JLMoran

Not just Canadian. At least for this New Jerseyan, there's been no love either. ?

People just seem to take hand washing far too casually. I remember a time at my last employer, one of my teammates came up next to me at the sink in the men's room. I was washing my usual thorough way (solid soaping up, thorough rinse), and he did a real quick run. He turned to leave and joked, "Are you prepping for surgery?" I just looked at him and asked when was the last time he saw me get sick; after about 10 seconds he finally conceded, "Good point." ::facepalm:: ??

Thanks for the post about Vintages! That's definitely one area I plan to check out when I sail Freedom in March and Anthem next October. It's great to hear that they have selections not listed on the menu, at least on Anthem. Also good to hear that the servers know their stuff! I'm not at all a fan of Pinot or Cab, much prefer Malbec / Chianti / Zinfandel, so hopefully they'll have some good off-menu recommendations for the poor sods like me that don't get a lot of on-menu choices.

Sorry to hear your experience wasn’t on par with your past times on Princess. The issue with the head waiter is bizarre, if nothing else in terms of just explaining up front they need to order everything at once when everyone at the table is there so that early arrivals aren’t surprised. And I’m stunned he asked for a specific rating mid-way along. Very unprofessional. Being asked for your Sea Pass card wh n you ordered the cappuccino does make sense. All espresso beverages are an upcharge on Royal unless you bought the Replenishment or Deluxe beverage package, or the 10-drink coffee card. I think the other thing to keep in mind when comparing this to Princess is that the latter is a premium cruise line, where Royal is mass market. So Princess ships will have a better staff to passenger ratio that makes a better level of service more likely. Not to excuse your head waiter, just saying that a more even comparison would be Royal vs. Carnival or Norwegian. If you wanted to compare Princess again a line under the RCCI umbrella, Celebrity would be the one to use.

Summer 2020 most likely won’t be listed until this time next year. Cruise calendars seem to go from May of next year to April the following one each year.

Yes, it just tells you that the port is in the New York Metro area. I guess folks were looking for cruises departing from Manhattan Cruise Terminal and giving up when they didn’t see it listed.

Unfortunately, I am locked to that date. ? I switched to a non-refundable booking back in October to get a lower rate and better OBC on the JS I have booked. That said, I’d rather go in October as the weather three weeks later could be a lot colder, making it a lot harder to use the outside facilities on Day 1 and Day 6. I’m not like @J_Keeble, I’d die of exposure if I tried going out to the hot tub outdoors when it’s 35° F! Actually, the schools here are out of session for most or all of Election Day week, not any time in October, as teachers convention is the same week. I just checked, and Election Day for 2018 is November 6. So on that sailing you’re potentially going to be dealing with a lot more families. You’ll also want to make sure you’ve sent in an absentee ballot if you go that week!

Anthem has only been in active service for two and a half years, so I'd be very surprised if she were going into dry dock any time soon, even for basic "spit and polish" work, barring any mechanical issues (which I haven't heard anything of to date). Are you sure you aren't seeing the cabin category changes that are common to all ships after April of 2018?

@Wilson, what an awesome suggestion! I use my phone for practically everything and never would have thought of that!

Dang, now that is a discount!

Hi, Amber. Welcome aboard to our online "family"! OK, @arebee, I know you're ex-military and cursing probably comes as naturally as breathing at this point. How does being in Florida enhance that?

And I'm guessing a very busy assembly team!

Dang it! This could have been a perfect opportunity to join you guys, but we'll have been to literally every port on this itinerary less than a year prior. My wife is contemplating doing another cruise for 2019 as a belated 50th birthday trip for her, since family circumstances kept her from really being able to do much at all this year, but she was very clear up front that if it's her trip choice, she'd only do it if we could see all new ports. And after doing two cruises in 2018, I'll only be able to afford one cruise for 2019.

Interesting note on this point, which I found out about the hard way... I've been paying $400 a month towards my fare, with the idea being I'll be paid off this month right at final payment date. Well, I went to make my November payment for my two-room cruise, and found out that each room basically has only the port fees and taxes left on it, plus maybe $50 in actual cruise fare. Which posed a problem... My TA explained that the cruise lines don't allow making partial payments on those taxes and fees; it's all-or-nothing. So I could either make no payment for November and have to pay off both rooms this month, or pay off one room for November and then the other room in December. I didn't want to blow out my budget in December with the holidays (and ensuing bills) coming up, so I paid off my room last month and will pay the kids' one right before final payment date. Not going to be a common situation for most of the folks here, who only book single cabins, but figured I ought to mention it.

Ummm, aren't you married now? Why does your husband have to sleep in a different bed?

Adding this to my "cruise prep" list as another option, but have to think about this one a bit more carefully. I read the reviews on it, and they do mention that because it is so thin and light, you have to be careful not to abrade the material or poke it with anything sharp that you put in there. I'm more concerned about the abrading part, as the water shoes I've bought do have a rough-textured sole for gripping on sand and rocks. But maybe I can take a towel from the ship and wrap them in that to avoid that problem. Also, when I'm not bringing the shoes it's going to be very empty and jangling around on my back. It's also a fair bit bigger; about twice the size / capacity as the Eagle Creek one I put in my list, and 1.5x the Osprey one. I do realize that volume increases way faster than length/width/height, so it's not really that much bigger physically; just a couple of inches in each dimension, I just don't want it hanging down to my butt when it's nearly empty. But... when it's so lightweight, it might be better to have that so I've got the space for carrying stuff the family finds in markets or throwing an extra towel in there. Auughh! Too many choices, too many decisions!!

Oooh, forgot to check these guys. Their Travel Bug Mini backpack is actually a little bit smaller even than that Osprey one I found, and Amazon currently has it for $45 instead of the list $65. One more for the "Cruise Prep" list! Also looks like that Osprey rain cover will work with a 10.5L pack; found a comment on the product page saying it was designed for 10-20L packs. So I might have a winning pair here!

Thanks, @UkuleleCruiser! Not sure that this one will work for me, mainly because of the lack of compartments. Since I'll be bringing the water shoes and likely putting them into the bag while still at least a little wet/damp after use, I want to be sure there's a separate compartment to keep the residual water away from whatever electronics and such I have in there. But I've added it to my "cruise prep" list on Amazon so I don't forget about this option, since it's otherwise kind of ideal. Might grab one for the kids or my wife to use if they want. That's actually a bit larger and deeper than I'm looking for. I know I should probably buy something a little bigger than what I think I'll need for the gear I listed above, but that's sized for a 17" laptop and (having owned one of those back in the day) I know that's going to be huge. Sorry, I feel a bit like I'm being Goldilocks here, trying to find the pack that's "just right". Based on @twangster's comment about being prepared for rain, I dug around on LL Bean and Amazon and found this Osprey Daylite Plus and size-matched rain cover. Added those into my "Cruise Prep" list as well. Size is closer to what I'm looking for, and I'm hoping I can remove the laptop sleeve since I don't need it. Also one of the less-expensive options I've found, although I wish the rain cover was just included up front. Osprey has another backpack named the "FlapJack" which is listed as water resistant, but multiple commenters there said it wouldn't hold up in a heavier rain; that one was $110 by itself, while the Daylite Plus and cover are $80 total, so seemed like the better way to go. Definitely will still watch here for other suggestions, I'm just saving ideas for now.

Definitely interested! But as others here said, only live blog if it doesn't take away from your vacation. I can wait for a post-cruise "Live-ISH".

@UkuleleCruiser's recent post asking about luggage spurred me to create a sort of companion thread. When you leave the ship to go on land and sight see or do a formal excursion, what do you use to carry all of your "stuff" that you would typically bring? At first I thought that I wouldn't need much of anything, since I was figuring on just bringing my passport and Sea Pass card (one shorts pocket), and my mobile phone and some cash (other pocket); my wife would have the sunscreen in her beach satchel bag, and I'm good. But now I'm going through this in my head, and at least for myself I'll be carrying a fair bit more since I plan to try and do a lot of photography and videography: Moment lenses (to pop on and off of my iPhone case as needed) Folding mini-tripod and ShoulderPod phone mount/hand grip Possibly the 3-axis gimbal I bought, depending on which port we're in and how much video I expect to take vs still photos Spare battery for the gimbal Battery pack and charing cable for the phone Water shoes (for two of our four port stops, where I actually expect to go into the water) I can't wear them all day, the ones I bought can't be modified with a lift or hold my orthotics, so I'll only put them on when needed These will definitely be the bulkiest items, and since they'll be wet after use I need to keep them separate from the photography gear A bottle or two of water to keep hydrated Sunscreen (at this point I might as well carry mine in my own bag) Whatever my wife or kids decide I can carry since I've already turned myself into a pack mule There's probably another item or two I'm not thinking of. Definitely more than what will fit in a fanny pack (and I wouldn't want to wear one of those, anyway). I would use one of my kids' backpacks, but they are likely to be using them themselves. Is a satchel bag / men's "purse" a good idea? Just a cheap backpack with lots of pockets to hold all the smaller bits? Will appreciate whatever suggestions you can offer, especially those of you who also tend to bring photography gear along.

There's a brand called Away that I've heard good things about, including from @DocLC either here on these boards or possibly a podcast episode he guest-appeared on. They look rock-solid, and their carry-on unit has an integrated battery and USB charging ports to let you charge up your phone / tablet / laptop without having to hunt for an outlet wherever you are. Given how much my family uses our devices, I'm strongly considering getting at least their carry-on for myself. If you go to that link and use promo code "ATP" or "TALKSHOW" (possibly "THETALKSHOW", it seems to change from time to time) you should get a small discount -- they're a regular sponsor of two of the tech podcasts I listen to and that's the code associated to each of them.

No, haven't looked at them. Pretty sure they're the line my in-laws have used for the couple of European river cruises they've done, although those were also in the warmer months IIRC. Since I want to try and bring the kids along for that trip, I'm not sure a river cruise will be up their alley. Even less for teens to do on one of those during a "sea day" (river day?) than there is on a big ship cruise that isn't named Royal or Carnival! But a river cruise is certainly something I want to try at some point. Most likely after retirement, or at least after both of the kids are done with college.

Also have this set of photos from Navigator of the Seas, room 1864, which I found on cruisedeckplans.com. Looks very similar.

As expected, no cruises for summer of 2020, and the Jan - Apr offerings are Caribbean / Bahamas only. I have to wait another year before seeing what I can choose from for my 50th birthday. Maybe this is a stupid question, but why are there never cruises in the Mediterranean in that Jan-April time frame (at least on X or Royal, haven't checked other lines like HAL)? It never gets cold there, so what is it that blocks sailing to Southern Spain / France, Italy, Greece, or Croatia?