JLMoran

So yesterday, having thought we'd be waiting a good bit longer for this to happen, we ended up with a new addition to our family. Everyone say hello to Cece! She's still getting used to being in a home with four hoo-mans and two kats, so she looks understandably nervous. But we're hoping in a few more days she'll be showing us more of her regular personality. Still need time to figure out how this impacts the future cruise budget. ?? At least we have nearby family with dogs of their own who can watch her when we travel, so no need for kennel expenses. Sorry, Cece, but no cruising for you!

Give it one more day. 45 seems to be the magic number for the majority of cruisers here.

Is that also true on Anthem? Granted, after the troubles I heard about here with WOW bands usage at the bars and having to constantly take them off, I'll probably still carry my SeaPass card in a lanyard or at least my pocket, but it will be nice if my JS booking gets me a free pair of WOW bands in the room when we check in.

Unfortunately, no. If I had to guess, they tie it to final payment date so they have a reasonably complete passenger manifest and don’t have to clear out data from last-minute cancellations. Look on the bright side; it’s a nice milestone to reach, and it tells you you’re getting really close to CRUISE DAY!!!

If you decide you need it for two people (e.g., so you can communicate with each other), be sure to have just one person buy the 2-device plan, rather than each of you buying a separate 1-device plan. That saves you a bit of money, and the person who bought it is totally free to share the code they're given with their cabin-mate. It will be one code that can be used by up to two devices at once.

You should look at the most recent thread on the Celebrity & Azamara board, where we had a bit of a discussion about the age demographic. At least on X, based on the comments from several on that thread, we'll find plenty of people in our age bracket (I'm in my late-40s, will be 50 at the start of 2020). The real difference is lack of young kids and teens on X and those other premium lines.

Thanks, @CGTLH. Was thinking if the terminal itself had the kiosk stand with just the pouches, I'd pay whatever premium they were charging so I only had the two I'd need for the missus and me. But then again, if we like Anthem enough to want to bring the kids with us on a follow-up trip (or, you know, a July 2020 CA/NE RCBlog Group Cruise ?), then getting this 10-pack might be the better way to go so everyone is covered.

Can definitely be a good alternative, especially since you can leave your credit cards and other stuff in the room safe and just have the SeaPass card in there. Unfortunately in my case, I have a special case on my phone that allows me to mount my add-on camera lenses, and I can't put any other kind of case on it while using that one. And since I'm always taking pics on the ship as well as in port, well... that case pretty much never comes off. So a lanyard (or just keeping my SeaPass in my pocket) is my only option.

Great, now I've got Leslie Nielsen in my head...

So when you're in the port terminal for a Q-class or HM / SY, do they sell lanyards with plastic pouches to put the cards in? If they don't, I may pick up something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/Cruise-Lanyard-Retractable-Detachable-Waterproof/dp/B074TSGTY2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536325228&sr=8-4&keywords=cruise+card+lanyard+id+holder Kind of annoying that the lanyard I bought last cruise is basically useless for this one simply because I'm on Anthem with its RFID-type cards. Any chance they sell just the pouches, so I can re-use the lanyard I already have?

If you're also a member of Cruise Critic, you may want to post about this there as well. Since that site is not focused on just one cruise line the way this one is, you may be able to reach a broader audience of people sailing in on the same day, and have a better shot of reaching the minimum group for the extension option. Good luck!

You are going to love it! Just be prepared, you may find yourself in that NextCruise office booking another one before you realize what's happening. This vacation style is addictive! ?

I looked the term up on Wikipedia the other day, says "Council Housed and Violent" is a backronym created to fit the original word. Word's been in use for a really long time. From the article (emphasis added):

@Joe01, I saw in that list that Southampton won for best UK cruise port. Might help sway some of your friends? Can someone explain what "Best for Wellbeing" is supposed to mean? HAL won that one, and that's a line I'm considering for a future Norway / Iceland cruise. They're pricey, but hey! My wellbeing doesn't come cheap! ???

What you show here is exactly what I have for my SetSail passes. Exact same layout, same content on the right side. Only difference is that with mine, the left-side block includes both of our names in two rows of micro-print just below the "Be Ready for Your Arrival" block.

Mine only came available at 47 days for my Anthem cruise, 45 days for my Freedom one. Give it a couple more days. When you can download your eDocs, that means the luggage tags are ready (always the last page of the eDocs file).

Like I said, it varies from ship to ship. The key is when you go into Online Checkin, see if each passenger has a "Print" button in their SetSail Pass column. On my Freedom cruise, only my row had a button for that, whereas on this Anthem sailing I see a button in both my row and my wife's row. Here's a pair of screen shots from that Freedom sailing I had uploaded for a post when I was trying to figure this out myself. Note how there's only one "Print" button that has all four passenger names here. Now here's my online checkin view for Anthem. Note how both my wife and I have separate print buttons for our SetSail Passes: So just look at how many Print buttons you have, and that will be the clue. ?

Great, now when I want Ramen I'm going to feel like I need to drive to DC. ? All I have available nearby is a small place in the local mall and a Mr. Ramen (same chain owners as Mr. Sushi and Cowboy Wings). Used to have a great place in Jersey City when I'd have to visit that office once a month, but they closed down. ? ??

Do be aware this can vary from ship to ship. For my trip on Freedom last April, that was the case. But I just double-checked my Anthem SetSail Pass, and while it has a small section on the left in micro-print that lists both my wife and me for the onboard spending account, the main section on the right where everything was very large and readable only listed my name along with the cabin number, muster station, etc. I had to print the one specifically listed for my wife in the online checkin area before I had a SetSail Pass with her name writ large in that right-side section.

Same speed, still not letting me book Coastal Kitchen, so normal as far as I can tell. ? Did see there's a new "Epic Adventures" sale up, but it seems to be the same offer as before (50% off second guest and up to $100 instant savings).

Skipping this poll since I've only sailed on one class so far (Freedom). Ask me again in a month and a half, when I'll have sailed a Quantum Class ship for the first time. ?

Here's hoping that the "Bermuda High" holds and diverts the storm to the south of the island and deep into the Atlantic Ocean. Only 39 days until I sail out to visit the island, and I'd appreciate it if Mother Nature could leave it one piece for my first-time visit! ?

I've been wanting to try Beef Wellington for a while, but I don't know if I'd want my first experience with it to be one that's been sitting for a while at a carving station under a heat lamp. I'll freely admit the only times I've seen it is when I was binge-watching Master Chef, but itseems to me that's something you really are supposed to have the second it's done cooking, or very close to it, while the filet is still piping hot and juicy and the wrapping hasn't had any chance to collect condensation or go soggy.

That's interesting with the rules you cite. I was on Freedom in April and only ever visited the craps table, and I saw people there regularly set up the dice so they showed whatever pips the shooter felt was the "lucky" or "right" way before throwing. I also saw a couple of times where I or someone else only had one die touch the back wall and both the pit boss and the stick man were totally fine with it. So either they've changed the rules in the last four months or you just got really unlucky with the crew on board for your sailing. And the table on my sailing was almost always decently full after the first or maybe second night. I would stop by after dinner most nights (around 9:30 or 10:00 PM after late-seating dinner), and there were at most two or three open spots for new shooters; a couple of times I actually had to wait until someone cashed out. Always saw 2 or 3 "regulars" there every time I stopped by as well. I'm guessing your table staff and their new rules may have had a chilling effect, especially with the 1x odds. I think it was the same on my sailing; I had a couple of times where I walked through the casino on my way to something else in the late afternoon / early evening, and I'd see all the poker tables and roulette table had staff sitting at them, but the craps table was unstaffed. I think that may in part be that fewer people know that game and get intimidated by it, so why "waste" a staffer at the table when they know the regulars and people who actually want to play will come by after dinner? Unlike poker or black jack, craps is a bit more social and playing solo, at least to me, just feels weird.

To add to what @kontraxed noted above, Quantum class ships offer a room category called "Spa Junior Suite" (J4 category) which is visually and spatially quite distinct from other Jr. Suite cabins on the other classes of ships. In addition to describing them briefly in the previous link from @Matt, you can see a photo tour of them in this article. Like the Jr. Suite rooms on Oasis class, booking a Jr. Suite on Quantum class ships lets you make dinner reservations at Coastal Kitchen once on board as an added perk over Jr. Suites on other ships.