cruisinnewbie

Not gonna lie- while I managed to keep my head off the table, my eyes were closing at dinner as well.

It’s my guilty pleasure - trashy regency era romance drama.

Yesterday was CocoCay day! Got up early and hit the gym again, and Bridgerton got a little emotional so if you see a social media post about a crazy lady crying on the elliptical, that would be me. Breakfast at coastal kitchen and then we got ready and met Leroy at Bolero’s to get ready to go. We went downstairs to an area that was only genies and their cabins. We were ready to walk on and … we weren’t cleared for a while. Apparently things got a little gnarly up in the line on deck 3 to get off the boat. We just counted our blessings and waited it out. When they cleared us, they said no crew could leave - no idea why. So Leroy had to direct us to our cabana instead of escorting us and all of the genies were upset. I honestly didn’t think it was that bad, and they gave us an extra hour on the island. so… cococay. We made very ambitious plans even though you all warned us it was a lot. It was, but my kids abhor being still for more than ten seconds so I wanted to plan a full day. When we booked this two years ago I snagged a good deal on an overwater cabana, and then on Black Friday I got water park tickets for 40 each. Following Leroy’s advice, we went to beach club first and got settled in our cabana. Holy cow. That was amazing. We had cabana 11, which others had told me was the best. It was incredible. My son loves marine life, so swimming around with giant rays made him happy as a clam. We arranged with our cabin attendant to do lunch around 1:30 and we headed off to the water park. I have to say, for all of the hype this is what I was least impressed by. Not a lot of options, especially for a kid who wants an exciting but not terrifying ride (like my increasingly cranky daughter). The lines were also crazy. Maybe that’s star class spoiled status talking. I pacified the younger kid with a walk through the island market and the purchase of a 20 dollar stuffed animal that she claims is her new best friend and that she will clearly have forgotten about by next week. Then back to the cabana for the afternoon. We also checked out the beach club pool, which was lovely and not crowded. we headed back to the ship and cleaned up, then headed to coastal kitchen for dinner. I forgot how much being out in the sun wipes you out. My kids both crashed hardcore, as pictured here. Leroy stopped by to bring us some aloe because I mentioned we were sunburned. I never want to not have a genie, lol. After dinner it was straight to bed. this morning has been quiet, more Bridgerton at the gym and subsequently more crying on the elliptical. Breakfast at coastal kitchen - tried the Baja eggs. We’re not getting off the boat in Nassau, so hoping for a quiet day. fun pic: if you zoom in you can see me on our balcony!

We had another fabulous day in Star Class heaven. I got up early so I went to the gym and pretended to work out while I watched Bridgerton. Had a quiet coffee at la patisserie without any kids. Delightful. Leroy had breakfast delivered to our suite right at 8:30 as requested. He then met us at the rock wall and let us through the line. I let the rest of my family enjoy that - I learned from ifly that sportiness is not my strong suit. We then went to our appointment for Northstar, which was cool. Leroy brought the kids a pair of binoculars, which would have been awesome if they didn’t spend the whole ride fighting over whose turn it was to look. Now it was my turn to pretend I’d never met any of them. We went straight from North Star to lunch at Izumi, which was great. It was during this meal that the most incredible moment of my life happened - my son consumed a vegetable. Ok, it was fried tempura style, but it was an actual vegetable. After lunch was pool time. The suite Sun deck is lovely but not very convenient to the pool. I was nervous going into tonight because my husband and I reserved chef’s table and my daughter was adamant that she didn’t want to go to adventure ocean and my son was totally fine with meeting up with his friend and wandering around the ship - terrifying. Leroy to the rescue again - he calmed my daughter down and escorted her to AO, where she ended up making lots of new friends. She informed me that she has to meet a friend at “the pirate ship” at 9 tomorrow. Um, ok. so the main event… chef’s table. My lord I am full. Full and tipsy. Leroy made more magic happen - he told us the chef would accommodate our dietary needs, which we assumed meant vegetarian and fish dishes. We never would have thought it meant a full kosher steak! And dairy free but amazing desserts! We loved getting to know the people at our table - such a fun night! So excited for CocoCay tomorrow. Pics of our food below:

I’m not sure, sorry. I’m bummed about the show too but stuff like that is to be expected these days.

Our first full day and night on the ship continued to be great. My daughter and I woke up early and went to get Starbucks and pastries. The person tried to charge me for the pastries but I knew from this group that they should be included, so I whispered in my most un-Karen—like voice, “um, star class?” And he started apologizing. As someone who hates attention, I feel weird about all of the fawning that happens in Star class, but maybe I’ll get used to it! By then end of the week I’ll just bust into places yelling, “do you know who I am???” Once everyone was up we went to coastal kitchen for breakfast. It was lovely if nothing to write home about. While we ate I texted with Leroy to figure out bumper cars. He told us to meet him at the seaplex when we finished and he was right there waiting for us. How does this man cover multiple suites? I feel like he’s always immediately available. It’s like an old episode of Three’s Company when Jack tries to go on multiple dates at the same time. We saw Leroy escorting a group into wonderland while we were walking to chops for dinner and he looked like we had caught him cheating But I digress- bumper cars. Leroy sent us in through the exit twice and I tried not to think about how I would hate me if I were watching that happen from the long line waiting to play. But, that’s the star class perk so I went with it. It seems my children have some issues they need to work out because they bumped me mercilessly. Our plan was to then hit the indoor pool, but, alas, someone puked in there and it was closed. So we decided to do the ship scavenger hunt. Leroy said he’s never seen one of his groups do it before, which is interesting. I couldn’t figure out how my son and his new friend were finding everything so easily and then I remembered I gave him Leroy’s WhatsApp in case of emergency. I guess winning the scavenger hunt by asking your genie to cheat is considered an emergency in my child’s world. Sorry, my TEEN’s world. I did finally get to meet the new friend’s mom and I asked Leroy to add them to our overwater cabana list for CocoCay so that the boys can play and I can relax. That might sound generous, but it’s actually extremely selfish, lol. We had lunch at Jamie’s and it was very good, though next time I probably wouldn’t do it two days in a row. after lunch we went to do ifly. I wasn’t intending to participate, but Leroy cajoled me into trying it. Let’s just say I was not good at it. I don’t think I’ll try it again. My kids loved it. I went after that and had my hair blown out. I pre purchased a package of 3 blowouts for less than the price of two single ones. I hate doing my hair and I decided to make it my self care gift. We got all dressed up and took some photos before dinner at chops. They really push the private photo session but since those are not included in the photo package I purchased, i passed. Chops was quite good and they asked really thoughtful questions like whether we could eat the food on their regular plates or if we needed new ones (the answer is for us, we don’t care) . After dinner we saw Frankie and the Dreamers, starring the guy who played Frankie Valli in the first run of the show Jersey Boys. We went in a little bummed because both spectra and we will rock you are not showing this week due to quarantined cast members, but it turns out this show is great. Even my kids liked it despite asking me repeatedly why I knew all of the words to the songs. So now I’m up stupidly early because someone forget to tell my sleep cycles that I’m on vacation. We will see what today brings! TL:DR: star class is awesome and I never want to go home.

Leroy is incredible. I think he replaced Yen? He is so kind and funny and warm. My kids adore him and we do too. I never should have told him that my son has a sweet tooth because there’s an entire bakery worth of pastries being delivered daily. He is so good he even convinced me to go on ifly - that one is definitely one and done for me!

Raj told us we had a particularly rough night but that he has experienced all of the glassware going flying. We tried to move them apart to minimize the clanking because that’s what was making my daughter particularly nervous. I’ll ask Raj!

Day one continued to be great. Took kids to AO to register and found out my 12 year old counts as a teen. Had a full existential crisis over having a kid old enough for the teen club and then we went to check it out. We followed our son’s instructions to pretend we didn’t know him. He made a friend.and the two of them have been inseparable ever since. For my daughter, the AO people seemed nice but they aren’t really doing a lot of organized activities for the kids. My daughter saw science stuff in one room and got excited and they said they weren’t really doing stuff like that these days. we explored the ship a bit and went up top to see us go under the verrezano bridge. Wow that was close! dinner was at Jamie’s and was quite good. The ship’s executive chef stopped by to give us his card and talk over our dietary needs. Star class is something else! we also met Raj, our suite attendant, and he seems terrific. We hid our first two ducks as well. After dinner my daughter and I crashed snd my husband and son went swimming with the new friend. Now I’m up early for no reason but that’s what my body is used to. One small thing about the GLS: Because of its location, I presume, there is a LOT of rattling and vibrating. My daughter got a bit scared. I am thankful for my nausea patch No crazy plans for the day - looking forward to relaxing! bridge, meet boat;

Anthem is sailing away now with 3327 according to our Facebook group.

Ok. In a word: wow. We haven’t even left the port and I already feel like it’s the best vacation ever. Leroy met us at the star class drop off and apologized for us having to wait like 30 seconds. He whisked us through the boarding process and then took us to our suite. I can’t believe how huge and lovely it is! I had mentioned at some point that my kids love to play roblox, and there was a roblox-themed welcome cake and sign. My kids were absolutely floored. We had explained to Leroy beforehand that we keep kosher, which means we only eat kosher meat when we eat meat. So on vacation, we eat veggie or fish (no shellfish). When I came in I saw a lovely tray of beef and Turkey appetizers in our suite and I thought, “wow that’s a miss.” I very politely said to Leroy that we don’t eat non kosher meat and he told me they got kosher meat to make the dish! I was honestly floored. That’s a kind of above and beyond that I wasn’t expecting. Leroy is absolutely lovely - funny, warm, great with the kids. we did our muster and then went to lunch at coastal kitchen. It was lovely. My kids started squabbling so we decided to give them some space from each other, which is how I ended up back here in the suite relaxing with my daughter while my husband and son explore the ship. I think I got the better end of the deal and I’m slowly sinking into the couch as my 3:30 am wake up starts to get to me. Heading out in a bit to register kids at adventure ocean. Will check in later!

We board today for my first RC cruise - Anthem, Grand Loft Suite, 7-night out of Bayonne. I’ve been up since 3:30 this morning in excitement. I don’t know if I’ll have the stamina for a live blog, and I saw the feedback on here that we have a LOT of star class blogs, but I figured I’d start this and maybe add any interesting observations as a newbie. I’m traveling with my family - husband, two kids (12 and 7). We’ve been trying to sail RC since we booked an awesome Black Friday sale in November 2019 to sail in March 2020. You all know what happened then. As we kept rescheduling and getting canceled, we kept upgrading. This story started in a junior suite and ended up in star class, lol. We had two years to pay it off and, as a teacher with a doc husband, we both really, really needed an amazing break from the last two years of reality. Our genie is Leroy and he’s been lovely so far in our emails. I’m ready to grab the wheel from my husband if he tries to pull over before the star class zone at the port, lol. I am usually a great packer, but with the limits of air travel taken away, I’ve gone insane. Apparently I think I’m Beyoncé and need several outfit changes per day. I’m legit concerned about fitting it all in the car. Then there’s my 7-year-old, who announced to me that she’s all packed and when I checked she is bringing a slinky, an army of stuffed animals, and one shirt. I remedied that but let her keep the slinky, because I’m not gonna die on that hill. This site has made me feel like an expert before I’ve ever even stepped foot on a ship. You all are so kind and patient! Thank you for answering my questions and for your blogs that gave me an exciting preview of star class. I was especially inspired by @Lovetocruise2002 and @WAAAYTOOO from reading their blogs and asking them questions - thank you! We live about 90 minutes from Cape Liberty so it’s way too early to leave but I am so antsy. I might burst into tears when we finally get on the ship after so many tries. Sorry for rambling, but I’m sleep deprived! Hope to update from on board later today.

Hi all! I looked in the app for our anthem sailing in March (our first rc cruise!) but only saw burgers on the menu - do they usually have grilled cheese? Is there a veggie burger option? Thank you!

Thank you!!

Hi all, I am finishing up checking in for my first RC cruise after two and a half years of trying (woop woop!), and I'm wondering what to put for the "date of final dose" with my vaccine card upload. Does that mean my second shot (to be fully vaxxed) or my booster? Both are on my card. Thank you for the help - I was so excited to check in that I woke up at midnight and did it, lol.

I have the over the counter ones and I wanted to see if there was any way to get someone to proctor those. I know it’s probably a dumb question but for 200 bucks it seemed worth asking!

Hi all - I tried to see if this specific question was already answered and I apologize if I missed it and this is a repeat. I already have a few Abbott binax home tests (the kind you buy through rcl). Is there a way to sign up to be proctored but use my test, or am I out 200 bucks to order their tests? I have a bad feeling I know the answer but thought I’d check…

Wasn’t odyssey going to have a kosher restaurant? Did that go away when they changed to US from Israel?

Thanks, all! Glad to hear it’s easy!

Hi all, I searched the archives and didn't see this topic - my apologies if it's been covered. Any advice on parking at or near the port in Bayonne for our upcoming (March) Anthem cruise? Is it best to use their parking? Is there a convenient and/or cheaper option nearby? Thanks for any experiences you can share!

Great advice! Also, I saw Anthem March 27 in your future cruise list... that's the one we'll be on!

I'm guessing this was more of a "me" problem (total rookie mistake), but you all have been so helpful to me that I thought I'd share my recent near miss with FCC application in case any other newbies would benefit. So, I carefully budgeted my March 2022 cruise, starting with the total number I owed and subtracting my FCC from my canceled cruises. I then divided the rest by the number of months until final payment and kept up monthly payments. We upgraded to star class so let's just say there was a fair amount left to pay even after a good amount in FCCs, and we could only afford it because I had like two years to pay it off! I waited to apply my FCCs because I was worried about repricing if I had applied them too early. Long story short, I went to apply them today and found out that I should have subtracted my FCC from the CRUISE FARE only line on the invoice, not the total. FCCs cannot be used for taxes or other fees. When I called RC, they said I was SOL and had already paid off too much to use my full credit. I asked if they could just put the money I paid toward taxes and fees and then use the credit, and they said no. I asked for a partial refund of the money I paid to use the credit, and they said no. Then, my rep put me on hold and escalated it and came back and told me they had "worked it out" and would use my whole FCC and the cash I've paid toward my total balance. Since this seemed like kind of a miracle and not typical policy, I thought I'd post a warning to anyone else trying to obsessively budget using FCCs and cash! I'm super relieved that I don't have to face my husband and tell him we owe even more money on this cruise, lol. Hope this helps another newbie out there!

Following! We’ll be in 10724 on March 27. So excited!

Is there a better way to ask to avoid this? We got a really good price on our GLS so I guess it's possible, but I hate not knowing for sure!