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9 Night NE/Canada Anthem Cruise - Sept 22 - PreCruise Excitement...

Emdancer11

By Emdancer11,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Emdancer11

Emdancer11

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And we'll see how this goes from there! I'm starting this with the intention of following through to a complete "review" or walk-through of our vacation, but we have a lot going on besides the cruise right now so please be patient and forgive me if I have to quit before I'm done! :eek:

 

Today marks just 11 days to embarkation! The anticipation of cruising is *almost* as fun as the cruise itself, and this one is no exception, but we have a big move happening before & after this vacation, so my brain is going crazy! We can't wait to board Anthem at Cape Liberty next Thursday and RELAX after what I know is going to prove to be a stressful couple of weeks.

 

My family is DH (30), me (27), and DS (1.5), and we are traveling with my mom and dad (not posting their ages out of respect :p). We try to do a vacation each year with them, but haven't done a cruise for a few years because we got a little tired of the same Caribbean ports. We actually booked this cruise right after our last vacation together in northern California about a year ago, and are really looking forward to the NE and Canadian ports. My parents will be staying in a Grand Loft Suite and we will be a few doors down in a balcony room on the 8th floor. It'll be interesting to hear what their thoughts are of the genie and other Star Class perks. And to see how we, as their traveling companions, are affected by them (if at all). I should mention, we begin with no expectations that we will see any benefits at all from their genie, since we are not Star Class, other than ease of confirming reservations for dinners that are with them. Just being together and not cooking or cleaning makes an enjoyable vacation for us!

 

We have booked everything in advance... well, kind of. iFly, North Star, Puzzle Room, and all 3 bookable shows are reserved. We also have the 4-Night Dining Package. My parents have booked reservations for specialty dining through RCL Dining for themselves (Wonderland on Day 1, then Chops once, and Jamie's twice later in the cruise). Once we get onboard, they will ask their genie to add us to their reservations for each of those 4 nights. We will not have any drinks packages, as we aren't big drinkers, and this is our first cruise as Diamond members, so we plan to use the lounge for specialty coffees, and happy hour for drinks. Beyond that we don't mind paying for maybe one additional special drink each day for DH and I.

 

We have not booked any excursions or tours through RC or otherwise, but we do have vague plans in mind for each port. Scratch that, we've reserved 4 bikes and a bike trailer in Halifax, but otherwise we plan on doing our own thing, which I will tell you about afterward.

 

Last week we did a lot of cruise shopping, and this weekend we've been trying to get our house purged and packed up. We have furniture being picked up for donation later this week, and our 2 U-Boxes being delivered on Thursday! Tomorrow I'll start doing laundry, and by Wednesday I hope to have all of our cruise suitcases packed up (so nothing for the cruise gets accidentally put in storage!). So exciting! ...Better go now, I'm supposed to be working on packing up the kitchen today, the worst room to pack!

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cyndepet

cyndepet

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I can't even imagine trying to move in the middle of a cruise vacation lol! We'll be doing the Canada/NE run after you, so we're pretty close too!

 

When did booking open up for the Puzzle Room for you? I still haven't seen anything for our sailing.

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Emdancer11

Emdancer11

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I can't even imagine trying to move in the middle of a cruise vacation lol! We'll be doing the Canada/NE run after you, so we're pretty close too!

 

When did booking open up for the Puzzle Room for you? I still haven't seen anything for our sailing.

 

Yes, the timing has turned out to be quite challenging! I can't remember when the puzzle room opened... but it was before North Star. There doesn't seem to be a standard time cruise to cruise, though unfortunately. Keep checking everyday if you really want to do it, there are very few spots!

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Emdancer11

Emdancer11

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Enjoy your cruise. I will be on the 10/6 sailing. I look forward to your musings. Any chance you can post the Compass' once you (sadly) return home?

 

I will do my best to remember to do this. However... don't be surprised if they get lost along the way! :o

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Horshamflyer

Horshamflyer

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And we'll see how this goes from there! I'm starting this with the intention of following through to a complete "review" or walk-through of our vacation, but we have a lot going on besides the cruise right now so please be patient and forgive me if I have to quit before I'm done! :eek:

 

Today marks just 11 days to embarkation! The anticipation of cruising is *almost* as fun as the cruise itself, and this one is no exception, but we have a big move happening before & after this vacation, so my brain is going crazy! We can't wait to board Anthem at Cape Liberty next Thursday and RELAX after what I know is going to prove to be a stressful couple of weeks.

 

My family is DH (30), me (27), and DS (1.5), and we are traveling with my mom and dad (not posting their ages out of respect :p). We try to do a vacation each year with them, but haven't done a cruise for a few years because we got a little tired of the same Caribbean ports. We actually booked this cruise right after our last vacation together in northern California about a year ago, and are really looking forward to the NE and Canadian ports. My parents will be staying in a Grand Loft Suite and we will be a few doors down in a balcony room on the 8th floor. It'll be interesting to hear what their thoughts are of the genie and other Star Class perks. And to see how we, as their traveling companions, are affected by them (if at all). I should mention, we begin with no expectations that we will see any benefits at all from their genie, since we are not Star Class, other than ease of confirming reservations for dinners that are with them. Just being together and not cooking or cleaning makes an enjoyable vacation for us!

 

We have booked everything in advance... well, kind of. iFly, North Star, Puzzle Room, and all 3 bookable shows are reserved. We also have the 4-Night Dining Package. My parents have booked reservations for specialty dining through RCL Dining for themselves (Wonderland on Day 1, then Chops once, and Jamie's twice later in the cruise). Once we get onboard, they will ask their genie to add us to their reservations for each of those 4 nights. We will not have any drinks packages, as we aren't big drinkers, and this is our first cruise as Diamond members, so we plan to use the lounge for specialty coffees, and happy hour for drinks. Beyond that we don't mind paying for maybe one additional special drink each day for DH and I.

 

We have not booked any excursions or tours through RC or otherwise, but we do have vague plans in mind for each port. Scratch that, we've reserved 4 bikes and a bike trailer in Halifax, but otherwise we plan on doing our own thing, which I will tell you about afterward.

 

Last week we did a lot of cruise shopping, and this weekend we've been trying to get our house purged and packed up. We have furniture being picked up for donation later this week, and our 2 U-Boxes being delivered on Thursday! Tomorrow I'll start doing laundry, and by Wednesday I hope to have all of our cruise suitcases packed up (so nothing for the cruise gets accidentally put in storage!). So exciting! ...Better go now, I'm supposed to be working on packing up the kitchen today, the worst room to pack!

 

 

 

 

 

Hiya

 

If you have a chance on your next cruise could you find out what time we have to get off if we do the "stay awhile" on disembarkation day? We are going on the 10/6 cruise. RC just say it depends on the ship.

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torpeedo

torpeedo

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Hiya

 

If you have a chance on your next cruise could you find out what time we have to get off if we do the "stay awhile" on disembarkation day? We are going on the 10/6 cruise. RC just say it depends on the ship.

 

I've never heard of "stay awhile"! All I've heard was "get the heck off this ship quick!!":D:eek:

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SeeingTheWorldBySea

SeeingTheWorldBySea

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I'm looking forward to your review. We (DH and I) will be taking this cruise next September with DS who will be 2 at the time and my parents. I'd be interested to see how your son handles the cruise.

We live in New England and when booking this cruise I was a little nervous that we would be bored with the ports, but we too were looking for a change from thr Caribbean. And it will be our first try on RC.

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Photofinish4

Photofinish4

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And we'll see how this goes from there! I'm starting this with the intention of following through to a complete "review" or walk-through of our vacation, but we have a lot going on besides the cruise right now so please be patient and forgive me if I have to quit before I'm done! :eek:

 

Today marks just 11 days to embarkation! The anticipation of cruising is *almost* as fun as the cruise itself, and this one is no exception, but we have a big move happening before & after this vacation, so my brain is going crazy! We can't wait to board Anthem at Cape Liberty next Thursday and RELAX after what I know is going to prove to be a stressful couple of weeks.

 

My family is DH (30), me (27), and DS (1.5), and we are traveling with my mom and dad (not posting their ages out of respect :p). We try to do a vacation each year with them, but haven't done a cruise for a few years because we got a little tired of the same Caribbean ports. We actually booked this cruise right after our last vacation together in northern California about a year ago, and are really looking forward to the NE and Canadian ports. My parents will be staying in a Grand Loft Suite and we will be a few doors down in a balcony room on the 8th floor. It'll be interesting to hear what their thoughts are of the genie and other Star Class perks. And to see how we, as their traveling companions, are affected by them (if at all). I should mention, we begin with no expectations that we will see any benefits at all from their genie, since we are not Star Class, other than ease of confirming reservations for dinners that are with them. Just being together and not cooking or cleaning makes an enjoyable vacation for us!

 

We have booked everything in advance... well, kind of. iFly, North Star, Puzzle Room, and all 3 bookable shows are reserved. We also have the 4-Night Dining Package. My parents have booked reservations for specialty dining through RCL Dining for themselves (Wonderland on Day 1, then Chops once, and Jamie's twice later in the cruise). Once we get onboard, they will ask their genie to add us to their reservations for each of those 4 nights. We will not have any drinks packages, as we aren't big drinkers, and this is our first cruise as Diamond members, so we plan to use the lounge for specialty coffees, and happy hour for drinks. Beyond that we don't mind paying for maybe one additional special drink each day for DH and I.

 

We have not booked any excursions or tours through RC or otherwise, but we do have vague plans in mind for each port. Scratch that, we've reserved 4 bikes and a bike trailer in Halifax, but otherwise we plan on doing our own thing, which I will tell you about afterward.

 

Last week we did a lot of cruise shopping, and this weekend we've been trying to get our house purged and packed up. We have furniture being picked up for donation later this week, and our 2 U-Boxes being delivered on Thursday! Tomorrow I'll start doing laundry, and by Wednesday I hope to have all of our cruise suitcases packed up (so nothing for the cruise gets accidentally put in storage!). So exciting! ...Better go now, I'm supposed to be working on packing up the kitchen today, the worst room to pack!

we are also on the same cruise and we are also in the middle of moving. It has been very stressful and hope to relax on the sea days. We have 40 and a half years of stuff. We hope to get our house on the market before we leave.

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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And we'll see how this goes from there! I'm starting this with the intention of following through to a complete "review" or walk-through of our vacation, but we have a lot going on besides the cruise right now so please be patient and forgive me if I have to quit before I'm done! :eek:

 

Some people don't like a lot of pre-cruise detail in a review, but I'm not one of those. You write in nice paragraph form so its easy to read and I know I'll be able to skip over things that don't interest me, but I do want to do this cruise someday around this same time period. Enjoy your cruise and I'll appreciate what ever you can put up.

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Emdancer11

Emdancer11

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I always appreciate it when OP's use a different font so it's easy to scroll to their posts, so I thought I'd try it out. Since pre-cruise stuff isn't so exciting for everyone I'll just do a couple posts before embarkation day. Today is ONE WEEK to embarkation, so I thought it would be a great day for an update!

 

Things are moving along with our moving progress. Our set sail passes and luggage tags are printed and we are officially all packed for the cruise :eek: except for a few last minute things that'll be added next Wednesday. Our U-Boxes arrived yesterday and we loaded in most of our first floor furniture last night after the toddler went to bed. Today, while DH is at work, I've been loading in boxes and smaller items in between all the furniture, but man, moving is so exhausting! I'm really going to need a vacation after all this :D.

 

We will have the weekend to finish packing up our home, and once Monday is here, our things will be picked up and put in storage and the hard part of moving will be done (on this end anyway)! Things have been slowly coming together and now it feels like we are suddenly rushing to the finish line!

 

Packing for a cruise might be my favorite thing to do! I love studying the weather forecasts and choosing outfits for each day and dinner accordingly. We are typically minimalist packers (and minimalist wardrobe people), but cruises tend to be more difficult since there's no laundromat and we like to dress up for dinner. We managed to get our 3-person family for 9 nights packed into the following: 2x 25" suitcases, a packable duffel for diapers and wipes, DH's hiking baby carrier backpack, a cooler tote (we'll be bringing aboard goat milk for my son), and his stroller. Pretty good I'd say!

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spfar

spfar

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And we'll see how this goes from there! I'm starting this with the intention of following through to a complete "review" or walk-through of our vacation, but we have a lot going on besides the cruise right now so please be patient and forgive me if I have to quit before I'm done! :eek:

 

Today marks just 11 days to embarkation! The anticipation of cruising is *almost* as fun as the cruise itself, and this one is no exception, but we have a big move happening before & after this vacation, so my brain is going crazy! We can't wait to board Anthem at Cape Liberty next Thursday and RELAX after what I know is going to prove to be a stressful couple of weeks.

 

My family is DH (30), me (27), and DS (1.5), and we are traveling with my mom and dad (not posting their ages out of respect :p). We try to do a vacation each year with them, but haven't done a cruise for a few years because we got a little tired of the same Caribbean ports. We actually booked this cruise right after our last vacation together in northern California about a year ago, and are really looking forward to the NE and Canadian ports. My parents will be staying in a Grand Loft Suite and we will be a few doors down in a balcony room on the 8th floor. It'll be interesting to hear what their thoughts are of the genie and other Star Class perks. And to see how we, as their traveling companions, are affected by them (if at all). I should mention, we begin with no expectations that we will see any benefits at all from their genie, since we are not Star Class, other than ease of confirming reservations for dinners that are with them. Just being together and not cooking or cleaning makes an enjoyable vacation for us!

 

We have booked everything in advance... well, kind of. iFly, North Star, Puzzle Room, and all 3 bookable shows are reserved. We also have the 4-Night Dining Package. My parents have booked reservations for specialty dining through RCL Dining for themselves (Wonderland on Day 1, then Chops once, and Jamie's twice later in the cruise). Once we get onboard, they will ask their genie to add us to their reservations for each of those 4 nights. We will not have any drinks packages, as we aren't big drinkers, and this is our first cruise as Diamond members, so we plan to use the lounge for specialty coffees, and happy hour for drinks. Beyond that we don't mind paying for maybe one additional special drink each day for DH and I.

 

We have not booked any excursions or tours through RC or otherwise, but we do have vague plans in mind for each port. Scratch that, we've reserved 4 bikes and a bike trailer in Halifax, but otherwise we plan on doing our own thing, which I will tell you about afterward.

 

Last week we did a lot of cruise shopping, and this weekend we've been trying to get our house purged and packed up. We have furniture being picked up for donation later this week, and our 2 U-Boxes being delivered on Thursday! Tomorrow I'll start doing laundry, and by Wednesday I hope to have all of our cruise suitcases packed up (so nothing for the cruise gets accidentally put in storage!). So exciting! ...Better go now, I'm supposed to be working on packing up the kitchen today, the worst room to pack!

 

We will be getting off on Thursday when you are getting on. We'll keep her ship shape for you!

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vacation fool

vacation fool

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Enjoy your cruise! I did the August 25 sailing to these ports. We loved Anthem, the ports of call and eating lobster every day :)

 

We are going in a few weeks. Can u tell me where u ate lobster in Boston and if Royal had a shuttle from Black Falcon Pier to take you to downtown?

 

Thanks

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