IRMO12HD

WHO:
Myself (mid-30s M)
Wife (mid-30s F)
Nanny (early 20s F)
Kids (5F, 3.5F, 2M)
 
WHAT:
Cruising on Anthem!
Two (2) connecting interior staterooms (2U and 4U)
One (1) Deluxe Beverage Package
Chef’s Table for two (2) (me and Wife)
No cabanas, no excursions
Other than Chef’s Table, no specialty dining (MDR and Windjammer all the way!)
 
WHERE: 
Day 1: Port Bayonne, NJ
Day 2: Sea Day
Day 3: Port Canaveral (not sure of gantry is 12pm or 2pm)
Day 4: Nassau, Bahamas
Day 5: Coco Cay
Day 6: Sea Day
Day 7: Sea Day
 
WHEN:
5 December (Sunday) through 12 December (Sunday)
 
HOW: 
Driving from Maryland the morning of embarkation (11:30am check-in)
 
WHY: 
I will try (and fail) to keep this brief. I’m a Disney Parks nut. I love planning, logistics, fast passes, dining, touring plans, and everything that goes into a Disney Parks trip. My first cruise was 2015 on Grandeur out of Baltimore, 7-night to Bermuda. I had never considered a cruise beforehand, but it was an invite from the Wife’s extended family. About 2 months out, I started researching cruising the same way I researched a Disney trip, and I was hooked on cruising. I started looking at cruise compasses to get an idea of activities, dining, etc. Fast forward to the cruise, and it completely changed my life. Looking back, I’m really glad my first experience was on Grandeur, because I’ll likely never sail on something that small/old again! 🙂
Not long after that cruise, we found out about another life-changing event: a baby! The next several years zoomed by: a blur of babies, jobs, houses, etc. 
When the Wife and I hit our 5-year anniversary (2020), we decided to do an adult Disney trip - just the two of us. Unfortunately, COVID hit and 2 months before our flights was when quarantine struck, parks shut down, and we’re dead in the water. 
This past summer (2021), we (Me, Wife, 3 kids) took a trip to Florida with the Wife’s extended family. It was hard. 3 kids, one condo, no car, limited things to do in walking distance. We had the beach and a pool, but during COVID times, there’s not much else. We cooked, we kept the kid entertained, but It’s not something we’d do again. 
When we got back, we needed a REAL vacation - what about our adults-only Disney trip? Perfect! I worked on a plan for flights, hotel, food…only to find out everything was at a premium price. None of my tricks were working. For everyone following Disney, you know they took advantage of COVID to restructure FastPasses (Genie+), Annual Passes, pretty much everything. Our 2-person 72-hour trip was becoming WAY more expensive than we wanted. Thus begins disillusionment with Disney, but now I need a new hobby…
Back to the drawing board: What’s something the whole family can do, that includes activities, but we don’t need a car, don’t have to cook, or don't have to worry about groceries? The Wife says, “What about a cruise?”. After some quick pricing, it turns out 6 people for 7 days on Anthem isn’t much more than 2 people for 3 days in Disney. We locked in a date (same date as our failed Disney trip), and I’ve been following everyone’s adventures here ever since!
This has been an incredible community to be a part of, and I can’t wait to give back! We’re already (loosely) planning another cruise in October 2022 - same route, but on Oasis, and having another family join us!

They may have new cleaning regulations, more pax that require longer boarding times, or other issues. 

It tends to provide advantages in price, (and connection backups)  especially for international flights.   One observed negative, if you live near a major air  hub, and able to catch domestic direct flights easily to other gateways, you won't see direct flights early in the air offering window (about 9 months out).   The direct flights  become available closer to the cruise date which ends up costing more than if you booked directly with the airline 6 months out.  

Cruising on the Freedom of the Seas November 29-December3 and about a month ago they changed the departure time from 4 to 5. Now today I get an email saying it has changed again from 5 to 6 because of new CDC guidelines. Are they getting that backed up at the pier with asking you if you are vaccinated 100 times or are they just being super cautious?

So funny and so true. 😄😄
At our last dinner in the Main Dining Room I felt too full so I didn't get the dessert....our waiter brought me a small bowl of ice cream because he didn't want me to feel left out.

SOO true

Yep. And dog forbid you try to leave the table without ordering dessert.  I tried that and the Maitre-d' came over to check to see if I was ok, lol.  They insisted on at least bringing me some sorbet.

On the Anthem…cruise director Mark just announced Royal has corrected the fleet-wide internet issue…everyone who has the internet, whether it be purchased by itself or part of a package, will be refunded two days value added to our onboard account by tomorrow morning. 

This has happened before.  Previously SES/O3b has had an outage.  They are the satellite provider that operates the satellites that many cruise lines use.
Having worked for an internet service provider myself I can confirm that outages happen.  Things break.  Routers running routing protocols do weird, unexpected things.  Sometimes a human makes a mistake, sometimes equipment loses it mind.  Sometimes an evil miscreant from a land far away launches a denial service attack that cripples a network.  They can target one organization and hundreds of innocent organizations are taken down by association.  It's very frustrating for a service provider when that occurs.  

Not sure if you are snorkelers..... our favorite day in St. Thomas is to book a captain and a prowler (little motor boat) with See and Ski.  6 people is the perfect number for this, both for cost and size of boat.  They will take you around to several good snorkel spots, basically staying as long as you like in each one.  You do need your own equipment.  
There will be a cooler of waters and beer.  We usually bring our own snacks (sneak them off the ship) but several trips we also had the captain find the pizza boat and we ordered fresh pizza - so good!
 
This is not really a "full service excursion" so might not be up your alley.  But if you are comfortable jumping in the water, and like to have a gorgeous spot to yourself, it's a pretty awesome day.

I did!  She's been doing a lot lately -- travel, changing jobs -- so I've been holding off on imposing on her time.  But now that she's back, she's set up her RCL account and is able to see Cruise Planner and the app.  As I said (well, typed), I just wasn't sure what she would see on the website and on the app.  We've got it covered now, though!

So tell her!😁

Thanks!  I'm not trying to surprise her with anything; as you said, I just want her to know what's already been purchased.  

Thanks -- she's so new to cruising that she doesn't know what she can purchase! I believe she actually can edit her check-in from Cruise Planner -- I have done so -- but I just wanted to let her know what to expect.

On the ship no upgrade but it’s a beautiful day.  Maybe next time

yes!! Once I found out I should be asking for a "top shelf" Mai Tai or "top shelf" mojito at the bars the cocktails got soo much tastier and my mornings were all sans-hangover. Thank you beverage package!

Awesome pictures from the Oasis cruise…you captured some of the same scenes that I also took pics of.  Glad your Freedom cruise was also great.  

Overall Thoughts: 
Oasis Class
With only around 3,000 on this sailing, the place felt pretty empty and we were always able to find bar seating and pool chairs around the ship. The only place that felt busy all of the time were the hot tubs! With the strictly enforced 7-to-a-tub rules mixed with the rainy weather, you could almost never squeeze into a hot tub as they were being occupied by groups that stayed for hours. I think if you're going to limit the capacity, they should be limiting the time allowed in there. 
The water slides on Oasis were fun even for an adult. I havent been on a ship with slides until this one and they were a daily activity that needed to be checked off before retiring from the pool deck for the day.  
Central Park was such an amazing feature of Oasis class that I will really miss on the smaller ships. I enjoyed walking through every night on our way to specialty dining and hearing different musicians every time! Guitar, piano, cello. The plants also smelled so good after we had been through a rain shower. I also loved the Rising Tide bar that arrives/departs from Central Park every 15 minutes or so. Fun way to skip down a few floors. 
150CP was hands down the best meal we had on either cruise. The garlic bread I want to try to make at home! On top of the fantastic meal, the fried cheesecake for dessert really shined. You have to try it, even if you don't really like cheesecake (as I do not). 
Giovanni's was alright, nothing spectacular. Chops was also pretty great! My filet was smooth as butter. Even though I didnt taste any other filets on board, I gotta be team Chops filet as it was perfect! Our waiter added secret garlic fries to our chosen sides and they were worth a taste for sure. 
Playmakers was a slight disappointment but was okay for bar food. At least the prices are fairly low and we had OBC to burn. We ordered the burger, buffalo chicken crunch roll, campfire cookie AND chicken tenders. So much food for lunch but we somehow still made it to dinner, haha. Best of these items was the campfire cookie, so ooey gooey and delicious. 
Portside BBQ was alright, definitely a must if you have OBC or a dining package. Get the Banana Dream!
Music Hall is another venue I will miss on smaller ships. This is such a cool space to wander in and hear some evening music. Upstairs has a nice pool table that GREATLY rivals the pool tables in Playmakers. If you want to play a round come here; the sticks actually have felt, the chalk is physically present, you can make a shot anywhere around the table without the stick hitting walls and the surface doesnt list to one side (all problems of the Playmakers pool tables).
We saw the adult comedy show, Aqua show and the ice show on this sailing and we enjoyed them all. The Aqua Theater is soo impressive, I wish I had made reservations for two performances (which you can do!). 
Muster on Oasis was done at your leisure upon arrival. We watched the video in the room and proceeded to our meeting place early on in the day but the call came on over and over for people to go and do it or they wouldnt be able to sail. This was in contrast to the Freedom muster method; as soon as you board you are told to go directly to your muster station, no video watching necessary. I loved not having to congregate at a certain time, though! 
Vaccination bands on both Oasis and Freedom were a ribbon-like material with a clamp that could tighten but never loosen. These were different from the plastic Livestrong type vaccination bands I saw on guests arriving on Anthem. These to me were nicer feeling than the plastic but the tail end kept dragging in my food or drinks if I wasnt careful! Bring some scissors to trim your tails up if you're sailing out of Miami.
Here are some other Oasis photos featuring nice-looking clouds. 










Previously mentioned adjustable ribbon vax bracelets

Yeah you can see the same things in cruise planner it's tied to the reservation.
 
I wouldn't do that if you bought anything as a surprise because she'll see it. My partner tried to surprise me with lunch at Jamie's on a previous cruise but didn't realize how often I logged in and I saw it. It was still nice but definitely something to be mindful of.
 
On the flip side it's nice and does mean they can check to make sure something else wasn't purchased before purchasing.

The cruise planner and where you check in are 2 separate things.  She can edit her check in once she downloads the app.  Since she is on your reservation, all of that reservation’s purchases should show.  Have you not told her what you’ve already purchased?

Yea to be up front I am in a Junior Suite and I am happy with that for sure. Of course I had to bid on the two bedroom Grand Suite which was way out of our price range. I totally get RC trying to get as much money as possible and I think this is a great way for them to do that and treat some lucky cruisers. I just wish it was more like 4-5 days notice instead of 1-2. I really don't plan on winning anyway my bid was low. The good news is 2 of those rooms are still open as of last check so hopefully the winds will be in my favor lol

I believe you are absolutely correct in your assumption.  It's a pyramid scheme.  WAAAY fewer places to RoyalUp to, in the suites.  Waaay more places to go in the lower categories. ...plus, as you said, the $$ involved in moving from an interior to a balcony is much less (and much more achievable to many) than going from a GS to a SLS.

To add to @WAAAYTOOO comments I would also add that the recent ramp up in passengers coupled with the holiday sailings in general the chances of actually getting a winning bid are slim at best. Although I would be interested to know if chances are better or worse going from and interior to a balcony as opposed to a grand suite or above to a loft or star class cabin? I would think Oasis class w/ a majority of balcony cabins it might be better odds but then again is there an over abundance of passengers willing to fork out more significant money to stay in the upper tier suites or are they the last to sell out? In my experience I’ve mostly gone from suite to suite and only a couple times from balcony to suite. 
 

As others have noted, there is a very good chance that the room you are bidding for is not even actually available.  It might become available if others either cancel at the last minute or they are allowed to RoyalUp and leave a room available for you.
If there is an open cabin in the category for which you are bidding, Royal would certainly rather sell that room at full price than to give it to you at a RoyalUp discount....so they're going to wait as long as possible to see if they (1) sell it at full price or (2) maximize the RoyalUp waterfall price.

Last week, I found out two days before my cruise that my bid was accepted. My credit card charge text alert came first…then the email from RoyalUp that my bid was successful and the cabin I was assigned.
On the other hand…I found out the bids on other cruises were ‘unsuccessful’ on the first night of the cruise, while I was sitting in the Royal Theater checking my emails.
The best advice I can give for using RoyalUp is to keep checking pricing after you bid. Sometimes, the price for the cabin category I’m looking at will drop enough for me to cancel my bid and just pay for the upgrade. Plus, then I get to pick the cabin I want and not risk getting assigned a cabin in a less than desirable location.