sailing the ocean blue

I had this excursion for the cruise on Silhouette in Dec  I found a very different experience I would book it again. Iknew when we got into port the beach might be not good however I did spend a little time there before going to the pool . Food was ok at the pool there were no lounge chairs however the attendant did find a chair to sit and a table for my drink which was fine pool not crowded it was close to lunch at the pool restaurant when he did find a lounge chair I thanked him but said i was going to lunch and perfer to sit after eating I found lunch fine although I do realize food tastes are subjective.Perhaps it was when you went that you found it crowded. I would not hesitate to do this excursion again and for those thinking about booking this do your own research again for me this excursion was fine. I would think that being an all inclusive resort it is possible that there were many people and it could be very crowded may depend on time of year and holidays as more people may choose this resort for vacation.I would not base my choice of excursions on one negative review

staying in Miami we stayed at the Hampton on Brickell ave there are some good resturants nearby and a short walk to Publix . We had them call a cab when going to the cruise port 

13 hours ago, Td6462 said:

I took a look this evening and I didn't see any $.25 slots. Only .01, .02 & .05 slot machines. 

thanks for getting back on this I guess if casino slots change it may be done when ship goes into dry dock whenever that might be.

following your review on Voyager back to back .We were on this ship when it returned to Boston from Copenhagen Sept 18 As I look at your pictures it looks like they have some different touches with regard to art work, just wondering if they changed some of the slots in the casino. I found them not so good  lots of penny machines  no quarters . This is the first time it is back in the states after being away for 11 years.  Thanks for the reviews and pictures enjoy the rest of the cruise hope it is not getting to rough as this storm passes. We are on the  Anthem Nov 20 for Thanksgiving not sure how our ports will be .

We  most likely will not have internet although will have i phone 12 going to see if my phone plan has something for use in Europe I donot want to change sim cards  .   Eye sight challanged as  I have just had a second surgery for detached retina not sure how much sight i will get back but at least I can fly .

Glad to see you made it  enjoy your cruise We are taking Voyager Sept 4 Cophaghan back to Boston  . How areyouhandling the testing 2 days bebore you get on the ship. We are in Cophaghan and will have to find a place to test Sept 2 or 3 as we sail on the 4  

38 minutes ago, Birdnutty said:

Took the test at 7 AM Friday for a Sunday departure and the results were in my email the next morning (today).  They sent out the email at 12:53 AM. All is well.   Happy person!

Judging by the fact that it took 12 hours for a major lab to do this test, I would conjecture that it was not the rapid one.

thank you for the info  glad it is good  what ship are you sailing on? I do hope we will also get our results in a manor as quickly as you did .Have a great time.

1 hour ago, Birdnutty said:

CRAP!!!   Thank you for your replies.  Does anyone know where I might be able to buy some OTC and not online?  Or is that a true fantasy?

sorry for taking this in a different direction but since Birdnutty said he did get tested at Quest AM this Friday for Sun cruise I would be interested in knowing was it PCR or the Quick one with immediate results  When did you  receive the results We sail in 4 weeks we also have tests at Quest lab early AM Friday morning Hope you get good results in time to board. Even though the tests you bought are not acceptable you should be able to return  . Good Luck and enjoy your cruise. 

1 hour ago, Steelergrl41 said:

Following this thread...we're on the 14th out of Bayonne

 

 we are also following this thread as we  are sailing a week later on the 21 First time in a Junior Suit

Would be interested to know also how many are sailing and how many children are on board older who are able to be vaccinated  and younger who are not able to get the vaccine yet as this is the last week in NYC area before school starts . For those sailing enjoy and thank you for those taking time to keep us in the know about all  that is happening as cruising starts up again. 

Are those refusing to leave the ship  doing back to back cruises if so both situations those waiting to board and back to back this should fall directly on Celebrity I understand  now wanting to test all but saying to do this with very short notice is not good customer relations 

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My sister and BIL are at the FLL terminal waiting to board their Villa Suite.  She just sent me this text about the nightmare there this morning. This was sent at 12:50 EDT time. They were not informed about the mandatory new testing until this morning.

 

"We are here in line with 2000 people. Last minute Covid test for all. We got here at 11:30 as told to do and have been in line since. They will not even start testing until 1:30. Does not matter what class you are in, there are hundreds of people in front of us. No place to sit in the sun. My back already hurts, this sucks"

 

She then sent another text:

"Now we are being told there are some passengers that are refusing to leave the ship. The police have been called to remove them. Nothing happening until the a*******s are removed"

 

What a mess, why didn't Celebrity wait a week to implement this new policy?  I am sure this will still be a problem tomorrow for people getting on the Equinox.

just curious as you wait and from what you can see how many are wearing masks.? We may not be happy with this but people now have to step up and do the right thing because of this variant get the vaccine if you can  enough is enough this will keep going on if we don not make a true attempt to stop this in it tracks. 

Adding my opinion I all so do not like the E class not so much for it size but for the fact that i like real balconies  not those considered virtual ones . For those who have been on the Edge did you use the Magic Carpet and how did you like it

I received the survey on Monday . Our cruise is for Sept 2022 answered survey . We also have a royal for Thanksgiving 2021 and a B2B March 2022 .

as fare as getting early seating in the main dining if not available  your travel agent should call royal and asked to have you waitlisted for early seating if it opens up. Our experience has been that if not available when we first book if we are waitlisted it usually comes through but you have to keep on your travel agent to call and inquire, I usually do this when I am in

the office taking care of things related to our cruise. The other way is to speak to the maître de the first night ,before your dinner time  they will try to resolve the issue it may take one or two days as thereare Good many changes with regard to meal time and seating requests.  Enjoy your cruise   Let us know how things worked out

On ‎12‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 9:28 AM, mizLORInj said:

Hi everyone.  We (2) have cruised Anthem 5x now,  and this week we were joined by family and friends for a total of 8 of us—5 adults, two 10 year olds and one 13 year old.

  

We arrived at the port around 10:45am.   Short line to drop our luggage and then parked in the deck.  Take your ticket with you and pay as soon as the ship gets back; you need the paid receipt to exit the parking deck.   Inside the port upon arrival it was different from our last time there (2018) as now the check-in people are beyond the Security area only.  If you had checked in on the Royal app, you could go to the very short expedited line for security.  Found a check-in person after security and the people in front of us had not printed their boarding pass and there were some wifi issues, so their check-in was delayed as a paper boarding pass had to be printed.  We had paper copies as a backup and it worked fine.  Keep it handy as you will be asked to show it several times before you’re on the ship.   Still, it is a quick and painless process at this port for the most part.   

 

Headed to the Windjammer and it wasn’t too crowded yet.  Found a nice spot at the back of the room and all of us found food we enjoyed.   Wandered around the ship to wait for our cabins to be ready.   Some signed up for iFly.  Cabins were ready around 1:15 I think and we dropped our bags off.   Love the balcony cabin design and its ample storage space.  We had the larger, angled balcony which was very nice although a bit tunnel-like.   I didn’t like that there was a crew door across from us and it was quite noisy in the mornings with room service deliveries all coming through that door, and luggage the last night.   Cabin is still in good condition and everything worked well.  Love that the one light in the bathroom stays on to act as a nightlight.      

 

We did sailaway from the bar area in Two70 since it was cold outside.  We love this spot on this ship, in fact, Two70 is so beautiful.  Note there is a library on the top level.

 

CC M&M was in Music Hall at 10am first sea day.   There was a raffle for a few RC items and I brought a few donated CC items I handed out upon arrival, and also two CC tote bags to raffle off but it seems the host gave both to one person.  Then bingo was setting up before our 30 min M&M was over so there wasn’t any time left for us to mingle.  I believe a slot pull was done after this.  

 

We ate at the WJ for breakfast, lunch and dinner several times, a few times in the MDR with mytime dining although we had reservations for 2 of the 3 nights we ate there.   Lobster night was on day 7, and our request for an oval or round table for our group of 8 was not honored and we ended up again at two 4-tops which is not the most sociable way to enjoy eating together.  That was disappointing, even though I recognized that it was a request that may not be honored.  Our dinner for eight that night took way too long—we were there for over two hours.  We watched other people arrive, eat and leave in that amount of time.  Not sure what took so long but even when we sat down it had to be 10 minutes till servers came over to us.   Was not a great impression for those with us who were new to RC.  And the talk about the survey. . .I wish DR staff would stop telling us how to rate them.  This seems to happen every RC cruise.   The last night we all ate at the Solarium Bistro which is much faster since appy and side dishes are buffet style with your main course off a menu.   We all enjoyed the food for the most part.  I think if you don’t find something you like onboard, you are too picky!

 

When my bro and SIL tried to use one of their drink BOGO in the dining room it seemed to cause a tremendous amount of confusion to the point where they said forget it.  One server said they had used it, another said they had not.  I told them to go to GS to straighten out, but the next day when they ordered wine in the Solarium, the server brought the 2 wines and told them he used their BOGO.  So clearly it was there but DR staff could not figure that out.

 

Shows we went to were We Will Rock You which is excellent, although a bit too long in our opinion.   Performers and musicians are fabulous.   Spectra’s Cabaret I see every time on Anthem, if not twice.  Just a great show and I love the songs.   We skipped the Gift.   There is a new kind of show called Red in Two70 which is dancers and a dj, and guest dancing as well.   Resurrection, the Journey tribute band, was onboard and they were great.   The guitarist Alex is excellent too.  There were people performing in Bolero’s when we walked by a few times and they seemed very good for the short time we heard them.

 

Speaking of Bolero’s, no 2for1 drink happy hour was offered on this cruise as we’ve enjoyed on past Anthem cruises.   

 

Booked NorthStar onboard and even went up a second time the second to last day since there was hardly anyone for the next trip up.   This is why I tell people on CC not to panic if you can't make a reservation before you board.   We always get to go on NorthStar without a reservation.   

 

We did use the Royal app onboard w/o paying for internet.   Came in handy to see what was going on and also what our balance $ was.

 

The kids all enjoyed spending time in the SeaPlex which is such a wonderful area of the ship.  They didn’t go to the kids club at all.  Games, bumper cars, skating, soccer, and basketball were all held there at scheduled times. 

 

Yes, the out pool areas are very crowded on sunny, warm days.   Wish this ship had water slides.  

 

Fitness center is great.  Lots of nice machines.  One of us did the Thermal spa: Not once did another person enter the smallish dry sauna during the many visits (at least once each day, usually 8 AM & 8 PM) with temperatures ranging from 104 in the AM to 140 in the PM. The wet sauna was preferred by the guests and the tropical/cooling mist shower was also very nice but watch the tropical setting as it overheats slightly shortly after startup before settling into a more manageable temperature. The heated loungers are nice; the room is on the cool side, so bring a robe/towel. No one uses the laughably oversized complimentary men’s shorts. Plenty of towels available in the locker rooms and sauna area and plain and fruited cold water in a gathering area on the right before the locker rooms. Bring footwear as well as the wet sauna floor is hot, hot, hot.

 

No Captains/Officer Q&A this cruise.  

 

Went to scarf tying class in Bvlgari which was cool—learned a new way to tie an oblong scarf. 

 

We went to the Top Tier party—in the theater this time—but same old boring drinks being passed—cheap sparkling wine, red wine, chardonnay or rum punch.   I remember when I could get a cocktail made easily.   Alex the guitarist was playing on the stage. 

 

We adults enjoyed some of the trivia (name that tune) and won some of the RC keychains.  Always fun to participate, but it seems RC is really getting cheap with the prizes.  I liked the NorthStar bag in a bag as that’s useful.  Or some variety.  Seemed keychains were given out for everything.   Host of the 70s disco tunes trivia guy, Raz, was entertaining, but among his “rules” was his song names were right.  While I realize he probably was not yet born when disco was out, if you’re going to say we have to play by your rules, at least have the song titles accurately.  We also noticed that some of the games we watched were not fair to all players—some ended up getting more than one chance and some were not given that chance.  So don't take the games too seriously.   The prizes are surely not worth it!  Karaoke is always fun to watch and some singers are so good—even little kids surprised us with songs they knew. 

 

Port Canaveral we rented a car and went to Kennedy Space Center.

 

Nassau we went to the beach at Atlantis.  Bought the beach pass online from Atlantis ahead of time and took a taxi there for $4pp each way. 

 

CocoCay.  Was our first visit there and we like it better than Labadee.   It really was a perfect day.   There were some areas of sea grass and a stingray was swimming near us.  The food they served was a better variety than other cruiselines do at their private islands.  Even had ice cream there!   Enjoyed swimming out to the docks.  There are some vendors selling local wares too.  We look forward to going there again sometime.  The family did the waterpark passes and had a fun time.  Why do they scan our bags when we come back onboard from CocoCay—it is THEIR island!  

 

We had 2 sea days to FL and 2 back and we always found fun things to do.  It was disappointing that no one but us showed for the Martini clinic so they wouldn’t do it.   Later in the week we went to a Mojito “demonstration” at Bolero’s that did not show a “$” next to it as other events with additional cost do, and when the hostess told the maybe 12 who had shown up for it that it was $25, most left.  They won’t do the sampling unless they have 5 people, and 5 did not stay so I had a mojito anyway.   But it was disappointing that they made that error in the Compass as to cost causing them to have insufficient attendance.   We did the Wines From Around the World which we had pre-purchased, and it was good and fun.   Tried out our 3 free (Emerald C&A) spins in the casino but didn’t win.

 

Sadly the return home day arrived.  Ship was along the dock with lines tied by 6:30.  We were in line to leave at 6:50, and in our car to head home at 7:10am.  Everyone went through the facial recognition screening at customs/immigration and it was super quick.    Cape Liberty has their act together which is great. 

 

Other random thoughts:   I heard people complaining about the mattresses but we slept just fine.   Carpet is coming up in various places and that will need attention so people don’t trip.   When you arrive at CocoCay, wait about 30 minutes until the rush is over and walk right off the ship.  Plenty of space from which to choose to sit on the island.  Get to Two70 early for any event there if you want good seat.   Please speak quietly on your balcony especially at night and early in the morning.  And please—no yelling and fighting! 

 

Was a fun trip on a fabulous ship.      

 

 

    we were also on the cruise  on the Anthem for Thanksgiving This was our 2nd time and we did book for next year same time Both my sister and I really enjoyed the week . For us no real issues except we had early seating and for Thanksgiving the serving staff was a bit overwhelmed it was almost an hour and a half before we were served We had a table for four and both of us ordered the turkey. Aside from that day we really had no issues with the main dining room. I do want to thank you for doing  the meet and greet and getting some. items from cruise critic to be donated. There were 2 cruise critic bags but not given to the same person in the raffle . I had the winning number for one bag and some one else had the winning number for the 2nd bag .If you thought I got both I did not  the other bag you saw me with was mine which I had bought from the cruise critic store about 4 years ago.