Leaderboard

Tide tables and notices of dam closures along the Ems River point to Odyssey of the Seas making the trip down the river towards the sea on the 27th of February. Shipbuilder Meyers Werft has been busy making preparations including testing all lifeboats. Odyssey has been outside at the shipyard secured to a pier next to the construction hall where she was assembled. Odyssey was floated out of the construction hall in November. In the video below Odyssey has been moved away the pier so that all lifeboats can be lowered and tested. Meyers Werft has been keeping the conveyance quiet to avoid large crowds gathering along the route given the pandemic. The shipyard is well inland away from the sea requiring the river conveyance once ships are nearing completion in preparation for the handover to the company that ordered the ship. Meyers Werft builds ships of varying sizes at the shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Quantum class and similar ships from other cruise lines push the limits for the size of the ship that can be floated or conveyed down the Ems River. Work remains to be completed before the handover to Royal Caribbean. The conveyance down the Ems River towards the sea is safest during the highest monthly tide cycle. Closing dams in certain places along the river in coordination with tidal swings can further increase safety buffers and the depth of water below the hull. These factors limit the date of the conveyance relative to the handover to the cruise line but the conveyance has historically been a good indication that the handover will occur soon after. Final work, finishing touches and mandatory sea trials in the North Sea need to be completed before the handover to Royal Caribbean. For a preview of what to expect check out these blog posts from the conveyance of Ovation of the Seas and Spectrum of the Seas down the Ems River: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/03/11/royal-caribbeans-ovation-of-the-seas-begins-conveyance https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/03/12/all-about-ovation-of-the-seas-conveyance-one-infographic https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/03/14/beautiful-views-ovation-of-the-seas-conveyance https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/03/26/video-spectrum-of-the-seas-conveyance

I touched on this problem in my original post above. On Friday, the NYTs did a surprisingly apologetic piece on the damage being done by journalists (and scientists) contributing to the the nihilism you speak of. It carries over to anti-vaxer thought as well, that is to say, "if the vaccines have so many caveats about effectiveness, possible side effects, and worst of all the potential for re-infection by a variant even if you have been vaccinated, why bother." First none of this stuff - and it's coming out of the mouths of respected sources like Fauci, for example we're making great progress, the vaccines are working ..... but, but, but, are factually accurate. It's also misleading. These "experts" (and they are) send a message that we aren't sophisticated or knowledgeable enough to understand details. Here are the facts: the vaccines already in circulation to include Pfizer's, Moderna's, AZ's and as far as trials go, J&J, all have efficacy v. all three known and studied variants (there are actually over 200 of them but the variants being studied the most are ones that have mutations in the spike proteins and demonstrably increase rate of transmission or R0). I can't speak for the Chinese, Russian or Indian vaccines. Casual and cursory looks indicate these vaccines are working too. What large scale studies being conducted in Israel by apolitical, public health agencies have already demonstrated or early and small scale studies point to is that NO ONE is getting seriously ill or dying regardless of the genomic structure of SARS-2 that is the infecting agent. NO ONE! There are RARE occasions (although the press will make you think it's in the millions) of vaccinated people that get re-infected. Serology studies of these people indicate that SARS-2 viral loads are very low (reduces shedding) and that symptoms on re-infection are similar to the common cold - this is a coronavirus after all. You'll catch a cold by the same means that people were catching COVID a year ago. Vaccinated people just aren't getting sent to the ICU and dying anymore There is also considerable evidence that vaccinated people - even after the first shot - are protected, don't need to mask or distance in all circumstances and many of the state and local patch-work mitigation measures can be safely ignored. That doesn't mean its a free-for-all. All levels of Illness from seasonal Influenza have been significantly suppressed. That is because of human behaviors being followed for COVID by a lot of folks. It is one of the reasons, along with the normal trends of viruses and the introduction of vaccines that every COVID metric is on the decline and downward trending and not just by a little. Those kinds of sensible measures should continue to be followed - wash your hands, even wearing a mask in enclosed, poorly ventilated spaces where people gather is a good idea that we should continue to practice as most Asians do.

Bingo! Just need to get this out of a pandemic and/or public health emergency.

Welcome to the message boards! Freedom class is a stretched version of Voyager class (Navigator). They basically added a section in the middle allowing more space in the Promenade and on the pool deck (plus more cabins). Beyond this extra section in the middle the ships are very similar forward and aft. Both have been recently "amplified". That's Royal's marketing term for a refreshment adding new features like waterslides and venues like Playmakers. The waterslides on Navigator are unique in the fleet while Freedom's new waterslides are more of a traditional waterslide. The extra space on Freedom allows for a dedicated pizza venue called Sorrento's while pizza is available on Navigator in Cafe Promenade. Both are fantastic ships. Voyager class is a personal favorite of mine although Freedom class is equally compelling. I have sailed both and have future bookings on both because it's hard to go wrong with either ship.

Book early. Watch pricing. You can get your price adjusted up until final payment. Lots of time for those prices to change. FWIW, the Adventure July 2022 sailing I grabbed has dropped twice now since release two weeks ago. Not much, but a bit.

A couple of concerns: 1) I do not think how "smart" people are these days counts for much. The data and information about the virus changes frequently. Therefore being right today, almost guarantees that you will be wrong tomorrow. ? 2) Cruise lines have been vilified for decades that they are breeding grounds for disease (I do not believe this, but perception is more important than reality). One positive test on a plane or train is a footnote. One positive test on a cruise ship sends regulators into "panic" mode. The cruise industry is at the mercy of public opinion and can not risk even small outbreaks on ships. They will probably be very cautious through 2021 and even into part of 2022. Not because they want to, but because they are in survival mode. Stay Safe, Stay Apart, Stay Connected, Curt from Canada

Curiously, Asian superstition is the number 4 as it is associated with death.

It’s currently the same one. Received it just this past month. Posted it on my live blog. #shamelessplug ? https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/22156-across-the-seas-through-the-stars-actually-a-cruise-live-blog-quantum-1-march/

i just made pizza for dinner. How did you know?

Thanks for sharing all the info about what Royal Caribbean is sending you in the days leading up to your cruise.

We took each of our grand kids on a cruise when they turned 5. This was a rite of passage that they and their parents looked forward to as they approached that magic age. The reason for the single child at a time was so we could concentrate our attention on that particular one and not have to constantly move to track and entertain them all. Once we had taken all of them on their cruise we then took each of the families units separately on a cruise with us. Mom and Dad were responsible for the tracking of their kids and getting them in and out of Adventure Ocean but we did do total family events together such as the water features, shows, etc. We separated each family unit so there was not a conflict as to who got grand parents attention. Now each of our kids are planning their family vacations with cruises as well as trips to Disney, etc and each of the grand kids keep asking if we will be taking them one at a time again at an older age to repeat the great times they had when they were younger.

Look forward to following along! Happy cruising ??

I was afraid I was the only one. I would also 100% have to purchase branded cruise wear from said cruise.

Love that idea. Done! ?

Thanks for sharing this. Hoping it becomes clearer when the conveyance will actually occur.

The internet strikes again. Enter "Sorty McSortface" https://www.denverpost.com/2021/02/19/colorado-amp-robotics-company-boulder-recycling/ Before the coronavirus started spreading, the Boulder County Recycling Center was having problems keeping fully staffed. The pandemic hit and people started buying more online, cooking more at home: more cardboard, tin cans and other items swelled the center’s incoming materials by 11%. Enter two new workers who’ve made a big difference. They are two robots designed by AMP Robotics. You can call them Sorty McSortface and Sir Sorts-a-Lot, the winning names in a contest. Sadly Twangster McTwangsterface" just doesn't roll off the tongue.

we had 8724 but 10324 came available again so we nabbed it. Like others, I am thankful to @WAAAYTOOO because I very well would have booked a cornerif I didnt see the blog she wrote. That is why I love this blog site. I thought I knew all there is to know about cruising before joining, but boy was I wrong LOL.

Reviewing the unpublished archives...

Thanks for the shoutout @twangster lol @RCLFAN1991I will be sailing on 1 March. I can for sure get a pic of the noodle bar menu for you

At least we didn’t start talking about pizza! Lol

Room 1718, Oasis of the Seas, June 18, 2021!

I STILL WANT BMcBFOTS!!! ?

Ok. Everything has been moved/rebooked. Sept 5 2021 Liberty Nov 8 2021 Freedom Jan 30 2022 Grandeur Aug 28 2022 Liberty

Star Class cruise? I think I can hear the faint sound of sobbing coming from the direction of Ontario..... This sounds like a great trip!

Yippee !! A SC live blog. So happy for you. It’s been waaaytooo long since we had a live blog.

Oh sure. Star Class on the first cruise. Genie mode engaged. On my first cruise Jeanie was this annoying lady at our table in the MDR. On second thought maybe that was my ex-wife.

Getting home and dropping my bag onto the floor, tearing my mask off and slumping into a seat after an exhausting day at work, I thought to myself "I really need a vacation" That's really the catalyst of what got me booking a cruise in the first place. For all intents and purposes, this would basically be my first cruise. I know I went on one when I was a really young kid, but all I remember from it was the inside of the cabin. ? Having not left Singapore in over a year and a half, I was getting stir crazy on this little island. I needed to get away from all of it, and low and behold, Royal announced the resumption of cruises to nowhere in Singapore. It was a no brainer. Of course, I'm not one to jump head first into something without thinking it through; I'm paranoid like that. I did some research on cruising and stumbled upon a little website called Royalcaribbeanblog.com. I watched countless videos, browsed the message boards and I knew I just had to do it. That was that, the start of my journey onto what I'm guessing is going to be a new addiction. So, come follow me on my journey as I experience cruising for the first time and get the full star class experience at the same time. I would also like to thank everyone who has answered my questions and help me get the ins and out worked out for this sailing. Special shout out to @Lovetocruise2002 @WAAAYTOOO @twangster and of course @Matt for all the insight you have provided.

I almost forgot to do this! January 29, 2022 Odyssey of the Seas

You've thought about it, you've dreamt about it, you've researched it - Are you going to do something about it? Lets have a look and see what I did. Many Many Many years ago, my parents took the whole family on cruises around the south pacific. I still have a hand carved fisherman's sail boat model from Fiji with 1977 carved into the side. (Hmmm 43 years ago) Back then you could throw coins over the side of the ship when in port and the local would swim down and pick them up, how times have changed. We are addict's, all it took for me then was a taste 43 years ago and even to this day I love cruising !!!! I had wanted to cruise for a VERY long time and based on my professional responsibilities it just wasn't possible. My best friend and I had talked about taking a cruise for a very long time. And it took a long time for both of our schedules to be in line with each other so that we could take time off work to go on a cruise together. In August of 2019 on the celebrity reflection, my best friend and I (Including Families) took a 12 NIGHT SCANDINAVIA & RUSSIA CRUISE. Well like a junkie that has been clean for decades, my cruise addiction got what it needed and like a fresh blood transfusion "CRUISING" was back in my blood. Within a month of returning from Russia, I had booked a cruise for my family. The problem I had, was that it was going to be a surprise, a VERY BIG surprise and I could not tell them. Every chance I got, I was watching Royal Caribbean Blog, The Klaykowski's (AKA The ship show), Cruise tips TV, Tips for Travelers and on and on. "I LOVED IT". Some of it as silly as it sounds was over my head and not until now do I understand what and why they were saying things. If it was mentioned, I bought it. Magnetic Hooks, Highlighters, collapsible laundry hampers, first aid kits, dental kits, sunglasses, sunhats and the list goes on. If you recommended it I got it. My mother had died in January and I thought that it would be a great surprise for my father to go on a cruise with us. In short my father has become a home body and getting him to the cruise terminal in Sydney, let alone out of the house was a bigger task than I thought it was going to be. After three subtle attempts to see if I could get him to Sydney (Australia) to go to sea world, I accepted that he was simply content at home and that was OK. So how do you purchase all of these cruise must haves and not have anyone catch on to the fact that that's exactly what you are planning. EASY - You invent a cruise !!!! What I mean is, you let them know that you are planning a cruise sometime in the distant future but not when they expect it. At the time, we were in Hong Kong and I had told them that I have arranged a vacation at Sea World on the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia). Everyone was happy we were going on a vacation. Problem was that the cruise I had planned was departing out of Sydney and Sea World is in another state, Queensland. Kind of like saying we were going to Orlando but needed to go via New York. When going to Australia we always flew into Sydney, so telling them that we would fly into Sydney spending a couple of days there and then flying to Brisbane did not draw any undue attention. The reason I used Sea World, was because they had already been there before and they knew what to expect. Because it is a resort it was easy to explain why they needed swimming paraphernalia, hats, sunglasses and so on. So how do you explain why they need cocktail dresses, evening wear, high heeled shoes and so on? I know - tell them that I have prepared a professional photo shoot. We need everyone looking their best so the family can have some lovely photo's to look back on. I had planned everything down to the most minuscule detail. I went to a photo store to laminate their boarding passes, I had their bag tags printed in color, I had personal lanyards made. I even bought them Samsung tablets (Not iPads) as a ruse to give them gifts that included their boarding passes in a bag. Being the genius that I am, I forgot where I hid the damn things before we left. Using some Sherlock Homes logic I worked out - now where would you hide those things if I were you. I FOUND THEM. Afterwards thinking what kind of an idiot would hide them there. Just think about planning a cruise months in advance and 1.) You cannot tell anyone and 2.) Getting them to pack for it. It's crazy !!! My wife though I was nut's, because I was watching her pack. I've never done this before, but she is a genius at packing. (Yes I got the CUBES) This was to ensure that she didn't forget anything (She did - no magnetic hooks or collapsible clothes hamper.) Who needs that stuff at sea world right. A small side note. We had a mini brake in Japan earlier in the year. We were staying at Universal Studios (Osaka) Japan and on one of our day trips went to Osaka Aquarium for the day. To get there you take a short ferry trip from universal to the aquarium. After the day at the aquarium, on the way back to our hotel. While we were on the return trip on the ferry, guess what ? We passed Spectrum of the Seas. I just wanted to explode, I just wanted to shout out and say "LOOK THATS WHAT YOU WILL BE ON AT XMAS" It took so much strength to keep my mouth shut, but I did and the surprise was still safe - so the story continues. We arrived in Sydney two days before the cruise, so we were in no rush. Qantas for the most part are very reliable, so I was not expecting any flight delays. I was able to upgrade of flight tickets so the surprise was just getting better and better. They didn't know about the business class seats either. When I mentioned that I had planned this down to the most minuscule detail I was not kidding. I had booked a hotel in Sydney that would require us to take a ferry into Circular Quay. Circular Quay is where the cruise ships dock in-between the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor bridge. This would have us pass the Ovation of the Seas before reaching the wharf. I had made sure that I had the current time table for the ferry, so that we would pass the ship just at the right time and subsequently we could board the ship at our predetermined boarding time. I don't know what time we went to bed the night before the BIG SURPRISE cruise, I was so paranoid about sleeping in and missing the ferry. Remember my wife and two daughters thought that we were going to Sydney airport from the hotel to fly to Brisbane. I'm so close at pulling this off. so so close. We had stayed at this hotel before and my wife new that we could get a reliable airport shuttle service. From the hotel to the wharf, where the ferry was to depart was about a 5 minute work downhill (A very steep downward hill) We had five large suitcases, backpacks, camera bags and nick knacks hanging off us. We looked like Sherpas taking guests belongings to the top of Everest. I'm so close, we were all struggling going down the hill with all of this luggage. My wife looks at me like you cheap bastard you could not even cough up enough money to get the airport shuttle. We are half an hour away from the greatest surprise ever and do I have to take this #$%@ from her. YES YOU DO! She doesn't know and I probably would have thought the same thing. We get to the wharf everything is on track, we are early for the ferry and we are almost there. One thing I have not mentioned is that this ferry is designed for commuters carrying either a hand bag or a brief case, not a family of four going away for two weeks on a cruise. In Australia everyone is quite nice and patient so like a worker bee I grab one bag put it on the ferry and run back and get another till we have everything onboard the ferry. Now I have to get the timing just right, as I had envisaged such a long time ago I was going to get this on film. How do I get them outside while I get their xmas gift bags ready? We will be passing the Sydney Opera house which is on the left hand side of the ferry and the Ovation of the Seas will be on the right hand side as we pull into the wharf. I ask my wife to take the girls out and get some shots with the Sydney opera house in the background, OK - no problem out they go. Every second counts now I have to get it just right. I get everything organized, all of the bags are in order and ready to be given out. I go out the back and ask them to stand on the opposite side of the ferry and this is what happened. When booking the cruise I figured this will be a one off and if I am going to do it I should go all out and give them a cruise that they will never forget. Hence the cost of the surprise, you only live once and life is here to be enjoyed and experienced to the fullest. Also when I booked it I planned for my father to be in our room as well so we needed a large room. We got a suite and every extra possible, the only thing I regret now is that I didn't know about STAR class. (SKY class sucks, it's like being a brides maid.) To follow up their surprise about finding out about the cruise, the next surprise was going to be seeing their room. The next video is of the family seeing their room for the first time. If you cannot smile while ,during or after this room (I cannot really call it a room tour) surprise you need to go take some happy pills. I hope that you have enjoyed this little adventure and trust that you can have as much fun in the future cruising as we had in the past. Just so that I could link these videos to this BLOG, I had to create a YouTube channel about half an hour ago. Nothing sexy to see, just life in the raw. Maybe I will be as creative as Matt and learn how to edit one day. Best Regards Rick I was also wrong about this cruise. I thought that it was going to be a one off - NO - I have four more cruises booked with more surprises to come.

Hey y'all ? My husband and I cruised with our kids quite often when they were small. All of us absolutely loved it and looked forward to every cruise. I have been saying for years that I couldn't wait until my grandkids were old enough so I could take them on a cruise. Now I'm rethinking this.....today marks 12 days that we have had all 3 of them (ages 6, 3, and 11 months) while my son and daughter in law have been packing, moving, and unpacking. I'm whooped! These little people do not operate on my schedule. Trying to keep them all fed (holy cow can they eat!), keep up with the kindergarten homeschool (and I homeschooled all 3 of my kids through high school graduation, so I'm no stranger to that either), AND work is about to do me in. Let's not talk about the state of my house..... Fellow grandparents out there please reassure me that I won't die if I take them on a cruise without their parents ?

From what @WAAAYTOOO reviewed, the corner GLS are smaller than the middle ones. Also, you have less storage for clothes upstairs with only one closet instead of two. You do have three balconies and if you have multiple people or kids it may be an advantage to get some “alone” space; or if you are on a cruise with a lot of scenery to see, like Alaska, it may be worth the trade off. We are going on a 12-day transatlantic cruise, with only three stops. Also, you still get a 180 degree view with the rear balcony, that will be enough for us. I recommend you take a look at some of the videos. While the actual size of the corner suite is only 144 sq ft less than the middle GLS, the living room on the corner suites is more cramped as that room is used for the entry and access to the side balcony. Good luck!

I believe yes, but I also think I'm pessimistic about a COVID free future, meaning in my view the virus is here to stay. The best vaccines (mRNA for now, though Sputnik and Novavax are close and may be just as good) seem to knock down OG COVID and the B117 variant by about 90% across the board (researchers have even started postulating this is the case for asymptomatic spread). Buuuuut, there is almost no feasible solution that gets the mRNA vaccines into every arm, and even so we know there are some variants they aren't as effective against. We also know the threshold for herd immunity is probably north of 80% given how transmissable it is. All of that taken together, to me, means there will be dry tinder, so to speak, even on a fully vaccinated cruise ship that skews older (consider that a 90% reduction in hospitalization and death means a 60 year old has roughly the same relative risk as an unvaccinated 20 year old, which is still 2x higher than the youngest children). I think any solution that hinges on a perfect performance in mitigation of viral spread on a cruise ship is going to include the full gamut of social distancing protocol with or without vaccination for all adults, and can only set sail when the epidemiological data suggests virus transmission is low (which, since most experts now believe we're headed for seasonality could mean no fall or winter cruising) Orr... We learn to live with it.

I kept the link to my original genie questionnaire and it looks like a few of the questions changed since our star class cruise Christmas 2019. Revised questionnaire attached. Off the top, it looks like Elon Musk is new and the deserted island and device preference have been removed. Interested to see what it may look like going forward.

I’ve been on 7 cruises on the Freedom. It is one of my favorite RCCL ships. I’ve only been on the Navigator once. They are very similar but the Freedom is newer and has the cantilevered hot tubs that are nice.

Not only is there less square footage in the corner units, but the space is very "cut up". All of the spaces are smaller. The upstairs bedroom and dressing area is very small compared to the center GLS. We could not even get all of our clothes into the small MB closet upstairs in the corner GLS. The bathroom downstairs is split - with the toilet on one side and the sink on the other. Those 2 additional "balconies" are nothing more than 1 chair seating areas. They were useless to us. We were on a B2B SC cruise in 2019; we stayed in 8724 the first cruise (beautiful but a bit noisy due to 270) and then we moved up to 10720 and what a disappointment ! Even Yen (the Genie) said, "it's very cozy" when she saw how disappointed we were. In my opinion, the corner GLS should not even be SC.

I'm not sure they are a "large" cruise line, but definitely the largest so far (relatively speaking)

What happened to that suggestion

I submitted Hochberg of the Seas as a suggestion but I never heard back.

Hey, to each their own with provolone. I get why people are in to it, I just want no part of it. The first time I went on a cruise about 10 years ago, I was active in my Cruise Critic roll call before hand, and had a plan to get together for a party on the first day. Time came and I realized I had no desire to actually meet people and I just went to the pool for a pina colada and my book instead ? I travel for a living and am always around people when I travel for work, so when it comes to vacation, it's time for my wife and I to be alone...even if there are thousands of other people around us.

We joined in with a great cabin crawl on our last cruise. The organiser did a really good job and even drew up and printed a "plan of attack" that included the details of all the cabins we were going to see. It was done through our CC roll call and she just posted the suggestion on the roll call and then those of us that were interested signed up. Once we had someone with a particular cabin type signed up, no other cabins in the same category would be accepted for viewing as that would have been pointless, but anyone was welcome to sign up and come along even if their cabin was not on the viewing list. I've attached a copy of the plan below. Cabin crawl plan.pdf

This is the most important graph for the resumption of cruising. Many other countries have much better results. However, they are not the cruising "capital of the world". As the US gets under control (and they will do quickly with the rapid expansion of jabs in arms), starting cruising out of the US will get easier and easier. Roll up your sleeves and then start packing swimwear, your clothes for "Formal Night" (or whatever they are calling it these days), and two bottles of wine. ? Stay Safe, Stay Apart, Stay Connected, Curt from Canada

Here are some of the documents Royal sends to you when you book a cruise during the Covid period. It details some of the measures as well as the requirements before boarding. Covid_19_Supplementary_Privacy_Policy.pdf COVID_19_Supplementary_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf Once check in is complete, you'll also receive an email detailing the some of the same information as well as required contact tracing apps.

Replace Harmony March 20th, 2022 with Odyssey April 3rd, 2022. Replace Mariner April 30th, 2022 with independence February 25th, 2023

@gdk0085 one piece of important advice to avoid disappointment....The most important thing that I have learned is that Star Class really varies (in terms of the small details) from ship to ship and from Genie to Genie. The basics are the same (all inclusive specialty dining, drinks, etc. but the smaller little details vary). It is great to get ideas from others and hear their experiences (I am guilty of doing the same thing myself before my first star class sailing), but what I've noticed from talking to other star class cruisers and Genies, in the 4 years or so since the program started, the minor details vary. The variances are due to the rules of each specific ship and the personalities of each particular Genie. For example, can you get Starbucks delivery, yes sometimes. Some ships won't even allow it and some Genies won't do it. Can you get the seafood tower and can it be delivered to your stateroom? Yes, again sometimes. Some ships don't even have the seafood tower on their menu, some will not deliver it on embarkation day while some have had success getting it delivered on embarkation day. Will the Genie reserve you loungers by the pool? Some will, some will not, they are not supposed to. Can you get lunch delivered to your room on the day that you arrive? Some ships allow, some do not. Can the Genie save you seats on the Royal Promenade for the parades? (not on Quantum, but just as another example) Some ships allow the Genie to do so, some will not. The list goes on... Basically, what I am trying to say is that while I love the Star Class program, it is most definitely not consistent. This leads to some disappointment from those who are expecting something because they heard someone else had it done etc. and then people blame the Genie. But sometimes their hands are tied too depending on the rules of the specific ship. It is very clear to be upfront and honest with your Genie about your expectations, but at the same time, sometimes it is good to step back a bit and let them surprise you. Those are usually the best moments.

You know I read your blog twice before creating a user name here. But I did find this. I don't know how accurate it is, but if it is, the corner rooms are sizeably smaller. You dropped about 100sq ft of living space going between your Deck 8 room to that Deck 10 corner.

What did we do on the ship ? So I had a bit of a break as I was on a biz trip last week but I have one more installment to complete this very short cruise blog. ? We were on B2B cruises on Anthem with almost identical itineraries. The only difference between the 2 was that on the first leg we went to Nassau first and Coco Cay second and on the second leg we went to Coco Cay first and Nassau second. Our other stop was at Port Canaveral. I will make the descriptions of what we did at our ports of call very simple. Other than getting off at Port Canaveral to conduct some quick business, I did not leave the ship. Dan got off briefly on the first leg at Coco Cay but that was it. Nothing to see here... While on the ship, we thoroughly enjoyed the shows, specialty dining, dining in our suites and of course, the casino. We skipped many of the headliner shows, only seeing 2 comedians and a juggling/magic act which was pretty lame. We saw The Gift once. Once was enough. Also pretty lame. But we LOVED We Will Rock You. We went to see that twice - once on each leg. The first time Yen sat us right up front, which is where Dan usually wants to be. The second time I asked her to move us back some and I enjoyed that location much more than being right up front. I think Dan still prefers to be up front. We each got what we wanted. Always a good thing. There were 2 tribute bands - 1 on each of the legs. The first one was a Journey Tribute band (can't remember their name) and we saw them at 270. I thought they were ok but I wasn't overly impressed. I was in a constant panic that the lead singer was going to lose his trou. They were so low and so loose that every time he would hop about, he would have to grab them to keep them from going to his ankles. He once jumped from the floor to an raised area on the stage and I thought it was all over for sure. He barely caught them in time ! The second tribute band was Wanted, which was a Bon Jovi cover band. I enjoyed that one much more, which is odd b/c I am much more of a Journey fan than I am a BJ fan but I just thought the second show was better. We saw that show in the Music Hall. Of course, Yen reserved prime viewing seats for us for both of these events (recalling that she was hesitant to do so at the Music Hall, but did anyway, in the end). We went to see the Spectra Cabaret twice (once on each leg). That was a very interesting and different kind of show. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We really liked 270, period. I think it is a GREAT venue and we liked going there during the day, at night and during shows. We ate at every specialty restaurant except for Wonderland, which we detest. Next time, however, I AM going to get one of those World things !!! The food was consistently good at Chops and when I finally found something that I really liked at Jamie's (mushroom fettuccine) I enjoyed going there, too. It shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone that I enjoyed the mushroom fettuccine....it is nothing more than a thickened version of the cream of mushroom soup, poured over fettuccine noodles. LOL It is good though ! I also liked Jamie's tiramisu. I think it is much better than Giovanni's...and it is the ONLY thing that I think Jamie's does better than Giovanni's. One really cold and rainy day on our way back on the final leg, I wanted Johnny Rocket's but since the JR on Anthem is a store front only it was much too cold to eat there. So we ordered our food and then asked Yen to have it delivered to our suite - which she did, joyfully. I visited Starbuck's every day in the AM before they divested themselves of the yummy chocolate croissants and even had Dan drinking hot chocolate with me there before the end. Neither of us are coffee drinkers but I do enjoy a good cappuccino. I even broke "the cappuccino rule" and had one after 10:00AM a few times. I found out, from my many trips to Italy over the years, that it is considered very bad form (especially for MEN !) to drink cappuccino after 10AM. Who cares. I'm not Italian ! We ate at Izumi a LOT b/c that is probably Dan's fave restaurant. I will say....after 16 days of eating at the same 4-5 restaurants, it was getting a bit tiresome. I never thought I would say that out loud...but I do think it's true. We never went to the MDR but we did go to the WJ twice (both times for lunch) ! We had room service most mornings for breakfast and had room service for dinner a couple of times. On the last night, Dan had the lamb shank and I had a Maine lobster - delivered to the suite. It was kind of like a "last supper". Very somber affair.... We did the bumper cars once on the first leg. Once was enough for them. Yen took us to the front of the line, we got in, bounced around for a while and got out. 'Nuff said. We did North Star 3 times. Once in the open ocean (boring), once in Port Canaveral (better) and once in Coco Cay, which was the best, IMO. We really enjoyed going up in the NS. I am really not that brave and I thought I might be afraid but it was so smooth that you hardly even notice that it's rising. The last time we caused something of a stir, I guess. I didn't know this until it was over but apparently they were running a bit behind schedule and there were some people who had been waiting over 30 minutes for their "reserved" ride on NS. Of course, Yen just walked us up to the front and put us on the next evolution and apparently there were some who were not too happy about that. I had no idea. I certainly wouldn't have minded waiting if I had known that they had been waiting for a while. Dan did not do the iFly even though he is a very experienced sky diver. I don't know why he didn't do it...he just didn't. Maybe it's for the same reason that he had no interest in doing the flight simulator in Nassau. I guess once you do the "real thing" a simulator just doesn't do it for ya. Whatevs... As a gift, Yen gave us a sushi making class on the last day. We didn't have the heart to tell her that we had already done this once on Grandeur so we went. I was much better at it the second time than I was the first time so maybe doing a second time wasn't a complete waste of time ! I absolutely hate that dried seaweed (YUK!) so I decided that this time I was NOT going to use it. My rolls were a bit - um - flaccid - because of the lack of the seaweed wrap but they sure tasted better ! The casino was the casino. Not much more to say there. The staff was very good...we made good friends with all of the pit bosses and a few of the dealers. We lost money - as we always do but much less than normal, especially considering that it was a 16 day mega gambling spree. These were the final 2 casino events for this casino year. We will not be on another cruise until after the new casino year starts on 1 April. We both qualified for Prime several cruises back but never even came close to qualifying for the next higher tier, which is Signature. It was a great B2B Star Class cruise. We enjoyed it so much that we are doing nearly the exact same itinerary next year. We are starting 1 week earlier than we did this year but will still be doing 2 Grand Loft Suites on 2 consecutive weeks in February 2020. YIPPEE !!!!

So now for the good stuff ! The days in between coming and going. The Genie. Yen Lee is from Malaysia (not China, as I had first assumed...you know what they say about assume...). She is a little whisp of a thing...probably 75 pounds, tops and she has a "bop". Bop is really the only name I have for the cute little half curtsey, half bow that she does when she walks up to you. It's kind of a knee bend, bouncy thing. So cute. She is ALL business. Personable ? After you to get to know her (and she gets to know you)....yes. At first we were a little concerned b/c she is very formal. After a while she will laugh with you but it took a while to see that first smile. Efficient ? Hell, yes. I think the rest of the crew is scared of her. Nah...not really. I don't think... Everyone knows her though and she can quite literally do anything. Of course, she did the usual and expected things: made (and changed) our dining reservations, saved our seats for performances, escorted us on and off the ship when asked or needed, arranged a party for us in our suite, made sure we had anything we asked for (food, drinks, etc.) in our suite. But a good Genie will go beyond that. Here are a couple of things that Yen did for us that really MADE our cruise. In our pre-arrival email exchanges I had mentioned that Dan loves Modelo Negro beer and asked her to please have some in our suite, on ice with some fresh lime. She wrote back and apologized...saying that the Anthem no longer stocked Modelo Negro. No big deal, I told her. Corona will do just fine. Thank you. So when we came on board, we had a whole bunch of Corona on ice with fresh lime all ready to go. Dan was in heaven. About day 5, Yen came to our suite with a tote bag over her shoulder. This was somewhat unusual as she only came to our suite, unannounced, maybe 2 times in 17 days. We were happy to see her (as we always were) and she started pulling Modelo Negro bottles out of the tote and she kept pulling out more and more and more bottles until we finally had about a dozen bottles of Modelo Negro that she had "found" somewhere - only God knows where. It was just such a sweet and over-the-top kind of thing to do. I couldn't believe that she even remembered that from 1 email weeks before we even boarded. Dan was now truly in love with her. ...and regarding the special abilities of Genies. You may recall that I had made kind of a big deal about how busy it had always been on our previous SC cruises - the deliveries, door bells ringing, phones ringing constantly. I have no idea HOW she did it but that phone never rang ONCE and the door bell never rang ONCE for about the first 4 days of our cruise. For all I know, she was standing guard out there and threatening anyone coming close to our suite but however she did it, it was a major miracle. I will say that, as time went by, we started getting a few visitors and calls but it was NEVER like we had it on previous cruises where they were coming and going at all hours. She definitely had performed some kind of intercession for us. It was wonderful. The other very special interdiction that Yen did for us was during our first stop at Port Canaveral. As we were sailing towards the port (wee hours of the morning. I recall looking at my iPad and it said 1:50 AM) the Captain came over the all hands comm and told us that passengers had reported seeing someone go over the side. He sounded very distressed. He asked that if anyone in your party could not be accounted for, to please call 911 and report them missing. No more comms on the subject - for now. Once we docked at PC, we got up, got off the ship for a while in Port Canaveral (Terminal J...way the F* on the other side of the port...in fact, we used a Carnival terminal. Ugh...whatever). When we got back to the terminal, it was slam packed full of people. Some people were in wet bathing suits. It turns out that they had never been able to get a reliable head count so they made EVERYone disembark, including crew so that they could account for everyone. In the end, there were no pax or crew missing so it turned out to be a false alarm...but they had to be able to verify that with the Coast Guard AND the local police, who were now involved and flittering around going on and off the ship in packs. Tempers were beginning to flare and mobs of people were jamming what would soon be the entrance back onto the ship. I sent a text to Yen saying, "come save us". Maybe 5 minutes later, I saw her beautiful little self coming down the escalator and I knew we were going to be ok ! (joke). She shoved her way through the madness at the entrance (BTW, I saw her shove that little body through more than one traffic jam ! She may have been pint sized but she had the determination of a 340 pound linebacker !) Dan whistled and got her attention and she drug our asses back through that mass of people, up the escalators and back onto the ship.

Day 9 - Turnaround Day I know, I know....I'm sorta skipping all of the stuff from Day 1 - Day 8 - for now. When we got back to Bayonne, at the end of the first leg of our B2B, we needed to get off to conduct some business. It was somewhat unfortunate that we had to do that, b/c we did not get to really enjoy the traditional B2B perks but ya' gotta do whacha gotta do. From what I understand, the B2B'ers met at the Diamond Lounge (Deck 4) and were processed there, making it unnecessary for them to even get off the ship. That would have been really nice. Then, they were apparently treated to a private lunch somewhere. That probably wouldn't have been anything we would have done anyway, as we could eat in any specialty restaurant (that was open, of course), but we missed the special luncheon too. Yen had asked us prior to turnaround day if we needed her to help us disembark (we had told her that we were getting off, briefly) and we told her that we would appreciate an escort to the suites CBP desk so she took us straight down past all of the lines of people getting off the ship (where she left us), we showed our passports (they questioned us about having no luggage !!) and went straight out, grabbed an Uber, conducted our business and came directly back to the terminal. Yen had given us our new Sea Pass cards before we disembarked so all we had to do was show our cards and we proceeded straight back onto the ship. I think we were back in plenty of time and had we decided we wanted to join the other B2B'ers I'm sure we could have but we just decided to do our own thing for lunch. As I have discussed in another thread, we decided that we would do Jamie's for lunch this time as there had been such a big crowd at Chops on our first embarkation day. As <bad> luck would have it, by embarkation day #2, they had expanded The Key to include lunch at either Chops OR Jamie's, so now we had the Key crowd to contend with AGAIN. It was fine though...we didn't leave hungry (I was never hungry for 17 days, in case you were wondering). As soon as we got back on the ship safely, we called Yen to let her know that we were back and she was relieved to know that we had made it back. Changing suites: Since I was not able to get the same suite for both legs of the B2B we had to change rooms. We had to pack up everything that was not hanging in a closet, into our suitcases and leave everything upstairs. Our stateroom attendant, Brian (who was EXCELLENT, BTW...more about him later), moved everything for us from 8724 to 10720, which was to be our new home for the next 8 days. It seems that Brian (8724) and Jesus (10720) had sailed together on other ships before...and were quite good friends, so it was really a super easy transition. Jesus took our things upstairs for us and we quickly and easily (there are complications here that I will discuss later) unpacked and settled into our new home. And with that, we were on our way to another 8 day adventure back to the Bahamas.

We're here....we're here !!! So the van driver dropped us off - as far away from the purple Star Class signs as you can possibly get....and of course, we were caught in the crossfire of those who were disembarking and looking for rides and those, like ourselves, who were just coming on....and the teamsters were all trying desperately to get us to give them our luggage (looking for tips, no doubt). But we made our way through the maze to the purple Star Class signs - finally. The Star Class "greeter" instructed us to turn our luggage over to the Star Class porters. Nope. We were waiting for Yen...who showed up almost immediately. Yen told us to ignore the greeter, that she had everything ready for us. She already had a porter with a cart waiting for us. The porter loaded up the cart and we all began to proceed through security. I have already told the story a couple of times so make it brief this time...but just as promised, our luggage never left our side, even to the point of it being put through the regular carry-on luggage scanner. Yen took my request QUITE literally. Best embarkation EVER. They were not yet boarding the ship, so she asked us to have a seat (after introductions and a brief chat) in what I guess must be the Suites and Pinnacles' waiting area. It was hard to tell, really. So we sat down and waited maybe 15 minutes. We saw the other 2 Genies with their charges but surprisingly, we were never introduced to either of the other 2 Genies the entire 2 weeks. Yen reappeared and we all proceeded through a side entrance (nobody else was boarding through this entrance) and we proceeded to a private elevator. So it seems that the porter that we had (at this point) was a terminal porter who was not permitted to board the ship. We had a very short delay while a porter FROM the ship came out and continued the trip with us and our luggage up a private gangway and onto the ship. Yen told us that our suite was not quite ready yet, but that we would go there first anyway to drop off the luggage and then we could go and wait wherever we wanted for her. So off we went to the suite. You can imagine how difficult it was for all of us, bobbing through the onboarding traffic with a full porter's cart, weaving in and out of people with luggage in tow. We made it onto an elevation and the ship's porter brought our luggage in and took it upstairs for us. Yen gave us the standard welcome aboard briefing (we had been through this a number of times so we knew what to expect). By now it was after 11:30 but not quite noon, so we decided that we would just go to Chops and do lunch. Honestly, I don't think they were really ready for us but Yen escorted us in and they seated us immediately. It was nice and quite....for about 15 minutes until The Key horde hit. I'm kidding...it wasn't bad at all. It was busy - no doubt...but we had a wonderful lunch and then went back to the suite to settle in. YIPPEE !! We made it !

First Contact - Exactly 60 days prior to our sail date, I got the SC questionnaire. I'm sure the SC planners hate me but I only answer a few questions on this stupid questionnaire - the ones that I know will affect me directly. I always give them our "preferred" names (my real name is Ramona but I have been Raye all my life...and I prefer to be called Raye. Daniel is, of course, Dan) and I tell them what kinds of drinks we like in our suite and that we are night owls and like to sleep in but I don't answer the inane questions like, "what famous person in history would you like to have dinner with" or whatever it asks... I just leave those (and there are a few of them !) blank. So, I completed as much of questionnaire as I ever do and submitted it. Then, exactly 4 weeks prior to the sail date I got our first communication directly from our future Royal Genie, Yen Lee. This is when it starts to get "real". Once you are communicating with your Genie, you start to get really excited b/c you know you are NOW planning your cruise. First thing....I wanted to know whether or not we would have the same Genie on both legs of our B2B. Genies rotate the rooms that they service PLUS we were changing rooms so I wanted to make sure that we had the same person. She wrote back promptly to let me know that "it would be her honor to serve as our Royal Genie on both of our legs". YIPPEE !!!! This/these cruises were our 5th and 6th Star Class cruises so we had a bit of experience to draw upon. We knew what things had worked and what things were - meh. I made a few specific requests of Yen: 1. We wanted our luggage to remain with us throughout the boarding process. On EVERY one of our previous SC cruises our bags had separated from us at security and it was ages before they made their way to our suite AND they were always left downstairs. I wanted to make sure that our bags were there when we arrived AND that we had someone to take them up the stairs for us. 2. On all of our previous SC cruises there were constant interruptions - phone ringing - people knocking at the door - deliveries - questions - invitations....nonstop - particularly the first couple of days. I asked if Yen would please try and curtail/manage the interruptions so that we didn't have to jump up every 5 minutes to answer a door or phone. This single issue is the main reason that Dan has never particularly cared for Star Class. Of course, I realize that the Genie doesn't control 90% of this but I just threw that one out there to see if there was anything that could be done. 3. I asked for reservations at Chops on embarkation day. In the past, this has never been a problem. Oftentimes, we were the only ones in the restaurant and had the place nearly to ourselves. BUT I knew that They Key had been implemented recently and that Chops would probably be a madhouse. I was right.