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We Sail on Sunday and She Doesn't Know! (I think) A Cruise on Anthem, 3/13 - 3/20

Broons77

By Broons77,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Broons77 "Live from...." Rare

Broons77

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So I guess I'm doing this.  I can't promise @twangster or @Radio level reporting, but I'll do my best.  I lead a busy life and while I love my CC board time, I do need to be practical.  Especially given what I'm attempting.  So here's the deal.

 

Last fall, RC ran a sale and had some crazy low fares on Anthem to the Bahamas/PDCC.  I priced out a cabin and sat there staring at it.  My stepdaughter came in the room and asked what I was staring at, because I looked like I was willing the monitor to burst into flame.  I asked her if she felt like going to the Bahamas in March and 15 seconds later I was filling out the booking info.  2 inside cabins (our first time in interiors!), myself and DW in one and stepdaughter (henceforth known as DD) and her friend in the other.  Ridiculously short money, even for insides.  First post-covid cruise, ahead of a prebooked cruise in May that was supposed to be our first cruise back.

 

Background info - DW is disabled, confined to a wheelchair much of the time and has a pretty poor quality of life due to an aggressive form of early onset Parkinson's Disease.  She relies on me for most everything, dressing, bathing, etc, and doesn't get out of the house too much, especially during a long New England winter.  So I decided to just not tell her and spring it on her the morning of.  I can't think of anything more fun.  Waking up and rather than just another dreary week in dreary March, she finds out she's getting on a boat to the Bahamas into the warm sun.  She gets to sit on an actual beach on Coco Cay and maybe even put her feet in the warm water.  These are things she hasn't been able to do in some time now.  Yep, this is the way to go to spread some joy where it's much needed,

 

The plan is this.  I texted our common friend David who spends quite a bit of time in NYC to let him know my plans and set the stage.  He was to text DW saying he was to be in NYC and wanted to get together for dinner.  She would tell me, and after a bit of complaining about a long ride in March to NYC, I grudgingly agreed to take her and immediately booked 2 rooms at the Hyatt in Jersey City, giggling all the while.  So we are driving down on Saturday, followed by DD and her friend in another car, unbeknownst to DW.  We will have a light dinner in the bar with David on Saturday night, and then on Sunday morning I will roll her down to the lobby, step over to the front desk to check out, DD and friend will pop out to surprise her and I will place her boarding pass in her hand and tell her what she's doing for the next week.  A simple reveal is best I think.

 

Leading up to this weekend, there's been a flurry of activity unbeknownst to her.  Many Amazon deliveries under her nose, hidden bags of clothes and various cruise related items stashed in the closet.  I gave DD my credit card a few weeks ago along with orders to clothes shop for mom and she did a great job getting some really cute stuff.  The trip to NY/NJ provided a convenient cover story for me to get her a hair appointment yesterday for a cut, and tomorrow I'll color it for her (I'm 6'3"/280 and a whiz at hair color - who knew?).  She hasn't seen our friend David in quite a while and is excited to look her best so none of this will seem out of the ordinary.  And while she was out yesterday getting the haircut, I was at home packing our bags and getting all that stuff in order.  These are all now tagged and downstairs in the garage in the back of my truck where she'll never see them.  Everything seems to be falling right into place.  Proper planning prevents p*** poor performance.

 

Now about those pesky covid tests...

 

I had stopped by the house of a good friend this past weekend to help with a small home repair (this actually did happen).  Friday morning DW will be told that I received a text from said friend that she had tested positive and that we've got to go get tested.  I'll casually mention that I just made us drive through appointments as it was just as easy as the home tests.  I don't think she'll question it.  Results for both of us are set to be emailed to my email box.  I have the proctored tests as a backup, but if those come into play, the jig is up.  Fingers crossed it doesn't come to that.

 

So here we are.  As Mr Petty once said, the waiting is the hardest part.  3+ days to go.  I'll try to post a little something daily between now and Sunday for those that want to follow along.  If people seem to like hearing about our adventure, maybe I'll carry it over to a live report from Anthem as I'm bringing the laptop with me.  Pretty sure that ship has to be close to the record holder for live CC reports but if so, what's one more.  I'm hoping that friend of DD will video the big reveal Sunday morning.  If she does and it's fit for public consumption, I'll try to post that as well.

 

One last thing, if you enjoy this thread, and don't have a favorite charity, might I suggest that you look into supporting a Parkinsons related cause.  It's truly a horrible disease that really needs to be made to go away.  DW and many many others would be greatly appreciative.

 

Let's cruise!!!!!

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  • Broons77 changed the title to We Sail on Sunday and She Doesn't Know! (I think) A Cruise on Anthem, 3/13 - 3/20
livingonthebeach "Live from...." Rare

livingonthebeach

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35 minutes ago, Broons77 said:

So I guess I'm doing this.  I can't promise @twangster or @Radio level reporting, but I'll do my best.  I lead a busy life and while I love my CC board time, I do need to be practical.  Especially given what I'm attempting.  So here's the deal.

 

Last fall, RC ran a sale and had some crazy low fares on Anthem to the Bahamas/PDCC.  I priced out a cabin and sat there staring at it.  My stepdaughter came in the room and asked what I was staring at, because I looked like I was willing the monitor to burst into flame.  I asked her if she felt like going to the Bahamas in March and 15 seconds later I was filling out the booking info.  2 inside cabins (our first time in interiors!), myself and DW in one and stepdaughter (henceforth known as DD) and her friend in the other.  Ridiculously short money, even for insides.  First post-covid cruise, ahead of a prebooked cruise in May that was supposed to be our first cruise back.

 

Background info - DW is disabled, confined to a wheelchair much of the time and has a pretty poor quality of life due to an aggressive form of early onset Parkinson's Disease.  She relies on me for most everything, dressing, bathing, etc, and doesn't get out of the house too much, especially during a long New England winter.  So I decided to just not tell her and spring it on her the morning of.  I can't think of anything more fun.  Waking up and rather than just another dreary week in dreary March, she finds out she's getting on a boat to the Bahamas into the warm sun.  She gets to sit on an actual beach on Coco Cay and maybe even put her feet in the warm water.  These are things she hasn't been able to do in some time now.  Yep, this is the way to go to spread some joy where it's much needed,

 

The plan is this.  I texted our common friend David who spends quite a bit of time in NYC to let him know my plans and set the stage.  He was to text DW saying he was to be in NYC and wanted to get together for dinner.  She would tell me, and after a bit of complaining about a long ride in March to NYC, I grudgingly agreed to take her and immediately booked 2 rooms at the Hyatt in Jersey City, giggling all the while.  So we are driving down on Saturday, followed by DD and her friend in another car, unbeknownst to DW.  We will have a light dinner in the bar with David on Saturday night, and then on Sunday morning I will roll her down to the lobby, step over to the front desk to check out, DD and friend will pop out to surprise her and I will place her boarding pass in her hand and tell her what she's doing for the next week.  A simple reveal is best I think.

 

Leading up to this weekend, there's been a flurry of activity unbeknownst to her.  Many Amazon deliveries under her nose, hidden bags of clothes and various cruise related items stashed in the closet.  I gave DD my credit card a few weeks ago along with orders to clothes shop for mom and she did a great job getting some really cute stuff.  The trip to NY/NJ provided a convenient cover story for me to get her a hair appointment yesterday for a cut, and tomorrow I'll color it for her (I'm 6'3"/280 and a whiz at hair color - who knew?).  She hasn't seen our friend David in quite a while and is excited to look her best so none of this will seem out of the ordinary.  And while she was out yesterday getting the haircut, I was at home packing our bags and getting all that stuff in order.  These are all now tagged and downstairs in the garage in the back of my truck where she'll never see them.  Everything seems to be falling right into place.  Proper planning prevents p*** poor performance.

 

Now about those pesky covid tests...

 

I had stopped by the house of a good friend this past weekend to help with a small home repair (this actually did happen).  Friday morning DW will be told that I received a text from said friend that she had tested positive and that we've got to go get tested.  I'll casually mention that I just made us drive through appointments as it was just as easy as the home tests.  I don't think she'll question it.  Results for both of us are set to be emailed to my email box.  I have the proctored tests as a backup, but if those come into play, the jig is up.  Fingers crossed it doesn't come to that.

 

So here we are.  As Mr Petty once said, the waiting is the hardest part.  3+ days to go.  I'll try to post a little something daily between now and Sunday for those that want to follow along.  If people seem to like hearing about our adventure, maybe I'll carry it over to a live report from Anthem as I'm bringing the laptop with me.  Pretty sure that ship has to be close to the record holder for live CC reports but if so, what's one more.  I'm hoping that friend of DD will video the big reveal Sunday morning.  If she does and it's fit for public consumption, I'll try to post that as well.

 

One last thing, if you enjoy this thread, and don't have a favorite charity, might I suggest that you look into supporting a Parkinsons related cause.  It's truly a horrible disease that really needs to be made to go away.  DW and many many others would be greatly appreciative.

 

Let's cruise!!!!!

 

Wow can I clone you to have as my travel genie? Definitely following. Enjoy!!!

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Broons77 "Live from...." Rare

Broons77

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Thanks everyone for your nice comments.  This thread just makes this whole thing even more fun, as if that was possible!

 

Today is my last workday before vacation starts!  One of my top 5 exciting pre-cruise days.  we got a couple of inches of snow yesterday, as if i needed more reason to want to get out into the sun.  2 more days!!!!!!

 

DW is going through her morning routine.  After i get done with work, she gets her hair colored and I'll start to pack our overnight bag for Saturday.  C'mon Sunday, let's get here!!!!

 

One thing I didn't mention in my first post, I'm going to try to add info about our sailing with an eye for those that are disabled.  This will be our first trip in an accessible cabin, and I'm going to post a room tour to YouTube as I was unable to find a video of the accessible interior on Anthem.  So anyone has any questions specific to accessibility (or anything else really), please ask.

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TwinMamainMN

TwinMamainMN

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You've thought of everything, and I love that you are doing this for your wife! It's going to be amazing, and keeping the secret is half the fun.

 

I'm curious about how sailing with a WC using an inside cabin goes. Our daughter uses a WC but needs accessible bathroom and space for the WC. We book accessible balcony cabins for her, but an accessible inside would be less money.

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Broons77 "Live from...." Rare

Broons77

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20 minutes ago, TwinMamainMN said:

You've thought of everything, and I love that you are doing this for your wife! It's going to be amazing, and keeping the secret is half the fun.

 

I'm curious about how sailing with a WC using an inside cabin goes. Our daughter uses a WC but needs accessible bathroom and space for the WC. We book accessible balcony cabins for her, but an accessible inside would be less money.

 

I believe the layouts are fairly similar between interiors and balconies based on what I've seen on videos from other ships.  Probably a few extra square feet in the balcony, but bathrooms should be identical.  As far as the cabin itself, it appears to be plenty roomy and has the larger width door to accommodate the chair.  I'll be sure to let you know!

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Broons77 "Live from...." Rare

Broons77

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7 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

BROONS, I will look for you on the ship.  Looking forward to a laid back cruise with no expectations.  Have a Great cruise!!

 

I'll be the exhausted looking guy in the black (or yellow, I have a couple) Bruins cap pushing a wheelchair.  Once in warm weather, I'll also be sporting a festive tye dye tshirt.  You can't miss us, please do say hello!

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