Anthem - Not quite live...

It looks like there are ipad people in the third photo, against the wall, with very short lines. That is where they were on our last two sailings. First sailing, we checked in outside with one of them, but that was in September, so it was warmer.

 

Our Set Sail Pass for January says 11:30-12:00. Can we arrive earlier and still check in?

Our Set Sail Pass for January says 11:30-12:00. Can we arrive earlier and still check in?

Yes.

so when does the snow start to melt off the deck whereever you are heading too!

so when does the snow start to melt off the deck whereever you are heading too!

Probably not until day 2 this cruise.

Following! 22 more days until it’s my turn!

Many, many years ago we watched as people arriving very late because of fog in Atlanta delaying planes were literally taken from their buses and boarded through a entry on a lower deck. We and many other ships in Florida, not sure whether Miami or Port Everglades, waited almost 2 hrs because of the delays and still left about 90 passengers short. We were ok but decided it was the last time we'd fly the day of a cruise. The people we saw were on Carnival transfers, not likely they would've waited for others. It was years before the rules got stricter so not sure what they would do now.

As to the ship leaving passengers stranded, go look at the videos of passengers at ports standing there watching their ship leave without them!

Here are the daily activities from the cruise compass -

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

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Schedule.for Bumper Cars, Roller Skating and Trapeze School-

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It looks like there are ipad people in the third photo, against the wall, with very short lines. That is where they were on our last two sailings.

Possibly using ipads but they are behind desks and the line for those check in desks is the line I am standing in.

-Sean

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So if I can't get to the port early, and 12:30-1pm seems to be the worst time to arrive, does anyone have a guess at when things start calming down? I'd really prefer to avoid long lines in the cold and just show up a bit later on.

 

When does check-in officially close? Certainly don't want to miss the ship!

I was in line until about 1:30 or so. They are supposed to have everyone checked in by 2pm. I know that did not happen because there was still a large line after I got through.

To answer your question, the line never got better before 2pm.

They close everything at 2 for a 230 muster. It was a little weird having an early departure (330pm) because typically the line gets a little thinner later.

Also, best practice is to get a bite to eat first before muster but this wasnt possible for me until after 3pm. Primarily because it took me 15-20 minutes to settle in with the family and by that time it was 155 or so and everything was closed.

I was starving by then.

-Sean

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I haven't seen a line like that at Bayonne in any of my three times. Do they not do the roving iPads anymore? Luckily I can use the Diamond line, but still plan to arrive before 11 in May.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!!

Diamons you will get through quick. Maybe 2 peopl in that line.

But security was still a 30 minute wait. No special lines for security. (They may have had a suite guests/pinnacle line for security but it was not clear where the line was for that)

-Sean

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so my boarding time is 12:30-1:00 does that mean I can not arrive earlier and won't be allowed on this ship until my scheduled time?

Your boarding time on your checkin is irrelevant.

Get in early and get on quick.

-Sean

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We are in PC this am. Pulled in at 4. We are at Pier 2 close to the front on the South side as planned.

I dont think this is the typical location for the Anthem so if you are on an upcoming trip check the PC website to see which pier you are scheduled to pull into.

(I dont have the link right now. Will post later if I can find it).

Ill post some more random thoughts through the day.

We gotta go eat and grab our rental mini van.

-Sean

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Some insight to the activities in the SeaPlex.

On our cruise there were over 1200 kids. This makes lines for things like Bumper Cars and Roller Skating pretty long.

If you are familiar with the SeaPlex the lines wrapped all around the perimeter of the gymnasium.

Skating -

Skating is listed as 3 hours long. But they only do (3 -4) 30 minute sessions during that time. There is a MAX of 40 persons per session. So that means of 1200 kids and more adults, only 120 -160 of them will get in during that 3 hour session.

Everyone who is skating needs to be in the line to get a wristband. You cannot get a wristband for someone who is not there even if you have their seapass card.

You will need socks and your seapass card to skate.

They hand out colored wristbands for each timeslot. The timeslots are not printed or announced they just start handing out wristbands beginning with the first timeslot and when they run out they start on the one after.

We did ask if we could get wristbands for the last timeslot when we got to the front as it best fit our schedule and they did oblige without any issues.

We have found that if you line up 45 minutes to one hour before the session starts then you have a great chance of getting into the 1st 2 sessions.

If you line up right when the sessions begin then you'll be waiting about 45 minutes and you have a chance of getting into the last 2 sessions. If you line up later than that there is a slim to nil chance of getting a timeslot for the skating session after waiting 45 minutes to an hour in line.

Keep in mind this is on a sailing with over 1200 kids. Also we have found that they do start about 15 minutes earlier than the posted time when they have alot of kids. So the 45 minute wait is closer to 30 minutes if you get there early.

Youll get a colored wristband for your timeslot and then you show up about 10 minutes before to get your helmet pads and skates.

Its a great almost full size skating rink. The surface is a little bit slicker than wood or concrete. If you like to skate it is a lot of fun and most people bail after 10-15 minutes. So the crowd is pretty thin by the end of it.

Id say out of the 40 in our group, 35 showed up, 15 were littles hugging the wall, 10-12 were 1st time/beginners. So while 40 people seems like alot it never felt crowded.

-Sean

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BOGO - 2 night dinner package

Right off, Ill say this is the best thing we ever did.

Pre Cruise we paid 30$ per person for 6 of us. 180 total. Averages out to 15$ pp per night.

Not a bad price at all for specialty restaurants.

For those not familiar, you pre pay a lower price in the cruise planner to have a specialty dinner in any one of the specialty restaurants on the 1st two nights on the ship.

You select a time in the cruise planner and when you get on the ship they are supposed to have assigned you to a restaurant for each of the nights.

Because we booked our cruise late (past final payment) They had one timeslot left in the cruise planner of 9pm.

When my wife first got on the ship she went to American Icon to see what we ended up with. The Maitre D at AI said we could pick any two specialties as none were assigned. (Including Wonderland) We could pick any timeslot that was available as well. This can be tough with a Party of 6. But there were many timeslots available and my wofe picked Wonderland and Chops for our 1st two nights (@8pm and 530pm respectively)

Initially we picked wonderland. After sitting in Jaime's for Muster, we decided to change to Jaimes for that night instead. It was an interesting change of plans to pick an italian diner as wifey is on a 0-carb (Keto) diet. But after looking at the menu and talking about it we decided on Jaimes instead.

So after muster we checked in with the Maitre D there and changed to a 530pm diner reservation for that evening. No problems.

Jaimes was tasty. We got a meat plank, calamari and proscuitto and melon for appetizers. All fairly generic. Flat meats and cheese with olives and peppers. Calamari was your standard fare of fried rings and tentacles and the melon and prosciutto was just that. If you do order an app of calamari they are small. Get one app per person wanting an order of it.

Dinners were slightly better. Lasagna with home made noodles. Nice and soft and yummy. Shrimp Linguini was also home made noodles and the sauce was tasty and the shrimp was on the medium to smaller side but fresh and tasty. My wife had the salmon cooked plain with a a side of the mushroom sauce from another dish. She loved it. And I had the lamb chops. I dont typically eat lamb but these were fantastic lolipops of lambchops. Bone licking good. My 12yo daughter got the carbonara and it was very tasty. Carbonara not as good as going to your well known italian place in town but as good or slightly better than Olive Garden or a Carrabbas.

Ill review Chops later. That deserves a post on its own.

2 of us are 12 and under. We booked all the reservations as paid adults ($30 per) I was completely willing to pay full price for my 2 youngest (10 and 12) as they will typically eat adult sized portions off the regular menu. We got mixed signals from the servers in both locations for this.

In Jaimes they let my 10yo eat off the adult menu for 10$ (plus 18%) and they refunded our 30$ for the 2 night BOGO. They also had a kids menu but we told the server he would rather eat off the adult menu. Still it was only 10$.

When we went to Chops, they told us it was 10$ if he eats off the kids menu but 42$ if he eats off the adult menu. (As the BOGO was already refunded by the second night) So he ordered Mac and Cheese off the kids menu and we shared everything on the table with him.

They did not charge us 10$ for him eating off the kids Menu. It ended up being no charge.

After dinner we did not question either time. We just took it for what it was. But if you are a parent to a 12yo or younger and count pennys and will go to bat to get the best bang for your buck (as most of us woth kids do), Id strongly reccomend clarifying with the head waiter/manager before you order. As we have found with Royal, It may be different each time.

-Sean

Meat Plank

Shrimp Linguini

Carbonara

Lamb Chops

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Great review. I did wonder about the SeaPlex on Anthem with crowds so sounds like it can be an issue with long lines. Looks amazing otherwise.

Thanks for the review of BOGO. We're going to try one or two specialties and your review helps (but price went up recently). Your comments about Jamies helps as that's one we are considering. Good to hear how it works with kids. Interested in your Chops comments too.

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Great review. I did wonder about the SeaPlex on Anthem with crowds so sounds like it can be an issue with long lines. Looks amazing otherwise.

 

Thanks for the review of BOGO. We're going to try one or two specialties and your review helps (but price went up recently). Your comments about Jamies helps as that's one we are considering. Good to hear how it works with kids. Interested in your Chops comments too.

 

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Yeah, I noticed the price went up too for the BOGO Specialty Dining Pkg for first two nights. It states $40 per person in my cruise planner for my upcoming Anthem cruise.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review...enjoying your food pics!

BUMPER CARS -

Bumper cars were similar to Roller skating except that they go in 3 minute intervals. Longer if there are no lines.

We lined up 45 minutes before the posted start time. They started bumper cars about 15 minutes early and we were in the second group that went. We were done before the posted start time.

Not sure how fast the line moves once the bumper cars start but by the time they started them the line for bumper cars was wrapped all the way around the gym area.

They had 17 cars working so anywhere between 17 and 34 people could go at each 3 minute session.

The cars were a hoot to drive. They go at a pretty good clip. My daughter hit me head on and we were both going full speed and the seatbelt dug into my shoulder quite a bit. They can turn on a dime and will slide around the corners if you get bumped.

-Sean

One more thing I forgot to mention that will be good to help allleviate the pains of the youger kiddos -

They must be at least 5 years old to ride on the bumper cars. No exceptions. Even if you are the parent and your child is riding with you they must have been born 5 years previously on or before the date you ride the cars.

They also must be at least 42" to drive by themselves or with another rider.

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Thanks for the updates. Glad to hear you are enjoying your cruise.

Quick question/favor -

By looking at the compasses, we are disappointed for our family/friends we are traveling with that there are no informal nightly scheduled meetups for the 18-21+ age group, especially during this time of year when many families travel.

We traveled last year and our family was hoping they could schedule more than just 1 informal meetup after both dinner seatings at Music Hall and are shocked to see none scheduled. We are sailing next week and this is a disappointment for the family members in our age group who were reluctant to travel with us.

I you stop by guest services or talk to the cruise director or assistant cruise director - would it be at all possible to pass along a request for us to see if they can schedule in the compass an informal meetup for the 18-21+ age group after both dinner seatings on the first couple of nights (as has been done on other holiday sailings we've been on)?

Thank you very much! Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Great review....just got off when you got on, so I miss the ship a lot....your photo's and comments help ease the loss somewhat.

I really like the very helpful tips you are sharing with those who haven't been aboard yet....thanks for posting!:)

Here are the daily activities from the cruise compass -

 

DAY 1

 

 

 

DAY 2

 

 

 

DAY 3

 

 

 

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Definitely looking forward for the rest of the daily compasses and your review. Very helpful for our upcoming cruise. Thanks!

Watched the sun set on you on the Portcanaveralwebcam....beautiful watching the lights come alive as it got dark out...

Sure is a big advantage for the eight day cruise having the extra day to get there, as opposed to the seven day itinerary that only gets a half day at best to visit the Orlando theme parks...;)

I see it’s a formal night on day 2 and day 3? Is that correct?

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Some insight to the activities in the SeaPlex.

 

On our cruise there were over 1200 kids. This makes lines for things like Bumper Cars and Roller Skating pretty long.

 

If you are familiar with the SeaPlex the lines wrapped all around the perimeter of the gymnasium.

 

Skating -

 

Skating is listed as 3 hours long. But they only do (3 -4) 30 minute sessions during that time. There is a MAX of 40 persons per session. So that means of 1200 kids and more adults, only 120 -160 of them will get in during that 3 hour session.

 

Everyone who is skating needs to be in the line to get a wristband. You cannot get a wristband for someone who is not there even if you have their seapass card.

 

You will need socks and your seapass card to skate.

 

They hand out colored wristbands for each timeslot. The timeslots are not printed or announced they just start handing out wristbands beginning with the first timeslot and when they run out they start on the one after.

 

We did ask if we could get wristbands for the last timeslot when we got to the front as it best fit our schedule and they did oblige without any issues.

 

We have found that if you line up 45 minutes to one hour before the session starts then you have a great chance of getting into the 1st 2 sessions.

 

If you line up right when the sessions begin then you'll be waiting about 45 minutes and you have a chance of getting into the last 2 sessions. If you line up later than that there is a slim to nil chance of getting a timeslot for the skating session after waiting 45 minutes to an hour in line.

 

Keep in mind this is on a sailing with over 1200 kids. Also we have found that they do start about 15 minutes earlier than the posted time when they have alot of kids. So the 45 minute wait is closer to 30 minutes if you get there early.

 

Youll get a colored wristband for your timeslot and then you show up about 10 minutes before to get your helmet pads and skates.

 

Its a great almost full size skating rink. The surface is a little bit slicker than wood or concrete. If you like to skate it is a lot of fun and most people bail after 10-15 minutes. So the crowd is pretty thin by the end of it.

 

Id say out of the 40 in our group, 35 showed up, 15 were littles hugging the wall, 10-12 were 1st time/beginners. So while 40 people seems like alot it never felt crowded.

 

-Sean

 

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Can you tell me how are the helmets with skating? do they wipe the helmets down after each use or should i wear something under helmet? just concerning on this issue.

Do they provide elbow/knee pads for the skating in addition to the helmets?