Live blog From Anthem of the Seas Transatlantic

Hi

We will be on the Anthem TA and are planning to do a live blog from it (assuming the onboard wifi is fast enough across the Atlantic)

This will be our first cruise so have no pre conceived ideas or comparisons to other ships or lines. I will also be updating online at BourkeBlogs.com

I will upload plenty of pics and content, but if anyone has any questions let me know.

I have just tracked it online and see it arrived at Southampton at 05:12 and is currently being bunkered by the Whitonia

I shall be posting later with details of the check in and boarding experience, although we have pre printed our set sail passes and uploaded our pictures.

I'll also post some pictures of our cabin (ocean view) once we get to it.

If you do want to know anything, let me know and we will try to find out.

Looking forward to following. Happy Cruising!

Looking forward to your review! We are sailing on Anthem in two weeks.

We stayed in Crawley last night as our flight back is into Gatwick so we thought it seemed a good idea to leave the car near the airport and get a train to Southampton.

This should have been a direct train taking 1 3/4 hours but due to numerous cancellations and delays took 4 hours and 3 trains, so unfortunately we missed out check in slot of 11.15 - 11.45.

On arrival at the cruise port our luggage was taken, tagged and an RFID tag stick to our set sail pass.

I had expected to first check in then go through security, however the process was to go through security (approximately) 15 minutes wait then we were seated in a big hall.

We are still sat here and not sure what happens next. I thought you find the people with the iPads, but it seems they are seating people in blocks then coming round to check In, although this looks to be a very lengthy process.

I've added some pictures of the queues

The staff haven't told us what is happening, or what to do, it appears they are as confused as us

Thanks for posting the live review. I'm on her in 26 days!!!

I'm looking forward to this! We board on the 10th of November. Hoping you don't have to wait to long to get on board :)

Looking forward to your Live Review!

Shame about the check in since when we boarded last month, you walked up to a person with an iPad, they checked your sea pass and passports , then through security then straight onboard. I'm guessing they have an issue maybe with an air bridge.

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So we are now onboard. Took about 1 3/4 hours in total from arriving to boarding. We boarded around 14:45 in the end.

We asked what the delay was when being checked in and the lady said it was due to a large volume of people arriving before the scheduled time which then created a massive backlog. The check in staff were also having iPad issues with the batteries going flat.

We've took some pictures of the room which I will upload later. I realise the quality of the ones earlier wasn't great, as I uploaded through Tapatalk so will try and upload through the main site later.

We decided to go for a bite to eat in 270 which was really good. We choose the hot beef sandwiches with a side salad and some Kettle Chips and sat in 270 which was relatively quiet to eat.

A few months ago we had decided to purchase the Ultimate beverage package so this was bought and paid for in advance of the cruise.

Whilst in 270 we had a beer with lunch, there was a great choice and I will upload all the drinks menus over the next few days. I will also upload all drinks menus and host these on a page on my website, as I realise this is something many people may want. To give an idea the cocktail options are limited on the menu but the bar staff are happy to make anything you ask for.

After lunch the muster drill was held. Our location is B2 which is upstairs in the music hall. It officially started at 15:45 and we were done by 16:30.

On the way out of Muster we nipped into Michaels Genuine Pub, but unfortunately nothing was on draft but again a good selection of beers including Guinness in cans.

After that we had a walk round decks 5 and 6 where the main shops and some of the bars and restaurants are located. The Bionic Bar was quiet so we went in there (will upload some pictures) and had a couple of cocktails which were actually quite good.

Since then we have been exploring and are currently at the Solarium bar having another cocktail! After all we are on holiday!

We haven't booked any restaurants for tonight so we plan to just go to the Windjammer I think.

One thing to note is we have not had much luck with the Royal IQ app. We are logged on and registered but if we try and obtain our reservations or luggage status we receive an error message. We will have to see if it works going forward.

I realise that I have already mentioned going to a few of the bars. Although we have a package this is not encouraging us to drink more but equally a friend had a £3k bar bill on a recent cruise which is why we chose to purchase and wind down from work on the first day.

Looking forward to reading your review!

Thanks for the review! Subscribed. Will be on her over Xmas!

Even if you have not booked a restaurant, just turn up. We did that and the free restaurants are way better than Windjammer. Each bar has their own cocktail menu but you can order any cocktail, even if not listed. Seriously to chose Windjammer over surf and turf in American Icon would be a waste.

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Subscribing

Thank you for the review!

My question is in regards to the RoyalIQ app.

Do you have to have the wifi on to use the app?

If so, the bills would be incredibly high.

Can you have the wifi and airplane modes off and still use the app?

Thank you!

-Michael

Thank you for the review!

 

My question is in regards to the RoyalIQ app.

 

Do you have to have the wifi on to use the app?

 

If so, the bills would be incredibly high.

 

Can you have the wifi and airplane modes off and still use the app?

 

Thank you!

 

-Michael

You keep the phone in airplane mode and turn on WiFi only. There's no charge to use the app since the data never leaves the ship - you don't need an Internet package. There's a feature inside the app that will incur a charge and that's the on board texting/calling, but again that's a flat rate for the sailing and it does not need an Internet connection.

Even if you have not booked a restaurant, just turn up. We did that and the free restaurants are way better than Windjammer. Each bar has their own cocktail menu but you can order any cocktail, even if not listed. Seriously to chose Windjammer over surf and turf in American Icon would be a waste.

 

 

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Hi Kevin

We went to the Windjammmer in the end, wasn't bad but we have restaurants booked for every other night so thought would give it a try

Thanks, Biker.

So... If I understand correctly... If I DON'T want text / call on board, there should be no charge?

Thank you for the review!

 

My question is in regards to the RoyalIQ app.

 

Do you have to have the wifi on to use the app?

 

If so, the bills would be incredibly high.

 

Can you have the wifi and airplane modes off and still use the app?

 

Thank you!

 

-Michael

Hi Michael

No charge just to use the app.

As well as the app there are a number of websites you can access for free as well such as Royal Carribean or linked companies.

We have just signed up for the Internet package and it was $180 for 2 devices for the full cruise. As we tend to use the Internet a lot we can live with this cost.

I've also just speed checked it and it peaked at 10mbps but slow ping of 295ms

Thank you for the follow up, CruiseNovices

Thanks, Biker.

 

So... If I understand correctly... If I DON'T want text / call on board, there should be no charge?

Correct. Though as it was pointed out by the OP, as is the case with other aspects of RCI's IT department, the app doesn't always live up to its billing. If it works, it is convenient to check your schedule and make/change reservations. The luggage tracking feature is really a bit of a gimmick.

I am following and enjoying it. I do have a question. Did you make reservations for all the shows? Did you do it prior to boarding? I understand that the shows are reservation only. We will be boarding with 4 adults and 3 small children in June. Looking forward to reading your observations.

Thank you.

I am following and enjoying it. I do have a question. Did you make reservations for all the shows? Did you do it prior to boarding? I understand that the shows are reservation only. We will be boarding with 4 adults and 3 small children in June. Looking forward to reading your observations.

 

 

 

Thank you.

Hi Cruiser One

That's a great question, yes we did book the 3 main shows in advance but it wasn't that straight forward.

We booked our cruise in April and could book our dining options immediately. However it was frustrating that we couldn't book entertainment at the same time, so asked on this forum what time shows were to try and book restaurants around them.

Show bookings only went on about 3 months prior to the cruise and fortunately we did not have to change dining reservations to fit. At that time iFly showed as available but with no slots which was fixed after about another week.

A few weeks before we sailed we then received an email to say the show schedules had changed and one of our bookings had been amended, again fortunately this fitted in with our dining plans as we had generally chosen 18:30 - 19:00 options.

About 2 weeks before we sailed the option to book the all access tour (at a cost) which we were also able to do.

I think with the entertainment, restaurants etc. It would have been good for them all to be available at the same time to enable effective planning. Alternatively it would have been great if you didn't have to book in advance and turn up where and when you want like most reasonable all inclusive Caribbean hotels.

Awesome to see this happening! Looking forward to your photos and experiences!

Eagerly following!

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Looking forward to your 'live' review.