WAAAYTOOO

40 minutes ago, Kathleen said:

Is this true only on Oasis class ships or do other Suite Lounges have the same offerings on other ships. We are sailing in a 2 BRM Grand Suite on Explorer and I know we have the happy hour in the Suites Lounge but would there be beer/wine availability from 11-11. TIA

Only Oasis class offers the 11-11 schedule.  Other ships’ Suites Lounges offer access all day/night but they are not staffed but a few hours each day and do not have beverage service except during happy hours.  All of the ships offer access to the coffee machine all day/night.

10 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Not Honk Kong but like Honk Kong , 

It is a territory which was controlled by Portugal and moved to China , still keep independent immigration so if you go from Hong Kong to Macau you need a passport but like Hong Kong most people can travel there  without Chinese Visa . Although Macau has international airport its quite small so most people will take the ferry (1 hour travel) from Macau to Hong Kong Airport to catch a flight (there is also a bridge now between the two cities). 
They also have their own currency and its the only place in China which gambling is allowed so they have huge casinos.

Thanks.  I just meant that they are right there, together, geographically speaking.

18 minutes ago, DJsMrs said:

Isn’t it basic common sense that when you go to a restaurant you wait to be seated?  

...especially when you see people already hanging out at the concierge desk.  It should be obvious...but some people are just obtuse. 

32 minutes ago, Ogilthorpe said:

The suite reserved area in the theater is on the balcony level, front rows in the center.  For 270, I believe it is similar but can't confirm... we arrived too late for suite seating to be in effect. It involved the Schooner bar and losing track of time

Thanks !  That's where I would have started looking, anyway.  I believe there is an upper level to 270 although we never went up there.  It will be an interesting perspective from the upper level at 270.  We had always been down on the front lines before.  I like being in different locations to see the shows for the second (or sometimes third !!) time.

34 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Quick update , 

The couple started the travel originally from Macao ...

Basically, that's Hong Kong, right ?

8 minutes ago, Ogilthorpe said:

I checked an old Concierge letter from a year ago (yes, I keep those things for reference ) and found the same verbiage. With that said, although we had reservations, I can't confirm that they checked beyond looking at our cards and directing us to the reserved area.

Thank you, Oglilthorpe.  I learn something new every day on this site.  I will get the Concierge to help me with the show reservations. 

So...since you brought it up... (LOL) where are the suite reserved areas in 270 and the main theater on Anthem ?

7 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

I'm so confused by this statement. The ships are an entity of Royal Caribbean, are they not? I can't imagine each ship is operated as their own profit center requiring cuts to please the ownership. 

Actually, that's exactly what happens.  Each ship is a separate profit/cost center and has ultimate control of how they implement and price their onboard revenue generation.  That's why so many of the programs are so inconsistently implemented throughout the fleet.  It seems completely counter intuitive that Corporate would create and deploy a new "program" and then let the ships decide how to run them, but that's exactly what happens.

Yeah.  It sounds to me like those lounger area  that dodgestang shows in the picture above must have been converted to some kind of cabanas.  Doesn't look like room for more than a couple.  If that is the case, the bar is no more than a couple of steps away.  My guess is that their idea of a cabana and mine are very different.  They probably threw up a couple of those open-sided tents and are calling them cabanas !  I wonder if they included that area behind the railing, where the tables and chairs are, now.  If they did not include that area, those tables and chairs are going to be completely blocked from a view of the pool area.  Looks like you might not be able to see the pool area from the bar, either.  Whatever.  Not interested anyway.

Never tried to do this through NextCruise but MANY years ago we were on Radiance and were returning home to a horrific snow storm.  Our flights had been cancelled and Dan and I thought about just staying on the ship for another go.  We were somewhat surprised to find that they were not willing to give us any kind of discount or deal whatsoever to try and fill one of the last remaining inside cabins that were left for that following cruise.  We passed on it and slogged home through the storm.  If you are willing to pay the going rate for the room, I'm sure you could arrange it so long as you don't wait until the very last minute to do it.  I believe that they have to finalize their manifest at least 48 hours prior to sailing so as long as it is more than 48 hours before the sailing, I think you could do it.  If you can go on a cruise for less than 1 night in a hotel, I say go for it, for sure !

The most disturbing part of this article, IMO is that the woman in question flew from Hong Kong.  I wish the article had provided whether or not she originated from HK or if she had flown in from mainland China TO HK.  My point is, if Hong Kong was her origination point then HK can no longer be considered a "safe" port.

Believe it or not, next week on Anthem will be the first time we have ever sailed in Sky Class. Since they started the program, we have only traveled Star Class on an Oasis or Quantum ship. There are some interesting - and confusing - things in this letter.

1.  We got our welcome letter from the Concierge this morning, so that makes it 8 days prior to sailing.  I was very surprised.  This is the earliest I have gotten a Concierge letter in a very long time.

2. The letter is signed from Alex Kupryk (never heard of him) so I'm guessing he is the Suites Concierge on Anthem

3.  The letter stated that Suites ARE REQUIRED to have reservations for some shows.  This came as a complete surprise to me.  I always thought that Suite guests did NOT need show reservations on Oasis or Quantum class ships.

So now I am scurrying around to try and get show reservations.  I'm going to ask the Concierge for help here.  I'll let you know how that goes.

4.  The letter also promises Luxury Pillowtop Mattresses.  Ah....yeah.  We'll see about this one.  

5.  This is also a new one (to me anyway):

Does this mean that the cabana area is off limits unless you have pre-reserved (and paid for !!) one ?  We would not want one anyway, but just confused by this.

6.  I KNOW this one is wrong...but just throwing it out there.  The letter states that the Coastal Kitchen is for Suite and Pinnacle guests only.  It does not mention that JS have access for dinner.  I do not have ANY problem with JS eating in the CK ANYtime, but it is a bit misleading the way it is presented.

This must be the language that all the "haters" over on that other site are always complaining about when they claim that the CK/CL is supposed to be for Suites (and grudgingly, sometimes, Pinns).  Since we also received the "You D+'s are OUT" letter regarding the CL, I guess the haters are finally getting their way.

I would have posted the entire letter but I cannot "capture" the whole thing in one screen shot !  If anyone wants the entire thing let me know and I will try a work-around.

Wow....this is going to snowball in a hurry.  If the ports are beginning to quarantine the ships and not allow them to disembark at ports of call, it's going to get ugly.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if the ships begin to deny pax from mainland China.

 Absolutely awesome !  Well done

We’ll be house hunting (I should say...doing recon) on the space coast in a couple of weeks.  I guess we’ll eventually figure out where we want to go !

Who would think it’s ok to push past the people who are obviously waiting to be seated ?  As a dear friend of mine says, “You can’t fix stupid”.

Yippee !  I’m so happy that you are excited about doing a Royal again.  I love a Oasis.  It’s always been one of my faves but with the amplification, it’s just another step up.  So glad you guys had a great time !

2 hours ago, Lryoon said:

What was wrong with the tower? Just want to know as we were thinking ordering chops to our room one night

Nothing wrong with the tower.  It’s just a LOT of food.

4 hours ago, PRC said:

That's ok. I've been called things not fit for print before by people that don't know me from Adam, still sleep pretty well.

 

Good to see you back on the boards, Paul.  Are you missing Texas yet ?

Just now, Geoff P said:

Yea, it leaves Friday the 7th

Whew !  Thought I was going to have to redo my flights !!

Please tell me that is a typo in the OP.  My Anthem cruise leaves on Friday, Feb 7 - I hope !!

1 minute ago, SteveHK said:

Thank you, that's helpful! Is there a certain number of days out that they will start assigning? Do I get notified?

Unfortunately, no.  This is one of the big mysteries of booking with Royal Caribbean.  There is never any way to tell when they will assign.  Now with RoyalUp it's even more difficult to predict.

24 minutes ago, Rags1 said:

The seafood tower will look awesome on our deck

Wow, you are brave, indeed.  One round with the Seafood tower ended with "never again".....for us.

Here's hoping your food is warm and the balcony is cool.

13 minutes ago, SteveHK said:

Not assigned yet. Would there be an option to change if it gets assigned?

If it is a GTY room, yes.  If it is a RoyalUp room, no.  Of course, as you get closer and closer to the sail date, chances of there being a room to change TO decreases....but if you are in a GTY category and don't like your room assignment, they will allow you to change rooms (assuming there is availability) within the same cabin category.  Of course, Royal will always (normally) take more money from you so if you want to upgrade you can often do that as well.

19 minutes ago, Karannk said:

My husband and my father got on North Star. Everyone else in our party (including me) was too chicken. But, Yen has booked another time - one sea day, one port day - for comparison. I might try it out. We’ll see. I’m terrified of heights. 

I am also not comfortable being waaay up there.  I had a very bad experience many, many years ago with the Arch in St. Louis and I have never been comfortable going "up" in some kind of mechanical contraption ever since.  I will say though...that NS is so smooth you don't even feel any motion at all.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  I think we ended up going 3 or 4 times over the B2B cruises. I hope you give it a try.  It's incredible.

55 minutes ago, Karannk said:

I really like her. I feel that the formality that some folks mention is just mistaken professionalism.

I do believe this is the case as well.