whenismynextcruise

Stuff happens. It could be any ship really. I feel bead for the passengers who saved all that money to pay for it and had a terrible vacation

Welcome to the blog @rtreadMany will post here in response I am sure. I say get the passport. It is your best bet when traveling. It just makes things easier and leaves no question if you hafve the "proper" identification. Happy Cruising!

No bathrooms in the garage. When you exit the garage and head towards the terminal there are restrooms on your left. Its a 2 minute walk to get to them.

we mix it up. We have been on Anthem 5 times in a row for Thanksgiving. A few reasons, its conveneint to drive to Bayonne, the price is right for us, and we really do love Anthem. We will be on her for Bermuda this Spring and again for Thanksgiving. For a winter cruise we mix it up to tru other ships and other lines. We are on NCL Bliss next Saturday. We chose it because its a new ship to experience.

I think that @joshvc was referring to the Ron Jon's Surf Shop. https://www.facebook.com/ronjons/

Bring on more private islands I say. The days of quiet ports on beautiful Carribean islands are fading. With the amount of people traveling in the world now many ports are not just that nice anymore. Variations of that theme have been covered heavily in this and other blogs. All of the ports now seem to focus on shopping shopping and and more shopping. I think for the casual cruisers that is great. Duty free and they get a chance to buy something maybe they wouldn't but at home. A special rememberance for that anniversary cruised they have carefully saved for. I have participated in my share of adding $ to their economies. Alas, after umpteen cruises behind me I am not there to find the best deal on a watch anymore. I think a lot of people feel that way. As experienced cruisers how much did you spend in Nassau, Cozumel or Barbados the last time you were there? Not counting a meal or 2 I am guessing not a lot. Or even stayed on the ship and spent nothing. With the private islands cruise lines have the opportunity to make the experience tailored to the passengers. The activities, the excursions on or around the islands, the food, etc. Also they will be able to maintain the islands as beautiful vacation spots. Have you ever been to a dirty disney World? Or a broken down looking 5 star hotel? I like the idea of sailing to a private island that I dont have to go through throngs of vendors, or hassled for every form of transportation to get to beautiful beach or cabana or whatever excursion I may want to do. With the trend on many of the cruise lines catering to luxury suites with perks (endlessly discussed here) or areas of the ship like the Haven people are clearly looking for top shelf experiences and are willing to pay for it. Imagine what the marketing minds of cruise lines could come up with for perks on these islands for higher tiered members? Diamond member retaurants? Emerald level beach area? The "Key" gets you on a luxury launch to the island...possibilities are literally endless. Would that interest you? It interests me for sure. I am still very happy to go on a cruise with multiple stops in many island nations and hopefully be able to enjoy the culture of each while adding $ to their economy while I am there. But, if the option is there to sail to a well maintained luxury "perfect day" island and possibly stay over night? I think I am on board for that experience.

We have a J1 booked for the 5 day Bermuda trip in May 8232. I was excited about it. Not so much now. Its paid in full so no options there. We have J1 11232 in November. Maybe we can do something about that. I bought them both onboard our last trip on Anthem. The rep told me she was new to the ship. That should have been a clue. We thought having the bigger balcony would be nice because we are not at a level ($$) to buy the super suites everyone brags about and the regular balconies are so small that they are almost useless.

You probably want to call Royal and ask. You mention you have a Grand suite so you probably have a concierge. They should be able to answer that question and help with arrangements if its available.

Platinum here and no pin. We turn emerald in May with a Bermuda cruise. Maybe we will see that pin on our Thanksgiving Bahama cruise. Oh well.

Interesting question. Why couldnt we just use the PDF on out phone for set sail? Anyone tried it?

Lanyards are not given. that is your choice to buy or use. If you do a little searching on this blog you will find a wealth of information here to answer all of your questions. There is almost no topic that has not been covered. Also check out the podcasts. They are fun and informative with lots of tips. Have a great time planning. That can be one of the best parts of the trip!!!! Happy sailing and welcome!

TSA precheck is 85 dollars. Some credit cards cover the cost as a benefit so check yours. A freind of mine went last Monday and had his precheck number by Friday. Normal turn around time they said is 7 business days.

While on the trip you are always on ship time. Land or sea. Ship time. I said it twice because it is so important.

Besides the ease of booking while on board and the reduced deposit, is anyone finding any real benefit to using nextcruise now? While on a Thanksgiving trip I booked a Bermuda trip and a repeat of the Thanksgiving trip for 2019. Price was pretty much the same and I got $50 OBC for each. Other than the fact that the trips are "on the books" I really saw no significant upside to it. Seems like it might be time to follow the leads of @Matt and @KJ1231 and many others here to switch (finally!) over to using MEI for booking. At least someone other than the cruise line will get the benfit of the sale.

Looks amazing....

I have been looking into the "key" for an upcoming sailing and I have heard mentions of the carry on luggage perk. I am not willing to let someone else handle my carry on luggage so that is why I carry it on in the first place. To me, the point of carrying on luggage is to protect my precious items and NOT let someone handle them. Camera, medication, expensive watches, etc. I guess I just dont understand this perk so it wouldnt really be a perk to me. We never purchase zoom as we choose to disconnect while we are on vacation. And yes, I realize that this is not an option for everyone. We would enjoy the lunch at Chop's. After what can be a long travel morning a nice sit down lunch would be a treat. All of the special hours and premiere attractions is nice if you use them. And depending on the port and the itinerary the early boarding and disembarkation priority at ports can be a benefit if thats important to you to be first on and off. So IMHO it would not be really worth it to us. To each thier own. Judgment free here. I dont think anyone should be on the defense about this unless they are the person that works for RCL that owns the implementation of this new offering. Relax, live, cruise.......

How dare RCL treat those of us in steerage as equals! ? steer·age /ˈstirij/ noun 1. HISTORICAL the part of a ship providing accommodations for passengers with the cheapest tickets.

The Port of Nassau is tired, run down filthy and not very appealing at all unless you are going on a sanctioned excursion to places like Atlantis or Pearl lsand. I agree that any tourist in any city should be wise in how they explore a new city but when the cruise line is adding an additional warning to its passengers attention should be paid. Nassau is very convenient for cruise ships clearly. I am sure many ships register in the Bahamas as well but I would much rather have an extra day playing at Coco Cay or at sea or even throw in a day trip to Key West than waste a full day stopping at a port that I won't bother leaving the ship for. As long as there is a continuing stream of new passengers with new adventures on their mind I doubt that Royal would consider an itinerary change though. The cinic in me wonders if a letter like this is an intentional statement of the obvious but will push some passengers toward paid for excursions.

did anyone else catch the tweet in the OP that stated 2 days before departure that Royal is moving departure from Tampa to Port Canaveral?? What a logistical nightmare that must be for travelors! 2 days before your departure: Airline tickets - Check! Online Check in done - Check! Airport transfers and/or hotel reservation in place - Check! Dog sitter - Check! Change of port of departure by 128 miles - OMG!

Adventure of the seas is showing bookings in the summer months from bayonne/cape liberty now. Only thru October 2020. Anthem is available in November with thier normal schedule it looks like

Yes to all. Its an easy port to get in and out of.

I have always portioned them out in the pill containers you can buy at any pharmacy and I put them in my carry-on and have never had a problem. Putting them in your carry on is safer as well in case your luggage is delayed or lost for any reason. Not sure if this is part of your question but cruise lines follow federal law so canabas, whether prescribed or not, is not allowed on cruise ships.

Ditto here.

I happened to notice on Anthem at Thanksgiving that they were playing the "featured movies" available on-demand for $12.99 in your cabin for free on the gargantuan screen on all movie nights. Maybe thats normal but it impressed me.

@Susie I was also on Anthen at the same time and probably served by the same 2 people! I am an early bird and was first in line at 6:30 daily! After day 2 they had my order down and were so so so friendly! I was asking for a recipet easch time so I could add a couple bucks. I like your idea of the cash tip at the end of the cruise. I will try that next Thanksgiving which we booked on board. @twangster as usual you have the knowledge. I appreciate your response. It all makes good sense to me.