them and they said this cast won't perform it until the summer because it takes a long time to learn such a technical show. We went to trivia and some dance parties there in the evening. 

We poked around the Seaplex on the first day but didn't really spend any time there until the last sea day. We enjoyed playing foosball, air hockey, and watching the basketball shoot out competition. We didn't do bumper cars and there was no roller skating or trapeze back yet. 

I did a big art photo dump a few pages back and I'll post a few more next. I'll see if SK1 can send me some of hers as well to share later. Next up - activities!

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I forgot to add Boleros! We liked this spot for a drink with our snacks from Cafe Promenade. It was usually not very crowded and we liked to listen to music here too. 

We also went to the Pub for a drink on a port day so it was really dead in there. Otherwise we didn't go because it was crowded. This ship really needs a sports bar, the Pub has some TVs with sports but it's the same ESPN feed in the rooms.

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Love reading your comments. If things align right, we will be on Anthem in less than two weeks.  

Thanks for the feedback on your staterooms.  We have connecting balcony rooms too.  One thing I noticed with Anthem and wondered why....on some bookings, they seem to have both "Ocean View Balcony" rooms where you can get two rooms connecting and "Connecting Balcony" rooms.  The former is always deck 8 and a bit less money.  The latter are the other decks.  Never understood the difference, but seems like deck 8 is great and just the same.  

Good hearing about the various venues.  Did you listen to the evening music at Schooner's bar?  If so, how was the person?  That can be so much fun if you get the right performer.  

Thanks so much for sharing the pictures and your thoughts.

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43 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Love reading your comments. If things align right, we will be on Anthem in less than two weeks.  

Good hearing about the various venues.  Did you listen to the evening music at Schooner's bar?  If so, how was the person?  That can be so much fun if you get the right performer.  

 

Glad to help! I hope all works out for you in a couple weeks.

The guitar guy was good, the piano guy was not what we liked. It was strange, he played some great songs but at 2x the speed. He flew through Piano Man it was like it was speed metal. Playing so quickly also meant he made lots of mistakes and flubbed notes and had to restart phrases sometimes. We didn't get why he played this way and left shortly after he began his sets either because we had dinner or a show starting anyway. 

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1 hour ago, dancernl said:

I forgot to add Boleros! We liked this spot for a drink with our snacks from Cafe Promenade. It was usually not very crowded and we liked to listen to music here too. 

We also went to the Pub for a drink on a port day so it was really dead in there. Otherwise we didn't go because it was crowded. This ship really needs a sports bar, the Pub has some TVs with sports but it's the same ESPN feed in the rooms.

Very curious about the pub on Anthem...so your UDP is accepted there, but they tavern food is a separate cost?

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36 minutes ago, dancernl said:

Glad to help! I hope all works out for you in a couple weeks.

The guitar guy was good, the piano guy was not what we liked. It was strange, he played some great songs but at 2x the speed. He flew through Piano Man it was like it was speed metal. Playing so quickly also meant he made lots of mistakes and flubbed notes and had to restart phrases sometimes. We didn't get why he played this way and left shortly after he began his sets either because we had dinner or a show starting anyway. 

Thanks for the feedback.  Too bad about the piano player....doesn't sound like he's spectacular. I love when they engage others and have a sense of humor. Everyone has fun then.

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35 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Thanks for the feedback.  Too bad about the piano player....doesn't sound like he's spectacular. I love when they engage others and have a sense of humor. Everyone has fun then.

I agree! I don't like Karaoke but I love a sing-a-long and this piano guy was not great for that. We really enjoyed High Voltage and Coyote for cover bands/themed shows, both were in the Music Hall and Boleros all cruise. 

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57 minutes ago, dancernl said:

I agree! I don't like Karaoke but I love a sing-a-long and this piano guy was not great for that. We really enjoyed High Voltage and Coyote for cover bands/themed shows, both were in the Music Hall and Boleros all cruise. 

I agree as well. The piano player in a piano bar should play for sing-a-long. I don't mind a few lyric changes for humor, but it bugs me when they go completely off. We found the same issue in the Schooner on Oasis in December. There is a sacred rule of piano bars in the US...Don't mess with Piano Man, dude! 😂

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Part 3: Activities and Entertainment

Disclaimer! I did not pick up any paper cruise compasses. The app daily calendar was always accurate and we are not a family that likes to collect paper. Here's the cruise compass from @SolariumSnoozer https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/anthem-of-the-seas/sun-02202022-0000 . Our cruise director was Joff. Overall the activities and sport staff were great this cruise. Energetic and welcoming but not too in-your-face.

The great thing about a Quantum Class ship is you have such a variety of choices for how to spend your days. You can be as active or as passive as you like and anywhere in between. We took advantage of a mix of things on the ship. We love performing arts and are subscribers to regional theatre and travel to NYC frequently to Broadway shows and the ballet. We do have some pretty high standards when it comes to music and productions. Art is essential to our souls but it's also highly subjective so what I'm about to share are our opinions and your mileage may vary.

Trivia - There are tons of chances for trivia on board, which we loved. There was category specific like Friends, Name that Tune Broadway/80's/current hits, etc. and general trivia. We won one time and I came super close to sweeping Broadway but missed 1 darn show name. It was highly competitive, lol.

Music - there's live music everywhere and a variety of styles to enjoy. Caribbean, Latin, Rock, classical, pop, acoustic, etc. We liked High Voltage the best. I already shared we didn't particularly care for the piano guy in the Schooner bar. There may be a different mix of bands for future sailings, but I generally feel Royal hires quality musicians and performers across the board, regardless of the material they're given to work with. Which leads me to:

Production Shows: We saw We Will Rock You, Spectra's Cabaret, Frankie and the Dreamers, David Gatti (magician), Jim David (comedian), a concert with the lead WWRY cast, and the farewell show (one WWRY cast member and a different comedian). I am sure there were other headliners we missed. 

  • We Will Rock You - I love the music of Queen and the actors and the band were fabulous. This musical though... WHAT? We hated the book. The jokes were bad and dated. I wish this was more of a musical revue instead of a full blown stage production. But again - the singers were absolutely phenomenal!
  • Spectra's Cabaret - Loved it. It was exciting, energetic, and weird AF. And we got the scaled down version, so I can't even imagine what the full blown production looks like. Will have to catch all the shows in 270 on this class of ships when we are on one again.
  • Frankie and the Dreamers - BEST SHOW ON BOARD! They were amazing. Super talented, well rehearsed and engaged the crowd. I took many videos and was on my feet for 2 encores. I wish they had more shows.
  • WWRY concert with the cast - I can't remember the exact title of this one. It was a 45 minute revue of songs sung by the great performers from the musical. Fun and entertaining.
  • David Gatti - I am not a fan of magic shows, illusionists, mentalists, etc. They just don't do it for me. But the rest of the Regular fam do, so I was a good sport and went with them. According to them, they thought he was just alright. His card work was good and he did a few tricks with Chinese Rings. The other slight-of-hand and flash work was apparently not great (like I said, I don't care for this stuff and wasn't paying close attention so that's Mr. Regular's assessment).
  • Jim David - the comedian onboard and it looks like he's on contract for the next several sailings. He had a family friendly and an 18+ set. Mr. Regular loves standup. Like, watches as much as possible on our streaming services and wants to go to any open mic or comic tour that comes our way. Weird Al is his hero. Me? I can't. I just don't like it. Usually I can handle female comedians but I have yet to see ANY female comics on a cruise itinerary. But again, I was a good wife and went to the 18+ set. He wasn't all that bad but wasn't amazing, either. I learned some things about Swingers Cruises I never needed to know - if you ever want to cruise on the Oasis and don't need those details about what happens on those charters, don't go 😄
  • Farewell show - This was all right. Joff was there to get it started and then the actor who played Kashoggi sang a few Broadway tunes and then a different comedian did about 25 minutes of a family friendly set. We all felt pretty "meh" about the whole show. We were thinking it would be more of a variety of entertainment from the whole week but perhaps with COVID they limited it? 

FlowRider - Mr. Regular is a snowboarder and instructor of 25 years so he had his big ego pants on when he tried standup surfing with no lesson. The staff can't provide any assistance during the regular standup times so you get 2 attempts and if you step off the board or wipe out right away you can't keep going unless you book a lesson. The timing wasn't quite right for him to get a lesson so he was bummed and those ego pants went directly back into the suitcase. Luckily we have access to a waterpark on land that has a FlowRider so you can best believe he'll be making some visits there to get in some practice before our next cruise. SK1 did boogie boarding and she had a blast. I stayed dry on the observation benches with my Caribbean Mules. The lessons are for a fee but the standup and boogie boarding sessions are complimentary.

North Star - We paid to do this on day 6 at sea. There were complimentary port times but they were hard to come by. It was $30 pp and we felt worth it to do once. Views were awesome and it was super fun to go out over the side of the ship. The whole experience was about 16 minutes.

iFly - Both SKs wanted to do this but we couldn't get a reservation. A note for anyone traveling with kids or people who need some time to warm up to the idea of something new or an adventure to the edge of their comfort zones: reserve it early in the cruise! We would have gotten this for them on day 1-3 but by the time they decided they wanted to do it, it was too late. Reserve early and then cancel. This is not free anymore, plan on $50 per person.

Gym - I brought my workout clothes but never used them. SK2 went each morning for the first 4 days. He really liked the gym, he said the equipment was in good shape and that early it wasn't very crowded. Late mornings on sea days was busy. I like group fitness classes but didn't do any this trip. I wish they offered Beach Yoga on Coco Cay.

Spa - we didn't use. Thought about a thermal suite pass but the weather on days 2-6 was so good we were outside the whole time and in the Solarium on day 7.

SeaPlex - we were here on day 7 to kill some time and played some Foosball and Air Hockey. Used the Freestyle machine by the Dog House. They have lots of activities here - ping pong, XBox, basketball & soccer shootouts, pickleball, dance classes, dodgeball and bumper cars. We didn't get a chance to do bumper cars but most sessions were full anyway. The arcade is next door and we walked through it but didn't play anything. The nice thing about the SeaPlex space is it's all enclosed so you can use the sport deck even in cold or rainy weather.

Casino - we don't gamble too often, just when in Vegas and even then we're not at game tables for long. Mr. Regular wanted to try his luck but never got around to it. Being Casino members is a good way to move along on status and win benefits, though, so we may join on the next cruise. I just don't like the smoke and wish they had continued with the no-smoking rules.

I don't have too many pictures to share of activities, but some will come in the post below. Next category - port stops!

 

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Part 1a - Muster!

I forgot to mention a quick thing about eMuster. It rocks. We watched the videos when we got to our stateroom and then went to our station to check in. On deck 8 our station was The Via outside Jamie's Italian. It's so quick and easy now and much better than standing in a crowded space with a crew member yelling for cabin numbers. I know they were planning this before the pandemic, but I also feel like the pandemic accelerated the roll out. A small win in a time of bad circumstances.

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4 hours ago, dancernl said:

Part 3: Activities and Entertainment

Disclaimer! I did not pick up any paper cruise compasses. The app daily calendar was always accurate and we are not a family that likes to collect paper. You can search for the daily cruise compasses for this itinerary on RCB or Google. Our cruise director was Joff. Overall the activities and sport staff were great this cruise. Energetic and welcoming but not too in-your-face.

The great thing about a Quantum Class ship is you have such a variety of choices for how to spend your days. You can be as active or as passive as you like and anywhere in between. We took advantage of a mix of things on the ship. We love performing arts and are subscribers to regional theatre and travel to NYC frequently to Broadway shows and the ballet. We do have some pretty high standards when it comes to music and productions. Art is essential to our souls but it's also highly subjective so what I'm about to share are our opinions and your mileage may vary.

Trivia - There are tons of chances for trivia on board, which we loved. There was category specific like Friends, Name that Tune Broadway/80's/current hits, etc. and general trivia. We won one time and I came super close to sweeping Broadway but missed 1 darn show name. It was highly competitive, lol.

Music - there's live music everywhere and a variety of styles to enjoy. Caribbean, Latin, Rock, classical, pop, acoustic, etc. We liked High Voltage the best. I already shared we didn't particularly care for the piano guy in the Schooner bar. There may be a different mix of bands for future sailings, but I generally feel Royal hires quality musicians and performers across the board, regardless of the material they're given to work with. Which leads me to:

Production Shows: We saw We Will Rock You, Spectra's Cabaret, Frankie and the Dreamers, David Gatti (magician), Jim David (comedian), a concert with the lead WWRY cast, and the farewell show (one WWRY cast member and a different comedian). I am sure there were other headliners we missed. 

  • We Will Rock You - I love the music of Queen and the actors and the band were fabulous. This musical though... WHAT? We hated the book. The jokes were bad and dated. I wish this was more of a musical revue instead of a full blown stage production. But again - the singers were absolutely phenomenal!
  • Spectra's Cabaret - Loved it. It was exciting, energetic, and weird AF. And we got the scaled down version, so I can't even imagine what the full blown production looks like. Will have to catch all the shows in 270 on this class of ships when we are on one again.
  • Frankie and the Dreamers - BEST SHOW ON BOARD! They were amazing. Super talented, well rehearsed and engaged the crowd. I took many videos and was on my feet for 2 encores. I wish they had more shows.
  • WWRY concert with the cast - I can't remember the exact title of this one. It was a 45 minute revue of songs sung by the great performers from the musical. Fun and entertaining.
  • David Gatti - I am not a fan of magic shows, illusionists, mentalists, etc. They just don't do it for me. But the rest of the Regular fam do, so I was a good sport and went with them. According to them, they thought he was just alright. His card work was good and he did a few tricks with Chinese Rings. The other slight-of-hand and flash work was apparently not great (like I said, I don't care for this stuff and wasn't paying close attention so that's Mr. Regular's assessment).
  • Jim David - the comedian onboard and it looks like he's on contract for the next several sailings. He had a family friendly and an 18+ set. Mr. Regular loves standup. Like, watches as much as possible on our streaming services and wants to go to any open mic or comic tour that comes our way. Weird Al is his hero. Me? I can't. I just don't like it. Usually I can handle female comedians but I have yet to see ANY female comics on a cruise itinerary. But again, I was a good wife and went to the 18+ set. He wasn't all that bad but wasn't amazing, either. I learned some things about Swingers Cruises I never needed to know - if you ever want to cruise on the Oasis and don't need those details about what happens on those charters, don't go 😄
  • Farewell show - This was all right. Joff was there to get it started and then the actor who played Kashoggi sang a few Broadway tunes and then a different comedian did about 25 minutes of a family friendly set. We all felt pretty "meh" about the whole show. We were thinking it would be more of a variety of entertainment from the whole week but perhaps with COVID they limited it? 

FlowRider - Mr. Regular is a snowboarder and instructor of 25 years so he had his big ego pants on when he tried standup surfing with no lesson. The staff can't provide any assistance during the regular standup times so you get 2 attempts and if you step off the board or wipe out right away you can't keep going unless you book a lesson. The timing wasn't quite right for him to get a lesson so he was bummed and those ego pants went directly back into the suitcase. Luckily we have access to a waterpark on land that has a FlowRider so you can best believe he'll be making some visits there to get in some practice before our next cruise. SK1 did boogie boarding and she had a blast. I stayed dry on the observation benches with my Caribbean Mules. The lessons are for a fee but the standup and boogie boarding sessions are complimentary.

North Star - We paid to do this on day 6 at sea. There were complimentary port times but they were hard to come by. It was $30 pp and we felt worth it to do once. Views were awesome and it was super fun to go out over the side of the ship. The whole experience was about 16 minutes.

iFly - Both SKs wanted to do this but we couldn't get a reservation. A note for anyone traveling with kids or people who need some time to warm up to the idea of something new or an adventure to the edge of their comfort zones: reserve it early in the cruise! We would have gotten this for them on day 1-3 but by the time they decided they wanted to do it, it was too late. Reserve early and then cancel. This is not free anymore, plan on $50 per person.

Gym - I brought my workout clothes but never used them. SK2 went each morning for the first 4 days. He really liked the gym, he said the equipment was in good shape and that early it wasn't very crowded. Late mornings on sea days was busy. I like group fitness classes but didn't do any this trip. I wish they offered Beach Yoga on Coco Cay.

Spa - we didn't use. Thought about a thermal suite pass but the weather on days 2-6 was so good we were outside the whole time and in the Solarium on day 7.

SeaPlex - we were here on day 7 to kill some time and played some Foosball and Air Hockey. Used the Freestyle machine by the Dog House. They have lots of activities here - ping pong, XBox, basketball & soccer shootouts, pickleball, dance classes, dodgeball and bumper cars. We didn't get a chance to do bumper cars but most sessions were full anyway. The arcade is next door and we walked through it but didn't play anything. The nice thing about the SeaPlex space is it's all enclosed so you can use the sport deck even in cold or rainy weather.

Casino - we don't gamble too often, just when in Vegas and even then we're not at game tables for long. Mr. Regular wanted to try his luck but never got around to it. Being Casino members is a good way to move along on status and win benefits, though, so we may join on the next cruise. I just don't like the smoke and wish they had continued with the no-smoking rules.

I don't have too many pictures to share of activities, but some will come in the post below. Next category - port stops!

 

Sounds like your husband and I would get along…I’m a HUGE Weird Al fan (will be seeing him in concert twice this year), and I also love magic shows, haha. 
 

so, there are no complimentary iFly slots at all anymore? My wife will be disappointed, as she wanted to give it a try, but I doubt she will for $50. 

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