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Royal did say a while back that its strategy was to modify their product towards the millennial generation (not over used any more than baby boomer generation, generation X, etc.). I think this aligns to their strategy as do the facilities on the Oasis class ships we see and are going to see. BUT... My reaction was something else. RC...are you in the cruise line business or the resort business? Many, many, examples exist of business ventures not being successful because the company(ies) ventured outside their core competency in a effort to increase revenues by trying to be everything to everybody. Is this the same? Some may say yes, others may say no. I see BIG business risk in this. The size of the capital investment along with the operational costs for a resort (not their core competency!) of this nature...on a small island in the Bahamas...in hurricane alley. What makes this special versus something on the mainland a few hundred miles to the west that will compel people to get on a cruise ship? I've filled out many RC surveys and I don't recall a 'would you like a wave pool at a port of call' being part of it...I have to wonder how they have arrived at the conclusion that this is a good investment beyond someone's personal pet project. Hope they don't turn CocoCay into an eventual rusting piece of junk. I think their capital could be better deployed.

Hello all! Id like to go ahead and get the thread started for those sailing on Serenade of the Seas between 30 MAR and 09 APR. This will be our third cruise (2xdisney, 1xRCL) with this being our first on RCL. We are stoked!! Will be flying in from Asheville NC to Ft Lauderdale, and will spend a night on the 28th. From there on the 29th, we will embark! The Wife and I hope to meet new friends! Bon Voyage, Shipmates!

Notice the last Picture, there was a debate on here about what happens to the coach in a connecting suite, I do not ever remember anyone ever finding a picture. Now we have proof...

Launch the bot (known as Twangster 1.0) to search for our missing blogger. Please Matt, do Not upgrade bot to 2.0 version, as that version encountered several error know to be elusive and uncontrollable while in incognito mode. Random sightings of said bot were on Liberty, Allure, Independence....agh the list is too long to cover here! Not to mention the cost for an upgrade would be astronomically high...like Pinnacle high level.

And if you fail to accomplish that, I'll give it another try on the Symphony TA. If Twangster manages to evade y'all on the group cruise, I'm determined to find an answer to the robot question. I've got a lot of sea days and nothing much planned to sidetrack me from the mission

My thoughts exactly. I'm very interested to see if it really is a big enough draw to justify the costs. Will this actually increase revenue? Will this attract more cruisers? I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out after it is open for a few years. I do see the logic and agree with twangster on this being a great way to keep smaller ships relevant. Can't argue that someone who might normally not take a short cruise on a smaller ship could be persuaded by a visit here. I however completely disagree on hurricanes being no more issue here than Miami. Miami is in much danger to hurricanes, no question, but they are on the mainland. After the storm passes semi trucks and trains of materials and supplies head in. Bucket trucks from power companies all over the country converge on the affected area (I have seen the convoys heading down I-75 from here and Michigan after hurricanes). An island does not have these luxuries. Cruise lines are still avoiding Tortola 6 months after they were hit. And I can't wait to see people (most likely unfairly) decry RCCL for diverting ships and supplies from needy islands to "fix their water park". I'm sure the engineering team is aware of and doing their best to account for hurricanes, but the comparison to cities on the Florida coast is thin at best. Regardless, I still say the design choices are ugly, that the water slide is a terrible eye sore, and that aside of adding the dock this is not a positive move. Time will tell whether I'm in the minority or not. I'm fully prepared to be, if most people love it then I guess RCCL is making the right move. Like I said, I look forward to seeing the results.

Embarkation Day: We made it! (Is anyone just a little bit sad when you no longer have a countdown?)We arrived by taxi to the ship about 1:20. The taxi from the airport cost us $31 for 6 people and luggage. The baggage lines were the longest, but after baggage, we quickly moved through the other stations for boarding. Overall, it took us 40 minutes from curb to ship. One advantage of arriving that late was that our rooms were ready. We went straight to our rooms, unloaded a little and then grabbed lunch at the Windjammer. It did not disappoint and crowd level was minimal. Awesome! Despite being super excited to board, we headed to the rooms for naps. We were beat from our red-eye and feeling the extra crowds at all airports and venues we encountered today. I was excited to see our rooms had been renovated with new carpet, bedding and draperies. Its a nice modern touch. The bathrooms and cabinetry are the same as before. We love dividing into girl rooms and boy rooms. It makes it easier to share our girly supplies and the boys have fun with March Madness. This is our first time staying in connecting rooms. My current observation is that walls are thinner ? and we get a chair instead of a sofa. We'll see how that goes, but it is nice going back and forth between rooms more easily. Dinner tonight was part of the BOGO deal at Chops (FYI The Izumi was offering 50% off the first two nights while we were boarding). We had a great meal and all of our steaks were delicious. Other than dessert, we had plenty of GF options. Sorbet/ice cream were the only gf options. No one left hungry! We also found GF Udis cookies behind the counter at the park cafe and a possible chocolate mousse type dessert. We ended the evening with the Welcome Aboard Show starring Mercedes as Cruise Director, and comedian Angelo Tsarouchas. We really enjoyed it. Comedians are probably our favorite entertainment while cruising. In case you were wondering, the ship offered some St Patrick's Day activities in the pub and we noticed a few green treats throughout the ship.

The holds are placed per purchase and aren’t applied until disembarkation (in case you dispute anything or have any credits applied). For this reason, you want to be sure to use a credit card and not a debit card when setting up the account. You can ask to make it a cash-only account if you would rather not have a bunch of holds on your card, but you then need to be sure to have enough cash to pre-load it when you board. If you run out, you won’t be able to buy anything more on the ship until you put more cash on your Sea Pass card.

I understand, I don't have limitations, other than I'm a big guy, I'm old and all my joints hurt, I've done a mock booking of airfare flying Business/First the whole way from Oklahoma and it will be $7k per person, which is pricey, but my Wife flat refuses to fly that far in Premium economy, she's spoiled, right now this is a one time thing for us, I want to make it special, it will be our 40th anniversary.

Calling all Alaska group cruisers! This is your mission.

I tried to record some on my phone for you but the screen broke.

I would tip to fund that! Does Twangster have a Patreon acct set up?

If you hear me singing it indicates there has been excessive alcohol consumption. In that event I can only promise that you'll truly appreciate the ship's entertainment and probably karaoke that much more.

He's actually Garth Brooks and doesn't want us to know! Now if he's really Keith Urban, well, then we need pics! LOL

I can only add one laughing face to this, so props, hilarious reply! Maybe he's a professional country artist...

Def. Following --- We love Grandeur ..... We've got a third one booked on her this coming October .... We did the Sushi Making Class last September ... tons of fun..... My wife was much better at it than I, as in the attached picture to use as comparison. Which one would YOU rather eat?

We ate entirely in the MDR on our AD cruise in February, and we were quite happy with it! Food was always hot and I don't think anyone at our table had a complaint about their meal. Keep an eye out for the Grand Marnier souffle - almost everyone's favorite dessert!

As for flights, look at RC air2sea program. While not competitive within the U.S, I’ve read about people getting very good deals for overseas flights. Another option is to check out the Hopper app. It tells you if the price quoted is expected to go down and when is a good time to buy.

Hi, Normally we stay out by the airport (which is about a 30 minute trip to the port by train) as Circular Quay stop is a 5 minute walk from the cruise terminal. If you wanted to stay in central Sydney maybe you could look at somewhere like the Novotel. There are also the usual global brands like the Hilton, Four Seasons, Hyatt. These hotels will all be close to an underground station which will get you to Circular Quay. There are also plenty of taxis available. Public transport is pretty good in Sydney. We always arrive at the port early to make sure we are one of the first to board. U.S dollars wont be accepted by retailers in Sydney but when you are on the ship everything will be in U.S dollars. It is not necessary to tip in Australia but some people do tip on the ship even though this is normally included in the fare when purchasing the cruise from RCI Australia. Drinks will have 18% added automatically. Spa services do not have tips included. We have a cruise going to the South Pacific in March next year on Explorer. March is the 1st day of autumn here but the weather should still be okay. There is a chance of cyclones at this time of year and occasionally ships will have to skip port stops but for the most part the weather should be good and reasonably warm. We have been on Ovation and I would recommend that you book early for anything you want to do. E.g. the iFly and Northstar. They don't have a Broadway show on Ovation so you wont need to pre-book for shows apart from Pixels in the 270 lounge. If you want to ride the bumper cars I would suggest doing that on the first day before most people have boarded. The queue during the cruise can be quite long at the start but we found if you came in about halfway through a session the crowd had diminished a lot. Another good time to go is close to dinner. There are plenty of restaurants around the Sydney Opera house but there are a lot of people and it is very noisy, especially near to the weekend. As we normally fly in either the night before or on the day of the cruise we don't normally eat out much. I do really enjoy Doyles at Watson Bay which is a fish restaurant which is accessible by a water taxi or a ferry. There are some photos in my blog which should show you where the cruise terminal is in relation to the opera house.

We sail Grandeur in April 2019 and can't wait! We haven't been on a ship that small in a very long time, and are looking forward to it. We'll be in our first aft-facing room.

first night was Thursday and first sea day was yesterday. We are waking up to a beautiful sunrise in Charleston today! So far we are having a fabulous time and our sea day yesterday was nearly perfect! I love the quaintness of the grandeur and the feeling of always being connected with the sea. I had gotten the BOGO dining package when it was still $30 per person. Night 1 we ate a CHOPs and last night we ate at Giovanni’s. We went earlier than our reservation and were able to get a great window seat at both locations. At CHOPs, I ordered the lamb and DH got the filet, but we split them. The filet was my favorite, but both were good. I also got the crab cake, lobster bisque, and the red velvet cake. At Giovanni’s, we got the filet and veal to split and then the crab ravioli for the table. Again, the filet was my favorite. I may have even liked it better than the one at CHOPs. We loved our waiter at Giovanni’s, and realized it was our favorite waiter Kicki that we had when we sailed on Grandeur in 2016. We also loved the baked mozzarella appetizer, and the kalamata bread and dipping sauce. I had purchased the sushi class and it was originally scheduled for later in the week, but it was moved to yesterday at 11:45. We started off in the MDR for check in and then proceeded on a tour through the galley. I had not toured the galley in a while, so this was a fun experience. We then went up to the Viking crown lounge and had the class in Izumi. It was a lot of fun. We made two full rolls, a hand roll and a sushimi. We then got to eat hat we made. I would recommend the class and recommend pre-booking in the cruise planner. While, it is not discounted in the planner, you do save the added 18% gratuity that is added if you purchase the class on the ship.

Final thoughts: I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts on this cruise for a few days now. This is probably going to come across as scattered because I haven’t quite figured it all out myself yet. Going into this cruise, and being biased to Oasis class ships, I already knew that I wouldn’t be comparing apples to apples. Also, keep in mind that we are all different types of cruisers. So, read on and take my opinions with a grain of salt, as they are my own, and based on the type of cruiser that I personally am. To wrap up this cruise, I tried to ask myself, and hubby, several questions: Did this cruise meet all my/our expectations? The answer here would be yes. Everything was excellent. Food was consistently good, in all venues. Lots of activities to choose from for the whole family. Staff across the ship has been excellent. There have been a few stand out crew members and one not so pleasant one but overall, a good experience. What did we love? Our kids loved the SeaPlex. Hubby enjoyed his share of it too. I did not lol (too much like work). The overall consensus from the kids was that Anthem is equivalent to and maybe even slightly better than DCL. Wonder what they will think of Oasis class next March? The shows were great on Anthem. Same level of quality to match Oasis class. I do miss not having the Aqua Theater and the shows that come with that. Coastal Kitchen was also consistent with the level of service and quality on Harmony. The one stand out thing here was the Coastal Kitchen restaurant manager, Bojan. He was amazing! And that isn’t even a good enough adjective to describe him. I have never, in my cruising history, come across a head waiter/manager like him. Some head waiters are quite “stand-offish”. Each and every encounter with Bojan was personable and friendly. Even if he was busy, and he was, he never showed it. D2 is very soft spoken and each night he would bend down to eye level with her, lean in close, and have a conversation with her about her day. On top of that, Bojan did everything. Every single night, we witnessed him chat with each table, bus tables, serve drinks, fill water glasses, set tables, and sweep the floors. How many of you have seen head waiters and restaurant managers do that?? I don’t even know where he found the time to supervise his crew! What did we not love so much? Our biggest dislike of Anthem is that she cannot seem to handle crowds well and traffic does not flow well in public spaces. I have been trying to figure out all week why that is. This ship is sailing at full capacity and it feels like it all the time, everywhere! We’ve sailed Oasis class at full capacity too, in the height of summer, and it never felt as crowded as Anthem. The conclusion I came to was that perhaps it has to do how Anthem is more narrow, compared to Oasis class? Or perhaps there are more public venues on Oasis for crowds to disperse to? I’m not sure I know the answer yet. The WJ falls victim to poor traffic flow. There was nothing wrong with the food here but the flow of traffic, the constant bumping into people, made for a very unpleasant dining experience on most days. I wonder if it’s the way the WJ here is set up? There are food stations in the middle as well as around the perimeter and maybe that’s why traffic doesn’t flow as smoothly? I have been thinking the same as @twangster, in that this is a March break cruise, and hence the constant crowds. But then I think back to all our other cruises, also during peak seasons, and traffic flow was never as bad as it was this time. D1 also missed being able to see major “theater style” shows (not counting special guests and comedians) more often. On DCL, there was one almost every night. On Oasis class, you have 2 theater shows, 2 aqua theater shows, 2 ice shows. Here, there is only We Will Rock You, The Gift, and Spectra’s Cabaret. So again, I wonder what the kids will think of Oasis class next March? Would I/we sail Anthem again? Yes. But…not under the same conditions. One of our biggest disappointments this cruise was the weather. This has nothing to do with RCI at all. I already had reservations about this aspect prior to booking, and sailing this week, in mid-March, confirmed it. We are not “sail out of cold weather” cruisers, even on a cold weather ship like Anthem. Lesson learned. We found that we did very little swimming this cruise compared to our other ones and we did not utilized our balcony as much as we normally do. If we were to sail anything out of Cape Liberty again, it would be in the summer. Am I still an Oasis class girl? A definite yes here! They say that your first cruise ship is always your first love. This is not the case for Hubby and I. Oasis ships are what we love most and that continues. Anthem is great for families and a beautiful ship but there were things missing here that just could not be replaced. For example, the stunning, panoramic views in the Suite Lounge/Coastal Kitchen area on Oasis class, Central Park (270 and La Patisserie while great venues in themselves cannot replace Central Park), and the smoothie bar in the Vitality spa isn’t here. Should everyone give Anthem a try? Most definitely yes! But know what you are signing up for and then you won’t be disappointed. Do your research, book things ahead of time, especially if you are sailing at peak seasons. In closing this out, I want to thank all of you for taking this journey with me. It was so much fun to do a live blog and part of the fun was sharing it with you! Thank you for that. I also have to put a big shout here to Hubby and kids (because they are following this lol) and thank them for taking pics and putting up with my constant “stopping to update the live blog”. That’s all, feel free to ask more questions, I’ll try to answer what I can. Closing out now…Next live blog…Harmony March 2019…first time in Star Class!

You don't want your feet completely straight..it's in the hard arch that does the main work along with hand positioning

In January Captain Ban explained he has many years on Quantum class ships. He went on to explain that cruising in Asia is very stressful because there is so much ship traffic in the waterways including small fishing vessels and its quite nerve racking trying to pilot in congested waters. He said he was very happy to be back in Bayonne. Not long after is when the rumors started that she might be moving. I did much better on my 2nd and 3rd attempts, I understood the dynamics much better and how body position can steer you. Keeping the legs straight is a big part of that.

She had fun, but couldn't quite get the right form lol

And....later risers!

Just watched Hubby and kids do iFly. If you don't want to do it, there's a nice observation area right outside the tunnel where you can snap pics and videos. Everyone gets about 60 sec. Hubby had some problems with his goggles when he was in there so he got some extra time. They all thought it was awesome! Once again we witnessed people without reservations trying to get a spot and no go. So make sure you make those reservations on your cruise planner! Especially if you are sailing at a busy time like us. I'll try to post some pics later.

Nope, you didn't miss it. We're a family of mystery ?

Tell Hubby to use those elbows, get in that omelette line...we want to read about Fight on Anthem over omelettes...

Welcome aboard Vee! Feel free to ask any and all questions you may have, there is a wealth of experienced and knowledgeable cruisers here! The on board expense account is an accrual of your daily expenses from 12:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m. It will show you all of your on board charges for the day and totals from day to day. The best way to handle payment at the end of the cruise is to set up auto payment with a credit card of your choice and that can very easily be done when you do your on line registration. Just be sure to indicate whose charges your on board account will also pay (like a wife, friend, etc). There is no hold on your credit card. Some folks like to pay cash at the end of the cruise, but that will mean standing in line (which will be long) to pay off your on board account so you can disembark. And, no, claiming you do not have enough money so you'll just have to stay on board and clean dishes won't work. I know, it's been tried! Let us know which ship, the itinerary and how many and who (wife, friend, kids, parents, etc) will be with you. You will get a LOT of info that way! Oh yeah, be sure to call your credit card folks and give them a travel notification (where your going and when), that way they won't deny any charges you make with it when you're off the ship!

So what I am hearing through all this techie stuff (that I have no clue about) is that we all should be expecting a great blog/vlog in 2 weeks time?

Sabrina, just going by the photos and handful of videos I've seen of Nellie's Beach over-the-water cabanas, I would say that you are right in thinking they will be too far from the beach when your kids are hanging out on the sand. All of the OTW cabanas I saw photos or video of were truly over the water, no beach in immediate sight from the cabana's "porch" / "landing", and each one had a dedicated stone / concrete stairway going straight from the "porch" into the water. I'll also point out that those stairways have no railing of any sort that I saw in any of the photos or videos, so probably best to have good balance and/or be wearing water shoes with high traction soles.

Wonderful blog ! Sorry it's over, but thanks for taking us along !

@WAAAYTOOO has already answered your questions, but from my part, the cruise where I will have SC is the only Itinerary I will have Labadee, all my other suites will be on Liberty and Freedom, so only access to the concierge, the Anthem group cruise I will have a Grand Suite only. I will probably go for a beach, then a Hilltop, depending on availability.

We did the same cruise a few years ago on the Adventure of the Seas and made it to the pier around 1130-1200. When you get there and drop off luggage look for the suite line it will be considerably shorter. Have your passport, set sail on line check in form and your credit card ready and everything will be smooth. One other thing to consider is the group that's in the Jr. Suite will not be able to use the suite lounge. The suite lounge has happy hour (free drinks) from 5 to 8 but only open to guests in the Grand Suite and above. The rooms don't generally open till 1 or 2 so if its better to have a small back pack with you for your money, passports, jewelry etc. instead of rolling around a suitcase with you for 2 or 3 hours when your exploring the ship on the first day. We have been on the Freedom 2 times and its a great ship. Good luck, relax and remember you're on vacation.

You can also check out the live blog just completed last week (in March) by @Sabrinaklai https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5780-anthem-of-the-seas-march-9-17-2018/

I have previously stayed at the Holiday Inn in an area called The Rocks. It's literally walking distance to the terminal and the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is mid-range pricing too. I highly recommend this location. This October I'm staying at the Amora Hotel which is only 800metres from Circular Quay. Also reasonably priced. If staying at The Rocks, there is a pancake house that is great for breakfast or dinner, though I can't recall what it is called. Google will probably assist. US dollars no good in Australia I'm afraid, but in the SP there will be places that accept them.

I definitely liked this a lot. Really liked the production quality you clearly worked to give it. I could see you and your SO we’re both using gimbals (DJI Osmo?), and I really got a kick out of the title effect you used; never seen that before, was a really nice touch. Is that something available in the editing tool you use, or did you creat the images yourself and overlay them in the editor? Amateur videographer and home editor, so I’m always looking at the techniques others use for tips and ideas I can pick up. ?

Have fun! Enjoy your grandchildren!

Unfortunately, we took far more photos on the islands than on the boat itself, but here are some pictures from our trip!

Have a great time!! Will be following along. We're on Serenade in October for a 12 night repo. Will be our longest sailing ever, with 10 nights currently holding the record.

I have a 14 Day Exotic Southern Caribbean Cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse coming up April 1, 2018. First time on Celebrity and looking forward to the experience.

What? Sabrina's from Canada.....it's not cold up there?

Too many maybe and what if stuff for me. While we know that Mariner and Navigator will spend some time in the short cruise market we don't know for how long. Royal is very good at watching and understanding sales trends. If the desired effect doesn't happen they'll be moved again. It will be interesting to see if they can fill these ships cruise after cruise or if they'll just be filled by local FL top tier C&A scoring cheap fares which I doubt is the goal. The long term plans for the smallest and oldest ships has always been in question. Old ships aren't fuel efficient. They lack space to add newer activities and venues many cruisers seek. Regardless if they can continue to operate them making a profit they likely will. If they begin losing money, they'll likely go. Royal is a business not a museum for old ships. As far as Freedom class speculating about their future is fun but just that - speculation. We could all throw out wild guesses and predictions most of which will be wrong. They can go places OA class cannot. Fleet upgrades and modernization has always been and will continue to be part of cruising. A couple of years ago (2013ish) Carnival announced Fun Ship 2.0. They are still rolling that out to the fleet through upgrades and modernizations. Only time will tell what happens to Freedom class but they too will be reimagined just like voyager and radiance class. Like an airline, they need to right size the ship on each itinerary otherwise ships will sail too empty to maximize revenue. The airlines stopped using 747 on domestic routes a long time ago. An all-Oasis class fleet is highly unlikely.

We made it to Baltimore yesterday evening and checked into our hotel at the inner harbor. Found a crab cake and a cold brew for dinner. I forgot to change my shoes to my sneakers this morning and really wanted to have them in the trip so we found a marshall’s close by and then proceeded to the world trade building to the Top of the World observation deck that we purchased on groupon. It was a pretty day and nice view. Some thoughts: - it is much colder than expected with the wind! I am not used to having to wear a coat for boarding day despite the fact that I have been on 4 alaska cruises :). We are packed up and heading to the port now! Looking forward to some much needed sunshine this week!

I wonder what happens if you don’t pack at all. ?

Last day ? Pretty cold this morning as we move closer back to NJ. For my American friends, that's about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. WJ continues to be a complete zoo. This has probably been my greatest annoyance on this cruise. And it doesn't matter what time you show up either. Heading to iFly in about 15min. More to follow....

In my experience people from NJ/NY (where the majority of Anthem guests are from) aren't shy when it comes to expressing their feelings, right or wrong. I got eye rolls from people in the Aqua Theater on Allure when we slipped into a few remaining seats in the Sky Class reserved section just before they opened it up. Like somehow we were doing them wrong by using a benefit we paid for. Oh well, pay for a purple card next time...

Dinner photo dump: Jamie's Italian tonight. What can I say? I love Jamie's. Everything was delicious! No menu pic as @twangster already included one. Here is the kids menu though. Vegetarian Plank: Arancini: Garlic Bread: Mini Sliders: Penne Carbonara: Eggplant Parmigiana: Funky Chips and Polenta Chips: Tiramisu: Lemon Meringue Cheesecake: Epic Brownie: Off to see We Will Rock You. I ate so much I can barely move!

Good morning all! Sorry for the late post this morning. Hubby and D2 were off before 7:30am this morning and D1 and I did not wander into the WJ until 10am. @jurrjurr this was the closest thing I found to dim sum so far. I gave it a try, but as someone who has eaten congee most of my life, I can safely say that this is a pass. After breakfast we wandered the ship for a bit. Did not find the ship's coin but we did find the I-95. Random observation...the conference Center here has 4 rooms. They are named Radiance, Brillance, Jewel, and Serenade. I thought that was a nice touch. We have now stumbled upon an empty North Star line so we are going to ride the NS in port!