silenttuba

26 minutes ago, Snowchaser said:

I'm curious, Is everyone just checking one of the "possible exposure"  boxes on the CVS reservation system to get the government paid test? 

I noticed this, too, and I think I am going to go through Walgreens to get my test; their website specifically says they offer free tests for travel, and since the local Walgreens and CVS are across the street from one another, it makes no real difference to me.

8 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Yes it does. Another thing of note is you do NOT need to carry your ‘souvenir’ cup everywhere you go. Your seapass card is marked with the soda package and any server or bartender will get you a cup of soda. 

You do need the cup to use the Freestyle machines, correct? I ask because the Freestyle machines have more options, especially sugar free (the wife and I have the soda package booked for our Anthem cruise next month).

3 hours ago, CindyCruise said:

I live in NJ and have a party of 6 people to get to Cape Liberty cruise port. I can only think to take two cars and have to pay for parking for both which is expensive. Any other suggestions? Are there any off site parking that is cheaper and they could transport us to the port?

Where in NJ are you? Is taking a cab/ride share to and from the port a feasible option? I priced it out, and from where I am in Essex County, it’s a $30ish ride each way; much cheaper than parking!

4 hours ago, dancernl said:

Part 3: Activities and Entertainment

Disclaimer! I did not pick up any paper cruise compasses. The app daily calendar was always accurate and we are not a family that likes to collect paper. You can search for the daily cruise compasses for this itinerary on RCB or Google. Our cruise director was Joff. Overall the activities and sport staff were great this cruise. Energetic and welcoming but not too in-your-face.

The great thing about a Quantum Class ship is you have such a variety of choices for how to spend your days. You can be as active or as passive as you like and anywhere in between. We took advantage of a mix of things on the ship. We love performing arts and are subscribers to regional theatre and travel to NYC frequently to Broadway shows and the ballet. We do have some pretty high standards when it comes to music and productions. Art is essential to our souls but it's also highly subjective so what I'm about to share are our opinions and your mileage may vary.

Trivia - There are tons of chances for trivia on board, which we loved. There was category specific like Friends, Name that Tune Broadway/80's/current hits, etc. and general trivia. We won one time and I came super close to sweeping Broadway but missed 1 darn show name. It was highly competitive, lol.

Music - there's live music everywhere and a variety of styles to enjoy. Caribbean, Latin, Rock, classical, pop, acoustic, etc. We liked High Voltage the best. I already shared we didn't particularly care for the piano guy in the Schooner bar. There may be a different mix of bands for future sailings, but I generally feel Royal hires quality musicians and performers across the board, regardless of the material they're given to work with. Which leads me to:

Production Shows: We saw We Will Rock You, Spectra's Cabaret, Frankie and the Dreamers, David Gatti (magician), Jim David (comedian), a concert with the lead WWRY cast, and the farewell show (one WWRY cast member and a different comedian). I am sure there were other headliners we missed. 

• We Will Rock You - I love the music of Queen and the actors and the band were fabulous. This musical though... WHAT? We hated the book. The jokes were bad and dated. I wish this was more of a musical revue instead of a full blown stage production. But again - the singers were absolutely phenomenal!
• Spectra's Cabaret - Loved it. It was exciting, energetic, and weird AF. And we got the scaled down version, so I can't even imagine what the full blown production looks like. Will have to catch all the shows in 270 on this class of ships when we are on one again.
• Frankie and the Dreamers - BEST SHOW ON BOARD! They were amazing. Super talented, well rehearsed and engaged the crowd. I took many videos and was on my feet for 2 encores. I wish they had more shows.
• WWRY concert with the cast - I can't remember the exact title of this one. It was a 45 minute revue of songs sung by the great performers from the musical. Fun and entertaining.
• David Gatti - I am not a fan of magic shows, illusionists, mentalists, etc. They just don't do it for me. But the rest of the Regular fam do, so I was a good sport and went with them. According to them, they thought he was just alright. His card work was good and he did a few tricks with Chinese Rings. The other slight-of-hand and flash work was apparently not great (like I said, I don't care for this stuff and wasn't paying close attention so that's Mr. Regular's assessment).
• Jim David - the comedian onboard and it looks like he's on contract for the next several sailings. He had a family friendly and an 18+ set. Mr. Regular loves standup. Like, watches as much as possible on our streaming services and wants to go to any open mic or comic tour that comes our way. Weird Al is his hero. Me? I can't. I just don't like it. Usually I can handle female comedians but I have yet to see ANY female comics on a cruise itinerary. But again, I was a good wife and went to the 18+ set. He wasn't all that bad but wasn't amazing, either. I learned some things about Swingers Cruises I never needed to know - if you ever want to cruise on the Oasis and don't need those details about what happens on those charters, don't go
• Farewell show - This was all right. Joff was there to get it started and then the actor who played Kashoggi sang a few Broadway tunes and then a different comedian did about 25 minutes of a family friendly set. We all felt pretty "meh" about the whole show. We were thinking it would be more of a variety of entertainment from the whole week but perhaps with COVID they limited it? 

FlowRider - Mr. Regular is a snowboarder and instructor of 25 years so he had his big ego pants on when he tried standup surfing with no lesson. The staff can't provide any assistance during the regular standup times so you get 2 attempts and if you step off the board or wipe out right away you can't keep going unless you book a lesson. The timing wasn't quite right for him to get a lesson so he was bummed and those ego pants went directly back into the suitcase. Luckily we have access to a waterpark on land that has a FlowRider so you can best believe he'll be making some visits there to get in some practice before our next cruise. SK1 did boogie boarding and she had a blast. I stayed dry on the observation benches with my Caribbean Mules. The lessons are for a fee but the standup and boogie boarding sessions are complimentary.

North Star - We paid to do this on day 6 at sea. There were complimentary port times but they were hard to come by. It was $30 pp and we felt worth it to do once. Views were awesome and it was super fun to go out over the side of the ship. The whole experience was about 16 minutes.

iFly - Both SKs wanted to do this but we couldn't get a reservation. A note for anyone traveling with kids or people who need some time to warm up to the idea of something new or an adventure to the edge of their comfort zones: reserve it early in the cruise! We would have gotten this for them on day 1-3 but by the time they decided they wanted to do it, it was too late. Reserve early and then cancel. This is not free anymore, plan on $50 per person.

Gym - I brought my workout clothes but never used them. SK2 went each morning for the first 4 days. He really liked the gym, he said the equipment was in good shape and that early it wasn't very crowded. Late mornings on sea days was busy. I like group fitness classes but didn't do any this trip. I wish they offered Beach Yoga on Coco Cay.

Spa - we didn't use. Thought about a thermal suite pass but the weather on days 2-6 was so good we were outside the whole time and in the Solarium on day 7.

SeaPlex - we were here on day 7 to kill some time and played some Foosball and Air Hockey. Used the Freestyle machine by the Dog House. They have lots of activities here - ping pong, XBox, basketball & soccer shootouts, pickleball, dance classes, dodgeball and bumper cars. We didn't get a chance to do bumper cars but most sessions were full anyway. The arcade is next door and we walked through it but didn't play anything. The nice thing about the SeaPlex space is it's all enclosed so you can use the sport deck even in cold or rainy weather.

Casino - we don't gamble too often, just when in Vegas and even then we're not at game tables for long. Mr. Regular wanted to try his luck but never got around to it. Being Casino members is a good way to move along on status and win benefits, though, so we may join on the next cruise. I just don't like the smoke and wish they had continued with the no-smoking rules.

I don't have too many pictures to share of activities, but some will come in the post below. Next category - port stops!

 

Sounds like your husband and I would get along…I’m a HUGE Weird Al fan (will be seeing him in concert twice this year), and I also love magic shows, haha. 
 

so, there are no complimentary iFly slots at all anymore? My wife will be disappointed, as she wanted to give it a try, but I doubt she will for $50. 

Personally, if they decided to bump gratuities from $14.50 to $15 (similar to what NCL has done), I wouldn’t have a problem with it. No one wants to pay more, but if anything is going to go up, I’d rather it be the money that goes directly to the crew than anything else. 

I can’t speak to what’s normal and why isn’t, but I can tell you that my wife and I will be on Anthem in April, and we’ll both be first time cruisers. For us, it was a combination of factors that led to us booking; being vaxxed + boosted, as well as having gotten covid over Christmas and having it be fairly mild, plus her having a milestone birthday last week, we decided to do something special.

I enjoyed your posts, and look forward to a wrap up post; my wife and I are sailing on Anthem in April, and it’s the first cruise either of us have ever been on, and we might be obsessing just a little bit, lol. 

JetBlue is *nothing* like Spirit. You won't have any issues at all.

On 2/16/2022 at 7:49 PM, silenttuba said:

Shipped today, expected delivery by Saturday, 2/19. We'll be out of town this weekend, so it should be waiting for me when I get home on Sunday!

Wife’s passport delivered on Thursday, the 17th. Mine came yesterday (Saturday), the 19th. Both applications were sent out on 1/27, so 21 days for hers, 23 for mine. Really happy to have them already, because we check in for our cruise on Thursday!

on a side note, has anyone else gotten a “next generation” passport? My wife got the normal one, but mine is a new type, with a hard plastic ID page, and a bunch of new security features. Didn’t even know that was a thing!

10 hours ago, Susan Lieberman said:

What are the good beaches to go to at St John? Been to St Thomas many times and looking for something different to do. 

I've only been to St. John once (not on a cruise), but Trunk Bay was one of the most incredible beaches I've ever been to. Perfect if you like snorkeling; there's a trail with informational plaques underwater. Definitely worth checking out!

So, I'm curious...I live close enough to the terminal that I can take a Lyft/Uber for about $30 each way (20-30 minutes travel time). Is there any reason to park rather than take a cab?

On 2/13/2022 at 11:28 PM, silenttuba said:

Lost my old passport, so I had to reapply. Wife sent hers in for renewal. Expedited service (not shipping) for both. Both sent in on Jan. 27. Mine is "In Process" as of Feb. 8th, hers as of Feb. 9th. We sail on April 10th, so I feel pretty confident that we'll get them in plenty of time.

Shipped today, expected delivery by Saturday, 2/19. We'll be out of town this weekend, so it should be waiting for me when I get home on Sunday!

Lost my old passport, so I had to reapply. Wife sent hers in for renewal. Expedited service (not shipping) for both. Both sent in on Jan. 27. Mine is "In Process" as of Feb. 8th, hers as of Feb. 9th. We sail on April 10th, so I feel pretty confident that we'll get them in plenty of time.

I don't think it's fair to call Invite watches a "scam", they are what they are; cheap watches. I have an Invite "Pro Diver" mechanical watch that I've had for years, picked up on Amazon for about $90. I like it. I got it because I think mechanical watches are cool, but didn't really want to spend a ton of money. I've had it for about 7 years, wearing it daily for much of that time. It keeps decent time, and looks nice (it's a clone of a Rolex Submarine). I don't regret buying it, and I certainly think I've gotten my money's worth from it at this point. And if I'm honest, I probably would feel the same way even if I had paid $150. It's not fancy, but it's a solid watch. I recently got an Apple Watch and have been wearing that, but for the cruise, I will probably wear my Invicta.

As a first time cruiser (sailing on Anthem April 10), I'm curious what the advantages are to checking in 45 (or 30, or whatever it is) days before the trip? Also, will I be able to check in if I don't have my passport yet (my wife and I both had to renew, and should get our new ones by mid-March)?

4 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Yes, that's exactly what it is.  We always bring our own.  Have fun!

Excellent, exactly what I wanted to hear, thank you!

Hi all,

My wife and I have booked our first ever cruise, on Anthem of the Seas, leaving on April 10. Our trip includes a day at CocoCay. There is an excursion available called "Snorkeling at Your Leisure", but from the description, it sounds like this is just snorkel rental. Is that the case? Would I be able to go snorkeling if I just Brough my own equipment? For $35, I'd rather just buy my own, if that's possible.

Thanks in advance!