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Anthem & Potential Coronavirus


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Train ride from Union Station to Newark Penn Station is 2.5 hours on the Acela and then short uber to airport (or port ? ).  Business class $220, first class $380 *prices vary based on actual train

Train ride from Union Station to EWR (at the airport) on Amtrak Regional Rail (more stops) is 3 hours.  Coach class $130, business class $180 *Prices vary based on actual train

The train IMO takes the same as a flight factoring in security lines at airport, time to arrive ahead of departure, etc....plus parking at the train station is cheaper in many cases and you don't have to deal with baggage issues (weight, checking, liquids)

According to my son....the pan roasted Shrimp on a bed of wild rice was the very good.  ?

 

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3 hours ago, Brie said:

Is anyone considering canceling their cruise in the next coming weeks?

No. I'm leaving in 2 weeks.  I'm more likely to get the flu or norovirus (either on a cruise, or from the flight, or right here at work) than coronavirus. I'm tired of the fear mongering and hyperbole.

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27 minutes ago, DDaley said:

Hahaha, my only non-negotiable hotel rules are white bedding and doors on the inside of the building - I think all Courtyards pass this rigorous test! 

FYI the difference between a hotel and a motel:   

Hotel= room doors exit to interior of building    Motel=room doors exit to exterior of building

 

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Ogilthorpe said:

The new policy was published on Feb 3, this sailing left Jan 27. I suspect there are a number of ships that boarded and departed prior to the policy being enacted and many if not all should conclude this weekend.

I was on Harmony and we were docked next to Anthem on the 30th in San Juan. ? ?

 

There were a lot of people sick on Harmony when we left on the 26th too.  At one of the ice shows there was a whole group of sick people right behind me hacking everywhere.

 

seth meyers no GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers

 

Washy washy

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It's flu season. People are going to be sick here and there. Frankly I'm far more worried about the airports and the plane, because I have no idea what the screening is there.  And by far more worried, I mean 5% more worried than I am about coronavirus on the ship, and that is 0%.

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47 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

No. I'm leaving in 2 weeks.  I'm more likely to get the flu or norovirus (either on a cruise, or from the flight, or right here at work) than coronavirus. I'm tired of the fear mongering and hyperbole.

EXACTLY! Up until this past weekend, more people in Missouri had died from the flu THIS FLU SEASON, than had died in the ENTIRE Coronavirus outbreak.

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes.  I booked a Courtyard in Newark. Site unseen. On the fly. In the Uber. Livin’ dangerous.  ??

If not too late to change, take a look at the Country Inn & Suites at Newark Airport. I've stayed in both chains, and feel that Country Inn & Suites are a bit nicer and have a better breakfast spread.

If you're a Marriott rewards member then I totally get why you'd book there, but wanted to offer the alternative.

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3 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

It's flu season. People are going to be sick here and there. Frankly I'm far more worried about the airports and the plane, because I have no idea what the screening is there.  And by far more worried, I mean 5% more worried than I am about coronavirus on the ship, and that is 0%.

 

Yeah i wasn't worried about getting sick on the ship at all.  I have a doomsday prepping friend that was sending out a ton of group messages when i was sailing. Stocking up on water and food, i sent him a picture of me downing a drink to show him how worried i was. He sent me a message this morning saying he was locking himself in his house since i was on a royal ship that was near Anthem.

 

I work in a medical office. If I'm getting sick it's there. I has been a pretty crazy flu season though.

 

Most important rule, wash your hands!

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

No. I'm leaving in 2 weeks.  I'm more likely to get the flu or norovirus (either on a cruise, or from the flight, or right here at work) than coronavirus. I'm tired of the fear mongering and hyperbole.

I’m more concerned about the quarantine procedures than the coronavirus itself. Just imagine being on a ship for 14 days and we’re not talking about cruise-like conditions.  Yikes!

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2 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

I’m more concerned about the quarantine procedures than the coronavirus itself. Just imagine being on a ship for 14 days and we’re not talking about cruise-like conditions.  Yikes!

I'm just not.  I look at how many cruise ships are currently on the ocean, and how many have been quarantined.  What percentage?

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Just now, SpeedNoodles said:

I'm just not.  I look at how many cruise ships are currently on the ocean, and how many have been quarantined.  What percentage?

It started with one, then two, then now three.  With cruise ships now on CDC’s and WHO’s radar,  they will be implementing stricter protocols for embarkation and disembarkation.

I’m with you on the unnecessary hype being given to this virus, but it is what it is. I don’t want a vacation ruined by cases of the virus, real or unreal, discovered on the ship I’m on.  Some of our friends on this forum are in hotels in NJ/NY right now instead of on the Anthem. I’d hate for that to happen to me.

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1 minute ago, PG Cruiser said:

It started with one, then two, then now three.  With cruise ships now on CDC’s and WHO’s radar,  they will be implementing stricter protocols for embarkation and disembarkation.

I’m with you on the unnecessary hype being given to this virus, but it is what it is. I don’t want a vacation ruined by cases of the virus, real or unreal, discovered on the ship I’m on.  Some of our friends on this forum are in hotels in NJ/NY right now instead of on the Anthem. I’d hate for that to happen to me.

Yes, I'm aware that their cruise is delayed by a day, and I feel badly for them. There's always a chance that a cruise can be delayed or altered for one reason or another. I just don't think that this particular reason is any more likely than any other reason, and since I don't worry about the other reasons, I won't worry about this one. But that's just me.

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4 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

The Daily Mail is not known for it's balanced reporting here in the UK, they love the sensational headlines but never follow up the story when it turns out to be a non story. Case in point, the recent scare on the Costa ship in Rome was a headline when the passengers were detained onboard, but hardly got a mention when it turned out to be standard seasonal flu.

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1 hour ago, PG Cruiser said:

It started with one, then two, then now three.  With cruise ships now on CDC’s and WHO’s radar,  they will be implementing stricter protocols for embarkation and disembarkation.

I’m with you on the unnecessary hype being given to this virus, but it is what it is. I don’t want a vacation ruined by cases of the virus, real or unreal, discovered on the ship I’m on.  Some of our friends on this forum are in hotels in NJ/NY right now instead of on the Anthem. I’d hate for that to happen to me.

Couple things; I am looking forward to hearing the stories of our Anthem bound friends and how they have addressed the weather situation on the east coast and the all-of-a-sudden cruise delay. I am confidant these veterans will give us a master class on what should be done when the poop hits the fan and your cruise doesn't happen as expected. 

With yesterdays shut down of the Global Entry program at JFK airport "because the state of New York gives drivers licenses to those in violation of immigration status" and of all the cruise ships docking in the U.S. today, a Friday....there is only one being singled out, there is only one with Chinese travelers, and that one just so happens to be docking across the river from NYC. This is just a certain someone venting their anger.

Carry on.

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4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Thanks, Steve.  Unfortunately, it is cold, rainy and gloomy here.  It was a a ROUGH ride from DC...but we made it.

Our itin was originally DCA-CLT-EWR but yesterday AA contacted us and advised significant weather delays for CLT and allowed us to make changes without a fee. I opted for a non-stop into JFK and BOY am I glad I did !  I’m not sure whether or not that original flight ever left CLT.  It’s a pricey Uber ride from JFK ($160.00) but I’d rather pay a little more and get here than get stuck in CLT and frankly, I think that is what would have happened. 

Yeah....we had a rough go of it in the Charlotte area yesterday. Airport grounded all flights for a while and eclvacuated the control tower. Kids were let out of school early before it all hit, thankfully, as there were multiple tornados in the area. A lot of power outages and road closures due to flooding. 6 inches of rain in a couple hours will do that. Glad you got there, and are cruise ready! 

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Nothing can drum up hysteria like the news...nevermind it's on the news because it's OUTSIDE the norm, this news worthy....people treat the news like a list of things they should expect and prepare for. I'll treat the coronavirus like I do all sickness ....wash my hands, and use hand sanitizer. 

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Turns out the new policy is to ban all travelers holding Chinese, Hong Kong or Macau passports from boarding its ships due to concerns over coronavirus...regardless of how long it has been since they were last in these regions.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/royal-caribbean-cruise-passengers-n-j-screened-coronavirus-4-taken-n1132266?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma

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2 hours ago, bobroo said:

Couple things; I am looking forward to hearing the stories of our Anthem bound friends and how they have addressed the weather situation on the east coast and the all-of-a-sudden cruise delay. 

We got an email from Royal as we were pulling into the cruise port this morning, it was kind of a little unorganized at the port with employees not really knowing a whole lot of details, but they’ve got us in a hotel for the night, we’ll be boarding tomorrow with a little bit of OBC for some drinks :)...it’s not ideal but what can you do?

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5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes.  All suspected of possibly having the virus have been preliminarily cleared. Apparently one person tested positive for influenza. 
 

Even though the ship has been cleared, RC decided to wait until they get a positive test results back from the CDC and so we will not board until tomorrow, Feb 8.  There will be some partial refunds for cruise fare and prepaid packages.  Everything seems to be fine except for the late start.  

With boarding at 1 tomorrow now, what time should we get to the port?

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20 minutes ago, Geoff P said:

We got an email from Royal as we were pulling into the cruise port this morning, it was kind of a little unorganized at the port with employees not really knowing a whole lot of details, but they’ve got us in a hotel for the night, we’ll be boarding tomorrow with a little bit of OBC for some drinks :)...it’s not ideal but what can you do?

That's a fabulous attitude to have!  I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

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Update.  
 

So the boarding has been pushed back AGAIN. Boarding of Anthem will now BEGIN at 1700 tomorrow afternoon; departure scheduled for 2100. As far as I know that awful schedule is still intact with a shortened Port Canaveral stay and an unsat long Nassau stay. It’s a damn good thing that I am a Titanium elite with Marriott and can basically check out of here anytime I want to tomorrow or we’d be stranded with nowhere to go until 5:00.  It’s hard for me to imagine what pushing back the embarkation time from 1300 to 1700 is going to yield. Maybe extra cleaning.  Who knows. My patience is beginning to wear thin.

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Hmmm...changed again:

 

We’ll set sail from Cape Liberty at 10:00 PM on Saturday, February 8th instead of 3:00 PM on Friday, February 7th. Additionally, our visit to Port Canaveral will now be on February 11th from from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM and to Perfect Day at CocoCay on February 12th from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Unfortunately, we’ll be unable to visit Nassau, Bahamas.

 

I guess I will be sitting in a hotel lobby!

 

Oh also, be glad you skipped Charlotte. I was trying to get to Newark from Charlotte and everything was cancelled due to the local tornados and just crazy storms for February. I ended up at JFK (of course my luggage ended up in Newark) and had to do the $120 uber to get back to Newark. Fun travel day yesterday.

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At least they are offering some sort of restitution. This is indeed an unprecedented situation and I think RC is handling it about 86% well.

If I had a cruise planned during this time, I wouldn't cancel. I always wash my hands and take precaution. I am glad RC is erring on the side of caution by allowing the ship to be scrubbed down...washy, washy.

I hope everyone has a wonderful cruise tomorrow.

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13 minutes ago, ctwilliams said:

Hmmm...changed again:

 

We’ll set sail from Cape Liberty at 10:00 PM on Saturday, February 8th instead of 3:00 PM on Friday, February 7th. Additionally, our visit to Port Canaveral will now be on February 11th from from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM and to Perfect Day at CocoCay on February 12th from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Unfortunately, we’ll be unable to visit Nassau, Bahamas.

 

I guess I will be sitting in a hotel lobby!

 

Oh also, be glad you skipped Charlotte. I was trying to get to Newark from Charlotte and everything was cancelled due to the local tornados and just crazy storms for February. I ended up at JFK (of course my luggage ended up in Newark) and had to do the $120 uber to get back to Newark. Fun travel day yesterday.

Hmmm...thanks for the intel.  Dans phone is in a mandatory push update (a fact about which he is altogether unhappy) so we had not yet gotten this update.  Great change IMO (Taking out Nassau, I mean).

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@Coach9 What about all the people who are already there? Cancelling the cruise will not get them they time or travel fees back.

I also don't think that this situation was handled very poor. It is a unique situation, things can arise to stop anything from happening. I bet everyone would have been upset if RC didn't take all the precautions.

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1 hour ago, groovybee said:

I don’t think they should cancel the cruise because that would be terrible for those who have travelled quite far to get here but I do think they need to do more by refunding us for more than 2 days since they are cutting an additional day in the Bahamas.

They'll refund port fees once the final itinerary is set. Honestly, I wouldn't care about missing Nassau, Bahamas. Departure at 2100 vs 1700 is around 28 or 29 hours late, also not horrible in my opinion.

However, that's easy for me to say sitting at home enjoying cocktails not in the middle of the situation.

I hope everyone sets sail tomorrow night and the cruise turns out to be awesome!

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