FrankT

Thanks!

Can anyone on the inaugural (or after) report whether the souvenir soda cup is anything special for Icon or the same as other ships? Might be a fun early sailing souvenir if so, but if it's the same cup as the other ships, I can bring on my 12-pack of soda as per usual.

Thanks for your advice! We're going scuba diving on day two, so we won't have much time that day to do anything else. We're now thinking we'll go straight to the caves, do them first, then make our way to a beach for a few hours before going back to the ship to shower/change. After looking at the bus routes, it seems like Shelly Bay or John Smith's Bay would be the most efficient, though they look smaller. Does anyone have experience with those beaches? The other option we're considering would be making the longer trek to Elbow, Warwick Long Bay, or Horseshoe from the caverns, then returning to the ship on either the #7 bus or the shuttle vans. If Elbow, we could also go back up to Hamilton and take the ferry.

My wife and I are going on a 5-night to Bermuda from Cape Liberty next week. This will be our first Quantum Class ship, so we're excited about seeing how we like Anthem. Re: Bermuda, I was wondering if anyone who has been there could give advice on our first day. It's mostly open except the Pub Crawl starting at 7pm. My wife wants some beach time, and I'd like to see the Crystal Caverns. What's the best way to sit on the beach for a while, then go to the caverns, then make it to our pub crawl (which I'm assuming leaves from the ship)? I've seen some live blogs where they hopped on the first ferry to St. George, went to Tobacco Bay, then took a bus to the cavers. What about getting ourselves to a different beach by Taxi/Bus, like Pink Beach or Windsor Beach (just looking at Google Maps). Any thoughts/advice? We're doing a scuba excursion on our second day, so I don't expect to have much time for anything else that day.

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like we should stick to the basics and rent the bigger pieces for now.

Thanks! That's very helpful.

Hi all, I've just recently completed my Scuba certification so that my wife and I can go while cruising. Naturally, the dive shop really hyped up the importance of owning your own gear for fit, familiarity, and safety. I know a big portion of that is a sales pitch, bit it does make some sense as well. My question for the group is whether brining your own scuba gear on a cruise is a good idea? Any divers with experience and opinions on this area? I know most cruise excursions include gear, so you're paying for it already, which makes it less appealing to buy our own since we expect to mostly scuba while cruising. Will any excursions give you a discount, or is going outside of RCCL the only option to save money by bringing your own gear? Thoughts? Thanks! FT

Welcome! As others have said, there's not a huge difference with two people, but I usually find it slightly cheaper to get a two devices plan for VOOM and then buy one get one half off for the drink package when both are on sale. Go ahead and lock one sale price now, then keep an eye on it, cancel, and repurchase if you find a better one.

I saw a 2.5 stripe deck officer last night where the epaulet was two big bars with a smaller one between, so the thick bottom stripe "half stripe" may just be the Captain. Also here's the picture someone posted from Norwegian Gem. Again, not sure if RCL is the same, but it's probably similar.

Yes, in the last few hours that I've been paying attention / finding more, engineering have a propeller. I think HVAC have a snowflake. Interestingly, hotel operations don't have an icon at all. Instead their bars are on a white background (i.e. white between the bars).

I just got back from a Q&A with Captain Marek on Radiance, and someone asked him about his epaulets. He proceeded to talk briefly about rank and the epaulets/insignia, and it made me want to know more details so that I can more easily know someone's position if I'm talking to them or see them walk by. Does anyone have detailed info about their rank structure or a link to a good source? A diagram with epaulets would be great. Here's a quick summary of what Captain Marek said. It basically proceeds up by half stripes from 1 stripe to 4.5 stripes, where a "half stripe" is when the lowest stripe (furthest from the neck) is thicker than the others. At the top (closest to the neck) is a small icon, so to speak, indicating the department. Deck crew has a diamond, electricians a lightning bolt, and a few others I don't remember. The Captain is the only person with 4.5 stripes and the rest of the executive committee (chief engineer, hotel director, etc) would each have 4 stripes, and it proceeds downward from there. Sorry if this topic already exists. I tried to search both here and Google, though VOOM is a little spotty off the southern coast of Alaska :). I did see a diagram of the ranks on Norwegian (I think) pop up on CruiseCritic via Google, but I don't know if RCL is the same.

Hi all! Now for the cliche line: long-time reader, first time poster ? I was lucky enough to be on one of the first visits to Perfect Day on Navigator back in early May, and I put together this overview of the Cabanas. I know there's a fair amount of scattered info on the forums already, and I should have thought to share it here earlier, but oh well. Better late than never. Hopefully this will be helpful to everyone, or perhaps to less informed friends and family ?