cruisingpluto

I have the same question and also wondering where the ship is.  It's strange how it just disappears.  I'm guessing it is probably doing an all Asia/China itinerary and only residents of those countries can book it?  Perhaps through local travel agencies/tours etc.

I was on the Bellissima this past April and wanted to do a back to back, but couldn't find another itinerary in May.

@Kelownabccan  @peder I might be able to help.  I am from NY and just did the 10 night Japan + Korea itinerary on the Bellissima this past April.  I have also sailed on the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn.

The Bellissma and Meraviglia are sister ships so the ships were basically the same.  The only difference were the ports, the fabulous Japanese chef that made delicious Japanese food and additional Asian guests.  There were a lot of non-Asian guests too.  Cruising out of NY, the sailings here are also diverse so it felt like a sailing that could have been out of NY.

Some quick answers:

• The entertainment wasn't any different and did not cater to Asian people.
• The service (restaurants, buffet, room attendants, reception, sales etc.) were all the same.  It's just like what we're used to in the US.  I've been on many cruises out of the US.  This was my first Asian itinerary.  All of the staff are international just like what we're used to/have seen here in the US so everyone speaks English.
• Announcements were made in English and Japanese.
• Western food was very poor on the Bellissima in the dining room/buffet.  This has nothing to do with the itinerary being in Asia.  It was more the people in charge of the food that either didn't care or didn't know.  The fries and burgers were great in the buffet though.  The fresh mozz was also nice and readily available/fresh on the Bellissima.  Pizza was pretty good.  They hired a Japanese chef and the Japanese food was very very good.  I love Japanese food so this was a huge plus.
• Western food on the Mera was very good and exceeded my expectations and on par with my go to cruise line - Royal Caribbean/Celebrity.  Fries were weak and no readily available fresh mozz.  Pizza was great and just like a traditional NY slice.
• Hardly any people gambling in the casinos on the Bellissima.  There weren't many people gambling on the casino on the Mera either, but definitely more than the Bellissima.
• Passengers on the Bellissima were very nice, complete opposite of the crowds we are used to on the typical Caribbean/Bahamas/Mexico/Bermuda sailings.

Let me know if you have any specific questions since I am unsure what to tell you to help you decide if you want to book one of their Asian itineraries.  So while the Western food sucked in the dining room/buffet on the Bellissima, I loved the ease of being able to sail around Japan, visiting new places, and visit beautiful Jeju and the nice passengers.  I am doing another Japan + Korea itinerary next year on the same ship.  It looks like MSC changed up some of the ports so the ship will be visiting some new places!  It will also sail out of Tokyo instead of Yokohama.  The Bellissima one I did sailed out of Yokohama.

Hello all! Just wanted to provide an update.  I am back from my cruise!  Off the ship today.  I was able to board okay and also come back okay with my passport.  My passport is set to expire in June.  Thank you everyone for your help!  I did not bring my birth certificate with me, just the passport.  

Thank you everyone!!!  Appreciate the responses.  Happy holidays.

Thank you OP for asking this question.  I also have a similar question. 

I am going on the Jan 16 Anthem sailing and it is stopping at the same exact ports.  The only difference is that my passport is going to expire about 5 months after we get back to Bayonne so I won't have the 6 months needed.  I can bring my US birth certificate and driver's license and also passport, but wondering if I should do a passport renewal rush in case.  I was hoping I could use my current passport and not need to do the rush.  Has anyone boarded with a passport that expired less than 6 months recently?  

This is the itinerary.  What do you guys think?  I've never sailed with a birth certificate before so I'm a bit concerned, more so about being allowed to board.  Thank you all in advance.

Cruise departs from Bayonne, NJ and stops at:

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Philipsburg, St. Maarten 

St. Johns, Antigua

Castries, St. Lucia

Basterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

and Returns to Bayonne, NJ

@nivek82 What was the reason for not being able to use your balcony discount?   

Oh haha, I guess I got confused when you mentioned it in your first post.  They need to bring that back.  

They still do Diamonds in December?  I haven't heard that in forever.  What was the promo?  1 point total?  

Thank you very much @mking8288 @dexdddAppreciate the response.  

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know what type of tv's are on the ship?  Has anyone been successful plugging in an hdmi cable?

Thanks.

How long has it been taking for people that did the "link a missing cruise"? Assuming there's still a back log?

I just registered my account for access on the new site. It says my account takes 24 hours to reflect my info. It's been more than 24 hours, granted it's the weekend so maybe it takes longer? How long did it take for everyone to get access?

From reading the thread, it looks like quite a few here are having issues with their accounts accurately reflecting their status and points. I haven't gotten that far yet since my account doesn't even reflect my c&a number yet. The only thing I see is my future cruise that I have booked.

Should I give rccl a call? Is there a dept I should ask for? Internet services? Thanks in advance!

Hi Radio! Looking forward to your review. I will be sailing with you on this ship as well! Looks like I just missed the Anthem. I was driving around 7pm and didn't see the ship in port yet.

I'm still trying to find out of a gold m life holder still gets 0% casino cash withdrawals on board, and nobody seems to know :(

I can confirm mlife gold and platinum gets the fee waived.

Thanks Keasel. That link has the perks for what a rccl member would get at an mlife property. Great to have! That link is the link that appears when you login to your c&a and click in the mlife section. I'm glad that still works!

I'm looking for the benefits mlife members get on rccl. That is the link that doesn't work anymore =(

Puzzle Break/Escape Room. :)

Hi Merion_Mom! Since you are mentioning escape the room, does that mean this is still offered on the Anthem? Do you know where we sign up - via app or somewhere else once we get on the ship?

Also, does anyone know if there are any stores that sells electronics on the ship? I tried looking at the shops list, but it wasn't very helpful. I know on Celebrity, they have a store that sells some electronics like apple products, beats headphones etc. Is something similar available on the Anthem?

Thank you!

Thanks for the link above. I clicked into the rccl section and when you click into learn more, it says sorry the page isn't available. I guess rccl took down the page with the perks. If anyone knows what perks we get, if you can please post. I think there's some internet, backstage tour, but not sure what else.

Does anyone know if all of the tvs on the anthem are samsung? I tried doing a search for photos and saw a thread where someone mentioned Samsung as well. I also found posts that said the tvs are mounted, but it swings out. I also saw posts that said the tvs don't swing out. I guess it depends on the stateroom whether they swing out or not? I'm planning to hopefully use the hdmi. Thanks.

Thanks! I am going to call back tomorrow. It was very frustrating tonight =(

I tried =( No luck. They were like what? It's okay. I'll keep calling back. I need them to apply my diamond balcony discount. They don't understand what that is and keeps saying it's not applicable to my booking.

Thanks though.

Thanks Clarea. Any tips to reach a us call center? I don't need a direct number.

Sorry to bring an old thread back up. Does anyone have a number to reach the US Call Center? I keep getting the Guatemala Call Center and they're no help. I tried during regular business hours too and no luck. I also tried dialing #9 above and no luck either. Thanks in advance.

It does. Maybe just a different design/flyer? Just reread the second link, there is an effective date of 3/16/13 in it.

Thanks.

Do you think there was another change in 2013? I found this link searching in the forum. In the fine print, there is a 5/29/13 date.

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/NextCruise/13033003a_NextCruise_OpenBooking_Form_US.pdf

Maybe the mods could let us create a sticky so we can put all the the Next Cruise info in there since I'm sure a lot of us still have some laying around.

Clarea! Thanks so much!!! I appreciate you taking out time to answer my many questions.

I found another Next Cruise Certificate that I didn't use yet! This time, CS was able to find it in their system. Turns out I bought one in December 2012 too. Do you know if what you said in your previous post applies to my December 2012 Next Cruise Certificate too? I'm thinking yes?