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Royal Caribbean International

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Very Good

Excellent

Poor

Anthem of the Seas

Kusadasi

As our trip to Florida got cancelled again and I didn't want to fly due to all the tests and paperwork involved we did this 7 night uk trip.  My son and I had a great time from bumper car driving to iflying.  Great modern ship (have done other Royal Caribbean ships but smaller ones).  No sea sickness even though I'm generally a bad traveller and it was a bit rocky at times so I put that down to great stabilisers on the ship maybe? Entertainment so much better than I expected.  Food in the main restaurant and Windjammer could still be better quality - it does seem to be quantity over quality unfortunately.  Egg shell in the breakfast scrambled egg as well which was a put off.  My most biggest bug bear with all the Royal Caribbean ships I have sailed on is the sticky tables in the Windjammer - why are they sticky? I just presumed they were not cleaning the cloths enough which I found disgusting and even more so in covid times. That said my son and I did have a great time and seeing a bit of Liverpool, Belfast and some of the Scotland lochs was lovely.  It was my 4th Royal Caribbean cruise and I do wish to sail with them again but please, PLEASE, can they clean their tables properly - I just don't want to come across another sticky one again!

Florida Replacement

I've been an RCCL cruiser for 20 years and have been on about 18 cruises.  My very first cruise was on 9/11 and I was blown away by their responsiveness, communication and generosity of letting all passengers make free ship-to-shore calls to check on loved one back home.  I've never had one of those "sick cruises" (but I do sanitize my hands as suggested) and my cruises have generally been really great experiences.

My last cruise was a completely different experience.  Food was definitely lower quality.  Also, I usually don't drink alcohol that much, but I decided to have a few drinks on different days and from different bars on the ship.  It really tasted like all the drinks (different days, different bars and different servers) has absolutely no alcohol in them at all.  It's hard to believe this was just coincidence and not some kind of new policy to reduce costs.  Everything is now an upcharge with a separate fee attached.  I understand that Covid has made the cruise line economics a little more challenging because they are not sailing at full capacity, but don't start watering down the drinks and skimping on quality food.

I also usually spend a fair amount of time in the casino on every cruise.  I don't think cruise lines casinos are regulated the same was land-based casinos are, but I'd bet they also adjusted the slot machine winning payout ratios.  Based on my past experience and discussions with other passengers, it seems very coincidental that one of the first post-Covid cruises had such a terrible losing streak at the slots for everyone.

I've gone from being a dedicated RCCL advocate and fan to someone who isn't sure I will ever sail with them again.  That's saying a lot, since my cruises with them are generally complimentary.  How bad do you have to mess up so that people won't even accept a free cruise?

RCCL Quality is dropping

This review is based on two sailings I did.  One on 19 September and the other on 20 October.  On the first sailing there was only 800 on the ship and good social distancing.  Entertainment was fantastic, full size musical, rat pack and Jersey Boys shows, also Beatles tribute.

Liverpool stop.  No need to do trips.  British Music experience is based in Cunard building, 3-4 minutes from where ship docs.  Also the Museum of Liverpool is opposite and very good.  Shops and Cavern Club are within walking distance,  we also did the Beatles story based within the docks.

Belfast - don’t book transfers it is quicker, cheaper and good to use local taxis.  There are a couple of volunteers who can ring for a taxi (not black cab). For a party of 4 it cost £7 to go straight to the Titanic Exhibition.  We gave a£10 and driver was so grateful, but to us it was very reasonable.

I also did Belfast panoramic bus stopping at the White Abbey.  Book through cruise ship with excellent guide, Christine.

Sailing on 20th very different due to numbers.  2500.  Much of the social distancing was being ignored by guests and not always addressed by staff.  For example 8 or 9 people in the hot tub.  Bars were packed at night and although you had to leave two seats between you and another party in theatre, didn’t seem to apply at night.

You have to do COVID PCR test before you go.  However on another ship I was recently on, they had a device that you had to put your card in each day and it read your temperature.  If you did not do this by 4.30 pm your card was suspended.  Also temperature taken on return.  

Entertainment really good, special mention to Andy who was great with Elton John songs.  The violin act was great.  Not what you would expect.

RCL is my favourite cruise line, however I will not return until COVID is more stable as I don’t think there processes are good.  I know it is a fully vaccinated ship, and it has been a dreadful time for the cruise industry, but you can still catch COVID and pass it on.

Good entertainment beautiful ship.

Originally, I booked this cruise for May 2021 for my wife's birthday as she wanted to go to see the Norwegian Fjords and we both thought that with covid still around, the ports of call would not have too many travellers, so thought this was the right time to do this trip and let everyone else go to spain etc.

However, we got wind in early 2021 that this cruise would be cancelled, so we got it moved to September 2021 as a precaution. Then, after final payment this trip go moved to Spain and Portugal, which we wife also liked, but just a few weeks before sailing, it got changed to a British Isles cruise. My wife did not like this idea at all and wanted to cancel.

I managed to get us changed from out normal interior cabin to a Junior Suite as the price had dropped and what we had paid just about covered the change. I convinced my wife that she needed a holiday after working throughout the pandemic and not being away since May 2019 as all 2020s cruises got cancelled and also 2 of this years too.

I told her that this holiday would be relaxing and all about the ship as last timed we were on the Anthem out of Cape Liberty it was full of Americans and you were waiting for most things.

So it was a big surprise that only 1200 passengers were on this cruise and the weather was much much better than expected.

We stayed just outside Southampton the night before, as we always do when sailing from this port. This is so we are close enough on the day to get to the port if the motorway has problems.

We paid for parking near the ship and the best gate is either 10 or 8 to get to this. It costs about £90 for the week which is still cheaper than taking the train, even after fuel for the car!

Embarkation was good. My time was 1200-1230, however, as a suite guest you can check in up to an hour either side so we arrived at 1100. We had everything printed as backup just in case the phone played up or got lost as we did not want to take any chances. We had to wait a short while for the ship to become ready and were onboard before 12 noon.

We went to the Windjammer Market Place and had a nice lunch and then at 1pm the rooms were ready.


Drinks. As Diamond plus members we now get 5 free drinks per day up to the value of $14 per drink which could be used at every bar except the Bionic Bar.

In the past we would rush to the Diamond lounge for about 4pm to get a seat and drink several drinks before dinner. Now these are gone and if you go to the Diamond lounge you have to use your vouchers as per any other bar, so we only now went to the lounge after breakfast for a free decent coffee and to see the concierge if we needed help with anything such as booking additional bumper car rides.

I think this works better for use. We had a Kraken Colada from the North Star Bar every afternoon around 1430 which lasted us the rest of the afternoon.

My wife then had a glass of Prosecco and I had a glass of Chandon every night with out meal around 6pm.

We then had a cocktail during the show.

This left 2 drinks for later in the evening and we were up till nearly midnight every night having Jameson, Jack Daniels, Makers Mark etc etc in different bars/settings.

This was a much better experience for us so thank you to Royal for this change. I was expecting a change for a long time to the Diamond drinks, but this is actually better and as a C&A member would say you would not need a drinks package as you are no longer limited to just the few drinks on the old Diamond club list.

Now on to the ship. The ship was clean and tidy and there was no noticeable difference from the last time we were on board. Being a fairly new ship (2015) she was still in good condition.

I had paid approx £37 for my wife to go on the Ifly as she could not do it last time due to an operation she had just prior. This was for an extended flight time. Once on board I found you also got a complementary ride per person which was not mentioned beforehand and I had emailed this question to Royal and they had said you had to pay so be warned here.

Also the app would not let you book additional Bumper Car rides, even though there was only 1200 passengers and hardly any queues. The Diamond concierge sort this for us.

Booking shows by the app was good and saved the huge queuing we had last time where first day was nearly lost due to being in queues. It is still a bit of a military operation to sort all the things to do on this ship and it is supossed to be a relaxing time after all, but I think the app has solved that issue, so once again thank you Royal and I hope you keep this app going.

Also, the muster drill, well, again thanks to the app, you can watch the video then go to your station before the ship leaves at your own leisure instead of having to do down to the muster station just before leaving port.

I was amazed here how may times calls were put out to people who had not bothered to attend the muster station which simply involved turning up, showing your sea pass and being ticked off and that was it. I really though people would have gone and sorted this at the first chance and then got on with their holiday as this is where the app and the changes to the way things are done really should be helping everyone.

Now on to the shows.

One new thing for Diamond plus and Pinnacle members to the seating in the shows.

Before you had certain areas such as the balcony on the Indy or a small area for the Ice shows which went pretty quick in the past.

Now you can queue jump by arriving early and pick your seats, so now when its a band we can be close to the stage for the best sound and if a comedian, then at the back for a quick escape.

At the moment due to Covid, you get dismissed in sections, so anyone at the front middle will be last out!

The food.

We had breakfast in the main diming room and the windjammer depending on if we were getting off that day.

I would say the food was better in the Windjammer as there was more choice.

We had most lunches at the 270 as I like to have a chicken cob, soup of day and packet of crisps.

Believe me, this is a lot less than what I used to eat at lunch on ships and I believe this to be a good balance.

Another good thing Royal has done and I hope they keep this in place, is having staff serve food at the buffet. I admit I did not like the idea at first, but it really made no time difference to getting your food by being served it.

Too many times in the past I watched people pile loads of food onto their plates like food was going to run out in the world, only to then no eat it and have thrown away. sad to see this type of thing when so many are staving elsewhere, so good on Royal. After all, the less we waist, the less of an excuse for price hikes!

At night as Junior Suite passengers we had access to the Coastal Kitchen and dined there every night and the service was the best we have had for a long time. One thing I found out here is that you had to either go and book at the restaurant on the day or by phone, but found out you could actually book for the next day after eating on the night. Something a pinnacle passenger told me and not crew.

We had not had good experiences in the past with the Silk restaurant and I don't think you can book American Icon for every night, so having the Coastal Kitchen was a great solution.

We did not bother with any speciality restaurants as we have done all of these before and had checked the app for menus beforehand and were very happy with what they had on the main menu.

We did nip to Sorrento's for a midnight pizza most nights (as you do) and found the staff there to be very nice and polite.

In fact just about every crew member was nice and polite and I think they were just so happy to be back at work.

This made for one of the nicest cruises we have had and we were really surprised to admit this cruise may actually have been one of the best.

Other than people on the balcony next door shouting at each other other silly things (which was entertaining) I can report that there were no idiots on this ship at all (normally we count 40 per ship based on 1% of 4000 passengers which we normally find/bump into). I know lots of people cancelled so perhaps they were the idiots!

No on to the shows.

Spectra's Cabaret in the 270 is one of the best shows. You may see Terry (aka Spectra) around the back of the ship having a walk each day and he is always nice and approachable for a chat. His show is different from most things and uses the visual effects of screens for parts of his show. I have seen this many times and his performance and the cast members is flawless and always entertaining.

This was the first cruise (and we have over 20) where we finally got Joff Eaton as cruise director after so many people had said how good he was, and he was for the first day we saw him, then various other staff members took over. I am not sure if they used this cruise a testing ground for future cruise directors, but Joff was not seen again on stage or around the ship in an official capacity. I did see him from time to time, so he was not ill or been moved to cover another ship. I would have liked to have seen more of him. I still think the best cruise director for both professionalism and being approachable for a chat is Clo O'Conner and I think every cruise director should be aiming to achieve her standards.

Ports of Call.

First we arrived in Invergordon, Not Inverness as advertised. Apparently the ship can't dock there due to a bridge. We had a good walk around the town before getting back on the ship for lunch. You could take the bus/train to Inverness for a few quid but it was approx 45 mins each way. Glad I did not book a trip to Lock Ness as I would not have got to the bus stop in time.

Next was Kirkwall in the Orkneys. They put on a free shuttle bus to the town as the ship was about 2 miles away. Again, we had the morning in the town and then went back to the ship for lunch.

The last port of call was Belfast. The ship docked in the port but this was approx 3 miles from the city and they offered a shuttle bus service round trip for $15 each. We had a on board spend so used that to get the tickets.

We had tickets for the Titanic Museum booked for 1030 and the ship docked around 5am.

The shuttle bus dropped you in the city centre at Welington Square and the bus to the Titanic Quarter (G2) came in at the stop right behind, so it really was that simple. There were ticket machines at the stop and it worked out at £6.40 return for us both.

The Titanic Museum was very good and took a couple of hours to walk around. There was also the chance to go aboard the SS Normadic in dry dock which was the tender ship used in Cherbourg which boarded people like Molly Brown. It really gave you some idea what travel on the Titanic must have been like and was one of the best parts of the trip.

After a bit of shopping we decided to go back to the ship mid afternoon for some lunch.

However, we were told by the bus driver that they were about to turn the ship around so there would be a delay of about 90 mins getting back on board. Everyone in the quire (about 30 people) went back to the shops and only me and my wife went back to the ship. It was still roped up to the dock as they were still waiting for the harbour pilot to arrives so we were able to get back onto the ship.

No warning or message had been given about this turning of the ship, so it may be wise at this port in future to ask about it when getting off.

Conclusion.

In all the week did not go quick and I think we enjoyed this cruise better than some of the others we have done, even to more exotic places.

Not sure if it was because there were less people or the crew were better or a bit of both.

There was no upselling as you arrived. Remember chops grill people being everywhere trying to sell you stuff or loads of staff outside the Windjammer with drinks packages galore!

Well none of that.

I think we got lucky with the weather and we were able to sit outside by the pool and actually get decks chairs every day where we wanted them.

One of the reasons we like cruising as we get older is that we can get up, have some breakfast, get off the ship around 9am at a port of call, go for a walk around the resort, get back on the ship around 1pm and have some lunch, then slob around the pool deck with a drink for a few hours, get ready and have dinner, go to a show, and then have a few more drinks to finish off the night. For less than £100 per day per person, find me a hotel on land that does all that!

I am glad Royal have found a way through the Pandemic and I can confirm that everyone I saw on board was wearing masks when walking around inside, so hopefully, everyone is aware that you can still have a decent holiday at the moment on board a cruise ship. So again thank you to Royal for all you have done as I know the cruise industry has been under scrutiny more than other industries, so hopefully together we can find a way through this and hopefully next year we will be able to get back to places further a field without silly/expensive/unnecessary conditions being imposed to stop us.

British Isles Cruise Surpise

I chose this cruise because it required double vaccination for all guests over 18, PCR tests before departure, mask wearing and reduced capacity.  I found the systems in place very reassuring and felt safe being onboard a ship with 1600 other guests, despite mostly staying away from crowds for the last 16 months.  The new style muster 2.0 on phones is a massive improvement and reduced the need to stand around for ages, I really hope this remains post pandemic.  Booking for events in the app is also a good way to plan your day and reduce congestion.

Sailing around the UK is not something I would normally go for (British weather) but that said I had a lovely time with lots of activities to do and the ports of call were interesting and in different parts of the North, away from Southampton.  As always the food was lovely on the ship, with excellent services and an almost normal feel.

I am glad I went on the cruise and it felt like normal

Cruising is back in the UK

We actually sailed on the 15th August but that was populated on here as France and Spain but we sailed around the UK so I selected the week before! 

Embarkation was slow due to the checking of vaccines and COVID tests. As the Covid tests were carried out by their preferred supplier, Eurofins and the results were sent to them, this surely could have flagged up as competed. I think they will need to get these things uploaded in advance as our ship was only a third full. So if full, it will cause big delays. I’m sure they will get better at this. 

The benefits of the ship being a third full was that we never had to wait for anything, no queues and none for an elevator and usually they were empty. Also, the windjammer was never too full. The main dining room tables were spaced out which usually they are crammed in, which is why we don’t like eating there. Service was so quick, again not what we expect when it is full. We’ve known people to walk out as it has been so slow but it was excellent this week. Food was very good. The Windjammer was closed for dinner which we were not happy about but there are plenty of other places to eat. The cafe 270 was open until 5pm and then Sorrentos pizza was open until the early hours and the cafe adjoined to that is 24/7. Solarium Bistro was closed for food this cruise. 

There was plenty to do on board from quizzes, bingo, to North Star and bumper cars. We never got bored. Thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and it was good to get back on board after so long.

Shows were excellent in the evenings. Thoroughly enjoyed the Beetles tribute. Anyone who likes musicals will love We Will Rock You. There was also a magician and comedian.  

Disembarkation was not so good. They closed the cafes so if you wanted just a juice or coffee and a croissant, you either had to book the main dining room or queue for the Windjammer. Actually getting off the ship was quick as was collecting the luggage.

We sailed to Inverness (Invergorden) and took the Cawdor Castle excursion which was excellent.

Next was Kirkwall, that was a surprise gem. It didn’t look very big from the Ship and we nearly didn’t bother to leave but glad we did. A short free bus ride to the main town area which was compact and very easy to walk around. There was a lovely museum and church. 

Liverpool was next. So much to do, we could have stayed for days. A short walk from the Ship is a free Museum, It was over 3 floors, massive. Staff very nice and helpful. We also took the HOHO tour (cant get off at the minute though) but gave a good insight of the city. There were boat tours also.

Last stop was Greenock (for Glasgow) sadly it was raining all day but we braved the local area. not much to do there, hence why most people who left the Ship were off to catch the train to Glasgow. I believe it was under half an hour. 

We booked again for October

Nice to be back onboard after so long

We chose this cruise as all passengers needed to be from the UK, fully vaccinated and have passed a PCR test within 3 days of travel.  This gave confidence that it would actually be safer to go cruising than stroll around the local shopping centre (where masks appear to have been abandoned).  Another factor for this cruise was that it wouldn't be full.  In fact, there were less than 1,000 passengers on board when it can hold over 4,000.  Again, this gave confidence around the ability to apply social distancing and meant that it was going to be a more relaxing cruise rather than one with a party atmosphere.   if you're looking for lots of atmosphere, people everywhere, the usual parades and processions, then it's probably too soon for you to be cruising.  If, however, you want a bit of space, more attentive crew, a choice of sun loungers on deck and no wait times, then this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to feel like you have the ship to yourselves!

While communication ahead of the cruise was a bit patchy (we had to chase info about taking the PCR test), everything from check in onwards went extremely smoothly.  We arrived in Southampton at about 11am and, once check in opened, we were processed within minutes.  Boarding started at noon and we were able to go straight to our cabin on the 12th deck.  We had a balcony cabin (largely as a precaution in case we'd have to quarantine) towards the aft of the ship and it was bigger than we were expecting.  Double sofa in addition to the bed and plenty of storage for clothes.  There was a kettle and instant coffee provided daily.  Both European and American plug sockets as well as 2 USB sockets for devices.  

It was modern, clean and well maintained.  There was nothing to fault.  The balcony was a decent size with two chairs and two foot stalls.  And the flat screen TV was huge, although you weren't able to insert any of your own cables if you wanted to connect your laptop to it for example!!  Our cabin attendant always left the cabin spotless, cleaning in the morning and doing a turn down service in the evening.

Food on board was of a really good quality.  The most noticeable difference as a result of Covid was the Windjammer Buffet.  We didn't need to go hunting for a table as with previous cruises.  Crew escorted us to a table, brought drinks to you and kept you socially distanced from other guests.  At the buffet, crew served you all the food.  It was extremely well presented, the choice of food at both breakfast and lunch was impressive and crew even walked round offering pastries that had come straight out of the oven.  I really hope they keep it this way once things go back to normal as it was a great improvement on pre-covid experiences.  There was a really good choice of food in the dining room.  We had the My Time Dining experience, which meant we could change the time for dinner each day.  Clean plates every day, so the food must have been good.  Our waiters were excellent, so I'd recommend you ask to be served by Goshal and Natalia if you can.  Their head waiter, Constantin, was also really friendly and helpful.  They all wanted us to have a lovely dining experience.

On board facilities included the Sky Diving (iFly) and North Star.  Both can be done at no charge when the ship is in port.  I'd recommend booking these on the App as soon as you can, as we struggled to book the North Star even when the ship was quiet.  There is a charge on sea days, which included an enhanced experience.  The sky diving gave you a one minute free experience (which was plenty!) and it was amazing.  A photographer was on hand and they did a really good commemorative photo package of the experience.  The North Star gave great views of the ship from 100m above sea level and only 4 people were allowed in the pod at a time to ensure social distancing.

There were two theatres at each end of the ship; the standard theatre and "Two70" where the windows transformed into screens.  The quality of the shows was very high.  'We Will Rock You' was an absolute highlight with high quality singing and performing throughout.  Such a feel good show and the lady who played 'Scaramouche' was particularly outstanding.  Spectra's Cabaret was the other show of note, which was held in 'Two70" and the lead guy had amazing charisma and performing skills.  I'd highly recommend both, and be sure to book early on the App to get the show time you want as, once again, the theatres were operating at reduced capacities.  

The bumper cars were really good fun and we played Pickleball for the first time in the sports complex, which was competitive and exhausting!

Our favourite part of the ship was the Solarium.  This is an adults only area of the ship with great views out to sea, 2 hot tubs, plenty of loungers and a 3 tiered pool to cool down in.  Loads of plants everywhere which made it such a relaxing retreat.  The hot tubs were empty most of the time.

Spa treatments were also amazing, albeit a little pricey when you add the 18% service charge.  They did have a range of offers throughout the cruise though, including a $50 discount voucher, so might be worth waiting a day or so to book your first treatment if the ship isn't busy and they have lots of availability.   Saunas were out of action due to Covid.

We loved the casino.  It was one of the biggest casinos we've been in at sea with plenty of different slot machines to choose from.  Every other slot machine was disabled to enable social distancing.  As this was a British Isles cruise, RCL had to adhere to UK law, so the casino was a non smoking space, which was fantastic for us (sorry smokers!)

The bars lacked atmosphere as you would expect, but they were very stylish and comfortable.  Lots of quizzes and activities took place in the bar areas and the entertainment staff were really nice and naturally funny, which was good.  We did not opt for the drinks package and found the drinks to be reasonable.  Cocktails $14, beers $8 and the cheapest bottle of wine was about $33.   A few discounts are made available to Crown & Anchor members, so we got a couple of free beers and coffees.

This cruise only made a stop in Belfast and, as a covid measure, you were only allowed off the ship through an organised tour via RCL.  We decided to stay on the ship, but I'd recommend Giant's Causeway to anyone who hasn't been before.

After so many months of not being able to travel anywhere, this was the first glimpse of the world returning to normality.  It didn't matter that we were mostly at sea and within the British Isles, as the weather was amazing (Northern Ireland had the hottest day on record on the day we were in Belfast).  We were just happy to be cruising again.

I'd recommend this cruise to anyone who wants to have a safe, socially distanced holiday, with excellent service and food,  but without the usual buzz and party atmosphere.  Would I do it again like this?  Absolutely!  We've just booked to go again in a month's time before the cruise industry returns back to full capacity!  Can't wait!

An empty ship all to yourself!

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