The Fun Researcher

We've done the escape room on the Navigator and loved it. Haven't done the one on Oasis so can't compare, but the one on the Nav. is well done IMO. Dan

See you there. Just don't take my spot! LOL. Looks like all the extended sessions are sold out. (not sure if I want the extended version anyway) Do they open more of these once onboard?

Thanks for the tip!

Agreed. I’ve never had a problem with Sorrento’s. My only gripe is that it gets repetitive about halfway through a weeklong cruise. It’s one of the reason I love Playmakers on some of the ships so that I can get some nice pub food late at night other than pizza or finger sandwiches

Sorry, deleting duplicate post.

I'm going in with an open mind. I'm very much looking forward to trying a new class of ship. I'm sure there will be things that we like or dislike when compared to other Royal ships, or even X or NCL. We very much go with the flow, mainly. However, we've cruised Royal quite a bit so hopefully we'll have a good reference point for what we're used to for things like service, food quality, ship cleanliness... etc.. We sail March 19th so I'm guessing any feedback I could provide would be too late for your sailing anyway. I'm expecting to have an awesome time. I knew going in that this is the worst itinerary that we've ever done (only really looking forward to Coco Cay) but it was a relatively inexpensive cruise for us since we're driving, and the cruise also gets us to Diamond level which is exciting. Like you said, we've never had a bad cruise and I wouldn't expect any different from Royal. They are a solid cruise line all around IMO.

I get what you're saying but I have only so many days (and vacation days) in this lifetime. If I had to spend a meaningful (which is subjective to each person) amount of time at all the cruise destinations we've been to, I wouldn't have enough time (and possibly funds) to do so. Cruising can give you a high level, or the opposite, myopic, view of your destination but in many cases that's enough for me. We're just looking to have fun, learn and explore. The ship provides an amazing way to do so by providing excellent lodging, meals, and entertainment along the way. Our favorite type of excursion are the full day island tours. It gives us a good enough overview. When I hear a particular island or port I can picture it fairly well in my minds eye from first hand experience. That's good enough for me in many cases. There are places that I wouldn't use a cruise for like you mentioned. Rome, Venice, etc... are examples, but even so it still sounds like a blast to cruise the Mediterranean.

...Because I wasn't meaning to offend, however I think many the negatives are over nitpicky things, so that' what I stated. Just stating my opinion. How else would I say it? That's what this board is about right? Stating opinions, giving facts, sharing information. When I give my review I'm happy to hear if someone disagrees with me, thinks I'm nit-picking, or differs in opinion.

There is accountability on both sides. The only way to know for certain (despite how clear the passenger is) that a dish was prepared as needed would be for the cruise passenger observe the entire kitchen process themselves. Obviously this doesn't happen, so there absolutely is accountability on those in the kitchen as well with these possible life and death situations.

Yeah, but that's hardly just a boombox playing 70's music. It has all sorts of live entertainment with the show, from the CD, staff, dancers, videographers, and the light show...

Should have just made the Casino 100% smoke free (like on Celebrity) and left Jazz on 4. Doesn't seem to be hurting Celebrity.

Yes, the vendors are aggressive, probably the most aggressive of any port we've been to. Now we know what to expect. We used to play a game and we would each start with something nominal like $10 and see who could come back with the best souvenir after the haggling was all done.

Agreed. Even the most basic food service employee should have understood and be trained on the issue and started with a new plate and new steak.

No offense intended, but seems like "much ado about nothing", at least compared to how we sail. Most of the negatives the OP states either don't apply to us or aren't something that normally hits our radar. I'll be sure to give our review after our Anthem cruise next month.

Longer with great ports, can't go wrong with the Adventure of the Seas itinerary!! ETA... both are great though. You can't go wrong with either. We love Nachi Cocum at Cozumel as well for an all inclusive beach day. All that said, 6 nights is better than 5 and two private ports are better than 1. I do love the AMPED ships like Mariner but as a whole I would still choose the Adventure due to the ports and longer cruise. Freedom and Voyager are our favorite classes of ships so far.

Thanks for the reply! Glad you mentioned the taxi fare. My Father In Law has a bad knee and that walk would be too much for him so we'll probably just grab a cab both ways. $5pp is perfectly fine. (There are five of us, My wife, our son, myself and my inlaws) $10 for a chair is great too. Overall much cheaper than a dedicated excursion. I always struggle with Nassau. For being the busiest cruise port in the caribbean/bahamas there sure isn't much to do versus other ports.

LOVE this photo. So cool to see what Labadee looked like before Royal made their changes. They had to remove quite a few buildings!

Not the OP but I can help answer this since all Royal ships are pretty much the same in this regard. What did you sign up for when you booked your cruise? You are either early traditional seating, late traditional seating, or My Time Dining. If you are early or late traditional you need to show up at that time. If you are "My Time" dining you can show up whenever you like and you will wait for an open table. or... If you have "My Time" dining you can go into the cruise planner online, (under "dining" and scroll to the bottom of the page) and look for times to reserve each evening. This close to the cruise there may not be a lot of desirable times left. If there are satisfactory times, go ahead and make reservations each evening and you'll wait less.

re. Nassau, did you go to Junkanoo beach? That's what we're planning to do while in Nassau next month (same ship and itinerary as you). Great review by the way, thank you. We're interested to see how it goes driving to port (from Michigan). We've always flown to Florida or Galveston TX. We're driving most of the way Saturday and have a hotel in Allentown. How much extra time should we add to account for traffic in the morning? Google maps says it's a 1 hour 30 minute drive, should I plan 2 hours instead? We have an 11am embarkation time and a 12pm Jamie's Italian reservation for lunch (not fond of the Windjammer madhouse for lumch on embarkation day)

That’s super cool. Way to go!

The rear entrance to Labadee is guarded and the entire area is fenced. so only “approved” Haitians are allowed to enter like the vendors.

Yeah some of the ways they name the food make them sound particularly unappetizing. Tomato water? 🤮 Probably tastes great though

Same with my parents. Can't imagine. I lost my taste and smell for only a few days when I got covid in 2020 and it was terrible. Still feeling hungry, but not tasting the food when taking care of the hunger. Sad

Maybe the next time we’re there I’ll have to give it a try. Sounds fun. We’ve done the zip line over and over again and it does not disappoint. “ the longest zip line overwater in the world “. We absolutely love Labadee for its relaxed, tropical paradise feel. I remember our very first cruise in 2012 (which included Labadee), I think our first port was Grand Cayman and as I woke up and found ourselves in port, I was like “it feels like we just pulled up to a City. Where is the tropical paradise? I have since learned of course that you have to go find those nice beaches and remote locations when you get to an island, but in my mind, I was expecting remote, tropical islands. Yeah, I was ignorant. 😄… but I will tell you what, Labadee absolutely was what I had pictured in my mind. ….and still is. I remember saying, after our first cruise, that I could circle back to Labadee for all the ports, and be perfectly happy

Thank you for this. I might give it another try. I do love the lamb chops but I’m willing to give the shank another try. Not everyone likes lamb, but those that do really enjoy it and I am one of them. I don’t mind the stronger, richer taste, but I’m also one that loves liver pate and such (maybe it’s the pronounced iron taste that I like ?) I’m willing to try any dish once.