Patchy

If the Ultimate Panoramic is significantly cheaper than other Star class cabins, then it might be worth it for the Genie and the other Star class benefits alone!   (Unlimited dining, ultimate beverage, internet, gratuities other than for the Genie).  Be sure to factor that into your decision making.   

3 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

• Not quite called the Quest but on my Feb 27th sailing on Anthem there was a gameshow, 2 teams,  and they had bras coming off, liptsticks collected, sunglasses etc....The only thing not done was dressing people up and the "parade"....I can't recall what else was in the quest but this was "close to Quest" if I remember correctly.

Thanks, @Pattycruise, do you remember what that game show was called?   Sounds like it was a riot!

Hi all,   Looking to see if anyone has any intel (rather than pure speculation) on when The Quest will return?   Perhaps someone has spoken with a crew member or someone with authority on the matter?  Thanks!

4 hours ago, texascruiser said:

I will be interested to see how this plays out. We are scheduled to sail on Adventure next Monday, 3/14. Got notice yesterday evening that the sailing is not at the 95% threshold, and we needed to confirm vaccination status of our two kids. Our 8 year old is fully vaccinated, our 5 year old gets his 2nd shot today.

We could not have (honestly) vaccinated him sooner....his 5th birthday was exactly 2 weeks ago. He'll have both doses but not be 2 weeks out from the second. 

If we get bumped, I'll detail our experience. Fingers crossed that we don't.

I’d be curious to see the communication that you received if you’re comfortable sharing it.   I hope everything works out for your family.  

4 hours ago, BritInFlorida said:

Boooo - Sailing on March 12th - Mariner of the Seas.   Bid on Royal Up for Suites.  Today they are all showing as EXPIRED.  The only bid showing as PENDING is a Larger Balcony Room. (We bid $30 per person for this, as we are already in a balcony room - Deck 7_)

We decided that there is not much point even doing that now, so just tried to cancel the bid.. but RoyalUp site won't let me alter the price or cancel it???  Very strange.  I thought it was only like that within 48 hours of sailing?

 

This might be a signal that your bid is accepted… be on the lookout for the charge to appear on your credit card and a room change on the app!   Good luck!

I “Wonder” if they were saving the comeback of this legendary soup for their brand new ship!    

Hi all, I’m looking at a possible sailing on Mariner, and I thought that the Ocean View Panoramic Suite had the full suite benefits.   But when I look at the details of the room, it doesn’t show that it has access to the Concierge lounge or a private seating at breakfast (eg Chops) for breakfast among other things.   I see some benefits (such as priority checkin and departure) but not all.   Has something changed, or do you think it’s just not showing the right info on the website?  Thanks!!

Regarding the drink vouchers, there’s no reason why your mother can’t split those with you… meaning she can “buy” you two drinks using two of her vouchers.   

Thanks, all.   @twangster, we do sail out of San Juan.   Thanks for that tip about San Juan and Barbados being on the same time zone; didn’t think of that.    @Atlantix2000, you make some excellent points!   

Hi everyone,  I’m sailing on Voyager of the Seas in January 2023 on a southern Caribbean itinerary that includes Barbados.   The itinerary says that we will dock in Barbados at 10:00, but all of the third party excursions that I’m looking at depart at 10:00.   Wondering (hoping) that ship time might be ahead of local time by an hour meaning that docking at 10:00 ship time is docking at 9:00 local time.   Does anyone know what the norm is for Barbados?  Or if there is no norm, what has been common in the past on Voyager?  

Also, I definitely understand that the docking time is not the same time as when we are cleared to disembark, so I’m mentally budgeting some time for that.   I just wish we could dock in Barbados earlier to give us some more options for third party excursions!   

I also know that my “safest” bet from a time perspective is to book an excursion through the ship, but it’s notably more expensive. 

Thanks in advance!  

The least expensive (no cost) testing option is a local pharmacy such as Walgreens (but check with the pharmacy as some of them — like CVS I think — are no longer offering free testing for travel purposes.   But, you’ll want a backup plan in case (such as appointments at another pharmacy).   I love the proctored eMed tests as Matt suggested, but it will cost you $150 for a pack of 6 tests and you might want some backups in case there is something wrong with the kit.   But also as pointed out elsewhere, your health insurance plan might (I emphasize might) reimburse you for a portion of the cost.   Good luck!

I’m with you all; I don’t see the DBP in my future now that hubby and I are Diamond.  Especially with the two bottles of wine we can bring onboard per stateroom… and even more especially because now that my kids are getting older and we span two staterooms, we can take a total of 4 bottles onboard.  

My husband just got off of a 9 night sailing on Anthem of the Seas, and he said that overall experience pales in comparison to what we had on B2B Freedom in January 2022 and Odyssey 2021 (which granted was the ship’s second sailing ever).  He said that on the Anthem, the drinks were consistently very weak, the service in the specialty restaurants was very slow, and the specialty restaurant  staff didn’t seem customer centric enough.   (Example, he and his mother had the UDP and the Maitre’ D didn’t even seem to recognize them as the sailing went on).   The ship seems to be in need of an upgrade, as an example all the pool chairs’ lining was sagging so much that you were essentially sitting on the metal crossbars.   The quality of the onboard entertain was terrible too, such as the piano player in Schooner singing Meghan Trainor “All About that Bass”.   His overall impression was that this was far less fun and enjoyable versus Freedom and Odyssey.   Anyone else feel this way?   Certainly he will be sharing his feedback in the post-cruise survey, but I certainly hope things improve before our April sailing on Anthem.   
 

And for the record, we are very experienced cruisers (Diamond status) and love to see variety in ships; it was just so surprising to see and feel such a difference between the onboard experience.   

2 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

We got in before the news broke. 

I just “YOLO booked” another sailing to take advantage of prices as well.   I’m hooked!   

Last summer, they were sending emails to people as they closer to sailing, asking them to voluntarily fill out a survey indicating who was vaccinated and not.    Perhaps they will resurrect that.    

With the loosened mask policy, I imagine demand will go up which usually means prices will go up

17 minutes ago, Mayooo said:

But in my experience the actual amount is always lower (than is says online) when i call royal. 200-300 dollars less

I wonder if that’s because you have a high(ish) status with Crown and Anchor which can provide some extra discounts, or maybe based on your state of residency?    There is a way to check that in a mock booking.  It’s the screen before you select the number of staterooms 

I’m thinking they must feel highly confident in the COVID risk waning to make masks optional for fully vaccinated because they rightfully focus hard on keeping the crew healthy.   

Are we officially in wave season now? Or is this just a nice sale?  

Hi all,

My DH is en route to board Anthem of the Seas this morning, and I saw on a Facebook group that their itinerary (which initially had San Juan but got switched to St. Thomas) is now changed back to its original itinerary including San Juan.    Has anyone heard about San Juan dropping its requirement for passengers to test before disembarking for a port day?

My DH will certainly find out on the ship and I can let you all know, but I am curious in the meantime.   Thanks!

Thanks, @dr martini!

I’ve used Luxy Rides in many cities and they are great.   They contract with companies who otherwise would have an idle car (literally!) so they negotiate some lower rates.  

Thanks, @teddy!    I’ve heard that Magen’s Bay can be expensive to rent chairs and to get food / drinks.   Have you found that to be the case?

I welcome others’ thoughts as well!   

Hi all, we’re heading out soon on a sailing and it looks like there will be six ships (including ours) in St. Thomas at the same time.   We’d love to go to Magen’s Bay beach but are worried that it will be too crowded (and too expensive for that matter).   Also considering the Skyride but wondering if that would be packed as well.  Any thoughts or suggestions?   Thanks!  

Also, for those of you who love the Limoncello at Giovanni’s, this is the brand they used (at least on Odyssey as of last August; I’m assuming it was the same on Freedom).