Rose City Cruiser

We board today for my first RC cruise - Anthem, Grand Loft Suite, 7-night out of Bayonne. I’ve been up since 3:30 this morning in excitement. I don’t know if I’ll have the stamina for a live blog, and I saw the feedback on here that we have a LOT of star class blogs, but I figured I’d start this and maybe add any interesting observations as a newbie.
I’m traveling with my family - husband, two kids (12 and 7).  We’ve been trying to sail RC since we booked an awesome Black Friday sale in November 2019 to sail in March 2020. You all know what happened then. As we kept rescheduling and getting canceled, we kept upgrading. This story started in a junior suite and ended up in star class, lol. We had two years to pay it off and, as a teacher with a doc husband, we both really, really needed an amazing break from the last two years of reality. Our genie is Leroy and he’s been lovely so far in our emails. I’m ready to grab the wheel from my husband if he tries to pull over before the star class zone at the port, lol. 
I am usually a great packer, but with the limits of air travel taken away, I’ve gone insane. Apparently I think I’m Beyoncé and need several outfit changes per day. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m legit concerned about fitting it all in the car. Then there’s my 7-year-old, who announced to me that she’s all packed and when I checked she is bringing a slinky, an army of stuffed animals, and one shirt. I remedied that but let her keep the slinky, because I’m not gonna die on that hill. 

This site has made me feel like an expert  before I’ve ever even stepped foot on a ship. You all are so kind and patient! Thank you for answering my questions and for your blogs that gave me an exciting preview of star class. I was especially inspired by @Lovetocruise2002 and @WAAAYTOOO from reading their blogs and asking them questions - thank you! 

We live about 90 minutes from Cape Liberty so it’s way too early to leave but I am so antsy. I might burst into tears when we finally get on the ship after so many tries. Sorry for rambling, but I’m sleep deprived! Hope to update from on board later today.
 

How about relatively intelligent casual?  😁

The space on the Boardwalk where they had donuts/coffee in the morning is now used for Playmakers arcade games  and fooseball tables on Symphony and Oasis.  

When I wake-up tomorrow morning, I'll have 49 days until my next cruise on the Ovation of the Seas, Alaska.  It's been a long dry spell.  The thing I like best about cruising is sea days.  I just love sitting in a bar, on the balcony, anywhere on the ship where I can see the Ocean, land masses, inside passages go by.  Not to mention the great tasting food and drink.  I've never enjoyed a vacation more than one on a cruise ship and Royal makes it even better.  

Been reading the various posts but finally confirmation.

Excellent news!!!
Canada is expected to announce an end to pre-arrival COVID-19 testing for vaccinated travellers, two federal government sources told Global News.

The requirement will be dropped by the end of March, the sources said. The formal announcement to the change could come as soon as Thursday.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8687177/canada-pre-arrival-covid-testing-travellers/

Oh my goodness goat curry and oxtails are so good, you have my mouth watering  right now.
 
To answer the OP question I say yes they are both worth it, I think a lot of people overlook Windjammers at dinner and while I don't go to Windjammers every night on a cruise  the night or in some cases nights that I do go there the food has been great and flavorful.  If they are looking for a specific theme I would suggest they either check the cruise compass or the app for the theme.

We like Caribbean night at WJ for the oxtail and goat curry

We like Caribbean night at WJ for the oxtail and goat curry

https://globalnews.ca/video/8690081/covid-19-canada-to-change-testing-rules-for-fully-vaccinated-cruise-ship-travellers-in-april/
 
Great news! While testing is still required to board the ship (as is all cruise lines policy right now) another test is not required for disembarking in a Canadian port.

Federal Government of Canada could be ending the pre-arrival COVID testing for travelers very soon.
 
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/federal-government-end-pre-arrival-154237739.html?guccounter=1

Hopefully the USA does the same

Federal Government of Canada could be ending the pre-arrival COVID testing for travelers very soon.
 
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/federal-government-end-pre-arrival-154237739.html?guccounter=1

Well the dreary weather in Nassau didn't stop us from our private jeep tour with Clamtram. Genie Derick met us at 8:45 am and escorted us to the gangway. We then fought the chilly wind and made our way to our meeting point - The Bearded Clam Sports Bar. I've taken this trip before and really enjoyed it. The tour guide, Christine, is very informative and knowledgeable about the history of Nassau. At 9:30 am, Christine picked us up and we were off! Unfortunately we had to keep the jeep top up. We had the opportunity to tour the island, seeing and stopping at different places of interest, including two beaches (that are more familiar to the locals). The one spot we went to was off one of the main roads, and this is where we had our lunch of BBQ chicken, mac & cheese,  beans and rice, plantain and Bahama Mama's. After lunch we made our way back to the port and arrived back by 1:30 pm. Despite it being colder and windier than we would have liked, we still had a great day!  

Day 2: Nassau 
Sleep in day today. Much needed. One kid actually joined me in CK this morning. 🙂
It’s a little windy and rainy today. One friends in the ATS had some balcony furniture topple over and lost some cushions overnight. 
 
No plans for us. Just chilling and staying onboard.

 

Shopping time!

Just landed! Hallelujah! 
Now in search of lost luggage…

Possibly while wearing shorts to dinner because, did I mention that my checked baggage is taking it’s own unknown journey to MIA? Hopefully the bag and I meet up in a few hours when we land, if not, I promised the group that I am a way better dresser than what they will see the following week! Lol
In all honesty, I am so exhausted that I will just thank God if I make it later today. Funny how life works. I have been stressing over those negative tests for weeks, and in the end, that was the easy part. 

It's almost here! 28 months in the making, #MajorStarClassTakeover on Oasis of the Seas 3/13/2022!
28 months ago, a group of us decided it would be fun to book a March Break sailing together all in Star Class.  There was a great deal on Oasis of the Seas at the time and we thought why not?  None of us have ever been a star class sailing where the majority already knew each other. We lost a few dear friends along the way who had to cancel for various reasons, picked up some new friends, some of us have sailed together before, some of us have known each other for quite some time and are just meeting now. We have a total of 10 out of 13 SC rooms accounted for from our group. I am beyond excited for this sailing! It’s going to be a special one!
Because this is an unofficial group cruise, it won’t be your typical blog.  There’s not going to be much of a preamble, and there will be more than one of us blogging.  From our RCBlog community, we’ll have @tiny260, @Neesa, @bellemiche, and @ShakeDownCruise, hopefully they all jump into this and not leave me high and dry lol
As far as the Star Class pre-cruise stuff goes, most of us got our pre-cruise surveys about 8 weeks out.  Genies reached out about 4-5 weeks ago.  The protocols for Star have not changed since December so if you are wanting to know what sailing Star is like during Covid, see past Star Class blogs (between summer 2021-present) by others or myself. I will not bother to bog down this blog with PDFs and literature, unless someone really want to see it, then I can post.
Here is our itinerary (we think lol) for this sailing:
SUN 13 MAR MIAMI, FLORIDA
MON 14 MAR NASSAU, BAHAMAS
TUE 15 MAR CRUISING
WED 16 MAR CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS
THU 17 MAR SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
FRI 18 MAR LABADEE, HAITI
SAT 19 MAR CRUISING
SUN 20 MAR MIAMI, FLORIDA

3 tests just taken! All Negative! See you soon Anthem! 🙌🏼

6 tests over 3 states & 4 households all negative!! Harmony here we come😁

For our holiday cruise my 15 minute test showed Negative no problem, the wife's, no problem, the fully vaccinated 9YO ... wasn't changing.
 
It was a nail biting 10 minutes. The in the final few minutes of the timer the single pink line for a negative result showed clear.  

We had a great Christmas and some how Santa dropped of the boys presents on the balcony out in the middle of the Gulf!

Currently, the pre-cruise covid test is the most stressful part of cruise travel.  Back then, it was going through airport security and the flight itself...
 

It's up there with passing your driver's test! How crazy is that?

Currently, the pre-cruise covid test is the most stressful part of cruise travel.  Back then, it was going through airport security and the flight itself...