EmTeeNesters

WOW! I must be on a totally different ship right now. Yes on day one when people came on board (whom I will refer to as “slobs”). The ship did look bad. There was a table set up with the cigarettes and a group of “slobs” came along and put there dirty half eaten pizza dishes, coffee cups and empty drink glasses on the counter. Turn around folks Sorrentos is right behind you, put your dirty stuff there, drink glasses on the elevator floor, half eaten plates of food perched on the garbage pails, etc. the cleaning crew was out in full force. The Anthem is a beautiful ship and is clean. Last night in Coastal kitchen the waiters would wipe down the chairs and tables as diners left. Again I say the ship is very well maintained it’s just the “slobs”

If there is noro onboard, the staff clean clean clean! We have see it in the past. They wipe down surfaces everywhere! It's an all of a sudden change - you cannot miss the difference if you are somewhat observant. And the "washy washy" personnel are more insistent.

Another option that we use: Have a trusted family member do the check in from home at the appointed time. We do this regularly for each other when on cruises.

"As a benefit of Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club membership in Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society, you will receive equivalent recognition in Celebrity Cruises' Captain's Club and Azamara Club Cruises’ Le Club Voyage. If you are currently a member of each loyalty program, you will automatically receive benefits based on your membership level between each. For instance, if you are a Crown & Anchor Platinum or Emerald member and a Captain's Club Classic member, you will be automatically be entitled to the Select level in the Captain's Club and Explorer in Le Club Voyage . If you are a Diamond or Diamond Plus member; you will automatically receive equivalent recognition as a Captain's Club Elite member and Discoverer in Le Club Voyage. The benefits of the programs will stay independent, and the number of sailings a member accrues on each brand will not be combined. You will earn the Cruise Credit or Cruise Point for the brand you are sailing as long as you are a member of that brand's loyalty program.

If you are a Captain’s Club Select or Le Club Voyage Explorer member, then you will receive Platinum benefits if you sail on a Royal Caribbean ship. If you are a Captain’s Club Elite or Discoverer in Le Club Voyage, then you will receive Diamond benefits for the Crown & Anchor Society.

If you are a Platinum, Diamond or Diamond Plus member in the Crown & Anchor Society but not a member of the Captain's Club or Le Club Voyage and plan on sailing on Celebrity Cruises or Azamara Club Cruises, respectively, call the Loyalty Service Center at (800) 526-9723 to enroll for equivalent recognition. And please remember to provide your Membership Number whenever you reserve a cruise vacation to receive all the benefits you deserve."

We also use the ship's phones (located in lobbies, near elevators, etc) to call the room and leave a voice mail if change of plans or locations. It can be helpful if someone is looking for you.

Which sailing are you on? You may want to post your situation on your sailing's roll call and see if someone might help. Perhaps you could trade services if they need photos too.

If you can't book online or if it's full when you try booking onboard - your other option is to find out what times it runs and wait at the door and do a standby/walk on when others don't show. It worked for us and others. Have fun!

Use the hotel's stapler. We've done this several times and there was no problem.

I have an "original" band from the Quantum without the muster station printed on it. Last year on the Anthem, they reprogrammed it for that cruise. My husband upgraded his to the muster variety (but with a better band type). Are you saying that they won't reprogram either for this year's cruise?

On our sailing (early Dec), breakfast and lunch (sea days) were in the Grande.

 

Hi Devon :)

 

For (My Time) dining aboard Anthem, passengers (with reservations) go to American Icon, passengers (without reservations) go to Silk. Traditional dining passengers use Grande & Chic. Hope this helps, have a terrific day!

 

On our recent sailing (early December), MTD diners could choose either Silk or American Icon with (or without) reservations. You could change every night if you wanted.

Probably our only meal in the MDR:

 

We were on the Anthem last sailing (7 day Bahamas) and ate MyTime in the MDR on all dinners. This menu is different than any we had. Very interesting.

Read here on CC they where starting to charge for this. Did you have to pay to do this? Thanks for your help.

No charge on the Anthem - yet. :rolleyes: My sister just sailed on the Harmony - it was $8.99 there.

Just off the 7 day Anthem. Book the Escape Room as soon as you get on the ship. We tried after the Muster Drill and it was booked solid! We were put on a wait list, but don't hold your breath.

So.... We found out that it occurs at 10:30, 12:30, 2:30, and 4:30 on sea days. 12 ppl per session. Would not run with less than 6. The room is not easily located - it is near the SeaPlex desk. Just ask.

We did a standby, kept our fingers crossed for no shows, and got in on the second day!

It was fun! We were out in 41 minutes. Record is 34 minutes we were told.

Which means you really have MTD but that the planner has not been updated. You should make reservations for a few nights and then once you get a feel for how things go on the ship, you can book the rest of the nights.

With a party of 10 - first try to get all changed to DD Classic and link the reservations. If Classic is not available and you end up with DD Choice, book all your meals as soon as available; and if you need to - then make any adjustments onboard.

Read my previous post. If you want to sit together - have all the booking numbers and have one party book them together. It will update all the others calendars on their bookings. Another tip, book one date at a time. Otherwise, they may not take all together and you will have to start all over again. Or just call RCCL to do it. Good luck.

jessed, Does your online cruise planner say Dynamic Dining Classic or Dynamic Dining Choice?

We are on the 12/9/16 sailing which is affected. There are two options: Dynamic Dining Classic and Dynamic Dining Choice. Classic is similar to traditional dining - one early seating, one later. Choice is similar to My Time Dining where you book your times each day (or not). If you have Classic, make sure your bookings are linked so you will be assigned to the same table. If you have Choice and cannot get it changed to Classic, it is easy to book the reservations together if you know the booking numbers.

Hope this helps.

We had a similar issue until we refreshed/cleared history. It appeared to be a cached site.

Is Classic Dining input by our TA in advance - or - online when the dining reservations are finally available?

Do you know if they can reprogram a WOW band that we have from a previous cruise so it can work on a current sailing?

Just back from the 6/1/16 Caribbean Princess sailing where we were diverted from Le Havre to Zeebrugge due to the transportation workers' strike.

This is what we found: At the port of Zeebrugge - there is a free shuttle to the end of the pier (it is very large and industrial and walking is not allowed in the port area) or you can pay 10Euro pp R/T to Blankenberge from a bus located on the pier.

If you decide to take the free shuttle, you will be dropped off at the end of the pier - if you walk to the right you can get to the tram station which is a short walk away - look for the traffic light - about 1000 feet away +/-. (You will pass an interesting Russian submarine that you can pay to tour - DH liked this.) Across from the tram station is a store (SPAR) and they will sell you the tram tickets - 3Euros one way or 6Euros R/T to Blankenberge - or 8Euros for a day trip. She spoke English and was very helpful. Blankenberge has sand dunes, beaches, piers, lots of shops (mmmm Chocolate!), some festivals going on. Very nice town.

Also, at the end of the pier was a bus shuttle to Bruges for 20Euro pp R/T which they said ran hourly. Taxis were available to go to Bruges for 50Euro one way.

Lee Childers is the cruise director.

We were on that 6/1 cruise. Weather was pretty amazing for most, if not all ports. Was a little cool in the early AM and warmed up nicely. We did not pack for a polar expedition (lol), but layered and that worked well during the 10 day cruise.

The Santuary was not used much. In our wanders, We saw maybe one person there. They appeared desperate and gave us a nice tour, but being a port intensive cruise in that area of the world - there was no problems finding chairs and quiet locations if that is what you are looking for.

Greenock is a lovely port with a nice reception area. They were very accommodating. Free wifi and free tours, nice shops for souvenirs, places to sit, lots of info, etc). And there was an Aldi a block away - in case you're curious as to what the locals carry in their stores and their prices. (They do not refrigerate their eggs which are sold 15 to a pkg instead of a dozen as we are accustomed to in the States, etc.).

Princess offers a bus transfer from the port to Dublin it's quite inexpensive

and drops you at a centrally located place.

Do you recall the cost for this? Thx!

Wow great advice! We don't have the park pass but plan on getting one soon. How do you get the partial refund from Princess if you have one?

We went to the main desk at the Princess Denali Lodge with our National Park Pass and they gave the partial refund to us there. (We had upgraded to the Tundra Wilderness Tour before our cruisetour - which we would highly recommend.)

In Juneau, I second heading to the Mendenhall Glacier -- one that includes entrance into the visitor's center. The tour we took from the ship included it and the one that we took from town did not. We didn't even assume that would have been the case. It was still a great tour but glad our first trip up there included it.

There are quite a few tours offered to Mendenhall Glacier from town that are cheaper than the ship's. They are essentially very similar and include round trip bus transportation that is very flexible.

If you have a U.S. National Park Pass, you can get free access to the visitor's center. Otherwise, it is just a few dollars per person.

(P.S. The National Park Pass is just $10 for a lifetime pass for age 62+. You can get it at any National Park - i.e. Denali - or by mail. Also, if you have one, you can get a partial refund from Princess - if booking one of the Denali tours on their land tour. It's good for up to 4 ppl in a party.)

A few years back as we were going through security at the NYC port during embarkation, my husband emptied his pockets and put his cell phone into one of those gray bins. It was crazy busy but after gray bin went through the X-ray machine, I noticed the guy in front of us pick up his own stuff (including his own cell phone), then reach over and palmed my husband's cell phone. No, not accidental! I told my husband who had been distracted and he confronted the man. "Sorry man - thought it was mine."

The other sad part of this is that we had to see him around the ship all week long. Grrrr!