WestfieldTraveler

After looking at the following facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/SXMLATESTNEWS/) I almost feel that two months might be a bit optimistic for half the stores even in the main city of Philipsburg to be open, but that is almost necessary for a recovery to start. For general giving advice, the NY Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/us/hurricane-irma-help-donate.html) should be helpful (also keep in mind that donating money is the most effective way to help right after an event). One can also look for specific fund raising done by the Netherlands or France to try to funnel money more directly to the island.

Note cruise critic rules prohibit specific organizations from soliciting funds, so I have not included any links to such efforts, like the one RCCL sent out in an email.

For those sailing NCL this is the update:

We are working with our partners to assess impacts to the ports we visit in the Eastern Caribbean. Currently, we have changed all of our Eastern Caribbean itineraries to Western‎ Caribbean cruises for the next two months. As it's still early, we will continue to keep in close contact with our partners on the ground and have the flexibility to alter future itineraries to ensure a great guest experience, if needed.

One translation: Once there are enough excursions that are safe to do, the ships will return, both for the passengers enjoyment and cruise ship revenue. Oh yeah, and to provide $$$ to the local economy - which will be the best relief aid possible to the locals. Expect more than a few island tours to stop at improvised stands where people will be selling things or asking for money, and more than a few cruise passengers wanting to tour to see the devastation.

Since the central business district's structures looked intact (even though there may be water damage) I would expect at least half the stores would be back in business within about two months. We were there back in August, and saw "The Yoda Guy's" museum - I hope that survived mainly intact as it was definitely one of the more interesting things to do in town. Hopefully there will be an update on the website (http://netdwellers.com/mo/ygme/index.html) or facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/The-Yoda-Guy-Movie-Exhibit-295303327163046/)

It looks like Royal has a variety of ways to roll the dice to maximize revenue and to try to accommodate passengers in case they guess wrong. Aside from a variance on what cabins get cancelled or turn out to be no-shows, my main thought about the GTY cabins is that it allowed some flexibility in handling how those get filled, including calls from the upgrade fairy it there are a lot of higher-end cabins that become free. My guess is that they keep a few suites unbooked so they do have th flexibility to move people around (or just have a bingo prize!).

I booked our first GTY cabin for an Anthem Balcony for a cruise this past August, saving us over $400 per person two months in advance of the cruise. At the time, there were about 300 cabins showing up as available across categories so in my mind it was a risk that was likely to pay off. As it happened, we got a cabin assignment the next day but I was prepared to pay whatever was needed to book an actual cabin in case we did not get an assignment by the time cabins were getting scarce. We're local but were helping to celebrate a relative's anniversary so we wanted to make sure we got on that cruise.

Credits are bunk. Royal should offer price protection.

Royal wants to make their money, and *nothing* you get is without cost. So, in order to always get "price protection" (or always refunds instead of credits, or any other remediation) how much extra would you be willing to pay on every cruise that you book? Maybe Royal should offer this mini-cruise investment protection as an add-on?

Another RCI ( the timeshare company) offers "trading power protection" that if you cancel, you get back the relative power of your timeshare trade in full - but you have to pay for that.

Has anyone scored a good deal on BF or CM? I'd be willing to wait until then to book if the deals really are that good...

This is really only relevant if BF or CM is within 90 days (the usual final payment date) of your cruise, as I always recommend book the cabin when the price works for you, and then monitor the price (or better yet, have your TA do that if they will) as you can always rebook at a lower price or better deal if one shows up. Of course, these new "non-refundable" fares are the cruise lines attempt to change that, but one would need to understand those fare restrictions to see what you can do after booking.

I have not really noticed deals that special around BF/CM, but once you study the pricing for both for near-term and cruises a year+ away for a couple of months, you should be able to determine if the "deal" really is one. I've seen good deals come out the Jan/Feb timeframe.

Even though the cruise ship model is turning more from a "US" model of tipping relative to service performed to a "European" model of "servers are paid to serve" with no significant tipping beyond spare change, I still *enjoy* tipping for what I call beyond necessary service, where you, your name or preferences are remembered (without aid of computer) or just for something simple like a room service delivery. I just bring a stack of USD $1 bills, and most of the time don't spend more than 30 or 40 of them on a weeks cruise, or add $1 to our "included" drink tips or $5 pp to a speciality restaurant check when service was particularly good. We also tend to leave a bit extra for the stateroom attendant as well. Who knows, maybe the possible expectation of a tip could encourage better service?

Now, I will admit during a few recent trips to France it was a bit refreshing to just see your bill at the end of the meal and not have to owe anything more for tax or tip, with servers usually getting the food to you efficiently and little chit-chat about "how is your meal". I don't find most servers on cruises being terribly chatty outside of taking your order, nor do I find most pausing to see if you will hand them or leave a tip. The only difference is that if you have a drink package some servers will hand you a receipt to sign where you can leave a tip, and others don't. I just don't think decreasing the tip at the end of the cruise has much of an effect but perhaps put a few more $$$ back in your pocket. Speak to someone if you want to make a point about service.

How do the drink packages compare? Royal seems to never have a promotion that includes the alcohol package for free like NCL does, but I'm wondering if NCL's includes as much as Royal's paid high-end package?

Ours showed still showed "in progress" after printing the setsail pass. Arriving at the port after seeing one of the folks with a tablet as you enter, they checked out passports, compared with their screens, stamped our pass and it was almost too quick to get on board from that point - no wait at all after that when we arrived at 12:30.

On the oasis two years ago we put a bottle in each piece of luggage - no problem. On the anthem a few weeks ago we took a 1.5L bottle and a 3L box. Still no problem (ended up taking the bottle back with us as relatives had extra diamond club voucher drinks for us). We also prefer a bottle with a screw top, no worries at all about re-sealing it.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a lady with a Collie/shepherd mix with what looked to be an embroidered "service dog" on the harness at the costco near me. Of course (and I really wish I got a picture) the lady was going between sample stations taking a bite herself and giving the rest to the expectantly sitting dog.

So is anything in place to keep that from happening in the windjammer? Nothing in Royal's policy says you can't feed it from the buffet.

I would check the pricing in the cruise planner weekly, and also check the roll call thread (set up an email alert for it) as sometimes people post when the discount is increased. Getting a combined internet and drink discount is also possible.

Please note that Royal is piloting having all adults in a cabin get a package (see other threads) so if you want just one package you may wish to buy it now, and then cancel/rebook the drink package if the price goes down.

Just returning from an Anthem cruise I can attest while the facility for check-in works really well if you check-in online in advance, I did not see a good place where you could watch the ship departing from - maybe others can suggest. One option is to see if you can park in the lot adjacent to the 9/11 memorial there or parking deck itself (may cost the daily rate of $18) and then watch from the top of the deck if you can't get good view from the memorial area.

Depending on where you are coming from it may be better to watch from a vantage point near either end of the Verrazano narrows bridge and see the ship *just* fit underneath. You should also get a view of the ship from one of the beaches at the end of Sandy Hook, although it would be in the distance. There are a few websites can also show you the schedule of the Anthem and other ships in ports to give you options to view sail-aways or see what other ships are there when you are, like cruisett.com, cruisetimetables.com, or whatsinport.com

Agreed. San Juan is fun because you can walk to the forts and OSJ, Labadee has become one of our fav stops, and St. Martins is a nice taste of two cultures.

Agree with the above - those three give you a good three-island mix without getting too "exotic" for a first time cruiser. In the same light I would almost not immediately spoil them with a regular balcony cabin on a first cruise, but hey you are already booking them on HOS/SOS so they are already getting the "wow" treatment.

And I would highly recommend not giving them choices - just pick one cruise and do the presentation on just that ship and those ports. And maybe keep them away from cruise critic (at least at first) too :D!

I would even request an SUV if the weather forecast looks like snow. Even though all the major roads are usually kept clear you are likely to feel a lot safer traveling in one of those large things in bad weather.

the short answer is if you are worried, you will not enjoy the cruise, no matter how much people convince you. Take a Bermuda-only or northbound cruise instead.

So, what is the closest one can come to that last-minute purchase say within a week of sailing, aside from simply looking at the Royal website, or a TA's, which I assume would mimic the cruiseline, aside from perhaps a group-level discount or freebie? Are there truly any "unpublished" deals that close to sailing?

So that I can calculate my ROI, on your final bill under the door do you get an itemized list of what you ordered and the cost that you saved by using the package, or do you only see the increments above the top limit on the drink cost? I'm thinking of something like the bill I get from the insurance company showing me the inflated costs, but how much I saved by using them!

And as fresh squeezed OJ is one thing I can't resist, is there any restriction against getting two in the AM and then picking up more throughout the day - where would it be available, just in the WJ? We'll be on Anthem in almost a week(!).

Yes to both.

 

I posted 22 days of Anthem Cruise Compasses here:

 

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2324095

But looks like photobucket is complaining about third-party hosting...

I would say anytime Royal has a kids free sale that is valid for vacation weeks any cabins that hold more than two will get booked up quickly. For the August cruise we are on there were hundreds of cabins available, but very few that held more than two. I also would not be surprised if cabins with a capacity of three were somehow held back until the sale was over.

Would this not be the case if the phone is in Airplane Mode with WiFi turned back on?

Well, you are correct - now. I could have sworn that when I did the Airplane mode followed by turning Wifi on with wifi calling enabled , I still could not make calls. But I just tried it now via Verizon on my Samsung android phone, and it worked with the "wifi" calling icon showing up, and it works receiving calls as well. It just did not work before, and googling showed other people had the same problem. Guess it just works now.

I was in in another country on business and recently tested out wifi calling. On my work Iphone 7 using AT&T I was able to go into airplane mode with wifi calling turned on and make calls - I had also tested that at home. However, on my personal Samsung Edge 7 using Verizon, apparently after a recent android update (what I saw posted), you can't make wifi calls unless you have no cell service, or are roaming AND have it set to "prefer" wifi calling when roaming - that is, if you are also connected to Wifi.

So the problem is with Verizon on android, if you have spotty wifi service, unless you are careful you may make or receive a roaming call (and on the cruise ship this will be expensive!) when you think you are on wifi. You may get a pop-up or text letting you know this when you first turn your phone on, but per-call I'm not sure. You phone probably has different icons to show what type of call you are on - I've attached two screenshots of them, one showing the wifi connection, the other showing the roaming carrier (meteor) to give an idea of what to look for. So just be sure if you want "wifi" calling you don't take or complete the call unless the wifi icon shows up.

Can you put those numbers into context for old folks who don't understand computer speak. Are those numbers god, bad or indifferent?

If you compare the numbers to ads on TV, the numbers shown are quite slow. If you compare it to the speed you need to do things, unless you want to stream full-screen video on a laptop, probably quite sufficient. I would assume (experts knowing the actual answer please chime in) that the amount of speed you can get per device is limited to a specific number that may differ per ship, number of connections they have sold, or what you are actually trying to do with the internet. For most things, you will probably only notice if it is something you have to wait for (like downloading a large file or uploading a set of photographs), and only notice if you have nothing else to do.!-)

So I'm curious - and directly to the point of the thread: When you remove auto gratuities, in this time of my time dining and specialty restaurants, who actually gets stiffed, especially if tips go into a pool? Not an issue when we cruise, as for most of our cruises our TA includes the gratuities, and we always bring a large stack of $1 bills, both for our room and our kids room (they get used to room service!).

Well, just to update the outcome, after using the "fish" website to monitor, and checking (mainly for any "better" cabins opening in the category we got,

- the price for a balcony guarantee never did go lower than what we got around 50 days out, although my TA seemed to change the availability of free gratuities with the same fare once or twice a day at times, and stayed in the same range when the number of cabins I counted available were at least 300 to 200 to...

- now, 30 days out, when there are about 100 cabins available, the price for the balcony guarantee and the specific balcony categories seemed to have gone up about $200/pp+ for most, where now the oceanview and interior guarantees are now near what the balcony guarantee was, except there are no cabins showing available in those categories, so maybe it functionally is a balcony guarantee anyway.

I think the moral of the story is just book when the prices reach your price point, and don't get greedy waiting for more unless you are flexible on the date, and always keep in mind your pricing may always vary (or the cruise may suddenly sell out!)

Actually, how to get back to the ship in time is VERY relevant when you are not on a ship's excursion. The only negative with the last restaurant suggested is that it is all the way on the other side of the island from where the Anthem docks, so we would need to be comfortable with the transportation options in order to go there.

And for interesting discussions on cars in Bermuda one can read the stories and comments regarding the ban on Bermuda licensed drivers by Massachusetts last year. Apparently since private ownership of cars only really started after WWII, Bermuda was not a signatory to the usual treaties allowing cross-honoring of licenses, and Mass. was actually just starting to enforce that. If I was planning on something like this in other places I would travel to, I would likely rent a car if possible, but until recently, that was not possible in Bermuda, and only now two-seater cars are being rented from small fleets mainly held by resorts. (no, we will not be jumping on scooters!)

So, yes, transportation is a concern, which makes some of the Hamilton options more appealing if we can depend on the ferry there and back.