LIVE from Anthem June 2-21 - B2B Canaries and Fjords

SEA DOGY · June 3

18 hours ago, little britain said:

Lisbon is just a fantastic city to stroll around. Walk to the big square with the Rua Augusta arch, up the narrow streets there to the SantaJusta “elevator” then back up the hill into the Alfama area, watch the streetcars, see the view from the Miradouro da Graça, drink Sagres beer and crisp vinho verde on the way back to the ship!

Enjoy.

You got it absolutely.

SEA DOGY · June 3

14 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

How much was the train? Never been to London so trying to get logistics worked out.

Following

mil76 · June 3

Thanks everyone for the Lisbon advice. My biggest disappointment is that our tour included Sintra/Pena palace, and I don't see many good options for that. You can take a train, but you still have to get up the hill to the palace. I'm hoping there is something available at the dock for that, then when we get back we can go off on our own in Lisbon. The good news is this is the longest one-day port stop we have ever had on a cruise, so we have flexibility.

little britain · June 3

19 minutes ago, mil76 said:

Thanks everyone for the Lisbon advice. My biggest disappointment is that our tour included Sintra/Pena palace, and I don't see many good options for that. You can take a train, but you still have to get up the hill to the palace. I'm hoping there is something available at the dock for that, then when we get back we can go off on our own in Lisbon. The good news is this is the longest one-day port stop we have ever had on a cruise, so we have flexibility.

I’ve never been to Sintra as cruise I was taking was cancelled; but here are my notes on how to DIY it! Prices may be a little out as it was a few years ago. Hope this helps!

You may need to check which cruise terminal you are in if Prima is at the new one? I think the new one can take more than one ship though.

Train from Santa Apolonia opposite cruise terminal

0845 to oriente then 0858 to Sinatra

Arrive 0945 €3.75

Or

0850 to Braco de Prata then 0901 to Sintra €2,30

The 434-bus route connects Sintra train station to the Palácio Nacional da Pena and Castelo dos Mouros. Tickets for the 434 bus to Pena Palace are €7.00, allowing you to go and return. The 434 departs every 15 minutes, from 9:15am to 7:50pm in the summer and from 9:30am to 6:20pm at other times of the year. It takes less than 15 minutes to reach the Moorish Castle, and if you want to go straight from the station to Pena Palace you're there in less than 20 minutes.

Return

1356 to Braco then 1449 to Apolonia arr 1455

Most other trains end at Rossio meaning long walk back if earlier

Edited June 3 by little britain

mil76 · June 3

Geeky Tech Stuff warning!

I was able to get a Firestick to work with the stateroom tv this cruise. I don't think the OGFW going to the casino every time I go to the Flowrider is going to end well, so it was imperative that I get this to work. How I did it:

Before we left, I bought a Samsung remote on Amazon for $10. I have newer model Samsung remotes at home, but they don't have a Source button.

Then I plugged the Firestick into the TV. The port is not blocked, but it is a bit difficult to find. I used the selfie camera on my phone to locate it.

Now i use the remote I brought to switch the source to HDMI 2. The stateroom remotes don't have the source button, and Anthem TVs don't have buttons on the TV to do it manually.

Now for the tricky part. I never was able to get wifi to the Firestick previously. I have heard of using the browser app on the Firestick, but I could never get that to work.

This time I turned on the hotspot on my Android phone, and I was able to piggy-back the wifi to the Firestick! The hotspot will not start in airplane mode, so I just exit airplane mode to turn on the hotspot then go right back into airplane mode and the hotspot stays active.

I don't think iPhones can do this, so you have to have a newer Android phone.

With vpn we can access everything except YouTube TV, but I have a GPS spoofer for that.

Streaming works great. Did a Speed test and this is the fastest I've seen in my stateroom on any cruise.

Edited June 3 by mil76

Biker19 · June 3

2 hours ago, mil76 said:

I don't think iPhones can do this, so you have to have a newer Android phone.

Not all Android phones can hot spot a WiFi signal either.

Edited June 3 by Biker19

mil76 · June 3

33 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not all Android phones can hot spot a WiFi signal either.

I have a Samsung Z-Flip3. Not the newest, but it's off contract and unlocked so I can use an eSim when I travel. And best of all I can hotspot!

snaefell · June 3

38 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not all Android phones can hot spot a WiFi signal either.

Lost me at buying a Samsung remote!😂😂

RobInMN · June 3

3 hours ago, mil76 said:

Before we left, I bought a Samsung remote on Amazon for $10. I have newer model Samsung remotes at home, but they don't have a Source button.

While the Samsung remote works great for RCI cruises, we bought a universal remote that we pack with the Firestick for travel in general. Not everyone uses Samsung TVs. I think LG is the second most common one we've run into. It's a distant second.

3 hours ago, mil76 said:

Now for the tricky part. I never was able to get wifi to the Firestick previously. I have heard of using the browser app on the Firestick, but I could never get that to work.

This time I turned on the hotspot on my Android phone, and I was able to piggy-back the wifi to the Firestick! The hotspot will not start in airplane mode, so I just exit airplane mode to turn on the hotspot then go right back into airplane mode and the hotspot stays active.

This is what we do. Even if you can get the browser to work, you would have to do it every single time you wanted to use the Firestick. It is FAR easier to just set it up to up to use you phone's hotspot (or a travel router). Also, once you have it set up, then you just need to get you phone connected no matter where you are, ship, hotel, etc. BTW, as you indicate, my wife's Samsung Galaxy S22 will let you turn Airplane mode back on, but my S20 will not. I can still hot-spot the WiFi, but I have to leave airplane mode off, so I disable Mobile Data instead.

3 hours ago, mil76 said:

With vpn we can access everything except YouTube TV, but I have a GPS spoofer for that

What I find works with YTTV is to run the VPN on both the phone as well as the Firestick itself. I don't know if I did something wrong when I tried just one, but since I did both, it's never failed and now I'm afraid no to. 🙂 As I think you are aware, if you run YTTV on a device that has a GPS, that will override the VPM location, and if you attempt to disable it, YTTV will refuse to run.

Ah! GPS Spoofer! I'll need to look into that! There's been times I've wanted to watch something from my phone where I don't have access to a TV to use the Firestick. I was watching a college football game on a plane using YTTV and after about an hour, it kicked me off as being out of area.🤣😡

mil76 · June 3

Some good news today for our Lanzarote excursion. They finally responded and said they plan to do the tour as planned. Now they are just trying to get a vehicle for us. They also created a WhatsApp chat for everyone on our tour to keep us updated.

mil76 · June 3

Sea Day today. Decided to sleep in after three days of running around London and the south of England. Was awoken by the sound of a helicopter leaving the ship. They had to medivac a crew member off the ship. Hope everything is OK. Went up for the AM Flowrider session , and then walked around the ship a bit before going to the Jammer for lunch. Pool decks looked like Piccadilly and Leicester Square without the sweets shops. Every chair was filled all the way back to the climbing wall. Good for us we are not lay-out-by-the-pool people, so the interior of the ship was pretty calm.

Sea days are work days for me. I'm fortunate enough that I have a job where I can work anywhere with an internet connection, so I have become a bit of a digital nomad. During Covid we moved to Arizona for 2 years before returning to Denver last year. We never say no when Casino Royale offers the OGFW free cruises, so we're doing our best to see the world on a ship (preferably one with a Flowrider).

Feedback from the OGFW is the machines are tight so far on this cruise 😢. The machines are also outdated and the Casino Host said they are getting replaced before they get to Asia. After being on Spectrum, I understand why. That market may not need a pub, but the casino is a money-printing machine for RCCL.

She also said the casino is non-smoking since we are going out of the UK. I might just have to stop by. Last time I spent any time in the casino was right after restart when all the casinos were smoke-free. The Jazz Club non-smoking mini casino doesn't do it for me either. Hard for me to believe the UK would be ahead of the US on the smoke free casino front. I still remember being 14 and going to the youth club at the pub in my grandmother's village and I was the only kid there who didn't smoke.

mil76 · June 3

My cruising work setup.

On Quantum class the desk is on wheels so I can move it so the TV can be a monitor (another reason for the $10 remote). An Android pad completes the 3 monitor setup.

mil76 · June 3

OGFW has a dairy and egg allergy, so most of the desserts are off limits. Vegan desserts are the only thing she can eat, and those are usually only in the MDR. Since we do not go to MDR much, she figures out what vegan dessert is available each day and finds a way to finagle some. These showed up in the stateroom today (with a post it note confirming they are vegan).

mil76 · June 3

Formal night tonight. We did Jamie's since we don't like to dress up, and we try to be respectful of those who do. We have been doing specialties on formal night since the days they actually enforced dress codes in MDR. This was the busiest I have ever seen Jamie's, so others must have had the same idea. We actually had to wait for our reservations at 7:00pm along with a couple other parties. Quantum class is where we feel Jamie's beats the other classes of ship, unlike Izumi. Short rib was great, and DW liked her chicken parm without the parm.

After dinner she dragged me to watch the end of We Will Rock You since she went to the matinee today and loved it. Otherwise a boring night for us as I am back to working and she is taking a break from the casino and watching TV on the Firestick.

snaefell · June 4

8 hours ago, mil76 said:

Formal night tonight. We did Jamie's since we don't like to dress up, and we try to be respectful of those who do. We have been doing specialties on formal night since the days they actually enforced dress codes in MDR. This was the busiest I have ever seen Jamie's, so others must have had the same idea. We actually had to wait for our reservations at 7:00pm along with a couple other parties. Quantum class is where we feel Jamie's beats the other classes of ship, unlike Izumi. Short rib was great, and DW liked her chicken parm without the parm.

After dinner she dragged me to watch the end of We Will Rock You since she went to the matinee today and loved it. Otherwise a boring night for us as I am back to working and she is taking a break from the casino and watching TV on the Firestick.

Being used to P&O where not dressing up on formal nights is almost a lynchable offence,on our recent TA on Anthem I did dress up for formal nights,I was pretty much the odd one out!😮😮

Edited June 4 by snaefell

mil76 · June 4

23 minutes ago, snaefell said:

Being used to P&O where not dressing up on formal nights is almost a lynchable offence,on our recent TA on Anthem I did dress up for formal nights,I was pretty much the odd one out!😮😮

Lots of people were dressed up this time. I haven't seen that many tuxedoes in years.

Beejay1407 · June 4

On 6/2/2024 at 2:09 AM, mil76 said:

One tourist attraction we haven't done in central London before is Sky Garden. It's free, but you have to get tickets ahead if time. They release tickets on Mondays for spots 4 weeks in the future, and they get snapped up quickly.

It's in the building known as the walkie talkie. It's the building in the forefront of this picture.

The views are pretty spectacular, and you can't beat the price. I hear it's 35 quid for the Shard.

Edited June 4 by Beejay1407

Beejay1407 · June 4

Just now, Beejay1407 said:

Loving your posts, and your fantastic photographs. The information about the Sky Garden is terrific, so thanks for posting that.

mil76 · June 4

Today is a or la Coruna Spain. View from the balcony:

sgmn · June 4

Thanks for doing the review. Would be interested in how easy the ports are for DIY. We're doing a similar itinerary in September

mil76 · June 4

Just got back on the ship. We walked off and caught a taxi to the Tower of Hercules. 6 euro one way and that takes care of almost all of the uphill. Taxi dropped us off at the base of a small uphill path to the tower. We didn't go up the tower, but if you plan to go up and want to take a taxi, tell them to drop you off at the ticket office since you pass it on the way to the drop-off spot.

Edited June 4 by mil76
Fat finger

mil76 · June 4

You can walk up to the base of the tower, and you only have to pay to go inside. The views were incredible.

mil76 · June 4

After coming down the path from the tower, there is a statue.

We went left, and there are paths along the coast all the way back to the ship. If you take a taxi to the tower, they will probably drive along most of this route so you'll have an idea of where things are.

First part of the walk on smaller trails