whenismynextcruise

I've not seen this elsewhere and was a little surprised to see whales from Anthem of the Seas on Saturday 7/13.
We had an obstructed balcony on Deck  6 on the port side of Anthem of the Seas. About 60-90 minutes out of port we saw multiple "blows" and then a large tail. I carry binoculars and this time had a spotting scope I use for bridwatching. I was blown away. When I got home I googled "New York City whale watching" and it appears that my sighting was not unusual. So if you are sailing out of Bayonne you may want to keep an eye out!

Maybe if it's raining, I'll get lucky enough to get a deck chair by the pool! Unless somebody is saving them with rain ponchos.

I wish there'd be more smoker friendly areas that dont intrude on the nonsmokers.  Like installing better filtration areas in the casino as well as doors so that nonsmokers dont have to be inundated by the smoke cloud.  A cigar bar would be just heaven to me.   Same with the outdoor smoking areas.  I dont want nonsmokers needing to walk through my cloud just to get to where they need to go. But I also dont want smoking to be made so inconvenient for me that I need to crawl inside of the funnel, do a handstand, while carrying the hope diamond just to be able to smoke.  I try, I really REALLY do try to be considerate of the non smokers.  I dont blow my smoke in their direction, I dont hold my cigarette out into their path of travel, and I move my cigarette so a child doesnt see and think that I must be a really cool person and thus smoking must be cool.  But some of the hysterics I've seen from nonsmokers, entering into the small smoker friendly areas is a bit much.  The wild waving of hands, the exaggerated coughing, the need to "inform" me that its a horrible habit, etc.  Hey I get it, its a gross habit.  It'll likely kill me some day.  But until a cruise is made smoke free, we both need to inhabit the same space, lets try to get along.  I'll try not to inconvenience you with my smoke, you try not to go into my dark smoky corner waving hands. 
 

As a smoker myself i think smoking should be banned from all in door areas, you cant smoke in bars or resteraunts nowadays ( even in asia ) so why allow it on ships? 
Even though its allowed i myself will go outside to designated smoking areas.

Or, counterpoint,  nonsmokers could simply pick a cruise line that doesn't allow smoking. (I'm a nonsmoker btw, but I know what I'm getting myself into, and don't expect others to change for me.)

We just kept our bathroom light on and the door open a bit.  We have 2 kids and wanted to make sure they could find the bathroom during the night if needed.  Although the door did sway a bit a couple nights, it just went a bit more ajar and wasn't an issue.  I think I put a pillow or something so it would stop it from opening a bit more .

1) I would like to see the reciprocity of loyalty status between sister lines be more realistic:  Currently, the top reciprocal status afforded on Celebrity to someone who is Pinnacle aboard Royal Caribbean is Elite, the same status afforded to those who are Diamond. Surely, someone in the Executive Offices realizes that equating 80 loyalty points to 700+  when arriving at a reciprocal status between sister lines is truly an egregious insult to their top tier loyalty members. Given that I am a lover of the quieter, smaller ships, I am slowly being pushed towards Celebrity (which may be RC's intent) and would readily make the shift away from ships that are fast-becoming amusement parks at sea if my loyalty amenities were more in line with what I currently am being given when sailing Royal Caribbean. 
2) I also agree that a diversity of ports/itineraries is needed.  Looking at February of 2020 and 2021 out of my home port of Bayonne, one 8 day and the remaining 7 day sailings visit Port Canaveral, Coco Cay, and Nassau.  Personally, I love to cruise to escape the New York winters and would love to eliminate flying from my cruise budget but it has been years since I have been able to do exactly that.  I usually fly to and cruise out of PC so I can hit the longer sailings and frequently do 3 to 5 consecutive sailings on ships offering longer itineraries or ports I favor. I would love to see an 11/8 or 12/7 schedule out of Bayonne in Feb and not necessarily one that stops at Coco Cay which seems to be the new port "all" for RC.  I liked the beachcomber feel to the old Coco Cay and having been to the  newly commercialized Coco Cay would welcome Labadee for its ambiance. 

I remember the first time we ever saw Blue Planet. We thought it was the most wonderful show we had ever seen on a ship.  That was Dec 2009.  Now we don’t even bother with it anymore.  They really need to change these things a bit more often.  Yes, I am fully aware of the cost in both dollars and logistics for such changes. Don’t care. They still need to make more frequent changes. Cats ?  Really ?  STILL ?

My wife doesn't travel without Clorox wipes. No bathroom is ever clean enough!

On Harmony there isn’t a shower curtain, but what I’d best describe as a 1/4 sheet of glass that only covers the area closest to the shower head. It means you end up with water all over the floor. 

I vote for getting rid of the tub and making it a larger shower. We have never used the tub but also appreciate the extra space. Have you ever noticed how high the tub sides are as well when getting in to take a shower? A nice glass door would be nice as well. I hate trying to avoid the shower curtain. @cruise-y  you mention how non-hygienic the tub is. I wonder how often the shower curtains get cleaned/replaced.........

I will admit that I hadn't thought of the service dogs which I fully understand. It's the  other dogs that @Blondie511 references. If we are going by US law ESA pets are not ADA approved and should not be allowed anywhere where animals are not typically allowed.
My apologies to the OP as this is going way off topic for this thread.

That picture does make it look bigger than it is for sure. It is a one cupper and the coffee is worse than the normal coffee they serve on board for free. 

That picture does make it look bigger than it is for sure. It is a one cupper and the coffee is worse than the normal coffee they serve on board for free. 

My thoughts and prayers with this family. I read BOTH sets of grandparents were in this cruise too. Life will never be the same for any of them..

I agree with this, plus I personally wouldn't trust off site parking, but that's just me.

It's as easy as pulling up, hopping out and handing the luggage to the porter (hand over a tip if you'd like) and you're on your way. As others have stated, immediately following the luggage drop off is a nice parking garage. It's a few bucks more than an offsite option, but personally, the convenience is worth every cent. There will be traffic leaving the port (It is NJ after all), so the faster you can get to the car, the better :). Enjoy!

I just ordered one too!! This is brilliant!!!  So much smaller and seems so much more secure than the plastic dailies I normally use. Excellent tip @SpeedNoodles

just to add on to the convenience factor when parking at the port...
when you drive in the luggage drop off is immediate. They have plenty of long shore men to assist and the lines move quickly and is well controlled.
you drive on maybe 300 feet and you are at the garage, parked and luggage free. The terminal is literally next door to the garage and there is even a convenient set of restrooms even before you enter the terminal so you can stop and freshen up if needed. @fonemanbob  is on point regarding walking off and getting on the interstate in an hour is priceless to us. Do make sure that you pay for your parking at the kiosks before going to your car though!
 
 

This August will be 21 years. My wife was my donor. Our miracle.

This looks perfect !  Thanks so much..I'm ordering oneof these!

We've never had any problems.   I just pack them in the daily container thing and keep in my carryon for flights and cruises.     Nobody has ever said a word and I travel alot.

We've been on 8 cruises. Always used pill travel cases, carried in our backpacks when boarding. Never had a problem. Never been asked about them.

just to add on to the convenience factor when parking at the port...
when you drive in the luggage drop off is immediate. They have plenty of long shore men to assist and the lines move quickly and is well controlled.
you drive on maybe 300 feet and you are at the garage, parked and luggage free. The terminal is literally next door to the garage and there is even a convenient set of restrooms even before you enter the terminal so you can stop and freshen up if needed. @fonemanbob  is on point regarding walking off and getting on the interstate in an hour is priceless to us. Do make sure that you pay for your parking at the kiosks before going to your car though!
 
 

just to add on to the convenience factor when parking at the port...
when you drive in the luggage drop off is immediate. They have plenty of long shore men to assist and the lines move quickly and is well controlled.
you drive on maybe 300 feet and you are at the garage, parked and luggage free. The terminal is literally next door to the garage and there is even a convenient set of restrooms even before you enter the terminal so you can stop and freshen up if needed. @fonemanbob  is on point regarding walking off and getting on the interstate in an hour is priceless to us. Do make sure that you pay for your parking at the kiosks before going to your car though!