---> !!ANTHEM OTS REVIEW!! <--- Complete Pictorial Guide! [June 02, 2016]

[swim13]

 

 

[swim13]

Enjoying your review. We are doing the 9 day on Anthem in four weeks:D

 

What kind of a camera did you use?

 

Thank you! The time will come before you know it! I use the Sony NEX-F3 with the standard lens (E 18-55mm). Great camera! I also use Adobe Lightroom to fix some of the colors in the photos.

 

Thanks for helping me get through the day. Looking forward to seeing Anthem live in person... tomorrow!!!!!!!!

 

So excited for you! Hope you will come back to this review after your cruise and share your experience!

 

Following along, great photos.

 

Thank you!!

 

Great job! Bermuda looks gorgeous, I can't wait. Thanks

 

Thanks again! Trust me, I saw a hundred photos of Horseshoe before I went and it was like I was seeing it for the first time!

 

First let me say that I am loving your review, and the photos are some of the best I ever saw posted on Cruise Critic, GREAT JOB!

 

Tips:

 

Always do on line check in, it only takes a few minutes, and will save you time in lines at GS trying to set up your account.

 

In the future, send an email to rcldining@rccl.com with your name and reservation number and that of who you want to dine with, and they will link your reservations, and notify Dining, and then you will all be seated together with no problems. We will be on the Anthem in July, and are looking forward to continue reading your review.:)

 

Thanks so much! It was a lesson learned and one I will definitely share at the end of my review for the people who may have skimmed through the beginning! Thank you for the dining tip, I will be sure to include that with credit at the end! :)

 

I share your enthusiasm for Bermuda. The place is just a gem.

 

Did you go to Gibb's Hill Lighthouse? I always look forward to climbing up and the view from the top is pretty spectacular.

 

Glad to see you here again! I unfortunately did not get to check out Gibb's Hill Lighthouse, just another reason why I need to return! :p I would also like to check out St. George's!

[swim13]

Ahhhhmazing review! I am so absolutely ecstatic to board the Anthem and head to Bermuda and this just added more fuel to that fire lol. Thank you!

 

Haha thanks so much!! You're going to have such a great time! :)

 

Thank you for the review and great pics. The ship looks amazing. Unfortunatel I cruise out of Florida, which is driving distance, and by the look of it I'll have to wait a long time for a Quantum class ship here.The Ovation is going to China.

 

Thank you. Yes the ship is truly beautiful! I understand the pain of not having the ship you want to go on near you! Ideally we would always leave out of NYC, we just got lucky with Anthem! :p

 

Bermuda looks gorgeous and your pictures are amazing!

 

Thank you!

 

Have to agree with some of the other readers here, your pictures are some of the most clear and amazing ones we've ever seen on a review. Great stuff, keep it coming. What camera did you use?

 

I've just finished checking 'cruising on an Oasis class ship' off my bucket list and a Quantum class ship is next.

 

Cheers!

 

Nick

 

Glad to see you here, Nick! I am loving your current review. I really miss our Allure vacation! I use the Sony NEX-F3 camera with the standard lens on it (E 18-55mm). It is a compact camera with some great quality. I use Adobe Lightroom to lighten up or adjust some of the color levels and to add the watermark. I am envious of all of your travels on just one trip! Hope you enjoyed Alaska too!

 

I get out of college (hint: WE ARE!)

 

 

 

Did you go to College at Marshall?

 

WE ARE... Penn State!! University Park

 

Beautiful pictures - thanks for taking the time to post all the pics and the compassesand passing along all the island information !

 

Of course. Thank you!

 

Enjoying your review. Hard to believe it's only been a month since I've been on her. I'm not even a beach person, but I also fell in love with Bermuda. I'm not one to go to the same place multiple times, but I will be returning there!

 

I also really liked Dru! At first, I thought he may be too serious because that's just his look. But, he was great! Also agree about the Schooner bartenders - was always crowded up there.

 

Keep the photos coming - love to re-live my cruise!

 

Thank you! Yes I had the same opinion on Dru, he just kept getting better throughout the cruise and I appreciated how he seemed to be everywhere on the ship! Wonder CD staff too. Do you remember Jelena and Lambert?!

[maggie416]

Your review and pictures are the best i've ever seen and i have been on here for years !! Love it, thank you! And my husband wants to know what camera you are using.

Marg

[akcruz]

Sorry to hear about your experience with the north star. We too booked for sail away time in Bermuda. We are doing the 5 day in August, have checked my reservation and it's still there. I would hope they would let people know ahead of time if this is what they are finding now that Anthem is doing sailing there. How far ahead had you booked your time?

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[swim13]

DAY 4

Smooth Sailing -

 

Welcome back everyone! I know a lot of you have been asking about the camera that I use. I purchased the Sony NEX-F3 back in 2013 and have been using it ever since. I don't believe Sony still produces this model, but I did find some on Amazon if you click here (direct Amazon link). She is a great camera to travel with! As you can see the pictures come out great and the size is small enough to take it around with you comfortably. I am sure there are newer and better models though however, $300 is a pretty good price for a camera like this.

 

Today was a very chill day, in fact I did not even use my camera until the evening. I am sorry but there are few photos or information to post today! I will talk about the internet for this day as I did purchase it in the evening of Day 3 and it worked into today.

 

VOOM

I actually purchased this when I got back on board in Bermuda. I was contemplating purchasing it for the whole cruise before departure, but decided against it as I know I needed to unplug for awhile and really appreciate vacation without my phone. I did decide to purchase for 1 day while on board because I wanted to post all of the pretty pictures from Bermuda to Facebook and Snapchat, to secretly make my brother jealous who couldn't come this trip hahaha, don't tell him! ;) Here is a price breakdown,

 

PRE-CRUISE:

(They were offering 30% off if I booked before cruise)

 

Surf:

• 1 device: $9.99 per day

• 2 devices: $16.99 per day

• 3 devices: $23.99 per day

• 4 devices: $27.99 per day

• 5 devices: $31.99 per day

 

Surf + Stream:

• 1 device: $12.99 per day

• 2 devices: $22.99 per day

• 3 devices: $31.99 per day

• 4 devices: $39.99 per day

• 5 devices: $41.99 per day

 

While on board, 1 device will cost you $12.99 per day for Surf and $17.99 per day for Surf + Stream. You will actually be able to choose from a plethora of options while on board, including just 1 day. If you plan to purchase before the cruise to get the discount, you will need to buy for the whole trip. Now if you buy Surf for just 24 hours they increase the price to $19.99, but if you are a Crown & Anchor Society member you will mostly likely still have your 10% off internet discount available to you, so it only cost me $17.99 for the day... still a pretty hefty price. They are really trying to get you to buy for the whole time.

 

Surf VS. Surf + Stream: The only difference between the two is you will be able to FaceTime and stream videos on Netflix or the like on the latter half. If you post or load videos on a platform like snapchat or Instagram, the Surf will still work however, it will be much slower than posting a picture.

 

Performance: I thought VOOM lived up to the hype. I have never used internet on older ships, but it was pretty quick and messages sent instantly. It was kind of weird to be able to use my phone so easily while out at sea!

 

Last Night (24 hours): There was a special if you want internet for the last 24 hours or less...

 

How to Access: Just simply open your internet browser (Safari for all of Apple users) and type a site like cnn.com and the Royal internet browser will pop up. Just make your profile and then it will lead you to a scroll screen where you pick the package you want. Click it and it will be added to your sea pass charges. If you have any discounts from C&A Society they are already preloaded in your sea pass and it will ask if you'd like to use it. Then you're all set! It's super easy. If you want to use your computer and phone just get 1 device. You can log out of one device and then log into the other. It will save you some money!

 

I think I've pretty much covered VOOM. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask! :)

[riclop]

Enjoying your review.

[swim13]

I think today we ate breakfast in the Windjammer. The Windjammer is never overbearingly crowded and we always found a seat. This morning we walked out all the way to the back and got a seat outdoors! Before you enter the windjammer you must walk through a hand washing room. They have many sinks you can use or you can walk through and use the Purell. There is a crew member standing there to make sure you all wash your hands and they sing the "washy washy" song, hahaha! The "washy washy" song will get stuck in your head and now it is stuck in mine once again as I'm typing this! :rolleyes: It may seem like a bother, but it is just helping us in the long run and doesn't take too much time.

 

Today I went on the FlowRider. I have been on that thing since our cruise on Freedom in 2006. I just love the FlowRider! I only boogie board, but will probably trying surfing on the next cruise. We ended up in the Solarium to see our other favorite bartenders we met back before sail away in NYC: Travis, Duane, and Jaime. Great guys and easy to talk to!

 

Solarium

The Solarium is truly awesome on this ship. Definitely the best solarium on any RCI ship besides Quantum and Ovation. The pools are actually pretty massive and cascade into each other (see Day 1 pictures). I liked to sit in the middle of the 3 pools and lean my back up against the glass of the top one to feel the water from the top pool flow over my shoulders, very refreshing! Usually one of them is always shaded if you want to escape from the sun too. The glass is tinted very well and you most likely aren't going to get a tan in here. There is a cool swing chair in the very front that is popular. Never saw kids in there besides passerby's.

 

We got ready and did our pre-dinner routine of going to Schooner Bar to see Jelena and Lambert... and to drink of course! Jelena knew I like sweeter drinks and made me a few special concoctions. Delicious!!! A lady at the bar told my mom that she thought I was a handsome boy and then Jelena was like "Ummm aloha, back off he is mine!" and the lady goes "oh goodness he's too young for me (while laughing)". Jelena goes, "you never know, it's the 21st century!" hahahaha! :p I forgot to mention that I ended up buying the premium package earlier at the Solarium bar with Travis. I paid $417 since it was Day 4. Now it would only cost you that much for the whole trip if you purchase it before the cruise. Lesson learned although my mom had purchased it before, so at least she saved some money. Here are my drink package thoughts...

 

Drink Package

I think the premium package is great if you like to drink. I don't like to get obliterated every night, but I did recently turn 21, so it is a new and fun thing for me. I made my money's worth every night by a good amount and I was never really drunk. The thing is that cocktails are typically $11.99 and come in small glasses compared to on land. If you don't think you'll have more than 4 or 5 per day then maybe it is not worth it to you.

 

 

 

Lavender Daiquiri

 

[swim13]

Spectra's Cabaret

I won't bore you with dinner. It was at Chic and very good. We went to our 9:00 pm reservation to Spectra's Cabaret in Two70. What a neat show! Some people don't like it because they don't know what cabaret is. Honestly it was extremely different because they utilize so much of the Two70 technology. People will pop up through the floors, ceilings, and every other possible way in this theatre! I can't give anything away besides the fact that it is another must see show aboard this ship! Be sure to get there early because Two70 is a fairly small theatre.

 

There was an entertainer, I don't recall his name sorry, later on in the Royal Theatre, so we made our way there after Spectra's. He was a real funny guy and sang very well! He likes the classic old songs and made fun of the new stuff coming out currently. I thought it was actually pretty funny, especially when he talked about/sang how love songs used to be and then cracked a joke/sang about love songs today by artists like Justin Bieber! :p

 

 

 

She was having a casual performance here in The Via by Vintages. She is one of the musicians from We Will Rock You! Awesome!

 

 

 

 

Today was a great day and just wait until you see the pictures from St. Maarten tomorrow! I unfortunately don't have anymore cruise compasses for you until Day 5. I will have to go to bed, but will pick up on Day 5 tomorrow! See you then! :-]

[swim13]

Your review and pictures are the best i've ever seen and i have been on here for years !! Love it, thank you! And my husband wants to know what camera you are using.

Marg

 

Thanks a lot!! I mentioned the camera in the beginning of my Day 4 post, which was after you made this comment! If you miss it, it is the Sony NEX-F3. :)

 

Sorry to hear about your experience with the north star. We too booked for sail away time in Bermuda. We are doing the 5 day in August, have checked my reservation and it's still there. I would hope they would let people know ahead of time if this is what they are finding now that Anthem is doing sailing there. How far ahead had you booked your time?

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

Thank you. You may want to change your booking to a time about 30-45 minutes prior to leaving the port. They won't operate during any sail aways and you may get a disappointing experience like us. We booked right when reservations opened online, which I believe is 6 months prior, give or take. We thought they would let us know too, it has been going to Bermuda for about a month before our sailing!!

 

Enjoying your review.

 

Thanks!

[sddsddean]

Hi Mike

 

Great review and pics. Been reading since day one, though we have ages until we are on the Anthem...14 months!:eek:

 

Couple of (stupid) questions...

1. Do you have to buy a Voom/Internet package for the Royal IQ app to work on your phone or will it just 'work'?

 

2. You mentioned about the crew not having great morale and wanting to get a new contract on a different ship. Have you worked out why morale is so bad on the Anthem, or is it just 'one of those things'? You said you were on Facebook with some of the crew and I just wondered if any had been more forthcoming with their reasons.

 

Thanks again for the review and pics

 

Simon

[Alter Ego]

Sorry to hear about your experience with the north star. We too booked for sail away time in Bermuda. We are doing the 5 day in August, have checked my reservation and it's still there. I would hope they would let people know ahead of time if this is what they are finding now that Anthem is doing sailing there. How far ahead had you booked your time?

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

You likely will be rescheduled. Was on 5/14 and Bermuda wouldn't allow NorthStar to run while it was pulling into Bermuda or leaving. I think 6 flights in total were rescheduled. We all got a message on our TV with our new times (which was on the last sea day on my 7 day cruise.)

 

Knowing Royal's website, they probably can't adjust the reservation system for this.

Edited June 17, 2016 by Alter Ego

[Ocean Boy]

 

 

 

Today was a great day and just wait until you see the pictures from St. Maarten tomorrow! I unfortunately don't have anymore cruise compasses for you until Day 5. I will have to go to bed, but will pick up on Day 5 tomorrow! See you then! :-][/size][/color]

 

I love St. Maarten. I never get tired of that island no matter how many times we have been there.

[guardguy89]

Hi !

 

I was on your cruise - loved the new ship. Still prefer Oasis class though - but love all of the tech stuff, new cabin layout and storage and the shows on Anthem!

 

Funny that you mentioned the crew (especially your Northstar experience). I had something similar happen at the Seaplex when we went rollerskating. Just snippy attitudes from the crew there.

 

Only bad experience I had all week though - so I let it go.

 

Love your pics ! Keep trying to see if I can spot myself in any of them - hahahaha

 

Mike

Edited June 17, 2016 by guardguy89

[kutchyone]

Enjoying your detailed review. Only wish it was for the 12 night southern sailing.

[whitshel]

Great review Mike, your Allure review was the one that pushed me over the edge to take an Oasis class cruise this past January. Now I'll probably have to book a Quantum cruise, Thanks a lot!! :D:D

[swim13]

Hi Mike

 

Great review and pics. Been reading since day one, though we have ages until we are on the Anthem...14 months!:eek:

 

Couple of (stupid) questions...

1. Do you have to buy a Voom/Internet package for the Royal IQ app to work on your phone or will it just 'work'?

 

2. You mentioned about the crew not having great morale and wanting to get a new contract on a different ship. Have you worked out why morale is so bad on the Anthem, or is it just 'one of those things'? You said you were on Facebook with some of the crew and I just wondered if any had been more forthcoming with their reasons.

 

Thanks again for the review and pics

 

Simon

 

Thank you!! Good questions, actually!

 

1. Royal IQ app will work without an internet package. Just connect to the Royal WiFi and the app will work. The messaging built into the app won't work unless you have the internet. I will review that app a little more in depth later on in the review!

 

2. Don't get me wrong, they still have fun and aren't hating their lives however, some of the crew we talked to preferred the other ships way over this class. There are a lot of issues with the technology that create stupid problems and the crew take the brunt of it from guests. We would talk to random people on the ship in the elevator or wherever and they would hear the same thing! I think the internals of the ship have been planned out differently too and they have smaller "single share" cabins where they get a super tiny private bedroom and just share a bathroom with another person.

 

I love St. Maarten. I never get tired of that island no matter how many times we have been there.

 

I would love to go back and explore more of the beaches!

 

Hi !

 

I was on your cruise - loved the new ship. Still prefer Oasis class though - but love all of the tech stuff, new cabin layout and storage and the shows on Anthem!

 

Funny that you mentioned the crew (especially your Northstar experience). I had something similar happen at the Seaplex when we went rollerskating. Just snippy attitudes from the crew there.

 

Only bad experience I had all week though - so I let it go.

 

Love your pics ! Keep trying to see if I can spot myself in any of them - hahahaha

 

Mike

 

Nice to have you on here as well! Perhaps we ran into each other at one point or another. It's funny because I was taking pictures of the Schooner Bar early on during the cruise and then I met a nice family towards the end of the trip and realized they were in my pictures from before I met them! I guess we had crossed paths during the whole trip haha!

 

Did you know a girl fell while rollerskating on our sailing and actually had to get off in Puerto Rico to fly home for emergency surgery?! That would be awful!

 

Yes almost everyone we talked to on the ship that had been on Oasis class would agree with us!

 

Enjoying your detailed review. Only wish it was for the 12 night southern sailing.

 

Thank you! Oh trust me, I wish I was on the 12 night too! :p

 

Great review Mike, your Allure review was the one that pushed me over the edge to take an Oasis class cruise this past January. Now I'll probably have to book a Quantum cruise, Thanks a lot!! :D:D

 

Glad to see you here!! I remember you from my Allure review! :) Hahaha that is funny, I should screenshot this and send it to Royal and ask for commission lol!

[swim13]

DAY 5

Honkey-Tonk Bar -

 

Hey everyone! Today is an absolutely gorgeous day at home. St. Maarten pictures today! I was pretty excited about this stop because I would actually be able to watch us sail in since we didn't arrive until late in the morning. Sailing by the mountains was incredible and you will see what I am talking about in the pictures.

 

My family had been to St. Maarten before and were eager to show me around! We didn't have the most time in the world here, but we did get to see a lot. We got off the ship as soon as we could. I should mention that we were surprised to never really run into lines getting off the ship. We walked to get a water taxi into Philipsburg from the dock for some shopping and lunch. My patience was really tested today while my mom and her friend browsed about every jewelry store on the street! I eventually found one shop that I like, Swatch, and took a look around. I love the Swatch I got last year in Grand Cayman because it is a great traveling watch and is even water proof. I found a nice new model they we're offering 10% off on. I took them up on that deal as they are already pretty inexpensive! I think I took a photo of it to share later on.

 

We had lunch at a smaller restaurant right along the coast. I can't recall the name, maybe Big Wood? It was absolutely delicious! I had the jerk chicken skewers and have been craving them ever since... drat. They had free wifi if you get lunch there, so I enjoyed catching up a little.

 

I was successfully able to convince everyone that we needed to head to Maho beach instead of going to more jewelry shops haha! The cab driver was a very nice guy and took us on a few back roads to show us some great views of the island! He ended up staying at the Sunset Bar on Maho with us after my family offered him a beer! He took a bottle of water instead! ;-p Unfortunately we missed all of the big planes coming in, but I did see a private jet fly in. There was a big A340 taking off at one point and it was funny to watch everyone get sand blasted! Now I saw this women sitting next to a rock wall on the beach holding a baby. I wish I would've told her to get away sooner, but that plane was very forceful and sent sand flying everywhere, no matter where you were sitting. If you have a baby, please do not step close to this beach!!

 

We didn't spend much time here and soon we were off with our cab driver once again! We got stuck in some rush hour traffic here on this metropolis of an island and got delayed about 30 minutes! Good thing we started heading back well before all aboard time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2016 by swim13

[swim13]

 

 

 

 

 

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[swim13]

 

 

 

 

 

[swim13]

Tonight was a great night! We walked in Music Hall, which by the way I think is a genius new area on the ship, and there was a silent disco going on. Anyone who wanted to participate could get a pair of headphones and dance on the dance floor. It was really funny to see people walk in and look at each other like, "did we go deaf or what is going on right now?!". No, they didn't have too many drinks, they are actually dancing to music in their headphones hahaha! It was also our formal night since we were in The Grande. The Grande is absolutely beautiful and very elegant. I was excited to dress up in some new dressy clothes. I was wearing a bow-tie for the first time ever and I was hoping I'd remember how to tie it after spending two days learning how to do so, lol! I was successful on the first try! Anyway, we went to Schooner Bar followed by dinner. It was delicious and included 1...2...3...maybe 4 lobster tails! If you didn't know, The Grande always has lobster, so you could technically eat lobster every night if you're on dynamic dining. There is a dress code for The Grande, but all the other restaurants are very casual. Men just need a sports coat and women should wear a dress at or past their knee's. If you are scheduled to eat in The Grande or just want to eat there on dynamic on the last night, you are not required to dress up!

 

There was no big show for us tonight so we went to "Name That Tune" in the Royal Theatre. It was really fun and the winner was a hoot! I think its amazing that Royal has literally created their own game show on the seven seas! Be sure to not miss out on this!

 

Now that is about it for Day 5! I will finish with pictures and then move on to Day 6 after I go out on the jet ski for a little! I have the cruise compass from this night, but it is at my mom's house and I will be unable to upload that until later in the review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swim13]

 

Day 5 END!