Brando95

How did you enjoy the boardwalk balcony? How was the noise factor? Staying in one on deck 9 in a few weeks.

this was the best I could find, from Anthem so guess it'll be a pleasant surprise if available. Either way I'm close to the stairwell so I can just go up a deck and enter if need be. Was just hoping to utilize this as I figure I'll spend plenty of time in the Solarium with 5 sea days and would be a quick way to get to the bridge wing on sail-away or sunrises Secret passageways - Anthem of the Seas

Just booked the 9 nighter from Honolulu to Vancouver in April 2024 and got a good interior room forward on deck 13. In looking at the deck plans I wonder if there's access to the guest hallway from the lower level of the Solarium. I was on Anthem several years ago and think I remember that there was a door there that led to the hallway but since I wasn't staying on that deck then I didn't really pay that much attention. Thinking it'd be pretty convenient to go out and enjoy a hot tub soak. if not, just a quick trip up to deck 14 will get them there.

Yeah a TA is a dream cruise for me too. Love my sea days! I think I may have to retire in order to do one right though. I'd love to be able to make the long flight up front, spend a few days to explore the departure port and then sail on back to the states. If I dream big, I'd double up the TA with the last cruise before it made the crossing for an epic B2B. Closest I'll get before I retire is probably a Hawaii to Vancouver repositioning. Had one booked for this year but it got cancelled

If one person in the cabin gets the drink package, the other person has to as well. You can call and pinkie swear the other person isn't a drinker and get the ok to purchase the refreshment package. The requirement is in place to prevent 2 people from using one drink package. Of course, how strict they hold you to that probably varies from ship to ship and from bartender to bartender

With those self tests though there's really not a day or time stamp as I understand it. Have a couple teens in my group in December that will need to show a test result just trying to figure out the easiest and most efficient way of doing it so we're not held up boarding.

Probably wondering why the suitcase he left outside was gone when he woke up

I mean as long as you have a swimsuit on underneath, who cares? Unless of course you have your C&A pins attached to the robe and then.... OH THE HORROR

I have a cruise hat that I've decided to decorate with pins from port stops that i visit and I put my RCL loyalty pins on there... but don't feel the need to wear them constantly on board. But whatever someone else does with their pin really doesn't affect me at all.

Going on Allure in December with family. My parents are taking all the older grandkids on their first cruise and have booked a block of rooms. One of my nephews is booked in the room with me but we're thinking it'll probably be more fun for him to bunk with his cousin who is now in a room by himself since one of my nephews couldn't get time off. Both are 21. My question is should that be something we address at check-in or just check-in as we are and then have new cards made at guest services once we board? edit to add: We are past final payment

yup, if you've pre-purchased it will be tied with your info so you can stop as soon as you board and show your set sail pass and they'll know you have the package

I also don't recommend the RC gift certificates. You have to redeem them prior to sailing but they're not available until you get on board and there's really no way of knowing for sure that they've been credited to your account until you get on the ship and check your folio. You can't use them for pre-boarding purchases in the cruise planner. If you haven't already received them or bought them for someone my recommendation would be to give cash or even the Visa pre-paid gift cards then you can make your pre-cruise purchases in the cruise planner with them.

Kinda surprising that MGM went with Carnival since they've had a relationship with RCL and Celebrity for awhile. Would be nice to see Caesar's sports book get on board with Royal since that is my preferred players club anyway in Vegas (at least on the strip)

My last 2 cruises have been shorter solo cruises, 4 and 5 nighters and I absolutely love them. You get to do what you want when you want and for me that included a lot of reading. Between the 2 cruises I read 5 books which I never have time to do at home or when I'm sailing with friends and family. Made for a really relaxing trip. Just what vacation should be! I've done solo land based trips and roadtrips and really enjoy them. I could easily see myself doing a long transatlantic or Hawaii cruise solo and not have any qualms about it.

Just looked it up, average high of 91 in July with a record high of 100 a few years ago.... so on average it's cooler than Dallas, but the humidity will be high as always and probably a decent chance of a brief afternoon shower. Plus the sun always seems more intense in the Caribbean

Would've been a "sea day" for me anyway

As a first timer, I would recommend it. To me it's similar to saying you've been somewhere even if all you've ever done is change planes at the airport. Can you really say you've been to a city if you've never left the airport? Can you really say you've been to a port if you don't leave the ship? If there's not an excursion that you really want to do at a given port, that's fine. If nothing else, just getting off and walking around the shops and heading back onboard. Once you've been to a place you can make a decision on whether it's worth it to you to get off there on future trips or not. There are places where I'll stay on board but if it's somewhere I've never been I'll get off and at least walk around some.

I did consider that but in reflecting on my habits I tend to seek out juices and coffee as a way to supplement my drink package. If I didn't have them included I don't think I'd be as inclined to go for a specialty coffee when I can just get regular coffee from the Windjammer or Cafe Promenade. If I was a big soda drinker than yeah that would've made that decision easier but whenever I've had the package I've never remembered to take my soda cup with me when I left the cabin anyway, or even used it all on board.

Yeah that seems to make more sense to me. I like the package for the convenience of it. I think I'll just go the water package route as I really don't drink any sodas and while the coffee and juice is a "nice to have" that's usually something I only take advantage of if I have the package and I'm looking for ways to "get my money's worth". now that I think about it too, I also didn't prepay my gratuities like I normally do so that credit will also come in handy there. I'll have no problem getting to the $250, so I'll come out of pocket some but overall I think way less than what i would by paying the difference in the package on board and my OBC.

Ok, trying to gather some thoughts on my plan of action for my upcoming solo 5 nighter. Normally I'd get the drink package prior to the trip and save a little money. However, for Christmas this year my brother and sister in law got me a $250 gift certificate for on-board credit. As I found out after receiving it, that is only good once you board. Initially i thought I'd just wait til I get on and use the $250 to knock down the cost of the package. But I'm seeing in the cruise planner that the on board price is something like $80/day. Since a good portion of my usage of the package is water, specialty coffee and maybe a Johnny Rockets shake (although probably no soda) I'm leaning towards buying either the refreshment package or the water package during the current sale and then just pay as I go for drinks and let that eat away my OBC. Thoughts?

I'll be dining there on my next solo cruise in April! Must mean you're sailing at above 50% capacity as I think that was the benchmark where they started to open WJ for dinners around the fleet.

Before the app was a thing, turning it off and putting it in the safe was the way I was taught. But since smart phones and apps, you can simply throw it in airplane mode and then go back into settings and turn wi-fi on. This will let you connect to the free ship's wi-fi to use the app. If you want to do anything else on the web outside of the app you'll need an internet package.

Wonder if that means that the terminal is ahead of schedule? We're scheduled to be on her the week prior to Christmas.

My trip was in November so I didn't experience the enhanced protocols but having sailed out of Galveston before, this time was much smoother. I would say have your negative test result and vax card ready to show (probably will help to take a snapshot of the test result), you'll have to show it before the metal detector and when you check in upstairs prior to boarding. With the switch to doing the muster drill on the app and with the new process of allowing you to wait in your room until your number is called for debarkation it was the most seamless boarding and de-boarding I've ever experienced. I'm sure the lower passenger numbers also made it seem pretty breezy. I really hope these new procedures are here to stay. Seemed like we had plenty of shows scheduled (but i'm not a show guy so can't report on those). The Windjammer was closed for dinner since our sailing was below 50% - as capacity reaches that threshold they'll open up the Windjammer for dinner which for a solo cruise I really prefer.

I asked for these for Christmas in hopes I could use them for pre-purchase in the cruise planner. I redeemed them a week ago and have been looking for them to show up in the cruise planner, but I didn't think to look at the terms until today and discovered that they can't be used until on board. Oh well. I guess I'll just get the drink package when I board and pay the difference, or pay as i go. Live and learn I suppose.