travelpeon

A daily planner will be left in your cabin during the evening for the next day. Specialty restaurants which require a fee will be listed with their hours and something like $ or * fee applies. Same goes for certain charge events like a mixology or spinning class - it will state that a fee will apply.

Do ask the stateroom attendant to remove the contents of the mini-fridge and don't drink the Evian on the desk. Neither are free. If there's wine in the stateroom, do check with your attendant if it is complimentary before enjoying.

You can check your current charges on the stateroom tv or go to Guest Services to get a print out. It is worth checking every few days so you can take care of any erroneous charges before it becomes an issue. I also find that being aware of current charges keeps my spending in moderation, as I've overheard some cruisers lamenting about the surprisingly large bill at the end of the cruise. They must prefer the "out of sight, out of mind" approach.

First world marketing problem. Many of the name brand hotel amenities aren't even the same formulations a consumer would buy off a retail shelf. A lot of the hotel shampoos are manufactured by Sysco and formulas are different than the brand name retail version because a hotel chain needs to handle a lot of different water conditions. Well, that and shampoo cleansing agents can be pretty cheap and the rest of the effective ingredients (moisturizers, humectants, silicones for slicking, alcohol, etc) impact cost.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/accorhotels-le-club-accorhotels/1683569-who-makes-toiletries-branded-hermes-sofitel.html

(Yes alcohol, no not the kind you'd drink) http://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/shampoo-ingredients

I wouldn't be surprised if Gilchrist and Soames onboard and the regular stuff RCL stocks (plus for that matter, Celebrity's non-suite amenities) are from the same manufacturer and supplier. G & S ingredients probably include a bit more expensive of a formula or nicer form of alcohol.

If your hair/skin isn't picky then by all means, use what is provided. If you paid a lot for your hair color or have picky hair/skin, then bring your own.

We used it recently, first time, and had my email hacked badly. Found out that is fairly common when the ships have all passengers that use it using the same access code, stupid on RCI's part

:( Did you also log into your e-mail on a ship's computer? Or any other website which might use the same username and password?

There are several ways to get your password without it being due to a shared login account. In fact, if one is going to steal passwords, why not steal them from many more people on the ship than one you might share login account with? (Though given the Internet package rates vs how much a single password is worth, one could argue the internet package nets them more practical usage unless the password is also used for banking)

Here's some good habits to have for using public computers

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-make-sure-public-computers-use-safe/

And public wifi

http://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/how-to-stay-safe-on-public-wifi-1779464400

If using a mobile/tablet, be sure to setup ssl with your mail clients

https://www.godaddy.com/help/enabling-email-with-ssl-on-your-iphone-4888

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/2751/~/enabling-ssl-for-your-email-on-an-android-device

RCL, to my knowledge, doesn't disable VPN client connections. Celebrity does/did which I wish would be revised since the satellite connections are much faster than they used to be. Plenty of work places use VPN and Celebrity often charges a good bit more than similarly charged Royal ship.

Basically, get a good VPN which doesn't keep logs of your data and enable it at any public wifi hotspot. If it VPNs won't work on that network, think again about using it. If you use a lot of social media, investment, or banking websites/apps, many have also enabled 2FA clients which validate "you are who you say you are" using a second authentication method, not just username & password, without access to internet/mobile network (kind of like the bank requires id and a key for accessing a safety deposit box). Think about getting a good password manager to help log which passwords go where, even if you are away from home.

Could you tell me what brand of tea they have in the windjammer and all the free places they serve coffee & tea? Do they have Twinning or The London tea company? Thanks, we're boarding on the 25th don't want to bring our own tea bags.

I see Twinnings English Breakfast in the Cruisecritic Anthem gallery for Cafe Promenade.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/anthem-of-the-seas-706/cafe-promenade-266329/cafe-promenade--v9687691/

The gallery also shows a hot water maker tap which saves me from water befouled by coffee urns.

Windjammer shows a similar setup

http://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/anthem-of-the-seas-706/windjammer-marketplace-184655/windjammer-marketplace--v9689287/

I saw the press release and they used an outside vendor, Accenture. They are a Fortune 500 company and a major digital services company with 33 billion in annual sales. They paid plenty for the mess they have on their hands.

 

It is very pretty, and very modern, including the modern UI that features "directed activity" to prevent you from doing more than one thing at a time. I hate the new UI designs and those of us in customer facing positions fight UI designers all the time about these things. The goal is to drive revenue, and NOT drive customers away.

 

I suspect they are having some very terse conversations right now with Accenture.

I'm guessing they paid for an upgrade for the customer interaction "look and feel" portion of the website and not the back end functionality. They got what they paid for, it just isn't the problem customers wanted solved. "The Celebrity site doesn't work well and I can't find anything" was not stating the UI was not intuitive enough, it meant that when you tried to add things, it always failed. Back end service changes can be intimidating for non-tech firms as they can be long term, very expensive, and the customer doesn't even SEE a change so there's no credit for spending a whole lot of money making things actually work.

This is going to be fun!

 

I love Anthem too and while you may be joking about the U.S. and its relationship to technology, I think there is some truth to it all! ;p Looking forward to the rest

Ahem Ahem. There's an easy way to solve this. Bring Anthem/Quantum-class to the West Coast and put up billboards about the speed tests for the wifi via satellite. I assure you, it is totally a selling point for anyone in a tech hub whose boss sees "Time off request - Cruise" in their inbox and has a minor melt down about lack of halfway decent internet access. Then just convert the Cafe Promenade to do some fancy coffee like pour over, raise the price 3x, and add more micro brews to the pub. Oh, and convert part of the buffet to vegan, vegetarian options, and add a surcharge for Solarium Cafe where they would offer acai and poke bowl bars.

You will be in the center of all the action for the America's Cup which could be a once in a lifetime experience. Give it a chance. You might be fascinated and there will be plenty to watch. :cool:

This is actually the third time I've inadvertently come across the Cup so I figured I'd finally go see it.

They are actually home based at the Dockyards. So right next to where the ship docks.

 

The course is in the bay, but the ferry should be able to run ok.

The public ferry and buses will be running as usual. America's Cup will also have private ferries running to/from St George on weekends and Hamilton to America's Cup Village with timed departures. I believe advance tickets are required.

Thanks for the review!

Interesting that they suggested moving BOGO to days 2/4 instead of sticking to 1/2. What time did you eat dinner at Chops and Wonderland? I'm glad the specialty restaurant head handled the situation well. How does one find the specialty restaurant head? I usually get officer contact numbers/names at Meet & Mingles during intros.

How would that help the OP? For some reason the OP already thought the luggage was on the pier - I'm not sure the ship side folks would do anything different.

Presumably you could go over to the promenade and try to locate it on shore, if it was left close enough to a smart phone with Tile installed or within bluetooth range. If it were my bag sitting on the pier (and as I said, I'm not quite rational about luggage) and I could "spot it" or determine general area it is in, then you can be sure I'd either be shouting like a fishwife to catch land crew's attention to have it stowed onto the ship or getting off the ship to grab their attention if it isn't too close to last call.

Have you thought about a bluetooth enabled luggage tracker like Tile? Cross packing and packing a change of clothing ok for dinner in a carry-on might also be prudent on future trips.

I'm paranoid and dislike the feeling of wondering if my luggage will arrive, though, so I travel carry-on only and bring my own luggage onboard. The tricky part is finding somewhere to park my carry-on if I board before the room opens. A library, lounge, or long lunch usually does the trick. I also tell the cabin steward that I didn't check any bags as they can get quite worried when the porter doesn't leave any suitcases at your door (opposite of your situation). If I'm going somewhere with long lines (some cruise terminals board exceedingly slowly or have long customs lines) then it is better to put heavy items in a wheeled bag to save my back and shoulders.

It would be wise for any seasoned travelers, including that plan to cruise from/to one of the metro NY area cruise ports to use real-time traffic apps, i.e. Waze or Google Maps to check & plan their primary and alternate travel routes, contingencies. Will get a taste of commuting & traveling today, heading into Manhattan later via bus & subway ... mostly on the LGA airport route, to see how the connections are doing.

Also wanted to chime in for CityMapper app for public transit.

I would buy ahead and fight them - with the printout from the website in hand! It says ANY coffee!

1) Fighting passengers over their morning caffeine is a bad idea. No one is going to win, here, except for the bean counter safely hidden in the bowls of the ship or executive at HQ whose break room has a top of the line free coffee/espresso machine. And possibly the infirmary when someone's soaring blood pressure while arguing about coffee punch cards makes it a health issue.

2) Is the profit really that different for one shot vs two? Should passengers really have to deal with this hassle (line up to buy card, remember to bring coffee card, wonder if they should have more or less coffee when they are used to a certain amount of caffeine) over a bottom line difference of < $.30? Just increase the price of the card by $0.50 per drink to allow for 16 oz or don't offer the card. Maybe give a frequent customer card instead. Pay 10, get 11th small coffee free.

Pathway or roads/highways to JFK Airport - that's a different chapter almost in itself - #sigh.

Ah, to make a long chapter short for a tourist - I was planning to take AirTran + Subway for JFK->Times Square-ish on a midweek morning in June, arriving around 8:30 am. Is that still the faster way to go?

I'd also planned on taking public transit from Manhattan to Port Liberty/Bayonne on a weekday morning and was planning on PATH+ Light Rail + Taxi/RideShare. Since NJT is impacted, should I grab the bus instead or just head out early? Would a half hour buffer be ok?

I travel light :)

Seems like a small binder clip or id pouch be a little easier than punching? A binder clip would be smaller to pack than a hole punch.

My employer issues similar badges which we can attach to lanyard or pull reels with an "Id Gripper" (also work provided) http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=id+gripper&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=id+gripper&_sacat=0

The ID gripper is quite sturdy. I'm sure something similar would work for the cheap low coercivity magnetic cards used by RCCL/Celebrity, too. Those demagnetize easily, though, so I always keep it in a specific pocket away from my gadgets. http://magicofmiles.boardingarea.com/2015/07/30/sneaky-secrets-why-your-hotel-key-card-stops-working/

We do this as well and for the same reason. We never worry about the steward but, sadly other passengers. We have traveled down the hallways before and seen doors open with no steward. If the steward steps out even for a minute anyone has access to your cabin. It does not take long to swipe a tablet or laptop laying out.

I've never had a problem in the cabin. Passports and Wallets go in safe. However my Ex hubby lost an IPad on disembarkation in our lounge we waited in. He accidentally left it behind, never to be seen again.

I also put electronics away in the safe or a bag. Passport, cash, spare credit cards, wallet, and keys go together in a brightly colored bag so I can quickly grab it from the safe. Also so something doesn't get forgotten under the mat.

No reason to tempt people walking by and also good to be neat for the cabin attendants. I'm tidier when I travel (except when actually packing/unpacking) than when I'm at home in my own space. I've walked by cabins which are... let's just say that the cabin attendant is so good at cleaning around stuff because he/she has to. I like to think of tidying as making their jobs easier and respecting their roles.

Also, I accidentally tip water/tea near my keyboard about once a year... I'd feel horrible if someone else accidentally did so and drenched my gadgets because I left them out.

I did an informal poll among friends and we've all lost things because of our own forgetfulness while traveling more than theft. In short, more stuff lost because it was our own fault. Putting things away properly helps avoid misplacing and forgetting things behind.

Theft does happen on cruise lines. All kinds of people get on a cruise ship.

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/tags/theft/

All of the above - politely asked Captains Club and Concierge for Milford Sound in NZ (Select level), been invited as sky suite perk in Puerto Rico (Select), and opened to everyone for Panama Canal transit.

Yes, I politely asked to be invited for Milford, Doubtful, and Dusky Sounds if there was space for three, at their discretion. I believe I also checked back once or twice to show my interest and excitement. It was a really wonderful experience.

@easyboy - Here's some experiences on flyertalk with luggage trackers: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/1425118-consolidated-luggage-tracking-solutions-trakdot-help-you-track-your.html

I don't personally have a trakdot as I choose to avoid checking bags by traveling light with a carry-on on the way there. On the way back, if I need a second bag, I will usually have packed a carry-on size fold out bag or will purchase a bag. Valuables will go onboard with me while things like dirty clothes will be in the checked carry-on.

Yes, there are some local things which can only be purchased while traveling but I try to choose to savor them while there as part of the experience. There's always shipping, too. I don't personally think the discount on globally available liquor, perfume, or cosmetics is worth the bother.

Luggage valet could use improved tracking since it is a third party? Or perhaps as a temporary solve, put a GPS enabled luggage tracker like TrackDot in your bags http://nerdtechy.com/best-luggage-tracking-locator-2016 so you can file an immediate loss report or locate it in port if needed.

And you might want to check out the Haven on NCL. Not quite the same as the Star Class, but you don't have to be in their highest suites to get full suite service. I keep reading this board because I'm tempted to try one of RCI's larger ships, but I haven't convinced myself to pull the trigger yet -- one of the main reasons is that I'd have to get a Star Class cabin to even have it come close to comparing to NCL's Haven.

Mistakes happen. It's a part of life.

It's how you handle the mistakes that really counts, and in this case, RCL is failing on all fronts.

From my small experience and observations, NCL is not good at post-care issues and change management. Unused NCL refundable OBC was actually refunded via check about a week after the sailing... RCCL/X has always been a prompt refund to credit card on file very soon after disembarkation. I prefer the credit card refund, even if it costs me some travel points.

I was on an NCL sailing after dry dock was extended by a day. A roll call member in Haven had the same communication run-around issues confirming the new sail date as non-Haven. I filed for promised hotel reimbursement but it took over two months for a check to be mailed (which I never received). Some B2B guests on that sailing hadn't gotten their promised OBC by the time the first sailing was complete nor any explanation of it would be applied to the second.

A friend's family was on NCL Star departing from Sydney to Auckland, where known Azipod issue happened and two Azipods went out. Definitely interested on how they will be executing the refunds and credits.

The truth is good customer service, especially in dedicated post care and change/crisis management, costs the company money. This is money that many lines would rather spend on your booking and on-board experience to maximize its effectiveness. I believe someone from the NCL Star schedule change thread pointed out Carnival does a reasonable job communicating changes but this is likely due to the PR nightmare that cost them significant bookings.

Thank You!

My Anthem summer 2017 sailing has

$8.99/day Voom Surf + Stream -1 Device - Picked this up

$48.00/day Deluxe Package Special Offer

$18.00/day Refreshment Package

$33 Chops Grille

There's a purple banner at the top of my page "The Sale Before You Sail. Up to 30% off Cruise Favorites. 72 hours..."

I was on the sailing right before yours. Nice to virtually see the onward trip.

Very thankful you were re-united with your suitcase of gifts. Did you really check the Playstation, VR, and Apple Watch?! Even locked & plastic wrapped, I would think it would not come out the other side with all original contents & unscathed. It is nice to think I'm being too cynical :)

We did the "Option 4b - Fort San Lorenzo, Gatun Locks, New Agua Clara Expansion Locks" tour with Roberto /Robtard's in Dec 2016. Our fantastic guide was Araminta. She was very knowledgeable and informative. Definitely one of the top guides on the many tours I've been on. Roberto had another tour and stopped by to introduce himself when our tours intersected. Either would be great guides if you are considering a Robtard's tour.

Tour route & notes:

We went to San Lorenzo first and had to take the car ferry over as the road from the locks to San Lorenzo was closed when we visited. There were various birds, monkeys, and coati/coatimundi. The panoramic view of the Chagres river meeting the sea was beautiful. It did take longer than scheduled to get there and back so be sure to use the restroom before you leave the ship if this is your route. The bathroom at the guard station is very basic. You might also want to ask for a quick snack pick up on the way there & have a large breakfast or to pre-arrange food stops as some people got pretty hungry by the time we got to our second stop, Gatun. There was a small food truck on the ferry side from Colon to San Lorenzo.

Gatun Locks tickets are not offered to the public this season and Roberto pre-purchased ours from one of the tour companies which does the ship tours. It offers a close up view of the canal. We saw the Coral Princess go through Gatun Locks. There was some very weak wifi at the top of the observation deck which I'd advise people to skip. No one was able to sign on and use it successfully. There were vending machines in there with shelf stable snacks, drinks, and even one with fresher sandwiches. The snack machine also offered sim cards from Movistar and +movil. It takes USD. It has a few flights of stairs to the tallest observation post but the bottom level had chairs about level with the locks. The bathrooms are also located on this level.

Agua Clara Visitor Center is the newer facility just a short drive away, though also longer than the bird flies due to how they've wound the road quite a bit up to the visitor center. The observation area is a covered outdoors area with a tiny bit of tiering in two long lanes which offers a more panoramic view than Gatun. There were floor mounted binoculars and I think some metal bench seating in the observation area. We saw the Creole Spirit LNG Carrier go through. There is a short movie in air-conditioned theater which explains the history of the locks in English and probably in a few other languages, though on different showings. The center also has is an open air snack bar and a restaurant. I overheard that both were quite over priced. The restaurant does overlook one of the lock entrances. The gift shop had some very standard tourist shopping and compared to a local stand at San Lorenzo. I thought San Lorenzo had a little more local flair and hand craft goods.

Both locks had announcers on microphones to provide stats about the ship in transit in English and Spanish. I think the male announcer at Gatun was at Miraflores the next day and he's pretty energetic, encouraging waving from both land visitors and passengers/crew.

Great tour overall. We arrived back later in the afternoon than we had anticipated due to the car ferry but plenty of time to stop in at Colon 2000 for shopping or a cafe stop. Our group members were very happy with the quality of the tour. A few members mentioned they'd have liked some food at some point, but as our tour was the first day they announced the road closure, it was an understandable omission.

Tour Amenities:

Roberto or Araminta had picked up plenty of bottled water before picking us up right as we crossed the street near the casino, before the shopping plaza (under the pedestrian overpass which wasn't in use). Our ship, Celebrity Infinity, had docked at Colon 2000. We had 14 members and a large well air conditioned mini-bus so every person had plenty of space.

Booking Process:

I mostly communicated with Roberto via e-mail and handled the bulk of the group organization myself on CruiseCritic roll call. He usually responded within a few days. He can also handle the tour registration.

Guides & Driver:

Both Araminta and Roberto were polite, friendly, and timely. Araminta was quite knowledgeable about the ecosystem and able to point out specific plants or trees. She used to work with Canadians on tour, absolutely fluent in English, and her diction was clear for those used to North American English. Good knowledge about the canal operations, too. Our mini-bus had a microphone & speakers so everyone could hear her while we toured.

Our driver was pretty good at spotting wildlife and pointed out many things I would have missed. He usually pulled up closer to entrances and exits before parking so we didn't need to walk very far. I felt safe with his driving.

Roberto wasn't our specific guide and I hadn't requested it. He seemed very amenable to feedback when he stopped by to introduce himself to our group. Roberto also e-mailed the canal schedule a day before our tour (on my request) so we could identify which ships we'd seen.

Panama SIM notes: Activating the movistar sim wasn't straightforward (it should have been, but required tweeting the @PanamaMovistar for help registering the credit properly). It worked for the morning going through the Colon canal area, lakes, and towards the tail end going towards Panama City. There was some LTE here and there. Movistar offers data packs for $3/525 MB or $5/3.2 GB. We had some nice weather going through the canal, though, and I was pretty busy running about the ship taking pictures. If I had planned better, I would have kicked off some picture uploads right when we got in from Colo and in the morning before we sailed into the Gatun Locks. We were out of range after leaving Colon and before heading back in the morning.

"I couldn’t understand why she was spending so much time with us. Paul later told me that he told her I was taking photos for a review I was doing. Then I understood. She didn’t realize that it was just for our little website" - Very humble, but I think the analytics would show you get a good amount of visits. I know I see plenty of ship menus on your site pop up in google search and I've even based our excursions off yours (like an upcoming one with Roberto).

Thanks so much for your thorough reviews! It helps me plan my own booked trips and sparks new wanderlust.

Could someone tell me how to find WiFi Calling on my Verizon iPhone 6s? I will actually be upgrading after Christmas to the 7. :)

 

Settings->Phone-> Wi-fi calling

Or go to Settings, pull down from middle of screen (not top for drawer/shade) for the search box, and type in calling. Search will bring it up.

I like the 2 in 1 OREI/Wonpro schuko adapter. It fits snugly in the socket (good for heavier wall warts & loose sockets). It accommodates a variety of plugs into the adapter so you can unplug whatever is already plugged in (usually two prong euro), plug that into the adapter, and still have another socket. It doesn't have to be 2 prong flat US NEMA or 2 prong Euro CEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#Types_in_present_use

https://www.google.com/search?q=orei+2+in+1+schuko&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X

More info https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CsCMWKujeY

I have used a collapsible box that I store in the fronts of the suit cases and put sock and underwear in them in the cabinets above the bed as there are no drawers in the side tables on the X. The other thing to bring is the fridge magnet holders for all paper work as the walls are steel.:):):)

I use packing cubes instead of collapsible box and I like using cubes to keep my suitcase organized (double duty). A nice shopping/gift bag would also do and I don't need to bring the bag home. Paper Management - I usually shuffle all the Celebrity provided binders/folders to a drawer and discard dailies each day. Reuse small envelopes and note cards for organizing receipts/extra gratuities, notes, etc. Papers which need to be saved can go into my phone with a "scanner" app or into the drawer.

One of the less usual items I bring is a half "page" of thin craft foam if the shower has wire baskets. My travel bottles never stand well on the wire slats and fall over. Cut some craft foam or embroidery plastic grid to fit the shower. Otherwise invert the Celebrity provided bottles and wedge the v into the grid to hold up your regular bottles. Pet peeve solved. Now I wish I could find a 100% foolproof way to get shower curtains to stop sticking to me other than going S or M AQ+ only :)