bhageerah

I am far from being a water snob but I will have to say that it is actually pretty good to me. The wife did not want to go the YETI route the last few cruises but after she saw the ease of it all, she quickly became a fan.

Even before they changed their policy I carried water onboard. I figured that the $2.99 for the water was worth the experiment the first time I tried it, we had seen people with it on our first cruise. I carried it on, and put it in a rolling suitcase and rolled it around with us without any problems. Up until recently we would carry a case of water, we currently just carry a YETI and make sure that it gets filled. We don't need a specific brand, or have any allergies so it simply works for us, and have found that it is MUCH lighter and easier to carry onboard.

I have no ill will against Nassau, but out of the Bahamas ports my favorite stop is CocoCay, we cruise in March and am looking forward to the stop there, I can assure you that when we stop in Nassau this time we will be staying onboard Anthem (for the first time) and enjoying everything that she has to offer. My only issue with Nassau is that too much stuff is tied into Atlantis and its way too expensive because of that. We have been to Nassau at least 5 times already so we have more than enough souvenirs, and are looking forward to being able to relax with fewer people on the ship! ?

I did this and will advise you to do some more research, as there are only a few rental car companies that are near the cruise terminal. I wish I could tell you who we used but it has been several years and I am currently suffering from an episode of CRS. I want to say we used Budget but like I said I honestly can not remember, it was pretty easy and went extremely well. When we dropped the car off we were on a tight schedule because we were meeting another group of people. We dropped the car off and took the shuttle to the terminal. We used another company on the return trip that had an office outside of the terminal, and had an office in the airport.

No more cruises!!!!?? That is absolute torture! We have one booked for March, we normally take two per year, and having to wait so long between cruises is absolutely killing me! I don't know what I would do if wifey said no more! And good luck! Let us know if she changed her mind!!!

ABSOLUTELY!! Alaska was the most expensive cruise EVER, but I will say that it was worth every cent. Wait until you have booked your cruise and are able to access the cruise compass and are able to see the prices for shore excursions...... just make sure that you are sitting down!!!? That being said, I knew that I was going to enjoy it but did not realize that I would enjoy it as much as I did and look forward to my next Alaskan cruise.

My pleasure please enjoy and have fun! It was the absolute best cruise I have been on and can not wait to go back. You will have a great time!

I would say absolutely! We were not star class and made it off the ship in no time once we were docked. Unless the boat is delayed in docking an hour and a half should not be any issue whatsoever! Once the boat was docked we were off the ship in less than 20 minutes, and the ship was practically full, there was a small line getting off the ship but that was about it!

I have not had one issue with camera battery chargers, I use Nikon D200 as well as a action camera and usually carry my chargers in my carry on. Have yet to have a issue, and honestly don't think that I will.

I take a host of medications/supplements due to various health conditions, and have them portioned out into pill cases because it makes no sense to carry around all those bottles. I have not had one problem with using the bottles. Although a word to the wise if you do have anything that can be classified as "questionable" (opiates, or meds that get sold on the street") I would bring the bottle that way if you are questioned you have some proof.

Got the offer for an upgrade on our cruise on Anthem leaving NJ on 30Mar19, it is a 7 day Bahamas going to Cape Canaveral, Nassau, and CocoCay. We currently have a Jr Suite and have been offered to bid for an upgrade for the following prices.... Royal Loft $2300pp Upper Loft $1500pp Sky Loft $700 Owners Suite $500pp Grand Suite $350pp I may bid on a Grand Suite but I am a little afraid, if I win it I know that I will be spoiled for life and a simple balcony room or Jr Suite just won't cut it anymore!!?

Nasau is ok, have no issue going there but as most have said that is the day that I usually am like @RatedPG and the wife and I sleep in that day for sure. If we do get off we do a little shopping and hop right back on. If we have the kids we will go to cabbage beach for a bit and come back but for the most part we stay on the ship. We agree with most here from the fact that quite a few cruises go there and have been there quite a bit, to the fact that most of everything goes through Atlantis and is way too expensive for what you get. I enjoy the island but after being there so many times we prefer to just enjoy the time on the ship and the fact that the ship is not as crowded. We will be going there next March for the 5th time. We will get off the next time when we are with the kids so they can experience the island, but that is it. If they would have more to do we would be more than happy to get off and do something but Atlantis doesn't hold much attraction and especially at the prices. We already have a seasons pass to go to the local water park which is much larger than what they have there so it does not hold much attraction to any of us.

That is a myth, done it on several cruises. What happens at the terminal and what they say are two completely different things. If my memory serves me right they have even recently made it official and said that you can bring on water as long as it was a reasonable amount, once again if my memory serves me correctly the amount was about a case or so. I remember reading about it somewhere on the blog........

I have gone both ways, I have taken my water onboard and for the past few cruises I have made it MUCH easier on myself and just thrown a stainless steel vacuum sealed bottle (such as YETI or the generic Walmart version) in my backpack and filled it several places onboard. There are more than enough places to get ice and water, even on the smallest ship we have been on (Majesty of the Seas) there were several places to fill it rather easily. The only catch is that you can not put your bottle directly underneath the fill station for understandable sanitary reasons, so you have to use a clean cup to fill whatever you bring with you. I say that because if you do decide to go this route you want something that has a wide enough mouth to pour water into without making a complete mess!?

Been on Oasis twice and both times we really did not have to wait in very many lines, both times were during spring break and the ship was pretty much sold slam out both times. We only had to wait for an elevator a few times, and that was during peak hours. Pool was fine, getting on and off was good, about the only times we really had issues were the times that you would expect to have lines( such as port days and getting off right at the peak time or showing up for lunch right at 12-1230 after those times it died down so we would adjust our eating times accordingly so we missed the peak times. We either ate before the crowd or after, and had no issues! As has already been stated it is what you make it! Don't expect perfection and you will not be disappointed, expect to have good vacation and have great time and you won't be disappointed. As we say at work, just adapt and overcome!?

More cruises/ships leaving from Baltimore would bring a tear in this guys eye! Baltimore is less than a 4 hour drive from our doorstep and would be extremely welcome! About the only thing that would be unwelcome would be I95 traffic around NOVA& DC!

I have to third the beach bungalow.....only thing I regret is that the stay wasn't longer so we could enjoy it longer! Some of the best money I spent on the cruise! Well worth every cent! ?

I only have about 8 cruises on RCCL and I have only had one excursion cancellation. It was in Cozumel and we had a snorkeling excursion planned, unfortunately there was a thunderstorm rolling in so we had to change to something else. We have done an excursion in almost every port on every cruise so I have to agree with @twangster that it is not the norm.

Congratulations! I know I would have been freaking out! As active as I am, my life is on my phone and it has become an invaluable asset. Glad you got it back!

We usually head to the Windjammer and grab a quick meal. We are usually there right around the time that they start letting people onboard so it usually isn't that crowded. After that we start walking around and getting our bearings in relation to where our room is. From that point we are just like @arebee and whatever!!

Others may have other ideas but, we have brought a small travel safe to use. We only take what we need off the ship in a bag and keep the valuables in the safe. It is not sturdy enough to keep someone that is completely intent on robbing you from the items but it works well enough to keep you from being robbed while you are in the water. It features a lock and a cable that you can wrap around your chair or something else to keep it from "walking away" while you are in the water. Its fairly cheap and is just enough to keep our cell phone, passports, a few cards and some cash. I secure it to the chair and cover it with the bag so it is not too obvious. You can use it on the ship if you like but we honestly do not carry anything other than our sea pass card if we are going to the hot tub or pool since that is all you will need onboard.

Thanks for that tip! Never would have though about doing one of the last of the season....makes perfectly good sense!!

I have to agree! I have been to quite few Caribbean islands and I still have my favorites but so far to date the Alaskan cruise we have been on has been my absolute favorite! We am absolutely amazed at the beauty and am looking forward to going back!!! What I find absolutely amazing is that even though I managed to take some absolutely beautiful pictures I feel that they really did not capture the true beauty of that place!

That is good news to me! We are booked to sail from the same port next March, God how I wish they could change our itinerary to this one! We always prefer CocoCay over Nassau, and two days there would be absolutely heavenly! Its one of our favorites and we hate leaving at the end of the day. Now that I see that they will be offering cruises with two days there I can safely say that it won't be the last time we sail out of Cape Liberty!!!

We end up sailing almost every year during spring break, have been on many different classes of ships and it has never been too bad, been twice on an Oasis class and it was not a problem whatsoever! You will still have a great time!