Came off our 1st Royal Carribean Cruise yesterday- Anthem of the Seas was amazing . Love a balcony , especially early morning /late at night opening doors and listen to the Sea
That's the best part of Cruising trying different Foods that You can't get at Home....We always get a Balcony for nothing else other that Coffee in the am and Cocktails after the day is done.. But that's just Us..
I think the percentage of time spent on the balcony is directly proportional to the number of sea days you have. I don't think you'll spend an entire day there, but it's a quiet spot where you can have a cold drink and enjoy the sea breeze in between whatever activities you've planned.
It also depends on the type of person you are. Some people would rather sit on their balcony, read a book etc then see a show, go to a bar etc. when I go on a cruise I’m hardly in my room. I do enjoy the balcony but I’ll only get it if it’s not much more then an inside. I booked a cruise for this December and a guarantee balcony was only $50 more then a standard inside so I figured why not. But if it was $200+ more I prob would have just skipped it. It depends but I do enjoy it when I have it
About specialty dining. Ask if you can get a listing of the whole cruises menus for every day at the start of your cruise. That way you know what is being served when. If you can't get that they usually post the menus for the day in front of the restaurants. That way you can decide, oh, on Thursday night there's nothing that strikes my fancy for dinner, lets book a specialty dinner for that night. That way you can maximize your value and not miss out on anything you'd really want to have/try in the free main dining room restaurants.
Thanks for sharing your first cruise experience, Jenna! As a seasoned cruiser, I disagree with a couple points, like the balcony (we spend lots of time on ours when we have one), but you're absolutely right on most everything else. And thanks for all the editing you do for Matt!! 👍🏻👍🏻
We love Sea Days, we usually go for the Ship, not the Ports. Sorry, we love our balcony! We don’t drink much, so no drink package, we get free drinks, which is enough for us!
I love 4-6 sea days. That is the reason we book transatlantic or 10+ day cruises. Even on long cruises we prefer interior rooms. We like the ultra dark quiet rooms in the middle center of the ship. Once we got upgraded to a balcony and we said No, thank you. To each our own.😎
Agree! However, we did book a balcony on most of our cruises for this year and next, in case we would have to stay in our room. Booked Central Park balcony on the Wonder and Oasis.
Going on my first cruise in 2 weeks. We booked a balcony just in case we get stuck on the ship from an outbreak. I feel like an inside cabin would be miserable. But because it's my first trip I'll probably explore more of the ship and not spend a lot of time in the cabin like those who have been on the ship before.
I would add the following two items: Although you know the ship is big from research it is always bigger than you thought. And as big as the ships are, when on board that don’t feel overwhelming huge.
The ship is no more. 😅 I don't remember the name. The cruise was wonderful. When we went to Coco Cay the island wasn't developed. There was a small shack with food. We had lounge chairs on the beach and they brought us non stop Coco Locos. My husband went snorkeling. 😊
Will love to hear Jenna’s comments following a second cruise if any of her thoughts change to help those of us who are not newbies but not veterans like you Matt.
I haven't experienced specialty dining yet. It didn't exist when I first did cruises. Then there was a long period where I didn't cruise. I was doing long distance driving tours instead. My first ocean cruise in 2018/2019, my sister and I checked out Main Dining Room, big buffet, specialty food stands. My next cruise I will look closely at specialty dining. Since they are usually a higher end experience I will look mostly at cost. How much will it cost on the ship versus what it would cost where I live. If there's only a few dollars difference then I will eat in the free venues. If it's $20, $30, $40 different then I may try the specialty restaurant. I am fortunate in having access to many international food venues with inexpensive to moderate prices at home. I would be more inclined to eat at a steak or Japanese restaurant than some other cuisines. Another factor I will take into account is the Home Port of the ship. Next cruise I'm booked on is leaving from New Orleans. I will have 3 full touring days before ship departs. And New Orleans is known for its food!
Jenna- I also read your blog and really appreciate the tip about the shampoo/conditioner/soap!! I’ve traveled a lot on land and my 1st cruise was Norwegian Haven so I was SHOCKED on my 2nd cruise on Carnival Mardi Gras last month when they had no conditioner and the shampoo was awful. I had to stop and get some at a port. Going on Oasis in December and I didn’t know whether to bring my own products. I will!
We like the non alcoholic drink package. Usually can get it for 18/20$ a day. Mock tales special coffees water . Next cruise will put us in diamond . Will take advantage of the complimentary alcohol drinks but still get our usual beverage package
For beer drinkers who don't drink alcoholic drinks, then watch the drinks package. The beers are bigger so for you to drink 15 beers that are bigger than what you usually have at home, it's a lot and you may not benefit from the package. Also, shore days are not counted so you still have to buy beer on shore days if you are off the ship.
Bring your own shampoo, conditioner, and nice toilet paper. Didn’t regret getting the drink package. Ended up drinking like 5-6 fruity drinks a day, wine at dinner, coffee from the cafe and soda throughout the day. It made life easier. It’s amazing how many Blue Hawaiians and Miami Vices one can drink in a day.
I agree with almost everything, but the balcony thing, she was a first time cruiser,, so she wasn't much on her cabin to begin with. For us a balcony is a must, we cruise a lot, and by now, mostly our destination is the ship, we spend a lot of time in the cabin and on the balcony.
I’m going on my first cruise with NCL two 7 day cruise is back to back But On New Year’s Eve I am doing anthem of the seas 9 nights Eastern Caribbean cruise
@@CarmenGarcia-Tango New York to Bermuda is my first cruise that I’m going on in 10 days with NCL, I leave September 26. Then yes I’m doing the new year’s cruise out of Jersey, I thought I’d be really cool I’ve never been cruising in my life and I thought it would be cool to ring in the new year on the open ocean
Please note that Anthem may not stop at Labadee in Haiti because of the unrest. I'm waiting to find out if they are adding a different port or it will be a sea day. Sea days are great because there is so much to do. Also if you play chess I'm trying to get players for my partner. So many things will happen as we sail away. First, be sure to be on deck to watch and film the ship pass under the Verrazano Bridge. You'll think it won't make it! Impressive. Hopefully the weather will hold for the fireworks and champagne on the deck a midnight. Enjoy
I wish royal would expand the free dining options like Carnival has done with Mardi Gras and Celebration. Oh, and yes the shower product they give you is absurd. Cheap motels give you better products. I had to go to the freaking spa and spend 105 bucks on shampoo and conditioner 🤦🏻♀️
Have to strongly disagree about the speciality dining, in my experience it’s good but it’s absolutely not that much better than the included food to justify the price, I’d skip the speciality dining unless it has a very specific item you want.
I had been able to start check-in for my cruises in November 22 and 28 about 3 weeks ago, but unable to check-in completely of course, due to the health questionnaire, etc. due at most, they day before (or something like it). Now, all that is closed and it tells me that check-in will open on October 8 for my November 22 sailing, and October 14 for my November 28 sailing and October 21 for my December 5 sailing. 45 days instead of the previous 90 days. Interesting. More changes coming, I'm sure.
Perfect day at coco quey Would be awesome if I could take my surfboard on board so I could take it on the island. We get the drink package 4 the specialty coffee but I can’t remember what cruise line we get it for. I thought the flow rider was fun but not as cool as really surfing. It’s awesome 4 a sea day!!!
Drink Package, in my case is not a good deal... not a drinker, we don't drink a lot of soda or juices, we prefer water or sometimes lemonade... if it is pizza, yep, we might have a glass of soda.
Whoever narrated this video needs to calm down a bit can’t even half understand when he says Royal Caribbean and other words settle down fella settle down.
Honestly, I’m currently on cruising on freedom of the seas and it’s really horrible for families. I have two kids under 12 and because they have not received the vaccine they are being treated like 4th class citizens irregardless of the fact they were forced to be tested two days prior cruising and then again on the day of the cruise. If you have a family, don’t go on Royal Caribbean, at least for now!
