Autumn is a great time to visit New England and Eastern Canada as the leaves start to turn bright red, orange and yellow colors. My parents and I booked a 9-night cruise on Royal Caribbean's
departing September 22, 2016 round trip from Cape Liberty, NJ, which included popular "
" ports such as Bar Harbor, Halifax, and New Brunswick. Historically, the best time for color along the coastal regions would be around mid-October, but since we got a great deal on the sailing, we decided to go then and hoped we may still see some fall foliage.
Most cruises depart around 4pm from the East Coast, so flights from the West Coast would not arrive in time unless you fly a red-eye. It can be risky to depend on a red-eye as there could be delays due to weather, mechanical and crew issues, so it is recommended to fly in the day before. The three of us flew to Newark on Southwest Airlines using Rapid Rewards points. The flight departed at 6:30am so we had to get up early and take a reserved taxi to San Jose airport (SJC). We could have taken Uber for much less, but I did not know if there were cars available so early, but that morning at 4:30, I checked the app and there were plenty of vehicles available. Now I (and you) know!
), but it was in the other terminal, so we didn't partake. (Priority Pass membership is included with various credit cards such as
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| heading to the gate |
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| first time seeing a child's seat in the ladies' restroom |
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The flight was uneventful. There was a stop in Denver, but we didn't have to get off the plane, which was good since there was no transfer to miss, but bad if you didn't bring any food with you, since all we received on the entire flight were cookies, peanuts, and Wheat Thins.
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| one of the rare times that I see a sunrise |
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| snacks for 1st leg of flight |
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| at least we brought sandwiches for 2nd leg |
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Our overnight stay was at a Marriott Courtyard located in Elizabeth, NJ, not too far from the airport, and had a complimentary shuttle. We took the
Airtrain from the terminal to the shuttle pick-up area. The trains were very crowded and it was a madhouse. We finally were able to board, but a few stops later, everyone got kicked off of the train by Airtrain security, with no explanation but to tell us to take the next one. Eventually we made it to the shuttle pick-up area and got to the hotel.
The
Courtyard Newark Elizabeth was comfortable, with updated decor and in close proximity to
The Mills, an outlet mall. The room cost was covered by redeeming an anniversary free night certificate from holding the
Marriott Rewards Premier credit card, well worth the $85 annual fee, as a cash booking would have totaled about $200.
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| view out the window |
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| king bed and sofabed |
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| evening reception |
The hotel hosted an evening reception with wine, beer and light snacks, but we did not partake. We walked over to the Mills outlet mall for some window shopping and a quick dinner. There were the usual mall food court options, and the winner was Burger King, since I wanted to try their new Cheetos chicken fries. They tasted fine, but I probably wouldn't buy them again.
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| first time seeing a Pringles vending machine |
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| chicken fries were ok |
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The next morning, I had pre-arranged transportation to the port with Independent Driver (email inde.drvr@gmail.com, recommended on Cruise Critic). Our driver arrived on time with a large passenger van, more than enough room for us and our luggage. I hadn't made our return transportation arrangements yet (was considering taking Uber), but since we had a great experience with this ride, when we reached the port, I made verbal arrangements with the driver to pick us up at the end of our cruise.
We arrived at the port before 11am in order to beat the crowds. The embarkation process went smoothly. There was a line for elite status guests, so we and other folks were directed to sit down in a particular area, where staff came by and checked us in using tablets. This was much different than standard check-in, as our key cards would be inside our cabins. (with one in the cabin mailbox to open the door) Not too long after check-in, our group was called to board the ship. The walkway to the ship was colorfully lit.
Anthem of the Seas is a Quantum-class ship built in 2015. I hadn't experienced this class of ship before, so there were lots of new things to see. Our cabin wasn't ready yet, so we headed up to the
Windjammer Marketplace for a buffet lunch.
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| area to wash hands at the entrance of the buffet |
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| food stations |
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| not the prettiest plate of food |
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| desserts were ok |
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After lunch, we headed up to our cabin, which was ready. It was strange to see key cards in the mail slots as we walked down the hallway, available for anyone to take and enter the room, though I suppose it is low risk, as the room stewards are around.
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| key card envelope |
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| balcony cabin |
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| single sofa bed |
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| yay, shower with a door |
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| key card controls the power |
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| USB outlets and lots of plugs |
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| relaxing for a bit |
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| view out the balcony |
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Day 1 Cruise Compass:
Embarkation welcome letters and flyers:
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| Gold status onboard discounts |
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| Platinum status onboard discounts |
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We also received our dining information. I took advantage of a buy-one-get-one specialty dining offer that was offered on the online Cruise Planner for $30 per person. Royal Caribbean would pre-assign the dining time and restaurant for the first and second nights of the cruise, but you could make changes onboard. It was an excellent opportunity to try out specialty restaurants for $15/pp per dinner. We were pre-assigned
Jamie's Italian for embarkation night, then
Chops Grille on the second night. I tried to change our first night to Chops or Wonderland, but it was fully booked, so ended up changing to
Wonderland for the second night since I really wanted to try out its creative cuisine. The rest of the nights were "Dynamic Dining Choice", meaning that we could book any of the four complimentary restaurants at any time. (this has been renamed to "
My Time Dining") I made tentative dining reservations using the Cruise Planner online, but it also helped to download the
Royal IQ app before boarding the ship, in order to change dining and activity reservations. It was nice to be able to select different dining times since some of the ports departed late, but I think I still prefer having the traditional set dining times (ie. 6pm and 8:30pm).
One other item in our cabin was a receipt for onboard credit that I purchased in advance. American Express had an "
AMEX Offer" for Royal Caribbean: $75 off a $350+ purchase. I accepted the offer on my American Express card, bought $350 onboard credit, and a $75 credit posted on my statement the day after, a great way to save over 20% on something you were already going to spend money on, such as gratuities. If you have an American Express card, check your online account frequently for AMEX Offers; oftentimes, there are discounts for places that you normally spend money on. It's even better if you have multiple AMEX cards as you can load all the offers using the
multiple tabs trick. That's how I saved $500 using five "$100 off $500" offers for our
Norwegian Alaska cruise back in June 2016.
Now, time to explore the ship!
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| artwork in the Via |
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| Music Hall |
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| The Royal Theatre |
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| elevator atrium |
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Bionic Bar: (24 second clip)
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| Two70 lounge |
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| Cafe @ Two70 |
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| sweets at Two70 cafe |
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| huge rocking chairs in the Via |
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| casino |
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| Michael's Pub menu |
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| Sorrento's pizzeria |
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| Cafe Promenade |
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| sweets (for sale) |
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| SeaPlex entrance |
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| multi-purpose space (roller skating, bumper cars) |
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| sitting in parked bumper cars |
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| three rock climbing walls |
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| the "North Star" observation tower |
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iFly indoor skydiving: (32 second clip)
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| Flowrider surfing machine (not running yet) |
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| view of New York City and Liberty Island |
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After the mandatory muster drill, it was time for the ship to depart. The captain announced that Anthem had permission to sail around the bay before heading out to Boston, woohoo! Our balcony offered a spectacular sail-by view of the Statue of Liberty.
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| Statue of Liberty |
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| New York City and Brooklyn Bridge |
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| Verrazano-Narrows Bridge |
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As mentioned earlier, tonight's dinner was at
Jamie's Italian. It was decent, with tons of food. I probably wouldn't eat here again so soon unless I wanted a change from main dining selections.
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| garlic bread and crispy squid |
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| crab and avocado bruschetta |
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| prawn linguine |
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| lamb chops |
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| simple green salad |
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| epic homemade brownie |
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| tiramisu |
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| frangipane tart with vanilla ice cream |
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Tomorrow will be a day at sea, stopping in Boston the following day...stay tuned!
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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