teacherman

To all who enjoy, or have cruised on, the Zaandam, I would suggest you read the book entitled "Cabin Fever." This is the true story of the Zaandam, which was in South America the winter of 2019-20 when the Covid first broke out. It is the story of the ship's very long voyage back to Florida, due to the fact that no country would allow the ship to land and disembark passengers. We were on the cruise prior to the story told in this book, and we remembered some of the crew members mentioned in the book. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys cruising.

Well said, BobbiSox.

We did the 22 day cruise on the Zaandam in January, 2020. It went from Santiago (San Antonio) to Buenos Aires. It was the most amazing cruise we have ever done. The 5 days in Antarctica were beautiful and I didn't think it was that big of a deal not to actually set foot on the land. I did see others doing it from smaller ships using inflatables. AND, we chose to spend 3 extra days in Santiago at the beginning and then spend 2 nights in Buenos Aires at the end, with a 2 night visit to Iguazu Falls which we did on our own. Others told me that this Falls visit would be the "cherry on top of the sundae", and they were correct. Overall, an amazing experience, and I am glad we ended our cruise in Buenos Aires. There were 3 different presenters on board, and they did daily presentations on Antarctica. If you didn't get to the auditorium early you would not get a seat. Excellent presenters.

I did not know about this "perk" for retired teachers until I read it on this chat. So, I applied by sending them the original letter from my state retirement board (2007) informing me of what my pension would be, when it would begin, etc. I received an email approval at 1:18 pm, and then received my booking confirmation at 1:30 pm. So, since it was approved before I booked, I would expect to receive it. Of course, expectations are not always met.

We often spend a week or more in PV at some of the resorts that are used for these type excursions. I do know that most of the time, WE have to be out by the pool and reserve our chairs for the day by 8:00 am. So, there are not many chairs available by the time the excursion arrives.

We were on the Koningsdam several years ago and had a wonderful cruise. We especially enjoyed the Music Walk, with BB King Blues Club and the Rolling Stone Rock and Roll band. Is that still being presented on the Koningsdam? I have heard that there may be some changes coming to that area. We are looking at a 10 night cruise in November. Any info is welcome. Thank you.

Yes, they probably would not eat it and could tell the waiter they would like something else, which he would quickly bring to them. Not looking for a fight, here, pcur. I do enjoy much of the information that you offer.

I just returned from Anthem and did a video survey today. I had given high marks for food and service, so I do not think the score you give has anything to do with the video. Also, the video is optional. We were a multi-generational family of 8. We all enjoyed the food and seemed to find enough choices available to satisfy each person, including the 12 and 13 year old who both enjoyed escargot on 2 evenings. My personal feeling is that people who complain about the food offerings and service provided on a cruise ship must have an amazing home life.

I want to thank everyone for the information and suggestions they gave me that helped our family have a great cruise. We were a group of 8: grandparents, 2 adult children and their spouses, 2 granddaughters ages 12 and 15. We are from the Detroit area, and this was the first time we had ever driven to a cruise. Each family drove their own car. On Saturday, we drove from home to Bartonsville, Pa. and stayed overnight at Fairfield Inn. On Sunday morning, we left about 9:00 am and were in the parking garage by 11:00 am. We thought all of the food was very good. Everyone found enough offerings in both the Windjammer and dining room that they could select something enjoyable. One granddaughter has a peanut allergy and the head waiter listened to her order each evening and then told her whether it was acceptable or she had to select something different. I thought this was better than telling her up-front what she could not order. And that only happened with one of the deserts. The girls tried escargot and ordered it again on another night. We had standard balcony staterooms, and felt that they were larger than other ships we have experienced. Maybe it just seemed larger, but we noticed it as soon as we walked in. There was a lot of storage space. We enjoyed some breakfasts and lunches in the 270 room at the rear of the ship, a very pretty space. DW and I also had some mornings in the Diamond Lounge, which was well stocked for a continental breakfast. We are not "big" drinkers, so DW and I used our D+ vouchers to supply a pre-dinner cocktail for those who wanted it, and then used some of the vouchers for discounted bottles of wine to share at dinner. We always had at least one voucher left over each night. We thought all 3 of the production shows were enjoyable, especially the We will Rock You. Due to this being a cooler weather cruise, some of the shows were presented as sea day matinees, which I thought was a great idea. Overall, the weather was very nice, with the only "cold" days being the first sea day morning, and the last sea day returning. But the ship offers many indoor venues and activities. The girls got to experience the IFly and one adult couple did the North Star. I was told that there were about 4,800 passengers, including 1,100 children. The only time it really felt "crowded" was on boarding day at the Windjammer, but rooms were ready by 1:00 and our luggage was in our room by 2:00, which I found amazing, considering the number of passengers. The service we received from everyone was appropriate and well done. Disembarkation was the easiest I have ever experienced. We walked off at 7:30, got our luggage, and were driving out of the garage before 8:00 am. We drove all the way home, which took us about 11 hours with stops for gas and lunch. It was an enjoyable trip and we would all consider doing it again next spring. Thanks, again, to all who offered us the information that helped us have a stress free and enjoyable cruise. I will try to answer any questions you may have over the next few days.

We are driving from Michigan to board the Anthem on Sunday. We have never driven to a cruise. We are stopping in Pennsylvania for Saturday night, and then on to the ship on Sunday morning. We selected noon as our boarding time, but now realize that we can probably be there by 10:30, which was the earliest time offered. If we do arrive early, will they let us go ahead and board? Or will they make us wait outside the terminal? Or will they let us go through check-in, but wait inside the terminal until noon to actually board. There will be 3 cars and 3 families involved in this. Any advice/information from those who may have arrived early is most welcome. Thank you.

We have a 3 generation family cruise coming up on Sunday on the Anthem. Is there an "easy" way to check in with each other while we are in different parts of the ship. We do have 4 staterooms next to each other, but I don't think the messages left on the doors are a very good idea. We also don't want to buy 8 internet packages. Any ideas of things you may have done on this ship are welcome. Thank you.

Thank you. We board on March 26. We are also driving to the ship from Michigan. Our first time driving to a cruise.

Since Covid restrictions ended in our state, restaurants, hotels, retail, and other service type jobs have been hard to fill. Many reasons for this, but people complain that they can't get wait upon when they go out to eat or shop. Now , we hear that RCCL is cutting back on stateroom service. My question: is this happening because it is simply a cost saving decision or are they having a significant problem in re-staffing their ships, which isn't quite as easy as "apply today and work tomorrow"? Also, some cruisers are reporting that they recently received one service a day, and some are reporting two services a day. Can anyone recently on Anthem tell what their service schedule was. We sail on her on March 26th. Also, what about other ships in the RCCL fleet? What service did you recently receive?

Sounds like you understand ship construction and maintenance issues, which I do not. Thank you for the information and I hope we all will be able to take our cruises as scheduled. It is my understanding that people on the cruises scheduled for today and the 19th have received an email with the new itinerary. We are scheduled for the 26th and have not yet received any email.

We are scheduled to be on the March 26 cruise. We had a cruise canceled with short notice in the spring of 2019. That was also due to engine problems which required a dry dock before the ship made its transAtlantic to Europe for the summer. I hope it doesn't happen to us again, as this is another try at a 3 generational family cruise, and the kids keep getting older. I wonder if they are adding more hours of IFly and bumper cars and other things.

I have been on each of these ships several times. If itinerary was similar, I would definitely choose Reflection.

So, we are a party of 8 cruising on Anthem March 26. DW and I are both D+. No one else has a high "status". (but they are still nice people)😁 As I understand all of the new benefits, my wife and I each receive 5 drink vouchers daily. We can use 8 of these to get everyone a pre-dinner drink in a bar, and then use the other 2 vouchers for a discount on a couple bottles of wine at dinner, if we choose to do so. Is that how you all understand it?

Thank you. I see some wines that I enjoy are about $40 per bottle. And with my D+ discount (40%), I will only pay $24 per bottle. Add the 18% gratuity and we are up to about $28.32. Unless, of course, the gratuity applies to the pre-discounted price, which makes it about $31.20 per bottle. Not terrible for a bottle of wine in a restaurant. But I did buy the same bottle in my local wine store for $8.99 yesterday. So, the big decision is after spending thousands of dollars to take this cruise, am I going to agonize over paying maybe $22 above retail for a bottle of wine? Or am I going to let the ship buy it, bring it onboard, uncork it, and serve it to me? And not be concerned with taking it onboard in my carry-on? Oh, well. Never think about prices too much when you are on vacation. Just go and enjoy yourself.😇

I believe that "security" people that work at the luggage-scanner machines work for the port, not the cruise line. They are given rules to enforce. Their job security may depend upon enforcing those rules. They probably screen passengers on different cruise lines who may have different rules. So, if one security person decides to use what some of us might refer to as "common senses", they are actually violating their work agreement. We cruised on Celebrity 2 times last year. MOST of the passengers booked under the "always included" fare that gave us drinks packages. So, I don't know if they really cared about you bringing your own wine to drink, since you had already pre-paid to drink their wine. Anyway, does anyone have a current RCCL price list for wine? We are on Anthem March 26.

I hope it is a really generous pour.

Thank you. I had previously heard that it was 2 bottles per cabin. So had planned to take 2 bottles even though we had one adult and one child. I wonder how closely this is enforced sailing out of Bayonne on Anthem. We are D+, so it isn't a problem for us, but no one else in our family group has "status".

We have not cruised RCCL since pre-Covid, but we did cruise Celebrity in December. We had drinks included package, but it seems too me that the price list on the tables and bars were approximately $9 for a gin and tonic or Manhattan. What are current prices for simple drinks like these on RCCL. We cruise on Anthem, March 26. Thank you.

Can you provide a link to this information? We cruise on March 26.

Can only the driver get the car and the others wait at the garage exit with the luggage?

I looked again and it shows a "road closure" until February 28. It is on I-78 W after you cross the bridge leaving the cruise port. Perhaps it is some lane re-construction. If it ends February 28, it should not be a problem for us. (road construction always finishes on-time🤣🤣🤣)