Anthem of the Seas Review - Bermuda - August 26, 2017 - August 31, 2017

August 2017 - Royal Caribbean - Anthem of the Seas - 5 Night Bermuda Cruise for Jillian's Sweet 16

WHY ARE WE ALL CRUISING?

My niece Jillian is turning 16 in November 2017. During 2016 my sister, Jennifer, started thinking about a Sweet 16 party and what Jillian may want to do. All sorts of ideas were tossed around. The decision was instead of a party lasting one night; they will take Jillian and 3 of her friends on a cruise to Bermuda. Jillian (the birthday girl) made the decision of what she preferred

WHO ARE WE?

Noreen - 49 years old; Senior Vice President at an Investment Banking Firm in New York City. I will be the author of the report.

Scott - my husband; 48 years old; owner of BounceU in NY

Jennifer - my sister; wife to Kevin, mother to Jillian; 45 years old; medical transcriptionist

Kevin - our brother in law, husband to Jennifer, father to Jillian; 47 years old (I think); works for ConEd

Several of Jillian's friends - Casey, Carla, and Jailene - all around 16 years old and friends of Jillian

MaryBelle - Kevin's mother, Jillian's grandmother.

Michael - Scott's brother, husband to Donna, father to Michael Jr; around 50 years old; court officer

Donna - Our sister in law, wife to Michael, mother to Michael Jr; around 50 years old

Michael Jr - Our nephew, son to Michael and Donna, almost 18 years old

Other family members were invited but aren't joining us for various reasons.

Below are some pictures of us so you can put faces to the names...

Scott and Noreen

Jen, Kevin, Jillian, and MaryBelle

Jen is the one in the orange colorful dress

Jillian and her friends Casey, Carla, and Jailene

Jillian is the tall one in a peach dress. Facing the picture, Casey is to her left. To her right are Carla and Jailene

Michael, Donna, and Michael jr

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PLANNING

When my sister mentioned wanting to take Jillian on a cruise for her Sweet 16 with some friends, I started asking all sorts of questions. Where did they want to cruise to? When did they want to go? Etc? Etc? I think I asked my sister so many questions her head was spinning.

Basically, she doesn't want to have to fly so that means leaving from NY or NJ and likes the idea of going to Bermuda. She also needs to go at the end of the summer before the kids start school since they don't want to take the kids out of school. She wanted to be somewhat cost conscious since she's paying for her family as well as Jillian's 3 friends.

I told her the options for Bermuda out of NY/NJ are Celebrity Summit (I thought it may be too old or small a ship for the 16 year olds for a week), Norwegian Breakaway (also 7 nights but a newer ship) or Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas (the one I pushed for since all my cruises have been on Royal Caribbean and I've been on Anthem before and really liked it and think the kids will love all the bells and whistles). Anthem was chosen as the ship.

On Mother's Day 2016 I was with my sister (Jennifer), brother in law (Kevin), niece (Jillian), and Kevin's mother (MaryBelle) and we talked more about the cruise. Prior to this day we already decided which one and were ready to book but I answered lots of questions for everyone.

Before the day was over we called my friend and travel agent Brenda and we were all booked for the 5 night cruise to Bermuda on August 26, 2017.

Scott and I in a D1 balcony #8260

Jillian and one friend in a connected large interior #8265

Two of Jillian's friends in the connected interior #8267

Jen and Kevin in a D? Balcony directly across from the two inside cabins for the girls - #8266

MaryBelle in a D? Balcony next to Jen & Kevin - #8268

The next day we ran into a problem. One of the interiors was a 3 person cabin and we were only booking 2 people into it. We had to move. Since the girls are under 18 they need to be either right next to or across from the adults.

Our new cabins are:

Scott and I in a D1 Balcony - #9644 (the other side of the ship from the others)

The 4 girls in two connected insides with virtual balcony - #9225 and #9227

Jen and Kevin in a D? Balcony #9226

MaryBelle in a D1 Balcony #9260 (she's about 5 cabins down the hall from Jen & Kevin)

Michael, Donna, and Michael Jr are in balcony cabins - #8306 and #8308. They booked later then us and not through Brenda, they booked on their own.

THE CRUISE

The Anthem itinerary is as follows:

Saturday 8/26/17 - Leave from Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne, NJ

Sunday 8/27/17 - At Sea

Monday 8/28/17 - Bermuda

Tuesday 8/29/17 - Bermuda

Wednesday 8/30/17 - At Sea

Thursday 8/31/17 - Return to Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne, NJ

TRANSPORTATION

We live in Northern NJ (Bergen County) so can just drive down to Bayonne for the cruise and park at the pier. My sister, her family, and MaryBelle live in Staten Island. Jillian's friends live in Brooklyn. Jillian's friends are all going to my sister's house the night before the cruise (Friday) and will sleep there so they will all go together to the pier. Michael, Donna, and Michael Jr live on Long Island so will drive to the pier.

DINING

We signed up for the early fixed rotation - Classic 1, which was later changed to traditional fixed dining as they did away with Dynamic Dining in it's various forms.

Michael, Donna, and Michael Jr were unable to get into fixed dining since they booked later so they have My Time Dining. They are also planning to get the 3 night specialty restaurant package.

Scott and I will do a specialty restaurant one night as our anniversary is August 26. I booked Chops for us on the second night - August 27. Even though August 26 is our anniversary, it's the first night of the cruise so I thought it would be nice if we are all together the first night for dinner. With our Diamond Plus BOGO (Buy One Get One) for 1st or 2nd night I just booked it for 1 person. Last cruise I booked for 2 people and they refunded one fare as OBC (On Board Credit) and recommended that next time I just book for 1 person.

Michael and Donna want to go to Chops with us but would prefer to eat a bit later. I cancelled our 6pm reservation for August 27 and we'll book a new time on the ship with them.

I purchased the Refreshment Package for Scott and I. I also purchased the Surf & Stream for Scott.

ENTERTAINMENT

In early April we were able to book North Star, IFly, We Will Rock You, Spectre's Caberet, and the Gift.

Given it's a shorter cruise everything gets packed together. We have North Star, IFly, an the Gift on Sunday. We have Spectre on Tuesday. We have We Will Rock You on Wednesday.

On 8/7/17 we received emails that the Gift was rescheduled. It was rescheduled to the same time we have We Will Rock You. Then they moved We Will Rock you to 6pm on day 2 (the time everyone is at fixed dining). So we moved We Will Rock You to night 1 at 8pm. I wonder if they will have a Welcome Aboard Show.

We were waiting for the Escape Room to be available to book in the cruise planner but it never showed up. Scott and I wouldn't do it again as we did it in January and didn't enjoy it. So I told the others they should book this once on the ship.

We thought about signing up for the sushi making class, but decided to wait until we're back on Anthem in January for. 12 night cruise when there is more time to do things.

EXCURSIONS

Jillian wants to swim with Dolphins and see pink sand. My sister booked the Dolphin excursion for her family and girls for the second morning in Bermuda. The first day in Bermuda we will all go to Horseshoe Bay Beach.

Michael, Donna, and Michael jr talked about either playing golf or renting mopeds in Bermuda.

We won't all do everything together.

Scott likes to snorkel and I bought him a snorkel set recently so he'll bring it with him. We'll just snorkel from the beach at Horseshoe Beach one day and maybe at Snorkel Park beach the other day. I have trouble with regular snorkels and ordered one of those full face snorkels from Amazon and I'll give that a try. I also ordered shorter fins from Amazon.

THE WEEK BEFORE THE TRIP

It was a regular busy week before going away.

I went to the spa to get my manicure and pedicure. I did the gel/shellac on my fingernails in a nice peach color. I did a regular pedicure in a sparkly blue.

We started to get our stuff together that we'll bring. We both overpack. We always do and I'm OK with that.

THE DAY BEFORE THE TRIP - FRIDAY 8/25/17

I worked from home on Friday which is great not having to deal with traffic getting out of the city in the summer. It's also easier that when I'm done working I can finish packing.

When we were done packing we had a big suitcase, a medium suitcase, a garment bag, and then each had a rolling carry on.

Enjoying your review!

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Following! More mani pedi pix please LOL J/K

SATURDAY 8/16/17 - EMBARK - BAYONNE, NJ

It was a nice easy morning knowing we only had to drive to Bayonne, about 45 minutes to an hour away.

We went for a bike ride in the morning and rode about 13 miles. We bought bikes in the spring and have been finding trails and exploring places to ride.

We got ourselves showered, dressed, and ready to go. We had to run a few errands. We left around 11:45am to drive to the pier. It was a pretty quick ride and we got there in less than an hour.

It's always exciting to see the ship for the first time. Even after several cruises, the first glimpse of the ship makes your heart beat faster. And another nice surprise was the lack of traffic pulling up to the pier.

We dropped off our luggage - 3 bags to check. The big suitcase, medium suitcase, and garment bag were checked. The medium suitcase had our snorkel stuff in it. All we had left to carry then was just our little carry ons. For a 5 night cruise we had 5 bags for the two of us.

I texted my sister and Donna a picture of the first view of the ship from the car. My sister texted back that she's seeing the same thing so they were just a few cars behind us. There was a short line to go into the parking garage. We were the second to the last car let into the regular garage to park. The rest of the cars were directed to another lot.

Check in was very quick. We took our boarding photo.

We went up to our cabin #9644.

I handed Scott the Lysol wipes and he wiped down things in the cabin. He didn't go too crazy but wiped down some things.

We unpacked our carry on bags. The cabin has the couch closer to the balcony. The layout was very nice. Storage space is pretty good.

Below are some of the papers in the cabin

Diamond Plus Letter

Diamond Plus list of benefits

Voom info

The below list of officers wasn't in the room but I picked it up along the way

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Below is the Day 1 compass and planner

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DAY 1 CONTINUED

We stopped at my sister's cabin and knocked but nobody was there. We knocked on my niece's cabin and she was there. We saw her cabin which is an inside cabin with virtual balcony. It was a nice touch. They were getting settled in and would go out to explore the ship after.

Donna, Michael, and Michael texted that they were on the ship so we met them at Chops to make our reservation for tomorrow night. They bought the 3 night specialty dining package. The latest reservation we were able to make for tomorrow is 6pm. Michael wanted to eat later but it is what it is.

We also stopped at Wonderland and they booked that and Jamie's. They were able to get later reservations for both Wonderland and Jamie's.

I gave them a brief tour of some parts of the ship.

The bionic bar was out of service but I described what it normally does when it works.

3:30 was the muster drill so we all went our separate ways. Scott and I were in American Icon for muster. The drill started about 20 minutes late.

We went back to our cabin to unpack but our luggage wasn't there yet. There was an announcement that sail away is delayed.

Our cabin attendant knocked and delivered our luggage. We chatted with him for a few minutes.

We were able to get unpacked and organized. I am impressed with the storage in the cabin. I felt I had more storage space in the regular balcony cabin than I did in the Junior Suite in January. It could be that this was a 5 night cruise so we had less stuff than the 12 night cruise in January.

We sailed around 4:40.

We had fixed early seating dinner at 5:30 in the Grande (except Michael, Donna, and Michael jr who are on My Time Dining with a 3 night specialty dining package and are planning to go to the buffet tonight).

Everyone was impressed with the ship so far.

Scott and I had the same appetizers (fried shrimp) and entrees (turkey). For dessert I had the peach/blueberry crumble and Scott had the cheesecake with strawberry sauce. I didn't keep track of what everyone else at the table ate.

We both had soda and once the assistant waiter saw we had the refreshment package he would come by and refill our sodas throughout the meal.

We both enjoyed our meals. We were pleasantly surprised that the food was better in the main dining room than it was on our last sailing.

The girls went off to enjoy the ship. I gave my sister, Kevin, and MaryBelle a bit of a tour of parts of the ship. We stopped in the casino so Scott and I can get our Casino VIP stickers on our cards.

We headed to the theater around 7:45pm for the 8pm showing of We Will Rock You. The girls met us there. Even though the girls left the show early, the rest of us enjoyed it.

We went to the casino and met Michael, Donna, and Michael jr there so hung out with them at the casino bar for a while. Jen and MaryBelle were also in the casino at this point. I played some poker slots. Scott played 3 card poker at the table. We stayed until about 1am.

One of the dealers remembered me from last month. She asked if I was on with a friend of mine. I was on a girls cruise on Anthem last month. I am impressed they remembered me.

We stopped for a late night pizza snack at Sorrento's then headed back to our cabin. We had to move the clocks ahead an hour.

Below is the day 2 compass and planner

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SUNDAY 8/27/17 - AT SEA

I went to the gym in the morning right after they opened, maybe 6:10. Scott slept in and didn't join me today in the gym.

While on the treadmill I saw the sunrise, one of the best views to see while running.

I finished my workout around 7:45 and the ship was still pretty empty.

I stopped at the Patisserie for a bottle of water and an iced white chocolate mocha on the way back to my cabin. The funny thing was the barista remembered me from when I was on the ship last month. As soon as he saw me he said hello and asked if I wanted water and iced white mocha no whipped cream. I was impressed that he remembered.

When I got back to the cabin Scott was all showered and dressed so I showered and got dressed too. Our usual morning routine on vacation would be that we both go to the gym together but he usually finishes first and would go back to the cabin and/or room to shower and get dressed. By the time I get back, he's all done. It sort of worked out that way today too except he skipped the workout part.

We went to the Windjammer for breakfast around 9:15 and it was packed. We found a table and took turns getting our food.

It's raining and windy out. We heard announcements that NorthStar and the Rock Wall are closed because of the weather.

After breakfast I started texting to see what everyone was up to.

DAY 2 CONTINUED

We went to the Bermuda Highlights show at 11am in 270. We weren't really intending to watch but we went to 270 to look out at the wake and it was about to start so we stayed for some of it.

We found Michael, Donna, and Michael jr in the Solarium so we hung out for a little while with them. They were happy to stay there relaxing for a while. We can only stay in one place for so long so started wandering some more.

We went to Ifly at 3pm, but they were closed also. They said it was because of the wind as well as a problem with a fan. They said anyone who has a reservation will be given priority on the standby lines. They said they will also remain open longer than the normal hours once they can open.

The flow rider was open and going even in the rain. However, that closed a little later as the weather got worse.

We got in line for bumper cars around 3:30 (they opened at 4) and the line was huge. With so many other things closed the line was even longer than expected. We decided not to wait.

Jen and Kevin were pretty disappointed that they were unable to use so many of the features of the ship. They understood that it was due to weather and safety comes first, but it was still disappointing.

We went to Name That Singer Trivia in the Schooner Bar with MaryBelle, Jen, and Kevin. You had to name the artists of different songs. We didn't do too well at trivia, but had a nice time just hanging out there.

We went back to the cabin to shower and change for dinner. We stopped in the dining room to say hi and take some pictures with the family.

DAY 2 CONTINUED

We left the family in the dining room and headed to Chops where we had reservations with Michael, Donna, and Michael at 6pm.

For appetizers Scott, Michael, and I all had the tuna tartare. Donna and Michael jr both had salads.

Scott ordered the large seafood tower for us all - it was an extra $40 or so. OMG this thing was huge. At home something like this would easily be over $200. It has lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, and crab claws. It was really good. But we were all sort of full after the seafood tower.

We all ordered filet mignon for our entrees except Michael who ordered the lamb. We also had various side dishes to share - tater tots, mushrooms, French fries, spinach, mac and cheese.

For dessert I had the key lime merengue, Michael had the chocolate cake, Michael Jr had the cheesecake. Neither Scott or Donna ordered dessert, but Scott had some of mine.

We were at Chops for about 3 hours. It was a very good an enjoyable meal. I think the specialty restaurants are worth the additional cost.

We missed the Finish the Lyric show that were were planning to meet my sister, Kevin, and MaryBelle at since we were at Chops for so long.

We went to the casino and taught Michael jr how to play poker. He played on the poker slots for maybe 10 minutes.

At 11:30pm I went to see the late night comedian, Rodney Johnson. Nobody else wanted to go. Michael, Donna, and Michael were heading up to bed. Scott was playing at the 3 card poker table. My sister and MaryBelle were busy in the casino at various slot machines. So I went by myself. He was very funny.

I went back to the casino after and played for a little while.

I went up to the cabin around 1:30am and Scott stayed in the casino a bit longer. We had our first towel animal - an elephant.

Great photos!!! Thank you very much!

Below is the day 3 compass and planner

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Below is the Bermuda port map

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MONDAY 8/28/17 - BERMUDA

Michael Jr came to the gym with Scott and I around 6:15am. He stayed for maybe 1/2 hour then left. Scott and I stayed to continue our normal workouts.

I stopped for my Starbucks and water on the way back to the cabin and arrived just as Scott was finishing getting ready. I showered and changed.

Scott and I went for breakfast in the dining room.

We both had fresh squeezed orange juice.

I had French toast with sausage and bacon.

Scott had an omelette with name and cheese in it and a side of sausage.

There is also a buffet in the dining room where you can get other items. So we got some fresh fruit.

The dining room was very nice for breakfast.

As we were finishing my sister texted that they were ready to go so we all met to go to Horseshoe Bay Beach together. The shuttle was $7 per person and very convenient. There were too many of us for a private taxi as they only hold 7 and we were 9 people.

Michael, Donna, and Michael were renting mopeds today and planned to go to the caves and ride around the island.

We rented two lounge chairs and an umbrella for $45. The beach attendant set us up front row but a bit further down the beach. My sister and the others stayed closer to the entry point as the girls ran into the water already.

I went to the bathroom/chasing area to put on my bathing suit. It was very nice. All in one building there were changing rooms, bathrooms, and shower rooms.

The water was great with nice big waves. We had a lot of fun playing in the water. We both used our snorkel masks but not our fins, but we didn't see too many fish. The water was so nice and clear. We decided not to lug our fins with us to the beach (we left them in the cabin) and just took the masks/breathing tube. Mine if the full face snorkel and Scott's is the traditional mask and separate tube that goes in your mouth.

There is a big rock/mountain that people were climbing so Scott wanted to do that. The girls wanted to go too so they went with him. Luckily he was wearing a bright colored T shirt so I was able to watch his progress and take pictures of him at the top.

DAY 3 CONTINUED

When Scott got back from climbing the mountain, we walked down the beach (the other way from the entry area/mountain) along these paths to these quiet little coves.

The "pink" sand was a little more visible in one of the coves than on the main part of the beach.

After exploring the various coves/beaches we headed back to our lounge chairs and went swimming some more.

Around 3:30 or so Scott and I were ready to head back. My sister and the rest of them stayed longer. I rinsed off in the shower room and changed out of my bathing suit and into dry clothes. The sand is very fine here and sticks to everything. Even with the rinse off shower I still had plenty of sand on me.

We both got a little sunburned despite using SPF 50 sunscreen (and reapplying several times).

We took a shuttle back which was loaded up with tons of people.

Scott jumped in the pool for a bit when we got back on board. We exchanged our wet towels for dry ones. We both had soda from the pool bar and we were very thirsty.

We went back to our cabin to shower and get changed. We washed out our snorkel stuff and put it on the balcony to dry.

There was a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a truffle in the room which I was happy to see as we were hungry for a little snack.

We were planning to head back out after dinner so dressed a little more casually in shorts. Not ratty or ripped or gym shorts, but more casual than we would normally wear to dinner.

We stopped at the Diamond Lounge and each had a drink and a few finger snacks.

I was texting with Michael to find out how their day with the mopeds went and he said his mother drove into a brick wall but she was OK.

We went to the dining room and everyone was there. Everyone was excited about their day at Horseshoe Bay and they were looking forward to their dolphin swim tomorrow.

For appetizers I had the pork taco and Scott had the salmon tartare

For entrees I had the tiger shrimp and Scott had the Steak Diane.

For dessert I had the banana bread pudding and Scott had the cheesecake.

Poor Scott had to ask several times before they remembered his cup of coffee.

We were both pleasantly surprised by the food in the dining room. It was much better than the dining room in January.

One thing I like about fixed dining is the waiter/asst waiter gets to know you and each night would bring our preferred drinks - sprite for me and Diet Coke for Scott as well as refilling them as they get low.

DAY 3 CONTINUED

After dinner Scott and I headed off the ship.

As we were walking we heard our names and looked up - Michael and Donna were on their balcony waving to us. Scott pretended to walk into the brick wall - LOL (imitating her driving the moped into the brick wall).

We wanted to walk around the dockyard but were surprised that the majority of the places were closed. We found one store open and bought a few things - T shirt for Scott, magnet, ornament and a postcard. That's what we usually buy not at the various islands.

We walked around a bit then headed back to the ship.

We saw the 8:15pm headliner show with the Journey Tribute Band - DSB. The show was good. We enjoyed it. Scott laughed at me when it took me a little bit to figure out what DSB stood for (Don't Stop Believing).

We met Jen, Kevin, and MaryBelle at Karaoke in the music hall after. None of us got up to sing but we listed to the other passengers signing. Some were good, but others were like nails on a chalkboard.

I kept mentioning the silent disco to see if anyone was interested. They thought I was making it up and it wasn't a real event. Nobody wanted to go. Of course the next day when they realized it was a real thing they wanted to see what it was about.

We went to the casino for a while before heading up to our cabin.

Just realized I forgot to include this picture the ship photographer took when we got off the ship in Bermuda before heading to Horseshoe Bay

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Thanks for all the information. Your pictures are great!

Loved your review. I had to cancel my Cruise on Sept. 9 for medical reasons. Your review helped me to see what I missed!

Noreen thank you so much for your great review! Leaving in 13 days and the compasses, along with all the food and entertainment details are so helpful.

THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

Am going on Anthem to Bermuda next week, so loving this review!! Can't wait to see the rest!