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Anthem 11 Night Southern Caribbean (Jan 27 - Feb 7, 2020): A Star Class Super Bowl


Karannk

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Wow, looks like a big score for Izumi (except for your son...??). The food all looks awesome....except for those hairy balls in the first picture (bottom, right). Those are a bit troubling.  ???

Yes. Big score. If purchased a la carte, as Izumi is set-up, our meal would have totaled over $250 including the 18% added gratuity. That being said, I just don’t think I can do that again. Those hairy balls are lobster tempura. ??

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Day 5 - Sint Maarten 

After room service breakfast, we headed out for a shore excursion: St Maarten Beach Rendezvous. This included a bus ride to Kim Sha beach, the use of a lounge chair, and lunch. It was $5 extra for a beach umbrella, which was totally worth it. 


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Lunch tickets were provided for the Greenhouse Restaurant. The choices were baked grouper in creole sauce, bang bang shrimp sandwich, beef kebab, chicken in lemon sauce. Here are photos of the grouper and shrimp sandwich: 

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After getting back on the ship, we quickly got ready for dinner at Jamie’s Italian. 
Our waiter told us that he has been working for RCI for 11 years in specialty dining. That’s pretty amazing! We’re trying to be smarter about our choices, so the Tagliatelle Bolognese and Penne Carbonara are smaller portions. Still couldn’t finish everything. Had to split a dessert: tiramisu. 

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After dinner we stopped at the Bionic Bar for a cherry coke for our son. It’s become a bit of a thing. ? Show tonight was a ventriloquist. I’m pretty sure that we saw his show on DCL. Really funny. 


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Day 6 is Antigua. We have another excursion planned: Catamaran Sail, Snorkel, and Beach Cruise. North Star is reserved again at 5 PM. Followed by dinner at CK. Spectra Cabaret at 830PM. 

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Day 6 - Antigua

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We had room service breakfast again. Today’s excursion was Catamaran Sail, Snorkel, and Beach Cruise. It was great. We saw spiny lobster, moon jellyfish, yellowtail snapper, puffer fish, trigger fish, brain coral, and grouper while snorkeling at a reef. ???? After the snorkeling, there was an open bar, including rum punch. They also passed out sandwich triangles in both cheese and tuna varieties. Then, we stopped at a beach for about 30 minutes for swimming before heading back to the ship. I would definitely recommend it. 


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This is the catamaran in front of Anthem. 

We were back on the ship by 1PM and decided to stop at Windjammer for lunch, as we hadn’t really been there except for breakfast on one day. It was eh. We then went to the Patisserie for lattes. Then, Johnny Rockets again for our son. ?

After a little time in the Seaplex, we made it back to the suite for chocolate covered strawberry o’clock. Will be headed to North Star at 5PM, followed by dinner at CK. 

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Day 6 Continued

I did it! North Star wasn’t scary. And I am terrified of heights. It felt very secure inside. And there is a place in the middle to stand if you get scared. But, I was right at the window with everyone else! 


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Dinner at CK followed...

Fennel Soup

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Hamachi Crudo

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Sesame Crusted Tuna and Grilled Veal Chop combo. A little bit of both entrees. 

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Grilled Chicken Breast

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Saffron Linguini 

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Dulce de Leche Creme Brûlée 

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Chocolate & Berries Sundae

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Matcha Cake

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Spectra’s Cabaret was the show of the night. We had wonderful reserved seats in the third row center. It was very loud. How loud is it? So loud that we hear it in our room 8720 since we are right above Two70. So being right inside Two70 was crazy loud. I think that maybe I needed a few more drinks before the show to fully appreciate it. It was different for sure. The dancing and athleticism of the cast was entertaining to watch. The singing wasn’t the best to be honest. The Harmony sisters were a little off. I’m glad that I saw the show, but really don’t have the desire to see it again. Ever. 


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Day 7 will be St Lucia. No excursions planned. Our only plans for the day are  Flowrider at 4PM and Chops Dinner at 530PM. Super Bowl will be shown at Two70, the pub, and outside pool deck. We’ll see where the day takes us. 

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Day 7 - St Lucia

We did a wandering breakfast this morning. Started with hazelnut lattes and pain au chocolat from the Patisserie, then moved onto bacon and warm breakfast sandwiches from Cafe Two70. 

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Ultimately decided not to leave the ship today. Our view of the port shopping area from our balcony didn’t look like anything particularly special, and we didn’t have an excursion planned. So, we went to the pool. This turned out to be an excellent choice, as Yen surprised us with special room service lunch consisting of chicken tikka masala made by the ship’s executive chef. OMG. So yummy. She also brought chicken nuggets, mac&cheese, and fries for our son. This was totally unexpected and really thoughtful.

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We also received an invite to a helipad cocktail party with the captain for tomorrow. Squee! 

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Day 7 Continues 

So we ended up here. That’s my husband and my son. 

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Tonight’s dinner will be at Chops. Again.

The Super Bowl will be shown in Two70, pool deck, pub, casino, and stateroom televisions. They are selling seats on the pool deck as advertised in the Cruise Compass: 

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There is also a VIP area in Two70. I think it’s for suite guests. 
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We’re planning to check out the Super Bowl set-up in Two70 after dinner, then head back to the suite for the game. That’s a long time to spend in Two70 for a game that doesn’t have the Ravens, so it will be more comfortable and less hectic in the suite. We could always order room service snacks, but I doubt that we’ll be hungry.  ?

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24 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Considering what they charge for “reserved seats” in the Promenade for NYE, $150 for the SuperBowl isn’t really that steep.  This is coming from someone who could not care less about ANY sport and plans to do anything BUT watch the SuperBowl....it’s just an observation.

This will be the first one I can ever remember missing most of. In New Orleans for work and since my wife is in town booked a reservation at Commander’s palace. I guess I’m a failure of a football fan. The redskins have been mathematically eliminated seemingly all season so doesn’t change much. 

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Day 7 Continues Again 

After Flowrider at 4PM, we headed back to the suite to get ready for dinner at Chops.

Crispy Goat Cheese Salad

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Lobster Bisque ?

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Jonah Crab Claws ?

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Broiled Maine Lobster ? 

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Red Velvet Cake

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Key Lime MerIngue Pie 

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We peeked at Two70 before heading back to the suite for Super Bowl. Two70 was just about as crowded as during the muster drill. No thanks. Cafe Two70 had burgers, hot dogs, potato wedges, and corn dogs.

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4 hours ago, DublinFC said:

How far in advance was the Northstar available for making reservations?  I remember reading that show reservations start opening up around 90 days before sailing on Oasis and Quantum class ships.  Does the Northstar follow that formula? 

Honestly I really don’t know. We’re just following the agenda that our genie scheduled. The only things that we scheduled were our excursions. 

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Day 8 - St Kitts

We had room service breakfast again.

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Today’s excursion was 4x4 Island Safari & Beach. We booked through Royal Caribbean, but it was operated by Greg’s Safaris. Greg was our driver today. He is a 5th generation islander as he mentioned several times. We drove through less-often seen parts of the island, including rainforest. We saw mango ?, coconut ?, date, avocado ?, breadfruit ? ?, ackee, papaya, and chicle trees. We also saw wild chickens ?, monkeys ?, goats ?, lizards ?, cats ?, and dogs ?.

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Here is Anthem on the left, Norwegian Epic on the right, and Viking Sea on the far right. 
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Breadfruit tree 

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Before heading back to the ship, we spent an hour at the beach. 
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We were back onboard and ready for lunch at CK by 1PM. 
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Watermelon Salad

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Caramelized Scallops 

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12 hours ago, DublinFC said:

How far in advance was the Northstar available for making reservations?  I remember reading that show reservations start opening up around 90 days before sailing on Oasis and Quantum class ships.  Does the Northstar follow that formula? 

On both of my Anthem sailings to Bermuda, North Star opened up about 45 days out on the Cruise Planner. But, you could only make reservations for sea days. They held reservations for our two port days until people were onboard; then it could be booked through the Royal app,

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11 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

On both of my Anthem sailings to Bermuda, North Star opened up about 45 days out on the Cruise Planner. But, you could only make reservations for sea days. They held reservations for our two port days until people were onboard; then it could be booked through the Royal app,

If you made a reservation for a sea day online were you able to also make another one for a port day on board in addition?

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9 minutes ago, spiralqueen said:

If you made a reservation for a sea day online were you able to also make another one for a port day on board in addition?

You can, although I believe they limited the in-port reservations to one per day so that everyone who wanted could have a chance.

I personally never needed to; since it was just my wife and I, we were able to just wait in the standby line and go up when the inevitable no-shows happened. But I'll note this was on a day with an overnight in port, so I imagine a lot of people were having dinner at the Frog And Onion Pub or other local eateries and making it easier to get those standby rides. I think on a more "Normal" cruise where you're not staying overnight, getting a reservation is a smart call.

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Day 9 - Sea Day

We had breakfast at Windjammer this morning. I just wanted something quick, without all the fuss of a table service meal. 

We did the cupcake decorating class at the Patisserie at 1130AM. The designs were rose and strawberries. We used piping bags and fondant. The yellow icing was lemon flavored, which my son does not like. So, he pretty much stuck with the pink icing. Here are our creations:

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Even though I had been forewarned about the little laundry tags in the clothing, it still is surprising to find these itchy little tags cemented into the necklines of my shirts. I have started to take up a collection, which I have carefully hidden from our room steward. ?

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Lunch today was at Jamie’s Italian at 12:30PM. We started with a meat plank.

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Followed by appetizers: Garlicky Prawns, Crispy Squid, and Black Truffle Arancini.

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Followed by entrees: Baked Lasagne and Prawn Linguine.

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No dessert today with lunch. Just couldn’t imagine fitting it all in. Plus, we had a reservation at iFly at 230PM. We liked it so much, we did it twice! After iFly, we found ourselves back at the rock wall for our son.

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Tonight’s dinner will be at CK. No specific plans after dinner tonight, so we’ll see where we end up. 

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Day 9 Continues 

Tonight’s dinner at CK was excellent, as always. I can’t say enough good things about Indranee. She has been our server at CK each night that we have been there for dinner. She is great with our son. ?

Grilled Mediterranean Octopus ?

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Sun Dried Tomato Crusted Flounder

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Braised Short Rib

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Green Vegetable Curry 

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Bittersweet Chocolate Tart Praline

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Coconut Custard 

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After dinner, we went to Boleros for a caipirinha - finally. We saw the beginning of the Latin Fiesta with Candela. 

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29 minutes ago, Karannk said:

We’ve seriously been bitten by the SC bug. Looking at cruises in October 2020 on Oasis out of Port Liberty. I have my eye on a 2BR ATS. The balcony looks amazing! Anyone on here been in that suite before? Is it as amazing as it looks? It has to be, right? ?

We've been in the 2 BR ATS 3 times - all on Harmony.  It is definitely a unique suite and I highly recommend that you try it.  If possible, get one on deck 8 as the suites (both balconies and rooms) on 9 and [presumably] 10 are much smaller.  I think you will find that the SC suites on the Oasis class far surpass the ones on Quantum class - mostly due to size and location.  The separate bedrooms are a big advantage if you have others traveling with you (it's always just Dan and me so it's a waste for us but still nice to be able to put our luggage in the second bedroom !).  The balcony is completely unique and there's nothing like it anywhere else.

IMO there are 3 downsides to the ATS.  1.  It is a LONG walk all the way back there and you will get tired of doing it every time you want to go ANYwhere.  2.  It is very much isolated from all of the other suite amenities - primarily meaning that it is a long way from Deck 17.  3.  I feel that the bathrooms in the ATS are a big disappointment.  Once you have experienced the very big and impressive bathrooms in the other SC suites, the small and uninspired bathroom in the ATS is disappointing.  No bidet !

The 2 BR ATS were our first experiences with SC so we didn't really realize how much more convenient it is to be on Deck 17.  So we don't book the ATS anymore but I am glad we did it and they are fun suites !! No stairs, which is a huge advantage for us.

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1 hour ago, Karannk said:

We’ve seriously been bitten by the SC bug. Looking at cruises in October 2020 on Oasis out of Port Liberty. I have my eye on a 2BR ATS. The balcony looks amazing! Anyone on here been in that suite before? Is it as amazing as it looks? It has to be, right? ?

The 2BR ATS is my favorite Star Class room.  I absolutely love the balcony!  

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3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

If possible, get one on deck 8 as the suites (both balconies and rooms) on 9 and [presumably] 10 are much smaller. 


IMO there are 3 downsides to the ATS.  1.  It is a LONG walk all the way back there and you will get tired of doing it every time you want to go ANYwhere.  2.  It is very much isolated from all of the other suite amenities - primarily meaning that it is a long way from Deck 17.  3.  I feel that the bathrooms in the ATS are a big disappointment.  

There are suites available on decks 9 and 10 on this particular sailing. I was thinking deck 9?

Is the long walk comparable to our current long walk on Anthem from 8720 Aft to Midship for everything ALL the time? It’s a bit tiresome, but I could handle that. The Aft balcony views are stunning. Plus, we figure that we need the extra steps with all of the extra eating. ?

As it is, we are taking the elevator from deck 8 to deck 14 each time to CK. 

The bathrooms do look disappointing. It’s nice to have a tub though, I guess?

Yen has arranged a Next Cruise appointment for us today after dinner. Apparently we can book onboard and still get the benefits of booking through BJs ($500 gift card, $50 OBC) PLUS the Next Cruise discount ($300) AND the current sale? 

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24 minutes ago, Karannk said:

There are suites available on decks 9 and 10 on this particular sailing. I was thinking deck 9?

Deck 9 if you HAVE to choose.  If you can get put on some waitlist to switch to deck 8 should it come available, definitely do that.

25 minutes ago, Karannk said:

Is the long walk comparable to our current long walk on Anthem from 8720 Aft to Midship for everything ALL the time? It’s a bit tiresome, but I could handle that. The Aft balcony views are stunning.

It's a pretty long walk from the closest elevator bank.  Probably a tad longer than the Anthem haul.  The balconies on the Oasis class ships wrap around so one side you get just ocean, then you can see the wake off the back of the ship, and then you can also watch the aquatheater show right from the balcony.

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Day 10 Sea Day 

We had room service breakfast this morning, followed by the galley tour at 10AM. We toured the galley for MDR and Windjammer. Each of the specialty restaurants has their own galley. 

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Lotsa soup!

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And stew!

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Giant pressure cookers

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Lotsa mashed potatoes!

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After this, we went roller skating at the Seaplex. It was hard. I used a roller walker thingie, which helped. I would have fallen a bunch without it. For lunch, we finally had hot dogs from the Seaplex Doghouse. My husband had a Coney Island hot dog and I had a German Thuringer. Our son wanted Johnny Rockets again, so we headed there before heading back to the suite for a little break before We Will Rock You showtime at 230PM today. Tonight is lobster tail night in MDR, and since I wanted to try one night in MDR for research purposes - I figured this was a good night to try it. I’m pretty sure that it will further cement my desire for Star class for any and all upcoming cruises! 

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1 hour ago, Karannk said:

There are suites available on decks 9 and 10 on this particular sailing. I was thinking deck 9?

Is the long walk comparable to our current long walk on Anthem from 8720 Aft to Midship for everything ALL the time? It’s a bit tiresome, but I could handle that. The Aft balcony views are stunning. Plus, we figure that we need the extra steps with all of the extra eating. ?

As it is, we are taking the elevator from deck 8 to deck 14 each time to CK. 

The bathrooms do look disappointing. It’s nice to have a tub though, I guess?

Yen has arranged a Next Cruise appointment for us today after dinner. Apparently we can book onboard and still get the benefits of booking through BJs ($500 gift card, $50 OBC) PLUS the Next Cruise discount ($300) AND the current sale? 

Hmmm....I agree with Ashley...if you only have 9 or 10 to choose from, definitely go with 9.  We did deck 8 twice and deck 9 once and I can definitely tell you that the room and balcony are smaller on 9 than on 8.  I don't know, b/c I was never in one, but I suspect that deck 10 is even smaller, yet.

It's a long walk.  Probably a bit longer than the Anthem trek but, as you say, you're used to it now so probably won't be that much of a burden.  My advice to you is do NOT book a SC suite on 17 b/c once you do, you will never want to make that long walk again !!!!

It sounds like it will definitely be worth it to you to use NextCruise.  Those are pretty nice incentives.

I'm not trying to talk you out of the ATS, but have you checked to see if there are any Star Lofts or the Grand or Owner's Panoramic Suites available ?  It's true that the ATS tend to be the least expensive of the SC rooms (actually, the new Panoramic suites up front may have stolen that title) but Deck 17 is sooo sweet.  I love the GPS.  The room is incredible.  The balcony sucks...it's really small, but it's more than a fair trade-off for us.  We have the OPS booked 3 times between Dec 2020 and Jan 2022.

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9 hours ago, Karannk said:

The balcony looks amazing! Anyone on here been in that suite before?

We have the ATS on Deck 9 in a few weeks on Oasis.  It will be our first time in an ATS.

8 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

primarily meaning that it is a long way from Deck 17.  3.  I feel that the bathrooms in the ATS are a big disappointment. 

Agree 100%.  While my kids are super excited to have their own room, I am really, really, really going to miss Deck 17!

2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

My advice to you is do NOT book a SC suite on 17

^^^Truth!  #teamDeck17!

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3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I'm not trying to talk you out of the ATS, but have you checked to see if there are any Star Lofts or the Grand or Owner's Panoramic Suites available ?  It's true that the ATS tend to be the least expensive of the SC rooms (actually, the new Panoramic suites up front may have stolen that title) but Deck 17 is sooo sweet.  I love the GPS.  The room is incredible.  The balcony sucks...it's really small, but it's more than a fair trade-off for us.  We have the OPS booked 3 times between Dec 2020 and Jan 2022.

OMG! You guys are the devil. ? 

i looked at some room tour videos for the owner’s and grand panoramic suites. ? While the balconies are smaller, they have jacuzzi tubs! And the bathrooms are gorgeous. And the price is only a little more. Negligible really. The owner’s panoramic is not available, but the grand panoramic suite is. And we might just do it. 

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38 minutes ago, Karannk said:

OMG! You guys are the devil. ? 

i looked at some room tour videos for the owner’s and grand panoramic suites. ? While the balconies are smaller, they have jacuzzi tubs! And the bathrooms are gorgeous. And the price is only a little more. Negligible really. The owner’s panoramic is not available, but the grand panoramic suite is. And we might just do it. 

Evil is a bit strong ??

I like the way you think.  We were just in the Grand Panoramic and I will say, flat out, it is the nicest room we’ve ever stayed in (sorry...not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition).  It’s big, comfortable, convenient and unique.  Only Allure and Oasis have the Owners and Grand Panoramics.  Plus...no stairs.  Only 1 BR though.

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2 minutes ago, Jax said:

? Interesting as we just got off anthem star class over holidays and we were told by our ?‍♂️ it wasn’t. Only bridge tour was included. 

That’s very odd.  When we were on Anthem last Dec, Yen gave us invitations to all 3 tours (galley, bridge and theater).  We declined all of them since we’ve done those tours many times.  I wonder if Alan misunderstood your request.

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