twangster

Losing the 1/2 bathroom is a factor.  

No Suite Lounge on Anthem, but there is a Concierge Lounge and a nice one with aft views.  However it is a walk from the elevators to the aft CL.

Better chance of CK reservations in a GS over a JS (that gets what's available after suites and pinnacles book it up).   If there is a low pinnacle count on that sailing you may end up okay with JS access to CK, but if it's pinnacle heavy you may just get one or two nights in there at odd hours.  

Keep in mind with RoyalUp there may be no GS actually available.  They may accept bids just in case someone cancels last minute so don't count on it.

How will you be arriving to the cruise terminal?

No challenge really unless you didn't know about it and ask your driver or cab to take you to the Old San Juan pier.  

It was like any other drop off and check in experience. 

I suppose if you have never cruised before there may be some unknowns but if you have ever cruised before from any port it's pretty much the same process.

6 minutes ago, jce2 said:

Watching your videos I am beginning to think I might have made a mistake....Alaska is #1 on my bucket list, so when it came time to finally book my own Alaska cruise I pulled out all the stops and splurged, spending the extra bucks to get the corner aft balcony room.....now perhaps I am overthinking this but it seems to me there would be a greater chance of seeing aquatic activity from a normal "side" balcony than from the aft as off to the sides is seas relatively undisturbed by the ship while to the aft is water being actively disturbed by the ship and therefore may be lacking in aquatic activity....hopefully I am wrong as everything else about the aft balcony seems to be a plus (room for 4 chairs!!)

 

There is marine life all over.  Who knows what someone on the other side or on the aft was able to see that I missed.  

This is one of the reasons why on an Alaskan cruise I often spend time on the top decks or down low on outer decks like deck 4 or 5 (depending on ship) moving around the ship.  Even then some of these sightings require luck and for you to be in the right place at the right time.

Curious - are the grandkids Diamond members?   It would be odd for Diamond members to be turned away regardless of age.  

Only the newer ships have outlets near the bed.  They've yet to retrofit outlets due to the effort involved with running new circuits and wiring.  It could be done but for the tens of millions involved so far they have decided to put that money into new features in public areas.

Following!

I believe you will get the perks such as JR meal for boardwalk or bottle of wine with central park.

So far the only known perk that doesn't seem to come through RoyalUP is the extra C&A points when you upgrade from non-suite to suite, although some have reported success with that.

2 hours ago, monorailmedic said:

I understand folks' knee-jerk reactions to this, but I've done multiple crossings, been around many storms, etc - never were the conditions rough in a way that I felt it would be harder to write, which seems a reasonable way to gauge how the affect would be tattooing.

I think the bigger impact of tattooing is the whole "don't go in the water" for a while aspect.  No hot tubs, no pools, no ocean, etc.

As you indicate, motion usually isn't like that most of the time.  Any ship can experience some swell that causes shows to be postponed, etc, but most days motion wouldn't impact these activities. No regerts.  

1 hour ago, WannaCruise said:

Our full day on Anthem in March is $105 CAD.  That's quite pricey for a family of four.

Still a lot cheaper than a family of four going to Atlantis in Nassau.  

Truth is there is quite a bit to do on CocoCay without the water park.  Oasis Lagoon pool is included, beach is included, most food is included.  

On 5/25/2019 at 7:03 PM, Tom Fields said:

Maybe Cococay is so successful right now they don't need to offer half-day passes as long as the full day access is selling well. 

I think there is some truth to this.  I'm thinking the half-day passes weren't popular, too hard to plan a day around them, easier just to do full day passes.

Both ships the same Lirica class.  Perhaps the reverse gear has an issue in this class.

Two azipods as opposed to conventional propeller shaft.

Someone has some explaining to do... 

1 hour ago, Phillo said:

On top of this... they also track how much stock is left in their store rooms per cruise.   Depending on the length of the sailing and the ports they visit will determine their ability to restock.

On a cruise I did in the past (not with RCI) the kitchen chef said that on certain pacific island cruises, they ports they visit are NOT suitable for restocking mid cruise.  So they have to plan around a 12 - 14 day itinerary and have ALL stock available on board. If they want to use fresh ingredients, these are usually served at the beginning of the cruise.  Items that they have frozen will be back loaded.  The logistics of stocking cruise kitchens are just phenomenal.

Royal ships often don't restock mid-cruise, they've built their cold storage to keep enough for most voyages.

During hurricane season in the Caribbean they maintain over two weeks of cold storage food on the ship.  Fresh fruit and perishables don't last over two weeks so those turn over on a different timeframe.

If a hurricane forces a diversion they can sail for over two weeks and not run out of food although fresh fruit may be replaced with canned varieties.  This occurs on transatlantics and transpacific crossings sometimes.  Try ordering a Mojito on day 13 and you may be told no fresh mint available.   

I was sailing in the Caribbean out of Florida when a sister ship pulled up beside us in St Maarten arriving on a crossing from Europe.  The ship's traded supplies.  Our ship took several boxes of paper in exchange for some of our fresh fruit so guests on that ship could once again enjoy fresh fruit and mint in the Mojitos before their arrival two days later in Miami.

57 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

We do have a luggage scale I bought before our sailing on Freedom last year. Packing for 10 nights, we had one suitcase come in around 48 lbs IIRC, the rest around 45 or so.

I’m kind of resigned to going over the limit with two weeks of stuff to pack that has to allow for a variety of weather conditions. Fortunately I only have one flight to deal with, and I’m hoping it’ll be on a European line that either has a higher limit or allows two checked bags per person.

International sometimes has 70lb limits.   Check each carrier.  

3 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I'm following along.  I love the idea of packing cubes and own so many of them of all shapes and sizes.  However, except the very small ones, I never use them.  I just don't think they pack quite right in my suitcases.  I feel I can get more stuff in by rolling my clothes and placing in my suitcase rather than using my packing cubes.

Little ones are good for USB charging cables, small electrical adapters, SD cards and such.

@Pippa_OceanTime is a packing cube fan.

Two debarks in Vancouver coming off Alaska cruises (US) have been super easy.  

On Radiance last year I documented my Vancouver debark experience here (and the post after it):

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/9160-not-so-live-blog-radiance-of-the-seas-alaska-southbound-83118/&do=findComment&comment=83951

My understanding for Ovation when it arrived from Hawaii this past month it was a little chaotic.  Maybe the volume of guests and luggage?   As I approach to check in (I was embarking) guests with luggage were coming off which I suspect were self-assist.  I think self -assist was more of a normal experience but the tagged luggage process became a mess due to the shear volume of luggage that a small terminal couldn't handle as well.  

USB hubs or power stations do not appear on the banned list and I've had success bring one on numerous cruises.  

Some ships are going with pre-punched SeaPass cards.  Navigator and Ovation for example,  Ovation uses RFID so it's kind of cool those cards can use standard lanyards.   

That is one of the names that Royal has trade marked, among others.  In the past though names have been trade marked but never used, yet, so it's anyone's guess.

It happens.  Not ideal but it occurs enough they have procedures in place to handle it.  

Update:  Money received, my epic insurance experience is over.  

My remaining 2019 cruises have insurance from another carrier purchased on a per cruise basis (no annual policy).   I still have some coverage from Allianz.

I still believe in insurance for the unexpected.  

Biggest lesson learned - don't fly in the day of the cruise.  That wasn't an option this time and I thought it would be okay given a short flight to Houston.  What could go wrong?   The best outcome would have been to take the cruise, so fly in the day before.

Found a video that got lost for a bit.

Day 4 before our arrival into Icy Strait Point.  Having breakfast on my balcony when this happens...

Dall's Porpoises.  

17 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

...and I did not have access to CK ...

Like that's ever going to happen.  :) 

Just now, Yo2slick said:

Ive seen people say that the UBP doesnt work on port days....is that just referring to being off the ship?

They mean when off the ship somewhere other than Royal's own private destinations of CocoCay and Labadee. 

For example in Cozumel.  Leave the ship and walk into a bar, you pay just like a local. 

At Royal private destinations the DX package works and always on the ship it works regardless of the port you are visiting.  

China is a very different market with vastly different consumer purchasing trends compared to the West.  

Without direct participation from previous guests in that region there is less information to go on here in these boards.

36 minutes ago, jce2 said:

Might i ask...How big is it?

 

Roughly 3 1/2" in diameter.