It wasn't Good. My AOS Review on the July 7th Cruise from Cape Liberty

[HBE4]

52 minutes ago, cured said:

Did they change the itinerary on you without notification? Isn't the itinerary something you actually choose when you book. Barring changes due to weather, medical or mechanical problems, or country regulations, as long as the itinerary is the same as when you book, that is the one thing that is completely in your control. How is the choice of itinerary the cruise line trying to save money?   If you didn't like the itinerary, why did you book that particular cruise?

 

My take is that it wasn't the selection of islands but "shorten" port times.  Perhaps the OP can elobarate if the port time was cut short due to late arrival, clearance issues or perhaps that was the original itinerary. Often times, San Juan is just a half-day visit.

[BND]

3 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Ok, I guess I read another wrong when they said they were substituting scallops.    

They may be, but they aren't doing it by not telling people.   I don't eat either, but I seem to remember they were both listed at different days on the menu.

[HBE4]

5 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

The popcorn is the naive belief a Royal exec will reply

 

Ah, okay. Got it. Somehow I missed that part.

[Sunshine3601]

4 minutes ago, BND said:

They may be, but they aren't doing it by not telling people.   I don't eat either, but I seem to remember they were both listed at different days on the menu.

Good to know.   As I love escargot and didn't see on any menus on the app the scallops for my future cruises.  Hopefully they will be in stock for my next sailing in August.

Edited July 18, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[firefly333]

24 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

We asked about this.  What you had were Bay Scallops, not Sea Scallops.  Very different.  The most notable difference, that you found out, is the Bay Scallops are way smaller.

So both me and the OP thought they were cut up and both posted this but you are a expert and know we are lying.

 

They ran out of escargot and this is a substitution. I assure you these were not whole scallops. They were small pieces of scallops. Dpesnt matter what kind these were small pieces of a scallop cut up to fill the spots in the escargot dish. Just something while they cant get their escargot, not something even on the menu. I am sure they were cut up and not whole. Pieces. I know what I was served. Way too tiny to be a whole scallop of any type. And you could see they had flat sides where they were cut. 

 

Once was enough for me. Some liked dipping bread in the sauce. You obviously didnt have what I had. Tiny pieces, not close to whole. Take a scallop and cut into 5 or 6 pieces .. 

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Good to know.   As I love escargot and didn't see on any menus on the app the scallops for my future cruises.  Hopefully they will be in stock for my next sailing in August.

 

There was a time several years ago when the entire fleet was experiencing escargot 'shortages'

 

That's the first time I saw the substitution

[Jarmo]

Please Google 'Bay Scallop'.

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

So both me and the OP thought they were cut up and both posted this but you are a expert and know we are lying.

 

They ran out of escargot and this is a substitution. I assure you these were not whole scallops. They were small pieces of scallops. Dpesnt matter what kind these were small pieces of a scallop cut up to fill the spots in the escargot dish. Just something while they cant get their escargot, not something even on the menu. I am sure they were cut up and not whole. Pieces. I know what I was served. Way too tiny to be a whole scallop of any type. And you could see they had flat sides where they were cut. 

 

Once was enough for me. Some liked dipping bread in the sauce. You obviously didnt have what I had. Tiny pieces, not close to whole. Take a scallop and cut into 5 or 6 pieces .. 

 

Trust me, they were bay scallops. Big scallops cost way more, and then you have the labor expense to cut them up. Doesn't make sense.

 

 

[firefly333]

31 minutes ago, BND said:

Everytime I've seen someone order this, they seem to know what to expect.  No one is surprised.

Our waiter told us it was because they ran out of escargot. At least it was something. 

 

Week before no cream cheese so no carrot cake. Out of 2 kinds of cheese so that might explain the plate the op posted. We had watermelon slices and feta cheese, outing mozzarella and another big one.

 

Cauliflower soup instead of mushroom. I was ok with the substitutions.

 

The OP got something he didnt like, order something else. I had a few things I didn't like so got something else. Wasnt a biggie for me.

[sunlover2]

Going on AOS on Sept 1st. Hoping for the best.

[firefly333]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Trust me, they were bay scallops. Big scallops cost way more, and then you have the labor expense to cut them up. Doesn't make sense.

 

 

I didnt say I doubted what kind. What I said was mine were cut up, not whole. I'm sure they were cheapest kind. Never doubted it or said I thought they were some expensive kind. I said you could see cut marks, and they were tinier than even those small ones.

 

I'm not arguing they were bay ... or not. I said only I was sure they were cut. 

 

Arguing with the wrong person. I agree they were the cheapest kind before they were cut. 

 

 

[reallyitsmema]

Watermelon and feta salad is not new to the ships, neither are the bay scallops.  

[Ashland]

OP...So you opened the corridor (fire) door and snuck to your cabin early...Hmmm !!

[John&LaLa]

11 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I didnt say I doubted what kind. What I said was mine were cut up, not whole. I'm sure they were cheapest kind. Never doubted it or said I thought they were some expensive kind. I said you could see cut marks, and they were tinier than even those small ones.

 

I'm not arguing they were bay ... or not. I said only I was sure they were cut. 

 

Arguing with the wrong person. I agree they were the cheapest kind before they were cut. 

 

 

 

Bottom line, you had bay scallops. That's what Royal uses for that dish. Bay scallops are meant to be used in this recipe. 

 

Not uncommon to see cut marks on bay scallops. They don't need to be pretty like sea scallops you see at Izumi

 

Not arguing, educating.😉

Edited July 18, 2022 by John&LaLa

[VernRDH]

We are doing this same itinerary 8/18. Port times are "different" as in late into St Maarten and wicked early (7am) to SJ. We knew this when we booked, not a surprise. 

We have cruised 3 times since the restart and I will agree that our best cruises were last August and October when capacity was limited. 

We made D+ on our Anthem cruise in Feb, so this is our first at that level. We are not high falutin' people, and do not get bothered by much. Dinner used to be a 2 hour experience,not sure why now it's a problem??? I will say we had very quick service when there were less people, but we are ok with a longer dining experience.

Have not been on Adventure yet, but we do like Voyager class. I know I am in the minority, but the Oasis class really doesn't ring my bell. I loved Odyssey, but Oasis was meh to me. Different strokes. 

Any vacation is what you make of it. We are celebrating DD's masters degree,our 25th anniversary and and FIL's 80th birthday. So long as no one gets sick or hurt, it will be a fine time. 

I appreciate OP's review, but it comes off as snobbish to me (my opinion) so I take it with a grain of salt.

And the Great Scallop Debate, well I only wish I could partake as at the tender age of 38 I developed a shellfish allergy.  And I really liked scallops. Now it's living vicariously through others and keeping my epi pen handy /sigh

[HicksRA]

Speaking of scallops, when I was on Harmony in January, I had the scallops at 150 CP and they were old and tasted like ammonia. 
Had scallops at Izumi Hibachi and they were old and tasted like ammonia. 
It was a bad cruise for scallops….. 😁

[LMaxwell]

Fair review; sounds like an underwhelming but not terrible experience.  Getting Bermuda and Caribbean ports in a 7 day itinerary from NJ is pretty tough; there will be compromises.  My experience on Freedom last year was too many people for the amount of staff.  This seems to be an industry-wide issue currently, but the premium lines are unofficially limiting occupancy to 60-70% range, while the more mass-market resort lines are eager to go to higher occupancy, but don't necessarily have more staff.  so the overall experience is not what it really should be.  The cruise lines are sure in a bind because they live and die by the service they provide to drive repeat business. 

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

Speaking of scallops, when I was on Harmony in January, I had the scallops at 150 CP and they were old and tasted like ammonia. 
Had scallops at Izumi Hibachi and they were old and tasted like ammonia. 
It was a bad cruise for scallops….. 😁

 

I'll only get scallops at Izumi if I know I'm the only one getting them.

[firefly333]

50 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Bottom line, you had bay scallops. That's what Royal uses for that dish. Bay scallops are meant to be used in this recipe. 

 

Not uncommon to see cut marks on bay scallops. They don't need to be pretty like sea scallops you see at Izumi

 

Not arguing, educating.😉

once on rcl was enough. I can do better at home and they taste like scallops not little bits of fish. ..even the small ones I can buy still taste like scallops. 

 

I get it they ran out escargot and i love scallops cooked in butter ... those I didn't like. Just little bits of who could tell. I want to bite into them and they taste like a scallop. 

 

Maybe next time they run out of escargot I'll try them again but other things i liked better. Wasnt a biggie. I dont order escargot but like scallops so tried them once. So small hard to get them onto the tiny fork. I'd rather have one whole scallop, even the small ones. Maybe I'm spoiled at home. 

 

My gripe was so small, 1/4 inch pieces almost not recognizable. No biggie to me. Worth trying one night. I didnt ask for seconds though lol and he offered. 

[Mum2Mercury]

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Scallops in the escargot dish.

My husband might cry, if they handed him scallops instead of escargot.  

[OZ.]

5 hours ago, johnjen said:

That's the truth. I think they're having struggles, as evident in this pic. i still think they're being greedy by loading up the ship with customers, overwhelming their crew. In the end, this sums it up.

 

I should have included this pic in my review. This was the charcuterie board. 

That’s terrible.

[OZ.]

 

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

once on rcl was enough. I can do better at home and they taste like scallops not little bits of fish. ..even the small ones I can buy still taste like scallops. 

 

I get it they ran out escargot and i love scallops cooked in butter ... those I didn't like. Just little bits of who could tell. I want to bite into them and they taste like a scallop. 

 

Maybe next time they run out of escargot I'll try them again but other things i liked better. Wasnt a biggie. I dont order escargot but like scallops so tried them once. So small hard to get them onto the tiny fork. I'd rather have one whole scallop, even the small ones. Maybe I'm spoiled at home. 

 

My gripe was so small, 1/4 inch pieces almost not recognizable. No biggie to me. Worth trying one night. I didnt ask for seconds though lol and he offered. 

I had the scallops before. They were tasty, but were smaller than my thumb nail. So tiny.

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Getting Bermuda and Caribbean ports in a 7 day itinerary from NJ is pretty tough; there will be compromises. 

Cruise was 9 nights, not 7.

 

2022 Jul 07	9 days, round-trip Eastern Caribbean Bermuda	New York
Date / Time Port 07 Jul 16:00     Departing from New York, Cape Liberty Bayonne NJ-NYC hotels 09 Jul 08:00 - 16:00     Kings Wharf, Bermuda 11 Jul 12:30 - 20:00     Philipsburg St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles 12 Jul 07:00 - 14:30     San Juan, Puerto Rico 13 Jul 09:30 - 17:00     Labadee Haiti, Royal Caribbean private island 16 Jul 07:00     Arriving in New York, Cape Liberty Bayonne NJ-NYC

[Crazy planning mom]

Why not try Celebrity since they will recognize your status?

[John&LaLa]

6 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Cruise was 9 nights, not 7.

 

2022 Jul 07	9 days, round-trip Eastern Caribbean Bermuda	New York
Date / Time Port 07 Jul 16:00     Departing from New York, Cape Liberty Bayonne NJ-NYC hotels 09 Jul 08:00 - 16:00     Kings Wharf, Bermuda 11 Jul 12:30 - 20:00     Philipsburg St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles 12 Jul 07:00 - 14:30     San Juan, Puerto Rico 13 Jul 09:30 - 17:00     Labadee Haiti, Royal Caribbean private island 16 Jul 07:00     Arriving in New York, Cape Liberty Bayonne NJ-NYC

 

Looks like a decent trip if you need to leave from NJ