irelandvegas

10 hours ago, Virtopia said:

Thanks for this live reporting - I'm on the 1/31 sailing and barring any last minute complications, I'm looking forward to my return to cruising. My last sailing ended December 2019 so it's been a long time coming!! Also, I've never been on Anthem before so it will be nice to have all this time to explore a new ship.

Exactly the same in all counts!   Excited but a bit cautious.  Again thanks Piper and everyone currently aboard.  

Piper, Did you make your dinner reservations in st. Marten ahead of time or that day?

I confess I have read all the pages and it’s been AWESOME!  Please take good care of Anthem until we board on the 31st.  

How the sailing weather and water conditions? Getting warmer? Seas still rough?

2 hours ago, PiperHolliday said:

 

Apparently, tuxedo rentals should be arranged ahead of time via this website:

 

https://tuxedorentals.rccl.com/tuxedo/tuxrental.nsf

That’s super helpful, thank you Piper!   

Piper, Thanks for taking time to keep us posted, its greatly appreciated. We will be sailing Jan 31st and are getting excited!   IF by any chance, you see if Tuxedo Rentals are available, that would make me even more grateful! I know its not always listed in the Compass, and increasingly over the years its just a phone call and they come up and measure etc.   Thanks in advance!    

Just a great topic and thanks to all who have contributed!    

Does anyone know the release date of May 2020 NJ cruises?  Did I read Dec 17?  

I have asked before for speculation, feel free to if you have information.  We hope for Voyager class or above and are looking for a Bermuda/ San Juan type route.  Am I the only one not really excited about the Coco Cay pay to play stop the seems to be the future?

edited for poor typing skills..

A social media page yesterday claims that Adventure will be out of Bayonne replacing Anthem when she goes to Southhampton.  Anyone confirm this?  It says she will follow the five night Bermuda 9 Night Bermuda/ St. Marteen that seems typical out of NJ.   It further says in April but lists late May in the details.   Any knowledge or speculation on this matter?  We hope to sail out of NJ in May and would like the longer southern route if possible.  I can't find it to copy it here, but seemed knowlegeble and credible.   

I hope Royal opens the booking for May 2020 soon, seems that mid December is the best guess. 

Thanks for all the help, great threat!

We hope to sail Anthem out of NJ late spring of 2020. Reading this, it seems that the April dates are the last. Is there a chance they will publish May dates , then TA to Southhampton? We would like to do the longer Bermuda-St Marteen- San Juan-Labadee route if possible. Is there a chance that the replacement ship will make that run in May?

Thanks!

Just a self indulgent thought here: our April 16 Navigator cruise has labadee as the first stop, then San Juan the next day at 2pm. How about arriving earlier and a longer day in Puerto Rico ?

Any thoughts?

The Columbia restaurant can get fairly busy between the tourists and the locals. I believe the take reservations, so that might be something to do beforehand.

I booked a table on Open Table a while ago. No flamenco show on Sunday night but the food really looks good!

Boarding the ship at Tampa is pretty straightforward. It's a nice terminal and we've had very few issues there. The biggest crowds seem to be between 11 and 1.

Great to hear that. Bayonne NJ was our best, and Galveston just seems plagues with issues (fog often, poor layout for drop off and a bizarre line through security)

If the Park Café is open on the first day I would eat there versus the Windjammer. The WJ gets very crowded on embarkation day.

We will be there early and Park Cafe sounds great, WJ is often more jammer than we need.

DarthGrady and others,

This is a great post and love the photos and comments. We are sailing April 21st on Brilliance. This is our first sailing on a non voyager class ship since 2007 on EOS. Your photos have helped me remember some of the details from EOS, cousin to BR. We normally spend a lot of time at the English pub in the promenade and may miss the people watching. The last five voyager class cruises have been balcony cabins, this will be our first ever interior as we realize were not using it enough to justify the expense. New departure port, new ship class, renovated features for the first time, new cabin type, we are very excited!

The roll call for that sailing is the quietest I have ever pre-sailed on. Maybe the group isn't tech savvy, it's surprising compared to our last roll calls.

I have a few questions you may be able to answer. First time for us to have a shower with the curtain. We are used to the "bank tube" showers and have read a few comments about water on the floor and other issues with the curtain. Any specific suggestions? I will pack according to your advice.

We plan on touring Clearwater beaches the day before and The Columbia for dinner the night before via rental car. We over night in St Petersburg after the cruise, any suggestions?

Any particular suggestions for BR venues or activities. Any boarding tips/time frames you use?

Thank you for your responses and advice,

Irelandvegas.

This was fun to watch, thank you.

So, not to hijack your thread, but I was wondering since you worked for RCI, maybe you could tell me what these are for? I have seen them on many ships, and asked the question on another thread. After 8000 plus views, I still don't know the answer. Maybe you know?

Thanks,

Ok, here is my theory, They are "patches" where the rubberish decking material has failed. Making them the same color would not match due to sun fade etc, so they put down somehing that seems decorative. I noticed some on Voyager and then more the next year. Or, they are landing marks from small alien craft............

IrelandVegas