Anthem of the Seas 9 night Bermuda and Caribbean review

Hi all,

Going through cruise withdrawal and trying to share some of our experiences on Anthem of the Seas. Background-we traveled with my in laws and my sister in laws family, so a group of 6 adults and 4 kids. (11, 9 and 3 year old twins.)

Embarkation- we are from westchester county and found it would cost about $200 per family to park at the port for 10 days or each family threw in the same and we took a nice luxury van. We decided to get to the port early and arrived around 9:50pm. Our van dropped us off in front of terminal a porter took our bags right away and we went inside. I had open water bottles in my bag and when I saw officials telling people to dump their drinks before the metal detectors we just left them in our bags and had no issues bringing them in. We checked in and sat in the second row for diamond. We were surprised how crowded the waiting area was already at 10am!

We were told boarding would happen 11/11:30. We took the kids to the bathrooms on the other side of the terminal and by the time that parade was over we were caught by surprise with boarding at 10:30. We were throwing the kids in strollers and frantically throwing crayons and snacks in our bags since we clearly got way too comfortable thinking we’d have to wait another 30-60min.

So we get up the elevator in the terminal and are excited to be getting on so early but then had to wait in a line to get wristbands for the kids muster stations. In the past we’ve seen this done in the terminal no sure why it was done in the gangway.

Once we got on my sister in law was able to book northstar and ifly using the royal iq app. (we had precooked). We tried to book the puzzle break for the family but the app wasn’t working so I was only able to get my husband and myself.

We ate lunch at the windjammer and it was crowded but not nearly as bad as when we cruise left on allure a few years ago. One member of our party has a gluten allergy so the back of the windjammer was perfect.

Room- we had an ocean balcony deck 11 room 140. Around the corner from adventure Ocean. I booked it in hopes we’d pick up the kids at night and go right to our room. Sadly our kids did not use it, my daughter had a meltdown and my son had a meltdown because my daughter wouldn’t join him.

The room had the bed by the bathroom and the couch by the balcony. It was bigger than our room on allure and easily fit two pack n plays. (We only set them up at night) We had to bring one since I was only able to reserve one. We brought magnets and asked for an extra sheet to give some separation.

Activities-

Puzzle break was so much fun our group solved it but needed one hint.

Flow rider- I went when we were in port at San Juan and had only two others in line

Bumper cars-we did this the first day and was fun. Unfortunately it was at 3:45-6 everyday so we didn’t get to enjoy them with early dinner

North Star- fun but we went on a sea day at 9:30 and it was HOT! Can’t imagine what it was like at lunch.

Ifly-so much fun. Instructors were great. They took my three year olds and they loved it. Very efficient watch video get suited up and go up to the wind tunnel each person gets a turn.

Dreamworks- saw different characters from time to time but either they didn’t have it or we missed it, no big parade. Waited for a “miniparade” that was on the compass. King julien dance above pub near Izumi for 5 min. Could believe they called it a mini parade.

Pools- they got too crowded in the afternoons. This ship should have another pool because I counted one afternoon 50 people in a pool with a max capacity of 22! The morning was much quieter so we did our big swimming in the mornings.

Also at the indoor pool there is a splash pool for kids. Sign say no swim diapers you need to be toilet trained. Guess what? Pool was filled with kids and diapers. Two years ago when my kids were in diapers on allure we were told we couldn’t go anywhere but the diaper section and any child with diaper were asked to stay out of the other areas. Royal Caribbean staff enforced this rule. On this ship no one said anything. It was really frustrating you either make it a diaper pool or you don’t.

Ports of call-

Bermuda took a van to horseshoe bay about 20min. Nice facilities and restaurant/bar at top of beach. Unfortunately it rained so we only got to enjoy beach for an hour.

St Maarten-took a 10min taxi to Divi little bay, rented chairs and umbrellas. bar and facilities on site.

San Juan-only in port till 2pm so we decided to not get off with the three year olds.

Labadee- such a perfect day! Got chairs at nellies beach in the shade but saw they also offered umbrellas. Nellies beach was close enough to the splash park, lunch, restrooms and bar.

Dining-

Windjammer- we found sitting in the back we got seats right away and excellent service. Servers brought us drinks which with kids that can’t carry anything was a game changer. I usually avoid buffets for this reason!

Main dining room- service was excellent and food was very good. Favorite meals-I loved the prime rib the first night, pan seared snapper, lobster tail second formal night and lamb shank on the last night. My kids loved the steak(offered nightly) and fried cod last night.

We brought bottles of wine to dinner each night. Not sure if they’d actually charge a corking fee so to avoid any confrontation we just opened the bottle before entering dining room. We brought two bottles and our travel agent gave us three. My in laws brought two and my travel agent gave them one.

Two seventy- loved this place for lunch. Roast beef sandwiches for us and ham and cheese for the kids worked great to avoid crowds.

Solarium bistro-tried for dinner one night. Loved the ceviche!! Food was good and place was very quiet.

Jamie’s Italian- excellent service and food. Probably had everything but my favorite dishes included calamari and lamb chops.

Diamond club- we went here for the diamond happy hour each night. Appetizers were nice my favorite was one night they had sushi rolls.

Service was exceptional! Servers learned our names a drink preferences. We tried diamond lounge on other cruises and it they were over crowded and we would wait 15min and still not get a drink. Here within 5min we had our first round. We rarely had to flag anyone down for a second they were very attentive. They got juice for our kids and bottles of water.

I ended up using our three free diamond drinks for additional bottles of water and pellegrino. I was so excited to find out this ship had pellegrino.

Disembarkation- we got to main dining room at 7am. There was a line and people were getting a little cranky. Anyway we sat and ate, they were handing out free mimosas. Then took elevators up to deck 5 there was a huge line, hard to get off elevators because of a big log jam.

It was 8am so we walked to the back of the line in two seventy. Line moved so we were off the ship located a porter and got our bags. Our family technically had later tags than us so the port employees gave a little bit of a hard time but eventually got all the bags went through immigration and were outside at our taxi by 8:35am

(Apologies for any typos)

Thanks for the review. We did the same cruise last July and loved it - one of our favorite cruises ever!

St Maarten-took a 10min taxi to Divi little bay, rented chairs and umbrellas. bar and facilities on site.

I'd like more information on this. I was planning on doing the excursion through RCL that goes to Kim Sha beach. I heard most of the beaches on St. Maarten were damaged from the hurricanes. How easy was it to get a taxi? Did they take cash or credit? How much did it cost?

Labadee- such a perfect day! Got chairs at nellies beach in the shade but saw they also offered umbrellas. Nellies beach was close enough to the splash park, lunch, restrooms and bar.

Same here. I was planning on going to Amiga island. How far away is the beach?

I'd like more information on this. I was planning on doing the excursion through RCL that goes to Kim Sha beach. I heard most of the beaches on St. Maarten were damaged from the hurricanes. How easy was it to get a taxi? Did they take cash or credit? How much did it cost?

 

 

 

 

Same here. I was planning on going to Amiga island. How far away is the beach?

. Thanks so much.

We did Kim Sha Beach AM (St Martin Beach Rendezvous) tour at Easter on Allure as a group of nine with 3 children. Tour was thru RCL and it included a welcome rum drink, lunch at the Green Room, plus a beverage (soda, water or beer) and a lounge chair. Umbrellas were an add'l $5.

Prices on board was $74 and $59 respectively for adults & children This was a popular tour as ours alone had 6 busses full. IMO it was worth as it included transportation, lunch and a lounger. Traffic was heavy with various constructions going on.

There's also a PM (Afternoon Beach Break) tour that does not include lunch and includes rum drink and a lounger. On board pricing was $54 and $50 respectively.

PS. Keep an eye at your cruise planner as there are many sales sprung by RCL with savings as much as 20%

Also, did the same (PM) tour on Anthem's 12 niter in January.

Can’t speak to either kim sha or amiga island. Maybe someone else that’s been to either can help.

Divi little bay in st Maarten was no more than 10 min drive from port. $5 per person cab ride. Chairs and umbrellas $5 each. Bar had food and drinks and there was a outdoor shower to rinse off our sand monsters, I mean children, and they had a bathroom for changing.

Labadee

We had some shade and played in the sand as well as swam at nellie’s beach and used the splash park.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thank you. The beach at Divi little bay is open to the public? It looks like there's a resort there. Is that who you'd pay the $5 to if you wanted the umbrella?

Yes it’s a resort. Beaches are open to public just can’t use hotel pool. You pay the guys on the beach(they are with the resort) for chairs and umbrellas $5 each. They have a full bar and an outdoor restaurant. We got some drinks from the bar.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes it’s a resort. Beaches are open to public just can’t use hotel pool. You pay the guys on the beach(they are with the resort) for chairs and umbrellas $5 each. They have a full bar and an outdoor restaurant. We got some drinks from the bar.

That's good. A lot of hotels charge for a day pass. I assume you did nellie's beach on your own, too?

Hi... may I ask you please, when was the 2nd formal night?

That's good. A lot of hotels charge for a day pass. I assume you did nellie's beach on your own, too?

Yes, one of the reasons we do divi little bay on our own rather than a cruise tour much cheaper and also like the freedom of going and leaving when we want as well as proximity to the ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi... may I ask you please, when was the 2nd formal night?

Night 8 was our second formal night.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Sounds like a great cruise. We have Anthem booked in the (later) future. That's too bad that the timing didn't work great for bumper cars and getting ready for dinner.

I could be wrong...but from what I read about the wine, the corkage fee doesn't actually have anything to do with the waiters removing the cork. If you had no extra fee, then you weren't charged (as they can charge corkage free just for pouring your wine). The only way from avoiding it 100% is to pour your own glass and bring the glass to the dining room. (I asked question myself on a post so from responses).

About the wine... Did you give the bottle to you waiter to keep for you night to night? Or, did you carry it to and from your stateroom each night? i.e poured your own glass before heading to the MDR?

Royal website said they charge a corkage fee and I wasn’t sure the exact rules and what is actually enforced. I’m sure it varies. We carried our bottle into the dining room opened each night we did end up pouring our own wine most of the time since our waiter often was at the large table next to us first. We had 6 adults so we finished the bottle. We had traditional dining so same wait staff and left an extra tip for our wait staff end of the cruise. I would imagine if you had different waiters each night it might not be as easy?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Royal website said they charge a corkage fee and I wasn’t sure the exact rules and what is actually enforced. I’m sure it varies. We carried our bottle into the dining room opened each night we did end up pouring our own wine most of the time since our waiter often was at the large table next to us first. We had 6 adults so we finished the bottle. We had traditional dining so same wait staff and left an extra tip for our wait staff end of the cruise. I would imagine if you had different waiters each night it might not be as easy?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Good to know. Thanks for the review!

We were on the same cruise. We traveled with my two sons and my parents. I remember seeing your adorable children with their sun hats at Little Divi. I agree that it was a great and easy trip to the beach.

I also agree with the pools being overcrowded.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My traveling circus is often hard to miss!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums