Anthem of the Seas Picture Review October 6th to 15th 2016

As I begin this thread, I'm acutely aware that Yorkvillain is in the midst of a great live thread from Anthem, but this may be of use to people looking at the Canada New England itinerary next year.

Earlier this month, my better half Pauline and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, and something special was called for. In 2008, while planning our first cruise on Navigator, I got chatting with Preds (Mike) in the Rome thread after posting details of a walking tour I was putting together, as we had teens of a similar age.

It transpired we were on different ships, but we arranged to met at the fort in Civitavecchia, he brought half of Norwegian Gem with him, and we had a great day in Rome, exploring, getting lost, laughing, and generally doing all the stuff that makes cruising special.

We stayed in touch, and discovered three years via social media posts that Mike and his wife Kelly had married on October 12th, the exact same day Pauline and I tied the knot. "We'll have to cruise together on our 25th", became a running joke between us.

To cut a long story short, we did!.

In March of last year, Mike contacted us to say he was booking this cruise, and were we interested. After agonising over what to do for several minutes, we were. We'd never been to NYC, so this would kill two birds with one stone.

It all seemed so far into the future, but on Monday October 3rd, this is what we saw on the screens of our Aer Lingus plane into Newark Airport.

Having flown from Dublin, we had already pre-cleared customs and Homeland Security, so before too long, our bags were collected, and after a short trip on the excellent Air Train, we were on a NJ TRANSIT train to Penn Station.

Once we left Penn Station, we caught a yellow cab to our hotel, the Sheraton Times Square. A bit in the expensive side, but what a location!!!

Our plan was to get the Big Bus Hop on Hop Off two day ticket, which proved to be the right thing to do.

We left the hotel, and bought the ticket from an agent at the M&Ms store, juat a hop, skip and jump from the hotel. We did the downtown tour, and after a pizza and comfort stop at Ray's Pizza, we did the night tour. After over 50 years of experiencing New York via literature, cinema and TV, we were finally getting our first glimpses of a skyline we already knew quite well.

For some reason, the Chrysler Building is one I've always been interested in - it was great to finally see it up close.

The "piece de resistance" of the night tour though was the view of the skyline from Manhattan Bridge. No photo will ever do it justice, this one least of all!

Great start! Following!

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This a cruise, I would like to do - thanks for doing this

Next day, I awoke early and went for a walk, discovering a number of iconic locations along the way. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Leave the hotel turn right, walk a few blocks and there it is. Turn left, then left again after two blocks, Radio City!

The grid system in New York makes it such a perfect place to walk in, you'll always find your way back to the hotel with ease. The fact that you see something you recognise every time you turn a corner is an added bonus!

We got back on to the Big Bus and headed for the South Street Seaport to avail of the Hornblower Cruise included in the package. As you can imagine, Ellis Island is a very important place in Irish history, particularly in terms of the emigration during the famine of the mid 1800s. There are very few Irish families who did not someone pass through those doors at some point.

Of course, as a lover of cinema, we can't ignore The Godfather Part 2 either.

That night, we went to see Something Rotten at the St James Theatre, a great show, finishing soon and embarking on a US tour. Before that though, we went to the Top of the Rock for an aerial view of New York. Why TOTR rather than the Empire State Building? Well, TOTR has something the Empire State does not have!

Next morning, I headed off towards Central Park on my customary morning walk with Mike and Kelly, who had come in the day before.

After walking around the reservoir, we headed on what was, for me, something of a pilgrimage. Strawberry Fields, across the road from the Dakota Building.

Then, Pauline and I headed back to the Big Bus, this time to do the Uptown Tour, including what the highlight of that trip for me, the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem.

Yes, thank you! We are going on the Anthems 9 night New England/Canada cruise next year. Thanks for the review!

Wonderful review and photos! Looking forward to the rest.

great review, I look forward to reading more

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That afternoon, we met up again with Mike and Kelly and got the subway to Chelsea where we ate in Chelsea market, and then walked the High Line, a disused elevated railway track transformed into an urban linear park.

The ship visible in the last shot is Carnival Pride, which had been rerouted to New York as a result of Hurricane Matthew, staying for 48 hours and then returning to Baltimore. That led to a number of "cruise turns to nightmare" stories in the local media, and I'm sure a lot of discussion on CC as well!

That night, we took a dander down to Times Square to drink in the atmosphere, while the next morning, my walk took me to Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building and United Nations Plaza.

I was particularly taken by this sculpture, which I took to represent St George slaying the dragon. I've since learned it is called "Good Defeats Evil", and was presented to the UN by the Soviet Union in 1990.

The dragon's body is made from missile casings. Next time I'm in NYC, I'll be back for a closer look.

After the walk, it was back to the hotel for breakfast and a shower before the final packing and a stroll down to 43rd street. We had a bus to catch!

We caught the Royal Caribbean transfer from the Westin Hotel, and before too long, we were driving through the Lincoln Tunnel. Again, the scene of so many film and TV moments. Then we hit the New Jersey Turnpike, singing Simon and Garfunkel in my head as we drew closer to Cape Liberty.

Eventually, we caught our first sight of Anthem of the Seas!

My impression was that we would not see our luggage again once it was put on the bus in Times Square, that's my recollection from previous 'official' Royal transfers.

However, once we stopped, a porter boarded the bus, explained we would have to 'verify' our luggage. Once we did so, the cases then had an 'Anthem' sticker attached beside the luggage tags, presumably to differentiate between ourselves and the rest of the ships that weren't there!

He explained about the staff with tablets checking people in, but neglected to mention that non-US passport holders could not avail of that service. We ended up queuing for a while with our friends, only to be rather brusquely told we were in the wrong line, and should be "over there".

Over there turned out to be a line marked "People without completed set sail passes". The internal signage could be improved, as could the information. Royal Caribbean is an international company, with guests from all over the world, surely if guests are being briefed on what to do to check in, it is reasonable to assume that on a bus of 40+ people, some will be international passport holders.

It may be argued that the person who boarded the bus was a port employee rather than a Royal Caribbean employee (probable, given his reminder that porters appreciate tips), but it still represented the first point of contact.

Maybe I was just spoiled by our experience in San Juan last year, which was superb!

Before the check-in mix up, the four of us had gone to see the "Teardrop" memorial to the victims of 911. A polarising piece by all accounts, I liked it.

Then, mobile in hand for the obligatory selfie, it was time for one of my favourite walks of the year!

Once on board, a quick exploration brought us to Seaplex, and to our delight, the bumper cars were out with hardly a person in sight. We did three straights runs with no more than six cars on the floor!

Then it was down to our cabin, 12265, for the first view of our virtual balcony. We loved it, and were already convinced that this would indeed be the trip of a lifetime!

Post deleted due to image posting issues. Back soon when I've finished swearing at Photobucket!!

Enjoying your review. Thanks for posting.

Loving your review......especially the photos of NYC.

The High line is such a wonderful urban park and walkway.

It was nice to see pics of it as I'm not sure most visitors are

aware of it. Thanks and Looking forward to reading more!

After bumper cars and cabin inspection, it was up to Windjammer for lunch, using the outdoor seating which most people ignored for some reason. The Manhattan skyline was an excellent backdrop against which we ate our first meal on board.

A quick ships tour followed by a dash to the Solarium to test the whirlpool, and suddenly, we were being called for muster drill. Our station was at Jamie's Italian, and the whole process was relatively pain free. Mind you, we heard that "Wash Your Hands" song so often, it's burned into my brain.

All together now - "Wash your hands, make your mother proud, and maybe you can join the popular crowd"

One thing I'd read on CC was that on sailaway, Captain Ban had tended to sail around the Statue of Liberty, before heading out to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and hanging left for Boston.

Having viewed the statue from the Hornblower ship two day's earlier, Deck 15 of Anthem gave us a different perspective!

An excellent sailaway.

We were on "Classic Dining", and had early seating for dinner (5.30, seat forfeited if not there by 5.45). Our first night was in Silk, which I enjoyed. However, some people were expressing concern at the prospect of eating there three times over the nine days, as they were not huge fans of Asian food.

After dinner, we went to the theatre for the Welcome Aboard show with Abe Hughes and comedian Dan Wilson, before going to 270 for a demonstration of the facilities there.

Loving your review......especially the photos of NYC.

The High line is such a wonderful urban park and walkway.

It was nice to see pics of it as I'm not sure most visitors are

aware of it. Thanks and Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks Leosmom, obviously we have many more NYC photos, but I suspect people on the board have seen their fill of NY pictures. It was our first time in the city, and we had an absolute blast.

I look forward to returning, and we will!

Thank you for the wonderful pictorial review.

Next day was a sea day as we gently made our way towards Boston. It was October 7th, and I was hoping for dry weather. What I was not expecting was the chance to sunbathe, but that's exactly what we did!

After one of the best attended Meet and Mingles I've witnessed, we went on deck to take in the sun for a while, before watching Mike and Kelly take on the iFly! I was booked in for the following Wednesday, more when that comes around.

Walking down from lunch in Windjammer, I found one of my favourite little 'unheralded' features on Anthem - the "glass step" on the stairs between Decks 14 and 13.

At 5.45, we had a booking at Jamie's Italian, which would prove to be one of the best meals we had on the ship. Mike and Kelly were on a port side balcony midships, and from their balcony, we could clearly see that Jamie's had an outdoor seating area.

However, we discovered it wasn't in use while the ship was at sea because of concerns over wind, and the difficulty staff would face bringing food and other items in and out.

The food was superb, Pauline and I shared the meat plank, and I had the Prawn Linguine as a main.

I'm not a great one for food porn, but I couldn't resist this one!

After our meal, it was off to the Royal Theatre where we had bookings for The Gift. A well put together show with some very good music, I found the storyline a little contrived and the message somewhat obvious, but it was a nice way to pass an evening.

Day 3 - Boston

This was a day I was looking forward to. My friend Lisa, with whom I worked until 2009 moved to Boston a few years ago and is now married there. I had arranged to meet her and her husband, not having see her for some time.

As we arrived into port, I was out and about at 6am as is my habit. I knew Logan Airport, but had no idea it was so close to the cruise port.

I said earlier that I didn't expect the sunshine. The other thing I didn't expect was beautiful sunrises.

We met Lisa and Trevor at Faneuil Hall, and they took us all around Boston, showing us some lovely areas including Acorn Street, Boston Common and the Public Gardens.

We also stopped outside a bar!

Looking forward to more! :)

Lisa and Trevor had arranged a surprise - Lunch at the Top of the Hub restaurant in the Prudential Centre! A superb meal with unparalleled views.

There was only one option for me - Clam Chowder to start, and then a Lobster Roll!

The view towards the ship, with HAL's Rotterdam in front of us!

After that feed, dinner in Chic was not an option. Pauline and I bade farewell to our friends, and spent sailaway on deck, watching the planes take off and land at Logan Airport.

We then curled up and watched the Jungle Book on the big screen, dodging the showers, before a late supper in Windjammer.

Great review. Looking forward to more.

Great review.

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments/photos. I appreciate it!

Thanks for sharing your review. You have a great iternary . We feel in loved with Two 70 on this ship great for breakfast and the shows at night were fantastic. Our favorites ports were Boston and Bar Harbor outstanding seafood restaurants at both ports.