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Anthem to Bermuda 9/21 is not looking so good right now.


RCIfan1912

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Just watching the weather channel and Anthem to Bermuda which we are on looks like it might be in trouble. Tropical storm that is gonna turn into a hurricane is heading very close but might miss Bermuda but still be in the way of our path getting there. We supposed to dock Monday 9/23. I mean I am just fine going to Canada but looks like this cruise might be diverted. Safety first is my motto so stay away from hurricanes.

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I'm on Serenade leaving Boston 9/22 and scheduled to get into Bermuda 9/25.  It certainly looks like a close call for me.

Latest track has Jerry going past Bermuda between 9/24-9/25 as a tropical storm.  I really don't want to be going to Canada, but not much anyone can do about the weather.  There's still a long time to go, so hopefully the storm changes track and allows us at least some time in Bermuda.  If it's any consolation, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be hot up here in the northeast, so if we head north, we'll get at least one hot at sea day.

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8 minutes ago, PatsFanBrian said:

I'm on Serenade leaving Boston 9/22 and scheduled to get into Bermuda 9/25.  It certainly looks like a close call for me.

Latest track has Jerry going past Bermuda between 9/24-9/25 as a tropical storm.  I really don't want to be going to Canada, but not much anyone can do about the weather.  There's still a long time to go, so hopefully the storm changes track and allows us at least some time in Bermuda.  If it's any consolation, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be hot up here in the northeast, so if we head north, we'll get at least one hot at sea day.

I didn't even know the name of the storm, thanks. Its definitely trouble for our cruise but you might squeak by and have time in Bermuda. Good luck to both of us. ? 

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34 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I'm on the same sailing (Anthem). Jerry is at least going to cause some fun sailing home from Bermuda. We shall see. I have a drink package and 13 friends onboard so, definitely worse places I could be :). Fingers crossed!

Oh cool we are on the same cruise. Either way we get to enjoy the gorgeous Anthem of the seas. I do not want to be in hurricane waves that is for sure.

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25 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Oh cool we are on the same cruise. Either way we get to enjoy the gorgeous Anthem of the seas. I do not want to be in hurricane waves that is for sure.

Luckily I rarely get sea sick, wife however will definitely spend time stuck in bed. Cheers to calm-ish seas and some pool weather. At least Saturday is supposed to be over 80°F. Great weather for a sail away.

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2 yrs at this exact same time we were on Anthem that was suppose to go to Bermuda.   48 hrs prior they emailed us and said you are going to NE.  They gave us back 50% pp for the cruise plus 250 OBC if we still sailed. We did.

The funniest thing was there was aa group that had professional t-shirts.  they had it say sailing to Bermuda, and than a line through the word Bermuda replaced with Nova Scotia.  

The funny part for every one on the cruise, was the temps in Bermuda was high 70s, but every stop on our cruise was 90 degrees.  

The last night the storm was making it's way up to NE.  Although the captain did his best trying to skirt the storm,  it was very rocky.  Everybody was walking like they were drunk and the ship had placed the blue bags out at the bottom of every staircase.  We had dinner in the MDR (our table was by the windows).  The waves were so high that they came up 50% of the window and you could easily see the white caps in the dark of the night.  

None of us slept well that night, not because of the ocean being rough, but because at least every 30 mins you were hearing the horn blast.  I had known that going under bridges they would sound the horn, and knew we were skirting the storm.  I remember saying to my group that a.m. how many dang bridges did we go under last night.  Our wait staff said, oh no that wasn't because of bridges it was due to the weather.

OBTW we still say to this day it was probably our best cruise ever.  It sailed 100% occupancy.  Everyone was happy and nice, and so polite on the cruise.  I am talking passengers.  IE people at the pool bar weren't saying I was here 1st.  Going up or down stairs, they would move over to one side single file so people could pass them, would move down a seat in the shows so there were no empty spaces.  Pretty sure that the 50% refund and 250 OBC had a lot to do with people feeling like they won the lottery.  

  •  For us, we had a balcony.  I recall my husband saying that in the end the cruise cost us @750 in total for 6 nights when you add back in our OBC, how can you do any all inclusive vacay for 125 per night for 2?   My husband up to that point kept saying he wanted to do a land all inclusive.  I looked at him, and said, had we booked an all inclusive Bermuda, they may have refunded us the cost, but we would have not had a vacation.  Here we had a vacation at rock bottom barrel price with perfect weather.
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9 minutes ago, rjac said:

Hey Brian,

The Patriots are playing the Jets at home on 9/22. Be safe.....stay home and watch the game.:3_grin:

Normally I would be at the game (season tickets for 28 years), but I sold the tickets several months ago.  I'll be on that ship no matter where it's going.

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37 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

2 yrs at this exact same time we were on Anthem that was suppose to go to Bermuda.   48 hrs prior they emailed us and said you are going to NE.  They gave us back 50% pp for the cruise plus 250 OBC if we still sailed. We did.

The funniest thing was there was aa group that had professional t-shirts.  they had it say sailing to Bermuda, and than a line through the word Bermuda replaced with Nova Scotia.  

The funny part for every one on the cruise, was the temps in Bermuda was high 70s, but every stop on our cruise was 90 degrees.  

The last night the storm was making it's way up to NE.  Although the captain did his best trying to skirt the storm,  it was very rocky.  Everybody was walking like they were drunk and the ship had placed the blue bags out at the bottom of every staircase.  We had dinner in the MDR (our table was by the windows).  The waves were so high that they came up 50% of the window and you could easily see the white caps in the dark of the night.  

None of us slept well that night, not because of the ocean being rough, but because at least every 30 mins you were hearing the horn blast.  I had known that going under bridges they would sound the horn, and knew we were skirting the storm.  I remember saying to my group that a.m. how many dang bridges did we go under last night.  Our wait staff said, oh no that wasn't because of bridges it was due to the weather.

OBTW we still say to this day it was probably our best cruise ever.  It sailed 100% occupancy.  Everyone was happy and nice, and so polite on the cruise.  I am talking passengers.  IE people at the pool bar weren't saying I was here 1st.  Going up or down stairs, they would move over to one side single file so people could pass them, would move down a seat in the shows so there were no empty spaces.  Pretty sure that the 50% refund and 250 OBC had a lot to do with people feeling like they won the lottery.  

  •  For us, we had a balcony.  I recall my husband saying that in the end the cruise cost us @750 in total for 6 nights when you add back in our OBC, how can you do any all inclusive vacay for 125 per night for 2?   My husband up to that point kept saying he wanted to do a land all inclusive.  I looked at him, and said, had we booked an all inclusive Bermuda, they may have refunded us the cost, but we would have not had a vacation.  Here we had a vacation at rock bottom barrel price with perfect weather.

We have done this NJ to Bermuda run several years in a row with two friends who do it almost every year. The year you're talking about we didn't go due to a different vacation conflict (first world problems huh lol) but they still did. While they LOVE Bermuda and were disappointed about missing the island, they enjoyed the sailing and the port stops chosen. Even said "we would have never seen X if it wasn't for the redirect."

As you mentioned you still got a vacation, that's an argument I have with a friend who has to make comments about me sailing during hurricane season. I tell him, my vacation isn't "ruined" I don't book just for the ports, I like the ship, being on the ocean, etc, etc ... but he doesn't care to hear it. One of those "I will not do it and I'm right so you're an idiot" kind of people at times, especially with his "opinions." Oh well, still a good friend, I just have to learn to ignore his ignorance. As I said prior, there are 14 of us (myself included) and my plan is to take it day by day. Right now Saturday looks like a great day for a pool and umbrella drinks before sail away!

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FWIW, if they do divert you to Nova Scotia.  It is an amazing town.  One of our favorite ports.  We compare Halifax to Annapolis or Inner Harbor Baltimore MD.  It is a great walking town with some very interesting history.

  •  At the port that you come through there is a memorial.  I can't recall the name of the ship.  It was a history lesson I never knew.  A ship with Jews during WWII arrived and Canada did not allow them to immigrate.  They were sent back to Germany, and they have all the names of those that were sent back and died due to the Holocaust.
  •  There is a great whiskey/scotch (not sure which) bar that is right across the street from where you will find the lobster roll trucks, and the docks for personal boats. For our DS that moves back home to baby sit the dogs, we always buy a bottle of specialty alcohol as a thank you gift to him.
  •  The Titanic memorial is probably a 15 min walk from the ship.  

Shopping wise

  •  As you walk from the ship to the Titanic and right in the thick of it,  close to the food trucks, there is an amazing silver store on the left side.  It is tiny.  We always give our kids a christmas ornament for the tree.  They had an amazing high quality unique ornaments at a good price.  I also got a unique necklace there that people always compliment me on.  It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't expensive either.
  •  They have an indoor specialty food/soaps/etc market close to the port.  I picked up unique soaps there.  Memory is a little foggy, but across the street there is a micro brew that you can get a flight of beer at a good price, and great quality according to my hubby.  I don't drink beer which is why I only can kind of remember its location.
  •  Every place we ate, drank or shopped at took US dollars, but gave back the change in Canadian $.  The indoor market was our last stop, so the change he got from buying his lobster roll from 1 truck and poutaine for me from another, plus the beer flight was where we paid in the Canadian $.  We still had some money left, and my husband wanted to get a polar fleece at the market attached to the port.  Probably paid too much, but oh well.  He paid with the left over CAD and the rest on our credit card.  Only saying this, so you can see that you don't need to convert money.
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1 minute ago, Pima1988 said:

FWIW, if they do divert you to Nova Scotia.  It is an amazing town.  One of our favorite ports.  We compare Halifax to Annapolis or Inner Harbor Baltimore MD.  It is a great walking town with some very interesting history.

  •  At the port that you come through there is a memorial.  I can't recall the name of the ship.  It was a history lesson I never knew.  A ship with Jews during WWII arrived and Canada did not allow them to immigrate.  They were sent back to Germany, and they have all the names of those that were sent back and died due to the Holocaust.
  •  There is a great whiskey/scotch (not sure which) bar that is right across the street from where you will find the lobster roll trucks, and the docks for personal boats. For our DS that moves back home to baby sit the dogs, we always buy a bottle of specialty alcohol as a thank you gift to him.
  •  The Titanic memorial is probably a 15 min walk from the ship.  

Shopping wise

  •  As you walk from the ship to the Titanic and right in the thick of it,  close to the food trucks, there is an amazing silver store on the left side.  It is tiny.  We always give our kids a christmas ornament for the tree.  They had an amazing high quality unique ornaments at a good price.  I also got a unique necklace there that people always compliment me on.  It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't expensive either.
  •  They have an indoor specialty food/soaps/etc market close to the port.  I picked up unique soaps there.  Memory is a little foggy, but across the street there is a micro brew that you can get a flight of beer at a good price, and great quality according to my hubby.  I don't drink beer which is why I only can kind of remember its location.
  •  Every place we ate, drank or shopped at took US dollars, but gave back the change in Canadian $.  The indoor market was our last stop, so the change he got from buying his lobster roll from 1 truck and poutaine for me from another, plus the beer flight was where we paid in the Canadian $.  We still had some money left, and my husband wanted to get a polar fleece at the market attached to the port.  Probably paid too much, but oh well.  He paid with the left over CAD and the rest on our credit card.  Only saying this, so you can see that you don't need to convert money.

Thank you for the information. I heard about the Titanic memorial, that is something my wife and I will be doing for sure. In regards to the whiskey/scotch bar, you just made two men VERY happy :).

 

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2 minutes ago, MaryS said:

I am also on this cruise and I just added a pair of jeans some capris & long sleeve shirts to my suitcase (might throw in a sweatshirt too).  I'm ready wherever we go. 

My wife said that today ... "I'll toss in jeans and sweatshirt just in case" ... the weather looks like high 60s and 70s up north so I'll still wear shorts, but a sweatshirt would be nice. ?

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@sk8erguy1978  My husband and I live in VA.  During Hurricane season we only sail out of NJ.  The reason is simple.  I can drive to Cape Liberty, no fear about flights being cancelled.  (yes, we always buy travel insurance).  We have done enough cruises that unless there is something really unique for an excursion, we prefer to just do it on our own. 

IE in Bermuda instead of doing their Horseshoe excursion, or taking the #7 bus, we get a taxi for a lot less than the RCL excursion price, and a few bucks more than the bus, but than we don't have to walk up  the hill for the bus.  We also have found that with a taxi we can get there before everyone else on the ship, so renting the loungers and umbrellas is a short line.

  •   I was just recently told that there is a better beach, the next stop on the pink bus.  So next yr I will try it.

I will say at this time of year, Anthem is a much better ship to sail on than Adventure if they divert you North.  There are several reasons.  Please understand overall I like Adventure over Anthem.

  •  Anthem's Solarium is bigger,  better views, and has the Solarium restaurant attached.  No walking all the way to WJ.  Adventure has the open roof, so if it rains, life stinks.  Anthem Solarium is totally enclosed.  It can get steamy there, but their beach beds makes life good.  I also like their hot tubs more.  
  •  Anthem has a pool that is enclosed for all ages.  It is located between the outdoor and the Solarium.  Love this!  bc if it does rain, they do not have to open up the Solarium to everyone.  That happened on 1 of our cruises.  
  •  MUSTER on Anthem you have  a higher chance of doing it inside than on Adventure.  We did Adventure in July, it was 95 degrees.  Of course you heard names being called, and frequent cruisers knew the reason why they were being called.  You just got angrier with each second as you stood back to back shoulder to shoulder in heat.  On Anthem ours was in the 270.  Oh well, I am sitting in AC, not a biggie.  I can't imagine the anger I would have if I stood on deck and it was spitting rain at me.
  •  We like Anthem more for sailing out than Adventure.  It is a taller ship, so you really feel like you could touch the bottom of the Verrazanno.   The location of the band/DJ is better located impo, since it is not in the middle, but the side.  You can even be on the pool deck, dancing and get this amazingly close feeling regarding going under the bridge.

Weather wise, when it comes to sea days, I like Adventure more.  Adventure has a promenade and Anthem has a esplanade.  It really gets clogged by Sorrentos and the pub, especially with the tables out and the popcorn station.  Schooners lay out is the worst impo, way too small for the size of the ship, no window views, and located next to the photo station.  Northstar is great, but weather is an issue.  Anthem Northstar will not swing out over the ship.   

Fun thing on Anthem is their outdoor pool.  I would also say that for anybody with a handicap issue Anthem is great.  Their indoor pool (not Solarium) actually has the body lift to get passengers in and out of the pool.  Plus,  they have a kiddie pool located right next to the deeper pool.  This is great if you have a toddler and older children.  

OBTW,  if this is your 1st time on Anthem, make sure you do the look through floor.  I can't swear, but I believe it is on the WJ floor.  It is a 2x2, maybe 3x3 lucite square where you look straight down to the esplanade.  The WJ on Anthem is great.  They have outdoor seating.  

 

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@sk8erguy1978  It has been 2 yrs and 3 cruises ago, so take my directions with a grain of salt.  

Exit the ship, follow the crowds.  On the right hand side you will come to multiple food trucks.  There will be some type of playground area for little kids.  There will also be a small dock area for people living in that area to dock their boats.  On the left hand side, you will see their main drag road.  It is 4 lanes (2 each way).  Go across the street  It is on the left hand side.  It is a whole in the wall.  No food, just their booze.  

  •  If my son still lived with us, I would go in his closet and see the name of the place since we also got him a t shirt.  My husband picked out what we purchased.  He is a bourbon guy.  Bulleit, Makers and Gentleman are his bottom level go to.

I would also say that 48 hrs prior I dumped everything out of my suitcase and packed for cooler weather.  Weather Channel said we would be high 70s.  Remember we were 48 hrs out from sailing, but 96 hrs from our 1st port.  Due to the hurricane, the weather front stalled over NE and it was much hotter.  On the way back, it was sweater weather on the decks.  The outdoor pool was empty, but we were now heading into that front.

I would tell her to pack in a way she can take off layers or conversely add on layers. 

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1 hour ago, Pima1988 said:

They have an indoor specialty food/soaps/etc market close to the port.  I picked up unique soaps there.  Memory is a little foggy, but across the street there is a micro brew that you can get a flight of beer at a good price, and great quality according to my hubby.  I don't drink beer which is why I only can kind of remember its location.

There are a couple of indoor "markets" right at the pier.  And the brewery is immediately across the street at the pier and it's called Garrison's.  https://www.garrisonbrewing.com/

I look forward to visiting Halifax again on the brilliance group cruise next October.

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@Pima1988 THANK YOU for all the details! I am a shorts in the winter kind of person but I'll bring an extra pair of jeans just in case. This is our 3rd sailing on Anthem and 7th sailing to Bermuda. We have done everything from cabs to pink busses and ferries. Now we usually rent a scooter and go on our own time. We sailed Adventure in 2013 and love it. Next September we are considering the Oasis, we sail her in 2010 and 2012 and excited to see the changes AND not that we don't love Bermuda but it's too much of the same trip. We also have Harmony booked in December of 2020, but like you, live close to Bayonne (1.5 hours in upstate NY) so it is convenient. 

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59 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

 

  •  If my son still lived with us, I would go in his closet and see the name of the place since we also got him a t shirt.  My husband picked out what we purchased.  He is a bourbon guy.  Bulleit, Makers and Gentleman are his bottom level go to.

I am a whiskey person but also a learning person. I am still a bit new to it all :).

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When we cruised to New England/Canada on Serenade, I wore both shorts and jeans during the trip. It was the first week in Oct and it was actually much warmer than we had expected. If you don't mind a slight chill, you should have the deck pools to yourself most of the time like we did.

Happy Cruising!

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7 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

So what's the latest on the actual hurricane? When will it be at or near Bermuda, still Monday? I'm at work so it's a bit hard to keep an eye on it. My vacation starts tomorrow so I'll watch the weather channel all day.

Latest image from the National Hurricane Center,

150349_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png

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@sk8erguy1978  We will be doing Oasis next summer.  She is only going to be there for the summer season, so we can't pass this option up.  We are doing a family druise again with 12 people, and they all wanted to do Ovation out of AK, but since we lived there for 4 yrs (anchorage) we said, nope we are doing Oasis, and after that everybody was on board (no pun) just bc this is a rare event out of Bayonne, at least up to now.

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2 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

@sk8erguy1978  We will be doing Oasis next summer.  She is only going to be there for the summer season, so we can't pass this option up.  We are doing a family druise again with 12 people, and they all wanted to do Ovation out of AK, but since we lived there for 4 yrs (anchorage) we said, nope we are doing Oasis, and after that everybody was on board (no pun) just bc this is a rare event out of Bayonne, at least up to now.

YES. When my wife and I saw that Oasis was coming for a limited time we were so excited. It will be our 3rd time but with all the changes it will be like our first time LOL. 

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And now is my moment of hoping that the atlantic gets all of its storming and such out of its system in the next month.   

 

Though if my bermuda cruise got diverted to new england and canada, I cant say I'd be disappointed.  I really REALLY want to visit Halifax.  But with a move coming up next year, my cruising in 2020 is put on hold.   But 2021... there will be cruising!

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8 minutes ago, ThyriC said:

And now is my moment of hoping that the atlantic gets all of its storming and such out of its system in the next month.   

 

Though if my bermuda cruise got diverted to new england and canada, I cant say I'd be disappointed.

Ditto. We're on the Oct 19 sailing to Bermuda, so I'm hoping both that all the storming will be done and that this current storm either cleanly misses Bermuda, or at least that if it hits it's a weak storm and doesn't do any significant damage.

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11 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

80% of Bernmuda without power today........storm is passed from what I read and winds are subsiding....

 

Question is how quickly they can get power back I guess...before the 21st I hope!!

That's only half the question, the other half is Hurricane Jerry which is also tracking towards Bermuda for next Tues-Wed.

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1 hour ago, monctonguy said:

80% of Bernmuda without power today........storm is passed from what I read and winds are subsiding....

 

Question is how quickly they can get power back I guess...before the 21st I hope!!

Power in Bermuda is back up & running.  The airport is open too.  

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2 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I suspect there is quite a difference in damage, as well.

Oh, for sure when compared to Freeport and their absolute disaster, or what happened to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, and the rest of the Caribbean in the wake of Maria.

But I'll say that Bermudians I spoke with when we were there last year said they pretty much shrug off hurricanes, even when "big ones" hit. The houses are all solid concrete construction; they said the worst they really typically deal with is the power outages and some lost storm shutters and broken glass. Even if something worse happens, they get supplies really fast and are able to very quickly rebuild.

Which, sad to say, is the difference between a tiny island nation that is a tax haven and central financial nation vs. one that just gets a bunch of tourists every year. ? 

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Just now, PatsFanBrian said:

Latest track...

 

083948_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png

Thanks, I'm pretty resigned to the fact that our Anthem cruise starting tomorrow is not gonna go to Bermuda. Just bad luck, it's the chance you take for a great fares this time a season. We still get to enjoy the gorgeous Anthem of the seas and I love Canada so it's not a huge thing. Thanks again for the latest track.

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16 hours ago, MaryS said:

Power in Bermuda is back up & running.  The airport is open too.  

Just checked.....thousands still without power with NO crews and no estimated time to be back on...not sure where you heard or got that info...according to their official Power website.

 

I didn't think it was all back on 2 hrs after I posted 80% of the country had NO power. I do see the airport is bak up and running which is good.

 

Looked at their power utility site this am.....things are NOT back to normal there yet..and another hurricane heading that way..not good.

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Quote

Despite the damage, Bermuda's tourism authority said Thursday afternoon, "Bermuda is totally open for business and looking forward to welcoming all visitors as usual.

Quote is from a story published yesterday.

Not sure what RC will decide about Serenade scheduled to get in on Wednesday.  There have been no updates from RC at all concerning any of next week's scheduled Bermuda arrivals.  I would think with Anthem sailing tomorrow that they will need to make a call soon.  Would they wait until the ship sets sails to make a decision?  There's a big difference between packing for Bermuda vs Canada.  I'd prefer not to pack more clothing than necessary.

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