Drewtastic86

Group of 8 here from Delaware and Ohio!!! Two of us have been on the Anthem twice before and love the ship! The rest of the group has never been on a ship like Anthem so it will be exciting!

@CruisnMike35 Safe trip to New Jersey! See you on board!

@Jax Thank you so much! We are really enjoying Jay so far and he is very nice, but from everything I have read from others, Shane seems like the King of the Royal Genies wow! I will ask Jay about linking the schedule to the app, that seems so much better thank you!

After staying up past midnight and two dropped calls later, we took or eMed tests and we are both NEGATIVE!!! Overall Royal's e-med tests were easy to complete. The proctor disconnected from each of us once but easily reconnected. The proctor was a very specific and detailed on instructions. I liked the overall convince of testing in this fashion. What I did not like was having to hold the cell phone while opening the kit and showing each item to the proctor simultaneously. I wish I had a third hand to hold the darn phone. The proctor is helpful and patient though with user error (I would not want their job!). Oh, and for the love of God fold the card COMPLETELY flat. I failed that one lol. The results came through my email and the Navica app. Jay recommend we do not solely rely on the app's copy of the results and bring a printed copy as backup. @Jax I am all ready for laundry service! In fact we packed a collapsible hamper thanks again to prior blogs! I need to take a picture tomorrow of all of our luggage LOL. I do have a question for the Star Class alumni out there. Jay sent us our schedule yesterday. Weeks prior, we had sent a preference document to Jay. In that document, we let Jay know that we prefer an 8 to 8:30 dinner time. The schedule he sent yesterday has the dinner times all over the place. I am assuming that this is because he scheduled us to see entertainment every night (which we really do not need to do). I feel bad to change his whole plan but some of the dining times were too early. We emailed him back asking to change the entire schedule. Is this normal for genie's having request to tweak the schedule one or more times? I get that this is his job but part of me feels bad lol. Thank you in advance! Andrew

So we are able to test tomorrow! You bet your bottom dollar I am making my husband stay up past midnight tonight so we can take the rapid tests and get our results! I have to say, even though the tests through Royal were costly, it eases up the stress of finding a location and proper testing time. @Jax We packed our suitcases yesterday and I have to tell you the packing cubes make a HUGE difference. My suitcase never looked more organized lol. The beauty of this cruise is that we can drive to the port. That means we packed mostly everything we own in our closet LOL. Jay has been very prompt in his responses to us which is great! We are scheduled to arrive between 10:30 and 11 a.m. on Friday. It looks like the departure time has been pushed back an hour to 4 p.m. which is perfect because we can settle in and unpack our closet and two dressers full of shoes and clothes lol. Wish us luck on the tests! I will check back in tomorrow! TTFN!!!

So we decided that we are driving to the terminal directly. In Cape Liberty, can you pull the car up to the Star Class banners and drop off bags there? Want to avoid the slew of porters trying to take the bags. @WAAAYTOOO I know you have had experience at this terminal so maybe you have advice especially now we are not taking a shuttle or Uber.

Hi everyone! 10 more days and we are onboard the Anthem of the Seas. I have been a little MIA for a couple of weeks. We moved into our new home and 2 days before we started the move, I tested positive. Imagine moving furniture and boxes while not feeling well and masked up. Yeah it’s as inconvenient as you would think! Two days ago during the blizzard we had in Delaware (that was fun lol) I tested negative finally!!! However, after having Covid I really can see that this virus is nothing to mess around with! I am trying to remain hopeful that we will be cruising but a little part of me is nervous since I just stopped being symptomatic! Cross your fingers we can still go! Covid anxiety aside, here is a little cruise update. We received correspondence from Royal stating our itinerary has changed. We will not be stopping at San Juan and Labadee (which I figured). Instead, we are planned to stop at Puerto Plata and St. Thomas, along with St. Maarten. My husband and I are fine with these changes. In fact the ship could be circling the Statue of Liberty for the whole 9 nights at this point lol. We just need a vacation! And this being our 10 year wedding celebration cruise means so much. We booked one excursion which is in St. Thomas. We decided to try that jet pack water rocket contraption that is the latest craze. I totally think I’m going to propel myself into an embarrassing and painful belly flop. But hey, when in Rome (or in this case St. Thomas). Our Genie Jay has been very good with communication and is quick to respond to any questions we have. We are looking forward to meeting him! Talk soon!

@CruisnMike35 Congrats on getting Simona! I have seen other people have really enjoyed her! We have Jay as our Genie. Something I requested for this sailing (since we are on the same sailing) is a reservation for the Valentine's Day dinner at chops. Normally this is an extra charge since it is a holiday dinner, other bloggers and Jay confirmed that for Star Class it is complimentary. I just had to let Jay know we wanted to do the special menu. that night and he is taking care of the rest! I requested for us to be scheduled at Coastal Kitchen 5 out of the 9 nights and the other four nights would be at each speciality restaurant except Wonderland. Hope. this helps and see you onboard!

So Jay has been communicating with us and he is very nice!!! He is also quick to respond which is awesome! I asked if he knew whether Labadee will be cancelled (which I am sure it will be) and he said we will be contacted of any changes closer to the time of cruise which I understand. I did ask about Thermal spa amenities and he said Star Class gets one day complimentary at the Thermal Spa. I asked if he could book us passes for the remainder of the cruise. On cruise planner, it only sells the passes for a 7 night cruise and we are on a 9 night. He said he will take care of it and it will be no problem. Also he is going to reserve us a table by the window with a server he feels is really great at Coastal Kitchen. We like to have consistency with servers on a cruise so can develop a rapport. Jay has been so great with making things happen! I love Star Class already !

ALERT! ALERT! We received our Genie letter this evening! I literally ripped the phone out of my husband's hand as he began proclaiming we received the letter! I had to see it for myself! He puts up with so much from me LOL Drumroll...... We have Genie Jay Galagate! Have heard good things about him and we are looking forward to hearing more from him as we get closer to cruise day! Stay Tuned!

One month from today!!! Fingers and toes are crossed that this cruise is going to still happen! We received our testing kits yesterday! I did not think I would ever be so happy to see a Covid test LOL!

Happy New Year! Chomping at the bit here as February 11th is only a little over a month away. A lot can happen in a month, hopefully for the better! At this point, we have decided that the only way we will cancel the cruise is if Royal cancels cruises completely which I do not foresee. We need to get away especially since it will be about two weeks after we move into our new house. Our backs will be screaming for a massage lol. Also, while I love snow and cold weather, we are already kind of over it lol. Had a big winter storm here yesterday and Delaware freaks out when it snows lol. Hope to check in soon with our genie letter!

Trying to figure out about tuxedo rentals. I chatted with @Booscruize (Shout out!!!) about this since they had a similar question for their fabulous wedding sailing. Has anyone had recent experiences with Royal's tuxedo rental service? My husband is going to call tomorrow and try to get more info on if the rentals are still available (He is off tomorrow from and I am not so he gets to wait on the phone for a frustratingly long time lol). Since we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary, we wanted to have something special to wear on formal nights/Valentine's Day. We also need something that is guaranteed to fit since moving has brought us to ordering take out .

This is a first for us as well! Looking forward to it! Everyone on here has been so helpful in expanding my knowledge on Star Class. @WAAAYTOOO, @Jax and @Lovetocruise2002 are among the great Star Class resources if you have any specific questions. Excited to meet you on board!

@CruisnMike35 Are you on the February 11th sailing? I assume so based on math. We are also on this sailing in a Grand Loft and I am blogging it as well! Looking forward to the cruise!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! So excited our dream cruise is quickly approaching. A little nervous about how Omicron is impacting things. However, from what I have been seeing lately in blogs/posts, things have been relatively smooth and the new protocols do not seem to limit a great cruise experience. We would rather be safe then sorry, so personally I am fine with mask wearing indoors. Completed the survey two weeks ago and now anxiously awaiting to find out who our genie is!!!

Awesome Blog! Thank you as always!

@Jax I am enjoying this so much! Hope you are loving your cruise!!!

@Jax Do you feel the tightening of restrictions are impairing your experience? I don't think wearing a mask all times inside except eating and drinking would bother me. Just curious on your input? I will also extend this question to @Lovetocruise2002 Enjoy your vacations!!!

Well, it has been a whirlwind of a weekend! Our house was officially listed for sale this past Thursday and we are under contract as of today! It amazes me how fast this happened! Maybe too fast...LOL We close January 25th and our cruise is February 11th so that is going to be quite interesting! We will make it happen and will definitely need R & R after moving!

We have lug back packs that we use for our cruises and thanks to you I ordered cubes! Lug brand products hold everything and pockets galore!!!

WE RECEIVED OUR FIRST EVER STAR CLASS QUESTIONNAIRE!!! However, I do have say some of the questions are a bit strange....I would not ever go to Mars and even if I did I would bring medication and large amounts of wine to calm me down during the flight LOL.... I do not think that would be an appropriate answer so I left that one blank! It is real now that I am completing the questionnaire!!!

While scrambling around getting the house ready for "picture day" on Tuesday, I had two thoughts come to mind: 1. Will all of this lifting and cardio that I am getting from packing the house and moving to another, I wonder if I will be able to fit in my skinny jeans in time for the cruise? 2. Does anyone know the current cost for the thermal spa pass? I wonder how different the cost will be since last time I remember it was sold as a 7 day pass. This is a 9 night cruise so I am curious how the pricing will work in this case. Lord knows we will need as much spa time as possible after this move LOL!

Thanks @Jax! Good to know about the shows! LOL!

Had some random questions and in search of some pro tips: Thoughts on bringing a collapsible hamper for laundry? We plan to get laundry done frequently since it is complimentary. Are the lights along the stairs in the GLS really that bad? I have read a couple blogs saying they are a bit intense. If we stayed on the ship while in port, are there enough things to do onboard such as dining venues open and bars? We just did a Virgin cruise and there was only one bar, two restaurants and the spa open. Normally on Royal we get off the ship but we plan to have no plans and go with the "flow" if you will. We have been on Anthem before but never saw the Gift....Is it as bizarre as I have seen in other posts lol? I needed a break from packing up the house. Why did we decide to sell the house right before Christmas and our cruise??? lol Needless to say, I will need to butter hubby up with a spa treatment or something on board lol.