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Hello All, we just got back from a 5-day Bermuda cruise on the Anthem of the Seas and I wanted to share my "lessons learned" as a "pay it forward" for all the great forum members who provided advice to me for several questions I posted. We are a 4 person family (42M, 39F, 13M, and 10F) and we had 2 balcony rooms booked on Deck 13 forward. I hope I can help some newbie cruisers with the info below! 1. Do Show Up Early on Embarkation Day: Our ship was schedule to leave from Bayonne, NJ cruise port at 4:30pm. Coming from NH, we drove to Danbury, CT the night before and stayed at a hotel (Did you know Ethan Allen owns a hotel?). That put us about 1.5 hours from the port. We got there right at 10:30am when the terminal opened and there was already a good number of cars in front of us. I dropped off the family and our bags and the porters quickly put our checked bags on the carts. I parked the car in the garage, met up with the family and headed inside to check-in. Check-in was painless, and we were literally stepping onto the ship at 11am exactly. They told us our rooms would not be ready until 1:30pm, so we mainly stayed in the outdoor pool until we could drop off our bags. We hit Windjammers at 1pm and they announced that all rooms were ready at 1:15pm. 2. Windjammers is great, but watch out for peak times if you hate crowds: As you probably know by now, Windjammers is a (extremely large) buffet that serves breakfast and lunch. I think 99% of all passengers can easily find several things they like on their diverse and plentiful buffet stations (vegetarian, vegan and GF too). However, it can get VERY crowded at peak times. One of those peak times is lunch on embarkation day. I think it was the only place open for that meal since not all passengers had boarded yet. While we were able to get our food fairly easily. finding an open table was tough! You really just need to hang out near a family that looks like they are wrapping up and pounce as soon as they get up. Hail one of the Windjammers employees to clean the table for you. The only times I would say Windjammers wasn't moderately to severely crowded was during lunch on the 2 days in port. 3. Prepare to be STUFFED: RCL should just partner with medication companies that have drugs for blood pressure, cholesterol, etc... cause I can guarantee you will come back at least 5 lbs heavier. We purchased a 3-night specialty dining package and got an extra night free from our Cruise travel agent (CruiseOne). We ate at Izumi (2 times), Wonderland, and Jamie's Italian. If you like sushi, Izumi is wonderful! At Izumi, you get a $35 credit per person... so we had $140 to use each night. We got at least 6 specialty rolls, a few makimono rolls and the sushi deluxe and easily stayed under. I think we had everything on the menu after the 2 visits. Wonderland is almost a dinner and a show... the dinner IS your show! Here, you don't order... they just bring you just about everything on the menu. It was pretty amazing. Jamies was great as well... they bring you samples of all their apps (charcuterie, fried rice & cheese balls, calamari, cheeses, olives, etc..) and then you choose a main and a dessert. I got the truffle noodles and they were amazing! We only ate at the main dining room once and it was OK. My wife's fish (Barramundi) was a little "fishy", but my fish (can't remember the name) was good. The shrimp cocktail were very small... but the birthday cake (RCL is celebrating 50 years) and the cheese cake was very good. FYI, all the specialty dining and main dining room have kids menus. I highly recommend visiting Solarium Bistro for breakfast (also a buffet, but much smaller than Windjammers... but WAY less crowded). You'll find all the common staples for breakfast. Café 270 is great for lunch and dinner/late night snacks (only certain nights is it open). Great paninis on pita bread, wraps, salads and dessert. Sorrento's pizza was great for late night craving, but they also serve breakfast (no, not pizza... mostly breakfast sandwiches). Room Service for breakfast is free as long as you order from the "Continental Breakfast" section. All other times its a flat $7.95 per order (regardless of how much you order... so ahead, get one of everything if you like... it will still cost $7.95 total) 4. To deluxe beverage package, or not to deluxe beverage package... that is the question: I was on the fence on this one up until a week before the cruise. I do like to drink, but I try to stay clear of everything with sugar. I'm not a big wine drinker, so just bringing 4 bottles on board with me was not that enticing. I pulled the trigger and paid the $50/day. My wife doesn't drink, but I was in a stateroom with my son... so I only had to pay for me. I knew from other posts that knowing that the drinks average about $10-13... just having 5 would be my break even point. Yeah, I ended up get my money's worth and then some. No, I didn't go on a bender and forget most of the hours of my cruise and end up naked in the engine room! It really wasn't that hard. They have mimosa and bloody mary carts setup for breakfast. Sir, would you like a Mimosa... why, yes please! Can I make you a spicy bloody mary with bacon and horseradish? Of course. How about a vodka, club soda and extra lime while you hang out by the pool? Sure! Can I get you a Jack and Diet Coke while you wait for the show to start? Yes please! As long as you pace yourself, be sure to eat and stay hydrated, stay away from sugar drinks (I never once ordered a pina colada or strawberry daiquiri, which were so prevalent I couldn't open my eyes without seeing someone having one), and keep any minor "overindulging" until after dinner (so you can sleep it off), take some precautionary Advil or Tylenol before bed... you'll do fine. Never had an signs of a hangover (mostly from following the rules above). I probably averaged 8-12 drinks/day. I know that sounds like a lot (and probably is according to my doctor!), but I did find that their drinks are a little "light" compared to your average bar. They do jigger pour every drink which means you are only getting 1.5 oz of booze per drink. Sometimes they would pour a little more. They also tend to give you a tall glass for your standard "spirit & mixer". So, if you order a "rum & coke" you are getting 1 shot of rum... and then like 10oz of coke. Of course, they are doing this to get you to take longer and therefore, order less drinks. Be sure to ask for a lowball glass. I also got my money's worth by ordering a few Patron Reposados tequila (which are like over $15/shot in most bars). Be sure to ask for a bottle of water with each drink. Even if you don't want it now, you can put it in your fridge and bring ashore when you visit a beach or go shopping. 5. Bring your Cruise Compass with you wherever you go!: The Cruise compass is a printout brochure of the next day's open times, activities, shows, etc.. You stateroom attendant will put it in your room every late afternoon. Review it, highlight it, and do some planning. I was kinda disappointed to see that RCL hasn't created a digital version of this yet. They do have the iQ app, but it only shows you your dinner reservations and the shows that require reservations. I'm hoping they enhance this soon as it could be a real value-add to their guests. We attended some great trivia sessions, info sessions on the ship and Bermuda pier and shopping, listened to some great small musical groups, super funny comedians, and attended some great onboard shopping sales. While it's great that RCL offers so much to do everyday, the hardest thing was making the schedule work! Many times we came up with a plan, only to realize we couldn't do it because we had a dinner or show reservation that conflicted. We found compromises and made it work the best we could. We definitely weren't disappointed or had any FOMO! 6. You kids will love the Adventure Ocean Club or the Teens Club: Both of our kids were excited about the kids and teens club. For those under 13, parents needs to check the kids in and out (for the kids 10-12, you can give consent to allow them to check themselves out). There is a morning, afternoon, and night programs they can join... all are included. The only exception is after 10pm its $7/hr per child (very reasonable) and they can stay until 1am. The counselors are excellent and they do fun and educational activities with the kids. The Teens club is free to come and go and my son made a some friends and they often went swimming and played in the Seaplex together. 7. Make your show reservations in advance for the ones you can... and make the other activity and dining reservations as soon as you get on board!: I made reservations for "The Gift" and "We will Rock you" a few weeks in advance on the RCL website. The only thing I couldn't make reservations for in advance for shows was "Spectra", but I was able on the second day of the cruise. We also made all of our dining reservations as soon as we got onboard. On the second day, we tried to make reservations for the iFly (indoor skydiving) but they were already booked up for the whole cruise! :( Lesson learned! Also, if you are like me and like to sit up front at the shows... show up about 30-40 mins early and you will have your pick of any seat you wish. They have waiters taking drink orders and usually have popcorn and snacks/candy available for purchase... so the waiting isn't so bad. We had front row middle for "We will Rock you" and it was awesome! Spectra was a great cabaret style show, but I think they had some technical difficulties with their vistavision (these are the 19 projectors that can make the 270 degree backdrop appear as just about anything you can imagine!) The robots with the flatscreens were working fine and are amazing! 8. Bermuda is great, but not a lot to do in the port: This doesn't mean we didn't have fun! We took people's advice and waited until the 2nd day to go to the famous "Horseshoe Bay Beach". Luckily, it was overcast and a little showery on the first day, and the second day was mostly sunny and 83 degrees! Of course, many other guests followed the same plan. Anyways, on the first day we decided to stay in the port area (Royal Navy Dockyard, aka King's Wharf) and check out the shops. We went to the clocktower mall and explored the shops. We also went into the "Diamonds International" store which was heavily marketed by the Anthem's Shopping Director (Paige). While seeing all the very beautiful jewelry and rare gemstones is great, the customer service is horrible if you aren't looking to spend a few thousand dollars. After seeing pieces that were $5k-$20k, I asked one of them what is the cheapest jewelry they had for sale... she said they had an earring set that was $1000. When I said you are still way above what I'm looking to spend... she didn't say "I'm so sorry, we don't have anything under that pricepoint".... Nope, she just turned around and walked away. How f'n rude! We ended up finding a much better service at a jeweler in the clocktower mall and my wife got a great sterling silver ring made with a stone made from the pink famous sands for a much more reasonable price. After about 2 hours, we pretty much saw everything in the port area. We went back on the ship (which can take about 10-15 mins as you have to go thru security), had some lunch, and then put our bathing suits on an went swimming at Calico Jacks. This is the black pirate ship that is literally the first thing you reach after getting off the dock area. It's a bar/grill that has its own swimming area. There's no beach... they have a ladder into the water and have plenty of foam noodles you can borrow so you can just float and relax. They also have a plank on the second level that you can jump or dive off of... as well as a giant inflatable slide. Unfortunately, they don't keep the slide wet... so almost everyone came to a halt before hitting the end of the slide. They charge $10/pp to get a wristband to use their water access. Rum swizzles were $10. We also checked out the "Frog & Onion Pub" for a quick snack and a "Frog Grog" and bought some swag. The second day we took a shuttle to Horseshoe Bay Beach. I wouldn't recommend paying the $35/pp shore excursion to the beach through RCL. They have public shuttles for $7/pp that are continuously headed to the beach. It's about a 20-25 min beautiful drive. Our driver the way out to the beach was great, he pointed out all the landmarks and gave details about the homes, resorts and golf courses. You can rent loungers, beach chairs, umbrellas and tents at the beach... but they are a little pricey. We got 2 loungers and it cost $44. They do have guys who will drag your lounges/chairs to wherever you want, but be sure to give them a tip (we gave him $5). The water was stunningly beautiful. Perfect temp! Some pretty good waves due to the weather over the past day, but nothing too bad. The grotto area to the right as you enter the beach was really neat. I would recommend water shoes/socks as it can be a little rocky in that area. While you aren't supposed to climb up the massive rock cliffs... there were dozens on the top of the bigger ones. Some of the smaller ones teens were jumping into the water. There is a bar/grill at the beach, but the prices are a little inflated (Burger & Fries for about $12). Recommend bringing waters with you... and if you can, pack some snacks (Café 270 will pack food to go). Be sure to leave the beach by 3pm to ensure you get back with enough time for any "unexpected" happenings. The shuttle drivers guarantee that if you get on one of their shuttles at 4pm... they will get you on the ship without issue, but I'm not willing to play with those odds! 9. Adults can take naps too! With shows/activities often scheduled to 1am, I strongly recommend trying to find a time for a quick siesta in the late afternoon before dinner. It will keep you fully charged to enjoy the nighttime events! Also, try to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night if you can. No reason to go to Windjammers at 6am just because it's open! 10. Be sure to keep an eye on your account! Your Seapass card can be used to purchase ANYTHING on board.. and I mean anything! Be sure to keep an eye on your account (you can use the iQ app, but send you an email at the end of the cruise). You'll automatically be charged for gratuities $14.50/pp per day, but you'll also see all your other charges. Remember, things add up quick! 11. Keep an eye out for flash sales and good buys on the ship: I ended up buying my wife and gorgeous diamond tennis bracelet on the ship. It is stunning, very sparkly and she was smitten as soon as she saw it. The regular price was $195, but we ended up getting it for $99 during a sale. OK, of course at that price.. it's not a lot of diamonds, but lemme tell you.. it really sparkles and she has already gotten tons of compliments on it. They also have 2 for $20 T-shirts which make a great souvenir. They also have duty/tax free booze for purchase, but coming from NH where liquor is state-controlled, the prices were already comparable. If you buy bottles on the ship, they hold it until you disembark (except on the last full day, where you can take it to your room). 12. Most importantly, have fun!: It's your vacation! Try something new... or stick to your favorite activities... it's all up to you! I hope this has helped you. Please feel free to leave feedback and any questions that I might be able to help with. If I can't, I'm sure another forum user will!

Lil guy has made several friends in the pool already! So cute! They are racing each other and having a ball. Dad and mom are relaxing...

Greetings from Miami! IT’S CRUISE DAY! Leaving for San Juan in an hour. Zero days till we go on the cruuuiiiseee ?? and I am so excited!! Leaving Miami time-lapse IMG_9749.mov

We’re on board this absolutely gorgeous ship and it’s instantly clear why she’s a favorite among so many. ?? We checked out Central Park and the Boardwalk. It’s too early to put cash on our account and the rooms are supposed to be ready at 1:30pm. There is a different vibe on this ship. The guests and staff are ready for a good vacation. We already met “new familia” in the elevator. ? Our fish is already in the pool...

Tonight in the theater was the Royal Caribbean production called on board simply "Three". That's short for Three Sequins and Feathers. It's not to be missed especially on this night when it's the last performance of the current cast before they leave the ship tomorrow. Next cruise "Three" will continue but it will be performed by a new cast who have been on board for several weeks getting ready. I have some photos in my last Empress thread. It's a really good show, quite high on my list of ship shows. At the end CC our Cruise Director brought out many of the crew who have made this cruise such a great experience.

Thank You David --- you are right --- my initial response first thing in the morning was rather cold (pre-coffee vs the shining light that I am post-coffee) ..... Apologies to those that have had the negative experience ...... Hope everything comes out the way it should be. The cynic side of me had control this morning.

I should probably stay out of this but I don't think "grammar shaming" somebody who is angry is anything except treating someone the way they said they've been treated already. If a mistake was made (and don't for a minute suggest that sometimes a large corporation and it's employees don't make mistakes--or are rude) why not just say so. I like reading this blog because it was so nice to see everyone's positive outlook on cruising. All of you love to tout how much money you saved, and the value of the dollar, and saving up your pennies to go on cruises. It's nice to read--so when someone is upset they've lost a deposit I"m pretty sure all of you would be pissed off if you were out $500 in 24hrs for a clerical error on your part. Anger can get the best of us, as clearly at has gotten the best of you at this person with their vitriolic language. Direct them and help, don't criticize them for their opinion....it's always our behavior in bad times that is a great reflection of who we are, and admitting when we are wrong and moving on....

Unexpected gifts waiting in our cabin...hats and cupcakes. Such a great surprise!

Congratulations to your husband and JennyJenny. I know how hard it can be. I’m also a survivor also. Going on our victory cruise in January. Love the blogs. It really helps with the waiting.

And now for all you cruise fashionistas and/or aficionados, I give you the latest & greatest trend in footwear !! Happy Sailing !! ?????

We are in the waiting area at the terminal!!! The shuttle at the hotel would be $6/person but UberXL was $9 for all of us. Arrived at the port with no issue. Lots of sad faces on those departing this morning. The port worker checking the set sail passes looked at ours that clearly says expedited arrival, squinted and said, “Have you ever cruised before?” Then she sent us on to someone else. We got seated in the right area and we are waiting for the green light.

You guuuuuys! You could see her upon arrival waiting for us! ?

Day 9 - Miami Miami is a nice city to sail into in the darkness and I always enjoy sailing from here. The bridge engaged the warp drive and our approach grew faster. Not really, just playing around with a long exposure picture. It has the makings of a beautiful day. The Crown of Miami Royal Caribbean Terminal A. Our Staff Captain is handling our arrival today under the watchful eye of the Captain. Terminal G With an ever so gentle touch to the pier we are there. Total cruise distance 2,135 nautical miles.

Tonight as we make our way through the Bahamas we are sailing away into the sunset. The very spot I took a Milky Way photo from on my last Empress cruise. In the distance on the hazy horizon I saw an outline of a ship coming our way but several miles off. That's Navigator of the Seas on her way to Nassau tomorrow.

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to this sight from my balcony! Mr hayley_bopp says I'm more excited about this than going to Rome. I think he's right!

This week our only planned excursion is the rain forest in Puerto Rico. Our time was cut short in that port because of the azipod issue so we are doing the excursion through the ship to be safe. I want you all to know that this is a big sacrifice for me because it most likely means I’m giving up my Barrachinas pina colada. THAT NEVER HAPPENS! Little guy has the soda package this week and he’s hoping for a blue cup. ? We don’t have it reserved yet, but we plan on doing Izumi one night.

The suite waiting area is not that impressive after seeing the one in Terminal A’s in Miami. It’s hard to see the suite designations this week and not be able to go that route. I think we did it backwards. We went from champagne life to beer life. ???

We’re here and waiting to board!!!! ???

How severely mobility limited are you? When I went to San Juan last year I was capped at about 3 miles a day, which had to be spread out or the arthritis in my feet would get super-painful and leave me out of commission for much of the next day. I was still able to walk to El Morro (which has a fair bit of uphill climbing involved) at a relaxed pace, take lots of photos along the way, wander inside for a bit and take more photos, then head back to the ship by way of the old barracks and the pigeon park with a lunch stop in the middle (and many more photos! ?) without feeling like I’d overdone it. That was with a 2 PM departure and not leaving the ship until 9 AM, so I had to do the above in about 4 hours to make our all-aboard time. Since you’ll have two extra hours, you could move at a pretty relaxed pace, as well as take a taxi or trolley to your desired points of interest to really cut the time on your feet. I cant speak to the rainforest, as we didn’t go there. But I’m sure other folks here have and will be able to chime in.

I group and photograph all my clothes using Pinterest. I had a brain injury and can be forgetful and get tired so have to pack in stages . This meant I was forgetting what I was packing But now this really works for me. I use Pinterest to save it . And make notes in the description like “ can wear black heels with 4of8 dresses “ etc. I wish I’d read about packing cubes before I packed . They seem awesome but not really a UK think I don’t think. I will try them for my next trip though. This is my first cruise so I’m just hoping I’ve packed enough and I’ve packed the right stuff. We fly in 4 days so time will tell. Very excited though. My other half hasn’t even started packing yet an dit’s stressing me just a tad but I’ve made sure he does have everything when he finally decides to pack it !!!

Day One Embarkation Day! Popped straight over to the ship after arrival this morning to drop off all our bags and then we headed to Old San Juan with CBF's mom for some exploring. We walked down Fortaleza (unfortunately still no kites or umbrellas above the street), saw Castillo del Morro and stopped at a few bars along the way back by Carnival Fascination in the other port. What a beautiful city! Reminds me a loooot of Honolulu from the architecture and flora. 3 drinks in and waiting for muster! VACATION!! Looking back towards La Perla Loved Medalla! From the 1979 Panamerican Olympics Games Finally time to board! Our JS 9538 ? El Morro as seen from our port position!

That's cause he's extremely long winded ??

I agree - most things can be worn twice, but be careful about packing only one bag. if it gets lost (airline) and you don't get it back before ship leaves, you're up the creek. Take two and pack some things for each of you in each bag. If one gets lost, you both still have something to wear:) And, it will leave more room for souvenirs:). Also, I start putting stuff in a "cruise" pile in a separate room as soon as I have picked shore excursions (they may require unusual attire, e.g., hiking boots). That way I can see if I need to order anything special to take (i.e. water resistant pants for our Alaska outings!) and have them in plenty of time instead of discovering the week before that I'm missing something. I start packing the suitcases the week before, leaving. Laying stuff out to see what can be mixed/matched helps pack less too:)

Entering on the Promenade with seeing that car is always such a 'wow' and a great welcome. Enjoy your cruise!

I have an ankle injury that acts up if I walk too much. It seems like I will get more photos if I do a walking tour. It might be manageable, if I tape my foot. I was thinking of the Segway tour, but it might be too cumbersome to get on/off the Segway and whip out my camera, plus the helmet would give me bed head hair, so the photos wouldn't look so great ... lol I'm glad to hear you were able to do a lot of walking without a lot of pain. I agree, the next day can be very tiring and achy for most people. We have a sea day after San Juan, so hopefully the itinerary won't change! We're quite direction-challenged, so it was fantastic that you had a local guide. I would really like to do a self-guided tour, save some money, and go about on our own schedule. I was thinking I might need to "borrow" your pictures so I can refer to them, and ask people how to get to xyz! Your photos are the exact places that I would want to see and capture! Thank you again! I was also thinking, even though our time in port is from 7-4, we'd like to return to the ship early and grab lunch there. We spent way too much time on our last cruise doing so much that we were completely exhausted, lost weight (even from all the eating) and forgot to relax and enjoy the ship! This walking tour is really starting to grow on me .... lol I don't think we would have enough time to do the rain forest, especially since I am now considering getting back to the ship for lunch. The waterfall does not sound spectacular at all, thank you for pointing that out to me. We waited a very long time to cruise again, so I'd rather not waste our time or money. Appreciate your feedback!!

Debark I was in no hurry today so I took my time, enjoyed a last WJ breakfast and finished packing the last few items in my cabin. I'm renting a car today which I'll return in the morning but I wanted to keep it to a 24 hour rental to avoid hourly charges for going past 24 hours. My desired time to turn it in tomorrow drove my required pickup time today which I targeted 9:30am to 10am for. My JS came with luggage tag #1 but I planned to carry off my own bags. I wanted to be get out of my cabin so James my cabin attendant could sanitize and ready it for the next guests so I planned to sit around the Schooner Bar area until 9am-ish. Consequently I was out of my cabin well before 8am. Early to the pier they called self-assist starting at 7:30am a full 30 minutes early. I stayed in the Schooner Bar to kill some time. The self-assist line eventually made it through the theater, through the Centrum and into the Schooner Bar where I was working on my morning pictures I posted above. Several management team greeted me as they passed by doing their morning turn-around day thing. Talking with Jorge our GSM the day before he had stated they typically have to wait until all guests are off before departing crew leaving the ship at contract end can leave. Not wanting to extend that for them I headed off just before 9am. Carrying my own luggage I left somewhere around luggage tag 14 being called. That's normally 9:15am on the departure letter so they were still running ahead of schedule. Still routing through the theater and out onto the terminal bridge from deck 5 I followed the line a little but further than self-assist normally go since I was in the luggage tag crowd who had to reach the carousels to retrieve their bags. Past luggage and onto customs there were none today, we simply walked outside. Apparently CBP had really cleared the ship when they cleared the ship to debark. I had a short wait for the Hertz car rental shuttle. While waiting I saw car rental shuttles for Payless, Avis and Budget (sharing one shuttle bus) and National, Alamo and Enterprise (sharing a different shuttle bus). My pickup location was the 2nd Street HLE office for Hertz downtown Miami. Some of the other rental bus customers go to the Miami airport to get their cars. I'm using weekend points from my Hertz loyalty program so my rental is costing me a whopping $2.16. My rental only had a 1/2 tank of gas so I had to go back in and get my contract fixed to reflect that but even with that I was on my way and at my Fort Lauderdale hotel by 10am. My luck continued, they had a room ready despite being very early for check in. No real plans today, maybe some pool time at my hotel. Maybe I'll run out and buy two bottles of wine although I not sure I really need it with a nightly Diamond event on Majesty starting tomorrow night.

Its a shame they didnt join this site prior to cruising because then they would have got all the info they needed. Cant believe anyone would go on a cruise that visits at least one foreign country and not think passports where needed, doesnt matter what your told you're leaving the country you need a passport to get back in be it by cruiseship or airline.

Congratulations on conquering it as well!!!???

Specialty restaurants have the same dress code as you'd find in MDR and WJ. Go enjoy your meal and don't worry about what other wear.

Today is the day for your Allure! Have a wonderful trip and thanks for taking us along.

At the rain forest we climbed a tower that had views of the sea/jungle, we stopped at a waterfall (a 50' one not the 500' type), and we stopped at a river. I don't think photos would be "spectacular", but you would have souvenirs. I think a walking tour might be better than the driving tour, but that is speculation.

Ahh, the Vodka Ice Bar. That is almost like a mini on-board excursion. You have to book a ~30 minute time slot and pay somewhere around $20. The 2 included drinks are pre-mixed and from a very limited menu of about 5 choices. The temperature inside is ~17 degrees. And you are given your drink in a glass with an ice insert. It's great fun and worth doing every time on-board. Here are a couple of pics from our 161023 Breakaway Cruise (I'm on the right)... Here you can see what the drinks and glasses look like...

Day 8 Evening The last night... sigh. I spotted an alligator chasing a sea turtle. Fortunately it was a bread alligator in the Windjammer which have proven to be quite harmless. The last night on Empress is not a formal night but on these cruises it has consistently been "lobster" night in the MDR. No lobster in the WJ but there were a few other seafood goodies to be found in the WJ this evening.

Late to follow but enjoying catching up. Survivor here as well, so glad to hear your husband is clear and enjoying this wonderful time with you and your son!

Hello everyone! I've been doing research on San Juan too. We'll be in port from 7 am - 4 pm. We've never been there before and this is the port I'm most excited about. I can't walk too much, so I was hoping for a guided city tour (in an air conditioned van). I'd like to spend about 4-5 hours max and I'll be taking pictures as well - not sure what to expect ... There are so many tour operators, so if anyone has a good recommendation, I'd appreciate it. I'd rather not walk out and randomly pick a tour operator since I like to read up about them first. @JLMoran - those are some nice pictures!

Tonight’s dinner choice was Duffy’s. We were pleasantly surprised at this place. We had fried mushrooms for our appetizer, good entrees and it is happy hour there all of the time so you get 2-for-1 drinks there every time. We ordered a banana colada and got 2 for $9. Crazy!!! We are enjoying seeing all the lizards here. Lil guy said the next one he sees will be named Taco Bell. I’m starting to see a pattern to these names. ? In about 12 hours we’ll be leaving the hotel to board Allure. The last week went by fast...I’m hoping this one slows down.

I was just in San Juan a few days ago. No unrest. We were there until midnight and I was walking around after dark. No problems, very normal.

One day to go!! I am in the waiting place today since our flight is so late, so I spent the morning at the zoo to relieve pre-travel waiting anxiety! Here are the San Diego Zoo stars of the day. Sadly, the baby hippo Tony got sent off to another zoo when he reached 1 year (he has been the star of the day countless times). Finally not all asleep! Ibex cave hangout (he fought off two baboons to claim his space) C1283169-9E36-48A2-98DB-3C0B4DBFDE2B.MOV

Meal with an Officer Today there we so many attending MWAO today that they had to use the MDR and five large tables. Our officer was from Shore Excursions. Typically around 60% of shore excursions are booked in the cruise planner versus on board. Still, that's 40% that book on board usually at full price. On the Western Caribbean itineraries Costa Maya will often see the highest shore excursion sales. It's very popular for excursions. Cuba excursions were a lot of work for the ShoreEx team. There was a lot of record keeping and paperwork that went along with meeting the US OFAC regulations. Our officer was on vacation when Cuba became off limits. Coming back to this ship after the itineraries changed she doesn't miss the paperwork aspect of Cuban excursions. Sometimes crew can participate in an excursion but the vendor that operates the excursion has to agree. Someone at my table used a dirty word at lunch. PACKING. Something I should start thinking about.

just a suggestion: https://www.amazon.com/Biodegradable-Compostable-Plant-Based-Eco-Friendly-Individually/dp/B078J4N5XF still just like any other plastic straw, but safer for sea life because they break down, wont desintegrate like the paper straws... $2.50 more than regular plastic for 200, and individually wrapped... or these: https://www.amazon.com/200-Pack-100-Plant-Based-Compostable-Straws/dp/B07MZLLDZD/ref=pd_bxgy_121_img_2/140-0683482-6559335?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07MZLLDZD&pd_rd_r=b06ad743-b059-48ac-b132-1b023ab99857&pd_rd_w=3C5HA&pd_rd_wg=QoJgP&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=MR1GXHF0KXHV63Y4XKAW&psc=1&refRID=MR1GXHF0KXHV63Y4XKAW $1.99 more than regular plastic straws for a 200 count, bendy, but not individually wrapped. :)

I saw your previous and first post. From your own admission, your blaming Royal fire a mistake you made and are now upset because they are adhering to their own policies. How is this Royal's fault and how does it warrant suggesting that others not book with them? My suggestion would be you call back and ask you talk to a supervisor. If that doesn't work, write a letter to the CEO. That will be much more productive and is much more likely to solve your issues.

Again, the menus vary by ship. I've seen a vegetarian pasta dish as an entree on one of the menus. The way the Solarium handles the meal is that you order the entrees from a menu and it is buffet style for the appetizers. There are several vegetarian items (vegetables, salads, and such) available as appetizers

The picture of the new design is missing the coffee table, unless they decided to move it against a wall. We only had the cabana last month so I know there is a coffee table (that is where the safe is located. That cabana looks to be number 9. I say that because we had #10 and the cabana behind in the picture is the farthest out. Since we had 10 I know we were the closest to the rock area. Now if you also look at the old cabana vs the new, you will see that if you remove that 2nd tier deck, and look at the 4 loungers against both, they are the same size without the deck. OBTW, RCL is assigning the cabanas now. It is still 1st come 1st served. It is tied to your reservation of the cabana, not when you booked the cruise. We booked our cabana on the same day we booked the cruise. 10 months out. We were cabana number 10. There is an enclosed beach/swim area for cabana only customers. It is not big, nor is it small. However you do get to meet a lot of them if you are like us...in the water non-stop. Think about it the most they will have in that area is 160 people (20 cabanas X 8 people) From what I could tell by talking to many is that the 1st 10 all got their cabanas in the 400 range. The back row ranged from 649-899 because they booked later. I will say we loved every second. We had a phenomenal attendant. 10 a.m. she brought over slices of pineapple, cantelope and watermelon with our menus. 11 a.m she took our food orders. I would not suggest the Portobello sandwich, but the funnel cake was amazing, so was the greek salad. My brother in law basically ordered 5 items (high metabolism and athletic). He got the Portobello too, grilled chicken,, Caesar salad, can't remember the last item, and the salted caramel brownie. The salads are huge. We got our food around 11:30 -11:45. @ 2:30 -3:00 she came carrying fruit kebabs. In between during the entire day, we saw her every 15-20 mins. They are extremely attentive. I ordered my 1st drink and said to her, just leave it on the table bc I am going to bathroom. Cabana 10 is the farthest out (90 second walk, 2 mins at tops). I walk out of the bathroom and there she was drink on the tray waiting for me. OMG?. Later on I was on the float mat and she screams out to me...MS. Pima, do you or Mr. Pima need a drink? I ordered one and said Mr. Pima was snorkeling, but I am sure when he comes back he will want his usual. My drink arrived and on my float mat, I paddled to her. At that time she saw him coming back in from snorkeling. I thought nothing about it. He took off his gear and came and floated with me. 30 seconds later she screamed...Mr. Pima, with his usual drink on her tray. He looked at me, and said we can never go back to not having a cabana ever again...it is like what posters say about 1x you go to a balcony, it is hard to go to an oceanview or 1x you go to a suite it is hard to go back to a balcony. Our attendant wasn't the only one that did this. It was non-stop of attendants on the edge of the water. I will say I did have a pet peeve, but that had more to do with a certain cabana. As I stated earlier in the post, the beach/swim area is not small, but not huge either. There are fish in that area, and Coco Cay is known for the birds that steal food. This one cabana decided to bring a bag of Veggie straws with them off the ship (if you don't know what they are, basically it is vegetable potato chip) They walked in the water and started to feed the fish. Of course the fish would jump up to get it. They laughed...the rest of us are cringing and saying you don't know if fish can eat that. Their response, it is vegetables! (BS if you ever read the ingredients). Their tone was mind your own business. The fish than began pooling around them and jumping up out of water as soon as their hand came close, so than they pulled their hand back, and guess what...the seagulls start grabbing them from his hand. They thought this was hysterical. Take a pic, take a pic. is all they kept saying. Meanwhile, anybody with common sense in their brain had to get out of the water because the gulls were swooping in from all over the place. Their cabana attendant had to come to the edge and tell them to knock it off. They argued with her. She got back up from the staff. They reluctantly came out and beaaccched the whole way back to the cabana...we were just having fun and feeding them, what was the problem? We of course had the last laugh. Seagulls know where the food is coming from. As soon as they left the water. the gulls did too, only to follow them to their cabana. Later on that night we were at Schooners, we had an amazing piano player. They sat a table or two away from us, and were stating I would never do a cabana again. the service was great, but later in the afternoon we were swarmed by seagulls non-stop....wonder why?

CLIA routinely meets with different cities and regions to represent the cruise industry as a whole. If you were an owner of a hotel you would lobby against the cruise industry. If you were a bar or restaurant that enjoys business from cruise passengers you would be in favor or cruise ship visits. There are two sides to every story. Some benefit from cruise ships, some don't. Nothing unique to the cruise industry. I visited Stonehenge when you could walk right up and touch them. Tourists got out of control. People wrote on them, stood on them. Traffic became a nightmare. Roads had to be expanded, a visitors center was built. Such is tourism.

I got the deluxe beverage package coming up On symphony. Fair warning for the nervous nellies

Day 6 - St Thomas After a short overnight ride over from Tortola we arrived to a rain storm in St Thomas at Crown Bay. Fortunately it's the Caribbean. If you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes. This is a work day for me. Gotta pay for these cruises somehow. I stayed on the ship. #boring I was curious where we went last night since it's a very short distance. Looks like we just puddled around for a bit then made our way to St Thomas.

@IslandBoundMama, big congratulations to your husband on beating "the big C"!

The majority of guests boarding Mariner have never been on a cruise before. Perfect Day is proving to be immensely popular for good reason. Combine the two and I can understand why they are trying this. If the feedback is positive they'll likely continue, if not they likely won't. The idea of two stops is appealing. That's taking me two cruises, one last week and another next week. Let's examine this concept that the new Perfect Day is a money grab compared to the old CocoCay. Thrill water park is a small section of the island. Beyond the water park the same excursions are available that always have been at CocoCay, except... Remember the old Aqua Park? $37 for one hour. That's it in the distance. Yep, that's what you got for one hour and $37 back in 2017. Remember the old slides from 2017? $26 for a day pass. Not included in the Aqua Park. Now for roughly the same price of the old aqua park and old slide you get an entire water park with wave pool and multiple slides that are incredible. Thrill water park is $62 in most of my upcoming stops at CocoCay. To me that represents pretty great value compared to the CocoCay of yesterday. BTW - see all those loungers in the top picture? Notice anything missing? The $20 umbrellas! Here is a Perfect Day picture from last week. Now, umbrellas all over the place and they are free! If you just want a relaxing beach day without spending a dime that describes 90% of Perfect Day including a free fresh water pool and now Perfect Day is so much nicer than the old CocoCay. If you want a water park, the price today has so much more value compared to the old Aqua park and inflatable slide of yesterday's CocoCay at the same price. Plus no more tendering! Come and go from the ship as much as you want. What's not to love about Perfect Day?

This is exactly why I get frustrated when people talk of removing the daily gratuity and just tipping cash, “to the people that deserve it”.