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Anthem of the Seas, pulling into NY Harbor


Mike_

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The media reaction is almost to funny. Do they not realize that they take every percuation possible to avoid these storms? Why would the cruise line any cruise line want to risk there ship or passengers and this time no less it's a brand new ship. The passengers also received a full refund, 50% off a future cruise, and free booze snacks and movies for the remainder of the cruise when in the cruise contract it states they don't owe you a penny.

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I was on this ship this week......free booze? No - only for 1 hour on Monday.  snacks? 2 small cans of pringles and 2 snickers bars because nothing operated from 3pm until the next morning at 9am.  Full refund and future discount - no they didn't owe us anything but I feel they are covering up something and are making this offer to get ahead of it.      Media reaction is extreme - but the ride Sunday night was also extreme and should not have happened. They could have delayed the cruise 1 day.

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I was on this ship this week......free booze? No - only for 1 hour on Monday. snacks? 2 small cans of pringles and 2 snickers bars because nothing operated from 3pm until the next morning at 9am. Full refund and future discount - no they didn't owe us anything but I feel they are covering up something and are making this offer to get ahead of it. Media reaction is extreme - but the ride Sunday night was also extreme and should not have happened. They could have delayed the cruise 1 day.

I had family friends onboard who told me about the free booze and they said nothing about it ending that's what I was going by.

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I was on this ship this week......free booze? No - only for 1 hour on Monday.  snacks? 2 small cans of pringles and 2 snickers bars because nothing operated from 3pm until the next morning at 9am.  Full refund and future discount - no they didn't owe us anything but I feel they are covering up something and are making this offer to get ahead of it.      Media reaction is extreme - but the ride Sunday night was also extreme and should not have happened. They could have delayed the cruise 1 day.

If the cruise was delayed there would have been an equal or worse amount of uproar from all of the passengers who were delayed.  And then the people demanding all of the compensation they are "entitled" too etc ect.  Lose lose for RCCL no matter what they would have done.  The eventual decision is the most costly one, as we have all seen though.

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I realize there are roughly 20,000,000 people who can drive to NYC to board a cruise.  Not having to fly is a big advantage.  However, if you had a choice, why would anyone book that cruise in the winter time?  The first day at sea would be cold.  Port Canaveral, Florida is not that warm this time of year. Sure you SHOULD get 3 to 4 days of nice weather in the Bahamas, but the last day back would be cold too.

 

From RCCL's view, they now see the time will come when the Captain has to make a tough decision.  Stay or go?  If he stays, all the passengers are mad.  If he goes, it could be ok, but it could be as bad as last week... or worse.

 

I think they should move that ship in the winter.

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I realize there are roughly 20,000,000 people who can drive to NYC to board a cruise.  Not having to fly is a big advantage.  However, if you had a choice, why would anyone book that cruise in the winter time?  The first day at sea would be cold.  Port Canaveral, Florida is not that warm this time of year. Sure you SHOULD get 3 to 4 days of nice weather in the Bahamas, but the last day back would be cold too.

 

From RCCL's view, they now see the time will come when the Captain has to make a tough decision.  Stay or go?  If he stays, all the passengers are mad.  If he goes, it could be ok, but it could be as bad as last week... or worse.

 

I think they should move that ship in the winter.

While you may not favor a winter cruise from NYC, your first sentence nailed it.  The market for cruising is there in the winter and having done a Quantum of the Seas sailing out of NYC in March (where it snowed the day before the cruise), I can tell you it's not a bad experience.

 

Yes, it will be too cold to hang out on deck but Quantum class ships have two indoor pools (Solarium for adults, regular indoor pool for all ages) and plenty going on indoors. In addition, by the end of day 2 it starts warming up usually.

 

I guess the way I look at is everyone cruises differently and the value of not having to fly is a big deal for me.

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Matt, I certainly respect your view.  If I had a free cruise out of NYC in January, I'd take it.  If I were choosing, I would discount it.  Not having to fly is a big deal to some people.  A couple of years ago, my brother was ill.  He was unable to fly, but we were able to take two final cruises with him.  He lived in Dallas, and we were able to drive to Galveston, TX to board.  

 

Winter cruises out of NYC don't really make sense to me, but they do to some people.

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If Royal left New York then those passengers that we're going to cruise with Royal Caribbean will find another option. They will go to find a cruise and Royals not there then they will sail with another line from NYC(there's plenty of options) it's not like they are going to wait for Royal Caribbean to come back. If they take a cruise with another line and they like it there's a good chance they will build a loyalty and sometimes it can be hard to break those loyaltys and IMO that's what Royal fears.

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NY is at the top of my list of ports I'd like to sail from as it offers great pre- and post-cruise options and is more appealing than many other ports. My favorite ports to sail from are Boston, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seatle, San Juan Montreal, and Quebec for the same reasons. If I could avoid Florida, I'd do so in a heartbeat.

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I had family on Anthem and their representations to me were that the media blew it way out of proportion (no surprise there) and that RC did everything they could to rectify the situation.  They claimed the bars and restaurants all were free once they turned back, and that the shows went on as scheduled the next night.  Once back In NY they ate in Chops for free and spent the night in port on the ship, the bars had bands playing all night, free alcohol and what not.  RC was not pushy at all in making people leave the ship, and that by the next morning the ship appeared completely back to normal.  All for free plus half off the next cruise - it didn't seem all that bad to me.  

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I had family on Anthem and their representations to me were that the media blew it way out of proportion (no surprise there) and that RC did everything they could to rectify the situation.  They claimed the bars and restaurants all were free once they turned back, and that the shows went on as scheduled the next night.  Once back In NY they ate in Chops for free and spent the night in port on the ship, the bars had bands playing all night, free alcohol and what not.  RC was not pushy at all in making people leave the ship, and that by the next morning the ship appeared completely back to normal.  All for free plus half off the next cruise - it didn't seem all that bad to me.  

Glad to hear that. Thank you for sharing!

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While you may not favor a winter cruise from NYC, your first sentence nailed it.  The market for cruising is there in the winter and having done a Quantum of the Seas sailing out of NYC in March (where it snowed the day before the cruise), I can tell you it's not a bad experience.

 

Yes, it will be too cold to hang out on deck but Quantum class ships have two indoor pools (Solarium for adults, regular indoor pool for all ages) and plenty going on indoors. In addition, by the end of day 2 it starts warming up usually.

 

I guess the way I look at is everyone cruises differently and the value of not having to fly is a big deal for me.

..and, any day on a cruise is a day not at work.  ;)  I'd take a cruise just about anywhere, from anywhere, anytime.  I like them that much. :)

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We have cruised twice out of Cape Liberty, NJ in October recently on Explorer (2013) and Liberty (2015) with Anthem booked for FEB (2017)... this does not phase me in the least.  Especially for a Bermuda cruise or a longer cruise (10-12 nights like the 10-night Liberty cruise we just took last OCT and the upcoming 12-night Anthem cruise), we will go out of NY/NJ for the convenience of not having to pay the airfare to fly down to Florida.  

 

A day or so of cool weather (in the fall or winter) each way does not bother us on such a long cruise... gives us time to explore the ship and settle in!  The only time we had rocky seas was back in 2013 on Explorer on our last evening returning home.  My wife and mother-in-law actually liked it and compared it to the rocking of a crib which helped them fall asleep. :)

 

For shorter (7-nights or less) cruises, of course we'll have to fly down to Florida as we did in the past (don't want to waste days coming down the coast in this case), but for now we enjoy the convenience of the short drive to the port (about 60-90 minutes max).  Some people asked me if we were going to cancel our Anthem cruise booked for next FEB because of what happened!  I just tell them I think one year is long enough to tidy up the ship for us!

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