1st Time RC - Entertainment Issue

[chrisd596]

After 8 Disney Cruises, we've decided to try RC out of Port Liberty, Canadian 5 nts.

After speaking with an RC advisor over the phone of when I can book the entertainment shows, she mentioned that it looks like on this cruise, booking would need to be done at Guest Services and she recommended waiting to the 2nd Day to do it.

To me, that sounds like a huge pain. There's a spot to do it online under my RC reservations.

I don't want to spend an hour or two waiting for everyone to book at Guest Services.

Since the 5 nt cruise stops at both Halifax and Bar Harbor, which seem like great ports, and if as she advises I forget going to G services the first day, then that only leaves me with 2 days to play with seeing the entertainment.

She suggested waiting until the 120 mark and see if it might open up the shows online. But see also seemed like it probably wont. That I would have to wait in line at G Services.

Not too happy with this option. If the entertainment can be done before online, why waste vacation time trying to book it while onboard.

Any suggestions from those of you who have done RC before.

Thanks for the help.

Chris

 

[DnA2010]

I could be totally wrong, but I thought you only pre-booked the shows on the big ships? I'm sure someone with more knowledge will pipe up- I've only been on Oasis and Freedom- on Oasis we prebooked but it really wasn't necessary...didn't bother with Freedom

 

[chrisd596]

Ok, thanks. We are on Anthem of the Seas. Is it that u can just walk into these shows??

 

[Denise W]

We were on Anthem of the Seas about 7 weeks ago. It was a 12 night cruise, and we reserved everything we could. We used a TA, but were able to book shows, IFly, North Star, and special dining, online by ourselves. For a cruise that short, I would keep checking the website and book whenever things open up.

Denise

 

[DnA2010]

Ok, thanks. We are on Anthem of the Seas. Is it that u can just walk into these shows??

With that being a new ship with lots of fun things, I would do as the poster above says and keep an eye out for when bookings open up

 

[chrisd596]

Sounds great. This will be our first cruise outside of Disney. So we're looking forward to the new ports, Halifax and Bar Harbour, and also leaving out of Port Liberty and seeing NY in the background.

Thanks

Chris

 

[eskimoinparadise]

For starters, the people who answer the phones at RCL are historically clueless about anything related to cruises other than price. Booking windows for onboard entertainment (on ships that need reservations) usually open up 90-100 days before your sail date. We haven't been on that class of ship yet, so I don't know if they fall into the reservations needed category. Our experience with pre-booking is only on Oasis class ships.

 

[chrisd596]

Ok, thanks for the update... I'll check it out at the 90 day mark. The other rep mentioned if nothing shows at the 90 day mark, check at the 60 day point.

chris

 

[bumbershoot]

IF you can book it online, do so. IF the option never opens up, keep checking and if it really never opens, do it onboard.

As much as I like Royal (and I'm onboard right now waiting out the rain to back to sunbathing) each ship (and sometimes each sailing) does things differently, and sometimes the only way you know how it's done for your sailing is to get onboard.

 

[chrisd596]

Thanks, especially from onboard. Without sailing RC yet, I do think Disney does it better here. No booking. If u have the 815 dinner seating, then you simply go to the show at 6:15 and vise versa. No need to book, plenty of seats. Get there 15 min early and u can sit wherever u want. So, in a way, that is much easier, than for me to wait it out, and be told by a rep, if it doesn't open up, go to guest services. I don't want to waste my vacation time in line on my cruise waiting for something that could be done much better. And I'm trying to do it ahead of time, I'm not forgetting to do it....if that was the case then "go to guest services and see if something is available."

Thanks

Chris

 

[KashasMom]

Thanks, especially from onboard. Without sailing RC yet, I do think Disney does it better here. No booking. If u have the 815 dinner seating, then you simply go to the show at 6:15 and vise versa. No need to book, plenty of seats. Get there 15 min early and u can sit wherever u want. So, in a way, that is much easier, than for me to wait it out, and be told by a rep, if it doesn't open up, go to guest services. I don't want to waste my vacation time in line on my cruise waiting for something that could be done much better. And I'm trying to do it ahead of time, I'm not forgetting to do it....if that was the case then "go to guest services and see if something is available."

Thanks

Chris

The difference is that Disney has the same show twice on the same night. On RCI the same show will be shown many times throughout the cruise. It really is no big deal to book. We've booked all of our shows for our Feb Allure cruise already. I like that you know which shows you'll want to see on a port day or a sea day as well as working around your dining times.

 

[karmacats]

on anthem, you will want to pre-reserve your shows if you can. they may open up any time between 120-60 days out. rarely, they've been known to open even later. darned if i know why - i've been on 13 royal cruises, all on big ships, and there is no rhyme or reason that i can tell. i'd just check your cruise planner every week or two, and at some point they will be open to book.

if you can't get into something you want, you can try at guest services onboard then, or just wait in the standby line at the show (which is no guarantee, but most people get in). the most important show to book is spectra's cabaret, because it's in the 270 room which is much smaller than the main theater. things like ifly, north star, and the escape room are also important to book online if you can. they may be listed under "activities" rather than "entertainment" in the cruise planner.

i'm still shaking my head that someone on the phone gave you such bad information.

 

[chrisd596]

on anthem, you will want to pre-reserve your shows if you can. they may open up any time between 120-60 days out. rarely, they've been known to open even later. darned if i know why - i've been on 13 royal cruises, all on big ships, and there is no rhyme or reason that i can tell. i'd just check your cruise planner every week or two, and at some point they will be open to book.

if you can't get into something you want, you can try at guest services onboard then, or just wait in the standby line at the show (which is no guarantee, but most people get in). the most important show to book is spectra's cabaret, because it's in the 270 room which is much smaller than the main theater. things like ifly, north star, and the escape room are also important to book online if you can. they may be listed under "activities" rather than "entertainment" in the cruise planner.

i'm still shaking my head that someone on the phone gave you such bad information.

We do want to try RC, however as I still research RC, the reviews on Anthem are especially mediocre to poor. From poor customer service to lousy food in the main dining room. The statesroom hosts and dining servers do get good reviews.
What has been your experience on The Anthem??

Thanks

Chris

 

[chrisd596]

Plus been reading the beds are hard as rocks.

We really want to try it, cause of our closeness to port liberty and the Canadian itinerary ....Bar Harbor and Halifax.

 

[KashasMom]

We do want to try RC, however as I still research RC, the reviews on Anthem are especially mediocre to poor. From poor customer service to lousy food in the main dining room. The statesroom hosts and dining servers do get good reviews.
What has been your experience on The Anthem??

NY/NJ is our home port. As much as I love sailing out of NYC, I much prefer the mix of passengers that sail out of FL. I have mixed feelings about Anthem and have chosen Allure over Anthem. I always cruise and make my own determinations. Reading reviews helps but different things are important to different people. For instance, food is so subjective that I NEVER believe what anyone writes about food. What is their cruise experience, where do they eat (MDR/buffet), etc. All of that goes into whether or not I'd likely have the same opinion. And for the record, there are SO many choices of where to eat on the newer RCI ships that you are never going to starve. (On our 5th and most recent Disney cruise, we FINALLY had good food. From the reviews you'd think Disney has amazing food. IMO, it just doesn't.)

Poor customer service happens on every cruise ship. We haven't had much luck with dining teams on Disney - our last team was so rushed every night and it reflected in the service. On the other hand, if you eat in different dining rooms/specialty restaurants on RCI you will probably NOT have the same dining team. Is that important to you?

If you're worried about the bed being too hard, ask for the egg crate or mattress topper. That will help.

In the end, there is probably very little that could happen to ruin your cruise. You do seem to already be comparing certain things to Disney. RCI and Disney are very different experiences. RCI - even with booking entertainment - is less rigid IMO. You can make your own timings for dinners, shows, etc. Having a little bit of choice and freedom is really great. If you're more comfortable with all the decisions being made for you then maybe Disney is better. I think there is something out there to please all of us and I really love trying new ships/cruise lines because in the end I'm cruising and not at work!

 

[karmacats]

We do want to try RC, however as I still research RC, the reviews on Anthem are especially mediocre to poor. From poor customer service to lousy food in the main dining room. The statesroom hosts and dining servers do get good reviews.
What has been your experience on The Anthem??

Plus been reading the beds are hard as rocks.
We really want to try it, cause of our closeness to port liberty and the Canadian itinerary ....Bar Harbor and Halifax.

i think a lot of the poor anthem reviews come from royal cruisers who weren't expecting anthem (and its sister ship quantum before it) to be so different from other royal ships, and they got kind of thrown. anthem is definitely not your traditional royal experience. since you haven't been on royal before and don't have "this is a typical royal trip" expectations, i suspect you will be fine. we actually almost cancelled our quantum cruise because of all the negative reviews, and it ended up being probably our favorite royal cruise ever.

we actually loved quantum and anthem. i think the ships are beautiful. we particularly liked the 270 area (both the hang-out/theater space and the cafe), the bumper cars, and the escape room, and my husband said ifly was one of the most fun things he's ever done.

as far as customer service, our experience on anthem was about the same as other royal ships - stellar stateroom attendants and servers (better than most on our previous disney cruises), workers friendly elsewhere (in the halls, buffet, etc), but the occasional employee who was unhelpful or rude (in our case, in the photo shop).

i can't really speak to food, as anthem still had dynamic dining when we were on, which has since been scrapped. i liked the concept but the food quality and preparation were lacking. they have implemented new menus a couple months ago which i think they also added to their other new ships - we had them on harmony of the seas, and on that cruise we thought the MDR food was way better than on anthem previously as well as on disney. so, if the harmony menus are the same as the new ones on anthem, which i think they are, they are much better than before. in general re food quality, i like disney's buffets better but royal's MDR better, including those new harmony menus. i also find food more readily available on royal - anthem has a pizza place and a cafe (with small sandwiches and pastries) on the promenade that are free and open until 2 or 3 a.m., for example.

the beds are definitely hard. DH woke up with such a bad crick in his neck after our first night on quantum that he ended up getting acupuncture onboard (which really helped). he was ok on anthem, though. royal is in the midst of replacing their beds, and i suspect they got hard-as-rock mattresses because they will last longer, though who really knows. as the pp mentioned, you can request an egg crate or topper, though i've read elsewhere they are being phased out. i've never asked for one myself so i don't know if that's true.

we really enjoyed the activities and entertainment on anthem, except for the main show, "we will rock you." the performers were great, but the story was lame, even if it did have good music. others loved it, though, so just a matter of taste, i guess. but there will be plenty to do, especially on a 5-nighter with 2 days in ports. you will not be able to do everything!

it is definitely different than disney, but royal generally delivers a very good product. in most respects i actually prefer them to disney, anthem included.

 

[chrisd596]

Thanks to everyone taking the time to update me on your RC experience. I agree, it's definitely worth it for us to try RC. I did read the positive reviews on the cafe and the 270 cafe. Plus I hear the ports, Bar Harbor and Halifax, are really great places to visit.

Chris

 

[DisneyNurse19]

The difference is that Disney has the same show twice on the same night. On RCI the same show will be shown many times throughout the cruise. It really is no big deal to book. We've booked all of our shows for our Feb Allure cruise already. I like that you know which shows you'll want to see on a port day or a sea day as well as working around your dining times.

I am trying to decide when to book the specialty restaurants and can't find anywhere that tells you the times of the shows. Are they around the same times as on DCL?

 

[chrisd596]

Being a 1st time RC cruiser, I really don't know. A veteran will have to chime in.
I guess I'm waiting for the 90 day mark to open up so I can book it as well. Or the 60 days point, or as mentioned any point after that.

It seems a strange way of doing the major shows. Making people book them, but maybe it works out for the better. I mentioned that with dcl half the ship is dining and half the ship is seeing the shows, no need to book it.

I'll see how this new way goes, it's been mentioned that for the smaller theater shows to definitely book them, cause not as much seating...

Good luck

Chris

 

[msjprincess]

I am trying to decide when to book the specialty restaurants and can't find anywhere that tells you the times of the shows. Are they around the same times as on DCL?

You can check http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass to see if there are recent compasses from your cruise. Or do a search on Cruise Critic for compasses.