Anthem North Star Going Over Side

We did North Star yesterday and it did go over to each side as it was mentioned here that it wasn't going over the side of the ship on previous threads here on CC.

Here are some shots of the views. If you have any questions re Anthem or current sailing ask here.

We did the North Star on both the Quantum and the Anthem. More of a marketing gimmick, the experience doesn't live up to the hype.

How's the weather on the current cruise?

Found the Anthem to be one of the smoothest cruises we've experienced. Not sure if it was luck or engineering.

"The Gift" was cancelled on our cruise last week, is it playing this week?

We did the North Star on both the Quantum and the Anthem. More of a marketing gimmick, the experience doesn't live up to the hype.

 

I had a very different reaction. I thought North Star was loads of fun, probably the closest I'll ever come to having a helicopter view of a ship and the ocean. To each her own, like food. :)

(photos by turtles06)

Loved it. Did it 3 times - in port in Bayonne, in port in St Maarten and out at sea. I'm very jealous that you got to go over the side.

i have heard diffrent thins about north star when i was on Anthems thanksgiving cruise. it does not go over the side on busy cruises or 7 day cruises and will only do it on long cruises from 1 person and another said the over the side has been discontiniued as it takes 20 min and the can get more passengers on it with the 7 or 10 min up down ride with it angleing to the right then left when it gets to the top.. i found no diffrence from how it was in port to when at sea

We did North Star again today and I got the scoop on what is happening from one of the operators. On Monday it was open rides so no reservation was needed and they were doing the longer over the side ride since there wasn't long lines.

Today you required a reservation and they schedule 28 people per 30 minutes and must do two separate shorter rides to accommodate this number.

We did North Star again today and I got the scoop on what is happening from one of the operators. On Monday it was open rides so no reservation was needed and they were doing the longer over the side ride since there wasn't long lines.

Today you required a reservation and they schedule 28 people per 30 minutes and must do two separate shorter rides to accommodate this number.

So does this mean those with reservations do not go over to the sides of the ship?

So does this mean those with reservations do not go over to the sides of the ship?

Correct, so try to also do North Star on one of the open, no reservation times which may offer the longer ride if not too busy. That's is exactly what happen with our first ride last Monday.

Here are some views from NS yesterday while in Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten.

Here's a better shot of Philipsburg. I uploaded the wrong shot above. ;)

How's the weather on the current cruise?

 

Found the Anthem to be one of the smoothest cruises we've experienced. Not sure if it was luck or engineering.

 

"The Gift" was cancelled on our cruise last week, is it playing this week?

Weather has been great except for some rain on the second sea day of the two we did to get to Labadee.

I checked our dailies to date and The Gift hasn't been on it so far but I recall when we did our reservation it was being offered only towards the end of this cruise. WWRY is the show in the theater on the first portion of this cruise. We have a reservation for The Gift in three days on our first sea day back to Bayonne. I will report back on this once I have followed up.

Today we are in Martinique, tomorrow Barbados, then St. Kitts.

 

Found the Anthem to be one of the smoothest cruises we've experienced. Not sure if it was luck or engineering.

Got kick off internet for awhile. I'll have to check why this is happening. Here is my response to the above.

On this cruise Anthem has been very stable although the maximum seas we've had so far is 6 to 8 feet. Our cabin is on deck 10 over last lifeboat so is fairly close to the stern and we have had no problem what ever with movement in our cabin or even when we have been at the very front in the solarium.

Got kick off internet for awhile. I'll have to check why this is happening. Here is my response to the above.

On this cruise Anthem has been very stable although the maximum seas we've had so far is 6 to 8 feet. Our cabin is on deck 10 over last lifeboat so is fairly close to the stern and we have had no problem what ever with movement in our cabin or even when we have been at the very front in the solarium.

We were on deck 10 also, near the center of the ship, virtually no movement at all the entire cruise.

Would be curious to know if the Gift if on the schedule.

Correct, so try to also do North Star on one of the open, no reservation times which may offer the longer ride if not too busy. That's is exactly what happen with our first ride last Monday.

Here are some views from NS yesterday while in Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info. Great pictures!

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While I'm disappointed that I didn't personally get to experience and over-the-side ride, I'm glad to hear that they're being offered again at least part of the time. It was such a shame to not take advantage of that unique feature... the going up and down was cool, but the swinging over the side of the ship is truly iconic, as depicted at the top of the daily Cruise Compass and on the Sea Pass cards! Hopefully I'll get to do it whenever we next return to Anthem.

Those are fabulous pictures from the North Star!

The times available for online booking for my cruise next month were all awful, but I booked one for the morning in CocoCay just so I have something. Hopefully I'll be able to get on on "standby" as well (with an over-the-side ride!).

Can anyone tell me what the typical hours of North Star were? The night picture is incredible - did they have many night-time hours? Were they reserved or "open"?

Can anyone tell me what the typical hours of North Star were? The night picture is incredible - did they have many night-time hours? Were they reserved or "open"?

They seem to end around 6 or 7, sunset has been around 6. Tomorrow we are in St. Kitts until 7 and it's listed as being open until 6:30. I've been told that there are no-reservation days the last 2 days of our cruise so I will try to get there early one morning to go over the side. I've ridden twice already but just up and down. First time was on embarkation day, the first "flight" of the cruise. The second was during a reservation time while we were in St. Maarten when they had very few reservations and we were able to walk right up (that one was strange since the person checking people in told my wife we needed to be dressed to ride so we went to our cabins to put shorts over our swimsuits and missed a ride, only to have a girl in a bikini ride with us). I have a reservation on deck 10 (at sea) but I won't use it since I booked the puzzle room at the same time.

Since we are on a 12 night cruise, it's much easier to get on than it would be on a shorter cruise. I should mention that I found it very interesting to watch the over the side ride from the chairs on deck 14, even though I wasn't riding.

Thanks so much for the information! Unfortunately I am on a 7-night cruise so it may be more difficult to get on!

Can you please tell me where/when you signed up for the puzzle room? I'd love to do that but heard many say it was fully booked and they couldn't get a reservation.

Also have you been on iFly at all? For whatever reason, I'm unable to book online for my sailing. I called 3 different departments at RCI and talked to 4 different people and all of them said I would have to book onboard. And the first one said its because they're implementing a fee (which I have since heard is "supposedly" only being implemented on the Quantum at this time).

How have you found the bumper car lines? Manageable?

Can you please tell me where/when you signed up for the puzzle room? I'd love to do that but heard many say it was fully booked and they couldn't get a reservation.

 

Also have you been on iFly at all? For whatever reason, I'm unable to book online for my sailing. I called 3 different departments at RCI and talked to 4 different people and all of them said I would have to book onboard. And the first one said its because they're implementing a fee (which I have since heard is "supposedly" only being implemented on the Quantum at this time).

 

How have you found the bumper car lines? Manageable?

Puzzle room is booked on sheets of paper in the SeaPlex. I forgot to book it the first day so I ran up after our M&M the first morning and was able to book it then. Then I realized it conflicted with my iFly so I changed the puzzle room time to later in the cruise and there were still plenty of times left. But once again, I think that being on a 12 night cruise with 5 sea days (6 if you consider that we did not get to San Juan until 3) will be much different than your cruise.

I did iFly on day 3 and was able to book online a few weeks (3?) before our cruise.

Bumper car lines have not been that bad. The first sea day I went up late in the afternoon and the line looped entirely around the room so I did not wait. The following day we got there before they opened and waited around 30 minutes and were on the first ride. Then I got back on line to ride again and waited a shorter time, maybe 15 minutes. Yesterday afternoon I went back and rode another couple of times and waited less than 15 minutes each time. I recorded my first two rides on my phone. Yesterday I decided not to record and it was a good thing since there seemed to be a lot more hard hits than on my first rides and I might have dropped my phone. I think as people are getting more familiar with the ride they are getting more aggressive! Once again, it could (and probably will) be worse on your cruise because it's shorter. Also, we have relatively few kids on this cruise.

"The Gift" was cancelled on our cruise last week, is it playing this week?

The Gift is going this cruise with the first shows today at 7 and 9pm.

Thank you so so so much for the information!

Where exactly were the sign-up sheets for the Puzzle room in the Seaplex? Is it a self-serve style thing where you just write your name in?

Thanks for the tips re: the bumper cars too! I love driving them around or a few light taps but can't stand getting rammed into really hard (yes, I realize that defeats the purpose of bumper cars! 🙃)... I will try to ride them early on in the cruise.

Glad to hear The Gift is back on as well!

Thanks for the tips re: the bumper cars too! I love driving them around or a few light taps but can't stand getting rammed into really hard (yes, I realize that defeats the purpose of bumper cars! 🙃)... I will try to ride them early on in the cruise.

 

I guess you would not be too happy with with me in the group you are on. Bumper cars are meant to BUMP hard. Great fun. One of the times on the Quantum we went on the bumper cars, there were very few riding (only about 5-6 cars). Myself, my wife and a crew member taking advantage of the lack of riders spent the entire time smashing into each other laughing all the time... :D

BTW, the time there were so few riders was just before lunch.

Note to self - Avoid Cruising-Snowbird on the bumper cars! Lol! I think my dislike stems from some hard hits with a resulting sore neck for days! Would hate for that to happen while on vacation.

And thanks for the tip re- the time! Going at mealtimes sounds like a great way to get on without a long wait AND avoid the crowds in the Windjammer!

The Gift is going this cruise with the first shows today at 7 and 9pm.

We saw it tonight and thought it was surprisingly good. The songs were good (mostly current pop variety) and the story line was reasonable. Certainly way better than We Will Rock You, which has one of the worst books (the dialog) of any musical that we've seen, anywhere. Some people in our aisle walked out 5 minutes into The Gift and I couldn't understand why.

Our cabin is on deck 10 over last lifeboat so is fairly close to the stern and we have had no problem what ever with movement in our cabin or even when we have been at the very front in the solarium.

We just booked Anthem deck 10 (cabin 10694 starboard) does the lifeboat interfere with any view? water or otherwise? :eek::eek:

We just booked Anthem deck 10 (cabin 10694 starboard) does the lifeboat interfere with any view? water or otherwise? :eek::eek:

We were in cabin 10706 and we could see the lifeboats, aft end of #17 was right below, but I wouldn't say they really interfere with the view as shown in the top shot. Looking at a deckplan for deck 10 cabin 10694 should have a similar downward view over the aft end of the lifeboat #15, shown in the second shot, which is one over forward towards the bow beside the glass enclosed smoker's area.