WAAAYTOOO

Bonaire has some of the most beautiful snorkeling and diving in the world. It was once (and may still be) considered the "Mecca" for SCUBA diving. The only caution I will offer on snorkeling in Bonaire is....while the sea life and reefs are beautiful on Bonaire, the beaches...not so much. If you want to snorkel in Bonaire, I recommend you do it from a boat. The beaches are very rocky and full of coral. I'm certainly no expert. There may be beautiful beaches somewhere on Bonaire that I have not seen...but from what I HAVE seen and experienced, I would say stick with a boat excursion.

One of the arguments that I continually read, regarding expensive vs inexpensive rooms is, "I don't spend much time in my room so I don't need to spend a lot of money FOR my room". We have found, as we moved "up" the ladder of stateroom categories, that the nicer your room, the more time you WANT to spend there. I can already anticipate the retort to that statement...."why would I spend all that money just to hang out in my stateroom ? I go on a cruise to DO stuff". Well...people go on cruises for many different reasons. For instance, I pretty much could care less where the ship is going. Itinerary is absolutely secondary to me while others cruise exclusively for the itinerary. So a nice room, where I can spend some comfortable time relaxing when I'm NOT doing stuff, is important to me. The perks are nice and they're easy to get used to...but the comfort of the room and its location, are the primary reasons that I sail in suites most of the time. IF you can afford it, go for it. ...but it IS hard to go back. Just sayin'.

As a general rule (Alaska not withstanding), aft balconies on all ships tend to be slightly more expensive than traditional balconies but not significantly. For Alaska sailings it could be considerably higher for an aft. I recommend booking as soon as the itin is released. They will go quickly, pricey or not.

I sure hope they don't replace Sabor on NAV. I love the full service Sabors. The ones on the O class - not so much.

Swimming with the pigs may sound like more fun than it really is ? Dan loves pigs. He used to raise them (gentrified pig farmer...nothing too hard ! He had goats too) but I worried that their sharp hooves would scratch you (unintended, of course) if you got too close. Any issues with that ?

Yes. Your wife's status tier should be the same as yours regardless of how many cruises she has taken (as long as you share the same address). Call C&A and have them match her status to yours.

Welcome seacruiserjoe !

Kinda like baiting a crab pot ? A "bot bait" !

I think it is under "Entertainment".

I was really stunned when I read that you are not a native English speaker. I had created a hypothesis that you were a transplanted [to Germany] English speaker. WOW ! Your English is better than 99% of Americans' - especially your grammar, which is a hard nut to crack even after a lifetime of English language education. Unfortunately Americans aren't taught grammar anymore (along with American history, cursive writing, civics and about a thousand other subjects...no offense to any of our beloved teachers on this blog !). Congratulations on your excellent communications skills. I am quite in awe.

Curacao is one of my favorite places. It is such a quaint island. I recommend walking over the floating bridge and hiring one of the tuc-tuc's. They will give you a little tour and they are so cute ! I just love going to Curacao.

Ugh. Not so far. We are supposed to board NAV on 11-18 for the Thanksgiving cruise. I didn't realize it at the time we booked but apparently we are on the first stateside cruise after her TA back to the states. The RCCL announcement indicated "...no safety issues." I would consider a hole in the side of the ship to be at least a MINOR safety concern. Will keep fingers crossed and hope they get her patched up.

Really enjoying the blog. I love that it's your first O Class ship. It is such a wonderment to see it for the first time !

If you truly want a quiet (and reasonably private) table for 2, insist that they NOT put you at one of the crowded tables. There are usually a few isolated tables around....you just have to know to ask them to find one for you. There are usually a few 2-tops along the walls somewhere.

I can't wait to try Anthem for the first time in Feb. Somehow we have just never gotten around to sailing in a Q class before this and since our B2B in Feb has turned into B2B star class cruises I am doubly anxious for Feb 15 to get here !! I have heard other say the same thing, about the Anthem feeling "crowded". Explanations I have heard usually deal with the ship's general design not allowing traffic flow as readily as some of the other classes and then there's that whole thing about it being a "cool weather" ship where everyone is mostly inside vs outside. Guess I will find out in a few months ! Can't wait.

Well, double congratulations then ! I'm truly surprised they did not cancel it and refund your money to you. Enjoy it !!!

Seems like a reasonable hypothesis

Congratulations on getting a dining package of ANY kind on a holiday sailing. None are available on our Thanksgiving Navigator Cruise. I haven’t found the Concierge particularly helpful in getting reservations when the availability is already limited but you have just as good a chance with them helping you as you do of getting difficult reservations on your own. If it were me, I would go straight to a specialty restaurant or the specialty restaurant kiosk, once you board and if you are still not satisfied with you times, ask the Concierge for help but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Don’t think they have any particular influence on dining reservation times they are just able to do it for you based on what is available.

Yes they will sell cigarettes on board. As long as you’re ok with the “big names” you’ll be fine. They do not carry a big selection.

Poor Annie. She looks so sad already.

Interesting. We rarely look in this folder. Maybe we missed it in the past. Thanks !

If you are going to be using Luggage Valet, I think the earliest time that they will allow is noon...or thereabouts. I think there was a flight at 11:59 on one airline and they allowed it but probably noon to be on the safe side. If you are not using LV then I would say any time after 10:30 would be safe. I don't like feeling rushed so I wouldn't book before 10:30 but I'm sure some will say that you can fly earlier than 10:30.

As often as I have been in a full suite I have never received an invitation to a Suites/Pinnacle reception. Not that I am aware of, anyway. It is probably not something that we would jump to go to anyway but I cannot recall ever getting such an invitation - not even when we have been Star Class.

You should be aware that all of the beverages packages include fountain sodas only. If you are a Coke snob like me and want a can, you will still have to pay for it. When we have the deluxe beverage package I can usually convince them to give me a can vs a fountain drink but it sometimes takes some convincing. My guess is that if you only have the soda package they would not give you a can instead of a fountain drink.

I have always found the tap water on a cruise ship to be just fine UNTIL we sailed on Liberty in September. Their water was skunky. I have never had bad cruise ship water until then. Luckily we had the drink package so I was able to get bottled water. Later in the cruise I noticed that the ship's water had lost that skunky taste (and smell) so I'm not sure what was wrong with the early water but in the end, it was fine.