BrianB

Yep...health and safety reasons has resulted in on-ship tours being cancelled or 'adjusted'. The C&A backstage tour has been adjusted to the Entertainment Meet event. Dinner with an officer has been adjusted to toast with an officer and then a lunch. They are trying to adjust as protocols are extended or adjusted over time and there's no telling what the future brings...but we're all hoping things return to normal as quickly and as safely as possible. I just gotta be flexible and go with the flow......no problem...I'm cruising again!

Agreed! That negative test result is the 'Golden Ticket'! No ticket...no sail. I wouldn't rely on having it on my phone as anything can happen to prevent you from accessing it at the exact moment you need to display it. I print out multiple copies at home and stick them in my pocket, my carry-on, and every other nook and cranny I can squeeze it into! Have a great cruise!

Ditto! B2B-ing is a great way to sail! On the Oasis and the Anthem out of Bayonne, the experience has been similar with some changes (to be expected between ships and ports). On the Oasis, the check-in process for the second cruise was done while we sat in the theater waiting to go ashore and through customs. On Anthem, it was done in the terminal after we went through the facial recognition scanners and before anyone else was admitted into the building. Kept an eye on the app until it changed from the first cruise to the second. As soon as that happened, we did the muster safety drill. I did B2Bs on the Oasis in September and October and now on the Anthem. Every time there were well over a hundred of us. I think a lot of us are trying to make up for the cruise drought over the past year and a half. Two or three days before the end of the first cruise, we received the same notice @twangsterposted. But there was a QR code in the upper corner that we had to scan. It opened up a website where we entered all of our information and selected a time for our antigen nose swipe the day before disembarkation. Had the results in a couple hours. There was no need to show the negative result on turnaround day…if it was positive, we would have been immediately quarantined. I did b2b with the same cabin…easy peasy…no need to do anything and the attendant will give your cabin priority. I also did it where I changed cabins (yesterday) and all I had to do was pack up the stuff I had in drawers and toiletries. All the hanging clothes stayed in the closet. The bring a wheeled garment rack and just transfer them on the hangers to my new cabin, along with my luggage. I think the best thing b2b-ing is the night before disembarkation day…looking at all the luggage in the hallways…always a sad sight to see.. …But then again, I ain’t leaving!

Love the Crown Loft Suites! The exclusivity of deck 17…just loft suites and the combination suite lounge and Coastal Kitchen seemingly right outside the door! Beautiful rooms! Some people may have difficulty with the stairs. Counting the landing there are fifteen steps. They are fairly narrow. At night you can turn off the small lights that illuminate every other step…but you can not turn off the lights at the top landing. Some people who want complete darkness may find that annoying when they sleep. There are quite a few videos online showing what the suites look like. They are big, roomy, airy and have great views. Some people like the aft views for the action and people watching aspect. But, when the door is closed…the sound is gone. I prefer the side views. Every balcony is roomy and the lounge chairs are huge and thickly padded. If you can do it…do it! Enjoy!

It’s hard to figure out….I’m guessing it has to do with supply. Maybe a supplier had these cans of water already in stock somewhere and they decided to use them. The pop-top aluminum cans say ‘product of Italy’…so they are just plain water imported (shipped?) from Europe. Pretty sure the small print on the can mentioned reverse osmosis…so no chance they came from a special spring or the fountain of youth. So, it appears to be a waste of aluminum and a waste of intercontinental transportation…to get water that can be produced virtually anywhere. My guess is the aluminum can is worth a lot more empty and available for recycle than just holding plain H2O. I know I’m rambling on but, hey, you’re the one who keeps reading! Thanks!

Today on the Anthem...turnaround day...apparently the 'pop top' aluminum water cans have been replaced with aluminum screw top bottles. At least so far. Much better.

Anthem...Nov 14 from Bayonne NJ... 2616 Nearly 900 more than last week. We have over 100 b2bs.

I did that! While I was on the phone re-pricing a booking for a lower amount, I asked about another booking which showed it was sold out. The agent told me it was cheaper and I got the refund!

In Nassau, many businesses require you to bring your proof of vaccination card and present it before they allow you entry. Not related to the excursion question, but shows how the Bahamas are strictly adhering to their protocols in an effort to prevent overloading their healthcare system. Hopefully, as time goes on, things can get back to normal.

Ok @najnad…let me be the one to address the elephant in the room. Apparently this is going to be your ‘first time suite cruise’. The most important question you need to ask is, “Will I get hooked on the suites and find it difficult to go back?” It’s a question with a simple answer…yes. Welcome to the forums. Enjoy your cruise…enjoy the suite life!

FYI...on the Anthem. It was just announced last night that the main shows 'Spectras Cabaret' and 'We Will Rock You' have been canceled for this cruise due to a lack of available production personnel. Hmmmm...I also see that the Anthem's status has been changed to 'yellow' on the CDC website, showing an uptick of cases onboard. I hope they're not connected. I'll see what happens next cruise.

I was on the Oasis (now the Anthem) and I always get surf and stream. I have an Android and my landlubber family back on dry land have iPhones. We send simple text messages and videos back and forth. Sometimes there is a delay, especially if the ship is in heavy weather…but it could also be that they are not in a WiFi zone (thanks for that @twangster). We have used WhatsApp for calls, but found it’s not very reliable. However, we found using Messenger was much more consistent for calls, both audio and video calling. I think Messenger works with them outside of WiFi because we video talk as they are riding in a car. We can also send text messages via Messenger. I have uploaded videos and photos to Facebook without a problem. Sometimes it takes a little while, but it works fine. I also use surf and stream to stream movies from Netflix and Prime to my iPad. Works normally. Tip…….in the event there is a problem with the ship’s WiFi, and it takes them a little while to fix it…I always download a few movies before I leave home.

It’s on the app…sometimes. It’s still a work in progress, so it’s available on the app for some cruises and not others. But, the most important thing is; remember to bring the vaccination cards with you to the terminal!…(whether you uploaded a photo or not) where they take a photo of them.

Maybe not exactly, but there have been a few instances where the app seems to act up. Sometimes I find if I log out of it and delete it…then start over by downloading it and signing back in…it fixes itself. I also found that once in a while, restarting my phone also helps. But…if it’s solely on their end, you just have to wait until they can get the gerbil fed and running again in it’s wheel for the app to resume. But as backup, check and see if you can check in on the website…although you probably won’t be able to do so until thirty days out.

Everytime I see a price drop on one of my cruises, I check to see if a higher category cabin also dropped. Sometimes I'll pay a little more to take advantage of an upgrade. And sometimes I end up paying less for the higher category than I did on my initial booking!

I realize it's a hardship to go on yet another cruise but...sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. The force is strong...Don't resist!

You’re definitely not stupid. You already did the smartest thing you could by joining this blog!

On the Anthem….(November 8 sailing) The Broadway show ‘We Will Rock You’ is being performed on one day…a matinee and an evening show. The production show ‘The Gift’ is not being offered. Spectra’s Cabaret is performed several times. The show ‘Frankie and the Dreamers’, along with a stand-up comic and a comedy juggler perform in the Royal Theater…and the show ‘Beatles Celebration’ perform at Two70. Of course there are the singers and bands in Boleros, the Music Hall, the pub and the Schooner Bar…the ‘70’s Disco Inferno’ Party and the ‘Hush! Silent Party’ at Two70. For the late nighters, there’s the night club with DJ Big J starting at 12:15am in the Music Hall. Movies in the theater, in Two70 and poolside. Lots of choices.

I usually wait until day two to ask for the ‘final count’.

I guess so far I’ve been lucky with re-pricing my bookings that have FCCs applied. Just the one time I was put on hold while the agent checked with her ‘colleague’ in the FCC department. But it only took about ten minutes for her to come back on and say it was done. Again, the email confirmation was there immediately. No back end stuff. Maybe as more and more bookings are happening, they’re getting overwhelmed with their process and need to tweak it to prevent these issues. I hope they do because mistakes can strain the ‘Loyal to Royal’ relationship. Also, I haven’t had any cruises through Casinos at Sea because I’m not much of a gambler (or so I tell myself). I think if I started having problems dealing with RC directly, especially if I didn’t have the time to put into it, I would probably get a good TA to do all this legwork for me. I hear nothing but good things about MEI. But…so far, so good!

On the Anthem and this is my first experience with water in pop-top aluminum cans. I don’t like it! I’d much rather be able to twist off the top of the bottle, take a drink, and then twist the top back on. Plus, keeping an open can in my refrigerator makes it taste ‘refrigerator-y’. Anybody else getting aluminum cans of water? Opinions?

Strange. I re-price often. I never had a problem doing it. I call the number and speak to an agent and it’s handled quickly. The only time I have been put on hold was when I had applied an FCC to the original booking. Otherwise, it’s done within a minute by the agent. Two months ago, I re-priced three future cruises with the same call. All were done immediately. Each time a new confirmation was sent to my email. As soon as I hung up, I opened the emails and printed the confirmations.

For me, sometimes I’ve noticed my OBC doesn’t show on the Cruise Planner…so I just call the RC number and access the automated system. With the ‘Get a Confirmation’ prompt, I just say or enter the reservation number and it’s emailed within a few minutes. OBC is displayed about halfway down the first page. This is for OBC that’s added after I originally booked. I don’t think my OBC has shown up on the cruise planner page until it opened up for purchases.

Days not hours. Sail date is day zero… For example…sailing any time on Sunday (day zero)…you can test any time on Saturday (day 1) or any time Friday (day 2).