Lovetocruise2002

Let's hope not lol I can only hope and pray that when my girls are the age of yours, we are still sailing together. They talk of leaving us often these days. Especially my 16 year old.... Thank you! It is always good to have you along. Heck, if you said the word "Cruise" around me, I would pack in a hurry too! I know the @Rags1 style #RLSgoals

BTW…I have told my family about @asquared17’s recent SY trip. The goal is to not get security called on us for volume

Oh, Hubby is not ashamed! He always says he is perfectly fine cruising inside cabins. We’ll see how he likes it.

I think we totally are lol We have stayed there too a couple of times, although this time we are literally there just to sleep. We are not expected to land until 11:40pm next Friday night so there will be no walking around 17th Street. My parents and sister are going to my beloved La Bamba without me. My kids are saying they should have taken the earlier flight with them.

Definitely!

Blizzard like conditions here in Southern Ontario also prompted me to start this blog now. Need to get out of here ASAP! Hopefully these are not the weather conditions one week from today….

Needed to get past this week first. Crazy times at work. One week early seems like a good time to start lol

Star Class stuff/Reservation Timelines Star Class survey – 55 days out Show reservations opened in cruise planner – 38 days out Genie email from Marla – 26 days out

Who’s Going? Let me introduce you to the @Lovetocruise2002 extended family! · Mom & Dad – my parents · Sis – my sister · BIL – brother-in-law · N11 – Nephew (11 years old) · N9 – Niece (9 years old) · Hubby & I · The teenagers – D14 and D16 Flight Delta from DTW-FLL. HM leaves Miami on Saturday, and I have to work until Friday afternoon, we had no option but to book the last flight out of DTW to FLL on Friday night. I was not willing to fly in the day of, so again, we booked through Air2Sea, and we are praying and hoping for smooth travels. My parents and sister are flying out earlier on Friday, but they are also headed to FLL. My Dad does not want to meet us at the port, he would rather us all stay at the same hotel and head to the port together. Pre-Cruise Stay Not glamourous, but totally functional. We are all staying at the Holiday Inn Express on 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale. We don’t get into Florida until almost midnight, so we need something close to the airport. It does not make sense to spend a lot on accommodations that we will barely use. Seeing that we are staying there, the rest of the family is as well. The plan is to meet up at breakfast…well that’s the plan, not sure if my sister will stick to that plan lol We priced out different ride options to the port. My parents are not the Uber/Lyft type and we wanted to stay as group. After looking at several places, we decided to book a private van with QLS Transportation. They are scheduled to pick us up at the hotel at 9:30 am Saturday morning. So far, pre-cruise communication with them has been good. Itinerary 11 MAR MIAMI, FLORIDA 12 MAR CRUISING 13 MAR CRUISING 14 MAR PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN 15 MAR CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS 16 MAR CRUISING 17 MAR PERFECT DAY COCOCAY, BAHAMAS 18 MAR MIAMI, FLORIDA Cabin Only one cabin holds all of us… Our plan is to put my parents on one end, in one of the master bedrooms. My sister and BIL will take the master on the other end. Hubby will finally get his wish to sail an inside cabin again, I am trying to psych myself up for the telephone booth shower, and all 4 freeloaders (err…I mean the darling children), will take the other inside room without the ensuite bathroom. Pre-Cruise thoughts HM will always be a special ship to us. It marks our first sailing where we ventured into suites (Sky Class) in 2017, and our first sailing where we dived into “the point of no return” (Star Class) in 2019. Now we return for another first, which is the Villa, a suite that I have been curious about for a very long time. Really trying hard to cherish the memories on this one. It has not escaped any of us that moments like these are few and far between, and most precious. Not only are my parents getting older, but so are the kids. This spring break sailing is our second last one with D16. Without a doubt, I will miss Deck 17…. Marla is our Genie on this one. Once again, in the spirit of a live blog, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I will do my best to find out whatever I can for you. When responding to a post with a series of pictures, please do not include the pictures in your reply. It just makes for easier scrolling. Lastly, I will try to post videos and stories on Instagram. You can follow me @lovetocruise2002

Finding Harmony on Harmony??? HM 3/11/2023 – 3/18/2023 This is Us – A Little Bit CRAZY, A Little Bit LOUD, A Whole Lot of LOVE! 10 people, one cabin, crazy cousins, “set in their ways” older parents, plus a Genie…Will we find Harmony? Nobody knows? Not even us! This sailing as been a long time coming. I am beyond excited, and a little bit sad. Originally, we had booked this sailing for December 2020 to celebrate my Mom’s 70th birthday. We lost that sailing, and we were most fortunate to be able to reschedule it to now. However, as much as we tried to retain our original group, my other sister and her family could not make it. That leaves 10 of us, instead of 14. I am sure that our Genie is breathing a sigh of relief lol. This is our 3rd time on Harmony, but for my parents and sister’s family, it’s their first. It is by no means anyone’s first cruise though. My parents have cruised more than any of us have, but never in suites. They are pretty stubborn inside cabin cruisers, well my Dad is anyway. This cruise is another way that we are trying to thank my parents for everything they have done for us. We last cruised as an extended family in December 2017 on the Disney Fantasy. The kids were all a lot younger then and I am sure this experience will be a whole lot different.

Umm....lol

I requested one for my 3/11 sailing on HM.

@Nickel30, you can even pre-book Uber/Lyft if that makes you feel better. I have not done that myself but other here have done it.

Definitely!

The Holiday Inn Express on 17th Street has a cruise port shuttle, but I don't recommend it. I actually don't recommend any hotel shuttle to the cruise port in Fort Lauderdale. It is fairly easy to get to Port Everglades by Uber/Lyft from anywhere in Fort Lauderdale and much cheaper than a shuttle.

They sure look "cheap". Seriously not liking them at all.

And don’t forget you picked up another one with your friendly Canadian neighbours! can’t wait!

What?! How dare you? lol jk I remember the complaint from someone else about people sitting in their chairs. I ended up requesting one by the wave pool.

+1 Also not a fan of the new coloured blocks. Perhaps I will grow to like them when seeing them in person. The old ones were classy looking. These new ones not so much.

You took an extra day post cruise? Or did you have travel delays?

Nope lol. Pre-Anthem GC I did stay in Manhattan. It was the first cruise on Anthem back in 2018 that I stayed at Embassy.

Hyatt Place in Jersery City is quite nice. Great view from the rooftop as well. If you are looking to stay in Newark, there is an Embassy Suites in Elizabeth, NJ that we have stayed at as well. It offers a free airport shuttle and complimentary breakfast.

Sadly no. They will contact you. You will receive direct communication (in the form of an email) from the Genie about one month prior to cruising. At that point you can communicate your specialty dining requests to them. Your genie will make sure you get the spots that you want.

There are many reports from the Harmony FB group that it started on that ship with yesterday's sailing.

There are no real pricing rules for star class on the sushi side