karl_nj

I just took my first cruise as Diamond, on Wonder of the Seas.  We sailed out of "Rome" (Civitavecchia), which turned out to be the "alternate" embarkation port.  The "main" embarkation port was Barcelona.  This caused a few issues:
1) The app did not work for people boarding in Rome, so you couldn't book entertainment yourself
2) Entertainment could only be booked for the first half of the cruise; the 2nd half couldn't be booked until Barcelona boarding day
On our boarding day we were able to get booked for some shows in the first half of the week, and they wrote down our selections for the 2nd half of the week on a piece of paper.  The staff told us they would put in our other requests on Barcelona boarding day.
Turns out, they didn't.  Luckily, we had been talking with the Diamond Lounge concierge earlier, and he recommended we check back with him to make sure we were booked into the adult comedy club slot we wanted.  He was able to fix it for us, but it was a close call.
I also had some issues with Diamond drinks not posting to my account correctly, and he was able to quickly resolve those too.
So I would say that the perk I didn't think I would have any need for but turned out to be a huge help was the Diamond Lounge concierge.  At least for this cruise where I wasn't able to use the app.

I just took my first cruise as Diamond, on Wonder of the Seas.  We sailed out of "Rome" (Civitavecchia), which turned out to be the "alternate" embarkation port.  The "main" embarkation port was Barcelona.  This caused a few issues:
1) The app did not work for people boarding in Rome, so you couldn't book entertainment yourself
2) Entertainment could only be booked for the first half of the cruise; the 2nd half couldn't be booked until Barcelona boarding day
On our boarding day we were able to get booked for some shows in the first half of the week, and they wrote down our selections for the 2nd half of the week on a piece of paper.  The staff told us they would put in our other requests on Barcelona boarding day.
Turns out, they didn't.  Luckily, we had been talking with the Diamond Lounge concierge earlier, and he recommended we check back with him to make sure we were booked into the adult comedy club slot we wanted.  He was able to fix it for us, but it was a close call.
I also had some issues with Diamond drinks not posting to my account correctly, and he was able to quickly resolve those too.
So I would say that the perk I didn't think I would have any need for but turned out to be a huge help was the Diamond Lounge concierge.  At least for this cruise where I wasn't able to use the app.

45 DAYS OUT
Didn't sleep great last night, got up early for work, which worked out in our favor because I was able to secure a 10:30am check-in time!

I just took my first cruise as Diamond, on Wonder of the Seas.  We sailed out of "Rome" (Civitavecchia), which turned out to be the "alternate" embarkation port.  The "main" embarkation port was Barcelona.  This caused a few issues:
1) The app did not work for people boarding in Rome, so you couldn't book entertainment yourself
2) Entertainment could only be booked for the first half of the cruise; the 2nd half couldn't be booked until Barcelona boarding day
On our boarding day we were able to get booked for some shows in the first half of the week, and they wrote down our selections for the 2nd half of the week on a piece of paper.  The staff told us they would put in our other requests on Barcelona boarding day.
Turns out, they didn't.  Luckily, we had been talking with the Diamond Lounge concierge earlier, and he recommended we check back with him to make sure we were booked into the adult comedy club slot we wanted.  He was able to fix it for us, but it was a close call.
I also had some issues with Diamond drinks not posting to my account correctly, and he was able to quickly resolve those too.
So I would say that the perk I didn't think I would have any need for but turned out to be a huge help was the Diamond Lounge concierge.  At least for this cruise where I wasn't able to use the app.

Isn’t a Canadian dollar only worth 0.78 USD?

Masks seem to be optional for crew on wonder in Europe right now. Most crew still wearing them. Mostly more senior staff are skipping them. My head waiter is maskless, but waiter and assistant waiter wearing a mask still. 

Isn’t a Canadian dollar only worth 0.78 USD?

I've seen it offered onboard sometimes, but in those cans with the nitro canister thing inside, not on tap.

Sailing on Anthem from Bayonne at Christmas last year, the pub seemed to have a "secret" menu of some leftover British beers from the summer sailings.  I only figured it out towards the end of the trip, even though I had asked what beers were available.  I guess they didn't think Americans would be interested.

It's been hit or miss with me, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
When they don't charge me, I bump up the extra end of cruise tip (since I'm usually on traditional dining, or if i'm on my time i request to keep the same wait staff every night anyway).  I guess if I was using 'my time' as intended and changing waiters/times, I'd figure out how tip some extra cash that night.

Just made it back from Rome after a fantastic sailing on Odyssey of the Seas. I was also on Wonder of the Seas at the start of July so this means I was able to sail on both of the new ships in Europe this summer. Going to do a trip report of both cruises alongside the land segment in France in the middle. Will discuss my experiences on the two ships and how they differed however note that these are two very different types of ship so can't really be compared. Just enjoy each for what they offer, right?
Let's go!!

One more place I can recommend as a great place for a pre-/post-cruise stay is the River Palace Hotel, in Rome. It's located at Via Flaminia 33, just a block away from the Piazza Del Popolo and about 3/4 of a mile from the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.
We stayed here 1 night, and it was great. Very comfortable beds, good air conditioning on both floors of our unit (bed and desk upstairs, bathroom and closet downstairs), they have solid wi-fi, and the bar is great. I got a generous pour of that evening's Chianti, along with an assortment of little snacking items (peanuts, flavored mini rice cakes, etc) 7.5 Euro. Enjoyed that while wife and girls had a short nap before dinner. And the decor is amazing! All for a (to me) reasonable price for such a centrally located hotel in Rome, with very easy access to lots of restaurants, major sites, and more.

If you add up all your points, what do you end up with?
 
there was a conversion table used back when the points changed from per cruise to per day, that should have effected your point total. 
 
1 => 8 => GOLD 2 => 15 => GOLD 3 => 22 => GOLD 4 => 29 => GOLD 5 => 38 => PLATINUM 6 => 45 => PLATINUM 7 => 52 => PLATINUM 8 => 69 => EMERALD 9 => 76 => EMERALD 10 => 83 => DIAMOND 11 => 90 => DIAMOND 12 => 97 => DIAMOND 13 => 104 => DIAMOND 14 => 111 => DIAMOND 15 => 118 => DIAMOND  
so that one cruise should count as 8 points if you add up all your points. 

Have you ever sailed Cunard?  I'd actually compare the direction that Spectrum (and Wonder) took as closer to NCL Haven or MSC Yacht Club then Cunard.  Cunard areas for their "Grill Categories" match up more closely to what is on offer by RCL on their older Oasis/Quantum class vessels.  1) suite restaurant 2) suite lounge 3) small area of reserved deck chairs, spread out in different areas of the ship.  Not the "ship within a ship" concept.
Everyone likes to talk about this "class system" on Cunard, but I'd say that it's not really any different than what RCL offers these days.  Even Carnival's newer ships have various "special areas" for different cabin categories (e.g. Havana cabins).  Cunard probably has one of the least impactful "class systems" afloat these days.  You don't see suite guests getting ushered in front of you in line while waiting for various ship activities, as I've experienced on RCL with the bumper cars or north star.

If you add up all your points, what do you end up with?
 
there was a conversion table used back when the points changed from per cruise to per day, that should have effected your point total. 
 
1 => 8 => GOLD 2 => 15 => GOLD 3 => 22 => GOLD 4 => 29 => GOLD 5 => 38 => PLATINUM 6 => 45 => PLATINUM 7 => 52 => PLATINUM 8 => 69 => EMERALD 9 => 76 => EMERALD 10 => 83 => DIAMOND 11 => 90 => DIAMOND 12 => 97 => DIAMOND 13 => 104 => DIAMOND 14 => 111 => DIAMOND 15 => 118 => DIAMOND  
so that one cruise should count as 8 points if you add up all your points. 

If you add up all your points, what do you end up with?
 
there was a conversion table used back when the points changed from per cruise to per day, that should have effected your point total. 
 
1 => 8 => GOLD 2 => 15 => GOLD 3 => 22 => GOLD 4 => 29 => GOLD 5 => 38 => PLATINUM 6 => 45 => PLATINUM 7 => 52 => PLATINUM 8 => 69 => EMERALD 9 => 76 => EMERALD 10 => 83 => DIAMOND 11 => 90 => DIAMOND 12 => 97 => DIAMOND 13 => 104 => DIAMOND 14 => 111 => DIAMOND 15 => 118 => DIAMOND  
so that one cruise should count as 8 points if you add up all your points. 

If you add up all your points, what do you end up with?
 
there was a conversion table used back when the points changed from per cruise to per day, that should have effected your point total. 
 
1 => 8 => GOLD 2 => 15 => GOLD 3 => 22 => GOLD 4 => 29 => GOLD 5 => 38 => PLATINUM 6 => 45 => PLATINUM 7 => 52 => PLATINUM 8 => 69 => EMERALD 9 => 76 => EMERALD 10 => 83 => DIAMOND 11 => 90 => DIAMOND 12 => 97 => DIAMOND 13 => 104 => DIAMOND 14 => 111 => DIAMOND 15 => 118 => DIAMOND  
so that one cruise should count as 8 points if you add up all your points. 

It's assuming travel insurance would cover that scenario.  I'm not sure it would in all cases.  You would need to get a doctor to say you were not fit for travel.
The closest thing to the "pre pandemic" world would be getting denied boarding for checking one of the boxes on the questionnaire, right?  How was that handled if the cruise line denied boarding because you showed up to the port and were suspected to have norovirus?  Would they give you FCC?

This article is wrong, it's amazing how many news outlets keep writing articles about this without doing any fact checking.  Like, perhaps, looking at the Azamara website.
Azamara still requires testing out of US Ports.  When they announced this, they put the above chart on the website.  Take a look at the line for the Port of Miami.  This chart didn't exist before they announced this policy, so it's not an issue of it being "out of date".
Azamara is just matching what Viking and the NCL Brands did, not matching what Virgin has done.
However, Azamara not currently have any ships sailing out of Miami at the moment, so the point is kind of moot.
 

It looked like a 50/50 mix of boxes from Mike's and Modern.  Perhaps the port security folks planned to finally figure out which is best once Anthem went off to sea...
 

It looked like a 50/50 mix of boxes from Mike's and Modern.  Perhaps the port security folks planned to finally figure out which is best once Anthem went off to sea...
 

Interesting that they are the first line to announce no more USA pre-cruise testing.

Interesting that they are the first line to announce no more USA pre-cruise testing.

I was on Anthem of the Seas once in Boston, and the port security was confiscating boxes of cannoli's that people were bringing back from various bakeries and claiming that Royal wouldn't let you on the ship with them.

Bah, once you get past the GWB it's smooth sailing—just look for the signs for the NJ Turnpike and you are good!
Though if you want to take the Tappanzee, I'd go down the Palisades Pkwy and then get on the Turnpike.  It's more direct.  The Parkway will take you too far west and then you'll need to double back.