starfish216

Does anyone know if the Sunshine has a retractable dome that covers the pool in cooler weather?

Thinking about doing a New England cruise in October....all the photos I have seen show the Adult Only Serenity area and pool open to the elements.

I have done the New England itinerary twice and both those Carnival ships had a dome that covered the main pool.

Just looking for somewhere to hang out for a while durning the day that is not a bar or casino.

what's it like fro mosquito's?

Can't answer for sure about mosquitos's since they can be seasonal.

We were there last month (May) and had no issue with mosquito's.

In summary Labadee is a beach port. There is an area in Labadee with flea market type vendors if you wish to browse for souvenirs or local artisan items.

RC does provide a free limited lunch (salad, hamburgers, hotdogs, ribs, chicken etc) via a buffet.

You are able to use your room key to purchase beverages, the beverage package does work in Labadee except of course for drinks in a souvenir glass.

You can use your room key for excursions or equipment rental in Labadee.

Just bring some cash for souvenirs or tipping if you deemed it necessary.

We also had spotty internet on our nine day cruise on the Anthem last month.

We had a balcony on deck 10 mid ship starboard side, I always had a difficult time connecting especially in the cabin. Twice I went down to guess services to see what can be done and bam...it was working. The agents would just say 'well it's working now' very frustrating. I purchased the upgraded package with streaming...I couldn't even imagine trying to stream something. I was just looking to check for emails from back home.

Also had difficulty with the Royal IQ Text and Chat feature that we also purchased. Some text wouldn't show up for a couple of hours. The app kept losing the contact info of the people we were traveling with. Twice, the RC tech, had me delete the app and reinstall it. A day or two later same issues all over again.

We were in four different cabins and all pre-purchased Internet with Streaming and once on board purchased Royal's Text and Chat. We all had issues. Next time I will save my money and not pre-purchase any internet plans.

We just came off the Anthem a couple of weeks ago, our rooms were ready close to 1 PM. By that time our luggage was waiting outside our cabin.

We were able to use our printed Set Sail pass to purchase drinks prior to getting our Sea Pass card.

We too had the drink package, the bartenders see it in the system when they scan your boarding pass or Sea Pass Card. Had no trouble getting drinks prior to getting our Sea Pass Card. We did not have a sticker on our card nor did we need one.

BTY we arrived at the pier 10:45 and were on the ship by 11:15.

Enjoy your cruise!

I would go with the one with more ports.

Depending on the exact dates of the cruise, sailing on a NYE cruise may have a lot of kids on board (I am not saying this is a bad thing, I just see the ship as being at capacity). This will make the ship seem more crowded, especially on sea days.

If you are looking to enjoy the ship more (meaning sea days) you will have that opportunity when most guest disembark the ship while in port.

My opinion is based solely on sea days vs. port days. It's not based on ship.

It all depends on what you are looking for, who you are traveling with and the time of year.

We love Anthem class of ship. We just came off her a couple of weeks ago. We are in our late 50's and have sailed on her and the Quantum when the majority of kids are in school. In fact we have two more cruises booked on the Anthem.

I can not speak of activities for kids since ours are grown.

The Solarium is a nice place if you have inclement weather but it's usually off limits to kids.

I like eating in a different dining venue every night. We like the idea of not having a main dining room. Instead there are four complimentary dining venues each with their own theme and menu. There are several for fee restaurants if that is for your liking - our 30 yr old son and his girl friend just spent 9 nights on the cruise with us and ate in a different place every night....some were free and some they paid for.

You can always find a quite place if that is what you are looking for.

Most times there is always something to do or somewhere to go if you are looking to keep busy.

The Music Hall is a great place at night for dancing...the music will vary so check the Cruise Compass.

It's only 20 minutes to port for us which means no flying which is an additional savings for us.

FYI - between RC and Carnival we have been on over a dozen cruises - we haven't sailed Celebrity or NCL.

Overall I think the Anthem of the Seas is a good introduction to cruising.

It's a great port for walking around if a beach day doesn't work.

You can either walk or take the free shuttle to El Morro and Castillo San Cristobal - both are forts. A $5 fee covers entrance to both forts.

Last week we walked along the waters edge from the ship to El Morro, then took the shuttle bus from there to Castillo San Cristobal then walked through the cobblestone streets past the shops back to the ship.

Walking to either place is slightly uphill but coming back is down hill. The walk to each place is about 20-30 minutes depending on how fast or slow you walk.

It depends on your age. The RCL insurance is not age dependent while almost all the others are.

That is why we now just purchase RC insurance. We are in our late 50's and dad is 88. Once the company's started charging based on age it became very expensive. So the little bit that Royal offers is better than nothing.

Also with Royal, Cruise Protection is added to my account but I don't have to pay for it until final payment. I don't have to deal with trying to get a refund if I cancel my trip before final payment.

In the past I used to purchase third party insurance when final payment was made but now you must purchase with 14 days (most policies) in order to cover pre-existing conditions.

Loved Puzzle Break on the Anthem. They definitely need to incorporate this on other ships. Our group killed it. The key for us was we had a very culture and education diversified group. You have to work as a team. One clue leads to the next clue. COMMUNICATE! It was a blast. Yes your inner nerd comes out. LOL!

Communication among the group in the key! One clue leads to another.

Our group of 8 (the other three just sat out) completed it with about 5 minutes to spare.

The time in the cruise planner is close enough ....getting off can happen earlier or later depending when the ship clears customs. Our experience has taught us that the ship usually clears customs earlier than later. The captain usually makes an announcement after the ship has cleared customs and that guest may now disembark.

If this is just a port the ship is stopping in for the day....it is usually first come first serve. Unless you have a shore excursion booked through the cruise line where they are meeting as soon as the ship docks then those guest will have priority.

Visited many ports, the process is usually quick except where you have to tender. In that case you have to wait until the tender loads and another one pulls up. This process may take awhile.

Don't forget to take photo ID with you when you are disembarking in port....you need to show it to the port agent to get back on board.

Enjoy your cruise!

Curious how busy the nightclub events were, such as the Red you mentioned? We usually sail with a group of friends and all love to dance well into the night. It's usually no problem to find a good time on Oasis class but when I sailed Quantum last year there was literally no other young adults (20-35) who would stay up past like 11 to have fun. The music hall was their only post-11pm space and aside from a few families who were teaching their kids how to do the wobble or whatever there it was just dead every single night.

We too were on this sailing with my son (28) and his GF (30), there were not many young adults on this sailing.

We usually sail this time of year out of Bayonne (Explorer, Quantum and Anthem) and typically find very few young adults.

For my son and his GF they liked that their evenings ended before 1 AM. Their typical vacations (Miami and Vegas) usually included going to clubs and going to bed around 5-8 AM. (Their bed time is my wake up time). lol

I don't know your circumstance for getting to the pier so close to the cut off time...but I would call the insurance company again.

I am assuming you did not book a flight that was getting in so close to departure. If there were airline delays that caused you to miss the ship I though that would have been covered.

I just came off the 9 day cruise to Bermuda, St Maartin, San Juan and Labadee - is there anything specific you are looking for?

We just got off the Anthem and had VOOM it was awful. Kept showing we were connected to the internet but nothing would go through, just kept spinning around.

Sometimes it would work and other times we kept getting an error message. This would happen no matter where we were on the ship.

We had four cabins that individually purchased VOOM with streaming for one device. We all had issues with it. We all were using Apple products so I don't know if that was the issue.

The best connection was at guest services. Every time I went down to complain the internet would connect and they would say 'but you are connected now'.

I couldn't imagine trying to upload photos.

We just got off the Anthem May 5-14 sailing and all of us had an issue with VOOM and the Royal IQ app.

We were in four different cabins and we individually purchased the VOOM plan with streaming. We all had issues staying connected not matter where we were on the ship (except at guest services). We would get the bars saying we are connected but nothing would go through. It was very frustrating. We used iPhone 6 and iPads. I only wanted to use it for email and Facebook.

We all also purchased the Text and Chat for $7.95 to use with the Royal IQ....that was just awful. Sometimes it would work other times text wouldn't show up for hours. The app was constantly losing my contacts with in the app. Tech guy at GS had me delete the app and reinstall....that worked great for about a day and then had the same issues all over again. Also the Royal IQ app didn't always have the same info as our reservations and/or what was listed in Cruise Compass.

Next time I am going to save my money and get neither. It will be easier to call home every other day to keep in touch.

Although it's a magnificent looking ship it just has no soul.It only comes alive when they have those crappy $10 sales on in the evenings.Grab yourself a drink in the bionic bar (if it's working) and watch the frenzy unfold below you.Priceless.People climbing over each other for cheap Prc tat.

We just came off a 9 night sailing on her and found the ship alive every night. There was always something going on besides the $10 sale.

Go to Music Hall, Michaels Pub, Schooner Bar, Boleros, Two70, Seaplex and Royal Theatre.....tons of action. There were times we couldn't get seats in these venues.

We loved sailing on the Anthem (we also loved the Quantum).

Our group was a party of 7, I made dinner reservations ahead of time for 6:30. Some nights a couple of us would switch and go to a paying venue. Never had to wait, our table was always ready. If you would like to try a for 'fee' restaurant make reservations early in the week.....by the end of the week only very late times were available.

Give it a try you may enjoy it!

We just came off the Anthem of the Seas and we all had major issues connecting and staying connected with VOOM.

We had four cabins and we all individually purchased (prior to boarding) VOOM with streaming.....it was supposed to be faster. The problem was we all had a difficult time connecting and once we connected it would just keep spinning around. Didn't even attempt to stream music. We were just trying to connect to read e-mail and Facebook.

Went down to guest services a couple of times to complain and it always connected there. But in our balcony stateroom and through out public areas on the ship it was very inconsistent.

Not sure if this has already been reported, forgive me.

 

I just got an onboard message that my 5pm sail-away North Star reservation had to be changed, due to Bahama and US regulations. Anything within an hour of entering or leaving port was rescheduled to a sea day, super early in the morning.

 

Cruise Planner is still offering these as valid reservation times, so if you're booked within an hour of port, change it now to something that works with your schedule. Or risk being scheduled for 7:30am...

We had North Star scheduled with in a half hour of leaving Bermuda....they rescheduled us to a sea day at 9 AM. If I remember correctly North Star starts at 9 AM. I have seen them doing test runs early but not with passengers on it.

It never showed up in the app as rescheduled so we had to remember. The original reservation was never deleted from the app either.

BTW don't rely too much on the app....it's inconsistent with info and sometimes doesn't match what is in the cruise planner or your reservations.

Ok, time for me to rant! We absolutely hate Voom. Compared to the Internet service we had last year on Liberty this is far inferior. It's very slow, cuts out, and uses up my battery. We need to sign in often with the password too. Early morning is the best and connection diminishes as the day goes on. All I do is check emails and go on cruise critic.... That's it. Ok, rant off.

I couldn't agree more! We had four cabins where family members purchased their own internet package and they all had the same issues. We didn't share the package, we all purchased our own package.

The internet service on the ship was just awful. Paid the extra dollars for so called faster internet and streaming, I always had a difficult time connecting whether I used my iPhone or iPad, it was so frustrating. After awhile I would just give up. I was just trying to connect to read email and Facebook. Every time I went down to guest services to complain I would have no problem connecting...and they would just turn around and say 'your connected now'. Couldn't sleep one night and tried connecting at 3 AM and it just kept going around and around trying to connect.

We also all purchased the Talk and Chat for $7.95 and that was just as bad. Text wouldn't go through or they would show up much later. We were constantly having to re-enter our contacts info cause it wouldn't show up to send them a text or call. At one point the internet person had me to delete the Royal IQ app and reinstall it, but after a day or two the same issues happened all over again.

Also found events in the Cruise Planner and Cruise Compass were not in sync, so you didn't know which one was correct.

We had a balcony on deck 10 forward and service in the cabin was almost non existent. We have been on many cruises and always purchase the internet package and this was the worst ever. Your device will show you are connected to Royal-wi-fi and you would see the signal strength had 3-4 bars but it just wouldn't go through just kept spinning and spinning and eventually timed out.

BTW we were all using some form of an Apple product so I don't know if that was the issue.

CapitalKyle - great photos! Loving your review...we leave when you get back to Bayonne.

Off topic question. I too use Photobucket....how are you able to get your photos to show without the scroll on the bottom with all your other photos? I like the idea of just the one photo.

I recall recently reading on CC where someone had posted the wine list for Anthem of the Seas by venue......for the life of me I can't seem to find it.

If someone can recall where it was can you please direct me. I have spent almost an hour trying to find it.

Thanks

Park at the port. Parking is right next to the ship, it couldn't be any closer.

First you drop your luggage off, then your mom can be dropped off right at the entrance to the terminal (after you drop your luggage off you pass right by the entrance) then you can go park and meet the rest of your family inside the terminal. This is how we do it with my dad.

The line to drop off luggage can get quite long by late morning early afternoon, so pack some patience. Or do like we do fill out our cruise documents as soon as they are available - about 90 days out. This enables us to choose the earliest arrival time or a later time if you choose.

Thanks, not that it matter to our group since we all have the drink package.

Hopefully someone will reply about the golf cart. It's just easier on my 87 yr old dad.

I don't think Anthem was around last May. The late departure may just be an Anthem thing, or a occassional occurance.

Enjoying your review! Thanks for the info regarding changing of show times. So far I only received one email it was regarding the change in WWRY show time, so I now know to keep checking daily.

I aware that the Anthem wasn't around last May...when we sailed on Quantum in March last year we left at 4 PM

The two prior years when we sailed on Explorer we also left at 4 PM

When the Anthem returns on April 30th she departs at 4 PM

We have Anthem booked for May 5, 16 and May 11, 2017 and both dates have 4 PM departures

I have been following the Anthem since her arrival in the winter and she seemed to be leaving around 3 PM but now that Spring and Summer is here she is scheduled for 4 PM. So I think the departure time change is more to do with the seasons.