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Anthem of the Seas, June 6, 9-night Bermuda (OL-8720 SC)


TheHobbys

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Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@TheHobbys...two suggestions...Packing cubes (more room for the girls) and OneNote.  Imagine all those files of yours in the palm of your hand. ?

 

ha - we have packing cubes, i mean zip top bags ?   I've thought about OneNote.  already use that for a lot of work related stuff.  might have to reconsider that.  I'll probably have to go back through this blog and pull stuff out to put into Word/ON for reference on our cruise next year.

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1 minute ago, TheHobbys said:

ha - we have packing cubes, i mean zip top bags ?   I've thought about OneNote.  already use that for a lot of work related stuff.  might have to reconsider that.  I'll probably have to go back through this blog and pull stuff out to put into Word/ON for reference on our cruise next year.

I love OneNote for travel/cruise stuff.  Totally eliminated the need for paper and printing and I have access to it all the time.

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1 hour ago, TheHobbys said:

@karl_nj, working out routes right now on things to visit.  planning to go see the 911 memorial, maybe try and get to China town and jump the ferry to loop around liberty island.  won't have much time to do a lot.  thanks for the advise offer ?  

Sounds good, how do you plan to get from Jersey City to Manhattan?  PATH train or NY Waterway Ferry?  The train is cheaper, and gets you a bit further into Manhattan, but isn't as scenic.

 

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1 minute ago, karl_nj said:

Sounds good, how do you plan to get from Jersey City to Manhattan?  PATH train or NY Waterway Ferry?  The train is cheaper, and gets you a bit further into Manhattan, but isn't as scenic.

@karl_nj, how is the timing of the PATH from where he'll be in Jersey City to Wall St. station, vs. the time needed for the Waterway? I used to ride the PATH all the time, but only from Hoboken to Grove St. station in Jersey City; very seldom needed to ride from Grove to Wall St. station. Will @TheHobbys need to switch trains at Exchange Place like I seem to remember doing from Grove, or will they have more of an "express" ride?

Just thinking about the comment he made that they don't have a lot of time, so if the PATH can save them a decent chunk of time on the round trip vs. the Waterway, that's probably their best bet. Just have to deal with the stink that sometimes shows up down in those stations. ?

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Just now, TheHobbys said:

Planning on PATH train from exchange place which is next to the hotel over to the world trade center - then meander around from there.

Oh, never mind my previous post then! Exchange to World Trade (what I was calling Wall St., since that's where I'd have to walk) is a straight run with no other stops.

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2 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Oh, never mind my previous post then! Exchange to World Trade (what I was calling Wall St., since that's where I'd have to walk) is a straight run with no other stops.

Yup, one stop.  Runs pretty often, takes about 4 minutes.  During the morning rush it's hard to actually fit on the train at that station, but calms down after that.

5 minutes ago, TheHobbys said:

Planning on PATH train from exchange place which is next to the hotel over to the world trade center - then meander around from there.

Sounds like a good plan.  There is some sort of construction going on at that station right now, but it should be OK during the week.  I think most of it is occurring on weekends.

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11 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I love OneNote for travel/cruise stuff.  Totally eliminated the need for paper and printing and I have access to it all the time.

Using one note is the documentation equivalent of the Discord chat comment from the periscope the other day. I keep all my travel confirmations in Kayak Trips and Tripit as a backup which automatically uploads it all into my calendar. I can’t imagine trying to keep up with old school paper copies of confirmations on 100k miles a year in the air and 125 or so hotel nights a year. 

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9 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Using one note is the documentation equivalent of the Discord chat comment from the periscope the other day. I keep all my travel confirmations in Kayak Trips and Tripit as a backup which automatically uploads it all into my calendar. I can’t imagine trying to keep up with old school paper copies of confirmations on 100k miles a year in the air and 125 or so hotel nights a year. 

lol - now ya'll are just trying to make me feel bad and old.  ok, ok ... i'll be a little more 'prepared' with my documentation for my cruise next year on Harmony

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Just a quick update.  About mid-day, we got another email from our genie.  This time it was the canned email about the boarding process.  At first, I was a little taken-aback, but after chatting with my better half, she reminded me it was a similar process on our last star cruise on Oasis.  I would summarize the email, but figured, for those who have never cruised star class before or those who are relatively new to it #RaisesHand,  I'll just drop the email here for ya'll to read.  I'm curious, though, as to how much our star service will be impacted by those with The Key program.  Guess we'll find out in a few days.

Dear John,

It's almost time for you to experience the wonders of the Star Class suite program. As your Royal Genie, I am eagerly awaiting your arrival.
With regards to that, kindly be advised that your drop-off point at Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal will be Zone 6. There is a large purple banner, which says Star Class, at the location. Please do not get off at any other zone as the delivery of luggage, to your suite, will be delayed until after 6pm. Once at Zone 6, kindly identify yourself as a Star Class guest and the assigned pier staff will ensure that your luggage is loaded onto a cart and taken to a secure area, from where the onboard housekeeping team will deliver the luggage to your suite. If the porter assigned for luggage is away, delivering luggage for guests who arrived before you'll, kindly proceed inside the terminal, to the Star Class check-in agent(desk located on the left, after entering the terminal), who will then assist you with your luggage. After the check-in process you will go through security screening after which you will be taken to the VIP waiting area. Kindly be advised that there may be a line for the security screening process, even at the exclusive Suites Only area.

The boarding process will begin by 10.30 am and your suite will be ready by 1pm, at the latest. I will be informed of your arrival, if I am not already there waiting for you, and will be escorting you onto the ship. If I am escorting another guest onto the ship, please wait for me in the VIP waiting area, inside the terminal, and I will be there to escort you as soon as I can. Kindly be advised that there might be some waiting time involved, especially if you are arriving early at the terminal. Please do not proceed to the ship on your own. Also, I might have to escort multiple guests at the same time, if they arrive together. I thank you, in advance, for your kind understanding and patience in this matter.

I highly recommend that you'll arrive before Noon, to avoid the traffic that builds up while approaching the terminal.

Lunch will be served at the Coastal Kitchen from 11:30am to 1:30pm, where you can enjoy your lunch whilst your suite is being made ready. After lunch you can proceed to your suite and I will come meet you there as soon as I am done with the boarding process. Should I not be escorting other guests on board, I will come and escort you to your suite from your lunch venue.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries with regards to your arrival at the port. I have listed the port address below, for your convenience, as also the Google map coordinates (through a web browser).

Address- 4 Port Terminal Blvd, Bayonne, NJ 07002


Wishing you a safe and pleasant journey to the beautiful Anthem of the Seas! Cannot wait to meeting you!

Your Royal Genie,

 

More to come soon ...

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20 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Using one note is the documentation equivalent of the Discord chat comment from the periscope the other day. I keep all my travel confirmations in Kayak Trips and Tripit as a backup which automatically uploads it all into my calendar. I can’t imagine trying to keep up with old school paper copies of confirmations on 100k miles a year in the air and 125 or so hotel nights a year. 

I still have no clue what discord is! 

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Since ya'll made me feel bad about all my 'paper-work', I've start the transition to the OneNote world.  I use it for work but never sync'd to my phone.  Now i've got a personal OneNote notebook started and I have to give a #Thanks to @Lovetocruise2002  #SheRocks  for giving me an idea on how to layout the notebooks.  ?  For those of ya'll interested, here's my new layout.  I have some work to do to put all the crap in there, but it'll give me something to play with ...

image.thumb.png.44ae40bec6fdb883d9365d23da22fd95.png

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13 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I love OneNote for travel/cruise stuff.  Totally eliminated the need for paper and printing and I have access to it all the time.

 

1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

Using one note is the documentation equivalent of the Discord chat comment from the periscope the other day. I keep all my travel confirmations in Kayak Trips and Tripit as a backup which automatically uploads it all into my calendar. I can’t imagine trying to keep up with old school paper copies of confirmations on 100k miles a year in the air and 125 or so hotel nights a year. 

I know that if I had no paper copies I'd be deathly afraid of losing my phone. But if I traveled as much as @Andrew72681 I'd go broke from printer ink! What a conundrom!

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7 hours ago, Skid said:

 

I know that if I had no paper copies I'd be deathly afraid of losing my phone. But if I traveled as much as @Andrew72681 I'd go broke from printer ink! What a conundrom!

Me too. I know I’m OLD and old school.  I have a nifty manilla folder where my dozens of pages of ragged papers live. I love shuffling through them to find the one I need and then having them go drifting away as they fall from the folder; then I get to go gather them all up and shove them, willy nilly back into the folder.  It’s just the way we roll...

??

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7 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

having them go drifting away as they fall from the folder; then I get to go gather them all up and shove them, willy nilly back into the folder.  It’s just the way we roll..

Isn't this what they call 50 card pickup?  lol

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8 hours ago, Skid said:

 

I know that if I had no paper copies I'd be deathly afraid of losing my phone. But if I traveled as much as @Andrew72681 I'd go broke from printer ink! What a conundrom!

I share my trips calendar with my wife, otherwise she’d not know what state I was in sometimes, so there’s a backup where she can see the attachments and notes as well. ?

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I kind of have to chuckle at the use of OneNote / making all the docs electronic. What do all of you who have moved all your travel docs onto the cloud do with your passports?

I kind of figure I need a folder to hold the passports and luggage tags anyway, so why not use it for the printed Set Sail passes, insurance, etc.? Just throw it in the pocket of my carry-on bag / backpack and I'm good.

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6 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I kind of have to chuckle at the use of OneNote / making all the docs electronic. What do all of you who have moved all your travel docs onto the cloud do with your passports?

I kind of figure I need a folder to hold the passports and luggage tags anyway, so why not use it for the printed Set Sail passes, insurance, etc.? Just throw it in the pocket of my carry-on bag / backpack and I'm good.

That's pretty much EXACTLY what I do...... I literally have a manila folder that I place at the top of my carry-on that has everything in it ....... then I use it to keep cruise compasses, receipts, billing print-out, etc., at the end of the cruise.

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27 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I kind of have to chuckle at the use of OneNote / making all the docs electronic. What do all of you who have moved all your travel docs onto the cloud do with your passports?

I kind of figure I need a folder to hold the passports and luggage tags anyway, so why not use it for the printed Set Sail passes, insurance, etc.? Just throw it in the pocket of my carry-on bag / backpack and I'm good.

I never put my passport info/luggage tags/set sail passes into One Note.  Just the confirmations to different things so that I don't have tons of paper lying around and so that I can easily look back at the numbers to something if needed.  

I guess it was just natural for me to move all travel stuff to One Note a few years back because I was already using OneDrive/OneNote for work.  Might be outdated now according to @Andrew72681 but it works for me at the moment and you all know that I am a creature of habit lol.

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3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I never put my passport info/luggage tags/set sail passes into One Note.  Just the confirmations to different things so that I don't have tons of paper lying around and so that I can easily look back at the numbers to something if needed.  

I guess it was just natural for me to move all travel stuff to One Note a few years back because I was already using OneDrive/OneNote for work.  Might be outdated now according to @Andrew72681 but it works for me at the moment and you all know that I am a creature of habit lol.

We’ll get you there one day. I know that 49th parallel is like a time machine ?

my passport info lives behind a master password in LastPass. Just in case I lost it somewhere I’d have a copy for authorities to view.

 

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1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

my passport info lives behind a master password in LastPass. Just in case I lost it somewhere I’d have a copy for authorities to view.

As far as I know, having a copy of the number, issue date, expiration, etc. in a tool like LastPass or 1Password is about as official and useful for legal verification of ID as having a photo of your passport on your smartphone or printed and held in your hand -- which is to say not at all.

Keeping the info in tools like those is more for the convenience of having it ready to type into something like the online checkin form that Royal provides, so you don't have to pull the passport out of the safe deposit box where it normally sits until right before cruise time. Even having the full set of data on the passport entered into an app carries zero weight / gives you zero recourse in the event your actual passport is lost or stolen.

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Hey - ya'll hi-jacking my blog #Shame  I need to report ya'll - lol  

Aight, where did I leave off.   Ya'll got me all confused on what I was doing.  Geez, making me spend time doing some OneNote stuff AND printing so I could have the best of both worlds - haha

Let's see, we are T-Minus < 48 hours before heading out to our first stop - NY, well, technically,  I think it's NJ.  We are pretty much all packed, just have the small suitcases to go with the last minute stuff.  Kinda hard sitting here waiting for time to go by, so I'm binge watching Marvel movies.  

For those of you with kids 12+, we were able to get a copy of the activities for them during our cruise.  

image.thumb.png.b1125386b19677977d1a09f04a6c031e.png

image.thumb.png.21b60d4709b295466bfc099f2b0c153f.png

image.png.d57b8f44ab7a209e35052cc9d4f08e72.png

 

Ok, more later - ya'll behave on my blog!  ? 

*edit - stupid images got outa order

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Just now, WAAAYTOOO said:

WOW !  Who knew there was so much scheduled for the tweens ?  I have never had any reason to look for such things so I never realized.

*cough* *cough*  yeah, I um, typed all that up on my Android using OneNote  ?   Gotta keep them busy so we can have some casino time.

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10 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Oh man! It just took me this long to realize that this is the exact same itinerary for our Anthem GC next month! Going to show D12 (almost 13) those teen activities! Thanks!

Well, @Lovetocruise2002 I WAS taking questions from people about the cruise for those who are doing the same thing ... but that's only for those paying attention 'in class'  lol

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Day before leaving and I'm up way to freaking early again.  On the agenda for today is pretty much going to be spent checking that we have everything and cleaning the house.  Always nice to come home to a clean house, huh.  Over the past few days, we have limited our grocery shopping so as not to have anything in the fridge that might end up expiring while we are gone.  Also, a good time to just clean it out.  

Seeing as how most everything is all packed now, made a quick run yesterday to the bank to get our 'play' money.  Today we will need to check-in for our flight, hoping to get in a good boarding section.  With Southwest, it's always funny how you can click the check-in button within seconds of it opening up and still being about 60+ back in the boarding line.  Oh well, no biggie.  Will be making sure that we have all charging cables and that everything is charged before we go.  It's going to be hard trying to get to sleep tonight knowing tomorrow is travel day.  I enjoy traveling, but I'm the type that gets anxious about being early to where we need to be.  I guess it's my fear of some stupid issue creeping up that causes a problem.  Might have to break out the whip to get the rest of the family in gear tomorrow morning.  

Just going over our check list of last minute things - passports, confirmation print-outs (yes, and they are sync'd in my OneNote ? ),  set sail passes, extra luggage tags (those don't go on our suitcases until we head to the port), small bills for tipping, charging cords, clothes set aside in the small suitcase for boarding day, and a whole slew of other little double checking of things.  

Tomorrow is also going to be my first attempt at the whole periscoping thing as @CruisingHobby with #rcperiscopers.  I've done my homework by watching others who have periscoped their trips and even watched @Matt's periscopes.  Thinking I'm going to start out with some short scopes, just to get used to the whole thing.   If you watch it, don't get your feelings hurt if I don't give those 'real-time' shout outs.  

Ok, off to wrap up some work stuff.  Ya'll behave on here!  ?  #CruiseTime

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33 minutes ago, TheHobbys said:

Day before leaving and I'm up way to freaking early again.  On the agenda for today is pretty much going to be spent checking that we have everything and cleaning the house.  Always nice to come home to a clean house, huh.  Over the past few days, we have limited our grocery shopping so as not to have anything in the fridge that might end up expiring while we are gone.  Also, a good time to just clean it out.  

Seeing as how most everything is all packed now, made a quick run yesterday to the bank to get our 'play' money.  Today we will need to check-in for our flight, hoping to get in a good boarding section.  With Southwest, it's always funny how you can click the check-in button within seconds of it opening up and still being about 60+ back in the boarding line.  Oh well, no biggie.  Will be making sure that we have all charging cables and that everything is charged before we go.  It's going to be hard trying to get to sleep tonight knowing tomorrow is travel day.  I enjoy traveling, but I'm the type that gets anxious about being early to where we need to be.  I guess it's my fear of some stupid issue creeping up that causes a problem.  Might have to break out the whip to get the rest of the family in gear tomorrow morning.  

Just going over our check list of last minute things - passports, confirmation print-outs (yes, and they are sync'd in my OneNote ? ),  set sail passes, extra luggage tags (those don't go on our suitcases until we head to the port), small bills for tipping, charging cords, clothes set aside in the small suitcase for boarding day, and a whole slew of other little double checking of things.  

Tomorrow is also going to be my first attempt at the whole periscoping thing as @CruisingHobby with #rcperiscopers.  I've done my homework by watching others who have periscoped their trips and even watched @Matt's periscopes.  Thinking I'm going to start out with some short scopes, just to get used to the whole thing.   If you watch it, don't get your feelings hurt if I don't give those 'real-time' shout outs.  

Ok, off to wrap up some work stuff.  Ya'll behave on here!  ?  #CruiseTime

Speaking of Southwest check in process ..... one thing that we've done the last few times is that we've taken advantage of the automatic check in feature.  Sure, it's a small fee like $20 pp ----- but we've always been in the "A" Group which had never happened before.

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I'm here and following! Forgot my password which wasn't auto filling so some reason, but I'm all sorted! 

 

Just a quick note on embarkation from us... We arrived at about noonish with zero issues and maybe a 5 minute wait for Derick once we cleared security. He had our room ready so we went straight there. 

 

A traffic controller will direct you to a particular zone. In our case, he wanted us at Zone 3. We ignored him and went right to Zone 6. We were the only ones in 6 at the time. A greeter asked if we wanted to check our large bag and we simply said we were looking for the Star Class check in. She then walked us inside to our personal check in. Do not give your luggage to anyone outside. Wait until you get to the Star Class check-in. She has her own set of porters. She will hand hold you from there. She even sat with us for the 5 minutes we waited for Derick. Easy peasy! 

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2 hours ago, TheHobbys said:

With Southwest, it's always funny how you can click the check-in button within seconds of it opening up and still being about 60+ back in the boarding line

Anyone who is Alist preferred, Alist, or purchased early bird automatically gets checked in those positions from A16. If there are A1-15 positions open you can buy up to them at the gate for ~40$. You could buy up for one of you and save seats for the others if sitting together is a priority. 

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