PrincipalTinker

43 minutes ago, MrB said:

Long-time lanyard-wearer for work. Please, please, please get a lanyard that releases from the back of the neck when enough tension is applied. Choke / entanglement issues. Trust me. Same reason that cats should always have a releasing collar.

Wouldn't cruise without one. Found ours at the port (Port Canaveral) after check-in and before the boat. Georgia Tech, to be exact. Wife's Alma Mater.

Tom

I too wear a release lanyard at work. Where would you see a release being needed?

My TA sent me something like this for my Anthem Cruise 

https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Dustproof-Businesses-Stationery-King/dp/B01M0IFY2A/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1536513768&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=waterproof+lanyards+for+cruise&psc=1

I never had to remove my sea pass.

Have you looked at the Main Dining room menus or any recent trip reports? In April we were on Anthem. We ate in the MDR 6 out of 7 nights. I prefer steak or seafood for dinner and Si was perfectly happy with the choices. I also ate in the MDR for breakfast and lunch on multiple days.

I am new to cruising and I do have an upcoming Disney cruise booked. I will be honest, I am hoping to be a Disney travel agent ( just for fun) when I retire and a few agency have a requirement that you have been on a Didney Cruise. A few obvious observations:  My RCL 7 night cruise was less than a 4 night Disney cruise. This is true even when I add three deluxe drink packages, a cabana on CocoCay, and a brewery tour in Nassau. Of course, if I wanted to book a cabana on a Disney cruise it would cost me three times as much as RCL. This is not a cost I have to worry about since everyone does not have equal access to booking (like RCL) and I will never be able to book a Disney cabana. 

As a “Disney freak” I am sure I will love my Disney cruise. I honestly cannot wait for it to be complete so I can book my next RCL Cruise.

I will say we had our luggage picked up the night before. By the time we finished breakfast they were calling our number. We walked right out and met a porter that walked us through security . It was very easy and seemed to get us through the shortest line.

I walked to Junkaroo last April. At the beach they will ask if you want to rent chairs, umbrellas, or have some food. They accepted “ no thank you”, right away. I would not call it dirty, and many people spent the day there. It was fine for a free, short beach stay. If I wanted a full day beach stay I would most likely go somewhere else.

I am going to jump in here. I contacted MEI for a couple of reasons, mainly because I knew absolutely nothing about cruising, and they support this site. I booked about 14 months before my cruise. I received about 6 emails before my trip: I found you a better price. Those price drops ranged from $30 with onboard credit, to over $300. 

I did not book with MEI because I expected anything extra. I actually booked a second cruise before the first, and I am waiting for the next large release to book another. 

Although I did not ask or expect anything, my agent sent me lanyards, a portable phone charger, pens, and  a $50 onboard credit. I just post that to say, if that is important to you ask. It is not to me. It came as a complete surprise. The level of service I received was amazing, and I think I should be sending her gifts.

28 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Ok Michelle, Sharla, Annette..,  I’d love to bounce ideas for my next cruise off of one you.  AmI allowed to post my email address here?

I have worked with the “other Michelle”. They are all wonderful.

https://mei-travel.com/about-us/team

3 hours ago, alamode123 said:

Sharla and Annette at MEI have gone above and beyond and have gotten a vacation that at least I am happy with and at no extra cost to me. My daughters need some convincing, but I have 8 months to do so.

Were you able to find another Royal cruise? I am so sorry this happened!

I purchased almost everything for my April cruise on the Black Friday sale in a November.  The drink package was $41. I also booked excursions and never found a lower price.

The fall? I am glad they are so specific.....

42 minutes ago, KathyC aka KathLuvsGH said:

Adventure came up for the first time this summer, and will head back down south in the Fall.  She is currently only scheduled out until April 2020, and is still in Fort Lauderdale at that time. She moved up May 5th this year.  We used to have Explorer, so we'll have to see who they send when they announce the summer 2020 sailings.  But that's not a big enough ship for this area all by herself...our only other option is Celebrity Summit. 

Yes and Adventure is returning next summer too. I just don’t think they will go from two ships to none. 

2 hours ago, KathyC aka KathLuvsGH said:

If we had to wait for that one, we'd be stuck with nothing for way too long!  The new Quantum class is coming out in 2020, and Anthem is already scheduled here until April.  If it reports to Europe in June, then we have a tiny window without a ship.  Depending on when Q #5 is complete, hopefully she can come straight here. 

Do you think there would be a window without a ship? Currently doesn’t Adventure join Anthem?

Does an AAA agent watch your reservation an automatically re-book it at a lower price? I would not trade the amazing service I receive from my MEI agent for a bottle of champagne.

That happened with us. We had to go into the photo and rotate it and save it again.

I am not sure if I know how to post a link here but I used these directions

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/01/29/excursion-focus-junkanoo-beach

I took a screen shot and followed them and it was perfect!

5 hours ago, coneyraven said:

Here's @michelle --- she's the one you're looking for

I know you all work with Michelle from here but I must say “the other Michelle” is my TA and she has been pretty amazing too.

On 5/10/2018 at 4:45 PM, Nonna4 said:

Thank you everyone for your input, our boarding is at 12:00 but we will get to the Anthem earlier hopefully we can get on

I think we were very lucky when we boarded the Anthem in April. We arrived at the terminal around 11:15. We dropped off the luggage, parked the car and went to the terminal. As we entered we said “hello” to an employee standing right inside the door. She asked us “how many” and then sent us to a station with an iPad along the left wall. At that station they checked us in and stamped our set sail pass. This allowed us to skip the longer security line. The whole process of pulling into the terminal road to boarding the ship was less than 30 minutes? 

Thanks for the report! I am following along hoping to learn from your trip.

On 5/11/2018 at 9:07 PM, ctwilliams said:

Watching the ocean go by in 270 during the day on Anthem of The Seas...

When I read your comment I thought , “Yes!” Then I realized for me it may be, sitting at the bar, in 270, during the day while watching the ocean.

16 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Just checked and confirmed the limit on Anthem is $13. Not stated on the Cruise Planner, but I did find it in the fine print at the bottom of this PDF covering the "Brands on Tap", which was linked from the Cruise Planner page for the Deluxe Package.

 

A few drinks at Boleros were more than $13 but we were not charged the extra. I cannot remember if they were $14 or $15 but we were expecting an extra charge.

On 5/8/2018 at 12:47 PM, Matt said:

If you exceed the drink package allotment for a drink, you pay the difference.  

What is the maximum on Anthem? We thought we would have to pay the difference for a coconut strawberry daiquiri in Boleros, but there was no charge.

Thank you for this blog and answering my questions. I learn so much from your posts!

44 minutes ago, twangster said:

As @KathyC mentioned, they are very aware when dinner is and they schedule most shows with dinner in mind and vice versa.  They understand very well that delaying an appetizer means delaying an entree which delays dessert - this time management was discussed during the galley tour..   They know the entertainment schedule and they strive to be fully in tune with it.   They are not perfect and they deal with staff changes all the time, on top of guests challenges but in my opinion they do a great job to get you onto what ever your next experience is. 

On the Anthem my traditional dining was 8:15. The 7:00 headliner/production shows are all over by 8:00?

5 hours ago, twangster said:

Also for any future Adventure cruisers, here is a quick reference guide to key events, subject to change of course with the ship repositioning.

The subject of straws came up recently.  This was observed in the Behind the Scenes Galley tour.

Can I ask- I notice that the headliner shows are at 7 and 9. Is there traditional dining? What time are the seatings? Are the shows less than an hour?