The Mystery of the Disappearing (and hopefully reappearing) Halloween Cruise – Anthem – 10/30 -11/7/ 2021

[bossdog421]

 

Final payment is this week so why not start another blog? Hopefully this isn’t another live blog that ends in a cruise not happening…

 

This 8 night Bahamas cruise on Anthem was booked during my last cruise Jan 2020. Sometime in the middle of covid the listing for the cruise was pulled from Royal's site (probably because it was 8 days) and has not reappeared yet. Is it a Halloween mystery? Will it sail? Soo spooky!

 

Emailing back and forth with a rep from royal she claims there is no plans to cancel this sailing but the strangeness of this cruise just keeps coming.  I have been stalking the site to see if the sailing gets listed again because I wanted look at pricing to upgrade into a suite or star class. So I asked the rep I was emailing with, she says no rooms are available and sates they are probably max capacity. Well, that doesn’t make sense because the cruise hasn’t been listed, the sailing that goes out right one this one gets back has plenty of open rooms in every category. If this cruise does go out, it may be a ghost ship (gasp).

 

The itinerary:

 

Leaves from Cape Liberty, 2 Sea Days, Port Canaveral, CocoCay, Nassau, and then 2 more sea days.

 

This itinerary is nothing great, but it gives us a chance to spend a day with family in Florida and it gives us plenty of time on the ship (I prefer being on the ship over most ports anyways).

 

This would be our first “holiday” cruise, being able to get in a costume sounds like a blast. I even bought a sweet cane / wand that would go very well with a Voodoo costume.  I got Lucius Malfoys cane from Borgin and Burkes in Knocturn Alley at Universal Studios (Harry Potter stuff). It’s pretty heavy, looks a bit intimating and it wont fit in my luggage so i'd have to carry it on. I wonder if it would even be allowed on the ship. What do you guys think?

 

 

Going to keep this short for now, don’t want to type up a crapload just to have it cancel again. This will be my first time on Anthem, so if it sails expect lots of pics and daily updates.

 

 

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

On CruisingPower, the TA website, this sailing is currently listed as "Not Available"

BUT that doesn't mean that it won't sail.  In the recent past, this status has basically just meant that they aren't accepting any new bookings...in other words, the ship is probably booked at capacity.  All room categories are showing CLS (Closed) but again that is probably just an indication of a sold-out status.

This is just an example.  The rest of the room categories are showing the same status.

If it makes you feel any better, my 8-21-21 Symphony cruise (also 8 nights) looked exactly like this for a LONG time until they reactivated it and Royal announced that it was going to sail.  I think the fact that your cruise has been hibernating as a result of it being >7 nights is also another reason for its status.

So fingers are crossed for you.  I know you will feel better once they announce a test cruise for Anthem.

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Correction:  The 8-21-21 SY is STILL showing CLS for all categories. 

[AlmondFarmer]

46 minutes ago, bossdog421 said:

I wonder if it would even be allowed on the ship. What do you guys think?

Do fangs work as a bottle opener? 

[bossdog421]

33 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Do fangs work as a bottle opener? 

 

They probably would, but I'd rather not chance breaking or chipping it lol.

 

37 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So fingers are crossed for you.  I know you will feel better once they announce a test cruise for Anthem.

 

 

Well seeing how this is the first sailing listed after it's back in the states from a transatlantic sailing I don't think Anthem will be getting one, at least not from the USA... unless this gets canceled and this time period is used for a test cruise.

[WannaCruise]

Following along.  Really hope your cruise runs.  Perhaps its been pulled due to departure date being prior to Nov 1 and more than 8 days?  Is your cruise the first one back on New Jersey?  Perhaps they need to run test cruise first?  Hope it works out for you.  Halloween would be so fun on a ship!  We have Anthem booked for Dec (7 night).  Still debating whether to go or not.

[karl_nj]

NJ public schools are closed Thursday 11/4 and Friday 11/5, so it's a popular family travel week for NJ residents.  WDW gets busy that week too, especially towards the end of the week.

So it is possible it's not bookable due to capacity reasons, but I think it's also possible that royal is trying to figure out the transatlantic and test cruises.  Since the Conditional Sailing Order would still be in effect that week.

[bossdog421]

7 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Following along.  Really hope your cruise runs.  Perhaps its been pulled due to departure date being prior to Nov 1 and more than 8 days?  Is your cruise the first one back on New Jersey?  Perhaps they need to run test cruise first?  Hope it works out for you.  Halloween would be so fun on a ship!  We have Anthem booked for Dec (7 night).  Still debating whether to go or not.

 

It's Anthem's first cruise out of the port directly after getting back from a transatlantic. However, Oasis is scheduled to start sailing out of NJ in September.

[WannaCruise]

16 hours ago, bossdog421 said:

 

It's Anthem's first cruise out of the port directly after getting back from a transatlantic. However, Oasis is scheduled to start sailing out of NJ in September.

Yes, and that's a great sign.  There has been question if NJ will even open this year (and so could Anthem even return), but the fact that Oasis is scheduled, means that hurdle is gone.  

[bossdog421]

6 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Yes, and that's a great sign.  There has been question if NJ will even open this year (and so could Anthem even return), but the fact that Oasis is scheduled, means that hurdle is gone.  

 

Once one hurdle is gone 3 more pop up unfortunately.  NJ has been on the stricter side of things through this pandemic and while the update today didn't mention cruises it did not feel like a step in the direction of cruising coming back. We've been seeing an uptick at our offices with testing again, and it seems from the data released today we aren't the only ones.

Maybe I'm just having a bad day or just have a case of the Mondays but I'm less optimistic than i was that there is even a chance now.

 

 

[bossdog421]

And it's gone...

 

The cruise was just officially canceled. So glad they waited 3 days after final payment was due to do it... This is the 3rd one canceled after final payment was due so not much of a surprise i guess.

I have to plan my time too much to keep this stuff up. Cruising just doesn't seem like a safe enough bet for my time until all this stuff is in the rear view. So i'll probably be taking a break from the boards again. I'll be back when there is more confidence in the industry!

 

Guess I'll focus on Land Cruising. (RVing has been my main covid vacationing) Mine is on the left.

 

[JLMoran]

So sorry that your trip got canceled, @bossdog421. Understandable that you're taking a leave of absence, given the challenges around having to pre-plan time off from work. Hopefully things will get better and it will be a brief leave for you.

2 hours ago, bossdog421 said:

So glad they waited 3 days after final payment was due to do it...

This more than anything is what has ticked me off the most about all of this. Royal knows a particular cruise won't be sailing, for whatever reason, but they wait until after final payment to make the call and lock in everyone's money for an interest-free loan. I know they're a business, I know they need cash on hand for stuff, but it is the worst customer experience they could possibly provide. Especially when they then say that any refunds will take up to 45 days to issue (and that after whatever final decision date for FCC or refund is given, itself at least a month out).

[bossdog421]

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

So sorry that your trip got canceled, @bossdog421. Understandable that you're taking a leave of absence, given the challenges around having to pre-plan time off from work. Hopefully things will get better and it will be a brief leave for you.

This more than anything is what has ticked me off the most about all of this. Royal knows a particular cruise won't be sailing, for whatever reason, but they wait until after final payment to make the call and lock in everyone's money for an interest-free loan. I know they're a business, I know they need cash on hand for stuff, but it is the worst customer experience they could possibly provide. Especially when they then say that any refunds will take up to 45 days to issue (and that after whatever final decision date for FCC or refund is given, itself at least a month out).

 

Yeah i understand why they do it in most cases but this one had tons of issues. I called customer service and emailed my rep multiple times with questions and kept getting assured there were no plans on canceling. It was worth the gamble otherwise i would have canceled but it still gets under my skin.