Ant@sea

On 1/31/2022 at 5:02 PM, BWIVince said:

In the spirit of this thread, I thought I'd dig up examples of the Royal Feast and 50's Night menus from the generation of Keith's pics.

 

As a side note, within the context of how subjective food is and how different Serenity may be from Symphony, I usually strongly disagree with people that say how much worse food has gotten over the years.  As someone who regularly reads old cruise menus for entertainment (and not just Crystal's), I'm regularly reminded just how much Crystal's food has improved over the years -- ESPECIALLY under Genting.  Here's some strong evidence to that point.  😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vince

I always thought those “theme night” was a bit out of place on a luxury line. 

I’ll be very surprised it they ever begin operations. I’ve never seen  a half-assed operation such as RCY…a revolving door of executives, delay upon delay, a ship designed with absolutely nothing new or innovative…”it’s yacht-like!!!  Just like a dozen other ships in service, with no provisions for exploration cruising. In addition, their senior management is culled entirely from mass market lines,  none from luxury operators. Many early  execs fled when they realized the alleged “anti-agent” bias of the company.  Their philosophy seemed to be hotel driven…direct to consumers…in this case the RC data base. And a ship name that sounds like a cholesterol drug!

42 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

That's the one except I boarded in the Tianjin/ Beijing.

 

Roy

I have the passenger list in front of me!  The weather was amazing and we had a following wind so the decks were calm. I remember the crew had to post Japanese instructions in the laundry room. The Captain’s Welcome reception was wonderful with the Japanese ladies in kimonos and the men in their robes. 

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

My memories of Harmony are just a bit different.  My first Crystal cruise was on an almost new Symphony in May 1996.  I never sailed Harmony until nearly the end of her Crystal life, a trans-Pacific in 2004 and a short getaway in 2005.  I remember them as very nearly twins, probably the result of many changes from things learned from the Symphony. 
The one thing I do clearly remember that was different (probably from being alerted by one of the future sales consultants) was that while the Harmony had rectangular mattresses, the corners on Symphony were rounded off giving a little bit more manoeuvring room.

 

Roy

Re:2004 Trans Pacific…was this the Tokyo(not Yokohama)to San Francisco voyage “Sail the Great Pacific “ May 16, 2004? If so, I was onboard that crossing and it remains one of the greatest cruises I was ever on  with spectacular weather and sailing at less than 50% capacity. I recall the large contingent of Japanese passengers who disembarked in Honolulu, and we sailed to San Francisco with only  about 200. 

On 1/28/2022 at 4:04 PM, BWIVince said:

 

Very similar....  The biggest difference was the layout of the deluxe staterooms and bathrooms, which were completely redesigned.  The other changes were incremental "improvements", some of which were big improvements and others which were notsomuch.  Symphony combined the disco (Stars) and Cabaret  (Club 2100) into the Starlite Club, the two specialty restaurants were moved from the Lido area on Harmony to Deck 6 aft, the view lounge (Vista) and Palm Court combined into one, one of the two outdoor jacuzzis moved under the magradome...  Stuff like that.  Popular areas like the Avenue were greatly enlarged -- sometimes to their detriment.  Despite the difference in age, a lot of effort was made to make the ships appear similar in decor -- the dining rooms were almost identical originally, and the finishes in the deluxe staterooms were nearly identical despite the different design.  

 

There are some good threads in the Forum that reminisce about Harmony, if you search a little...

 

Vince

I always felt that the Symphony “felt better” ..more ergonomic in her  layout than Harmony with movement  from one room to another in a smoother flow. In addition, Harmonys stair towers were too close together making public rooms at each end a far walk…especially the Harmonys wonderful but under utilized Vista Lounge. 

Did you attempt to change cabins? If so, what was the response?

I sailed on the Getaway in October in a Studio. On the day of embarkation, there was a get together in the Sunset lounge(info was printed in the daily program) for all single passengers. For those not sailing in the Studio cabins, the cruise host offered to have their keys re-coded so they could get access to the Studio complex allowing them access to the daily 5pm gatherings. I do know that some people had recurring issues but the cruise host got it settled after a few days

Boy, did you hit the nail on the head! Lots of nickel and dime-ing, YOU do your own restaurant reservations, YOU load your own picture for embark, YOU print your own bag tags and tickets, less personnel onboard. They are taking a page out of the airline play book. Promenade decks blocked by lifeboats, cutting you off from the sea, long lines to get into restaurants if you failed to have a reservation. They've turned what should be a stress free vacation into something very stressful. You may as well do a land based vacation instead

Have to agree that Quantums shortcomings are related to the reliance on Tech, but it is also hampered by the new Dynamic Dining concept. I sailed on the November 21 2-night cruise and the more I reflect on it, the more I disliked it. In a nutshell it was the totally "impersonal" aspect of the cruise that got to me. Without a main dining room, you had no relationship with one waiter. They used tech to replace people, and really cut you off from the sea, with most of the promenade deck blocked by lifeboats, it truly felt like you were on a land based hotel, with lines to get into everything....so why bother going on a cruise?

If you are able to still purchase insurance from NCL, beware of an odd thing that happened to me. If you do so, and then start to add things to your reservation like transfers, drink packages, your insurance rate goes up as it's a percentage of your total package rate! I had my TA add transfers and it bumped my fare into the next hundred dollars and she got a new invoice asking for $60.00 more for the insurance. I wound up canceling the transfers and just buying them at the airport, and then onboard for the return.

I sailed on Getaway on October 18th and have to agree that the program they do for Solo passengers was phenomenal. I was very leery about sailing solo on a ship with Freestyle Dining, but via the Solo Host Jesy, I ate with people every night.

P.S. I didn't think everything was perfect, but after getting off the Quantum of the Seas 2 night cruise, the Getaway seemed much better in comparison!

You are correct that it ceased to be an independent company when taken over by Trafalgar, but it was still a legal corporate entity. Once Carnival closed the Miami office, it no longer existed as a legal corporation.

I did the 2 night November 21 cruise. I think they got too hung up on making it so high tech. If it works, it's fine, but when it does not, it's a disaster. There is no middle ground. Add the new Dynamic Dining on top of that along with a completely new ship type and all the staff seemed to be frustrated and fumbling to try and work around the systems they were saddled with. I thing RCCL will be very happy to send her off the China, and hopefully make corrections to the sister ship who will replace her in the NY market.

In actuality, Cunard does not exist as a corporate identity. That company ceased to exist when they closed their offices in Miami and moved their U.S. Operations to Princess's offices in California. In reality, they are just a marketing "brand name" utilizing Princess/P&O staff and services behind the scenes.

On the first day of the cruise, have her check the Daily Program for a singles get together in one of the public lounges. The ship has one of the social staff acting like a Concierge for solo travelers but in my experience, the passengers taking the Solo Cabins tend to skew much older than your stepdaughter. I think that surprised NCL as they thought younger passengers would opt for the Studios. However, very few younger passengers sail solo, they always go with friends. She may, however, meet others like her, younger people traveling with family groups, so she should give it a try.

I just got off the 2-night Nov 21 Quantum, and there were issues.

However, you have to keep in mind that everyone was trying to pack as much into those 2 days, so you had long lines for the bumper cars and Northstar and RipCord.

On the Bumper Cars you got 2 minutes only. On the RipCord you only got 1 minute-==it may be better on a normal cruise where passengers have 7-8 days to experience those amenities.

I actually enjoyed the Bionic Bar--it was operating smoothly when I was there(plus they had good music playing)

The MAJOR problem was the Dynamic Dining--if you did not make reservations in advance and tried to wing it, you were screwed to either wait in long frustrating lines or else dine at 5 or 9--

What you've got on Quantum is a litany of issues:

a totally new class of ship to learn

all new systems, all service staff with Tablets, trying to figure them out, and I'm sure there were plenty of glitches in the system

AND Dynamic Dining--

There were also major issues in the Windjammer--with all the different kiosks you were bouncing from one to the other like in a pinball machine, and seating was inadequate--once you found your table, your food was cold. The only way around it was for one person to stake out a table, and the other to get their food, and then trade places. But if you wanted to enjoy a meal together up there, one person's food got cold while the other got theirs.

Because people were frustrated with Windjammer for breakfast, they all went to the ONLY sit-down venue for lunch, American Icon, which got overwhelmed. I got in and saw that others were turned away, even though there were available tables. The reason?--not enough staffing. I don't think they've figured out their passenger flow well enough to realize where the bottlenecks were and how to smooth them out. Again, it was a cold weather cruise and most people were indoors rather than being out by the pools which may have added to the chaos.

I think things will smooth out once everyone gets the hang of the tech systems, but the Dynamic Dining will remain an issue

Having just gotten off the Quantum, I can tell you that those who did not make advanced reservations for the Comp Restaurants had to wait on LONG LINES to try and get in. I have a hard time believing that so many people cancel pre-made reservations to go elsewhere when its next to impossible to get good dining times once onboard, unless you dine at 5pm or 9pm. You don't HAVE to have a reservations, BUT you're in for a very difficult and stressful time if you try and wing it--a vacation should not be this stressful, but from all that I experienced, it was

All changes in March but I feel they will start sooner.....

Just off the Oasis where this was a constant discussion with people. We have always had traditional, early dining.

Apparently you can make early reservations...for a particular restaurant...day by day.

We had the lower level dining room which already had its named changed to America Icon.

There will NOT be a new menu everyday. There will be 2 menus that alternate, American style food. No more lobster night there.

This has already started there with breakfast & lunch. We went there almose every day for both. They used to change every day just a little bit. Now, They each have 2 set menus that alternate.

The 2nd level restaruant will have Mediterranen food with lobster on the menu. This restaurant will require a formal dress code that they say they will try & inforce....In other words....don't embarress yourself by trying to get in with casual dress even though you might win the battle.

Top level will have Asiasn themed. This info came from our waiter.

I just got off the 2 night November 21 Quantum of the Seas with Dynamic Dining, and based on this experience would hesitate to recommend RCCL. Unless you locked in your dining way in advance, you were out of luck getting a reservation, unless you wanted to eat at 5 or 9. They falsely advertise this as "Freedom" to eat when and where you want, but it's just not so. Attached was the scene outside Chic showing a lot of unhappy people.

Did you have hot water this morning? I was on deck 13-no hot water at all for the entire deck....not the best way to end a cruise.

I disembarked the Getaway on October 25th and took NCL's transfer to MIA...I walked off the ship at 8:30, and got to the airport terminal at 10:00. I erred on the side of caution and booked a 3pm flight...way too much time to kill.

Next time I'll do the self walk off...they allowed people to disembark starting at 7::15 so a noon or even 11:00 flight would be doable since hopping in a cab takes less time than loading and unloading a coach with 50 people.

I had an issue with paying for something prior to my cruise. I purchased transfers, and it bumped my total fare into the next hundred dollar bracket. I had also purchased NCL insurance, so that once the total fare want up, my insurance price jumped by $40.00!!!

My agent had to remove the outbound transfer so that it balanced out. Or else, a $25 transfer actually would have cost me $65! Keep this in mind if you start pre booking tons of extra cost items before you board.

Thank you all for the great info. I'm really looking forward to this outing combining my love for both ships and airplanes.

I'm all set for the Getaway October 18th departure. When in St. Maarten, I'd like to go to Maho Beach at the end of the airport runway and watch the planes land, but am concerned about timing. I've been told if you wait too long into the afternoon, you run the risk of rush hour traffic on the way back to the pier. Has anybody here done it, and if so, any advice?

I'm sailing on the Getaway on the 18th of October in a studio cabin.

I'd like to try out some of the specialty restaurants...how does it work

If your a solo...a table for 1, or is there any way to hook up with others who want to try it?

Any guidance would be appreciated