Gears

We sailed out of Miami on Monday Sep 4th for a 4 day cruise to what was supposed to be Nassau, Coco Cay, and The Keys. At that time the hurricane was in the Atlantic and we were not too concerned due to the uncertainty of how it was going to behave in the coming days. Besides, we were confident the captain and RC's meteorologists were watching the storm closely, and we would just change itinerary if needed. 
On Tuesday Sep 5th we docked in Nassau and spent the day at Atlantis. We got the package on RC's website and it was a better experience than we were expecting! The slides, pools, and facilities were extensive, and we had access to their private beaches, casino and aquarium on site. We got to spend the entire day there from 9am to 7pm with shuttles leaving every 30 minutes to take us back to the ship. It was well worth it in our opinion! Unfortunately later that evening, the captain came on the intercom to tell us Coco Cay and The Keys were being evacuated, and we would be staying in Nassau overnight.
Everyone on board was obviously disappointed, but the tension and nervousness could be felt for the entirety of the cruise. There was a huge line at guest services after the initial announcement, partially for refunds and partially questioning our safety. For us, we decided it was out of our control, to trust the captains judgement, and enjoy ourselves as much as we could. 
The next day (Wednesday) we got another announcement on the intercom from the captain. We would be staying another day in Nassau but would cut our cruise short. We would begin our return to Miami that evening as the city was beginning evacuations. Commence another ship-long line to guest services with people in varying degrees of distress. Everyone had their own situations, but for us, we were planning to stay in Miami through Friday and fly home Saturday afternoon. Hearing forecasts that the storm would hit Friday or Saturday, we were almost positive our flight would be cancelled, not to mention our hotel closed. RC opened all the phone lines for us to make international calls without being charged. They also offered anyone who could not make travel arrangements to stay an additional night docked in Miami through Friday morning, the original time we were supposed to leave.
That night we got a notification that our flight was cancelled and there were no room on earlier flights. Our hotel called us to say they would be evacuating and could not honor our reservations. I'll admit I felt the panic welling up at that point. We were being dumped in an evacuating city with no where to stay and no way to leave. After calling home to my dad, he went online and arranged a car rental from MIA to drive home to Cleveland, Ohio. 
In the moment, I was angry we were going back to Miami. We overheard angry cruisers saying we should have left Nassau for Miami earlier, or they should have sailed away from the storm, not in the path of it. How would it make sense to drop a bunch of tourists in an evacuating city with no where to go with a hurricane coming? Later I realized there were Florida residents on the ship that had to prepare their houses and meet with their families. Others that drove from other places that had their car parked by the dock. I came to the resolution that we took a risk taking a cruise this time of year and once we disembarked, I alone could be responsible for my own safety. 
Thursday morning we chose to disembark, everything riding on the car rental. Sailing up to Miami was eerie. Few cars were on the roads, resorts and beaches were deserted. We joined the line to get through customs, people in line still calling their airlines and trying to make arrangements. Once we left the terminal, there was a roped off area of taxi companies yelling at us like paparazzi that they would take us to the airport. They were playing off our fears, but it was working. It was chaos and the air started to feel panicked. We jumped into a nearby taxi and decided anywhere would be better than staying there.
We drove through nearly empty roads to get to the airport car rental area, which was very busy, but to our relief, had a car reserved for us. We set off and ran into some serious traffic by Daytona Beach. Hundreds of thousands of people trying to go North. The first time we stopped for gas, they were empty. Nervousness set in as we drove off the beaten path a bit to find a gas station that had just been filled up, the worker starting to open pumps again. We got lucky. There was a line of cars waiting and people filling red gas containers. To avoid traffic, we drove through the night until we couldn't stay awake anymore, pulling into a rest area literally packed with cars. I don't think I'll ever forget what we saw there. We saw people with elderly and disabled parents, children, babies, dogs and cats. People with U-hauls and trailers. All these people prepared to lose everything. I could no longer complain. We drove up onto the grass and slept for about 2 hours. The drive home ended up being 26 hrs with traffic.
I was grateful for my time spent at the beach and in the sun. I enjoyed the drinks and food on the ship and appreciated everything the staff did to make our trip fun despite the circumstances. We got refunded for the day we missed and the excursions we didn't go on. The staff remained professional and calm in the midst of stressed and angry customers. I will definitely be going on another cruise to get the complete experience, just not during hurricane season. 

Scheduled to leave YYZ at 930am. Scheduled to arrive at FLL at 1215pm.
 
At about noon we are cleared for approach. Then we go into a holding pattern for an hour due to t-storms in Fort Lauderdale. After an hour of left turns we are almost out of fuel. We have to land at MCO for jet fuel and to wait out the storm.
 
We landed safely but by the time our bags were off the carousel it was 4pm.  If we were flying in the day of departure we would have missed the ship!

After spending 35 years in Houston/Galveston (until last year), my uneducated opinion is:
 
The island drains quickly.  After that, all will depend on
 
1 - How much if any damage was done to the terminal/pier/loading walkways.  I'm guessing very little, but thats just me.
2 - Street/electrical/water/sewer disruption.  My feeling is minimal.
3 - Port facilities such as bouys and channel markers...have they been moved/lost, etc.  
4 - Can the port service the ship with fuel and provisions, as well as offload waste.  This also is impacted by whatever they are taking onboard in Miami today.
5 - Transportation.  is the island accessible via road all the way to both airoprts.  Unknown to me.
 
Probably a thousand other things I'm not aware of, and while the port itself is considered critical infastructure, I won't think of secong guessing local officials as to where things fall into place when considering the needs of the local population.  I'd like to think odds are good for 9/3 and excellent for 9/10.
 
(your mileage may very, past performance does not guarantee future results)
 
 

My opinion, and it is only an opinion, is that next week's Galveston cruises are in jeopardy.  By the 9th and 10th, I think they will go, but I wouldn't be surprised that there be some hiccups at the port and with transportation and parking.

Whatever you do, do NOT cancel your cruise yourself.  Let them come to you with whatever offer they are going to make.

Definitely Indy. You don't want to go smaller than what you've already sailed and there will be more the kids to do on Indy. 

Looking at other boats on the site Rhapsody is actually pretty good value.... There is another cruise ship on there for $350m and another $400m... I think we should consider buying all 3 and start our own RCL Podcast cruise line.... http://www.yachtworld.com/boats-for-sale/?&No=0  

Other than perhaps a joke from another guest, I doubt you'll hear anything negative towards you about it.  In fact, you may find other Disney fans seeking refuge in the friendly confines of RC!

Note to self: Start gambling.

I'm not sure if I hate you or love you.
 

Remember when Amazon just sold books ??

I don't think there is a limit on what you can have laundered....but as others have suggested, I limit my laundry to cotton items that have no particular emotional or financial value.
Just a note....they use the most obnoxious stick'ems [tags] on your laundry items.  Not sure what they are exactly, I just know that they attach them to your clothes (presumably for identification purposes) and in some cases, they're nearly impossible to detach !  ...and they will poke and chafe you relentlessly if you cannot remove them.
I've never had anything lost of damaged.

To the above worried CC member...I would advise the ultimate drink pkg.  Also, don't get in their way with elevators, or pool chairs.  You have been warned!

The most obnoxious video ever made....

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

I'll agree as far as the wings.  RC needs some good wings, traditional and boneless.  That would be a good addition to the midnight snack list.

Great idea Gears! what about a watersports deck off of the side or back of the ship. Swimming, jet skiing, pick your activity! 

This one may sound crazy...but, stopping the ship on a sea day for 45 minutes in the open ocean so anyone who wanted to could go swimming. Cannonball!!
Of course I'm thinking Caribbean or other warm climate...too much shrinkage otherwise!

My guess is it has to do with legal documents and what documentation they use to coordinate with government officials.

This one may sound crazy...but, stopping the ship on a sea day for 45 minutes in the open ocean so anyone who wanted to could go swimming. Cannonball!!
Of course I'm thinking Caribbean or other warm climate...too much shrinkage otherwise!

Adventure of the Seas Diamond Club Concierge. We were on the AOS out of San Juan. We generally take the walk-off ourselves option at disembarkation. Well...getting back to Canada from San Juan can be a grand PITA...very limited direct flights and major cha cinga$. We fly out of BUF to SJU, but there has to be a connector flight and since we don't feel like getting home the next day, our flight was 10:45am. Walk off by 7:00am...no problemo. Then, mid way through the cruise...what's this I read...walk-off only available to US Citizens?
Ahhhhhh...our baggage time since we couldn't walk-off...9:45am...to quote Scooby-Doo...RUT ROH!!
That evening we were talking to the Concierge in the Diamond Lounge about it and tried to get more insight into what the deal was. Seems it's a San Juan thing...US Citizens only, lovely...
Next evening with our drinks came a set of luggage tags with group #1. We didn't even ask.
Needless to say he got major pops in our survey.

This one may sound crazy...but, stopping the ship on a sea day for 45 minutes in the open ocean so anyone who wanted to could go swimming. Cannonball!!
Of course I'm thinking Caribbean or other warm climate...too much shrinkage otherwise!

This one may sound crazy...but, stopping the ship on a sea day for 45 minutes in the open ocean so anyone who wanted to could go swimming. Cannonball!!
Of course I'm thinking Caribbean or other warm climate...too much shrinkage otherwise!

This one may sound crazy...but, stopping the ship on a sea day for 45 minutes in the open ocean so anyone who wanted to could go swimming. Cannonball!!
Of course I'm thinking Caribbean or other warm climate...too much shrinkage otherwise!

On one cruise the Adventure Ocean staff gave my daughter a backpack full of AO gifts because she loved being there so much.  She felt like she won the lotto