Cruising to Retirement!

Thanks for both comments with current info. on the island. For some reason I was still thinking it was a slight possibility of a suite area but I knew there were some people here that had been to Coco cay recently. We are looking for an area to get in a shady area with a few trees or poolside with possible umbrella areas for part of the day. If you have any other ideas for some shady areas, we would appreciate it very much! We had always enjoyed the island pre Perfect Day on the side at the floating bar area. We could pull some chairs up under some trees after getting out of the water. We are looking forward to seeing all the changes in person! Thanks for the guidance! Happy cruising! Michelle

Hello everyone! I need your help! I believe I read that there was possibly a suite area on Coco Cay. Could someone please confirm if that is actually true? If so approximately where is it located? I know I read something somewhere about a possible suite area in this wonderful blog, but I can't seem to find it!! I'm so much enjoying the awesome live blogs and periscopes on the wonderful RC Blog cruise! You all look like you are having the time of your lives! Thank you, thank you, thank you one and all for sharing! Any information and opinions would be much appreciated! Michelle

Totally agree about the improvements to the pizza on the ships we've sailed on this year. Being the only Scot you are the celebrity! Hurray! Are there any special things planned for 4th of July on the ship? Oh could you please keep and post or send the cruise compasses for this itinerary to Matt. There is so many prebooked shows plus all the additional shows and activities that we want to plan our specialty dining as best we can not to miss something!!! Please keep your experiences and pics coming!!! The last time we were on Harmony she cruised out of Ft Lauderdale. Happy cruising!!! Enjoy! Michelle

Lovetocruise we all thank you so much for live blogging this cruise! I know you will miss Twangster, but I have a gut feeling (women's intuition shh!) that the Great Twangster will surprise you on one of your cruises someday soon. Safe Travels and Safe Journeys to Everyone! Michelle

Oh so sorry! I'm not sure why I thought it was Saturday since we are on this exact itinerary SUNDAY, September 1st so no excuses! Best news is tomorrow is cruise day! Yeah! Happy for you and the family! Enjoy the sailaway! Michelle

Hey Joe, Hope your sailaway was a blast? How do you like Harmony so far? Can't wait to hear what you think! Enjoy!!!! Michelle

There are so many unique areas of Bermuda! You will LOVE it all! Oh well, cruise loving people don't need a huge nudge to go back.....just saying! Ha!

Have a wonderful time! I'm so glad you are blogging this cruise, too! We all look forward to your fantastic blogs! Enjoy your first time in Bermuda! It's so beautiful! I'm personally drawn to the St. George's area charm and all the other unique areas! Enjoy!

I'm happy you had such a great family trip on Anthem! You guys sure enjoyed it all! We loved Anthem and we loved loved that exact same 9 night itinerary starting on May 23rd-June 1st. Anna and Reuben sure are the best!!!! Reuben talked with us every night about different things! He actually seems like he checks in with everyone each night! They are the best we've ever had in a Coastal Kitchen so far! I'm surprised that the Conceirge was so empty! We had to pull up chairs many times to sit with friends we had made throughout the sailing! Maybe because our sailing had less than 400-500 kids total so many more adults I guess! Your pics and periscopes were a fantastic reminder to such an awesome cruise! Your gorgeous room had us all in a dream state! All I can say is PHENOMENAL!!! We too love Nashville! The Opryland hotel decorated inside and out over Christmas is beyond words! My parents lived in Knoxville for 25 years after they retired from Ca. My Mom and lots of relatives from East Tennessee! Have lifelong memories in the state since my father worked/retired from United Airlines spent long summer vacations on the farm in Athens and then with my parents in Knoxville! We visit Mom now from Atlanta every 3 weeks. She is surrounded with 5 siblings there. Enjoy planning your Harmony trip! We are excited to be back on Harmony over Labor day week this year for our 5th and final cruise of 2019! Boo! Love the Grease Musical! We are excited to try the Unlimited Dining pkg for a ridiculous inexpensive price for the first time that Waytoo and many others have raved about! The reality of cleaning and cooking for yourself is a terrible reality! It sure takes awhile to get over that feeling! Thanks again for sharing! Enjoy the rest of your summer! Michelle

Wow! Your new device sounds great! I can't wait for your big trip! I'm excited to follow along! The Grease Musical and the Aqua Theater shows on Harmony are some of the all time greats! Those are the moments you will cherish forever! The fabulous news is Joe you are in for a lifetime of more fantastic moments like that! Celebrate!!!! Michelle

A BIG CONGRATS on your Graduation! Also a B2B Harmony cruise to celebrate is definitely the way to go!!! So very happy for you! We loved Harmony back in May 2017 and can't wait to get back on Her! We are doing your exact Eastern Itinerary on September 1st. I would really appreciate if you could send Matt the Compasses to post! That would help me a ton. We have the Ultimate Dining Package for the first time and want to be careful booking times each day around the additional entertainment shows in the compass besides our already prebooked shows we did 2 months ago. The last time we went on Harmony out of Ft. Lauderdale and arelooking forward to sailing her out of Pt. Canaveral this time! I'm definitely on team Cheesecake Factory! My husband's all time favorite dessert is Cheesecake on top of it! Enjoy! Michelle

One of the Gift showings got cancelled and rescheduled on our cruise last week. That's kind of odd.

Hey it was exactly like that on our 9 night Anthem last week. We were sitting middle 2 higher than Star Class! We thought that was crazy also. It happened in one other show also!

Hello Hobby's! Enjoy, Enjoy the Anthem! My husband and I were on the 9 night from 23rd of May to June 1st! It was our second time doing this exact itinerary and loved the ship and the wonderful group of cruisers were fantastic! The staff was even better also! (Except the cruise director Mitch wasn't as present as other cruise directors we've had in the past) When he was present he was nice. He was the same way on our cruise on the Allure in September in 2018 too! We had a great time with great cruise loving people in the Conceirge lounge each night before dinner also! Great waiters and great view with floor to ceiling glass windows that were stunning to look through for sailaway from ports when a random rain shower happened! We loved the Manager of the Coastal Kitchen Reuben. He was the best we ever had by far and we have been in CK on Allure Oasis and Harmony ships in the past! He is so personable to everyone in the entire room! He and I became very good friends! Please tell him Michelle and Bill said hi! He is very friendly with everyone really! His young assistant, Annabelle, is very sweet and very smart! Our waiter was Kerismir! Very big athletic looking man! You won't be able to miss him really. He was the very best we've had also! I like that they give you the same waiter and table each evening even if your dinner time is different! He would bring my husbands wine immediately, etc. You really became engaged in the entire experience even more! Also meeting the people around you! The last night we were seated at another great table but had our same waiter! The view in the Anthem Coastal Kitchen was by far better than on Oasis ships also! Everywhere in the room you felt closer to the water! His brother, Kerismir, (I know the same name!) was our waiter 2 nights in Jamie's Italian! He is really awesome there! We remembered him from our other Anthem sailings! We had the 3 night dining package when it was $60 a piece and a free night from our travel agent. So the other two nights we went to Chops! We had great meals also! We upgraded to a J1 or J4 #9632 the extra large pie shaped Jr. Suite! It was fantastic! But since we are Diamond Plus we had some awesome Bridge, Galley and a backstage tour! The Captain was so great also! You saw him all over the ship starting with Cafe Promenade in the morning! I'm blabbing on and on! There is so much more to tell! Enjoy the gorgeous sailaway! Bon Voyage! Michelle

Hello! My husband and I just got off Symphony on Saturday and did your exact same itinerary! You will be so amazed at this ship! There was so many firsts for us! All the new venues and shows were over the top! P.S. the Happy hours in Hooked with gorgeous bar in center of the restaurant with awesome views. We experienced 2 happy hours in hooked with one 8 oysters on ice shucked right in front of us with glass of Kim Crawford Chardonnay for $10 was a steal and so yummy especially since my husband doesn't like oysters!!! He brought a beer and I got the Chardonnay. Then we came back for another night with the dinner size lobster roll with a pint of beer for $10. Had to split the roll with hubby he drank the pint I brought and I brought in a glass of Chardonnay! That night we ate dinner afterwards! Also the Wonderland Happy hour drinks only were 4 menu choices with them being 2 for $15 instead of $13 each! The bar area was nice too. Wonderland is using the old diamond 2 story lounger overlooking boardwalk with restaurant on first floor and bar area on the second floor! Great views! We loved our drinks! Lots of exciting things to enjoy! Ps. It was our first time to Magen's Bay in 4 years and it was even more gorgeous than pre hurricane! Royal did an awesome job fixing Magen's highly recommend! Just stunning really! Michelle

WOW The Spa Jr Suite sounds very nice. We are in the hump area on deck 9. We upgraded to the J1 for $70 so jumped at it from the regular JS. The balcony definitely looks large and the room sq. footage and pics inside the room makes it look quite larger than our original JS. Thanks again for the info. So glad you liked your room. I didn't notice the pullman in pic but wasn't looking really. I'll let you know about the CK! Happy Easter All! I've got to get ready for Mass! Michelle

Thank you so much Joe for all the info on the reserved seating and the availability in the Coastal Kitchen. I would have guessed probably reserved seating for Suites only, but it sounds like only Star Class. Wow! Also it sure sounds great about CK availability! That's terrific that you and your wife didn't have a difficult time getting reservations! Fingers crossed that is the case for us too! We will definitely eat in CK on night 1 for the filet mignon and the smoked tomato soup! My husband LOVES tomato soup! I'm already hungry! We've enjoyed the Coastal Kitchen on 3 different Oasis class ships but never on Quantum Class. Wanted to try Quantum class CK to compare before the wonderful Anthem leaves us! I'm envious that you live so close to the port. That's a huge, great plus! Were you by chance in a large Jr. Suite? We are staying in that Jr. Suite this time. All your info was valuable and helped alleviate some fears for sure! Thanks Again! Michelle

Would be happy to! It will be the first place I go when I get onboard! We will be very early too! If I happen to forget, please remind me!

Thanks for the info. I'm not holding my breath, but since DP is entirely new to us I appreciate your feedback. That is great news about Anthem's Coastal Kitchen though. We are excited since we've never been on Anthem. We haven't had trouble on our Oasis class ships but had to be flexible with times sometimes. We have a 3 night dining package that was super inexpensive from about a year ago and a free dining from our travel agent so we can be flexible with days a bit also! I'm so sorry to see Anthem leave Port Liberty! We wanted to sail her again to Bermuda and the 3 Caribbean ports on her one more time! We sailed her her first year in May 2016 and love We will Rock You and their great cover bands. We sailed her again in 2017 when she sailed the night night up to Canada and had an Eagles cover band. I've heard it will be the Bon Jovi which we saw in 2016 so looking forward to that! Fingers crossed! We are sad, sad to see Anthem leave! I'm sure she will come back someday in the future! I will check with loyalty ambassador in Conceirge lounge for tour possibilities for Diamond Plus also! Thanks again! I really appreciate hearing cruise loving people's wonderful cruise experiences and advice and of course the great pics on this great blog! Michelle

Thank you Thank you Thank you for all the great info Twangster! I will be sure to look for a letter or card as you mentioned for any tours, and ask the various crew standing guarding the sections! I will keep my fingers crossed there are not too many loyalty members onboard so unable to accommodate Diamond Plus members! I will definitely talk with the loyalty ambassador who would share info regarding the tours and seating options for Diamond Plus on our cruise! I also wanted to share that when we were on our Navigator cruise they were expanding out the suite pool area next to lime and coconut. We didn't have a problem twice we went to get seating, but I guess there is an issue with not enough seating. Thanks again! Hope you are getting ready to go on another great cruise with blog in the very near future. I always look forward to them! Michelle

Thank you! I'm sorry I know it is Saturday the 27th! I had a 50's moment not a senior moment! Ha! We are flying down to Miami Friday! I love the Freedom we did a back to back out of San Juan in August of 2016 and hit 9 different islands in 14 days! Had a terrific time! Are you going out of Miami also or San Juan? I have read your wonderful blog of your Anthem cruise this year and drooled over your room and all your experiences! I'm so happy for you both! I know you were Star Class so you had everything possible, but did you happen to notice if Diamond Plus had specialty seating for the shows in 270 or the theater? We just turned diamond plus and in a balcony on our Symphony cruise. We are in one of the x large Jr. Suites on our 9 night Anthem on May 23rd and wondering if Diamond Plus or just Suites and Pinnacle possibly? I've heard from Twangster it depends on the ship but was hoping you could share in additional info on specifically the Anthem. I can ask once onboard also. Any help would be appreciated! We have our reservations of course! Also how full was the Coastal Kitchen for dinner since we are hoping to get reservations once we get onboard like on Oasis class ship. Thanks so much for any information! And have a great cruise!!! Michelle

Hi Linda, I can tell you and your family are having such a wonderful on the wonderful Symphony! I can't wait to explore this new Symphony ship next Sunday April 27th on your exact same itinerary!!! Also great to hear that the CD Mike is so present in so many events! He sounds awesome! We are sailing with cruise friends this time too so this will be so much fun! Keep sending your fun photos! Your sweet daughter is sure having the time of her life! Thanks! Michelle Ps. Personally so excited to be sailing our first as Diamond Plus too!

Twangster and Matt, Hi again. I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me. We turned Diamond Plus on our March 29 night Navigator cruise. We are sailing next Saturday April 27th on Symphony. I was reading that there is special seating section for the shows under Diamond Plus benefits. Does that apply to the Aqua theater shows, Hairspray, etc.? I know it there is for Suites and Pinnacle. Also I was wondering if there was any special events available such as Bridge tour, Galley tour, or backstage tour for Diamond Plus? We were in Owner's Suite on Navigator and in an oceanview balcony on Symphony. Also do these same benefits apply to the Anthem? We are on the nine night on May 23rd in a x large Jr. Suite. Would be nice to get priority seating to the shows too. We have our cruises so crunched together this year since we are going to be first time grandparents later in the year. If there is any other things we should know, please, please share! We would really appreciate all feedback! You and Matt are a wealth of information! I learn new things everyday from everyone! I wish we could cruise as much as you do, Twangster! I'm so very happy for you... I sort of feel like I'm going on more cruises through all your awesome live blogs and of course those great pics! Matt you give us on the spot info as it is happening. I'm so glad you started this blog. Hopefully we can join a cruise with you happy bunch of cruise people! Thanks, Michelle

Hey Twangster I wanted to thank you again for preparing us for all of Navigator's new awesomeness! We did it all! Our assigned group in the escape room ESCAPED ON DAY 2! And it was all great from start to finish! Loved, loved Hooked! Went twice! went to Jamie's but wasn't as thrilled as on Harmony and Anthem! Hopefully better on Symphony on the 27th of this month! The ice show was absolutely wonderful with the drones! We went twice! They provided for Suites behind the curtain tour of the ice show and saw the drones up close and were schooled on how they are coordinated in the show! Very informative! They are expanding the Suite area while we were there also! It was a great experience in The Hawaiian Suite for a once in a lifetime experience! That's for sure! We were even invited with two other couples to have dinner with the chief engineer in the dining room with a special dinner! Bill said best 59th birthday ever! He was so personable and informative! Not sure that will ever happen again, but we appreciated and soaked up every minute! Of course we had drinks in the Bamboo room with the sliders and the noodle asian salad and thought of you which was great too! The internet worked great for Bill too all over the ship! The ship has a different personality for sure since last year's sailing! Our second time in Bonaire was even more beautiful! It was the first time where were in Curacao longer so we took the sunset catamaran cruise which was to die for! They opened the swinging bridge for us we then went way back in the waterway which i've always wanted to do which was a new world really lots of yummy snacks and lots of drinks too! Also came out and went up the coast and went into another waterway which was very nice also! And the Sunset pics were wonderful! Highly recommend! Well thank you, thank you again for getting us prepared! Hope we meet someday! PLEASE KEEP BLOGGING FOREVER! You get the best pics and fantastic recommendations too! Only one down note! They had a Zumba cruise on the 5 night before us and were on our cruise! Didn't see them since I don't do anything before 10 am trivia unless it's an excursion. But everyone from the "team" did not know that you had to get off in between sailings so they were all in bed! So they dragged them down first. We were not able to get on the ship until right before noon! That is the latest we have ever got on a ship! What made this bad for me is that I had just drank an extra bottle of water and large cup of coffee so I thought I was going to float with the ship! I barely survived! Wasn't the washy washy guy hysterical!?! He was the nicest and best we've ever seen! He even came into the main dining room and helped sing Happy Birthday to Bill! It was a hoot for sure! Well I must go and finish washing clothes before April 26th Symphony! We have our cruises very close this year because we are going to be Grandparents later this Year for the first time! I'm so excited! Also thought of you Sabrina while were were eating in La Bamba post cruise! It was fabulous as always! I will continue to enjoy this awesome site, Matt, with all you awesome cruise loving people! Michelle and Bill too!