Anthem Review (sailed 18th July 2015 - 14 Nights)

This was my 10th cruise (3rd Royal Caribbean Cruise) and first time where the ship was the choice and not the destination. I am an IT Consultant and wanted to experience a techy ship and this one appealed to me (and the wife).

First impressions were she is big, and where do I begin exploring.

From shore side to cabin on embarkation is 15 minutes, but we had a broken air bridge (large gangway used in Southampton) and this delayed us by an hour. Not a problem and no need to moan about it. Just a mention.

Used the Royal IQ app to track suitcases. Worked brilliantly and easy to understand. I had downloaded the app before boarding the ship, but you can still do this once on board by just connecting to the "royal wifi" signal.

Now, because this portal is open to do this, I found that Royal Wifi had to let certain protocols open for access. Upon further investigation I found some fun finds out. If you have Android (sorry Apple fanboys, but your tech is no good on this.) set you internet homepage to google and make sure you are signed in to your google account (should be anyway, but check). Then when on royal wifi you can do a google search and get results without buying a package.

You can do a picture and video search without buying a package.

You can click on the 3 horizontal bars in the top left hand corner and then select the news and read it without buying a package, or go to Youtube and watch ALL videos without buying a package.

What you can NOT do, is click on any search results or use any app link that requires an SSL connection or sign in, i.e twitter, facebook or email.

Don't tell anyone about this little loop hole or it will get removed - shhh!

Cabin - Great size, brilliant shower and bathroom size. The mirror doesn't steam up, no matter how hot the shower gets and cold the room is. This is great. Bed was nice and comfy. Loads of storage and handy having usb ports to charge devices on. Balcony with chairs and foot stools were really nice. No noise from else where, but creaks when ocean gets a bit rough which was only in the bay of Biscay. So I was told, as I slept through it all.

Ship in General - Great looking and very clean. Staff were really nice and friendly. I have read a few reviews on other sites/apps that say otherwise. Simple answer to that. If you are an *******, then you will get treated like an *******. If you are a person who is moaning at everything, then no one is going to be all smiles at your miserable face.

I was on holiday and was friendly to everyone I meet and had so much fun. I gave some staff presents & tips and also got presents back from the crew. I'm going back on Anthem in October and most of the crew are still there, so great news.

I will write detailed reports of each day on a post by post basis. Just ask questions when you want and I'll answer as I go along.

After the embarkation, we went exploring to see what we could find and get bearings of where everything is.

The ship is very well designed and we found that it made finding venues very easy to do and felt very comfortable in not getting lost very quickly. Not sure if this was due to cruising so many times or just that we had experience of Oasis, that this helped.

Was impressed with the size of the seaplex. Largest inside space we have ever seen on a ship. This venue has so much scope for alot of events in the future, other than what it is being used for now.

The Two70 was a very unique space, with a great outlook on to the ocean and lovely seating area spaces for small groups and couples to use. Also the upstairs has a library and a workshop, as well as seating in rows to watch the shows from.

Saw suitcases had arrived (on the "royal IQ" app) so back to cabin to unpack and read all information in the room for tomorrows day at sea.

 

Cabin - Great size, brilliant shower and bathroom size. ...

Welcome back, looking forward to your full review! Since you mentioned the cabin, what category were you in? Thanks!

Welcome back, looking forward to your full review! Since you mentioned the cabin, what category were you in? Thanks!

Sorry, missed that bit out. It was a D8 on deck 6. Just after the hump so the balcony was huge. Nearly double the size of normal balcony size.

Would you tell us your cabin number?

6260

Did you have Classic dining? and if so when did you know your dining rotation?

6260

Had that cabin on Quantum. Great location too. Can't get it on Anthem. Will probably never be able to get it again. :(

I have an iPhone and I was able to google things and pics when on royal wifi but couldn't go onto a website fully but it did help a lot for some things I needed to know when I didn't have wifi

Sauspud great review. We are on Anthem 28th Sep and also on deck 6. Can I ask, do you access Two70 by passing along the aft cabins on deck 6.

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Did you have Classic dining? and if so when did you know your dining rotation?

I had Dynamic Dining Choice. This is where I choose where I ate and did all the planning in November 2014. I was under the impressing of the menus changing after 1 week, but because of the Classic choice, the menu's changed every 4 days. This meant that in my second week, I was eating from the same menu as the week before. NOt a real problem but would have liked this information before booking to organise my choices better.

Sauspud great review. We are on Anthem 28th Sep and also on deck 6. Can I ask, do you access Two70 by passing along the aft cabins on deck 6.

You pass along and at the end of the corridor is a fire door, but you can opening it. Be careful as it is a heavy door. You shouldn't be using this door, but they don't frown upon this, as I was told one day. You can't use it to gain access to the Spectra's Cabaret show, but great for everything else. It leads you to the Library, workshop and the upper tier seating for shows.

Started off the day with a lovely light breakfast in Two70. NO full english breakfast in here, but you get toasted sandwiches, a muffin with egg, cheese and ham, cereals, porridge and a bagel counter with loads of choice.

We then had the "Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle" meeting in Baleros at 10am. Shame as I had Ripcord booked for 10:40am so could only stay for half an hour. The wife was not doing it and stayed for the whole event. We had a free gift on arrival and then a raffle. She won a sports water bottle (metal with ship logo) and I won nothing. I left at 10:30 as planned and made my apologies. If I had known about this timing in advance I would have not booked my Ripcord by ifly so early (keep reading for reason why). She said after I left and the raffle was finished the host asked if we wanted to introduce ourselves by screen names and say something about ourselves. No one wanted to do this and so it ended early. Also we never found the people wanting to do a quiz with on the meet thread.

After lunch we went exploring around the ship and seeing all the cool venues, art and meeting people. That evening we had booked into Wonderland. This is such an amazing venue and needs to be visited to appreciate the wonders that have made. You don't get to order form the menu but the waiter orders based on what kinds of food you like and don't like. You get to eat around 85% of the choices so making it more of a sampling menu than normal eating. If you are a fan of Heston Blumenthal, then you will like the food and drama of it all.

If you are a normal dinner (Indy MDR loving) type of person, then avoid this restaurant, as you won't like it.

We loved every minute of it and had already booked to go again at the end of the cruise.

After dinner, we went to see Spectra's Cabaret in Two70. This show was good and they used everything available in the Two70. The lead singer had a brilliant powerful voice. I can't say anymore than that, as I don't want to spoil the show for others. Some people didn't get the story but just go with it and enjoy. Only thing I found as a down point was that there was too much to see and you didn't know where to look to get it all. But this was only at certain times in the show.

Off to bed and getting ready for tomorrow. Was expecting rough seas in the Bay of Biscay but it was quite calm. Some people didn't think so, but being a salty old sea dog, I though it was very calm. We actually made up time and was getting into Gibraltar early.

enjoying your review so far,thank you

Enjoying your review; can't wait for the TA in October.

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I'm trying to add a day a day so it's not boring to read and finding the time to right it all. I'm also booked back on for the last UK based cruise before the TA in October.

Booked for next summer. Thanks for review.

What is the workshop?

Booked for next summer. Thanks for review.

 

What is the workshop?

The workshop is where you do arts and grafts. This was either scrapbook making or jewellery making.

Now we know where everything is and feel comfortable walking around and not getting lost. This normally takes the wife (I don't get lost, people leave me behind) at least 4 to 5 days to achieve but due to the excellent design and layout of the ship, this was much easier to do.

We managed to book ourselves in to the "Puzzle Room" for 10:30am. The app wouldn't let us book and said unavailable all the time. You need to go to the Seaplex counter (port side) and book there. It is on 4 times a day at 10:30, 12:30, 14:30 & 16:30. You need anywhere from 4 people (really hard to escape) to 10 people (too many cooks but could be easier to solve puzzles).

We had 6 in our group of mixed ages (which helps). You have to solve multiple puzzles and clues to get to one final puzzle to unlock the room to escape. There is a crew member in there but they are no help, just there to stop the clock and give instructions at the start.

We escaped with 11:09 left on the clock. Great fun. This could be rolled out to other ships with different puzzles for different seasons. Royal was testing it on Anthem.

After Lunch we had Spa treatments. A little bit more expensive than other cruise ships and cruise lines but great service and alot of choice for Men and Women.

That night we ate in the Grande. It was Royal Night last night but we wanted to dress up tonight. You will see at least 10% of people every night dressed up in formal attire. In the Grande everyone is dressed up and it was nice to see this worked in there. Food was great but could have been a bit more grande like The Ritz or something for it to bee a truly special event but seeing as the "Classic" dinners where in there for at least 3 to 4 times on the cruise, that could have been a bit too much. One couple was in here every night.

Early bed as he were going to have a lie in but now the ship is arriving early, so our trip is now early morning and not afternoon. Hope the fog clears for our Rock tour. More on that for the next post.

Thank you for posting! Looking forward to reading the rest :)

Thanks again for doing this review. You mentioned being booked for iFly on Day 2, but never said what you thought of it. :)

Thanks again for doing this review. You mentioned being booked for iFly on Day 2, but never said what you thought of it. :)

Sorry about that. Got side tracked.

The ripcord by ifly was great fun. You need to follow instructions well. You can't hear a thing and the minute seems longer. I managed to float/fly on my own and did a 360 turn. Don't know how or why but I did. Glad I did it early as after all the lovely food I would have been too heavy to go later on.

Now we know where everything is and feel comfortable walking around and not getting lost. This normally takes the wife (I don't get lost, people leave me behind) at least 4 to 5 days to achieve but due to the excellent design and layout of the ship, this was much easier to do.

 

We managed to book ourselves in to the "Puzzle Room" for 10:30am. The app wouldn't let us book and said unavailable all the time. You need to go to the Seaplex counter (port side) and book there. It is on 4 times a day at 10:30, 12:30, 14:30 & 16:30. You need anywhere from 4 people (really hard to escape) to 10 people (too many cooks but could be easier to solve puzzles).

We had 6 in our group of mixed ages (which helps). You have to solve multiple puzzles and clues to get to one final puzzle to unlock the room to escape. There is a crew member in there but they are no help, just there to stop the clock and give instructions at the start.

We escaped with 11:09 left on the clock. Great fun. This could be rolled out to other ships with different puzzles for different seasons. Royal was testing it on Anthem.

 

After Lunch we had Spa treatments. A little bit more expensive than other cruise ships and cruise lines but great service and alot of choice for Men and Women.

 

That night we ate in the Grande. It was Royal Night last night but we wanted to dress up tonight. You will see at least 10% of people every night dressed up in formal attire. In the Grande everyone is dressed up and it was nice to see this worked in there. Food was great but could have been a bit more grande like The Ritz or something for it to bee a truly special event but seeing as the "Classic" dinners where in there for at least 3 to 4 times on the cruise, that could have been a bit too much. One couple was in here every night.

 

Early bed as he were going to have a lie in but now the ship is arriving early, so our trip is now early morning and not afternoon. Hope the fog clears for our Rock tour. More on that for the next post.

Hi Sauspud

Thanks for the review so far. I think were doing the identical itinerary to you on the 1st Sept.

Could you clarify the Royal Night thing please - I understood The Grande is "formal" every night and thought this was the only official "formal" venue on the ship. Are you saying on Royal Night the whole ship is "formal" regardless of venue ?? as we have pre-booked American Icon for Day 2 and The Grande for Day 3 (same as you) and really don't fancy dressing up in full DJ to go to the American Icon as didn't think sounded a particularly dressy venue ?? What did you experience ship wide on the Royal Nights ?

Ok. Royal Night is a fun night replacing gala. The dress code is wear your best. If it is full DJ, fine. If it is Hawaiian shirt and shorts, fine. If it is pyjamas, fine. Even a onesie is fine. I way my Royal Navy blazer but I was going to wonderland.

So wear what you want.

What is also included is the menu. You get a special menu that combines all 4 complimentary restaurants, and you also get the full menu where you are dining. You can choose from both on the night.

Other than that, nothing else special happens.

Ok. Royal Night is a fun night replacing gala. The dress code is wear your best. If it is full DJ, fine. If it is Hawaiian shirt and shorts, fine. If it is pyjamas, fine. Even a onesie is fine. I way my Royal Navy blazer but I was going to wonderland.

So wear what you want.

What is also included is the menu. You get a special menu that combines all 4 complimentary restaurants, and you also get the full menu where you are dining. You can choose from both on the night.

 

Other than that, nothing else special happens.

Haha .... even more cryptic !! Are you saying the Royal night isn't like a traditional formal night that is formal dress ship wide ?? More like dress your best, but whatever you choose to be your best ?? ...... Just imagining someone in a onesie next to someone in DJ :)

Haha .... even more cryptic !! Are you saying the Royal night isn't like a traditional formal night that is formal dress ship wide ?? More like dress your best, but whatever you choose to be your best ?? ...... Just imagining someone in a onesie next to someone in DJ :)

Spot on, you have got it.

It is a half arsed effort at something but with no rules becomes nothing.

If Royal Night wasn't there, I wouldn't miss it. In fact another night was a Royal night and I can't tell you which day it was. It's that good.