sambao21

I had several red bull vodka's later in the night and they were included.

How did you book the trapeze class? Was it advertised in the daily?

It was in the daily and it's first come first serve. I showed right on the time and had no problem getting a spot. Seemed like more people wanted to watch than participate.

We are boarding Thursday as well, did they bring lobster on from one of the stops in Maine and if so which stop? Looking forward to an awesome cruise!

Honestly I'm not sure. I didn't ask if the complimentary lobster in Grande was Maine or not...it would not surprise me. They did also have a $15 lobster you could order from any of the restaurants but we didn't have that.

wondering what excursions you took and were they through the cruise line or someone local to the ports of call. Would you recommend them to future cruisers?

 

Thank you in advance

In Boston and Portland, we simply walked around on our own, and did no excursions.

In Boston, we went to Quincy Market and walked around the vicinity there. Ate a Boston cream pie at Mike's Pastries in little Italy and clam chowder at Union Oyster House. It's Boston...so 3/5.

In Portland, we walked around the town and some of the shops in the downtown area. We had lunch at Eventide Oyster Co. The place opened at 11, and it started pouring around 10:30am. So we battled through the rain over to the restaurant, but there was already a line out the door and they only had seats for about 30 people. Luckily, we got seated right next to the oyster bar which was fun. I let the waiter decide what oysters for me and I also had a lobster roll which was the best lobster roll I had the whole trip. 2/5 because we didn't find much going on in the city, but Eventide is very good.

In Bar Harbor, we took an excursion with Acadia National Park Tours. The tour was 2.5 hours exactly. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, but it was short. We got to get off for 25 minutes at 2 stops which was a little on the short side if you wanted to explore, but plenty for just taking some pictures. It was normally 15 minutes at 3 stops but one area was under construction. I think 15 minutes would've been too short. I only wished they had more stops and had a longer tour. Afterwards, we had lunch at Side Street Cafe and I had my last Maine lobster roll. It was good, but not as good as the one in Portland. Then we walked around the shops near the port. The town is very quaint, and the view right next to the shore is gorgeous. Would definitely be a good trip to go there and stay longer at one of the bed and breakfasts and visit Acadia National Park some more. I am iffy on the tour company. Though they did a fine job, I personally wouldn't use them again simply because the park was so nice, a couple 15-20 minutes just isn't enough time to enjoy much of it... maybe that would be plenty for other folks though. 5/5 would visit Bar Harbor in a heart beat, and really spend some time here.

In Saint John, we went through the ship excursion for St. Martin's and Bay of Fundy. I would recommend this because the Sea Caves were pretty cool at low tide. I really enjoyed this. The Reversing Rapids were over hyped honestly, but you can still get some good pictures. St. Martins really is a tiny village. We only really saw some covered bridges and a handful of shops. The end of the trip was a bummer because the whole downtown area lost power so ALL of the shops were closed including the market. Not their fault, but we couldn't get any shopping in, so we just headed back on the ship. 3/5...for the sea caves.

At Halifax, we did excursion through the ship and did the Peggy's Cove and Double Decker City Tour. You have to go to Peggy's Cove. It is exactly what you imagine a postcard to be. Good Christmas pictures to be had. The route back is also gorgeous drive. Now, having said that, we didn't utilize the Pink Bus tickets. We went back to the ship because we were hungry and cold, and thought we'd come back out after lunch, but then we decided to just stay on the boat. I would still recommend this tour, but if you don't utilize the Pink Bus, then get another tour that will take you to Peggy's Cove. 4/5 because of Peggy's Cove and the fishing village is worth the trip. I only wish I has more time. Advice, this was the only port that was actually cold for us with the wind chill...probably around low-mid 60s, but felt cooler so dress in layers.

Some context about us, my DW and I are in our early 30s, so we are not the normal demographics of the cruisers on this trip. (90% of the cruisers were 55+ according to the cruise director's show). We don't have kids (although we are expecting which is why we had to switch our caribbean cruise to this itinerary after final payment). We did a lot of walking (averaged 20k steps a day) everywhere instead of getting a car. We did Uber to and from the port in Newark which was very easy for just the 2 of us. We got an indoor room (because balcony was gone when we switched itineraries), and though the virtual balcony is actually really cool, it's not as nice as an actual balcony so I wished we had that...grand loft suite is out of our price range :)

We didn't do any of the specialty dining as my DW has food allergies and so Italian and experimental food at Wonderland would be very difficult for her, and sushi was not possible because of the pregnancy. So we ate at all of the other restaurants except for Silk because it was the one restaurant that didn't have the "classic menu" and there was only 1 chicken dish, and it was sweet and sour which she does not like fried foods.

I did almost all of the physical activities like Ripcord, bumper cars, and even the trapeze act. My DW unfortunately couldn't and she wants to come back so she can after we have our DD.

I know that's more than what you bargained for, but hopefully that helps.

Just got off this itinerary, let me know if you have any questions. We didn't do any specialty dining, so can't say much about those.

Overall it was a blast....have a good trip.

We are going in a few weeks. Can u tell me where u ate lobster in Boston and if Royal had a shuttle from Black Falcon Pier to take you to downtown?

 

Thanks

We were just on this cruise and didn't eat lobster in Boston, instead waited till we got to Maine, but did go to union oyster House. To answer your question, there is a shuttle but it was not free. Its also a 1 mile walkito Quincy market if you don't mind it, there was public bus for $2, and uber would've been $11 or so.

That's a bummer....just got off anthem and really liked the variety of options. I speak only for myself but I like it better but I can understand why people wouldn't. certain people don't like change...they know what they like and want to be guaranteed a enjoyablee experience.

For me, the food was good, service was as good as anything I've experienced in MDR. they catered to my wife who has food allergies (they would bring menu from the next days restaurant so she could preorder and the would prepare it just right), and we never had to wait to be seated.

Thanks for all the replies. I'd be okay with the credit towards a future cruise and some of you made it sound like your whole amount spent was credited which would be awesome. I'll call Royal and also look into the insurance more.

 

 

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Yep, they gave me the whole amount credited towards a future cruise. You just have to show a doctors note to indicate pregnancy and use the credit within 2 years of the date of cancellation.

We used ours now to switch to a new england/canada because we still wanted a babymoon, and we also thought we'd likely won't go on a cruise in the next 2 years with a baby.

Just wanted to thank you for the updates.

We went through this for a sailing that is going this week on the allure. We called and cancelled and tboguh we didn't get a refund, we did get full credit towards a future cruise to be used within 2 years. So we applied it to a new England Canada cruise on this Thursday on the anthem. All they required was a doctors note showing the due date.

So you won't lose your money...but it is spent.

Thanks everyone for this discussion. This is quite fortunate that they'll be upgrading premium to ultimate/deluxe starting on the 6th. We're going on the anthem on the 8th (in 4 days), and I just booked premium drink package so that we can have freestyle sodas and a few beers :)

I had contemplated getting the ultimate, so that we could also get specialty coffees. With the new info in this thread, I hope this works out that they upgrade us to deluxe package on the 8th. If not, I guess we can upgrade on the boat, or we can just pay for the specialty coffees out of pocket. I calculated, and I'd need to drink more than 12 specialty coffees before the ultimate package would save money.

thanks for confirmation

Does Anthem of the Seas offer the specialty coffee drinks in decaf? DW has to manage caffeine intake, but enjoys the taste. I know the windjammers has the free decaf coffee, but wanted to know about the specialty coffee. Since it's Starbucks, I assume it must, but wanted to hear it from others that knows for sure.