Anthem of the Seas FlyCruise - Day 0: New York | Journeys
It’s back to normal, sort of…
Transiting at Tokyo-Haneda Airport PHOTO: SINGAPORE CRUISE SOCIETY
Today we depart for our first international cruise since 2019 aboard Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas from Cape Liberty, Bayonne, New Jersey! Even though Singapore was the first destination Royal Caribbean resumed service with back in December 2020, our Ocean Getaway cruises currently does not have any ports of call and abide by local health regulations, restricting certain activities onboard that we would normally find on a full cruise, hence we are very excited to be back.
Pre Departure Test (Flight)
We first kicked off our journey with the pre-departure COVID test as part of our flying requirements. The United States currently requires all passengers to undergo a COVID-19 test a calendar day before your departure flight. Hence, as rapid PCR testing is not readily available to consumers in availability and high costs, we opted for Antigen Rapid Tests for our travels.
Since our flight was not until 10pm, we scheduled our ART testing on departure day itself, at 2pm. We went early to the airport to complete the swab at Raffles Medical at Changi Airport Terminal 3 - which offers ART testing with notarized result for travels within 30 minutes at SGD$30. However, we needed to wait 2 hours for an available slot of swabbing due to high volume of patients at the clinic.
We got our results by 4:30pm, and we roamed around the airport while waiting for check-in to open.
Our flights & Why not VTL?
Japan Airlines at John F Kennedy Intl Airport PHOTO: SINGAPORE CRUISE SOCIETY
We selected Japan Airlines to bring us to Tokyo as they were running amazing offers bridging passengers from Singapore to their destinations in North America, with no additional testing requirements in order to transit in Tokyo. Hence, we decided to choose them instead of a direct flight with our national carrier, which currently charges twice the amount we paid to JAL.
Do note that this option is only available if you are not flying under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL). In order to fulfill VTL conditions, after we disembark a cruise, we must stay within a VTL country/region 14 days up to your return flight. However, because of our personal schedules, this was not an option and hence we opted for a 10-day Stay Home Notice @ Designated Facilities instead.
Do also note that JAL is currently offering passengers flying from Singapore across the Pacific to their destinations in North America complimentary unlimited Wi-Fi and baggage allowance. Managed to video call my friends onboard the flight.
Documentations to Prepare
The Notarise PHOTO: SINGAPORE CRUISE SOCIETY
For travelers based in Singapore, there is not much you need to prepare, other than the following:
Your Passport
ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization)
COVID-19: Attestation Form (submitted to airline)
COVID-19: Vaccination Record (Singapore - Generated via Notarise Platform)
COVID-19: Negative COVID test results
During our check-in, the airline staff meticulously checked our documents to ensure everything was in order.
Flying
Our seat on JAL PHOTO: SINGAPORE CRUISE SOCIETY
We are glad to be flying again, and honestly it felt close to normal. Other than the mask wearing, everything else was back - full food and beverage menu, high load factors and lounge access both in Singapore and Haneda.
Transiting in Haneda was smooth, with transiting passengers allowed to disembark first, we were given a transit card to be brought to customs officials where there was a line for security checks, before going up to the departures level to wait for our flight.
The view from JAL’s First Class Lounge PHOTO: SINGAPORE CRUISE SOCIETY
In Tokyo Haneda, if you are a status holder or someone that is able to access either JAL/ANA lounges, do note that currently their Business Class is currently closed, however, they are granting access all to their First Class lounges (ANA Suite Lounge and JAL First Class Lounge). Priority Pass users can get access into the ANA Suite Lounge.
Take good use during the five good hours to explore Haneda and the lounges.
Arrival & ART Test
We arrived in New York early in the morning and it took us about 2 hours to cross immigration and we immediately headed up to conduct an ART test for cruise embarkation purposes.
As Singapore only recognizes ART tests for 24 hours (there was also a warning on our test results), we did not want to take any risks and decided to take one instead. Results were out within 30 minutes and were sent via email.
New York
Businesses in NYC requiring prove of vaccination PHOTO: SINGAPORE CRUISE SOCIETY
We met up with one of our cruise industry media partners for dinner, and learned that F&B establishments in NYC are required to check for vaccination certificates along with a photo ID before allowing them to dine-in. Malls we visited also required face coverings while indoors. However, there were venues that allowed vaccinated guests to enter without masks, like our hotel, though we believe there was no one checking/enforcing these measures.
With that, we returned back to our hotel to rest for tomorrow. At the end of our trip, we will be sharing a more in-depth understanding of the travel process & more.
Tomorrow is Day 1 and we will be at Cape Liberty Cruise Port tomorrow to check-in for Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas.
Preamble: Anthem of the Seas 12 Night Southern Caribbean FlyCruise
A Note on Pandemic Travel
All international travels conducted by the Singapore Cruise Society will be done in accordance with prevailing health and border control measures of our home & the destination country. Our admins and staff have been advised and will follow a strict set of health guidelines set out based on current measures published by the cruise lines and local authorities.
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