WAAAYTOOO

No more updates for now so hopefully things have stabilized.  At this point they are refunding 2 days of cruise fare, 2 days of prepaid packages and reimbursing hotel and food up to $200.  They’ve cancelled Nassau (yippee) and cut out 1 sea day.  IF things go smoothly tomorrow I think all will be well.  I have a 4:00 checkout at the hotel so if they begin boarding at 5:00 that should work out.

13 minutes ago, ctwilliams said:

Hmmm...changed again:

 

We’ll set sail from Cape Liberty at 10:00 PM on Saturday, February 8th instead of 3:00 PM on Friday, February 7th. Additionally, our visit to Port Canaveral will now be on February 11th from from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM and to Perfect Day at CocoCay on February 12th from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Unfortunately, we’ll be unable to visit Nassau, Bahamas.

 

I guess I will be sitting in a hotel lobby!

 

Oh also, be glad you skipped Charlotte. I was trying to get to Newark from Charlotte and everything was cancelled due to the local tornados and just crazy storms for February. I ended up at JFK (of course my luggage ended up in Newark) and had to do the $120 uber to get back to Newark. Fun travel day yesterday.

Hmmm...thanks for the intel.  Dans phone is in a mandatory push update (a fact about which he is altogether unhappy) so we had not yet gotten this update.  Great change IMO (Taking out Nassau, I mean).

3 hours ago, PurdueFlyer said:

We ended up cancelling the Quantum sailing  as I alluded to up-thread.  I found a 7-nighter on Jewel out of Dubai the following week that worked for us.

Instead of waiting for my fare voucher to show up, from the cancelled Quantum sailing, Royal allowed me to immediately roll those funds into my new Jewel sailing since I already told them what I wanted to do.  That was nice of them.  Not like I wouldn't be cruising at some point this year anyways, but a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush as the saying goes.  

Also got a refund of the DL flights to Singapore so thats, $1550 back in my pocket.  Our new flights AMS-DXB were only $550.  Not bad for 2 weeks out. 

My only disappointment is earning 7 cruise nights instead of 9 this time.  All the more reason to book another one! 

That’s an awesome outcome for you !  Enjoy Jewel.

44 minutes ago, Geoff P said:

With boarding at 1 tomorrow now, what time should we get to the port?

Boarding has been pushed back again.  Now boarding is supposed to begin at 5:00.  We plan on being at the Port between 4-5:00.

As I posted on another thread, embarkation has been pushed back AGAIN.  Now boarding will begin at 1700 tomorrow and shove-off at 2100.

Update.  
 

So the boarding has been pushed back AGAIN. Boarding of Anthem will now BEGIN at 1700 tomorrow afternoon; departure scheduled for 2100. As far as I know that awful schedule is still intact with a shortened Port Canaveral stay and an unsat long Nassau stay. It’s a damn good thing that I am a Titanium elite with Marriott and can basically check out of here anytime I want to tomorrow or we’d be stranded with nowhere to go until 5:00.  It’s hard for me to imagine what pushing back the embarkation time from 1300 to 1700 is going to yield. Maybe extra cleaning.  Who knows. My patience is beginning to wear thin.

1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

I’m hoping for a similar fate for our Oasis sailing in April, right now it’s only stop is Nassau, selfishly hoping for skipping that port and heading to CocoCay

No such luck for us.  They just shortened the stop at Port Canaveral which was, unfortunately, the only stop where we had something planned.  Ugh.  So I am just going to cancel my car rental for CC and we’ll just stay on the ship. We’ll be in Nassau 7 AM - 11 PM.  OMG, really ?

2 minutes ago, dodgestang said:

DC to Newark....Acela first class.....unless someone jumps on the track I've never had an issue on the train

Thanks !  How long does it take ?

8 minutes ago, DDaley said:

So glad to hear that! Are you guys gonna stay in NJ tonight? 

Yes.  I booked a Courtyard in Newark. Site unseen. On the fly. In the Uber. Livin’ dangerous.  

Just now, SteveinSC said:

Probably safe, and this is all erring on the side of caution. Hope y'all have a great day in Sunny, Friendly Newark, New Jersey!  Have a great cruise and enjoy that OBC! 

Thanks, Steve.  Unfortunately, it is cold, rainy and gloomy here.  It was a a ROUGH ride from DC...but we made it.

Our itin was originally DCA-CLT-EWR but yesterday AA contacted us and advised significant weather delays for CLT and allowed us to make changes without a fee. I opted for a non-stop into JFK and BOY am I glad I did !  I’m not sure whether or not that original flight ever left CLT.  It’s a pricey Uber ride from JFK ($160.00) but I’d rather pay a little more and get here than get stuck in CLT and frankly, I think that is what would have happened. 

Yes.  All suspected of possibly having the virus have been preliminarily cleared. Apparently one person tested positive for influenza. 
 

Even though the ship has been cleared, RC decided to wait until they get a positive test results back from the CDC and so we will not board until tomorrow, Feb 8.  There will be some partial refunds for cruise fare and prepaid packages.  Everything seems to be fine except for the late start.  

Dan got an email but I got nothing. Still, we knew before we got to the port.  We are staying overnight in a Newark Courtyard and will go over tomorrow assuming everything is cleared.

Welcome to the blog, Mandy.  Yes, you are paying gratuities twice but unfortunately, that is the way it works.  The grats that you prepaid already are for your cabin attendant and food (primarily). The 18% on the drinks pkg is for the bar service.  Welcome to cruising. 

Just arrived JFK and saw boarding delayed until tomorrow. We’re ok with that.  Booked 1 night at the Newark Courtyard. So we ended up flying in 1 day early after all !  Lets hope they cancel Nassau and not Coco Cay !

I’m on a flight right now heading to Bayonne !  Yikes !

I believe so but I won’t know for sure until 2-11

Never ever take our passports off the ship. 

11 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

What did you think of it? Have you tried the beach front or hilltop cabanas? 

We loved the OTW cabana but honestly, for the money, I think the beachfront is a better deal.  I can’t remember how much we paid for the beachfront but it was significantly less than the OTW.  We have never rented a hilltop cabana.

Thank you for the update from the Anthem of the Seas

Well....we’re boarding our flight. Fingers crossed that everyone is well and disembarkation will be event-free.

Safe trip home !

https://nypost.com/2020/02/06/cruise-ship-set-to-dock-in-bayonne-will-test-12-passengers-for-coronavirus/
 

Do you know if disembarkation has been delayed ?

Jesus is a very talented towel-animal-maker.

It’s been a couple of years since we booked any cabanas, but the last time we got an OTW cabana at Labadee, it was $495. My guess is the price has gone up since then but I really don’t know what recent prices are.

Forgive me for hijacking the end of your live blog, but b/c I am NOT doing a live blog, I will take this opportunity to elbow in on yours !!

We are on Anthem tomorrow and we received the following text/email:

There's no way we would be there before 11:30 anyway since we are flying in tomorrow, but I just wanted to show that they are not JUST concerned about Asian sailings.

Back to you....have a wonderful last night and safe trip home !!!  Thank you for the wonderful blog.  Please tell Yen we will see her tomorrow...even though she won't be our Genie.

44 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said:

I tried that on my last cruise.. it made me cycle through the OBC before I could just cash out.. I am not sure I am explaining it correctly lol but it made me use $100 worth of "freeplay" basically.. 

Hmmm....I have never tried this.  Sorry it won't work anymore.  It used to.