PrincipalTinker

Bayonne tip:
Other people in the FB group reported Uber/Lyft prices in the $50-58 range to EWR.  Those 1st off snagged it for $12.  My brief delay caused me to pay $21 but that's a lot better than those 30 minutes or an hour after me.  
It pays (or saves) to get off early.  

Despite the fog we arrived on time.  Shortly after 6am I headed downstairs to the theater and the self assist area.

The theater upper level filled up and it was pretty crowded.  Around 6:45am they started letting us off.  I thought I was doing well and had only a brief wait for a customs officer.  Unfortunately someone with my name apparently has a protection order against them and it 'won' me a trip into secondary screening.  After 10 minutes they cleared me and let me exit.
By this time the ride sharing waiting area was pretty busy with a lot of people hailing rides.  I had to wait just under 20 minutes for my Lyft to show up.  Both Uber and Lyft were showing ~$21 to Newark airport. 

At 8am I was in the security line at EWR where they had one agent checking ID and one screening lane open for all passengers - so much for Pre.  35 minutes later I was in the Sky Club eating breakfast.

Day 5 - Afternoon
I found the ice cream station on the pool deck, forward, port side:

It had rained a good part of the day and the water was a little choppy but the ship handled it well.  Late afternoon that changed.  The water become calm and fog moved in.

They added a few watch officers to the bridge wings and the fog horn sounded every two minutes.  Our speed dropped to single digits.

I attended another show in the main theater with the Royal Caribbean dancers but I missed the juggler.  Since I had only a small carry on bag I didn't pack until morning which came awfully quickly.  I awoke to a foggy NY harbor.

Lady Liberty in the distance as we backed into the slip at Cape Liberty.

I didn't attend all of the main theater shows but the cruise compass for all of them states "All shows in the theater are approximately 50 minutes"

Well then, here is the full list of other "Common Drinks", Royal Caribbean style:

I noted that on Anthem the Voom technician could not fix my issues and told me my WiFi issues were due to me upgrading to iOS 11.3. The WiFi randomly dropped or had no service at all.

Day 5 - Galley Tour
We start the tour on deck 3 in the lobby area where you would check in for dinner at the MDR.  From there our group of about 16 heads to the deck 4 galley.  Behind the divider that blocks the galley from the seating area they have a bulletin board and several notices and tips such as how to tie an apron or the proper way to push a trolley.  My eyes went straight to the "Drink of the Day" guide for crew:





Now you know how to make your favorite DoTD!
They had another section with 24 common drinks including the Slushy Coco Loco.  I always wondered what's in a Coco Loco.

Day 4 Dinner

I went back to the MDR where the Rack of Lamb was very good.
After dinner I strolled around the ship and then checked out the main theater where "Rock of the Ages" was playing.


Later I found myself at Boleros where they had a Latin band playing who were very good.
Right after I took this photo this area filled with people dancing.



Around 10pm I headed to Studio B for the 80's Flashback party and it was packed.

When you see yourself in twangsters photos but did not realize he was twangster ?

Here are some other Promenade photos taken while in the neighborhood:

Izumi is a new addition to the ship added during the February 2018 dry dock.

Pub Crawl!
There are a large number of RCPeriscopers and folks that joined a FB group cruise page.  One of the events was a pub crawl which basically means 50 to 60 people descending on a bar at once (swarming) before moving onto the next bar and so on.  Stops included the Schooner Bar, Champagne Bar, The Pub and the Sky Bar. 

This balcony is not as deep as my last balcony on Serenade.  Sitting down you definitely feel like you are in a cave.

Leaning against the railing doesn't feel unnatural.


Looking down the life boats stick out ever so slightly but you still have great views down to the water.

Since I was up here I went into the Viking Crown Lounge

Even the Diamond Lounge seems like it was refreshed during the dry dock:


Since I was here I checked out the day 3 dinner menu.  They always have it the Diamond Lounge.

Heading aft JR remains in the same place:

Ping pong tables:

Adventure Dunes starts on deck 13 and ends on deck 12.


Heading up past the flow rider you can see how Adventure Dunes plays from the upper deck to the lower deck:

The pool deck area in the daylight. 

The new kids water park:


You can see where they placed the new deck 12 cabins in the panoramic ocean view cabins.  The jogging track was re-routed around the solarium open ceiling and you can see the color difference where the new jogging track meets the old jogging track.


The new cabins created a new St Tropez sun deck much like on the Freedom class that have received the new cabins in this area.  Just like Liberty they have installed glass dividers to break the wind in this area.  On Freedom this area was more open.

The view of the solarium from St Tropez.


I couldn't go into the new cabins since they are occupied (I saw people in them from the helipad on day one) but the hallways in this area smell and look new as you would expect.


 

Adventure Ocean entrance and arcade game area



 

Giovanni's

Windjammer in the morning:

They have a different style of hand washing stations leading into the WJ on both sides.  They feature air blowers built into the 'wings' on the faucet so you don't need paper towels.  Works well. 






The WJ bar:

Great views aft:


 

Following dinner I wandered around the ship taking advantage of diamond happy hour drinks since I didn't purchase the drink package.  The Captain's address in the Promenade at 8:00 was well attended (maybe it's the free sparkling wine).  The ship band was there to entertain us while we waited for the Captain.


To the pub then the Schooner Bar for live music.  I finally met @mpoole3 and a few others.  He had a friend he cruised with to Cuba who let us into the Suite Lounge so we could take a few pictures.


Absent of Coastal Kitchen it reminds me of an Oasis class suite lounge a little bit.

Since we were up on deck 14 we checked out the silent disco which was very busy.


Returning to the cabin I discovered a gift waiting for me.  This is my first cruise as a Diamond Plus and it was a Crown and Anchor beach towel.

Day 2 Evening - Formal Night
Dinner Menu:

Thanks all... it sounds like this is the “special” for me!
Jon

Matt wrote about this in April on the main blog. Not new news.
I also don't see how this is really a "punishment", considering this is still for cancellations made after the final payment date; cancel before final payment and you still get 100% back (less any NRD and associated change fees). And I don't see anything (here or in Matt's original posting) indicating that you forfeit that money if you have trip insurance, which I would hope a person would invest in if they think there is any risk of having to cancel after final payment because of an emergency or other problem.
To me, this is Royal taking another step to deal with the people who have gamed the system, booking a half-dozen cruises in the same short span of time and then canceling all but one or two of them a couple of months or weeks before sail date, when they have decided which ones they really want to take or which ones have the best flights or whatever. If you want to blame anyone, blame those people who collectively were probably costing Royal a fair bit of money between the last-minute cancellations and then having to fire-sale the vacant rooms so the ship would still sail full.

I just checked mine just now and it shows 0 points and Pre-Gold also.  Yet on the past cruise tab it has my cruises and points listed. 

Mine says 0 points and Pre Gold status today on the newer website.   Although logging into the old site shows the correct balance.   It's a good thing the ships service is better than the website and app.