JLMoran

Thanks a bunch for another great live blog and all the pics, @Lovetocruise2002!

Hi, @Blueline, welcome to the boards! I assume you're sailing November of this year and not next. If you're asking about the big shows, like The Gift, We Will Rock You or Spectra's Cabaret, those shows will almost certainly still be playing come November. In another month, maybe less, you should see them show up on your cruise planner if they haven't already. I'm sailing Anthem in October and have already booked my reservations for all of those shows. Anthem has been showing those for a while now, and because of the effort and cost required to change to a new show they only change them out every few years at most. If you're asking about the other entertainment offerings, like the stand-up comedian or musicians playing in small venues like the pub or Schooner Bar, those change from sailing to sailing. You can look at past cruise compasses here on the main blog site and get an idea of what sort of entertainment options you'll have on your particular sailing, but the actual performers won't be knowable until you board and look the cruise compass. There will also be signs posted around the ship promoting the musicians and some of the other entertainers.

Guess this will have to be my go-to bar on Anthem, then! On Freedom I never tried them out, wishing I had instead of getting all my drinks at the pub or Schooner Bar. I'll also have to find the other bars on board, make more of an effort to try each place at least once.

Nope, both kids have said they're solidly done with WDW. I think the problem is they're both still too young to fully appreciate a multi-day visit to just Epcot and all the cultural displays. They loved the food there (sushi was to die for, and our dinner in the France section was also outstanding), but found the rest of Epcot boring. That's honestly the only part of WDW I have any interest in re-visiting, and I could easily spend a week there; especially during the flower gardens display and the food and wine festival! Magic Kingdom -- I can't ride Space Mountain any more due to my feet, and that's the only ride I care about there; kids have no more interest in that area Animal Kingdom -- No real interest in revisiting this area from anyone; done the safari a few times now, and while it's definitely interesting Hollywood Studios -- We're not Star Wars fans, and having done all the special effects shows and couple of thrill rides once, we're good EPCOT -- I love the place, wife is cool with it, kids as noted are bored by it outside the dining options; the rides there were just... odd... by everyone's standards, and the recent changes to make them more Frozen-themed don't appeal to us. Yeah, with just one out of four parks of interest, it'll be cruise-only family vacations for a while! ?

That's on Anthem, I believe a fair number of people were looking for a sailing on Adventure since the 2019 summer group cruise is on Anthem.

It would still be better than this particular crawl ?

Unless I could arrange some kind of B2B on her, I don't see how I could justify sailing her with airfare for 4, but I have to say she really looks impressive after all the changes! That sundae on the Playmakers menu is interesting. Five scoops of Ben & Jerrys, which is presumably a large plus a medium, plus the toppings listed and the souvenir bucket its served in. Price actually seems surprisingly reasonable, given the large + medium at B&J's is $7.25, and I'm assuming there is a surcharge there for toppings if you get more than one or two. The new Solarium looks fantastic! I hope that's something they'll do for the AMPED program on all of the ships getting updates. I had no idea Boleros had such a great drink menu. Does that look similar to what you've seen on other ships? I'll definitely have to stop at the one on Anthem for a mojito or two, just to mix it up with my usual margaritas. And speaking of... the tequila selection there beats anything I saw at any other bar on Freedom!

@volleyballgirl67, definitely give @KLA's suggestion a try. I've done this twice now, as my wife can't drink but is always fine with the refreshment package, and it's never been an issue. No reason to... well, not deprive yourself I guess... maybe just, "no reason to lose out on any ability to take advantage of the bars to the fullest without having sticker shock at the end of your cruise." ?

@Matt has had a bunch of us badgering him for a 2020 July group cruise to Canada & New England. Granted, that's only a 6-night itinerary; we might have to make it a B2B with the 8-night Bahamas & Perfect Day run for a proper vacation, not to mention giving enough time for all of us to properly sample the Kraken and other libations. ?

I can heartily recommend Soualiga Destinations as a very good, very fun all-day excursion in St. Maarten. You get two snorkeling stops of about 45 minutes each, two beach stops around the same length or slightly longer (first one is also when you'll have lunch), and you go all around the island as well as to some of the surrounding tiny islands. It's a third-party excursion you have to book directly, not through Royal, but they're very good about getting you back in time. Only requirement is that your ship must be in port from around 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM (all-aboard at 4:30), as the trip goes from 9 until 4.

I'm not entirely certain this is a valid statement. Without going into the specifics, suffice to say that members of my family have had exposure to such animals (dogs), and when I spoke with the handler he indicated the dogs are specially trained to remain calm at all times, under a variety of circumstances that would normally cause stress to the animal, so that they never reacted in a negative way that could in turn negatively affect the people around it. I was also told that they are not allowed to let just any individual to pat them or engage with them as they walk by, their use was restricted to certain areas and the people within them. So a true "therapy service" animal is still something that I definitely does require some special training, and may have a certification to back that up. But it certainly doesn't apply to the people who want to bring their "therapy chicken" onto the plane or ship.

I thought that only applied to Quantum Ultra, not regular Quantum class ships?

I can also confirm it wasn’t open for lunch on embarkation day for my Freedom sailing last April. Couldn’t even get a margarita from them. ?

If you look at each unread post in the boards, you'll see a blue circle next to the post title (star if it's a post you're following). If you click that instead of the post title, you will be taken straight to the first unread message in the thread.

Well, if we're all supporting something that you feel amounts to no more than a literal as well as proverbial drop in the ocean, let me remind you of the best line from Cloud Atlas: "What is an ocean, but a multitude of drops?"

First off, welcome to the blog boards, @LaurenS! What that manager said to you doesn't sound correct at all, given how several of us here with sail dates later than yours are seeing the option to make reservations online and have been for at least a little while now. Not sure what might be going on beyond possible typical web site issues.

Thanks for the live blog and scopes, @Lovetocruise2002! Love that you've been able to line some of them up with my lunch hour; you're so considerate! ? Question from your last scope, just tuck this away for when you're back home / definitely no rush on this: How was the rate for this JS compared to the JS you had on Anthem? Obviously has to be worked out to the per-day cost since this cruise is so much shorter, but I'm wondering how Royal is pricing these rooms on this newly refurbished ship doing these almost party cruises, compared to the same class of rooms on a ship that's more known for cold weather getaways and at least slightly longer itineraries. Also wondering if Adventure is being priced similarly to Mariner on a per-day rate, since both have been refurbished (though Mariner got way more bells and whistles); probably needs input from @CruiseLifeRick to get that full picture. Basically trying to work out if Adventure or Anthem is the better "bang for the buck" given equivalent JS bookings. Granted, Anthem has CK for JS, and that's something of an unquantifiable factor. But Adventure has itinerary options Anthem doesn't, like that open-jaw leaf-peeping itinerary, so... Just in terms of raw money required per-day to even book a JS, this would be some good info to have. And then I can plug it into my spreadsheet! ?

Oof! Sorry to hear that, but glad to know that you have it under control!

No one needs the package, but a lot of us sure do want it! ? Honestly, for budgeting purposes, as long as you think you'll just come close, it's good for budgeting and pre-paying. My last cruise (8-night with 4 sea days), I had no problems with my daily sail-away margarita and a glass or two of wine with dinner, even on port days; sea days found me drinking a little bit more, but only by one or two drinks. We do not discuss embarkation day. ? That was enough, with my daily cappuccinos and fresh-squeezed OJ, for me to at least come close to break-even, if not quite there or a little better. That said, not sure I could maintain that across a 12-night cruise. More likely, I'd be better with a Refreshment Package, and then limiting my adult beverages to dinner wine and an occasional sail-away drink.

I haven't bought that package, but I do remember when we got photos taken that we had to give our SeaPass card for them to scan before they took any pics. So I would imagine it's just like the drink package, and once they scan your card they'll see you have the photo package.

Yes, this has worked for a lot of people. And the refreshment package often goes on sale for $18/night, which is easy to meet if you just get a couple of specialty coffees and a "mocktail" or two. I've done this on both of my cruises since the policy was put into effect, as my wife can't drink. It's a little bit of a pain having to call instead of just doing it online; but apart from waiting for the rep to confirm with a supervisor, it's never been an issue. As far as your husband not drinking that much, I would tend to agree with @KathyC aka KathLuvsGH -- Even on the best sale price that I've seen ($42/night), you need to get a pretty decent number of beverages each day to break even. They certainly don't all need to be alcoholic, you can cover a decent amount of ground with specialty coffees (lattes, cappuccinos, etc.), fresh-squeezed OJ with breakfast each day, and a couple of sodas or bottled waters. But you need to figure on at least a couple of alcoholic drinks every day to "keep up". It's honestly not *that* much, depending on your regular at-home habits -- a glass of wine with dinner; another glass, or a beer or two, before or after dinner while you hang out watching entertainment in the pub or Schooner Bar; maybe a sail-away cocktail or a drink while watching a show in the theater. But if he's not necessarily keen on that, then getting the Refreshment Package for himself and paying a la carte for his alcoholic drinks might be a better way to go.

And the reverse will also be true if you sail Royal for a while, build up your C&A rank, and then decide to go back to Celebrity.

Yes, when I booked my cabana rental about 10 or 11 months out from last cruise in April, it was on sale for an unbelievable $255.75 for an over-the-water cabana. I have never seen the price go that low ever again, either when re-checking ahead of my cruise, or when folks post the prices they got in more recent posts. The units were priced at $395 when they first became available, but the cruise planner sale that gave that super-low price happened only a month or so later. If it hadn't dropped that low I'd never have booked it; but with everything I knew it gave and that crazy good sale price, it was a no-brainer when I knew it really "split" among the four of us. To this day, I don't know if that sale price was a glitch that they were forced to honor or they just weren't selling any and needed a boost. I'm actually not sure on this. If they're sold out and not at all listed, you're definitely out of luck. But I think I saw them listed with a "Sold Out" banner across the image as it got closer to my sail-away date. If that happened and you noticed the price was better, it might be possible to call Royal directly and tell them you want to cancel and rebook at the lower rate. I'd be a little nervous about trying that, in case someone else went on and saw the unit open up in the couple of minutes in between canceling and rebooking and managed to snag it before the rebook was done. But it might be doable.

One day, I too shall be able to not only spend money on new photographic gear, but also on extra unplanned cruise bookings. One day...

Yes, a lot of us here end up doing that, sometimes a couple of times in a month. Do be aware that when you cancel and re-book, it gets processed as an actual cancellation with a full refund to your card, and the full charge for the re-book. It would be SO nice if they could just credit our cards the difference in price, but I guess that would muck up their own bookkeeping or whatever metrics they use to track sales during promotions vs. regular times. Also, it usually takes a couple of business days for the refund to show up in your credit card's processed transactions, but the re-book typically shows up the same day (unless you rebooked after 5 PM EST, in which case it'll probably appear the next day). So if you're right at the end of a billing cycle and do a cancel/re-book, you might find that the refund didn't make it in before the statement went out, even though the re-book charge is there. Rest assured it'll show up in the next statement.