TheHobbys

Thanks! Good to know you didn't run out of Soy ? that would make for a 'not-so-friendly-wife' in the mornings lol. We used to buy the SB beans from Costco and grind our own every morning. But, we have since switched over the coffee from Spouts (it's kinda like Whole Foods, if you are familiar with them). I know in the past some of the coffee on board has not been worth getting, at least for us. With the 'moving' of the SB kiosk, just wanted to check to make sure the coffee wouldn't be downgraded.

@twangster, yeah i knew about the port visits in different areas. We did a Princess cruise back in 2001, I think, that went from Honolulu to Ensenada and then had to take a bus across the border to San Diego to catch our flight. It would be nice to see RCL do something from Vancouver to Hawaii ? think of going from 'cold' to 'hot' lol. May have to wait till the kids are in college before the wife and I jump on the Ovation re-positioning that passes through Hawaii

Morning , unfortunately my body clock won't allow me to sleep very late at home so, here I sit reading boards and even working on a Saturday. Guess that's what happens after getting up early, grabbing some coffee and are used to sitting down to work for a few years now. That first morning cup of coffee is really good and some times goes down way to fast. Thinking about some good coffee on-board, we usually hit up the Starbucks stand. Our last cruise, they baristas there got to know us and had our coffee waiting, because most of the mornings we were the first people there - our experience with them was amazing. Fast forward to this year for our upcoming cruise on Anthem. We have 'heard' that the Starbucks dedicated stand has gone away and that this is now sorta embedded in the La Patisserie. Who else out there is sort of a coffee, uh, good coffee require'er' ? in the morning have been on Anthem and tried out this Starbucks coffee in the little cafe? Is it truly Starbucks or just the Starbucks beans you might could get at Costco. What about the creamers? My wife can only really have Soy milk, which they ran out of on the first day of our cruise in 2017 on Oasis. Did anyone ever setup a morning delivery of coffee for whatever time? Was it worth it or was it just ok?

Just tossing this out there, but I wish that there were more options for summer cruises from Cali to Hawaii. It's like the last one leaves / goes through the islands during the first of May and then there's nothing till September. For us, we can't cruise during those times as the kids are in school. Yeah, they would not like us if we left them behind - ?

You can upload a photo when you log into the site and are able to 'Check-In', about 90 days prior to your cruise. At the bottom of the screen of info required for each person is the 'Security Photo' section. Here you can add your photo. Oh, and if you are using a passport as your travel document, make sure they are close to expiring ? they barked at mine which expires right at 6 months after my upcoming cruise

I would have to agree with @Lovetocruise2002 and @twangster, unless you like living on the edge ? For us, we ALWAYS fly in the day before. There's so many things that could go weird (lost luggage, delayed flight, forgot to pack undies - yes, that happened on a cruise in San Juan). Recommendation - come in the day before and have a nice chill night at a hotel in the port town.

Thanks for all the notes. I didn't think about space, but wasn't going to try and bring anything to space-consuming - just wanted to find something a little special. We should find out who our genie will be in the new few weeks. That is cool to know Allan is on Harmony. We have a grand suite 2-br for next year, but it isn't SC. I have our TA looking to see if we can upgrade to the SC. If so, it would be so cool to see if we can get him again (as long as he's still on Harmony for our May 2020 trip) - he was excellent on Oasis when we cruised in 2017.

@AGSLC5, I would love to do another B2B (we did a B2B in 2011 for our honeymoon on Allure). If it was just my wife and I, we could probably swing that ? Gotta get the kids outa the house and into college so we can - lol

Howdy ya'll, I'm John and my wife is Carrie. I took her on her first cruise in 2010 on Independence and had a blast. We got married in 2011 and did a B2B on Allure, Eastern/Western routes. Now we are targeting our future cruises on all the new boats coming out.

Ok, so I will just have to keep watching later this year to see what releases for summer 2021. I figured they only released dates around the 16-18 month out range. We have kids in 7th and 9th grades, so are limited on our May travel dates (I saw the re-positioning cruise that hit Hawaii, but can't due to kids in school), which is why I aim for the first of June. I'm also trying to cruise on all the newest ships to try out the different activities. I'm watching the Ovation for a possible Alaska route, but that is only 7-nights ? Now-adays that just doesn't seem long enough. Especially when I have to wait a year between cruises.

Our first SC experience was in 2017 on the Oasis. I'm working up a small blog about our experience, so more to come on that. Our genie 'Allen' was amazing! Now, in 2019 we are going for our second SC experience on Anthem. This question comes more as to what we can bring as a thank-you gift. We did leave a really nice tip, but want to take it a bit further and bring something unique or cool. I feel bad that we didn't really have anything to give Allen in 2017, especially since on the last day he had gotten all of us a little nice gift. For me, a really nice new wallet - which I'm still using today. What, if anything, have other cruisers in the SC brought as a thank-you gift for their genies? What about thoughts on a price range of the gift?

Curious, when are you going? We will be on Anthem starting June 6th. Second time with Star Class, first was on Oasis:)

Thanks for the note @AGSLC5. We are really looking forward to our cruise on Anthem this year. I saw it was going to Europe at some point, but didn't know if it was coming back to the states later. Glad to see that it should be coming back to the NJ for summer '21. We have booked Harmony for our cruise in 2020 but now planning our 2021 cruise - aiming for a SC on something a little longer than just the 7-nights.

Does anyone know when RCL will release their summer routes for 2021? Right now, it seems they only go out to April '21. I'm also curious to see if there will be one of the 'newer' class boats doing any 9/10 night routes around June '21. We head out on the 9 Night Bermuda in June this year (48 days to go) on Anthem in a SC. I believe the Anthem is going elsewhere and won't be on this route in '21. I am looking to book another SC around the June '21 range on a newer boat, but want something a little longer than the 7-night. Thoughts?

We did our first SC on Oasis in 2017 and were completely spoiled. So much so, that our kids started to complain when we talked about not doing our next cruise as a SC with the genie. Well, here we go in 2019 in an Owner's Loft (8720) on Anthem in June - 48 days to go ... and getting our document of 'notes' together to send to our genie. We have requested Derick, as he has come highly recommended. I saw earlier that@SweetPea stated her parents could book multiple cruises for what the SC costs - I'm right there with you. I get harassed from my parents about it - but then, i'm not supposed to say anything about them staying in a JS for 3-4 B2B cruises? haha. oh, and they booked like a 4 week cruise for next year - yeah, I only get to cruise once a year (for now).