gavvy

I suppose it depends where the new terminal ends up. Apparently they want to build a new bridge that would prohibit most ships from docking- so that's probably the biggest driver here. If they really wanted to 'clean up' Amsterdam they would remove the red light district, but I assume it earns them too much tax revenue.

Well the first line of the article does read Amsterdam's council has banned cruise ships from the city centre

Get a taxi/ uber. It will take you under the Clifton suspension bridge and can drop you by the Riverside near to the city centre. There's lots of bars there and the SS great Britain Can't see it costing more than £15-20 it's a straight drive down one road

Main thing I've found is get off early as soon as you can. Enjoy the morning and early afternoon and watch it get steady more busy then when you have had enough leave and again avoid the masses back to the ship. The people who moan it's over crowded are the ones looking for a place to sit at 11.30am.

As I suspected only club royale USA can take the payment. It's very annoying when the hold times are so long. I'm in UK and use a free phone access number to call USA so it's not so bad. But they don't make things easy for you do they!

The IT gremlins strike again. Royal cannot process any payments at moment. Trying to buy a beverage package but unable too online or on phone!

3 times from Southampton now and nobody has ever checked your time slot. They don't seem to care at all.

Call club royale they will take the payment over the phone. I think only club royale can handle the payment. The booking number won't get activated until after payment is taken.

September 5. I was surprised how low they are

The sip will be mid route from Barcelona so there is no need to have to wait for the ship to get the all clear before you can board, I got there an hour before my time and walked straight on, there were no lines at all.

If you not been to either city then I would choose Rome over Barcelona. Not that Barcelona is bad. It's not but there is so much history in Rome and so many iconic things to see it makes up for the hassle of getting to the port. I believe the app works on interporting now and you also get an orange sail card from Rome which makes you look important for about 20 seconds 😀

From a very un scientific scan on my last anthem from uk I'd say over 80% were British. My anthem in march from Bayonne we were told we were the only Brits on board as passengers. Joff told us that when we said hello! No idea if that was true but every voice was American/ Canadian that we heard. I'd say the USA Market is vital to them but with more ships and bigger ships coming on line they have to seek out new markets. You can't sail all those big ships to Coco cay at once ! I'm not looking forward to Indi from UK..the way the economy is going with inflation and interest rates I got a feeling they will have to cut prices especially on an older ship. Maybe it will turn into a bargain. Who knows

My anthem trip in September just opened up. Some really low upgrade min bids. I'm in oceanview and it's a min of $50pp for a balcony 55 for restricted view balcony and $200 for a jr suite.

Will give you playmakers I liked how it was open to the casino and was modern. The rest was just dated. I think people who moan about anthem haven't been on the older ships and seen his dated they are.

Having been on both I found indy dated and in need of a good clean. I'd take anthem any day With all the new ships sailing from Southampton it will be interesting to see how well it goes. I won't be going anywhere near that 1990s looking bling bucket.

Also found out the weight limit has nothing do with the north star..it's for the harness and rigging if they need to get you down if it gets stuck Something I really wish I hadn't learned from the crew 2 min before I was due to go up

I did the free one at Coco cay. After 5 min I was done. The glass is curved so hard to get good pics with no reflection and after a few min of seeing the same thing I was done Gald I did it but it's a one and done. .at see I can imagine the view is worse. Just sea. Not worth paying for

When Brits see all inclusive they go mad- been proven time and time again sadly in places like Spain at all inclusive hotels, I believe RCL pulled that package as there was fighting and other bad behaviour due to people over consuming. We not all like that of course but Brits do have a certain reputation abroad, and all you can drink definitely fuels that, people seem to see it as a challenge to get as much as possible.

I heard the UK all inclusive (Tips and drink package for a cheap rate) they did a few years ago was a bit of a disaster, people over indulged and made for a bad atmosphere. We do in the UK have an odd relationship with booze so maybe it was the wrong market to launch it on.

Blue light is a UK discount scheme for first responders. I know they were offering a discount over the phone from the UK line, but this was just after Covid. Maybe give them a ring and see if it's still offered? I have heard as the discount is not combinable with others, it's not always the cheapest offer

Having sailed indi last year we thought it looked quite dated- a big downgrade for the UK, there is lots of competition from Southampton and I cant see this ship doing that well not now people have had a taste of a quantum class ship- nor will they attract the premiums they think they can, big disappointment if this turns out to be true

Anyone got a new code that works?

When I worked as a server in a UK chain restaurant I would say about 1/3 or less would leave a tip and it was mostly around 10% or less. I've not heard of anyone tipping a taxi driver here, I would find that odd, and so would he I think, Same with a Hairdresser, it's not the norm to tip them as far as I am aware. There are a few places who used staff tips to make up wages to the legal miniumn, I think they have mostly stopped this practise though. Lets face it the auto tips on a cruise are nothing of the sort- on a UK Invoice its shown as a servicece charge yet a USA invoice shows as a gratituity. It's making up the wages of staff so RCL can get away with paying them as little as possible off the bottom line. If too many removed the charge then RCL would have to make it u from theitr pocket something the do not wish to do.

2 weeks ago - Indi and Wonder were in, we were on Wonder, got off the ship at 8am, walked to the cove- past south beach, probably the furthest point away from the ship, took about 10-15 min, beach was empty and remained like that till about 11am, we left at 1pm and there were still free loungers. There are always loungers everywhere provided you get off the ship early-ish and are prepared to walk, most seem to go to the closest beach and then walk out from there so the back of the island takes longer to get populated.

Last year in civitia we boarded and had no issues in ordering drinks. Indeed as we were interporting the pool deck was hopping so to speak and it was a normal late morning where everyone was having a good time with a cocktail or 2.