karl_nj

I'm enjoying the emails i'm getting from Royal Carribean for my cruise tomorrow: tl;dr: Don't be late! Leave early! tl;dr: But don't arrive early! I'm not sure they can really have it both ways... In any case I'm actually kind of surprised that "last call" boarding time is 2pm, seems a little early.

Wow... well at least you tried. If you don't end up getting your diamond pin this time around, you can ask at the C&A desk on your next cruise and they will give it to you. Now you don't need to feel bad about giving any scores less than "10" on the survey.

Minors sign if they have charging privileges and order a drink have to pay for, so I don't see why they wouldn't sign a voucher one. I know I had way too much fun signing for virgin pina coladas and virgin strawberry daiquiris as a 12 year old on Norwegian Carribean Line's Skyward in the late 80's. Mom was a little upset when she saw the bar bill at the end of the cruise... lol

There are a few advantages for eastbound to westbound (again from the perspective of a North American) Little to no 'jetlag' when arriving in Europe. If you plan to spend a few days being a tourist in Europe, you are already mostly adjusted to the timezone and you can be productive on day 1. You aren't a zombie for the first day, as you are if you fly over on a redeye in coach. If you can take a car service/drive to the cruise port, fewer worries about having issues with flights and missing the cruise. Less stress about taking a COVID test away from home (but hopefully this will stop being a thing soon)

If I recall correctly "First Gen" Voyager class ships (Voyager, Explorer, Adventure) have metal sided balconies with no door so there is nothing to open. It might be possible on the 2nd gen ships (Navigator, Mariner) but I've never sailed on them so I can't say for sure. (QM2 has similar metal balconies, but they do have doors that can be opened) Radiance class ship balconies sort of look like they could open, but apparently, they don't. I'm not sure if they actually don't open, or if they just can't be locked in an open position, and it's more of a safety issue. I've been on other ships on other cruise lines where they open but don't "lock" and that was ok (at least at the time). You just sort of stick a deck chair there to keep it from flying shut. But with bad weather they might start to fly open/shut and something could break. As far as I can tell, the "real" reason these things open is to make "balcony cleaning day" easier for the crew. Making a 'mega balcony' like your photo is really just an awesome side effect. But it works out really well for me, especially when I can't get a connecting room.

Yes, you can ask your cabin steward about it. He doesn't have they key needed to open it, but he can usually find someone that does. On some ships it's not possible, but it is on Oasis class ships, like Symphony. If bad weather is predicted, the captain may tell the crew to keep them locked. I request this on most cruises, since we usually have 2 adjacent balcony cabins. I would say I'm able to get the opened about 90% of the time.

Ah, how funny. I think we were both on Oasis of the Seas for the October 24, 2021 sailing too. Ok thanks... I pulled up google maps in the satellite view and I see what you mean, much appreciated!

Well doesn't *everyone* in NJ have family in Miami they might want to visit? lol

No, they didn't *have* to have everyone disembark. This has been handled in other ways in the past (e.g. do it onboard, as they have done in Bar Harbor) Seems like someone in CBP in Miami decided that this was the way to handle it in this particular case.

Apparently it was "ok" to wait until noon to make your way off the ship, while keeping everyone else waiting outside....

These US "zero out the ship" rules are so crazy. In Europe Royal has cruises where you can embark/disembark at a selection of ports. On Transatlantic crossings on Cunard's QM2 from NYC to the UK, immigration officers from the UK board the ship with you in New York and you are assigned a (large) timeslot (at a reasonable time of day) to take care of all immigration formalities before you even leave the ship in Southhampton. There are so many better ways to handle these things.

We got to park in the garage last Christmas. I figured the "overflow lot" was only needed when they had Oasis + Another RCL ship + Celebrity Summit going out of Bayonne. But now aren't we back to just having Anthem sailing out of that port? So I'm a little surprised they are still using the overflow lot. Where is this overflow lot anyway? How far from the terminal is it? I'm boarding Anthem on Sunday.

I think after all of this you are allowed to vent a little... Yeah, after all of that I wouldn't have wanted to scoot over to the main C&A desk either (the one next door to Guest Relations). My recommendation would be to stop by the Diamond Lounge tomorrow morning or this afternoon. Play with the fancy coffee machine if you like coffee, and say hi to the Diamond Concierge. They will usually have office hours at various points during the day. It's listed on one of those sheets you didn't get because of the people that stole your room. Then you can sit down at his desk and give the quick version of your story, mention how you didn't get any of the papers you should have, etc. At minimum he should be able to give you the papers you missed. Often the pin comes later on during the cruise anyway, but he can confirm that. He can also make sure that C&A knows what room you are in, so you will get any more treats they may send to the room, etc. Since you missed your boarding day cookies and the can of water. On Wonder the office hours for the Diamond Concierge were 8am-11:30pm and 4:30pm to 8pm. Morning might be less busy than the afternoon.

Yeah... but they are in a sealed envelope with your name written on it... I think the response from the customer "service" desk is the *really* crazy part of the story.

That story about the family in your cabin is so crazy! You said parking was an issue too? Are they still having people park in a lot and not in the garage?

But you didn’t pay for the cup. You paid for a drink package that gave you access to beverages during a specific time period, no? You had a right to use that cup during that period.

Along the same lines, one could also ask why it's ok for a foreign flagged ship to do a repositioning cruise from NYC to Puerto Rico, but not from NYC to Miami.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like there was a choice. Just trying to say there may be a bright side to the situation—quicker disembarkation for all back in NJ.

Usually it's less of an issue, because at a port like Bar Harbor, most people want to wake up and visit the port. In fact, people are usually annoyed because they wanted to get an earlier start on the day (not sleep in) and they have to get on a line and walk by a CBP officer while holding up their passport. Then they can get their tender ticket and start their day. If one was planning on staying onboard in Miami and have a nice pseudo-sea day, I could certainly see this being quite annoying. I guess now it makes sense why on every NYC to Bahamas cruise with a stop at Port Canaveral, Florida is always the first stop. No matter what cruise line.

Is Miami the last port? If so, you may not need to do Immigration when you get back to NJ. Not that it's a big deal in Port Liberty anymore, since they use the facial scanners there these days.

Yes, I would agree with you there. I think Quantum class has the best solarium out of any cruise ship, on any cruise line. Especially for sailing out of a cold weather port. I also love how they also have a separate indoor pool that is open to younger passengers (less of an issue for you.) I'm not sure any of the Solariums on Celebrity are as nice. Music Hall is also a great venue on Quantum class ships. On Oasis class ships they rebranded a different space as Music Hall, but it doesn't work as well as it does on Quantum Class ships. Since Celebrity Edge is a smaller ship, they have fewer bars onboard. Quantum class ships have the Pub, Boleros, Schooner Bar, Music Hall (each with a different musical perfomer/band), Vintages. Plus a bar at Two70, Casino Bar, Bionic Bar. Edge really has 2-3 indoor bars... the big Martini Bar in the middle and Eden in the back. There is also a bar in "The Club" but it didn't seem like much was going on there. If you want a drink and to listen to a live performer, you pretty much only have 2 options. Sounds great! When I had my JS on Anthem, we were traveling with others that were not in a JS, so we didn't try CK. Celebrity does have some cabin classes that include a 'special' dining room. There is a suite restaurant, but there is also a dining room for Aquaclass guests, which are just balcony cabins that cost a little more. Yes, I totally agree that breakfast in Two70 on Anthem is wonderful. Even if sometimes they don't heat though the breakfast sandwiches as much as they should. The view (and it being pretty empty) makes up for it. I'm planning on having breakfast there often next week when i'm on Anthem! They have something similar in Eden on Edge, but it didn't seem quite the same to me.

I'm not Jewish, so hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong. My understanding is that pre-packaged kosher meals are generally available all cruise lines. You need to request this before the sailing. These are prepared in a kosher facility off the ship, frozen, heated while still in the packaging, and brought to the table all wrapped up. Sealed paper plates and plastic cutlery are provided. So even compared to MDR mass cooked banquet food, it's not exactly fine dining. More like food you would get on an airplane. This doesn't sound super appealing. Being Lutheran, I don't claim to know anything about the details of keeping kosher, but some people I have talked to are OK with just sticking to the vegetarian/vegan menu on the ship. Not everyone is OK with this solution, either because they want to be able to eat meat or because they don't feel it's OK from a religious POV (or both). The appeal of these special sailings mentioned earlier is around getting fresh cooked kosher food. In the past I've heard about full/partial ship charters where kosher food is available, so it's interesting that RCL has figured out a way to basically create their own version of this.

Ah yes, you are correct. For some reason I though both were built at Meyer Werft in Germany. Must have confused Edge with a different ship.

I'm hoping to do an Alaska cruise within the next few years, and I'm leaning towards booking it on Princess. I've read that both Princess and HAL are great for Alaska, but I think Princess would be better for families.

I don’t believe that has any factor on if duty is due on return to the US. Buying in a duty free shop just avoids paying any taxes in the country where you buy the product.