SweetHomeLady

@Karma We booked our own via the Alaska Railroad. Did the Goldstar Service from ANC to Seward. Left at 0645 and was the most amazing train trip! When you check in at the ANC train depot, there is a separate area for Royal Caribbean passengers to check their luggage. You will see your luggage again in your stateroom. Don't worry, the depot is small enough that you won't miss it and it's on the outside of the building. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this train and the Goldstar service. It may become your most favorite part of your vacation! FWIW, we took an Uber from our hotel (Marriott Anchorage) to the depot. Yes, you could walk as it is already light (never was dark, really) but it's faster. There are closer hotels, but there is still a hill to walk down with your luggage if you choose to walk. When you get to Seward, you can choose to walk (or take a shuttle) to the cruise terminal (check in, get some lunch and then leave for your excursion, which is what we did).

Thank You David --- you are right --- my initial response first thing in the morning was rather cold (pre-coffee vs the shining light that I am post-coffee) .....
 
Apologies to those that have had the negative experience ...... Hope everything comes out the way it should be.
 
The cynic side of me had control this morning.

And now for all you cruise fashionistas and/or aficionados, I give you the latest & greatest trend in footwear !! Happy Sailing !! ?????

Unpredictable. They might or they might not. And if they do there's no guarantee the sale will apply to every ship or even every sailing on the same ship. All you can do is check your cruise planner daily (or even more often, as prices have been known to change from am to pm). Hope springs eternal. 

There are a couple of items that have an upcharge associated with them. Perhaps that is what they were referring to? But it's similar to how it is in the MDR and the extra cost items are clearly marked.
 

Thanks for all your replies!
I promise to be nice to the wait staff, I always am anyway.  In fact, my waiter on the Majesty will also be on the Ovation when I sail at the end of the month. He promised he’d make arrangements for him to be my waiter again.
Food wastes should not be an issue for me. I belong to the “finish your plate” generation. In the days of my youth, my pastor trained us not to waste food because we need to be good stewards of blessings that come our way.
 

Has anyone else done something with their Crown and Anchor pins?  We have never worn ours, but I decided to change them from pins to cufflinks for my son for formal night and a necklace for my daughter.  

Every TA has different incentives for using them.  RC will not match them in fact many times RC will tell you to book and transfer to a TA for added benefits.  
Once it is transferred to an agent, you will no longer be able to make payments or changes to your reservation without the agent doing it for you.  Some people find that hard to handle, but for clients that transfer to us, we are working on offer days to check your reservation to see if the new promotion will benefit you (RC will not do this for you).  We do not charge a fee - some do - so Royal is paying us, not you.
Your booking being a GTY will not change whether you are booked direct or with the agent.
 
Hope this helps

Man this is why I post here now and not cruise critic. You guys are nice and helpful. CC are some angry jerks. I mean some are nice and helpful but a lot of not so nice people. I only really sail Royal Caribbean so I might as well just post here going forward. Thank you again!

Not heard of that, but my guess is that cruise staff would appreciate cash tips much more than a gift bag.
 

I've not seen this elsewhere and was a little surprised to see whales from Anthem of the Seas on Saturday 7/13.
We had an obstructed balcony on Deck  6 on the port side of Anthem of the Seas. About 60-90 minutes out of port we saw multiple "blows" and then a large tail. I carry binoculars and this time had a spotting scope I use for bridwatching. I was blown away. When I got home I googled "New York City whale watching" and it appears that my sighting was not unusual. So if you are sailing out of Bayonne you may want to keep an eye out!

Hi @GatorGal !
We had the Key on Allure in May... No, you do not need to put luggage tags on your carry-ons. 
When you get to the Amber Theater, there is a check-in desk just outside. They will check you in (validating that you have the Key) and attach separate luggage tags that they provide identifying your stateroom, etc.
Have a great time!

I purchased a Jr Suite GTY and was assigned a Jr. Suite.  I also purchased The Key.  I bid on a (RoyalUp) GS, and today that bid was accepted.  Like someone above posted, most of the benefits of The Key are included in the Sky Class  of the GS.  So I quickly went online to cancel The Key.  4 days til cruise day!  Just in time! 

Bid for 3 different categories in the beginning of March for a 19 May Baltic Cruise.  We're inside, when I checked on March 8th. Both outside and spacious balcony bids were marked "expired" balcony was marked "pending". I received an email a few minutes ago saying our bid was accepted for a balcony which happens to be midship......so it does happen

We use this. I don’t like the pill cases because we’ve dropped them and had them pop open and end up with pills everywhere.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0027RWNN6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@kittysoul The MOST important advice I can give anyone is to take enough medication with you to last a week longer than when you are scheduled to be home. Stuff happens and I've heard many stories about delays, weather, etc. and people being stuck with no meds and no way to get them.
I don't take the original bottles, but I do take a picture of them with the date, my name, the med name and the dosage showing.
We carry the pills in a case similar to this (but we paid half the price in souvenir shops). It holds 8 days and zippers closed to prevent accidental opening.

@SweetHomeLady, we stayed right across the Hudson at Hyatt Regency on the Hudson.  This has a excellent view of the NY skyline.  Plus, the PATH station is right next door.  As @JLMoran said, it's a great way to get into the city.  If you get a chance, around page 4 on my last blog link below, you an read through how we navigated NY.  We didn't take an 'actual' tour of the statue - but went the 'free' route and rode the ferry and took pictures with our phones.  Of course, if you want to take an actual tour to get a little close that would be pretty awesome as well.
 

If you have a lot of energy, try the tour that @Lovetocruise2002 just did. From her pictures, they covered just about every important place from downtown to uptown. You can see great pictures about half way down page 5 of her live blog here. She said the tour company is Viator.

Take a good stock of medicine and a basic first aid kit for things like plasters should you need them. You can buy over the counter medicine in the shop on the ship however it is really expensive and you don't want to have to go to the ship doctor to patch up a small scrape should you have one as that can get really expensive. Mush better to take a small stock of things and sort it out yourself if possible. 

Oh, you bet I will ??
 
/puts on his Big Boy pants

If she loves it - take all the credit.
If she hates it (highly unlikely) - blame us!

It was buffet for breakfast and lunch on Anthem.  The breakfast items were some lighter fare options like fruit and parfaits along with a small selection standard breakfast items (eggs, sausage, etc) and they also had smoked salmon and bagels available.  It's just a smaller selection than the Windjammer and there's no omelet bar but sometimes they have premade omelets on the buffet.  Check the hours though as I think we tried to go during early lunch and it was set up as a brunch..not sure if that meant breakfast hours were later or not.

Looks like he's been spotted!

Clorox travel wipes and travel size tide detergent. We clorox wipe every touch surface as soon as we get in the room (bath and balcony included). Use detergent as spot cleaner or swimsuits so we only bring 2 suits each and they are always clean.

I cruised with my parents for their 50th.  We bought a gold mini cake topper for about 79 cents at Hobby Lobby.  I had it in my purse and when the waiter brought out the cake for them I stuck it in while he was singing.  It showed up great in the photos.  You could do something similar for a room service breakfast or even a special cocktail.