WAAAYTOOO

Uber (and Lyft) have had a checkered history in SJ. For a good while, they were outright banned from the airport and port. Union issues. Recently, they have begun servicing the airport and port but I think it’s still tenuous. If you want to be sure to have a dependable ride, I would plan on using a taxi and see how the ride share looks in real time.

Thank you. W3 had a great time on Anthem. A free cruise is always great ! Even a short one !

We just got off. I expect that all issues have been resolved and everything will be “smooth sailing” from now on. I think we may have been just a tad late getting to port but everything went great with disembarkation. I don’t recall Port Liberty having facial recognition last year but it was in place today and we breezed off the ship without even stopping. It was really an easy disembark. Everything on the ship operated normally. There seem to be zero issues related to last week’s problems. I would expect a normal boarding and cruise. I wasn’t too thrilled with the 18 degree weather that greeted us but not much you can do about that in NJ in Feb ! Because it was so cold we decided to just grab a taxi to the airport rather than standing around outside in the cold waiting for an Uber to show up. UUUGE mistake. $73. Our Uber ride over was $18.80. Now I see why nobody takes a taxi anymore. How do they even stay in business ? I guess they catch the few country suckers like us ! We had an awesome (even if abbreviated) cruise and we are SO glad we went. It was basically a free cruise for us. They refunded waaay more to us than we expected (more than 50% of our cruise fare, for sure) and our FCC (also more than we expected) has already been applied to our Oct 11 2020 Brilliance cruise. The reduced crowds (often a problem on Anthem) made walking on the Esplanade and waiting for elevators so much better. Our chance meetings with Yen made it especially enjoyable. Enjoy your cruise ! Anthem is awesome !

Safe flight to Houston ! Have a great cruise !

Hey ! We are in the Newark airport together ! We just got here...in the AA Admiral’s Club !

Yes, as long as you paid the single supplement

No, they did not

Dan and I both got My Pillows and both hate them. I hope you have a better outcome.

Welcome to the dark side ! ...I mean....the fun side !

Precisely !

Great observation ! I guess I’ve never even looked at a room service menu. Thanks for the intel.

Wow....this is always such a difficult decision. First off...there is no bad decision here. It is a big WIN either way. For a first time Star Class passenger, I would probably go with the ATS. The long walk truly sucks but I am with Speednoodles here. I think I would be a nervous wreck with a toddler and those stairs. I am scared for MYSELF on those stairs. I think you will find the separate bedroom a big ++. I “started out” with the ATS and I loved every one. Being on 17 is a big advantage but there’s nothing wrong with the ATS !....especially the ones on deck 8.

A lot of people like deck 8 b/c it is just around the corner to Central Park....but deck 7 is just 1 deck up to CP or 1 deck down to the Boardwalk ! Personally, I would go to the room closest to the back elevators. I don’t think you can go wrong with either.

$50 is very generous. Whoever said that the daily grats don’t get the room attendants doesn’t know what he** they’re talking about. They most certainly do. Ignore that forum. Someone is just trying to make themselves look like big spenders. That kind are usually making up for some personal shortcoming.

Awwwwww....

Some ships have a Bloody Mary bar set up on the ship in the mornings. It will have a huge variety of fixins to make your BM (not to be confused with a BM ??). As far as I know there is no way to get a Bloody Mary delivered to your room unless you are Star Class.

Francis is a great Concierge. One of the best. I’m glad to see that he is there and that Iliana (I think that was her name) is gone. I think you will like Francis.

Hey, Alex. No, it is a very simple process. The only requirement is that you share the same address. It should be accomplished with a 10 minute phone call. Good luck !

We are on this cruise right now and frankly, I never saw anything from Royal that suggested that they would pay for food. Hotel, yes...but nothing else. Most of our food expenses are reflected in the hotel bill and we will submit all of it but I fully expect to be reimbursed for hotel only. I thought about making a claim against our travel insurance for anything not covered by Royal but it’s not really worth the hassle. We’re only talking about a pittance. Just not worth it, IMO. Frankly, they have been so generous with the cruise fare refund(s) that I don’t plan on making ANY waves about a few bucks worth of food.

Welcome to the blog, Benson. Very sorry to hear about your wife’s diagnosis. I hope it all turns out for you and your wife has a quick and full recovery.

Join the club. I am a constant source of irritation for Michelle. I’m sure she secretly hates me.

As much as I love and appreciate my MEI agent, I do not expect her to monitor my cruise prices to see if they go down. When Royal introduces a new sale, she will check but other than that, it is really my responsibility to check prices. When I find what I think might be a reduction or if I have a question, she will check it out for me but I realize that it would be impossible for her to constantly check prices for all of my cruises. In all of these years and nearly 50 cruises, my MEI agent has never found a price reduction for me; conversely, I have found lots of them. He is either lying to you straight up or he’s just too lazy to check on this for you. Agents CAN determine if your category (even if it is sold out) has had a price reduction but it takes calls (sometimes multiple) and determination. Good thing you’re moving on from this one. This is true. It’s one of the few downsides to using an Agent. If you get a bad one, you’re stuck unless you transfer the booking to a different Agent, and that is not an easy thing to do.

I did have the new sign-in screen but no problems that I’ve noticed.

I think the early morning shots coming back into Sydney were the best photos of the entire cruise. Saved the best for last. Great work !

Who would do such a thing ? ?? Oh, wait.... ??