#4'smom

We are on the Dynamic Dining option on Anthem in May. We have been given a complimentary dinner for 2 in Chops Grille as a booking bonus from our travel agent.

1) Do I prebook the "free" dining restaurants ahead of time or wait until onboard?

2) Can I prebook the complimentary Chops Grille Or do I have to wait until onboard to get it at no charge? Maybe that comes in the form of OBC?

3). I'm also wanting to dine in Wonderland and I'm wondering what the charges are for it, Jamie's Italian, Chops & Izumi's.

4). My cruise planner has not made dining available yet however, there is a notation "get up to 40% off dining packages". What are the package prices?

Hi Lindsay,

Gosh, I hope the weather improves the further south you get!

I am wondering what the individual costs of Wonderland, Chops Grille, Jamie's Italian and Izumie's are? Also, could you tell me how much the 3 & 4 dinner packages are?

Thanks and be safe.

Can anyone recommend an economical way for our group of 12 to get from Cape Liberty to downtown NYC (specifically the Hilton Garden Inn near Times Square)? We don't mind taking multiple vehicles, if that is more economical.

Thank

We are using Angel Express Transportation for our group of 8 in May. I found them through Groupon and Jason's response to all my questions was almost immediate. We are using them for transportation from hotel to ship, ship to NYC & NYC to Newark airport. Their cost was considerably less then the New York based transportation companies.

After I worked out the cost of Hudson Bergen Light Rail, Path tickets and 2 cabs for 8 people from the port to the light rail station and then the Path final stop in NYC to our hotel, it wasn't worth all the hassle. Especially with luggage!

https://www.facebook.com/angelexpresstransportation/

My suggestion is 1240. Here why. When i was waiting for my dad to do the ifly, since i got denied because of injury few months ago. There a group doing the ifly, then a group waiting for their turn to get into the tunnel and third one watching the video and getting suited up. This way you have time to transverse and get into position to film.

Thanks very much, I will change 4 of them to 12:40pm

Ifly tip separate your time if you plan to film or take picture. There is no camera allow inside the tunnel area even if you are sitting down waiting for your turn.

Thanks for the tip on the Ifly. We currently have 8 booked for 12pm, so I will reschedule us into 2 groups of 4. I see that booking times are increments of 20 minutes apart. My question is if I book the 2nd group at 12:20pm will that allow them time to take the photos and videos of the first group or should I book them at 12:40pm? I'm not sure how they rotate everyone into the tunnel area where cameras aren't allowed.

Package price for 8 people/8 luggage:

Pre-cruise transfer from Country Inn & Suites to Port

Post-cruise transfer from Port to Manhattan

Transfer from Manhattan to Newark airport

$400.00 all-inclusive - Tips, Tolls & NJ Sales Tax

I was wondering if anyone has heard of or used this company before? I found them on Groupon and their roundtrip rates are very good for Newark to Manhattan.

Wondering if u did the Family Challenge or if u ever found any reviews on it?

Thanks everyone for your replies and letting me know that our original plan will be too rushed. Now that I know how to maneuver the island and all the transportation options, I think we will decide what we're going to do there the evening before. Jump on the ferry to Hamilton or shuttle/bus to beach.

We are arriving at Kings Wharf on the Anthem of the Seas in May from 8am - 4pm. We are a family of 8 adults and want to take a walk around Hamilton for a few hours in the morning and then go to Horseshoe Beach for a few hours. What would be our best options for transportation from the port to Hamilton and then Hamilton to the beach for a group our size?

Does anyone know which Pinot Grigios are served on Anthem under in the Select Package (up to $8) and the Premium Package (up to $12)?

"There was no free or pay for service shuttle to the port so we used uber. Our driver arrived at 0936 and we were at the port at 1004 but there was traffic and it took a bit to get dropped off. Our fare was less than $25."

Was your Uber vehicle big enough to carry 8 Adults? I've never used Uber and have no idea how it works but I sure like the price you paid. We are staying at Country Inn and Suites and they offer a shuttle service but it's 17.50 per person.

"January 3, 2016 - Left Country Inn and Suites (getting a little run down) at about 10:30am using Independent Driver (EXCELLENT and cost efficient)...will share information if needed."

Could you tell me who you used for transport from CI&S to the port please? I need a ride for 8 people and nervous about getting seats on the hotel shuttle.

Lots of questions - please answer.

1). Exact dates - May 14-18? Yes

2). Flying in and out of Newark- what are you doing precruise? Yes and staying @ Country Inn for 1 night

3). How many rooms do you need for 8 people and what bed configuration? Are sofa beds an option? 1 Queen Room & 1- 2 Queen Suite with Sofa Bed booked at San Carlos

4). Can you manage your luggage? Would accessible public transit be an option? Yes, we could manage luggage, if the route was easy

5). What is the cost of the Hoboken rental? $1975.00

6). What are your sightseeing objectives in NY? Are you all sticking together or will some folks be doing things independently. Yes, sticking together. We'll be focusing on New York....

7). All the financial details of your options would be helpful. San Carlos: $4175.00usd Dial 7: $510.00usd (2 trips) VS House: $1975.00usd Private 15 Passenger Van: $150.00usd (2 trips)

 

My preference would be to see you try to find something in the Newport area of Jersey City because of the more flexible transportation options via PATH and light rail and the overall ambiance.

 

PATH map - http://www.panynj.gov/path/maps.html

Hudson Bergen light rail - https://www.njtransit.com/pdf/LightRail/sf_lr_hblr_map.pdf

Thank you 138east for replying, I was really hoping you would. Months ago I looked at the hotels in the Newport area but thought for the small cost difference between there and San Carlos, we would stay in Manhattan. However, that was months ago when our Canadian $ was doing much better. Now we have to add 40% extra to all trip costs.

Within our family, 6 of us have been to New York before. I am not concerned about daytime commuting, its the late evenings that I'm worried about. So far our evening activities are as follows: Comedy Cellar & School of Rock.

Are you familiar with the Hoboken area that the house is located in?

We are a family of 8 adults sailing on Anthem in May. I have booked 2 rooms at San Carlos for 4 nights post cruise. When I contacted Dial 7, they quoted me over $500.00 to take us from Cape Liberty to San Carlos and then San Carlos to Newark airport? So hotel and transportation added up to $4500.00.

Tonight I came across a 4 bedroom house rental in Hoboken around Central Ave & 16th Street and they offer their own 15 passenger van shuttle service at a much more reasonable rate. I'm told that the bus is 2 blocks away at a cost of $3.00 per person one way to Manhattan Bus Transit Authority.

The house option would save us nearly $2000.00 (which would cover a lot of Anthem drink packages) 😜.

I'm wondering if anyone could tell me if this area is as convenient to Manhattan as it seems? Is it a safe area?

Thank you everyone for your responses. If we book Blu again, I will most likely mention to the waiter or hostess when we have reservations in other restaurants.

We sailed on Infinity in November for 15 nights in Aqua Class. It was our first time dining in Blu and loved it. However we probably only dined there 1/2 of the time as we enjoy breakfast on our balcony and some dinners we ate in specialty restaurants with people we met onboard, had the buffet and 2 nights we ate in the cabin as DH wanted to watch the Patriots game.

One night 1/2 way through the cruise, the lovely hostess came and asked us if our Blu dining experiences had been good because she noticed we hadn't been there every evening. We quickly assured her that everything was great and that we are very relaxed cruisers and diners. The last evening onboard we ate in the Tuscan Grille.

Each time we dined in Blu we had the same waiter who was friendly, funny, attentive and very charasmatic. He always made us feel special and often made us laugh. However, on the last morning before disembarkation we dined there for breakfast and he was a completely different person! We waited 15 minutes for an acknowledgement that we were there and finally my DH asked another waiter for coffee. When he finally came he didn't say hello, barely uttered a word through the order process and then walked away? When he brought the meal he pluncked it down in front of us and walked away without a word. We had to ask the other waiter for more coffee again. We were so shocked by his complete personality change but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and chose to think that he was either having a bad morning or was preoccupied with preparing for the new cruisers to come. We called him over and discretely gave him our extra tip envelope and we barely got a "thanks" before he turned around and walked away. It was really strange how different he was and I can honestly say it did bother us a lot. :eek:

Since I've been home I've have wondered if it's possible that we inadverently made a faux pau by not dining there more often and/or could we have offended our waiter by dining in TG on the last night and not in Blu. I would love to hear from more experienced Aqua Class cruisers, if they have found that there is an expectation to dine in Blu often? We will probably sail Aqua again and I would hate to possibly make a mistake again....

Thank you 138east for answering all of my questions. I was able to book the CI under an AAA rate of $165.00 + Tax and no prepay. I will take your advise and call them regarding their Port shuttle and cab pricing. I see that the CI is very close to The Mills at Jersey Gardens, which I know my daughter and 2 daughters in law would love to visit! Is the shopping here just as good as in NYC?

I have looked at the hotels in Jersey City and am still considering them also. I also came across the Dharma Home Suites at Exchange Place & at Paulus Hook that look nice and will give us lots of room to spread out. Our plan is to head off early each morning to sightsee, return to the hotel for a short afternoon rest and then off to Broadway, Comedy Cellar, evening harbour sail & TS in the evenings. I need to do some calculations because after adding in all the PATH and subway fares for 7, it may be just as cheap and convenient to stay in NY. Does the PATH system run 24/7 from NY to Newark?

If we stay in Jersey City, we are also considering renting a van or couple of cars when we get off the ship and heading down to Six Flags for the day. My kids are roller coaster fanatics. However Coney Island may serve as good. Do you know if there are any car rental agencies close to the port?

We are taking our 5 adult children on Anthem on May 5th 2016. We're flying into Newark on the 4th and have 2 rooms booked at Country Inn in Elizabeth. When I booked this hotel I thought they had free airport pick up but now I see it is only a drop off shuttle?

Taking into account we will need transportation for 7 from Newark airport to Country Inn and from CI to Port Liberty. Is this hotel a good choice as far a location, transportation costs and ease? If not, should I be looking for something closer to the airport?

After the cruise we will be spending 4 night in New York. I'm still looking for a hotel that won't "break the bank" as we are paying for all of the rooms, LOL! I am going to contact Carmelo and Dial 7 for transport quote from port to NYC. However, if we wanted to take public transport is my understanding correct that we would need to take a cab to Newark Penn Station, take the PATH to NYC Penn Station and then subway to hotel?

We are sailing Infinity in 3 weeks on November 20th and wondering if MUTS will be open by then?

Member123, that's great news about Global Entry coming to Port Everglades. Hopefully we will be able to use ours in December 2015..

After reading these posts, I'm nervous about making our 12:20pm flight from FLL on a Saturday from Infinity Panama Canal sailing!:eek:

DH and I are travelling with our 5 adult children from Vancouver, Canada in May 2016 to sail the Anthem of the Seas. We plan to spend 4 nights in New York beforehand. We are springing for the accommodations and would need 3 hotel rooms or preferably a 3/4 bedroom condo.

Is there somewhere in New Jersey that would be safe and convenient to Manhattan and Cape Liberty? We plan to go to comedy clubs in the evening so does staying in New Jersey work with the subway system?

Thank you for responding to my post. Which tours did u do with Odyssey?

I thought about posting on the Costa Rica board but I see it doesn't receive a lot of attention so felt this was my best option.

We booked our November 2015 Infinity Panama Canal cruise nearly a year ago with a US TA. At the time, we got an excellent price of $2749.00USD for 15 nights in AQ class with drink package, prepaid gratuities and $700.00 OBC included. Our final payment went through the other day and the balance of $5250.00USD went to $7202.00CAD! OUCH

So now we are left with a choice, we can dwell on the awful exchange rate and kick ourselves that we didn't pay it off earlier (if we'd only had that crystal ball to predict the economy) OR we can rejoice in the extra perks we got included along with the extra Airmile points we gained on our credit card because of the increase!.... "Sometimes you have to make Lemonade out of Lemons...."

Fast forward to our May 2016 family cruise for 7 cruise, that we are treating our adult kids to and the deposits have been made. USD for Cruise fare, shore excursions, drink packages and pre cruise hotel rooms and tours in New York City! We're thinking now of paying the online TA cancellation penalty and booking an All-Inclusive somewhere for a heck of a lot cheaper!!!:eek:

Lets keep our fingers crossed things improve in the near future!