toad455

Agreed about Johnny Rockets. Just remove it from the ship already. Overpriced and not good at all.

Did you wait long for your food at Brass & Bock? On my January cruise, the food took over 30 minutes due to only one cook in the kitchen during lunch. Granted its the best burger on the ship, but the wait time is crazy. @VernRDH

FYI, the longer Odyssey cruises in January 2026 have already had several price hikes. Just a heads up.

the longer cruises on the Odyssey for January 2026, are, more or less, the same as 2025.

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Tampa has grandeur. I asked and good group price except I like bigger ships. I like more food choices. I admit it. Grandeur was my least favorite. Wouldn't be that long before that new bright line train can go to almost any Florida rcl port. 

the Grandeur needs to be retired.

On 2/11/2024 at 4:42 PM, gallagher123123 said:

So, who's excited for the Northeast deployment this week? Ready to see what will be offered out of Boston on the Brilliance.

Wondering about the Odyssey January 2026 longer cruises. Hoping for a slight difference in itinerary.

Any leaks of the Odyssey longer sailings for January 2026?

nope. her itineraries don't show up on cruisemapper.com either. Tampa port schedule has her listed though. Neither Key West or Cozumel lists her.

8 hours ago, KarlK said:

Do people actually cruise for the food? I will admit, I am a pizza in the windjammer over MDR kinda guy. I hit great foods while in port, a true goal of mine, be it stewed cows foot in the Caymans, gibnut in Belize, Mexican seafood off the boats in Ensenada. Mass knocking out meals on a boat cannot compare to a land based restaurant. Even back in the day when I would go to the MDR, I would not say the steak or lobster was prepared spectacular. Is what it is, never horrible, but fine dining in this day an age of more people on board means more money is past history.

I cruise to enjoy unique foods that I normally wouldn't have at home. Occasionally I'd have something typical that I could get at home due to the unsatisfying menu. The MDR was mostly fine on my recent Anthem cruise. Only bad meal choices were the prime rib(very fatty and tough) and my Dad's pork chop. Also, the daily chicken breast was very dry according to my brother & mom. Ultimately, the big disappointment was the Windjammer and their lack of variety for both breakfast and lunch. I tend to be easy on the post-cruise survey, but was very honest about the Windjammer.

The Happy hour unlimited free drinks from 5pm-8pm is gone for all ships, correct? I remember on the Jewel in 2019, some people would get trashed during those 3 hours. The liquor also appeared watered down during that time frame.

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

She has Azipods, so maybe her extra maneuverability was the reason.

probably. I've been there when they had 4 ships. it's a zoo. I also remember back in the day they built the second pier to get more ships in. I don't think St. Kitts could handle more than 4 ships.

22 minutes ago, Somerset Cruiser said:

A different location perhaps, there are 2 cruise ports in St Kitts.

St. Kitts' piers can hold four ships.

45 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

Too high winds.  Even with the aid of a tug, unable to stop sideways motion.  Ship anchored off St Kitts because refuelling here and expecting tanker.

Odd since the Anthem was able to dock.

I see the ship is anchored off the harbor in St Kitts today. Anyone know why she didn't dock? Looks like there's two small boats alongside it.

Royal has ample new ships entering their fleet. Time to retire the Grandeur(28 years old). Shortly to follow would be the Rhapsody, Enchantment & Vision. What's sad to think is that the Voyager-class is shortly to follow. All four probably don't get scrapped, but sold elsewhere.

Crown Lounge is good if you want/need a quick breakfast without the crowds(bagel, parfait, muffin). Love the free lattes/cappuccinos. Pre-dinner Horsey Derves are fine some days, otherwise it's just basic, heated finger foods. I've gone in on bad weather days during the day to read because it's quite, but on the Anthem it's right next to the Music Hall. So sometimes it's not that quite.

4 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

All the times I've been on Anthem, the solarium is a mess.  Chair hogs galore.  On the fall TA, there was one group that moved furniture around and put up signs claiming their territory.  Another group set up a "tent".

I don't mind the hot tubs when it's cold outside. But Odyssey will lose two outdoor areas when it's cold and also three bars. The Solarium bar will be jammed during the day when it's cold out. I'll likely hang out up in Playmakers though.

yep, sailed on Explorer in January 2014 with snow on the outside decks. was fun watching it slowly melt on the first sea day.

Agreed about the food in the Windjammer on the Anthem. Was just on her and everything was repeatative. Nothing interesting and their "daily special" was far from special. Zero variety and they had a station at lunch time service breakfast foods. Ate mostly in the Solarium for breakfast and 270 for lunch. Got deals at Chops and Jamie's for lunch as well.

12 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

I concur! Silly ship deployment for a cold weather port. What are they thinking...

Anthem is coming up on ten years old and heading to dry dock. After just getting off of her, she needs some work done. Johnny Rockets can go away and they can add Playmakers up in the Seaplex. After that, we'll welcome her back out of Bayonne in the Winters.

going on the Odyssey next Jan. Just got off the Anthem but someone that's Diamond+ said the vouchers can be used on pitchers of beer. you just pay the difference. anyone else tried recently?

On 1/3/2024 at 1:00 PM, OCSC Mike said:

 

 

Northeast will be released the week of February 12th...

 

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2025_2026/2025-2026_Deployment_Opening_Schedule.pdf

Currently on the Anthem. The next cruise specialist I talked to said she's fairly certain the Odyssey will return for the Winter sailings of 2025-26.

5 minutes ago, Ms411 said:

That's a nice flight! Thanks for sharing your great photo.

And it wasn't crowded at all. Anthem is the lone ship at Crown Bay. I believe there's two ships at the other pier.

Stopped at Taphus after having lunch near the pier in Crown Bay. About a 40 minute walk from there. Thanks for the suggestion @Ms411

They headed to Boston for three days which was cold and rainy. IMO, this cruise should have been cancelled if the captain couldn't find a warm weather itinerary to switch to. Majority of the passengers didn't get of the ship at Boston.