RockerDom31

I apologize in advance if this is a silly question but I don't know too much about the process of publishing ports of call...but just out of curiosity...is it possible that they are reserving a spot for a 3rd or 4th ship, just in case a ship needs to redirect due to inclement weather? Therefore, if all goes well and no itineraries need to change, only 2 ships will be there. A lot of these dates look like it's in the middle of hurricane season.

Yes! This happens to me all the time! I Figured out that it’s because on my commute to work there are various levels of cell phone signal. So I chalk it up to the fact that the podcast did not download completely and there was some error. All I had to do was go to a more stable connection, redownload the podcast, and all is well.

In the main theater, It’s kind of hard to describe - you are near the back of the main level. You aren’t front row but you aren’t at the 2nd level either. However, from where you are, you can see everything. You are directly behind the Star Class seating so we happen to think they were very good seats.

Oops! Good call! Maybe my TA and NextCruise agent was just “strongly recommending” prepaying the gratuities with MTD. I must have taken their recommendation as absolute. I did run into this thread from about a year ago about this - hopefully this will help?

I may be misunderstanding the inquiry but I believe that if you choose My Time Dining, you HAVE to prepay gratuities. If you choose traditional dining, you can prepay gratuities OR be charged the daily gratuity rate once you get on the ship. This was how it was presented to us by our TA and NextCruise. edit: http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/General_Info/Flyers/09015240_MyTimeDining_OA.pdf “• Just pre-pay your gratuities to participate - this includes tips for your waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter and stateroom attendant“ I don’t know about removing them at a later time though?

In Anthem’s WJ, there is a specialty coffee “bar” with two baristas making fancier coffees such as cappuccino, frappes, and the like. We always got our coffee from there. There was never a line and service was quick. Sometimes we would washy-washy just to grab a coffee from there since the WJ was on the pool deck. We thought the specialty coffee was good. It was better than the “included” coffee which was more so “diner”-level coffee. Absolutely nothing wrong with the included coffee but since specialty coffees was covered by the deluxe beverage package, it added to the “value” of the DBP by getting it.

During the breakfast hours, I believe you can get standard coffee (non-Starbucks) and continental breakfast delivered to your room, free of charge. Just a few bucks for tipping the delivery person.

Good point!

The teacher-side of me would like to say that this is a great example of the benefits of getting travel insurance (the "cancel-for-any-reason" kind would cover this situation I believe). I know hindsight is 20/20 but insurance is one of those things that is expensive to pay but you end up being thankful for it when you need to use it. With people's lives being as busy as they are, I feel like travel insurance is really not an option anymore - it's a necessity. Anyway, that' s just my two cents - take it for whatever it's worth! Best of luck to the OP! I hope that you are able to make it work somehow and that you can make it to another cruise!

Hi All - Historically, are these released itineraries set in stone? Or do they add more or modify them at a later time? I would love to try Freedom from Cape Liberty in Summer 2021, but it's only doing 4-nighters to Canada and 5-nighters to Bermuda. I was hoping for a Caribbean or a longer NE/Canada itinerary. Thanks!

Biggest mistake - waiting so long to go on my first cruise!! Otherwise...getting to the port at 9am was a mistake. Next time, we are aiming for 11!

Oh! And avoid drinks served in pineapples - those will always cost extra. If it’s a “special drink of the day”, you can just ask for the drink without the pineapple and it should be covered.

It’s in my experience that the bartender or wait staff will inform you when you order something that exceeds the drink package amount. They don’t have to do this, so your experience may vary.

I believe it is 1 carry-on per person, 25 pound limit for Key guests’ luggage drop off. Otherwise, you can just check it in with the porters. If you can fit your stuff in one 25-pound bag, that would be great since they deliver it straight to your stateroom as opposed to wandering the hallways looking for your checked luggage. I don’t know the exact dimensions of the x-ray machine but it is the about the same size as ones at an airport (at least the ones at Cape Liberty). So if it meets airport carry-on standards, it should be okay.

That’s neat! My wife and I usually bring liquid IV packets (https://liquid-iv.com). Same idea as the nuun tablets it seems. I would make it a point to get a bottle of water with every drink you get at the bar and stash them in the cooler in your room (which is hopefully a functioning “mini-fridge” and not just a cooler - it depends on the ship). Alternatively, you can get Powerade and Powerade Zero at the Coke Freestyle machines, in all sorts of flavors. You have to use the souvenir cup that they give you though.

Do the drink package prices also depend on the itinerary? For example, drink packages are more expensive on itineraries that stop at CocoCay or Labadee (since you can use the drink package at those stops)? The price for my upcoming Oasis August 2020 cruise (with a stop in CocoCay) has not budged from $65 pp.pd. Hopefully Black Friday brings some good sales!

Hi All, For any one who was on this sailing...I tried piecing the sequence of events together but some of the details got hazy. What exactly happened and what did the final itinerary look like? I wonder why they didn't send Anthem on a NE/Canada itinerary instead? Or is this something most people don't want, especially if you booked a warm-weather destination? Due to work, my wife and I will most likely be sailing during hurricane season from now on. I was curious on how RCL handles these unpredictable weather situations from Cape Liberty. I did notice that, unless its a hurricane, RCL doesn't post every single itinerary change on their website or Twitter. Thanks!

I don’t remember seeing anything against it in the prohibited items list. The one that I brought in my carryon doubles as a usb hub charger and a power bank and no questions were asked when we went through security: Anker Powercore Fusion

If not a Quantum class ship, hopefully an Oasis class ship. And it also looks like Adventure won’t be around then either (I think? Please correct me if I’m wrong!)...is it possible Cape Liberty could get 2 new ships for Summer 2021??

My wife and I are still fairly new to cruising - we did one and have another booked. We’ve known each other for 12 years, married the past 2. We started traveling internationally once we got married. We did Sandals Royal Caribbean (isn’t that a coincidence!) in Jamaica for our honeymoon and Sandals Royal Bahamaian for our 1-year anniversary. These were fun but also started to get real expensive. Flights from NY airports only went to certain islands on certain days. Since then, we’ve bought a house and got ourselves a dog. So we decided to give cruising a try and went on Anthem to Bermuda last summer. We feel like it was a good value. It definitely was a good time but we had to shift mindsets of transitioning from adults-only all inclusive to a family-style cruise. I am a high school science teacher and my wife works for a non-profit, working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). We are able to pay for vacations because we each hold other part time jobs. In addition to teaching high school, I work as an adjunct professor at night, I am a union rep, I work at the local library as a librarian assistant during the summer and I proctor SAT exams on weekends. My wife does some side work as a respite provider as well. We live in south jersey so Cape Liberty is only an hour and a half away. My wife can take time off of work with relative ease but for me, my overall work schedule doesn’t allow for me to take a week off at any given point during the school year. So our “sweet spot” of value and time has been and probably will always be the last week of August. It’s in the middle of hurricane season so prices are a little lower. I presume since most of the country’s school districts and colleges are back in session, that’s another reason why prices are lower. Luckily for us in the northeast, schools (including the college I teach at) doesn’t start until after Labor Day. We both feel that the extra time working is well worth the one week of rest and relaxation. After the Bahamas cruise, we want to do NE/Canada and then the Caribbean (San Juan, Labadee, etc.) - both from Cape Liberty. After that, we’ll see!

Using your stateroom attendant’s business card (or even a sheet of paper folded into the size of a business card) to keep the lights on in your stateroom. Of course, take it out when you are going to be out of the room but at least it lessens the chance that you forget your sea pass card!

Hi All - My wife and I are going on Oasis on Aug 23rd from Cape Liberty that goes to Cape Canaveral, Nassau, and Coco Cay. We are interested in a Swimming with Pigs excursion that departs from Nassau and not Coco Cay, like the one RC offers. We don't want to use up precious time at Coco Cay to go on an excursion. In addition, I've perused through the boards and found old threads that weren't too positive about that RC excursion. We want to make sure that the excursion is a "legit" operation that explores the natural phenomenon of the pigs of the Bahamas - not just a small beach or pool that happens to hold pigs from somewhere else in it. We would like an excursion company that makes sure the pigs are taken care of appropriately. Is there such an excursion in or around Nassau? Thanks!

Hi - Based on my experience using Next Cruise, if you booked the current cruise with your travel agent, RCCL will forward the reservation to the TA listed on the current reservation (the NextCruise rep will confirm your TA info when you book). Our TA sent us a text as soon as it happened, thanking us for booking with them again. In a nutshell, I believe that you do have 2 months to make changes. Not sure about keeping your OBC when you make changes. Here's the T/C from RCCL about Next Cruise. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/next-cruise-booking-terms-and-conditions.pdf Hope this helps!

We actually just heard back from our TA - we managed to save $172 on our Central Park balcony room for Aug 2020 Oasis! We did lose the $50 obc as compensation for the Dine, Drink, Discover discontinuation (say that ten times fast!)

I always wondered...what is the difference between The Key's "Choice Departure" and the "Regular Departure"/"Self-Assist Departure"? I know people's experience with the Key is that a crew member will take you straight to customs and bypassing the general line. However, disembarking at Cape Liberty, I don't think that was the case. Unless we missed something? *We just hopped on the regular line with our luggage, got through customs, and in less than 5 minutes, we were outside waiting for our ride. *Edit: We had the Key