FionaMG

I get that too, quite often, but like @ScottD it doesn't seem to affect any of my bookings in any way.

It's been amazing following along with you. Thanks a million for sharing. I can't wait for the next one.

Safe travels. Looking forward to the rest.

Yes, exactly. I read that thread too. That's why on my last cruise I initially only bid on a JS, which from an OV GTY standing was never going to happen. Then, once the bar code trick showed me I had been assigned an OV on deck 3, I put in a bid for a large balcony, which I won. I did bid before the OV room was officially assigned.

Awww, thank you.

Norway. 100%. There are several reasons for this but the most compelling one is that the Norwegian government is in the process of implementing measures to severely restrict large cruise ships in the deep sea fjords (Olden, Flam and Geiranger) due to environmental concerns. The current time line suggests these measures are likely to be brought in in 2026, so if a cruise to Norway is on your bucket list it needs to be done NOW. The 7-night Oasis itinerary in the Med is a standard route that an Oasis-class ship sails every year, just depending on which one is due to come across the pond for its dry dock, so that's likely to be an option for years to come. Secondly, there's the convenience factor. Why fly to Barcelona to join Oasis when the Anthem sails from the country you're already in? Plus, you'd need to factor in the additional cost of getting your family and your luggage (assuming you're not travelling just with hand luggage the baggage fees will cause sticker shock) to Barcelona. Thirdly, things to do on the ship. Well, in my opinion, if you're coming across the pond and planning on doing a cruise your primary interest is going to be the ports rather than the ship itself. This is because by the time you get back on board after your day's sightseeing you're going to be too tired to want to do much more than eat and sleep. You probably experienced this on your Odyssey sailing. And with that in mind, there is actually plenty to keep you and your kids occupied during your time on board Anthem. It is actually an earlier version of Odyssey and, admittedly, to my mind, not quite as good. The Seaplex, in particular, is far better on Odyssey than it is on Anthem. However, Anthem does have a family-friendly heated indoor pool if the weather decides to be less than friendly. Consequently, I see no point in choosing Oasis for bells and whistles you're unlikely to use. Save the Oasis class cruise for a sailing out of Florida when you're more likely to be able to take advantage of everything the ship has to offer. On now to the ports. I did a Norway cruise on Anthem just this past July and it was fantastic. We stopped in Bergen, Olden, Geiranger and Haugesund, so not all the same ports as you, but I can tell you that you don't need to buy Royal's expensive excursions in either Bergen or Olden. The funicular in Bergen is in walking distance from the port and you can buy tickets here: https://floyen.no/en/floibanen Do buy the tickets in advance and go as early as you can because the queue was massive when we got there at about 11 am. Full disclosure, we did not ride on the funicular; we walked up and then back down. It is also possible to ride up and then walk back down. It was very busy at the top but we then walked a little bit farther (5-10 mins) to reach Skomakerdiket, where there is a lovely quiet lake with a cafe and you can sample a typical pancake with jam and/or traditional Norwegian brown cheese. https://floyen.no/en/activities/walks-hikes-floyen/skomakerdiket/ Here are a couple of my pics from the top to whet your appetite: You will still have time to wander the harbour afterwards: In Olden, don't take the outrageously expensive Royal excursion to the glacier. There is a company right there at the port called Olden Adventure that does the exact same excursion much cheaper. https://www.oldencruise.com/ As well as the glacier trip, they also offer the Loen Skylift, which you may like to consider as an alternative or even as a second excursion of the day. It should be possible to fit both of them in if you're really keen, although it might be a little bit of a rush. We opted to do the Skylift and it was just amazing: All of that said, if you ultimately decide to do the Med instead, for your Palma de Mallorca stop and depending on how active or chilled you want to be, you could take an excursion to the Caves of Drach, which are absolutely worth seeing (my pics are from a few years back now and don't do them justice): Or you could simply make this a beach stop. There are several very good beaches nearby and although Royal are sure to have a "Beach Transfer" option, you're probably best just getting a taxi as that way you can go and come back on your own schedule (it will probably be cheaper too). In full disclosure, we are not beach people so I have not done a beach stop here myself but I have seen this one recommended to cruisers on another forum by an ex-pat Brit who lives on the island: https://balnearioilletas.com/en/ You can probably find others with the help of Google if you think you do fancy a relaxing beach day. Sorry for the length of the post but you did say "any and all feedback"... Hope it helps.

Yup. Me too. I'm speechless.

So... they have reinstated this cruise and are asking folks if they want to move back to it... Hmm, I'm not sure what to do now. I guess I'll have a think about it so I have an answer for @michelle when she asks me... "Dear Guest, We recently communicated to you about the unfortunate cancellation of your upcoming 2024 sailing onboard Freedom of the Seas. This was due to a dry dock we had to schedule, but we’ve got some good news – we were able to adjust our scheduling and your previous sailing will be made available again! We understand you’ve already selected from the three options we provided in our last communication, but we want to let you know that if you’d like to return to your previous sailing on Freedom of the Seas, we’ve got you. Please see the below options we have for you, depending on what you chose back in July. If you previously chose to move to a select sailing: You are welcome to remain on your current sailing. Or If you’d like to return to your previous Freedom of the Seas sailing, we’ll move you back to a like-for-like stateroom and protect your pricing at your previous cruise fare rate or reduce it to the new cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items. If your booking was already paid in full and your cruise fare rate decreases, we’ll provide you with a refund for the difference. You can expect to receive your refund to your original form of payment within 14 business days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution. If you previously chose to rebook any Royal sailing: You are welcome to remain on your current sailing. Or If you’d like to return to your previous Freedom of the Seas sailing, we’ll move you back to a like-for-like stateroom and protect your pricing at your previous cruise fare rate or reduce it to the new cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items. If your booking was already paid in full and your cruise fare rate decreases, we’ll provide you with a refund for the difference. You can expect to receive your refund to your original form of payment within 14 business days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution. If you previously chose to cancel your booking: If you’d like to return to your previous Freedom of the Seas sailing, we’ll move you back to a like-for-like stateroom and protect the pricing at your previous cruise fare rate or reduce it to the new cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items. If you’d like to return to your previous Freedom of the Seas sailing, please call us at 888-281-9344 or contact your Travel Advisor by October 3rd, 2023. And know, hold times may be longer than usual. If we haven’t heard from you by October 3rd, no changes will be made to your existing booking. If you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor immediately or contact us at: 1 888 281 9344 in the U.S. 1800 754 500 in Australia / 0800 102 123 in New Zealand In the UK only, by using our webchat service or by calling 0344 493 4005 All other countries, please visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contactus for your local Royal Caribbean International office phone number. Thank you for understanding. Whether you choose to rejoin us on the Freedom of the Seas or on another cruise in the future, we have no doubt your time with us will be nothing short of amazing. Sincerely, Aurora Yera-Rodriguez AVP | Guest Experience Royal Caribbean International"

Delighted to have been of assistance. I can't help with tour info, I'm afraid, but the local tourist information site might help: https://visitsouthampton.co.uk/ If you like Greek food, I can recommend The Real Greek, located just a few minutes walk from all three of the hotels I mentioned: https://www.therealgreek.com/restaurants/southampton/

Just breathtaking.

Hi Al, I'm not Andonini but I can offer some suggestions. I have stayed at the Holiday Inn, which is the closest hotel to the port, just a very short walk: https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/southampton/soahp/hoteldetail And also the Premier Inn Westquay, which is a couple of minutes farther: https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/hampshire/southampton/southampton-city-centre-west-quay.html Both are fine. The HI is usually more expensive but I preferred it because it had a much better selection at breakfast. If you fancy something with a bit more character, you could try Pig in the Wall, a boutique hotel built into the castle wall, which is also within easy walking distance of the port. Some Cruise Critic roll call buddies of ours stayed there and really liked it: https://www.thepighotel.com/in-the-wall/

My pleasure. Nice jeans are absolutely fine. And to be honest, even on formal nights, a suit is not really a requirement any more; for those nights dress slacks would do nicely. Of course, you can get dressed up to the nines if you want to but if you're having to take airline luggage allowances into consideration, you can leave the suit at home if you prefer.

$64.99 pp on my Oasis sailing in November/December next year. Not even the fact that it will be our wedding anniversary on that day would persuade me to buy it.

A senior discount isn't an automatic thing. You have to tick the box on the promotions page when making a booking and sometimes there will be one and sometimes there won't. We have had some success with getting them and sometimes the savings have been substantial. On Odyssey in May last year we got $402 in senior savings, $538 on Anthem in September last year and again on Anthem but in April this year, $137 on one cabin (booked just for me) and $182 on our other cabin (DH + DS, despite the fact that DS is not a senior). So it's definitely worth ticking that box when you're pricing a cruise.

Unless the port itself has some sort of rule about this, I don't see why it would be a problem for you all to go together, especially since you're assisting your parents. We've done this before in cases where the family members travelling with us speak little English. It will take your group a little longer than if you went to three separate desks because each room will be checked in individually but under the circumstances I think I would prefer to do it that way.

Thank you @Elenor6, I'm glad you enjoyed them.

Hi @Mamasafar and welcome to the boards. I'm delighted that you enjoyed my blog. Here is the list of "Suggested Attire" for each day on my cruise: Day 1: Casual Day 2: Formal Day 3: Smart Casual Day 4: Casual Day 5: Casual Day 6: Smart Casual Day 7: Casual Day 8: Casual/Tropical (lots of the men were wearing Hawaiian-type shirts on this night) Day 9: Formal Day 10: Casual Day 11: Smart Casual Day 12: Casual I hope this helps. If there's anything else you'd like to ask, feel free; I'll be more than happy to help if I can.

Interesting. By sheer coincidence, I will also be on a cruise on Super Bowl Sunday. Being from the other side of the pond, I know virtually nothing about this, so it will be interesting to see how it impacts the atmosphere on the cruise.

Hi Tyffie! Welcome to the boards.

I think they're all seriously underwhelming. I'd say out of the ones I've tried my favourite was the Asian night but that isn't one of the more common ones (it turned up on our 8-night cruise on Anthem out of NJ). I particularly liked the salmon teriyaki on that one. Out of all the others I've tried, the ones I disliked least were Welcome Aboard, Caribbean and Bon Voyage. I have yet to experience the Mexican and Taste of the USA menus, both of which look so bad to me that I would probably be tempted to pay for speciality dining on those nights. Obviously it's all very subjective and others will inevitably love the things I've said I dislike.

Fingers crossed for you!

I tried it for the first time ever on my recent Anthem cruise. We had booked an oceanview guarantee. When I saw we'd been allocated an OV all the way forward on deck 3, I decided to try a bid on Royal Up and ended up with a large balcony cabin for just $50pp extra!

Well @CHRIS WONG, you know what they say: every cloud has a silver lining. And a stop-over in Portugal is a solid gold silver lining. Hopefully you will get the chance to have some really nice food during your flying visit to Europe's westernmost country. The food here in Portugal is nowhere near as well-known as, say, French or Italian cuisine but I promise you it is every bit as good!

Thanks. To be honest, the thing she hurt most was her pride. It was a very undignified slip and slither down the seaweedy ramp. She did laugh about it later, after we got her back to the ship and cleaned her up!

Nice saving. Well done.