Anthem of the Seas with kids

We're considering booking Anthem of the Seas for the fall. We'll be traveling with our 8 and 6 year old, and 6 month old. The difference between 2 balconies and a balcony and interior is about $500. I'm thinking we can get an interior, throw all of our stuff in there, and all stay in the balcony, my husband thinks we should go for the 2 balconies. Is it worth it? I wouldn't want any of the kids sleeping in the other balcony without one of us in there and the baby will need a rock n sleeper or pack n play. Also, it looks like the baby can use the kiddie pool with a swim diaper and they offer babysitting at dinner time for the little one. I'm getting mixed information if it is an additional fee or not. Either way I'm not sure I'll feel comfortable leaving her, but the option does excite me! How many of the activities (surfing, bumper cars, circus classes, ect) are additional fees?

Unless there is a family stateroom that sleeps 5, I would go with connecting balconies.

While I can't speak for the amenities on Anthem, I can comment on the cabin issues. From a cost perspective, Figure out what your spend is and stick to it (inside and balcony / 2 balconies, etc). In my opinion, if you're using an inside cabin for storage and you're planning on jamming everyone in the balcony, I personaly wouldn't do that.

Sure, at 8 and 6, you may not want them in a cabin on their own, however, if they are responsible and can not exit the cabin after you "tuck them in", it's possible.

Again, in my opinion, 5 in a cabin would be tight. But all in all, you're on vacation and whatever route you choose, you'll have a good time.

The babysitting service on the ships are top notch. Youll certainly have some quality time together.

With 4 in a balcony it would already be a tight squeeze. Have you looked at pics of what it looks like when the couch is pulled out? It doesn't look like there is much walking room. Not sure how you would fit a 5th person in there? 2 connecting cabins is definitely the way to go or wait for kids sail free and get a Family Junior Suite. That fits 5 (except those on deck 10) and you get more square footage. But you still get the most space with the two connecting cabins.

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I would definitely go with 2 connecting balcony rooms and keep the door open between the two rooms. In my opinion, the balcony door would be difficult for a 6 or 8 year old to open easily as they are a little heavy. There is a child lock at the top of the door too. I have seen other posts of people getting door alarms on Amazon for that extra peace of mind.

For the amenities, Flowirder, iFly, bumper cars (all Seaplex activites) are no extra charge and your 6 & 8 year olds (you too) will have a lot of fun. The kiddie pool should be good for your baby (with swim diapers) as is a zero entry pool area. My kids (me too) enjoyed the "lazy river", but keep in mind that there is a minimum height requirement of I think was 38" for that. Height requirements for the Flowrider was 52" for boogie board and 58" for stand up surfing.

I know the kids club (over 3 years old) is free, but does charge an hourly fee after 10 or 11pm. Sorry, but I cannot speak to the costs for the nursery, but believe there is a charge.

I'm with the group that says go for two connecting balconies, the door locks on the balconies are very high up and you could leave the connecting door open.

Also yes there is a pool that is ok for swim diapers, and you do have to pay for the nursery but it's not a huge expense.

I just had two connecting balconies in December on Anthem and it was great. I had no issues leaving my (4 and 2 year old) in the other room with the connecting door open. You can lock the balcony door at the top so the kids can't get out on the balcony. If you are extra cautious bring a baby monitor and put it in the other room so you can constantly see what they are up too.

None of the activities on Anthem cost extra. You just got to make sure you sign up and get to things early because activities fill up quickly.

In regards to the Kids Club (Adventure Ocean) and the Nursery (Royal Tots). The club is for children 3 and up and is free, while the Nursery is for children 6 months to 36 months and is not free (charge is $6/hr day and $8/hr evening). The nursery also does not keep the same hours as the kids club.

Nursery will provide snacks and milk for the babies, but will not feed them meals, so you will need to make sure that your infant is fed either before dropoff or after you pick them up. The kids club offers to take the older children after the first 45 mins of dinner as a part of the program. This is not available for the children in the nursery. There is a play area by the nursery that can be used as a playroom for the babies 6 mon - 36 mon, with parent supervision. This is free of charge. So basically think of the nursery as dropping off your infant in daycare, except you will need to provide and feed the meals, and you technically cannot drop off all day.

I know if you speak to someone on the phone or read the info on the RCI website, it will seem like you should be able to leave your baby all day, but how can you leave them all day if they do not provide meals? I only plan to drop off my 19 month old for a few hours.

I don't think the OP said anything about leaving the baby all day long! Just wanted to know her options!

We have 4 kids. I don't feel a need for a balcony. We've had one and it's not essential for us as we are only in the room to sleep. We get 2 connecting oceanview rooms. We put the kids in 1 and we keep the other.

I would go with connecting balconies if you can do it. I understand it would be a little nerve-wracking to leave children alone in a balcony room, but there's a lock at the very top of the door that's somewhat difficult to open and close.. so it's not like a small child can easily open the balcony door is what I'm saying. Our 3 year old took full advantage of Adventure Ocean. He never did the meals with the staff there though.

Regarding the pool area and amenities, the iFly, surfing thing, rock-climbing and bumper cars are all free. Your littliest should be just fine in the teeny baby pool, splash pad area, with swim diapers. I saw tons of little babies with swim diapers in those areas, and none of the workers were saying anything.

Keep in mind that there are height and age restrictions on various entertainment on board. Rock climbing was 6 years old if I recall and flowrider was 52 inches for boogie boarding and 56 I think for stand up surfing. I would check these ahead of time so as not to get your kids hope up.

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If you go with two balconies the panel in between these can be opened so with the child lock on in your kids cabin they could only access the balconies through your cabin.

Also where would the older two kids sleep in the balcony cabin if there isn't a sofa bed in your cabin with the balcony and inside option. You would need to book a minimum D3 to have a sofa bed so you would need to select thus pay the higher price for a cabin that can accommodate more than two occupants. IMO if you went with this you may as well just have all four booked in a four occupants cabin instead of paying for an inside to store your luggage in. Luggage, even four pieces can be stored under the bed.

Below is a shot of the sofa in a balcony cabin on Anthem and it would be a squeeze to have a 6 and 8 year olds sleeping on it.

There is only one tiny swim area for babies in swim diapers- it’s outside and often closed/broken. What looks like a kiddie pool in the indoor swim area is not for babies and swimmers must be potty trained. I would do connecting inside/balcony and put the kids in one room and you take the other. Or do connecting insides since there is the virtual balcony. We did connecting insides with our 4 and 1 year old (in a pack n play) in one room and us in the other. Too tight to sleep 4 in one room. Balconies do have a child proof lock - you can search of a picture of it. No fee for bumper cars/rock climbing/north star etc but check for age:height restrictions (I think rock climbing is 6 years old, skating is a size 10 shoe....)

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you'd need to call RC, but when I wanted to book a balcony for my family of 4 (at the time a 5 year old, and one year old) I was told if the one year old went in the pack n play, the sofa couldn't be pulled out so the 5 year old wouldn't have anywhere to sleep. A young child can sleep on a non-pulled out sofa, but I don't know if you could get two kids on that. I'd agree with the votes for connecting cabins.

I forgot there would be five in the cabin with the baby so a single balcony cabin wouldn't be possible.

For our upcoming Anthem cruise, which we're doing with our grand kids, we were able to get a second balcony for only $94 in total more than going with a balcony and an inside thanks to our C&A balcony discount as DW and are booked in separate cabins each with one grandchild.

We went with two X balcony guaranties which were linked together, got assigned close together D4 cabins, separated by one D2 cabin and were able to switch to two available D4 side by side connecting balcony cabins on the same deck and section. We did have to switch to the other side of the ship but that didn't matter much as we are on deck 13. Actually one of the balconies we now have is an angled larger one and I prefer that side.

Once onboard the grand kids will be in one cabin and DW and I in the other. We may not even go to GS for two of us to switch cards as we have the inside the cabin connecting door to access either cabin.

Doing our two bookings that way saved us over $800US over selecting the two cabins we now have.

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Another option may be to have your husband and one or two kids sleep in the inside room an the rest of you sleep in the balcony room.