CFL

I am almost positive our July 15th sailing on Adventure isn't happening.  Mentally preparing for the loss already. 
This sailing is a tough one to swallow for me personally.  Booked it almost two years ago, scored an unbeatable deal on a category VP (a room category that I have been so looking forward to trying out), great port intensive itinerary with ports I have never visited, $18 DX, great drops on all excursion, Phantom on Broadway tickets pre-cruise, and most importantly, 9 nights kid free with Hubby.
Needless to say, I was not a happy camper yesterday after Carnival's announcement.  That to me is pretty much the nail in the coffin.  And there is not Plan B for this one in 2021.  So at the earliest it will be 2022 before I can replace it.  And then who knows what pricing will be like.  I am so sad...

There is a courtyard marriott that was just built across the highway from the cruise terminal: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bwics-courtyard-baltimore-downtown-mchenry-row/  
As someone that lives in Baltimore city (yellow star is the neighborhood where I live and the red star is the terminal in relation)

I will say McHenry Row would be my best recommendation. I have no idea what the situation for parking your car would look like, but if we are talking about ease of access to the port and being situated right off of I95 (and only 15 min away from BWI airport, you cannot go wrong). It is also right next to a Harris Teeter shopping center so you can easily grab any last second needs.
If the ease of getting to the port is not for you, I would echo some other suggestions of staying in Harbor East. There are a bunch of different hotel options ranging from the four seasons to a hilton garden inn. Total time to the port (with no traffic) would be right around 10-15 minutes. The good thing about this location is it is centrally located to a bunch of unique baltimore neighborhoods. Little Italy, Fells Point, Canton, etc. And Harbor East, a neighborhood within itself has a variety of restaurants and shopping.
But being partial to my neck of the woods, I would say you cannot go wrong in Federal Hill & Locust Point. I think someone already called out LP Steamers (seafood & crabs), Little Havana (cuban), Barracudas (New American Tavern Grub). These are all great local spots within walking distance of the courtyard. Also in the complex as the hotel, they have variety of different food options as well. If you venture a little further in the neighborhood (maybe a 5 minute uber) you get to Federal Hill where there is a brand new market where they every type of food vendor, coffee shop, butcher, etc. Very cool place just visit even if you do not plan to eat there: https://www.crossstmarket.com/. Within this whole area there are a bunch of food and bar options. My recommendations would be Wayward Smokehouse (before 10pm - turns into a big going our bar) or 101 Deli Bar. Not in that main drag of restaurants, my two other picks would be The Outpost (New American Tavern Grub - my favorite restaurant) or Hersh's (italian).
As far as things to do, there is the fort & the Ravens (if they are playing). Knowing it's going to December, kind of limits any outdoor site seeing (although Baltimore weather is unpredictable). There is Fed Hill Park, which gives you pretty much a 360 view of the city and harbor. There are a bunch of museums and what not, none that I would say are a must see. I am big on walking the city and seeing all the little historic neighborhoods. Also, to throw another idea out there, if you are into it, Baltimore has pretty big craft beer scene with a variety of different breweries. I would say to try to check some of those out if you are interested in that.
- Diamond Back (their tap room is right next to the courtyard as well)
- Checkerspot (location is also in federal hill, about a 5 minute uber away)
- Monument (located across the harbor in Canton)
- Union (located in Hampden - my recommendation, and favorite beer)
- Guinness open gate brewery (Helethorpr, MD - probably 15 minute uber)
 
Now I am a huge Baltimore guy. Love this city. Been here (including college) for over ten years. I will say, downtown "downtown" Baltimore is something you won't be missing out on if you decide to visit/book a hotel else where. So places like the Hilton I would advise against. Not because it isn't safe or anything, I think you will fall into the tourist traps and not really get to see and enjoy the 'real' parts of the city.

Oh, just an FYI --- for those sailing out of Baltimore on Grandeur or Enchantment ..... be sure to look for this buoy, it marks the location of where Francis Scott Key was when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner.  It's always fun to spot.  To give you an idea, look off the Port side of the ship (as you're leaving the port), just before going under the Key Bridge (the first one you go under)

We have stayed at the Best Western 2 times. They have a free shuttle that will take you to the Inner Harbor area. The room we had you can see the port and the ship out the window. The shuttle to the port was quick and easy.
 
 

I was in contact with my Travel Agent last night.  She told me that many cruises are seeing significant price reductions - particularly for the high end suites.  It might be worth everyone who's interested's effort to take a bit of time and do some research.   I know our Star Class Symphony August 2022 cruise was reduced by $2300 last night.  This was the second such significant reduction in the past 2 weeks on this cruise.  I'm sure there are others.  Might be a good "buying" opportunity.

We've stayed at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor which is right next to Camden Yards and had a great stay.  We ate Irish food at Tir Na Nog Irish Grill & Bar at Inner Harbor which is right next to the Top of the World Observation Tower, the USS Torsk WWII submarine, and the National Aquarium all at Inner Harbor.  In the other direction of the hotel (by University of Maryland) was Edgar Allen Poe's gravesite at the Westminster Church Cemetery. Just up the street from there is the Lexington Market which is an inside market that's been around since the 1700's.  It's got a lot of food stalls and delis.  We ate crabcakes at Faidley's which are so good and the size of a softball.  We didn't have a car and we were able to walk everywhere even with our son who was about 10 at the time. If we had more time in Baltimore, I would have liked to visit Fort McHenry which inspired the Star Spangled Banner.

6562 was closer to the stairs so I liked that one. That’s the one my parents were in with 2 of my kids. My husband and I were 6570 with the other 2 kids. So either one would be great for 3 people!

We've stayed at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor which is right next to Camden Yards and had a great stay.  We ate Irish food at Tir Na Nog Irish Grill & Bar at Inner Harbor which is right next to the Top of the World Observation Tower, the USS Torsk WWII submarine, and the National Aquarium all at Inner Harbor.  In the other direction of the hotel (by University of Maryland) was Edgar Allen Poe's gravesite at the Westminster Church Cemetery. Just up the street from there is the Lexington Market which is an inside market that's been around since the 1700's.  It's got a lot of food stalls and delis.  We ate crabcakes at Faidley's which are so good and the size of a softball.  We didn't have a car and we were able to walk everywhere even with our son who was about 10 at the time. If we had more time in Baltimore, I would have liked to visit Fort McHenry which inspired the Star Spangled Banner.

Have done these twice on Anthem and have 7258 booked down the road too. They are "boxy" but I enjoyed the wider balcony . The cabin is officially listed as 177sf with a 65sf balcony. The lifeboats do obstruct downward view but I haven't seen that as an issue, especially if the price is right.
 
P.S. some listings do list these with standard dimensions but those are not accurate (the 198 and 50 are the conventional category 2 E)

We had rooms 6562 and 6570, which are Obstructed View Balconies for our Thanksgiving 2018 cruise. For that category they don’t charge more for a bigger balcony. We lucked out that the ones with good size balconies were still open when we booked. Although there were lifeboats if we looked down, I still enjoyed my time on the balcony. It was cold on the way down, and we hit quite the storm on the way back. But I still snuck out there for a little bit here and there. 
Not sure if you want to consider that category, but for the price difference we were very happy with what we got. 
We liked the location and rooms so much we booked the exact ones for Thanksgiving 2021. 

@Chadster, you're correct that the "Spacious Balcony" category rooms give you bigger balconies in exchange for smaller cabin space. And it's not an equivalent exchange, either:
Regular OV Balcony cabin is listed on their site with 198 sq ft cabin space, 55 sq ft balcony OV with Large Balcony (current name) is listed with 177 sq ft cabin space, and 65 sq ft balcony +10 sq ft is not much at all, and to have to give up over 20 sq feet in the cabin to get it doesn't seem like a good trade-off. But since you said you're traveling solo, it might work out just fine in your case.
Do be aware you feel the motion a good bit on the higher decks when forward or aft and in rougher waters (which the Atlantic tends to get at that time of year). If they have any of those cabins on deck 6 or 7, might be worth considering. And the "hump" balcony cabins are really nice. The balcony isn't huge, but I'm 6' 3" and had no problem sitting in the chair with my legs stretched out on the ottoman they include.

No, the "hump" on Anthem runs from cabins X246 through X232 on the port side, and X648 through X632 on the starboard. You could make a case for the X248 / X268 cabins, which I believe are part of the "OV with large balcony" category, but those have such obstructed views looking forward that I tend to ignore them.
Each deck has exactly two balcony rooms at the back of the hump -- X246, X244, X646, and X644. The view forward is ever-so-slightly obstructed, and the view aft is wide open; overall they're great cabins. I stayed in 7244 last October on our 5-night Bermuda trip, after staying in 7238 (a J4 jr suite) the year before; it was barely more expensive than the lower balcony categories since deck 7 is considered by Royal to be "worse" than decks 9+ due to distance from the pool, WJ, etc; yet for us deck 7 is the sweet spot because of the near-total lack of motion mid-ship. And it's just two decks above the Royal Esplanade on deck 5, which is where you go to get to Two70, and that was our favorite hang-out spot in the cooler weather when we didn't go to the Solarium on 14.

I have not been on Anthem yet but we were considering booking a cruise on her until all this C-19 stuff kicked off.
I had asked for some advice over on CC and someone there mentioned the "square" balcony cabins. There are only eight of these and they are located (four each) on decks six and seven, with the deck six ones being officially classed as obstructed. However, when I investigated further, they didn't seem to me to be much obstructed at all. They are different from the "normal" cabins in that they are wider and shorter (if you look on the deck plans you'll see what I mean) and, from the pictures I found online at the time, they appear to have a double window opening to a wide balcony. If and when we do book a cruise on Anthem I will be seriously considering these cabins. The numbers are 6/7654, 6/7658, 6/7254 and 6/7258. 

Big fan of the obstructed view balconies on this class but I stay away from the starboard side if possible. Outdoor smoking on deck 5  is the issue for me. 
 
Just my 2 pennies worth

That's what makes me saddest about my June cruise on Adventure being cancelled: I snagged an aft-facing junior suite and was really looking forward to that view! ?

I am on the Mariner in August also, the prices have gone up since I purchased some things. Sailing 03 August 2020 being optimistic. The water park cabanas were previously sold out on the first of the two CoCo Cay stops as well. I tried to purchase but it was sold out before my CC was processed. Now they are available but at 1,000.00 each, I can't justify that for the three of us, and I pretty much pose at the water park, I have zero desire to throw my perfectly safe self down those things LOL!!
True story, a few years ago at Disney's Blizzard Beach a man was trying to be funny and wedged himself inside the fully enclosed tube on the slide. I was given the go ahead (no one noticed) and I took my turn, it was a very high slide so I had some speed and I am not little, 5'10" probably about 160lbs at the time, I saw him and could do nothing. I hit him hard, super hard thankfully with my lower body taking the brunt but into his upper torso, they said I broke his shoulder. I didn't break it, he did! So needless to say, I am traumatized and can't go into a closed water slide tube, that cracking sound underneath my scream, yikes I hear it now. I digress, no water slides for me! 

Yep, me too. I don't worry about "cancel for any reason" policy, and usually wait until we get close to final payments. I'm okay (well not really) with paying a change fee if something comes up, but once the "big bucks" are on the line, I get insurance in place. I've been using Travel Guard since before AIG, however, I never actually "used" them but hear good things.

Actually, my biggest reason for the insurance is to not come home with a $20,000 dollar medical bill stapled to my credit card and beg my insurance for reimbursement. Like knowing the travel insurance *should* cover & help in emergencies for relatively cheap.

Hey all, just thought of something and wanted to remind you all -- If you have purchased travel insurance from a third-party, and you have a sailing that's scheduled to go close to when travel restrictions are currently estimated to end, and you haven't yet passed final payment date, take some time and give them a call to confirm a couple important things:
IF everything goes amazingly well and your ship sails on time, the itinerary isn't modified, etc. so that you do decide to sail, and you get sick with Coronavirus, will you be covered by the insurance's medical portion of the plan? If your sailing ends up canceled and you then rebook the same itinerary (or close enough for government work) for a year out, will they allow you to modify the existing policy with the new sail date, or will you have to buy a new one? I had to wait on hold for about a half-hour with Travelex, but I was able to confirm the answer to both of the above in my case was "Yes". This is a huge relief, as my final payment date is a week from now; if they had said I wouldn't be covered should one of us get sick, I would have canceled the booking now rather than wait to see what happens in August. Likewise, if I couldn't simply modify the existing policy with a new date, I'd cancel the booking now so I could also cancel the policy within their window and be able to get a full refund.
As it is, I'm now a lot more comfortable paying the final payment next week and then seeing what happens over the next couple of months.

Not sure if this has been posted about, but remember when cancelling cruises that you may have purchased travel insurance. Some places are allowing you to cancel the insurance and get a refund providing you can prove that RC cancelled the cruise and you have not made any claims on the policy.
 
 

We had 1388 this Past Christmas and 1390 for New Years on the Adventure.  B2B

I was personally so moved by the Captain Kate video, it made me pause and send positive thoughts their way. RCCL is a company for sure, but the cruise lines are made up of amazing people, I LOVED the message #hopefloats. I LOVED seeing the faces of those who quite honestly we don't see all that much. Yes, we see Mr. Fain & I appreciate his messages but this one really made me feel true emotion. We are an amazing family, let's beat this thing soon! Thanks so much Matt for making sure we were able to view this. 
 

I can't deny it, Captain Kate's video brought a tear to this 18 stone ex rugby player's eye!
Thinking of the crews on all lines around the world and sending my best wishes for your continued good health and safety. I look forward to getting the chance to join some of you again real soon...

@TheJones oh my so Sorry. It is on this blogs home page. I'm trying to figure out if I can link it now.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-KpRXRDD_x/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
teenager to the rescue!

You can't put the horse back in the barn. Everyone should be self isolating now. Everyone should have been self isolating two weeks ago instead of packing Disney for the last fireworks show. Instead of packing beaches and drinking beer out of women's butt cracks screaming f corona. He shouldn't have to single out people from NY or NJ because everyone needs to be doing this. Florida will have five New York cities if they don't, and it won't be because a few snowbirds escaped down from the northeast.

Everything except for the last day!
If I had to pick one thing... definitely the moment after checking into your cabin and the unpacking is complete... realizing that your cruise is just about to begin and you're now ready to leave the cabin and explore the ship!