seadog67

1 PM and earlier lineup..

if your time is later they are making you get out of line. Listen for the loudspeaker calling the times. There are benches around the corner to sit and wait if needed.

Travel the 1 1/2 hours up the NJ Turpike and just arrived 1/2 before our time.

Our first glimpse pulling in.

Somewhat long line getting in to drop bags off but made it to the lot. Parking costs for the week. Remember to take your ticket with you to pay at the kiosk at the end of the cruise BEFORE retrieving your car..

Anthem has a nice Butt

Here is a quick look at our calendar for today..

Looking forward to the Streamlined Muster Drill. Happy Days!!

Mrs. Seadog67 already has something scheduled to spend money 😆 then we might try and test our Beatles knowledge, more jewlery 😢 then a late supper at My Time before we rock out to some Zepplin… if we can stay awake 😴

What's that I hear... the sea is definitely calling us....

https://youtu.be/SxkfJT31M10

Good Morning Cruise Critics, welcome to the official Day 1 of Semi-Live from Anthem of the Seas.. 

After 2 and a half years of no travel and not being away from the house, not even for an overnight stay somewhere, to say it was tough sleeping last night due to pent up excitement is an understatement.

The plan for today, is to drop our two elderly dog children off at the senior boarding home they have been going to for many years at about 9:30. Pack up the chuckwagon at about 10:30 and head up the NJ Turnpike toward Bayonne shortly after.

Yesterday was a beautiful weather day in this area and hitting over 70 degrees, while last night heavy storms rolled through and are now cleared out but cooler windy weather is moving in.

Forecast for todays sail a way  (Mostly Cloudy, with a high of 57 (not bad for this time of the year) however there is a small craft advisory, so we may have a bit of Motion on the Ocean for sailaway)

Now with a nice mug of texas tea otherwise known as a cup o Joe, I plan to look through the planner and the activities sheet @Blur posted a few post back and start to formulate a plan for the week.

Check back later for some travel pictures and arrival videos. 

The Sea has called and we are answering her!!

5 hours ago, Blur said:

Someone posted this on the Mar 20 anthem Facebook group

Awesome @Blur thanks for the information! That is the number one greatest thing about CC, all the info and helpful tips everyone shares!

6 hours ago, Peak city said:

We're also sailing tomorrow.  First time on Anthem and really looking forward to it.  Hopefully we'll see you at sail away get together at the North Star bar at 3 pm.

 

Sue & Rich

It is going to be a great week! I will swing by NS during sail away as we do not have any plans as of yet. Safe Travels today to the Port!

7 hours ago, MrFunInTheSun said:

Thanks for bringing us along. I’ll be picking up with a “Live” when you get off the week of 3/27/22. 

Thanks for following and we will bring her back in good shape for your sailing!

5 minutes ago, LouTheGlue said:

We board tomorrow as well. My 60th birthday on the 21st so really looking forward to this trip. First cruise in 2 and a half years, after having to cancel countless times like everyone else. Our bids are still showing pending. I've lost all hope, but I guess we'll see tomorrow. I'm very disappointed to NOT see "We Will Rock You" and "Spectra's Cabaret" in the Entertainment section of the app daily planner. This will be a huge disappointment for me. But am happy to see "Led Zeppelin" tribute band tomorrow in the Music Hall.

Outstanding! Happy Birthday @LouTheGlue and what a great way to spend it. I am a big Zepplin fan so I will have to be sure to check that out in the music hall. It sounds like @DaniDanielle is indicating there is a good chance We Will Rock You will be going on!

Good luck with the upgrade as well, I had lost hope but other on this thread indicated the upgrades can happen even on the day of sailing so hope lives!!! 

Enjoy the week an happy birthday again!

18 minutes ago, dbancroft said:

Warmer weather will help get rid of those extra pounds.

 I just read your signature and it made me realize in an earlier post I mentioned being on the Odyssey of the Seas in relation to Anthem, and realize now I meant to say Quantum of the Seas was our first Quantum Class ship we tried right before it went to the far east several year ago. 

Also how the ships have evolved since your Song of Norway first Cruise! Bet that was somewhat different in many respects to todays cruises? 

17 minutes ago, dbancroft said:

Warmer weather will help get rid of those extra pounds.

For the luggage and us as well I hope 🤣

21 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Was originally listed as a Philadelphia Eagles cruise.  Be interested to know if anyone is flying the colors this cruise.  We really enjoyed We Will Rock You, is that still playing?

I did not know that regarding the Philadelphia Eagles Cruise. Being from the NJ side of Philadelphia, we are Eagles fans, so you may see me in an eagles polo shirt one or two days 😉.

I will check on We will Rock you and report back. I still have not dug into the app to see anything outside of check in so far and book some specialty dinners online.

1 minute ago, 2VaCruzers said:

We are on the April 10th sailing (my present to hubby for his 65th birthday),  so I’ll be following your posts!  My daughter and I were on Anthem last November, but this time…no masks!!  Also in November, Spectra and We Will Rock You we’re both canceled on 0ur sailing 😢. Safe travels!!

Glad your along for the ride! I know your April 10th will be great, I am thinking as time rolls on things will move more and more towards a bit more normalcy. Have not really looked at the app yet to see what shows we want to catch this week.

Have a great time in April !

2 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

We loved the Journey tribute band, assuming it was DSB!

I believe that was the name, it has been a while. They were great and the place was hopping during the set! 

@Sunshine3601  You made Mrs. Seadog67's night. I told her there was no hope and now she is reinvigorated hoping it happens LOL! Thanks for the positive thoughts!! 

I will be following along and will find it interesting!

Another first for us this trip.. maybe a second as I may have tried in the past but am forgetting, is we put in bids on 3 potential upgrades via the royal up email we received. Having booked this cruise just last Sunday and preferring a balcony cabin.. yes we are officially snobs when it comes to a balcony 😆 we ended up in a 4D Balcony at the back on the port side almost the last cabin if I recall.  All Suites showed as sold out when we booked.

On our royal up bids I placed one for an upgrade to the Sky Loft Suite, Owner's Suite and or a 1 Bedroom Grand Suite. Bidding what the site showed as a good offer just above a fair offer in the hopes of snagging one if she is sailing at reduced capacity I hoped there might be one upgrade to a Suite available. Alas, the day is slipping by and all my bids still show as pending so we are assuming we will not get an upgrade.

The trials and tribulations of 1st world problems 🤣 but it would have been nice!

1 minute ago, wolfcathorse said:

please post who the master is! I need to see if my chart is correct (Capt Srecko or Toni).

Will do, along with the rest of the Senior Staff. If for some reason I do not, please feel free to pop in anytime and remind me and I will look right then, but I upload all the dailies so should not be a problem.

Obviously everyone has different opinions on various cruise ships and like some better than others. I am not the biggest fan of the Anthem of the Seas, compared to other ships in the fleet and i liked Odyssey of the Seas a lot when I first sailed on her the cruise before she left for the far east.

However one of the venues I really really like on Anthem and Odyssey is 270 at the back of the ship. I saw some awesome shows there and several really good cover bands on our last cruise in 2018 being a Journey Cover Band.

The other highlight for us is hopefully getting to Coco Cay. We have been there several times on past trips and missed the stop entirely an equal number of trips due to poor weather and tender difficulties.  During our last trip we made note from the Tender of the continued construction of the pier they had been building for several years and commented that it will be really nice to visit the island after the pier is completed with an almost guarantee of not missing the stop due to tendering difficulties..

We are also excited to see first hand all the changes compared to our last visit...

7 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

This dog wishes you a great cruise and I will be following along. Anxious to hear how you like your new camera and see pics. Hopefully inter On board can let you upload some high resolution pics. Cheers!

Thanks Sea Dog! Glad your along for the ride, us dogs need to stick together! I will be trying to upload high res and also put into practice some of the lessons I have been learning on taking better pictures. Only so many trees and hiking trail picture one can take before they need a better subject... like a nice big cruise ship!

11 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Your health questionnaire should be available in the app now. 

Thanks @Biker19 ! It sure was and I had forgotten about that, thanks for the reminder!

1 minute ago, Sunshine3601 said:

We will be joining you on this sailing.. our first stop after muster drill check in will be cafe270 for their kummelweck too!    See you there🤩

Outstanding @Sunshine3601 ! We are going to have a great week sailing! Damn it is such a good feeling have the excitement for a pending cruise again!  Safe travels tomorrow!

17 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Gee packing light.  Looks like 1/2 DW's carryons LOL.

😁  It's only light in pictures, once you try and pick one of those suitcase up I will need a hernia doctor on speed dial.  But you are correct we are practicing for a cruise in May when we need to fly to Florida to cruise with family and are trying to change our ways and not pay overweight baggage fees then. Those bags are each 54 pounds now, we need to lose 4 pound in packing by May....😆

17 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Looking forward to this and all the pictures.  Only seen Anthem from cruise pier in ports.

Thanks for checking in @crewsweeper! I will do the best I can to provide pictures and videos. Videos will depend on the internet but I remember it was somewhat decent during our last cruise on Anthem.

Hope to have a video from the bumper cars again as we had a real good laugh on out last trip.

21 minutes ago, suesnake2002 said:

Excited to know I will be sailing with a cc celebrity!!  Although we go internet blackout while cruising. It will be interesting to read your review after we get back. See ya onboard 

LOL Celebrities come cheap now a days 🙂  I hope we have a great week and it is really needed after over 2 and a half years since I was last away from home. That is also one of the reason I do these reports is I can look back a few month later and relive the experience while working until the next cruise!

Thanks for checking in!