Va4fam

We had a JS on Oasis in October and made reservations at CK. You can get them but may not get first choice of times. Some of our CK reservations were very early like 5 pm, or later than 8:30 pm. Still worth it.

Yes, Ravenna it is. I booked flights for our May Greek Isles cruise before realizing how far Ravenna is from Venice. Our return flight leaves the day after we arrive in Ravenna and I'm worried we won't have enough time to get to Venice and see the highlights in one afternoon/evening.

I'm pretty sure on Royal you get the cabin AND the amenities when you are upgraded.

We also like El Loco Fresh for a a few meals but tend to hit Sorrento's EVERY night for a late snack. Cafe 270 on Quantum class is a great choice.

We prefer El Loco Fresh or Playmakers depending on which sporting event is televised that day.

With all apologies to anyone that enjoys smoking, count me in for the permanent banning of smoking in all indoor areas of the ship, including casino.

We also feel your pain.....my wife and son tested positive last week. We had hesitations about our Anthem cruise this week but the COVID result basically made the decision for us. Right now it's 15 degrees in Virginia and hard to think about all of the "St. Somewhere's" we are missing out for the next 11 days. Hope everyone is well and you get to go on another cruise soon.

Great pic. We were originally scheduled to be on Navigator this week but moved it to February '23. Can't wait!

You can definitely see it from the port in Bayonne. Have heard that sometimes the cruise ships will sail closer but not on any of our voyages....yet!

Update--we are not going on the cruise next week and officially cancelled. My wife tested positive for COVID yesterday which made our decision for us. Unfortunately we are now getting flooded with all of the "Get ready to Sail" emails from Royal and preparing y to be hit by another snowstorm in Virginia this weekend. Maybe next month's cruise will work out better. Everyone stay healthy and enjoy your crusies.

Great idea. That would be magical!!

@Linda R....fingers crossed things will calm down by then. Technically I think our sailing is 2/27. Oasis is such a great ship and we already have a lot of fun planned during the sailing.

Check the fine print and details of what they are including with the Key right now. We purchased the Key in December for a January and February cruise. The 25% off specialty dining and the free room service were no longer offered at time of purchase. Early boarding, carry on valet, internet, and first day chops lunch were the perks remaining for us. I don't think they are allowing priority hours for the onboard activities right now either based on reading recent trip reports. Maybe you still get on an earlier tender at tender ports?

Well.....the original sail date was January 2021. It was moved by Royal to January 2022. I thought we would have until January 2023 but the TA says sail date must be in 2022. Very confusing and not sure what information is correct.

We will ask for the cash refund, but if we can't get it, will we be required to wait for the FCC to appear in a few months? If that's true, can we use the FCC to pay for the cruise fare before the new final payment is due? Or can we rebook and apply the fare now towards the new booking without waiting for FCC?

The cruise was booked before the pandemic started. Original sail date was mid January 2021. Royal shutdown made it necessary to move it via Lift and Ship to January 2022. Does that help our cause?

@Lovetocruise2002.....that's a great question but I don't know the answer yet. Our TA seems determined that we have to rebook soon and travel this year. This booking is from 2019 and with a TA that we no longer use for new trips but thanks to the pandemic, we are still working with them on this particular trip.

We are less than two weeks away from our 11 day Anthem cruise. Unfortunately, we are most likely going to cancel. Since we are already past final payment date, I think our options are somewhat limited for getting a refund. Future Cruise Credit should still be an option. Our TA said we must rebook by April 30th AND travel in 2022. Is this correct? We have 2 more cruises planned this year (with different TA) and a lot of family obligations coming up. It will be difficult finding enough time to take another trip later this year. Here are my questions: 1-Do we have any options for a refund? 2-What strategies do you suggest for using the FCC this year, or even extending to 2023? Can we use the FCC on one of our other cruises? 3-Is there another option we should be considering?

I live in fear of splurging for a Star Class Aqua Suite one day, and never being able to return to a regular cabin after that. RoyalUp is a great strategy, especially right now. Lots of good deals are out there. Hope you get to try a JS on a future sailing.

There's no right or wrong answer to your question. We made the decision to book JS on Oasis or Quantum class ships to get the extra C & A points and reserve a night or two in Coastal Kitchen. One other perk that we received in Miami was we were allowed to board in the Pinnacle/Suites line instead of the general boarding line back in September. Did not have the same "perk" in Bayonne. Personally I don't like the bathtub and prefer the shower only but the walk in closets and extra space are really nice. On a smaller or older ship, there doesn't seem to be a lot of differences between the JS and balcony. You don't always get a walk in closet or tub. We are perfectly happy in a balcony cabin. Sometimes there wasn't much difference in price, but I've noticed that since the resumption of cruising, these prices have gone through the roof. Would rather save that money for dining, drinks, and excursions and get to cruise another day.

We are on Oasis the first week of March and optimistic the cruise will take place and we will be on board. My thoughts have been similar to what @PPPJJ-GCVAB stated earlier about each day brings a new level of optimism or concern. We have 3 cruises booked between now and May including a Greek Isles cruise. My wife and I agreed to cancel the first one, then changed our mind to cancel the 2nd one, and finally decided a couple of weeks ago to take a "wait and see" approach. Glad we took that approach and still have options.

Unfortunately we are also on the verge of cancelling our Anthem cruise scheduled for January 20th. We run a small business and have been struggling with keeping our teams healthy the past six weeks. Right now it feels like a losing battle. We booked this cruise over 2 years ago only to have it cancelled last year and now with the flu-rona outbreaks. excursion cancellations, and possible port changes, it just feels like it's not the right time. The physical and mental well being of our employees needs to be the priority right now. Frustrated.............

It's hard to go wrong with either with all of the history and sights at each port. When do you think you are going, and is this for grown ups, family, kids, etc? Have not been on Odyssey but she looks like a fantastic ship. @MomOf6 , we did the Western Med cruise on Freedom in 2017. It was fantastic. Barcelona-Marseilles-Villefranche(Nice)-La Spezia- Civitavechhia-Naples-Barcelona. Since we don't travel to Europe frequently, all ports for us were "must see." The Rome and Naples stops have so many options of things to see and do, it's nearly impossible to squeeze into one trip. My daughter loved Italy so much that she ended up studying abroad in Rome the next summer. f you want more info, let me know and I can share the excursions we did on the trip. We are booked on a Croatia/Greek Isles trip this summer. Not sure when you trip is scheduled, but will report back on things to see and do when we return.

The Symphony Sat-Sat works great for us flying from D.C. Only 5 work days missed. We are able to fly down Friday evening and return Saturday night and still have Sunday to "recover." Since we both work, the 4 day M-F schedules don't make sense, we might as well go on a 7 night cruise. I would love to see more Sat-Sat, and maybe a Thurs-Mon short cruise every now and then. I think Brilliance out of Tampa did something like that.

We got the same email today. Not a big surprise.