Live blog From Anthem of the Seas Transatlantic

[BourkeBlogs]

I've just realised that I never posted about the show on the last night.

 

There was a juggling show on at 7 and 9:30 on the last night. Now juggling isn't really our thing but we thought we go and watch the show after Chops.

 

Although the performer was a juggler he was very talented and much better than we have seen before. Also the choice of some of his items to juggle was interesting, especially the long handled axes!

 

He was also very funny and added comedy to his routine meaning the audience were in stitches for a lot of the show.

 

We were really glad we went watched it as it was something fun to see on the last night.

 

Whilst at the show I realised I had forgot to take pictures of the Boleros menu and I think this was the only bar menu we hadn't got, so on the way back to the room we went and got these.

 

 

 

 

[Cruisin' Ya Ya]

Safe travels home. by the way, I don't recall seeing any posts from you on the piano player who shows up in different places throughout the ship. Did you see him?

[BourkeBlogs]

Safe travels home. by the way' date=' I don't recall seeing any posts from you on the piano player who shows up in different places throughout the ship. Did you see him?[/quote']

 

 

Yes we did, I'll post about this over the next couple of days

[fishbonz]

Thanks again for a great review and safe passage back home.

[BourkeBlogs]

We are now back at home and just wanted to let you know I will be updating this weekend with all the bits and pieces that are still missing.

 

However, just a quick one, here is the laundry list and prices. When packing the other day noticed we hadn't taken a shot of this so thought it may be useful. There were no laundry offers on our cruise that we were aware of.

 

[Cruisin' Ya Ya]

Sorry I didn't ask this while you were still on the ship, but do you have any idea what specialty coffees and teas were offered? I am considering getting the Royal Replenishment Drink Package (non-alc) and wanted to know where specialty coffees and teas were available on the ship? could they include Starbucks by chance?

[Overtyme]

best review EVER! I used to be a doubter, but am now really looking forward to our cruise this coming Summer.

[conandrob240]

Sorry I didn't ask this while you were still on the ship' date=' but do you have any idea what specialty coffees and teas were offered? I am considering getting the Royal Replenishment Drink Package (non-alc) and wanted to know where specialty coffees and teas were available on the ship? could they include Starbucks by chance?[/quote']

 

Scroll back through- a picture of the boards with the coffees at both locations were posted.

[saskiapaci]

THANK YOU sooooo much!!

You are doping an Amazing Joan, we all are very grateful!

We love you!

 

Inviato dal mio SM-J100H utilizzando Tapatalk

[BourkeBlogs]

Sorry I didn't ask this while you were still on the ship' date=' but do you have any idea what specialty coffees and teas were offered? I am considering getting the Royal Replenishment Drink Package (non-alc) and wanted to know where specialty coffees and teas were available on the ship? could they include Starbucks by chance?[/quote']

 

 

Hi, yes speciality coffees were included, including Starbucks at La Patisserie. The other locations for speciality coffees were Windjammer and cafe 270, although these were Seattle's Best Coffee and not Starbucks. Here are the menus:

 

This is from La Patisserie

 

This was taken in 270 but it's the same as in the Windjammer

[mariehouston]

Just returned from very quick sailing on the Anthem. I was ready to go because of this post which I appreciated very much.

 

Drink menus were pretty much the same; specialty prices varied from $9.00 to $10.00 (plus gratuity). Some drinks in the Bionic bar were $12.00 to $14.00. Coffee was the same prices as shown. No coffee/tea service in the cabin. That may have been an European perk.

 

The ship is just beautiful and very easy to navigate if you know what direction you are going! Cabins are very nice and roomy.

[BourkeBlogs]

Just to add to the above there was no Chai Latte available all week in Starbucks and the strawberry Frappe was actually Raspberry as they had not Strawberry syrup for the cruise

[Debbie44]

Hi, we had a balcony cabin on the 7th floor on the Anthem this year. You can clearly see the lifeboats when you look down. Not a great problem during the day as you can look past them but at night they are lit up and very bright (and yellow!) so it did spoil our relaxing time sitting on the balcony looking at the waves!

[BourkeBlogs]

The Stowaway Pianist

 

So a previous poster had asked about the pianist so here are the details on it.

 

On the entertainment information, there is information on a Stowaway Pianist who has been caught and instead of throwing him of the boat, the story is that he has to pay for his passage by playing the piano.

 

You will find the pianist in a variety of places around the ship, the first time we saw him he was in one of the glass lifts, so we jumped in for a ride with him

 

 

He has various effects on his piano which adds to the entertainment and not knowing where he will pop up next makes it more interesting. There is also a tip jar on top of his piano, but instead of putting tips in, there is sign saying to take one.

 

Here are a couple of other locations we spotted him in:

 

The main shopping area

 

Outside a couple of the speciality restaurants

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BourkeBlogs]

Coca Cola Freestyle

 

I've not done a post on this yet, so thought would add a bit of info on them for anyone who has not come across them before. In the UK we have only ever seen these in five guys but there are similar style machines now popping up.

 

When we arrived at our cabin our Freestyle cups were in our cabin as we had already purchased the drinks package:

 

 

We didn't actually use them at all during the cruise, as we didn't want the inconvenience of having to carry these around with us, as you can always get a soft drink from any bar if you don't have your cup with you,.

 

The machines are in various locations around the ship including

- 3 in the Windjammer

- 2 in Sorentos

- 1 in Seaplex

- 1 in Puzzle Break room

 

There may have been others around the ship, so please feel free to add if you did see any others we didn't notice.

 

If you have never seen the machines before they look like this:

 

This was taken from Sorentos. The screen on the left is green as it was in Power Save mode as it was about 6am in the morning when this shot was taken.

 

To use the machine you need to place your freestyle cup in the machine and select your options. The machine will not work with any other cup as it needs to read a chip in the cup to dispense.

 

There are a number of drink options available and here are the pictures of them:

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BourkeBlogs]

And here are the sub menus

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BourkeBlogs]

All menus are now in one location in PDF format:

 

http://www.bourkeblogs.com/aotsmenus

 

I will be updating the daily blogs on my site as well shortly, but thought it would be useful to have all the menus in one place first.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Fantastic, thank you.

[Overtyme]

Coca Cola Freestyle

 

I've not done a post on this yet, so thought would add a bit of info on them for anyone who has not come across them before. In the UK we have only ever seen these in five guys but there are similar style machines now popping up.

 

When we arrived at our cabin our Freestyle cups were in our cabin as we had already purchased the drinks package:

 

 

We didn't actually use them at all during the cruise, as we didn't want the inconvenience of having to carry these around with us, as you can always get a soft drink from any bar if you don't have your cup with you,.

 

The machines are in various locations around the ship including

- 3 in the Windjammer

- 2 in Sorentos

- 1 in Seaplex

- 1 in Puzzle Break room

 

There may have been others around the ship, so please feel free to add if you did see any others we didn't notice.

 

If you have never seen the machines before they look like this:

 

This was taken from Sorentos. The screen on the left is green as it was in Power Save mode as it was about 6am in the morning when this shot was taken.

 

To use the machine you need to place your freestyle cup in the machine and select your options. The machine will not work with any other cup as it needs to read a chip in the cup to dispense.

 

There are a number of drink options available and here are the pictures of them:

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Not that I would do it, but I wonder if my Disney World Cup would work. They too have a similar setup where the machines would only work with a cup that had a chip in it.

[LuCruise]

Thanks so much for posting pictures of the cups and freestyle machines as I haven't seen any posts before (I assume they are similar on all RCL ships). Helps. I do agree, that although the machines are cool, it seems like a pain to have to carry your cup around. DH is a soda drinker and so will probably get the basic package, but we'll see if he bothers with the cups. Probably only on pool times or when lugging a knapsack.

[conandrob240]

The chips in the Disney mugs are timed to 14 days so, no, wouldn't work. I would imagine the ship mugs are also so you can't bring one back on another sailing but maybe RCCL isn't that savvy or sophisticated.

[amygutman]

So appreciative of this fantastic blog. First of all...you and your wife seem like incredibly fun people - also, ready to roll with the punches or "waves"...not a complaint about the weather that was unjust and a very fair assessment of all of your meals, activities and interactions with staff and fellow passengers. We are heading out on the Anthem on the 22nd, and this has been an eye-opener. If you ever give up your day job (what ever that may be), a travel-blogger would be a perfect vocation for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing me an hour of "brain rest" after a 7 day stretch at work in the ED.

 

Enjoy your trip back to England, and my deep appreciation for this great resource - you made a lot of people very, very happy!

 

Regards,

Amy

[loopschick]

The chips in the Disney mugs are timed to 14 days so, no, wouldn't work. I would imagine the ship mugs are also so you can't bring one back on another sailing but maybe RCCL isn't that savvy or sophisticated.

 

they are! on my last cruise, I noticed when I put the cup on the dispenser, a message quickly flashed by with an expiration date, and it was good for 14 days after first use

[BourkeBlogs]

Just noticed this thread has been moved to the sub forum, not sure why, as a lot of the other Anthem threads have remained on the main board.

 

I'll be putting some more updates on later today.

 

This morning I have re scanned the full cruise compass as well as the daily planners to improve quality and uploaded them here:

 

http://www.bourkeblogs.com/aotscruisecompass/

 

I am also updating my site with the full daily blogs and more images although think this will take some time!

[Setting sail for fun]

Off topic - but how is Stanley?