twangster

Kind of figured it wasn't quite ready. I'm not surprised. I can see them wanting a ship, any ship, to try it before an Oasis class does. Allure is on 11/4 so Mariner on 10/29 will be a nice dress rehearsal to practice for Allure with twice as many passengers.

I think so. Norwegian Bliss just visited Vancouver for the first time and had to time its pass under the Lions Gate bridge to occur at low tide. Sort of opposite - it needed low tide so as not to hit the bridge because of its height, but same concept - tides matter, bridge crews pay attention to this stuff.

Rumors? Lots of rumors and guesses. My expectation is that certain areas or activities may finish early (or late). As they become available Royal will start making them bookable. When exactly enough is done to call everything complete is anyone's guess. The new over water cabanas for example, may not be done by 'X' date but the water slide and helium ballon and zip line may be. A certain amount of Perfect Day involves the area of the lagoon that is currently the tendering harbor. The new pier is supposed to complete in 2018 so once it does then the lagoon area can be re-purposed into its future Perfect Day role. It's possible that may be done by April so areas like that may be available for your cruise. The truth is it's the islands and few projects complete on time in the islands. We can all speculate but only time will tell.

When my travel agent has given me a free spa session or free specialty dining I've received calls while on board reminding me that I have it. Good thing too, I forgot once which cruise had it and while on Serenade they called to remind me around mid-cruise I hadn't used it yet. I had totally forgotten I had it.

NOAA has a tidal predication webpage. For Miami March 10 through 30: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions.html?id=8723170&units=standard&bdate=20190310&edate=20190330&timezone=LST/LDT&clock=12hour&datum=MLLW&interval=hilo&action=dailychart You can see a distinct change in tides forecasted beginning Mar. 18 through the 26th. Peak high/low is around Mar 21-23. Smaller ships with less draft can likely remain with their safety margins but the largest cruise ship in the world has to be more careful and time it's approach to occur away from low tide.

Every so often there are super high tides and super low tides, beyond the normal high-low cycle. Tides are influenced by the moon and science can predict some of these things well in advance. Miami does have a very narrow channel that ships must sail within to approach the entrance to the port. In this aerial view from Apple Maps you can see the channel that ships have to stay within to reach the port. An ultra-low tide could very well make this passage exceed safety margins. The navigation channel is the dark line through water with the arrow pointing to it.

Presumably sometime after Royal begins offering 2020 cruises past May ? I'm also presuming even Matt answers to a higher power, such as Moms of the Seas, so I can't imagine its as simple as just picking a date the day Royal opens cruises for booking.

Ships shops and casino close in virtually all ports because a ship is subject to local laws while within the territorial waters of any given country. Some countries ban gambling while others require a gaming license, or the local casinos don't want the competition so it becomes unattractive for a ship to operate it's casino while in port. In some ports there are exceptions in the evenings when land casinos have closed for the day and only then may a ship operate it's casino while in port. To avoid having to pay local taxes and be subject to other retail laws the shops on board the ship will typically be closed while in port. Shops will typically have open hours when the ship is in international water only. Entertainment isn't 'closed' in port, but in many cases entertainment is scheduled by the ship for when all guests would be on board. Entertainment isn't typically subject to local laws in port, it just doesn't make sense to offer entertainment when guests won't be on board to enjoy it. Activities such as water slides, zip lines, flowriders, etc. will be open at certain times again reflecting that operating these activities when few guests are on board doesn't make sense so they tend to be open at specific times closer to when some guests are beginning to return to the ship such as mid-afternoon. Cruise compasses from past guests will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of when the shops and casino may be open or closed. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=1071

I'm flying in the day before due to work constraints but sounds like a great idea. I'm still getting over the envy from you having done Symphony twice while many us haven't yet been once. ?

Star Class suites are often available early but often Sky Class follows the ship (at least on Oasis class, I haven't done sky class on Anthem)

Great photos! Looks wonderful!

Worst case - as soon as you board head to Boleros one deck down using the circular staircase right in front of you after stepping onto the ship. There you will find the box office staff in a temporary setup to book exactly these types of reservations. On a B2B in December I was first in line at Boleros and got all my reservations when they never showed up despite daily checking before sailing.

Specialty Restaurants tend to have more square tables because like a land restaurant it allows them to create longer tables for larger groups when needed but then smaller tables when needed. Hibachi has round tables? I've only seen square or rectangular around the cook.

Truth is I sail often in an interior cabin. Super Mario has over 7,500 points in the Crown and Anchor system. He lives on ships and he chooses interior cabins. Some people jokingly say once you've had a balcony or a suite you can't go back but I have and do all the time. I've had suites and they are great but that isn't what makes the cruise. My worst Royal cruise was in a junior suite. Don't ever feel you are missing out because you don't have a suite.

I'm pretty sure your kids are blocked from Alaska for the same different reasons.

I somewhat surprised you didn't get an email from the Suite Concierge. Maybe it's coming in a day or two. Feel free to reply to the concierge email with any questions and reservation requests. Anthem doesn't have a dedicated Suite Lounge like Oasis class so the 11am-11pm drinks don't happen on Anthem. There is a Concierge Lounge that Suite guests can use (also Diamond Plus and Pinnacle) that has evening happy hours. The Concierge Lounge is all the way aft on deck 12. And I mean allllll.... theeeeee...... wayyyyyyy aft. If you are all the way aft on another deck you'll burn a few hundred calories walking to the lounge as you have to go forward to the mid-ship stairs/elevators then all the back to the lounge.

See this post They haven't changed that I'm aware of.

Enchantment has dedicated Diamond and Concierge Lounges that are in the Viking Crown area but only occupy a small space leaving much of it available for anyone. It may at times have private functions such as a wedding that occurred on my recent cruise on her.

You can review the cruise compass from past guests here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=277 That will give you an idea what to expect including when the 70's party is typically held.

Here is a blog post that is a few years old now but contains great information for first timers: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/02/28/first-time-cruisers-what-you-need-know-about-taking-royal-caribbean-cruise You've picked a great ship and recently refreshed. Indy is considered a 'Freedom" class ship. Freedom of the Seas was the first. Liberty is the third sister ship in this class. They are widely popular and based off the previous class called "Voyager' class. These are the ships that really revolutionized cruising and set Royal apart. There is a lot going on and the Promenade at times is the heart of the ship. Watch for 70's and other parties there. There is an ice skating rink on board that features an ice show that is typically worth making a point to see. The main theater will have a broadway show plus other entertainment - it's all included. Every day a daily newsletter or guide will be left in your cabin with all things that are going on around the ship listed. You can see a preview of what your cruise compass might be like here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=276 The ones posted here are from past guests so your sailing may not be exactly the same but it will give you an idea of what to expect.

I never left. I did drop 10 cruises with Royal but Royal still has a great product, I've said that before. I do plan to spread my money better going forward, Carnival Horizon and Vista - gotta love decent beer at sea and moves me one away from platinum. I have some CUCs left over so Sky to Cuba - at least their old product is cheap with free booze. I don't mind sailing a run down ship if I'm paying a run down ship price. Enchantment isn't priced that way but should be. Empress is in much better shape yet a JS on Empress is cheaper than a JS on Enchantment. Enchantment would make a fine artificial reef somewhere. Bliss is calling my name (go-karts at sea) and it's easier and cheaper to hit the West coast from home. Oasis fresh off a refurb at 60% the cost of Symphony is hard to pass up.

I checked a cruise compass from a recent 3 night cruise and it also featured both 70's and 80's party. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=279

Well, I booked Oasis for 11/24/19, one of the first sailings after she returns to Miami from Europe. So far the transatlantic westbound is not supposed to have guests and it's rumored will be used to complete finishing touches. This might be one of the first cruises post-AMPED.

Very likely. Quantum class and Harmony has had these for years. Now Mariner. Self help excursions with one or two employees to float around and assist compared to a queue like at guest services. Makes a lot of sense. Mariner's new Shore Excursion area:

Royal runs different promos and sales that can vary sometimes week to week. It's possible at one point OBC was part of a promo but then a few days later a BOGO came along that didn't include OBC.