firebuck Posted November 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2018 On 11/6/2018 at 8:44 AM, Ogalthorpe Haywood said: No ifly? Ha - no. I'm a pretty big dude so I was a little over the 250 pound weight limit. I'm definitely going to try it out on land though - there, the weight limit is 300 lbs. As long as they have a flight suit that is tall enough to fit me JLMoran 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 @firebuck I have questions. My cruise will be this Saturday. We will drive to the port from Maryland so that will possibly take us 4-4:30 hours to be there (includes stop for restroom and breakfast). We will park our car there also. I cruised there before with Explorer OTS but it was a long time ago so not sure anything changes. We try to figure out what time we should leave our home. Does the traffic bad to get into the port? What time do they let you get into the port? What time do they let you onboard the ship? TY for your answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 27 minutes ago, Susie said: @firebuck I have questions. My cruise will be this Saturday. We will drive to the port from Maryland so that will possibly take us 4-4:30 hours to be there (includes stop for restroom and breakfast). We will park our car there also. I cruised there before with Explorer OTS but it was a long time ago so not sure anything changes. We try to figure out what time we should leave our home. Does the traffic bad to get into the port? What time do they let you get into the port? What time do they let you onboard the ship? TY for your answer. Hi @Susie. I was also at Cape Liberty right around the same time as @firebuck, will try and help you out. The port opens at 10:30 AM, boarding usually starts by about 11:00 as long as the ship doesn't have any delays due to Coast Guard inspections or the like. My wife and I also went there on a Saturday, but we live only about an hour away from the port. We left our home a little after 10 AM, and even when we were getting close to the port around 10:45, the traffic was pretty much nonexistent until we actually got onto the side roads leading into the port. I would imagine that as you get closer to the afternoon hours, the traffic will steadily increase. If you don't plan on being there right when the port opens, which would mean leaving your house at 6 or 6:30 AM, I'd suggest shooting for a 12 PM arrival so you have a buffer for any random traffic accidents or other delays. The road that goes into the port and up to the passenger and luggage drop-off area is two lanes, both of them are fine for getting to the drop-off areas. Traffic moves very slowly but steadily. Pay attention to the port staff once you get through the port's entry gate, they are directing traffic and will tell you which drop-off station to use. Once you've dropped off your luggage, continue to follow the road past passenger pickup and you'll see the parking garage on your right. Susie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebuck Posted November 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 Just now, Susie said: @firebuck I have questions. My cruise will be this Saturday. We will drive to the port from Maryland so that will possibly take us 4-4:30 hours to be there (includes stop for restroom and breakfast). We will park our car there also. I cruised there before with Explorer OTS but it was a long time ago so not sure anything changes. We try to figure out what time we should leave our home. Does the traffic bad to get into the port? What time do they let you get into the port? What time do they let you onboard the ship? TY for your answer. The port has been much improved since the Explorer days - the addition of the parking garage definitely helps. The terminal waiting area is also much nicer and seems more organized. Does the traffic bad to get into the port? Since it's the weekend, it shouldn't be too bad. It also looks like the weather for Saturday is looking nice as of right now. You'll likely take 1-95 up to NJ and then catch the NJ Turnpike. Barring any congestion from roadwork or accidents, it should be fairly smooth sailing on up. What time do they let you get into the port? We got to the port at 9:30 AM. The port had just opened and there wasn't a big line of cars and we had no issues getting in. I know it'll be an early day coming from Maryland, but I'd definitely recommend getting to the port as early as possible. The line of cars got progressively worse as the day went on, and I heard a LOT of people complaining about the wait. This may be partially due to the bad weather we were having that day. I also heard that there weren't nearly enough porters on hand to take the luggage when dropping it off. I always make sure to try to get as much out of day 1 as I can... I was about 4 drinks in, had lunch, a dip in the pool, had all of our clothes unpacked, showered, and the line of cars were still coming in! What time do they let you onboard the ship? From what I understand the timing sort of varies... I've heard as early as 10:30, but the day we boarded, they started letting us on shortly after 11. Hope that helps, and I hope y'all have a wonderful cruise! Susie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 Just now, firebuck said: We got to the port at 9:30 AM. The port had just opened Really! Official web site page said 10:30 when I had checked, so that's good to know for Round 2 next October! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebuck Posted November 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 Just now, JLMoran said: Really! Official web site page said 10:30 when I had checked, so that's good to know for Round 2 next October! Yep! We weren't even the first ones there either... I'm not sure when they officially start taking your luggage and letting you in, but it was definitely right around 9:30 when we arrived. The 10:30 time you saw may just be another "suggestion" sort of like the arrival times they print on your set sail pass JLMoran 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 15 minutes ago, JLMoran said: Hi @Susie. I was also at Cape Liberty right around the same time as @firebuck, will try and help you out. The port opens at 10:30 AM, boarding usually starts by about 11:00 as long as the ship doesn't have any delays due to Coast Guard inspections or the like. My wife and I also went there on a Saturday, but we live only about an hour away from the port. We left our home a little after 10 AM, and even when we were getting close to the port around 10:45, the traffic was pretty much nonexistent until we actually got onto the side roads leading into the port. I would imagine that as you get closer to the afternoon hours, the traffic will steadily increase. If you don't plan on being there right when the port opens, which would mean leaving your house at 6 or 6:30 AM, I'd suggest shooting for a 12 PM arrival so you have a buffer for any random traffic accidents or other delays. The road that goes into the port and up to the passenger and luggage drop-off area is two lanes, both of them are fine for getting to the drop-off areas. Traffic moves very slowly but steadily. Pay attention to the port staff once you get through the port's entry gate, they are directing traffic and will tell you which drop-off station to use. Once you've dropped off your luggage, continue to follow the road past passenger pickup and you'll see the parking garage on your right. 12 minutes ago, firebuck said: The port has been much improved since the Explorer days - the addition of the parking garage definitely helps. The terminal waiting area is also much nicer and seems more organized. Does the traffic bad to get into the port? Since it's the weekend, it shouldn't be too bad. It also looks like the weather for Saturday is looking nice as of right now. You'll likely take 1-95 up to NJ and then catch the NJ Turnpike. Barring any congestion from roadwork or accidents, it should be fairly smooth sailing on up. What time do they let you get into the port? We got to the port at 9:30 AM. The port had just opened and there wasn't a big line of cars and we had no issues getting in. I know it'll be an early day coming from Maryland, but I'd definitely recommend getting to the port as early as possible. The line of cars got progressively worse as the day went on, and I heard a LOT of people complaining about the wait. This may be partially due to the bad weather we were having that day. I also heard that there weren't nearly enough porters on hand to take the luggage when dropping it off. I always make sure to try to get as much out of day 1 as I can... I was about 4 drinks in, had lunch, a dip in the pool, had all of our clothes unpacked, showered, and the line of cars were still coming in! What time do they let you onboard the ship? From what I understand the timing sort of varies... I've heard as early as 10:30, but the day we boarded, they started letting us on shortly after 11. Hope that helps, and I hope y'all have a wonderful cruise! Thank you both @firebuck & @JLMoran for the info. I am thinking to leave home at 6 am. Google said it will take 3 hours but after the stops will be 4-4:30 hours for sure. It will be me, hubby, son, mother in law and father in law so I am sure will be a few stops along the way there. I will try my best to be there early as possible because I cannot book Northstar and i-fly online so I will need to book when I onboard. Thanks again for both of you. firebuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 No problem, @Susie. Have a great cruise! Susie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebuck Posted November 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 12 minutes ago, Susie said: I am thinking to leave home at 6 am. Google said it will take 3 hours but after the stops will be 4-4:30 hours for sure. I I think that'll get you there in the sweet spot... around 10 or 10:30. We may have been a BIT too early at 9:30... especially since @JLMoran confirms that boarding tends to be around 11. I think the further out you arrive past 10, you'll start seeing the traffic pile up to unload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 22 minutes ago, firebuck said: I always make sure to try to get as much out of day 1 as I can... I was about 4 drinks in, had lunch, a dip in the pool, had all of our clothes unpacked, showered, and the line of cars were still coming in! 1 That was I think too. I hope bumper cars open on day 1 because I know will be a long line later. We only get refreshment drink package but all 5 of us is Diamond members so should get some drink in the evening (except my 6 years old). I am a coffee drinker and sparkling water lover so refreshment drink package is a must for me. The last cruise I got my husband a deluxe drink package, he was really enjoying it but this time we will pass it. 2 cabins we will take 4 bottles of wine with us so that should be a little drinking during the day for us. If drink card offer early then I will buy it. No dining package offer on my sailing because of a holiday. Boo to RCI Thinking to order Filet in a dining room or Solarium Bistro. firebuck and JLMoran 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellcee Posted November 15, 2018 Report Share Posted November 15, 2018 On 11/13/2018 at 2:08 PM, firebuck said: I think that'll get you there in the sweet spot... around 10 or 10:30. Agree that this is the sweet spot. I also travel that way a lot to visit family on weekends - too much past 11 you're asking for traffic. firebuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtgirl95 Posted February 18, 2019 Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 On 10/31/2018 at 7:23 AM, firebuck said: Day 4 - Coco Cay We woke up early and decided to skip conventional breakfast today. The cruise director stated the previous night that the Captain should have us ready to tender early, and he did. After donning our swim gear and grabbing a cup of coffee, we were in line for the tenders. On Anthem there are two tender locations, one aft, and one forward. We were in the aft line when a crew member suggested we go forward as the first tender was there and it had plenty of space. So we heeded his advice and headed on up. We were indeed the first tender to make it to the island. We immediately hopped on the cart to head to the bungalow area. Once there, we checked in with the concierge and into our assigned bungalow by 9:15 AM. You can tell I need some sun... At this time in the morning, even though the sun was shining down, the water was freezing! Once you "ripped the bandaid off" it wasn't horrible - just get everything wet at once. On day 3, my wife noticed in the cruise compass that they offer a Swimming with the Pigs excursion. The excursion said that it lasted an hour and a half and left at 12:30. Even though we already had a bungalow, we all agreed that this was an experience we couldn't pass up. I never saw this excursion online in the cruise planner. Come to think of it, a lot of excursions offered on board were never offered in the pre-cruise planner online... Our lunch was scheduled to be delivered to our bungalow between 11:30 and 12:00 so we knew we'd need to scarf it down pretty quickly to make our swimming pig excursion. Lunch arrived at about ten minutes til noon. My wife had the chicken tacos, and the rest of us had jerk burgers. With that, we headed back to the excursion desk to meet up for our swimming pigs tour. We took a quick 5 minute boat ride to "Treasure Island" where we saw the crew coaxing pigs down the ramp to the beach area. The swimming area was fenced in, and there were about 8 pigs that were willing to swim with us for apples. After some brief instructions on how to hold the apples away from your body (pigs do bite) we were able to get down in the water. Side note - if you do this excursion, I HIGHLY recommend water shoes - the area down to the beach was solid rock and it killed my tender bare feet. We swam with the pigs for about 45 minutes when one of the crew members who was snorkeling came up with a small sea turtle! They called him flappy. The crew was very funny and entertaining. All in all, it was a neat experience and we all had fun. We were back to our bungalows around 2:15 and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and relaxing. The last tender back was at 4:45 and we opted to come back around 4. Pier Progress: After swimming with pigs, we decided to quickly shower and hop in the solarium pool - since pigs sometimes have accidents (which the crew quickly attends to) we figured the extra chlorine from the pool won't hurt After yet another shower, we headed to Izumi fro dinner at 6 since my brother in law really wanted sushi. The rest of us got ramen. After dinner we sat in the Schooner bar for some entertainment. It was a long, fun day in the sun and we were all pretty wiped out so we retired to the room by 10 PM Were you able to bring your camera/phone with you when you swam with the pigs? The RC shore excursion description says no cameras, but their photographer will be there to take pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebuck Posted February 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 @rtgirl95 I brought my phone with me and I’m pretty sure that other people had their phones and cameras that day as well. I don’t recall there being a no/camera phone rule when we went, but I also think the excursion was pretty new so perhaps they changed the rules since? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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