toad455

Agreed about the food in the Windjammer on the Anthem. Was just on her and everything was repeatative. Nothing interesting and their "daily special" was far from special. Zero variety and they had a station at lunch time service breakfast foods. Ate mostly in the Solarium for breakfast and 270 for lunch. Got deals at Chops and Jamie's for lunch as well.

12 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

I concur! Silly ship deployment for a cold weather port. What are they thinking...

Anthem is coming up on ten years old and heading to dry dock. After just getting off of her, she needs some work done. Johnny Rockets can go away and they can add Playmakers up in the Seaplex. After that, we'll welcome her back out of Bayonne in the Winters.

going on the Odyssey next Jan. Just got off the Anthem but someone that's Diamond+ said the vouchers can be used on pitchers of beer. you just pay the difference. anyone else tried recently?

On 1/3/2024 at 1:00 PM, OCSC Mike said:

 

 

Northeast will be released the week of February 12th...

 

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2025_2026/2025-2026_Deployment_Opening_Schedule.pdf

Currently on the Anthem. The next cruise specialist I talked to said she's fairly certain the Odyssey will return for the Winter sailings of 2025-26.

5 minutes ago, Ms411 said:

That's a nice flight! Thanks for sharing your great photo.

And it wasn't crowded at all. Anthem is the lone ship at Crown Bay. I believe there's two ships at the other pier.

Stopped at Taphus after having lunch near the pier in Crown Bay. About a 40 minute walk from there. Thanks for the suggestion @Ms411

They headed to Boston for three days which was cold and rainy. IMO, this cruise should have been cancelled if the captain couldn't find a warm weather itinerary to switch to. Majority of the passengers didn't get of the ship at Boston.

With the Jubilee set to debut very soon and the Firenze moving to the Carnival fleet, that would give Carnival 27 ships total by May 2024. There are no new builds set for Carnival currently. The Elation and Paradise are currently 25 years old. Thoughts on when Carnival orders a new build? Or could we see other Costa ships moved into the Carnival brand?

Dug through the bookings for the Islander. Looks like they're doing their schedule based on the Tampa port availability. I believe Tampa can only hold three ships maximum. For the most part, Tampa only has the Carnival Paradise, Carnival Pride(winters only), RCCL Radiance of the Seas & Enchantment of the Seas, NCL Jade(winters only) and Celebrity Constellation(winters only). The majority of the 5-day sailings are Cozumel & Key West.

Schedules through September:

4-day cruises: June 14 & 28, July 12 & 26, August 9 & 23, Sept. 6 & 20

5-day cruises(Key West & Cozumel): June 18 & 23, July 7, 21 & 30, August 4, 13, 18 & 27, Sept. 1, 10, 15, 24 & 29

5-day cruises(Key West & Progesso): July 2

5-day cruises(Progresso & Cozumel): July 16

My favorite class from Carnival.

Since Tampa has limited cruises, I think this will be a hit among a younger crowd. Those 5-day cruises to Key West will be very popular with the Parrotheads.

On 11/26/2023 at 8:55 AM, PrincessPatti said:

Waiting oh so patiently for Venezia New York schedule for 2025 to be released.  Doing a B2B on Celebration next year, so 2024 is pretty much a one (technically two) and done for me.

Is Venezia staying out of New York full-time in 2025?

I'm just happy that RCCL clearly advertises these cruises now so those that want to avoid them can. Cruising in January is typically a quiet time for large families to cruise. Most that sail in January due so to avoid having large amounts of kids on board.

They could always move up to Jacksonville. It can't handle the big ships, but would be ideal if MAS moves the Paradise up there and change to 3/4 day cruises. The Carnival Elation is (mostly) the lone ship that sails out of Jacksonville currently.

5 minutes ago, Ms411 said:

Sigh, Taphus was closed today, and so was the new Rum Room at Cardows.

 

Will try again Tuesday when there are ships.

 

Their Facebook page says they are closed Sat & Sun.

Grandeur is probably gone by 2025. Enchantment, Rhapsody & Vision are probably right behind them. The Voyager-class turns 30 in 2029. RCCL definitely needs new replacements for these ships that can sail to smaller ports. Also, not everyone is a fan of the Oasis & Quantum-class ships. Icon-class is also in that mega-ship catergory.

On 11/15/2023 at 9:13 AM, asalligo said:

I loved my Margaritaville cruise on Paradise and I think there is a bigger market than other lines realize for older smaller ships. I predict in another five years MAS is going to be a major player in the economy cruise market. 

It'll take time. I doubt in five years they have more than 3 ships sailing. The Paradise will likely need to be swapped out by then(she turns 33 next year). And I don't see MAS doing anything longer than a 5-day cruise. They could possibly look to get one of Carnival's remaining Fantasy-class ships(Elation or Paradise) or possibly Costa's oldest remaining ship, the Fortuna.

Does Taphus serve food? If not, what's a good place for lunch nearby the Taphus? @Ms411

On 11/13/2023 at 3:25 PM, Ms411 said:

Um, Frenchtown Brewery never had fries. No food. Tap and Still has the burgers and fries and they make their own Rock City beer, but have never had brewery tours. You can see the big stainless steel tanks at their Havensight location, but I have never seen any activity there. I love their Happy Hour, though, which starts at 3. Price recently went to $4 which is still a bargain.

 

They recently did some renovations to Taphus so I need to check that out soon. 

 

Also heard of new rum from Cardows. Store was closed today.

 

Have you had mamajuana? Very popular in Dominican Republic, but in other areas of Caribbean it's bush rum. TTEllis, that's the drink for you!

since my ship doesn't arrive until 11am, probably just going to go to Tap and Still since it's right there for lunch and then walk over and do the Sky Ride in the afternoon($25).

Can the Sky Ride tickets be purchased the day of? Royal Caribbean is charging $75 for the excursion and was wondering if it's cheaper to walk over from the ship and get it cheaper that day?

On 11/10/2023 at 11:02 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

New article on CruiseIndustryNews:

Margaritaville at Sea to Offer Longer Cruises Starting in 2024

About time. Now we wait on the MAS Islander schedule.

Has anyone done the Brew & Beach excursion in St. Thomas (w/RCCL)? It must be something new because I haven't seen any reviews on it anywhere.It's over $100 and am curious, besides beer, what else is included? The description is very vague.

did you end up doing this? Thinking of it for my January cruise on the Anthem, but it's over $100 p/p.

18 hours ago, HERDFAN said:

I think you can probably add New Orleans to that list, but not 100% positive. 

New Orleans can have the Voyager class sail out of there. Carnival's Spirit class also fits.