Anthem ~ 9 Night ~ July 14, 2016 ~ Review

While planning for this trip (which for me is half the fun of traveling), I greatly appreciated reading about everyone's experiences on the Anthem. I've never written a cruise review before, and honestly wasn't really sure I was ever going to. But, I feel need to do so in the event that it helps just one person about to discover Anthem.

A little background about us. We're a married couple in our late 30s. This was a trip to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (so we left our kids at home with our brave parents). We traveled with another couple the same age, celebrating the same anniversary. You see, we met them in the Cascades dining room the first night of our Panama Canal honeymoon cruise on the Radiance. We share the same wedding date! We've kept in touch and have vacationed together several times since.

This was my 6th cruise and I've only ever sailed RCI. I'm a planner by nature. So sailing this ship and needing to reserve 9 dinners, 3 shows and extra activities (iFly, North Star, Spa) didn't scare me away. I love a nice, uninterrupted meal (with 3 small kids, I don't get them often), so I was really looking forward to eating in a different restaurant every night this sailing! My husband enjoys the party scene (he's a crazy hard worker who likes to let loose on vacation), so we purchased the Premium drink packages for the first time ever.

I hope you enjoy reading about our experiences. And while you read, please kindly keep in mind that these are simply our opinions based on our trip. And the point of my sharing them is simply to maybe help one or two travelers better plan their upcoming trip!

Looking forward to your review! We have our anniversary trip coming up in October:)

Day 1, 7/14 Thurs, Bayonne - Embarkation

We left our home north of Baltimore around 8am and arrived at the port at 10:45am. There was absolutely no traffic, which was a relief because we encountered a TON on our sailing from this port 3 years ago. We were happy to see a nice man directing cars to open luggage drop off lanes. We dropped our bags at 10:50, handed over a tip, and went to park in the garage. We paid $180 by credit card (but they also take cash) and were parked on Level 2 in 5 minutes. Upon walking downstairs in the garage, we were greeted by an employee with an iPad who completed our check in with ease (we did everything, including the photo upload, online prior to sailing). We then walked into the terminal just after 11. Since I'm Platinum, we didn't have to sit to wait. We just went to the left and up the escalators to get on the ship! By 11:25, we had huge comfy window seats in the beautiful two70 lounge! Overall, it was a very well organized process and I was very impressed!

We had 2 orders of business to attend, so 2 of the 4 of us left to get them accomplished. First, we had to fix a dinner reservation. I had made them all online months prior to sailing, but a few last minute show schedule changes caused some conflicts. And spending 1 1/2 hours on the phone to fix them didn't resolve the issues. So, we headed up to Jaime's and the hostess made a note on her pad to make the correction (and we hoped she'd follow through...which we later learned she did). We also went up to the SeaPlex in attempt to book the Puzzle Break Room. Apparently, there's was a teeny tiny window of opportunity to book this online, but I missed it. No one was manning the desk in the SeaPlex, so we went to Guest Svcs. There, much to our disappointment, we were told it was fully booked for the trip, but she placed the 4 of us on a wait list.

Walking back to two70 to get lunch and started putting our drink package to work, I noticed that traffic was backed up getting into port by 11:45. The lunch line was also much longer at 12 than it was 11:30, but it moved fast and there was still plenty of seating to be found in two70. I tried the Kummel Wech (sp?) that I had read so much about, but found it a little salty.

We got to our room around 1:30, although we could've gotten in at 1. We were Rm 10302, an aft port side balcony. Originally, we booked an Interior Guarantee (wanting to spend extra on specialty dining and the drink packages), but a just after final payment I noticed the prices were the same across the board for Interior, OV and Balcony. So, we call our TA and we got a Balcony Guarantee. We felt we really lucked out with our room location! Loved being on Deck 10 as it was 4 flights up or 5 flights down to all the action (tried to use stairs most of the time). Ok, back to the cabin. We LOVED it! Probably the best cabin we've had on any ship. It was clean, seemed large, lots of storage, etc. In this room the sofa, was closest to the balcony. And I secretly loved the view of the ocean from the shower all week! Our bags, and case of water!, were waiting for us when we got to the room, so we quickly unpacked (love those packing cubes!). I'm glad we brought an extra card to keep the AC running while not in the room.

Around 3:15, our fabulous room steward, Hartopo, introduced himself. We requested a bucket of ice, which he filled day and night throughout the cruise. We also asked if he could have the mini bar emptied, so we could put in our bottles of water and wine. But he said to just take out whatever contents we wanted and place them on top of the dresser and assured us we wouldn't be charged. Sadly, even with doing that only 1 bottle of wine a few bottles of water would fit. I forgot how tiny those mini fridges can be!

Then, it was off to Muster at 3:30. We were E2, so we mustered in two70.

While planning for this trip (which for me is half the fun of traveling)' date=' I greatly appreciated reading about everyone's experiences on the Anthem. I've never written a cruise review before, and honestly wasn't really sure I was ever going to. But, I feel need to do so in the event that it helps just one person about to discover Anthem.

 

A little background about us. We're a married couple in our late 30s. This was a trip to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (so we left our kids at home with our brave parents). We traveled with another couple the same age, celebrating the same anniversary. You see, we met them in the Cascades dining room the first night of our Panama Canal honeymoon cruise on the Radiance. We share the same wedding date! We've kept in touch and have vacationed together several times since.

 

This was my 6th cruise and I've only ever sailed RCI. I'm a planner by nature. So sailing this ship and needing to reserve 9 dinners, 3 shows and extra activities (iFly, North Star, Spa) didn't scare me away. I love a nice, uninterrupted meal (with 3 small kids, I don't get them often), so I was really looking forward to eating in a different restaurant every night this sailing! My husband enjoys the party scene (he's a crazy hard worker who likes to let loose on vacation), so we purchased the Premium drink packages for the first time ever.

 

I hope you enjoy reading about our experiences. And while you read, please kindly keep in mind that these are simply our opinions based on our trip. And the point of my sharing them is simply to maybe help one or two travelers better plan their upcoming trip![/quote']

 

I am a planner too - Looking forward to your review.

Day 1 (Cont)

So, we're mustering in two70 and can see these crazy dark clouds inching closer and closer over NYC. It was not looking good for Sail Away.

After mustering, we headed to the lovely, enclosed Solarium. We enjoyed a swing a bit and ordered my traditional Sail Away drink, the Miami Vice. Yum! In no time at all, we pulled away from the dock...and in no time at all it started to pour!!!!! You couldn't see a thing! Thankfully, it was cleared out a bit for us to watch us go under the Verrazano Bridge.

By now, we're hungry again. So, we ventured down to Sorrentos for pizza and coffee (good pizza, but the coffee was not so good). The guys found interest in the Free Liqour Tasting (aka sale) and ended up buying a few bottles. Then, it was time to head back to the cabins and get ready for dinner. Oh, I should note that we checked out our friend's interior Virtual Room cabin on Deck 9 and we thought it was really great! Actually, despite having a chair as opposed to our couch, their room seemed bigger. Maybe it was wider or just had more floor space, but it surprisingly seemed roomier!

Dinner tonight was at Silk, at 7:30 (a nice time frame for us and something we never could do before with traditional dining). Service was great overall, we enjoyed the decor of the dining room and thought the food was delicious. I think I had the pot stickers, hibachi steak and tried the mochi balls (those were different, but good).

We headed to two70 for the 9pm Led Zepagain Show. I'm not a Led Zeppelin fan, but my husband said they were really good. Sadly, a very rude passenger walked past our table during the show and knocked into it, causing my fresh martini to knock over onto me and the ground. He paused to look back and then just kept on walking. At the very least, he could've gotten me some napkins! Some people never cease to amaze me...

Back in the room, I ordered a continental breakfast from room service for the next morning through our TV. Then it was nighty night after a long, but enjoyable day!

Can you explain the extra card to keep the A/C working when not in the room? Thanks!

Can you explain the extra card to keep the A/C working when not in the room? Thanks!

Sure! The Anthem is a "green" ship. So, just inside each cabin is a card holder. The idea is to place your Sea Pass card here while in the room to operate the AC and lights. Then, when you leave the room and take your card with you, you don't accidentally leave lights on, etc.

We kept an old casino loyalty card in there the whole time so the room would be cool when we came back to the cabin. We'd always be mindful of turning off lights and turning up the air temp a bit before we left for long periods, in keeping with the green goal.

Looking forward to your review! We have our anniversary trip coming up in October:)

Thank you for following! And Happy Early Anniversary!

I am a planner too - Looking forward to your review.

Happy Planning! I'm already having planning withdrawals! ;-)

Great start...but question: how do you see the ocean...from the shower????

Enjoying your review. We love the Anthem.

Loving this so far. Nice work.

Also following.:)

Looking forward to more of your reports ...

Great start...but question: how do you see the ocean...from the shower????

Just leave the bathroom door open. It's a direct sight line to the balcony! :-)

Boarding tomorrow so looking forward to your review

Boarding tomorrow so looking forward to your review

Super jealous! Being back to cooking and cleaning, and the regular stresses of everyday life is just no fun! Have a fantastic trip!!!!

Thank you for the positive feedback so far! I know this is more of a journal, but I’m glad some are enjoying it. Feel free to ask questions and I’ll answer them the best way I know how (but warning, I’m definitely not a cruise pro)

Day 2 - 7/15, Friday, @ Sea

So, this is going to sound crazy, but I set a wakeup call on vacation. I'm a runner. And my goal going into this cruise was to get in 5-6 short runs. And since we had plans this morning, I needed an early start (but not too early as it was vacation after all).

I checked out the jogging track on Deck 15, but found it crazy humid and windy, so I decided 3 miles on the treadmill in the gym would be better. Got to the gym around 8 and it was pretty full. The 1st 2 treadmills, and only ones available, that I tried were broken. So, I settled for an available Elliptical...also broken. Not a good start. I then decided to wait 5 minutes until a treadmill opened up. Once I got a treadmill, it was smooth running. Although, I never could get my wireless headphones to connect. They had a nice separate space for cool down and stretching with mats, etc. Towels and Cleansing Wipes were also available.

Got back to the cabin just as breakfast was being delivered at 9:15. We enjoyed it on the balcony. It was a perfectly simple breakfast, but oh that coffee. This is where I wish we had the Ultimate package so I could get a decent cup of coffee. After breakfast, we headed to the spa for our 10:30 Couple's Massages. We saw our room steward in the hallway on the way and he asked how we slept. We were honest and told him we found the beds a bit hard (despite all the reviews, I really didn't think this would be a problem for us, but it was). That night, he added a big blanket under our sheets and that helped a lot!

Ok, back to the spa. There's really no better way to put yourself in the right vacation mindset than a massage! I was surprised that there wasn't much of a tranquility room, and no need to use a locker room to change into a robe. They brought us straight to the private therapy room. It was a fantastic massage; Marina was great! And they even offered some hot stones complimentary. They ended the service by placing my hand in my husband's hand, which I thought was sweet. Afterwards they did try to sell us a few items, but I didn't think they were pushy at all. Although, I did buy the salt scrub. LOL!

I should note here that we missed the schedule Meet & Mingle. It was at 9:30 this morning. We just couldn't make it work. There was a card in our cabin on Day 1 telling us about it, and we just knew it would be a rushed morning if we tried to fit it in.

We headed to the Windjammer for lunch around 12. A bit of a bottleneck at the hand washing sinks, but not so bad. But, here's a tip for you...enter the Windjammer from the Deck 15 outdoor aft stairs near the FlowRider. The stairs take you to the outdoor eating space in the back of Windjammer. There's a handwashing sink and door to get into Windjammer here and I never saw anyone go in this way.

I was afraid that you were having a bad experience, but sounds like, for the most part, all is good. We are boarding tomorrow and can't wait! Thanks for posting!

Following your review. We're on a 9 nite Aug. 25th NE/Canada itinerary and not to jump the gun, but is there an headliner scheduled and were you able to make reservations on North Star on line.

Day 2 (Cont.)

After lunch, it was time to lay out by the pool. Seeing the decks getting crowded on my way to the gym this morning, I knew this wouldn’t be an easy task. But, after walking around a bit, we found 2 empty chairs next to a chair piled high with towels, and a family in the chairs on the other side of that. We asked the family if they chairs were taken, and were happy to hear a couple young girls had been in them but they just left with their things. So, we settled in…

UNTIL almost an hour later when we were disturbed by two ladies claiming that the chairs belonged to them, citing an incredibly long line at Guest Services to explain their absence. They were also claiming the pile of towels chair and the 4th chair next to it that the family was using (apparently those two chairs were for their sons). Now, I know all about the 30 min rule. But, I’m also one that prefers to avoid confrontation when possible. Since, by this point, there were two available chairs directly across from us, we simply moved over. Here’s where it gets good. These ladies sat in the chairs for 20 minutes before their sons came over (obviously back from playing sports in the SeaPlex) and then the 4 of them left, and this time they guarded the chairs with sneakers, etc. The people around us, and us, were flabbergasted. We then learned that they had been gone at least TWO hours before we sat down. Well, we stayed in our “new” chairs for 3 hours and we never saw them come back to enjoy their chairs. Their sons certainly never used them. So, 5 hours minimum, 4 chairs, for 2 people to sit in them 20 min. Seriously, the level of entitlement of some people just baffles my mind! Here’s the thing with the pool chairs. There’s a lot to do on this ship. People are constantly running off to do North Star, Sea Plex, eat, etc. Why not just take your stuff with you? If everyone did this, then there would ALWAYS be chairs available for everyone. A simple rotation of sorts. But, I know that’s wishful thinking.

After our pool time, surprise, we were hungry again. So off to Sorrento’s for some sandwiches before heading to our cabin to get ready for dinner and a show. Tonight’s show was The Gift. It was supposed to be at the end of the week, with We Will Rock You at the beginning, but they swapped them. I later learned the reason being was people that people were complaining WWRY was too long at 2 hrs to sit through at the beginning of the cruise when they still wanted to explore the ship. The Gift is about an hour in length.

So, we’re back at the cabin and they make an announcement an hour before show time that due to technical difficulties, the show was postponed until the next night. Thankfully, this change didn’t interfere with dinner reservations again!

With our extra time before dinner, we headed to the Schooner Bar and enjoyed live piano music. And I found what would become my favorite drink of the cruise, the Lavender Martini. And you can only get it here. Overall, I thought the Schooner had the best specialty cocktail menu! And Simon’s Music from the Movies was fantastic!

Dinner tonight was at 7:45 at American Icon. What a FABULOUS time!!!! Our waiter, Rodolfo, was fantastic and made us feel extra special. Ari, the head waiter, was attentive. And Josip, the bar server, got us some well poured drinks! Oh, and the food was really good too! Then, we were surprised by a chocolate cake and several members of the staff singing “Happy Anniversary!” It was completely unexpected and really made for a memorable night! This was, by far, our favorite of the 4 complimentary restaurants.

After dinner, we headed to Boleros for some live Latin music. Upon returning to our cabin, we found an elephant towel animal and a notice. The notice informed us of a labor strike in Bermuda of taxis and mini buses, due to the Minicar Bill. We did not plan any excursions for any ports, so we knew this was going to affect us as we were planning to do our own thing. But, due to some pre-planning, I also knew we would be the only ship in port in Bermuda, so at least that was in our favor. And, we previously decided we’d just roll with the punches this trip! So, we set our clocks ahead an hour and went to sleep hoping for a good day in Bermuda!

I was afraid that you were having a bad experience, but sounds like, for the most part, all is good. We are boarding tomorrow and can't wait! Thanks for posting!

Overall, it was a great trip and we had a blast! And you will too...as long as you recognize some things are just not in your control. With this ship, it's definitely best to just do your best planning ahead, and then once onboard let the cards fall as they may! I hope you have a time!!!

Following your review. We're on a 9 nite Aug. 25th NE/Canada itinerary and not to jump the gun, but is there an headliner scheduled and were you able to make reservations on North Star on line.

We definitely were able to make reservations for North Star online, and I recommend doing so!

As far as the headliner, there was supposed to be a group called Mo5aic mid cruise. But they couldn't make it, so we had another comedy show. Honestly, there were 3 different comedian's on this sailing, each performing multiple times, so we were kinda bored with the theatre shows aside from WWRY and The Gift.

Following... we (huge group of 17) were aboard with you

Following...